More Sunday school teachers must be trained. This is an urgent and compelling need. Most youth ministers and teachers follow their inclinations, often without a structure or lesson plans. Furthermore, they lack support sufficient from church leadership. Perhaps they were asked to volunteer as Sunday school teachers, but then they received no preparation or guidance.
This urgent need became apparent during the Children’s Ministry Seminar, which took place on March 4th at Mukhanyo’s Johannesburg Campus. Approximately 50 people, mostly Sunday school teachers, attended the seminar. The facilitator was the experienced Danielle Petzer from the Reformed Church Linden. She began by sharing the Bible’s teachings about children. She also raised several questions to help understand youth ministry. Such as, what do research and statistics indicate regarding children brought up in church? What do we do with children at church? What practical steps can we take in our churches?
Practical suggestions included the following:
- Always carry a hard-copy Bible when ministering to children to indicate that the message is from God.
- Always present the message in an engaging manner.
- Keep the children’s attention span in mind: don’t waste words and alternate activities regularly to keep them attentive.
- Engage all their senses when teaching. They should not just be passive listeners, rather, they should smell, see, feel, and do hands-on activities.
- Men should also teach children, not just women.
- There are various techniques to capture and maintain the interest and attention of children, as well as methods to ensure discipline and order.
- Teachers need to prioritize building positive and secure relationships between themselves and the children, as well as between the children themselves, before the teenage years when children tend to close up.
During the seminar, the participants were presented with practical techniques for effectively communicating the gospel to children. These involved interactive activities, games, and affordable scientific experiments. The importance of adequate preparation by the teacher was also emphasised.
