The denomination can grow again, says Texas pastor Boyce Bowdon, Nov 21, 2008
By Boyce Bowdon Special Contributor
What can the United Methodist Church do to stop declining and start growing again? “Nothing, according to some prophets of doom,” says Jim Pledger, a Texas pastor and former district superintendent. “They say our denomination’s decline is like our country’s national debt. It’s just going to keep getting worse.”
Dr. Pledger disagrees. Though it would help if we could “make all our ministers younger and brighter,” he says that’s not doable. But there is a solution, he says, that will turn the denomination around, and it is doable.
The way to start, he says, is to focus on Sunday schools: “Some people claim Sunday schools have seen their day, that small groups have taken their place. We need small groups, but they are not substitutes for Sunday school. They don’t last long. Sunday school classes can last decades and become vital learning, leadership and support groups.”
During his years as a district superintendent, Dr. Pledger saw evidence that when a church’s Sunday school starts declining, the total church starts declining soon. He led efforts in his district—and later in his conference—that stopped the decline of Sunday schools and improved the overall health of churches.
Now in his sixteenth year as senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Sherman, Texas, Dr. Pledger says strengthening Sunday school produced encouraging results in his church. Attendance had been declining, but now it is growing and so are other areas of the church.
“When I came to Sherman, I saw immediately that our people wanted their church to do better. And I think people in most churches want their churches to do better. That’s why I’m hopeful the United Methodist Church will do better.”
Based on his experiences at local church, district and conference levels, Dr. Pledger suggests five ways churches can strengthen their Sunday schools:
1. Make Sunday school your priority for at least a year. He thinks Sunday school deserves special emphasis because it is “the glue that holds the church together and the pivotal place we can make changes that transform people and churches.”
2. Pastors are keys to strengthening Sunday schools, he says. “If the pastor does everything possible to emphasize Sunday school. That alone will improve attendance.”
3. Encourage classes to brighten their classrooms, put more time and thought into their lessons, sponsor appealing social activities, take on meaningful service projects, and invite visitors and include them when they come.
4. Start new classes. “New classes are usually more appealing to people who have not been attending Sunday school,” he says.
5. Adapt classes to people’s needs. “Sunday morning is not the only time Sunday school classes can meet,” Dr. Pledger says. “They can also meet in homes, apartments, retirement facilities, restaurants, coffee shops. What matters is not when and where classes meet; what matter is what happens when classes meet.”
Dr. Pledger concludes. “John Wesley adapted to people’s needs. If we adapt our Sunday schools and all our other ministries to people’s needs, our denomination will grow again.”
Dr. Bowdon is a freelance writer in Oklahoma City, Okla.
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