A Look at Pathway Classes
Sunday School and Pathway Classes are just different names for the hour on Sunday mornings that have been set aside in our church for many years (all the way back to the early 1900’s!) to focus on Bible Study in an age-friendly setting. I remember hearing about Sunday School attendance competitions with the Baptist Church in Eldora decades ago, where we might see 150-200 people during this faith forming hour.
Sunday School over the years has definitely had its ebbs and flows. In the early 2000’s, I recall the need for 4-5 elementary teachers, with sometimes having enough students to have a small class for each grade level. It was also about this same time in the early 2000’s, where we launched our small groups initiative. These groups focused on building community and strong relationships, fellowship, and Bible Study. In a sense, it replaced what some of our adult Sunday School classes had become. Our former Sunday School classes were often broken out into different adult age groups, where they’d have Bible Study and fellowship built into the SS hour and would even have a connection event outside the church at the end of a semester.
Our small group ministry birth was a season we started to see a shift in our Sunday School attendance. Some individuals and families who would meet for small group every other week on Sunday nights no longer attended Pathway classes. It was also about this time that we focused more on elective classes in areas like books of the Bible, practical living (marriage, parenting, etc.), theology, and doctrine at different points throughout the year. We started to offer rotating teachers leading 6 to12 week classes to make it easier for adults to be a part of those.
We saw another major shift when we started 3 services. While our Children’s Ministry SS numbers grew during this time, it negatively affected both our youth and adult numbers as families attended different services each week based on family schedules, etc. While parents were sometimes only there for an hour, I recommended our M.S. and H.S. students attend the worship service, if they had to choose. I often say that the ebbs and flows of Sunday School/Pathway are neither good nor bad, just different.
As a Transformation Team, we are trying to figure out where we go next with Pathway Classes. We made it a Transformation Goal this year to get a survey out to you, our SRBC family, whether you currently attend Pathway classes or not. We want to take an honest evaluation of what can be improved upon, changed, or at the very least, collect some data to help us chart out our next best steps.
We have put together a survey, which can be filled out electronically via the Google Form link found below. You can also get a hard copy from the Welcome Center. Please turn those hard copies into Bryce when completed. You can fill out the form anonymously, or you can put your name on it if you prefer. We are hoping to get at least 30 responses by August 1st, covering adults of all ages. Your input would be so valuable if you’d be willing to help us out!
In all things, in all ministries, we press on as a church to Follow Jesus…Further!
SRBC Pathway Class Evaluation Google Form: https://forms.gle/FzouN7x8uS6r9fLPA
Blessings,
Pastor Bryce
