Leadership Journal

Nearly nine in ten pastors say Sunday school is an important part of their church's ministry, but apparently not as important as it once was. In a 2002 survey, researcher George Barna found 22% of pastors called Sunday school their church's top priority. In a survey this year, that number dropped to 15%. The pollster offers several evidences for this decline in attention to Christian education:

• Fewer churches offer classes for young children. For infants under age two, the number of participating churches fell from 79% to 73% since 1997. For kids ages two to five, the number declined from 94% to 88% in that period.

• Fewer classes for adolescents. Churches with Sunday school programs for junior high students declined (93% to 88%), as did high school classes (86% to 80%).

This represents about 20,000 fewer churches providing Sunday school for each age group. The numbers held steady over the past eight years for elementary age students with 92% of churches offering classes, and adults at 91%.

Churches offering midweek programs for children are also on the decline, dropping six points in three years to 58%. Younger pastors are more open to new forms of Christian education for children, and more likely to ax traditional Sunday school. Another significant shift is the number of churches creating their own curriculum. That number has doubled in three years to 18%.

The survey was commissioned by Gospel Light, a curriculum publisher in Ventura, California.

Only two books showed up frequently on pastors' reading lists, in a George Barna survey, and both of them are by Rick Warren. The Purpose Driven Life was named by 21% of pastors as one of the most helpful books they read in the past three years. Just behind that was The Purpose Driven Church at 15%.

The rest of the list covered more than 200 titles, with none getting more than 5% of the vote. John Maxwell was runner-up to Rick Warren, followed by Henry Blackaby, Jim Cymbala, Bill Hybels, Andy Stanley, and Philip Yancey.

More than half of pastors (54%) read at least one book on discipleship or personal spiritual growth, while 23% read books on church growth or ministry and 22% read about leadership. At the bottom of the list: cultural trends, prayer, and preaching, with 5% or less.