Monday, January 20, 2014

Shutting down the Sunday school

From VTS-

What would you do if:

the families in your parish were exceptionally regular in their attendance at worship, but only a few were committed to church school;


the well of prospective teachers was truly dry;


you had a Vestry who was willing to take risks and try new things, and a Rector who had your back at all times and in all places; and


Virginia Seminary’s Digital Missioner Kyle Oliver and CMT Director Lisa Kimball dared you to try something different (and promised to help)?


What did we do? We shut down Sunday school. Let me clarify: We adopted a pilot program of online faith formation, and we suspended our Sunday morning classes. St. Andrew’s FISH program

At the Forma Tapestry Conference in Albuquerque last winter, “The Church, Post-Sunday School” was a topic much discussed in workshops and after hours, including in my conversations with Kyle Oliver. Many of us struggled to discern whether the church school model had served its purpose in a changing church and world. I came home with a head full of ideas and the energy to try something new.


(Families Integrating Sunday and Home) began in September.

More here-

http://www.keyhallonline.org/profiles/shutting-sunday-school/

3 comments:

Kyle Matthew Oliver said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kyle Matthew Oliver said...

Thanks for sharing Day's piece. We were grateful it generated so many wonderful conversations!

The Very Rev. Daniel B. Brown said...

We did too. Advent, Madison, GA. 77 ASA, NEVER more than 5 for SS. Instead, monthly, 5 hour seasonally appropriate programs averaging 20 children 5-11. Shutting it down worked for us.