As the church and Sunday School ministry grows, the need for workers in the church increases as well. The pastor or Sunday School superintendent will be in a constant cycle of recruiting and training new workers for the ministry.

As you bring new servants into the work of the Lord, the following considerations may be helpful.

1. Pray for laborers.

“Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:38

Not only should we pray for the laborers the Lord has already provided, but we should also pray for new laborers. The times that I have had trouble recruiting new workers were also the times when I was not praying enough for workers. Pray for your current teachers and helpers in every class, and pray with them as well.

2. Involve everyone you can in the work of the ministry.

One of the first and best things a young Christian can do is to go soul winning. A growing church will have many opportunities for every member to take the gospel to their area. A new believer should be involved immediately in door-knocking. The sooner a young Christian is involved in soul winning, the easier it will be to motivate him to serve in the ministry.

As soon as possible, once the new member has fulfilled the requirements outlined in the workers’ standards and policies of your church, involve him in a Sunday school class in some area or another. Whether it is providing the promotion for the week, teaching the memory verse, or teaching the class a new song, the new member can help in many areas without being intimidated by a teaching position.

3. Train helpers to be teachers.

When the need arises for a new teacher, those who have helped in other classes should be recruited and trained to be teachers themselves. There should be a culture of serving that permeates the entire ministry. That may begin with being a greeter, helping prepare the promotion for that week, or taking attendance. As they grow in their current area of service, they should always be in a training mode for the next step of service.

As a leader in the church or in the Sunday School ministry, you should constantly be in a mindset of training God’s people for the work of the ministry. It begins with prayer—praying for them, praying with them, and praying for more laborers. It will grow as you involve everyone you can in the work of the ministry. As the need arises, if you have trained helpers to be teachers, your numbers will not outgrow the teachers you have available to fill those classrooms.

Share this post
David Sloan

David Sloan, Spanish Pastor

David Sloan serves as pastor of the Spanish Department of North Valley Baptist Church. He and his family were missionaries in the Former Soviet Union and the Middle East, where he served as United States representative to the Christian Caucus in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. He and his wife Jolene have five children. Bro. Sloan is part of a missionary heritage of fourteen families who serve on the mission field, spanning seven countries and four continents. He is also the Missions Director at Golden State Baptist College.