by Polly House, LifeWay Communications
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Training church leaders has been a forte of LifeWay Christian Resources for almost a century. It’s important. Churches recognize that and so does LifeWay.
Training has historically meant that a church leader – a Sunday school teacher, for example – would find a course that he or she wanted to take; leave home and go to, say, another church in that person’s local association; and listen to someone from LifeWay with expertise in Sunday school functions teach how to become a more effective teacher or leader.
Times – and training – are changing.
A new, free Sunday school training event will debut July 11, this one with a twist.
“Great Expectations: Live Sunday School Training from LifeWay Ridgecrest Conference Center” will be offered to a virtual audience live, online from LifeWay Ridgecrest Conference Center. Instead of being trained “at” a conference center, the audience will be trained “from” the conference center.
“This free online training event is designed so that an attendee’s Sunday school class can have even greater impact on the church, in its local community and in the lives of its members when expectations are raised and thinking is enlarged,” said Bruce Raley, director of leadership ministry training and events at LifeWay.
While leaving home for training is still the norm, LifeWay has begun to offer more training opportunities online. Just this year, people have already been invited to log on and “attend” three online events: The Summit: A Convergence of Small-Group Experts; Worship: Reverence vs. Relevance; and Sunday School vs. Small Groups.
Still, David Francis, LifeWay’s director of Sunday school and author of “Great Expectations: Planting Seeds for Sunday School Growth,” called the July 11 online training event “unprecedented.”
“It will be interactive, inspirational and designed to help our audience build God-empowered, focused and connected Sunday school classes,” he said.
Raley said that as of mid-June 7,000 people had registered for the event, keeping pace with the goal of 10,000-plus participants. “This will certainly be the largest Sunday school training in our history.”
The training event is for teachers, directors, class leaders and church staff.
Virtual audience members will have the opportunity to submit real-time questions and interact with other attendees around the country through a live chat feature or via Twitter using the event hashtag #GrtExp.
The July 11 event takes place from 4-6 p.m. (EDT). A link to the webcast will be placed on the Great Expectations training page at LifeWay.com/GreatExpectations one week prior to the event. Early registrants can elect to receive e-mails featuring reminders, links to participant guides, and viewing instructions.
Free downloadable materials are available on the training page as well.
The panel conducting the training includes Francis and Raley as well as Allan Taylor, minister of education, First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Ga.; Jeff Young, minister of spiritual development, Prestonwood Baptist Church, Plano, Texas; and P.K. Spratt, minister of education, Jersey Baptist Church, Columbus, Ohio.
“Our hope is to make this a great experience for Sunday school leaders,” Francis said. “We want it to be as simple as signing in.”