Steven R. Parr - Sunday School that Really Excels: Real Life Examples of Churches with Healthy Sunday Schools

Read these chapters and put the ideas to work in your own church. By doing so, your Sunday school will thrive with life and renewed vitality.

Gary L. McIntosh,

PhD, Professor, Christian Ministry & Leadership, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University

Steve Parr is a great champion and leader for Sunday school. This man knows his stuff, but he has also gathered some of the greatest Sunday school minds in North America.... This book represents expertise from great Christian leaders and experiences from other churches, which form a powerful storehouse of usefulness for anyone wanting to use and grow their Sunday school.

from the foreword by Allan Taylor,

Minister of Education First Baptist Church, Woodstock, GA

Other Books on Sunday school by Steve R. Parr

Sunday School That Really Works

Sunday School That Really Responds

Sunday School That Really Excels

Real Life Examples of Churches with

Healthy Sunday Schools

Steve R. Parr

Editor

kregel DIGITAL EDITIONS

www.kregeldigitaleditions.com

Sunday School That Really Excels: Real Life Examples of
Churches with Healthy Sunday Schools

2013 Steve R. Parr

Published by Kregel Publications, a division of Kregel, Inc., P.O. Box 2607, Grand Rapids, MI 49501.

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked hcsb are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

ISBN 978-0-8254-8819-1

epub edition 1.0

To Dr. Billy Britt for his faithfulness
in leading Sunday Schools to excel

and for his personal devotion
and friendship

Contents

by Allan Taylor

by David Francis

Steve R. Parr

Josh Hunt

Tim S. Smith

Ben Pritchett

J. D. Sonny Tucker

Bob Mayfield

David Francis and Sam Galloway

David Francis and Gary Jennings

Excels with a Volunteer Sunday School Director

J. D. Sonny Tucker

Elmer Towns

Bob Mayfield

Leroy Gainey

Elmer Towns

Tim S. Smith

Ken Coley

Steve R. Parr

Steve R. Parr

Foreword

Any undertaking by the Body of Christ for the cause of Christ should be done with excellence . Our Lord and Savior deserves the very best from his redeemed people. Therefore, the church of Jesus Christ ought to excel . This is especially true for Sunday school and for small groups. You see, small Bible study groups like Sunday school are the body of Christ on mission. Sunday school activates and mobilizes the army of God like nothing else. Think of it. Nothing engages Gods people in the work of God on Earth like Sunday school. Sunday school is the laypersons ministry that can employ the spiritual giftedness of a larger part of a congregation more than any other ministry in the church.

Within each believer, God has placed seeds of excellence . This is so because the Holy Spirit dwells in every true child of God. Because God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, resides in us, we have excellence from within. Therefore, God himself has empowered us to excel . Sunday school is the greatest venue the church possesses which allows her members to express the excellence of God. The great apostle Paul taught this principle in Ephesians 3:911: to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Because God has endowed us to excel because Sunday school is one of the greatest venues for disciples to excel Sunday School That Really Excels , then, becomes such a valuable resource in helping us accomplish the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Steve Parr is a great champion and leader for Sunday school. This man knows his stuff, but he has also gathered some of the greatest Sunday school minds in North America, those who themselves have excelled in this work to provide wisdom and insights from their storied careers to aid church leaders. In addition, case studies have been provided for our edification. This book represents expertise from great Christian leaders and experiences from other churches, which form a powerful storehouse of usefulness for anyone wanting to use and grow their Sunday school.

Too many Sunday schools have wallowed in mediocrity for years. We have been satisfied to have lukewarm Sunday school ministries. We have been satisfied to allow this Most Valuable Ministry in the church to run on auto pilot. I am afraid we have fallen in love with our rhetoric about Sunday school more than excelling at Sunday school.

Jesus isnt the poster boy for status quo. He turned the religious system of his day on its proverbial head. Jesus was willing to turn Judaism upside down, so dont think for even a skinny minute that our religious institutions are safe. Are we raising believers in the cocoon of a domesticated Sunday school class and then wonder why they never get on mission with God? Being a soldier for Christ does not afford us the option of living a normal civilian life. When we get saved, we are placed smack-dab in the middle of a battleground, not a playground. Therefore, Sunday school should be a boot camp preparing soldiers for the spiritual battle, not a place for religious games. Our goal is not to provide a cozy cocoon for civilized faith to exist. Soldiers are trained to advance and take territory.

Two words that always go togethergreatness and excellence . Great leadership is the pursuit of excellence. Without excellence, mission will not be accomplished. Sunday school leader, nothing tells your people what is important as that which you pursue with excellence . Its time to make a shift from just existing and move to excelling . Sunday school leader, if not you, who? If not now, when? If not this resource, what?

Come on now, Commanding Officer, lets rally the troops and charge enemy lines as we excel in the work and mission of Sunday school!

Allan Taylor
Minister of Education
First Baptist Church
Woodstock, GA

Meet the Authors

Steve R. Parr is the author and compiler. He is the author of Sunday School That Really Works and Sunday School That Really Responds . He currently serves the Georgia Baptist Convention as the Vice-President of Staff Coordination and Development.