DUTIES OF SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS

Morningside Baptist Church

The teacher is one of the most important factors in the success, growth, and development of a Sunday School class.  The class is made up of individuals within a specified age range, and possibly grouped by sex.  

The teacher will be a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, an active member of Morningside Baptist Church, and hold to Biblical inerrancy and other doctrines taught by Morningside Baptist Church.

The specific responsibilities of the teacher are as follows:

1. Attend.  The teacher will be expected to attend Sunday School, Sunday morning worship, Sunday evening worship, Weekly Workers Meeting, Wednesday night worship, and visitation.  By so doing, the teacher can be an example of faithfulness, and thus encourage faithfulness among class members.  Teachers should avoid excessive planned absences (more than 2-4 Sundays per year).  The teacher should notify his department director as far in advance of planned absences as possible.  In the case of sudden, unexpected absences, the teacher should notify the department director as soon as practical.

2. Teach.  The teacher will make every effort to effectively teach the specified Bible lesson to his/her pupils, under the leadership of God's Holy Spirit.  The teacher will teach from the open Bible, rather than from a quarterly.  Quarterlies, commentaries, and other resources should be used for study and preparation.  The teacher's goal is to use a variety of teaching methods to lead the class members to discover the truths contained in the Bible passage, and to apply those truths to their everyday lives.  Teachers are to strive for very practical application of Bible truths, so the members can live the lesson throughout their daily activities.

3. Organize.  The teacher will see that his class is properly organized for outreach and ministry.  The teacher will enlist all other class officers (outreach leader, care group leaders, activities leader, secretary), and with their help organize the class into groups for ministry, encouragement and outreach purposes.  The duties of class officers are:

• The outreach leader is to encourage the class to be involved in reaching out to lost and unchurched persons within its specified age range, and to be certain the care group leaders are doing their jobs.

• The care group leader is to contact every member of his group every week, build a relationship with each group member, minister to the group member, and encourage each group member to be faithful in attendance.

• The activities leader is to plan and carry out fellowship activities for the class.  Every fellowship activity should be used as an outreach opportunity, by inviting prospects to attend. The activities leader and teacher will work with their counterparts from other classes in planning and carrying out department-wide fellowship activities.

• The secretary is to accurately record class attendance and contacts each week.  The outreach leader may perform this function.

• In Preschool and Children's classes there are multiple teachers, with one teacher being the lead teacher.  In those classes, the teachers share the duties carried out by adult class officers.

4. Minister.  The teacher will attempt to get to know the members within his class, and ask the Lord to help him teach the Bible to address those needs wherever possible.  The teacher should visit in the home of each class member at least once a year, and minister to class members when alerted to specific needs by class officers.

5. Direct.  The teacher will lead and direct the work of the class.  The work of the class can be summarized as reaching people for Bible study, teaching the Bible, seeking to win persons to Christ, and developing (or maturing) Christians.  The teacher will see that the other class officers are doing their jobs properly and faithfully (see class officer duties listed in number 3 above).

6. Encourage.  The teacher will challenge and encourage each class officer and class member to become personally involved in the class' work of reaching, teaching, winning, and developing.  As a part of this task, the teacher will be expected to take part in outreach visitation, and encourage each class officer and member to do the same.

7. Fellowship.  Since fellowship and friendships are so needed in our modern, fast-paced world, the teacher will direct the activities leader to plan class fellowship activities on at least a quarterly basis.  Fellowship activities should always be used as  opportunities to reach out to prospects, as well as encourage members.

8. Plan.  The teacher will make planning and preparation for teaching an important priority in his weekly schedule.  Included in such planning will be participation in the Weekly Workers Meeting, each Wednesday at 6:15 p.m.

9. Plan.  The department director will work with teachers in planning department events.  The director will also plan with the minister of education and other Sunday School leaders during the weekly department planning time (6:00 p.m. on Wednesdays) and during other planning meetings.

JY 9/19/91

Revised 9/19/97

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