How does a person succeed as a Sunday school superintendent? Leadership success is no accident. There are basic rules for leadership success that work in business, in the church and in the Sunday school. Check this list to see how you stack up and where you might be able to improve.
Be enthusiastic. Enthusiasm tends to rub off on those around you. If you are enthusiastic and happy in your work as a Sunday school leader, the members of your teaching staff and students of your Sunday school will almost surely catch your same excitement and make it a part of their view of the Sunday school.
Ask questions. Listen more than you talk. Seek input from your teachers and students of all ages.
Show you care. Let your teachers and workers know that you are interested in their problems and concerns and that you will help solve them.
Get others involved in planning. Teachers’ meetings are a key to this, but don’t forget to get ideas and input from students, too.
Keep learning. Whenever possible, attend workshops, seminars and Sunday school conventions to get ideas and to learn more about Sunday school and the skills necessary to make a Sunday school run smoothly. Subscribe to several good Christian education magazines and check the materials available at your Christian bookstore, too.
Be aware of what others are doing. Another advantage of attending workshops, seminars and Sunday school conventions is to hear what other Sunday schools are doing. Avoid looking for their faults, but rather for their strengths that you can build upon for your church.
Be aware of what is going on in your own Sunday school. A good superintendent will make it a point to visit each Sunday school class on a regular basis. Make a checklist of what you are looking for in each teacher and class. Lovingly help your teachers become aware of ways they can help improve themselves and their teaching methods. One way of doing this is to arrange to use a video recorder to tape the entire lesson presentation by a teacher and then view the tape with the teacher after the class period.
Evaluate yourself. What kind of a job are you doing as a Sunday school superintendent? Are you giving the time necessary to fulfill the commitment you have made to your Sunday school? Do you procrastinate? Do you pray regularly for your Sunday school, its officers, teachers and students?
John Wanamaker, one of the great Sunday school leaders of the past here in Pennsylvania, was once asked how he found time to be the superintendent of a large Sunday school with all his business and other commitments. He answered, “Sunday school is my business, my only business. All other things are just things.” If the Sunday schools of today are to grow, our leaders must have similar commitments both to God and the Sunday school.