SUNDAY SCHOOL THAT REALLY RESPONDS by Steve Parr: AN UNSOLICITED REVIEW

Parr, Steve R. (2011), Sunday School that Really Responds: Wisdom for Confronting 24 Common Sunday School Emergencies. Grand Rapids, MI: Kreger Publications. 256 pp., ISBN: 978-0-8254-4064-9 (sc). $14.99.

After I finished high school and after several uninteresting jobs, I befriended the director of the local emergency medical service (EMS). Time was that emergency medical services were new and challenging the status quo of the time when funeral home hearses doubled as ambulances. In the early 1970s emergency medicine had made strides such that a major trauma or heart attack did not automatically precede a trip to the funeral home. We began to see ambulances owned by funeral homes as a conflict of interest. …but that is another story. Soon I found myself attending school to become a certified Emergency Medical Technician and worked in emergency medicine for several years. I became proficient at emergent care in the medical profession as well as the spiritual. In fact, I find myself to be a better crisis leader than for long term maintenance. Familiarity with emergent care helped me to find Steve Parr’s book, Sunday School that Really Responds, very interesting.

The author looks at the health of a church’s Sunday school through the motif of a patient who may be at any of several crisis points. Thus, the subtitle of the book is fitting—Wisdom for Confronting 24 Common Sunday School Emergencies. The book is neatly divided into two parts with the first listed as “Common Organizational Emergencies” and part two as “Common Class/Group Emergencies.” There are twelve organizational emergencies addressed:

1. OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL IS DYING
2.  WE ARE GOING THROUGH A SLUMP
3. OUR TEACHERS ARE NOT COMMITTED (AND OFTEN ARRIVE LATE)
4. OUR TEACHERS WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN TRAINING
5. WE DO NOT HAVE (M)ANY YOUNG PEOPLE
6. WE DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH LEADERS
7. WE HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE ON OUR ROLLS THAT DO NOT ATTEND
8. OUR WORSHIP ATTENDANCE IS MUCH LARGER THAN OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
9. WE HAVE A TEACHER THAT NEEDS TO STEP DOWN
10. OUR TEACHERS ARE BORING
11. WE ARE COMPLETELY OUT OF SPACE
12. WE HAVE A CLASS THAT WILL NOT COOPERATE

Steve Parr correctly understands that organizational crises can cripple a Sunday school as quickly as a theological challenge which is in fact rare. Church Sunday school or small group crises usually revolve around 1) relational issues, 2) organizational issues, and/or 3) group dynamics. Parr focuses on the organizational issues and group dynamics in this book. Again, theological conflict is often blamed but is actually quite rare. When people won’t get along or if the organization is unhealthy, it is easy to blame some theological issue.

Part 2: Common Class/Group Emergencies includes the following chapters:

1. THEY WANT TO SPLIT (OR CHANGE) MY CLASS
2. WE NEVER HAVE ANY GUESTS
3. OUR GUESTS NEVER RETURN
4. NO ONE WANTS TO HELP WITH OUTREACH
5. I CANNOT GET ANYONE INVOLVED IN DISCUSSION
6. MY CLASS HAS NO LIFE (OR LACKS MORALE)
7. MY CLASS IS NOT GROWING
8. I DO NOT LIKE THE CURRICULUM
9. I DO NOT HAVE TIME TO LEAD MY CLASS (TO DO ALL THAT IS NEEDED)
10. I CANNOT GET ANYONE TO HELP ME
11. OUR LEADERS EXPECT TOO MUCH OF THE TEACHERS
12. I WANT TO QUIT

The author effectively includes stories that connect the reader to the concept being discussed. The book is well planned, simple, as well as practical for pastors and ministry staff and volunteers. Each of the 24 chapters includes crisis levels with diagnostic questions so readers may determine the condition of their Sunday school and small groups. The condition levels are the emergency, triage, prescription, first aid, and rehab.

This is an excellent book to which this writer gives a five star rating primarily because it connects to the target audience with practical helps. As a discipleship specialist, Parr’s book may easily assist leaders in improving the disciple-making effectiveness of the Bible study units of the church. While the traditional main objective of Sunday school is “reaching people” with the gospel of Christ, the goal is to make disciples and not just converts. It is imperative that the triage questions be used for determining the effectiveness of disciple-making. Parr lists ten overall principles by which to guide leaders. The ten principles may easily apply to the overall mission of the church—to make disciple-makers. (For the principles—read the book.) Unfortunately, the book is not yet available in electronic format. This book is highly recommended to leaders looking for practical answers to the Sunday school/small group problems.

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Questions:

1. Consider two churches where one uses Sunday school and the other uses small groups. Do the crisis problems and solutions apply to both?
2. What are the differences organizationally and relationally from Sunday school to small groups?
3. What is the condition of your Sunday school/small groups?
4. Do you agree that the principles of this book apply to discipleship as well?
5. Do you agree that most Sunday school/small group problems are relational?

 

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Dr. Tom Cocklereece is CEO of RENOVA Coaching and Consulting, LLC. He is a pastor, author, professional coach, leadership specialist, and is a member Coach/Teacher/Speaker for the John Maxwell Team

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