Training that Multiplies

John Cionca

A few years ago on a pleasant autumn evening, I was splitting the last of the wood that would carry me through the winter. As the sledgehammer crashed against the metal wedge for the umpteenth time, a piece of tempered steel flew off and lodged in my left thigh.

I went to our family doctor, a general practitioner. He made an incision and then used his probe to try and locate the metal. A little more cutting, and a little more probing. A little more cutting, and a little more probing. Nothing was said about an x ray. He finally closed the incision, unable to locate the metal chip. Today I still carry a scar of that trial-and-error experience.

In two weeks I am facing knee surgery I have put off for more than a decade. If I keep stalling, says a medical friend, I could be the proud recipient of a plastic knee down the road. So I’ve decided to take the step. A man in my congregation who had arthroscopic surgery recently has recommended his specialist, a highly trained surgeon with the University of Pennsylvania’s sports medicine clinic.

Which doctor do you think I have chosen—my hometown G.P. or the specialist in Philadelphia? The answer is obvious.

Competence is valued in all professions. When your automobile has a carburetion problem, why do several friends suggest J & J Mechanics? The difference, even beyond natural ability, is training.

Pastors realize there is no short cut to competence. We want teachers to grow continually in the skills of teaching. We face several problems, however, in trying to provide training. For some churches, the cost of seminars, workshops, and materials is a hurdle. Others find the clock their worst enemy, not being able to find times when their people are available.

While these issues are real, I think the main barriers to training are something else. First, lay people do not perceive themselves as Christian educators but rather as regular folk who “just teach on Sundays.” While at their employment they recognize the need for training, the same does not hold true at church. After all, they teach only an hour a week.

For some, it almost becomes a mystical thing. God surely will not allow Scripture to “return void.” The Holy Spirit is supposed to do something with any text dropped on students.

In this kind of setting, the work of training teachers can feel like trying to push a rope.

A second problem is that local-church training programs are often sporadic. One pastor put it this way: “We need an ongoing training program, not just a one-time class for thirteen weeks.”

In order to make our ministry team effective, we need to develop an overall training program, supported by continual encouragement of teachers to be part of that training. Here are some principles that, with time, can develop a program both accepted and utilized by a staff.

Build Right Attitudes

Pastors are models and motivators. We try to demonstrate Christian principles in our own daily living, and we try to encourage others to grow in Christ. If we want people to grow in their communicating skills, they must be aware that we are doing things to improve our pastoral skills. By sharing what we learned at a conference, passing on a good article, or summarizing a good cassette, we model the attitude that training is important.

Do we really believe there is no greater task in all the world than building God’s Word into God’s people? My family is important, sports have a place, and the grass must be cut, but there is no more worthy activity than taking the eternal Word of God and presenting it to the people of God.

Our program leaders have to catch our vision of that high calling. Whether someone teaches one hour or three hours a week is not the issue. What is significant is that in the time available they have the great responsibility and privilege of communicating reality and truth to people bombarded by society’s illusions.

The teaching team may grow by hearing special conference speakers, but the ongoing excitement and motivation that moves them toward improving their skills has to be generated by us.

Use the Many Options Available

None of us in North America can say we lack training formats and materials. Here are the various components:

Curriculum. If a teacher wants to improve his or her skills, the place to start is to thoroughly study the teaching material. One church in our town has a particularly good early-childhood department. The coordinator believes it’s because the teachers meet together, study the curriculum, and decide how they will apply it to their students.

Most publishing houses employ professional educators who understand learners and design methods to reach them. Volunteer teachers who ignore the curriculum only deprive themselves and their students.

Department Meetings. The boys of our church wanted a club program. Several men met for training, and there was an air of excitement. The club started out with much enthusiasm, but after four or five months something seemed to be missing.

As I checked with the program director, I recognized the problem. The men were no longer meeting for training and prayer now that the program was running. Each man was simply doing his thing. Loose ends were tied up through phone calls.

Regular program or department meetings are essential for planning and coordination, but they can also be used for building skills. When workers join together for prayer and program concerns each month, they enhance accountability and encourage fellowship among the ministry team.

If I could use only one training opportunity, the monthly department or program meeting would be it.

Individual Training. In the average college dorm, some students enjoy studying together for exams, while others prefer to isolate themselves in the library. In the same way, some teachers benefit greatly from a correspondence course, a book, or a tape related to their area of responsibility.

Our church has put together a list of good books and cassettes for teachers. Most are available in the church library, but I also keep copies of some. When a teacher is willing to work on his own, I provide the material, encourage him, and try to follow up later to let him know I’m proud of someone who invests personal time in the ministry of teaching.

Guest Speakers/Workshop Leaders. Last month I drove to Schenectady, New York, to spend Friday evening and all day Saturday with the teachers of a church. I really did not say anything I’ve not provided for my own people, but the very fact that I was an outside “expert” was motivational to that group.

When we provide opportunities for our teachers to hear excited educators, we not only give them bits of information to use in their teaching but also build their motivation for the Lord’s work. I’ve personally known pastors who strengthened their educational programs by one or more of the following:

• Bringing in a consultant to do a Sunday school evaluation.

• Scheduling a Walk Through the Bible seminar, which was required for their teaching staff but also open to the entire congregation.

• Inviting a Christian education professor from a Bible college to conduct a Saturday morning seminar.

• Scheduling an evening for teachers to listen to a local expert speak on building self-esteem in children.

• Using a publishing-house consultant to help the staff implement their Sunday school material.

With some advance planning and scheduling, every congregation should be able to have at least one in-service training opportunity a year for its people.

Conventions and Seminars. When I was a freshman in college, our youth pastor took five of us a hundred miles to attend the InterVarsity conference on missions at Urbana. The sessions were meaningful to me, but equally special was the time I spent with Ed and these other committed collegians.

I’ve seen the same thing happen with Sunday school teachers as we’ve driven to weekend seminars 150 miles away.

The cost of these outside training opportunities varies from one to forty dollars per person. The value is well worth it. I don’t have to be the expert; yet my people can be trained. I don’t have to use my facilities, produce the materials, and manage all the other essential details; yet my people can have a full day or two of training.

When I take my people to such conventions, I notice other pastors are often absent. Yes, it is difficult for a senior pastor to get away—but no more difficult than for people who work at a secular job throughout the week. In the long run, I am much better off deferring six counseling sessions and attending a seminar with my teachers. My participation has a positive, multiplying effect. The time I spend in those training opportunities is far more beneficial than some of the repetitive, urgent calls that do not have a multiplying effect.

Develop a Comprehensive Program

What does all this add up to? Is there any way to coordinate the entire training effort? Can we be sure we are not omitting an important area? What can we expect and require of every worker?

I’ve been impressed with a homely little outline used by scores of churches called LEROY. In fact, I’ve used it successfully in two congregations. It was originally described in an article by Dr. Roy Zuck.

LEROY is an acronym for:

Leadership Training. To meet this requirement, workers complete a twelve-hour Christian education course—anything from a weekend seminar to a correspondence course to a night class at a nearby Christian college.

Evaluation. Here a teacher invites another person to evaluate one of his or her class sessions. Evaluations help us know how we are doing. Is this threatening? When everyone is doing it, the anxiety is minimized. Evaluators use a standard form. They are encouraged to be positive and supportive. At the end of the class session, they review their observations with the teacher and then leave the form with the person who has just taught.

Reading. To meet this qualification, the Christian education worker reads at least three hundred pages related to his or her area of teaching, chosen from an approved reading list drawn up by the Christian education committee.

Observation. This means going to watch another teacher at work. The program coordinator makes assignments and hands out observation forms to be used.

In one of my churches, I had a close relationship with pastors of two other congregations. We often had our teachers observe in the departments of one another’s churches.

Yearly Conference. This criteria is met by attending a Sunday school convention and participating in one general session plus two workshops. (We permitted a substitution for those who couldn’t make the convention weekend; they could study and outline three cassette messages from an approved list in the media library.)

The flexibility of this program is appealing. The requirements to be a certified worker are reachable by all. It doesn’t matter if the person teaches on Sunday morning, leads a midweek club, or coaches a Bible quiz team. He or she can still be a LEROY worker.

For two months prior to introducing the program, we put signs around the church and in the newsletter that said, “LEROY is coming.” Within four months of formal introduction, we had our first LEROY workers. Three individuals were presented with certificates in the morning worship service, and their pictures were placed in the narthex.

If such a program is to be effective, one person must oversee it. In our church, this person serves on the Christian education committee and maintains records of the entire faculty on four-by-six cards (see sample).

We’ve all heard the saying “If anything is worth doing, it is worth doing well. Pastors agree wholeheartedly. But there is no way to accomplish our task with our one to three shots of weekly preaching. In fact, our Lord knew this. That is why, through the influence of his Spirit, he told us our job was “the equipping of the saints for the work of service” (Eph. 4:12).

If our people are to be effective in teaching, we must give ample time and attention to team building. In fact, maybe this aspect of our ministry should be our highest commitment. I don’t have all the skills to make my people effective biblical communicators, but those resources are available to me. They are all around me. My job is to plant seeds in the hearts of the Christian education committee and program leaders and keep cultivating them so they in turn can implement the details of ongoing training.

Teacher training doesn’t need to be like pushing a rope. On the other hand, it will never be a self-propelled rope, either. We can pull a rope, however, thereby giving educational leadership to our churches.

I have not chosen my general practitioner to do the delicate arthoscopic surgery on my knee. Neither will parents choose to send their children to a Sunday school teacher who bores them and turns them off to the most exciting message in the universe.

While I can’t do all things well, and some people might criticize me for deficiencies in my ministry, I choose to give attention and encouragement to ongoing teacher training.

SAMPLE LEROY BROCHURE

Questions and Answers

“What is LEROY?”

A five-part voluntary certification program for our Christian education workers.

“How can LEROY help me?”

*It is flexible and fully self-programmed. You can proceed at the pace best suited to you.

*It will broaden your training beyond “just another training course.”

*It has built-in options to meet your individual needs and interests.

*It is easy for you to achieve and yet difficult enough to present a significant challenge.

“Why should I volunteer to earn the LEROY award?”

It will help you learn new methods to make the Bible relevant to today’s students.

As you and others gain certification, the quality of instruction in the Christian education program will improve. Each person will be doing a better job for the Lord’s glory.

“OK, how do I start?”

1. Look at the “Record of Progress” and decide which point of LEROY you want to complete first.

2. Write your name and date on the “Record of Progress” every time you complete a point.

3. Have your department head sign your “Record of Progress” when you complete all five points. Then give it to the minister of education. A properly signed and framed certificate will be presented to you in an evening service.

4. Each year thereafter, complete one of the five points to renew your certification.

RECORD OF PROGRESS

Leadership Course
	name of course	your name	date
Evaluation
	name of evaluator	your name	date
Reading
	name of book(s)	your name	date
Observation
	name of church	your name	date
Yearly conference
	name of conference	your name	date

Office Use:
Certification issued		Signature of Department Head

EVALUATION OF THE TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS

This evaluation will necessarily be subjective; nevertheless, it will serve as a useful tool in trying to analyze the teaching-learning process. If you feel you are not qualified to make a judgment on an item, you may omit it.

A general air of FRIENDLINESS pervades the classroom.
Friendliness ___:___:___:___:___:___ Coldness
The teacher’s ENTHUSIASM stimulates class interest.
Enthusiasm ___:___:___:___:___:___ Boredom
The teacher uses PERSONAL EXAMPLES and is willing to admit personal shortcomings.
Honesty ___:___:___:___:___:___ Cover-up
HUMOR in the classroom tends to promote learning.
Humor ___:___:___:___:___:___ Lack of humor
Clear and commanding SPEAKING TECHNIQUE aids learning.
Good speech ___:___:___:___:___:___ Poor speech
Freedom from ANNOYANCES in the classroom contributes to the effectiveness of the teaching-learning situation.
Free from annoyances ___:___:___:___:___:___ Many distractions
The PROMPTNESS and efficiency of the instructor increases the value of the class.
Promptness ___:___:___:___:___:___ Lateness
The general APPEARANCE and demeanor of the teacher are appropriate.
Good appearance ___:___:___:___:___:___ Poor appearance
The working relationship of the staff are complementary to each other and add to the UNITY of the learning process.
Unity ___:___:___:___:___:___ Disunity
The teacher maintains good DISCIPLINE in the classroom.
Good discipline ___:___:___:___:___:___ Poor discipline
The PURPOSE of the course is clear to the students.
Clear purpose ___:___:___:___:___:___ Unclear purpose
The instructor’s PREPARATION appears adequate.
Good preparation ___:___:___:___:___:___ Poor preparation
Classroom activities are ORDERLY and systematic.
Good organization ___:___:___:___:___:___ Disorganization
ASSIGNMENTS are clear and challenging.
Good assignments ___:___:___:___:___:___ Poor assignments
Teaching METHODS are appropriate.
Appropriate ___:___:___:___:___:___ Not appropriate
List methods used: *
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