Looking For A Friend

People are not looking for a friendly church. People are looking for a friend. Sunday School provides a tremendous opportunity for you and me to be a friend to someone as we help move them closer and closer to Christ. Consider the acrostic F.R.I.E.N.D.

F – First impressions are very important. Each Sunday School Department should have Greeters that welcome everyone to class. When guests arrive, Greeters should assist with registration, introduce them to other members, and even offer to sit with them in Sunday School and worship.

R – Remember their name. A hit song from 1982 said, “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.” We all notice when someone is able to call us by name. I have heard it said that an individual is effectively assimilated into a class when their name is scribbled on the back of at least six members’ telephone books.

I – Invite every member and every prospect to every class party. A party environment can seem less threatening to someone that is not familiar with church or Bible study groups. Parties provide you with the necessary time needed to talk, listen, and discover one another’s life stories.

E – Encourage class members to consider people they meet in everyday life as a potential friend. This includes your child’s soccer coach, the person that cuts your hair, the coworker in the cubicle next to you, and on and on. Maybe, just maybe, God has us crossing paths with these people to ask the question “How are you doing?” and then to actually take the time to stick around and listen.

N – Never remove a member or a prospect from your Sunday School role unless they ask you to. I’ve never understood why groups would do this unless they were trying to increase their attendance percentage. Most of us have experienced times when our involvement with a Bible study group was not where it should have been on our priority list. I am sure it is safe to say you appreciated knowing you were not forgotten.

D – Daily, not just on Sundays, implement F.R.I.E.N.D. in your life.