Welcome Sunday School Teachers!
An introduction to teaching Sunday school with a few helpful strategies.
Links to Resources:
Sunday School Teacher Shared Resources Drive - This is a place for teachers to share lesson notes and resources.
Bible Arc - A tool for setting up English and original languages side by side with the ability to click on words for definitions, Strongs number, and part of speech.
BibleStudyTool.com - An online tool for accessing lexicons and commentaries
Blue Letter Bible - An online tool for doing word studies and looking at online commentaries.
Mathew Henry Commentary on Christianity.com
Tips & Guidelines:
Start time : 9:00AM - We have some who will come a few minutes later, but generally the teacher should be in the room ready to start by 9AM and begin taking prayer and praise requests by 9:05AM
End Time : 9:55AM - It is good to aim for five minutes before 10AM as the end time to allow for after class fellowship in the class and in the sanctuary before service starts.
Preparation: It is an honor to teach God’s Word and what a privilege it is to prepare for the occasion.
A good opening with a vision for the focus of the lesson on the passage, a few good questions, and a good plan for how to close in a way that ties the opening, questions and the main idea of the passage together is a good plan. Sunday school is different than a sermon or a lecture, and peer to peer learning with the guidance of a teacher can really create an environment for rich discipleship.
Part of your outline should include an overall direction and a plan for interaction. I (Rob) personally found simplifying my outline to one page to be most helpful in having key ideas, comments, observations and quotes readily available without feeling like I had to get through a binder of material which may or may not fit the room on a given morning even if it looked great on Friday. I personally never enjoyed rushing through reading my last few pages of notes with one minute on the clock while everyone stared at me waiting for me to finish. I much more enjoyed landing the plane together, which for me came through having an overview and direction but flexibility and interaction as part of the strategy and plan. At the same time, if several pages of notes is helpful to you then go for it! I also learned that it is hard to really practice teaching Sunday school aside from just doing it. Anticipating where questions might arise can be a helpful way of making questions part of your plan and allotted time.
Delivery: Relax. Be in the moment. Notes are a good aid, but being too tied to them can cause the teacher to come off as rigid, unprepared, and or simply result in reading to the class for 45 minutes (Or speed reading the last few pages as mentioned above). I know when I am too tied to my one page outline I feel less able to relax. It is a awesome feeling when you have the heart of your lesson so in your heart and mind that you get to lead the class through the caves of discovery which you yourself went through in preparing. You have already looked around the corner, and under that rock, and now is the fun part of sharing that with others! Welcoming questions and comments can also reveal where the learners need a little more help in seeing what you are trying to communicate, or seeing a doctrine or the passage more clearly. It is also a way to buy yourself time if you have already covered all of your material and there is a few minutes left. Most classes will have a few individuals you can ask pointed questions of, asking for their opinion invites them to share and it usually opens up the room for safe dialogue as others join in.
Engage: Remember that the SS teacher is more a facilitator of good discussion than a lecturer. If you do not know the answer to a question raised, likely someone in the audience will be glad to comment and help out. And it is always helpful to allow for the class to discuss the passage and the ideas you have the privilege of leading them through. This is one of the sweetest aspects of the SS environment, the co-discovery and peer-peer learning.
HGC Sunday School Teacher Calendar
Q2/Spring 2023 Study in the Gospel of John
Date _____ Passage/Theme _____ Teacher
4/16/23 — John 1:1-2 (Eternality & Deity of Christ) — Mike R..
4/23/23 — John 1:3-5 (Creation by Christ – Light/Darkness) — Chris C.
4/30/23 — John 1:6-8 (John Baptist Last OT Prophet) — Craig P.
5/7/23 — John 1:9-11 (Christ the Light is Rejected) — Craig P.
5/14/23 — John 1:12-13 (Born of the Spirit by God’s Will) — Rex P.
5/21/23 — John 1:14-16 (The Word Became Flesh - Grace) — Rex P.
5/28/23 — John 1:17-18 (L/G – Christ God Making God Known) — Rob L.
6/4/23 — John 1:19-28 (Testimony of John the Baptist Part One) — Mike R.
6/11/23 — John 1:29-34 (Testimony of John the Baptist Part Two) — Gary A.
6/18/23 — John 1:35-39 (The Lamb of God – Andrew Called) — Gary A.
6/25/23 — John 1:40-41 (Peter Called by Christ) — Chad B.
7/2/23 — John 1:42-51 (Philip & Nathanael Called by Christ) — Chad B.
Q3 Schedule
Date. Passage (Theme). Teacher
7/2/23 John 1:42-51 (Philip & Nathanael Called by Christ) - Chad Brown
7/9/23 Biblical Principles of Marriage - 1 Rex & Vickie
7/16/23 Biblical Principles of Marriage - 2 Rex & Vickie
7/23/23 Biblical Principles of Parenting - 1 Mike & Liz
7/30/23 Biblical Principles of Parenting - 2 Mike & Liz
8/6/23 John 2:1-12 (Wedding at Cana) Randy Pinney
8/13/23 John 2:13-22 (Jesus Cleanses Temple) Rob Lewis
8/20/23 John 2:23-3:3 (Must be Born Again) Chris Cavner
8/27/23 John 3:4-15 (Nicodemus & Jesus) Chris Cavner
9/3/23 John 3:16-21 (God so Loved the World) Gary Aruz
9/10/23 John 3:22-36 (John the Baptist Exalts Christ) Gary Aruz
9/17/23 John 4:1-15 (Jesus – Woman of Samaria) Randy Pinney
9/24/32 John 4:16-30 (Jesus – Woman of Samaria 2) Rob Lewis
Q4 Schedule
Date Passage (Theme) Teacher
10/1/23 John 4:31-38 Reap But Did Not Sow. Rex
10/8/23 John 4:39-54 Believing His Word & His Signs Rex
10/15/23 John 5:1-17 Healing on the Sabbath Craig
10/22/23 John 5:18-23 The Son Gives Life Craig
10/29/23 John 5:24 Whoever Hears & Believes Mike
11/5/23 John 5:25-36 Jesus Has Authority from the Father Mike
11/12/23 John 5:37-47 Believe Moses = Believe Jesus Gary
11/19/23 John 6:1-15 Feeding Five Thousand Gary
11/26/23 John 6:16-21 Jesus Walks on Water Randy
12/3/23 John 6:22-35 Jesus Bread of Life Randy
12/10/23. John 6:36-51 Whoever Believes Has Eternal Life Chris
12/17/23 John 6:52-59 Whoever Feeds on This Bread Chris
12/24/23 John 6:60-65 No One Can Come Unless Rob
12/31/23 John 6:66-71 To Whom Shall We Go? Rob