Book Review Blurb: Sunday School That Really Excels

Book ranking – 5 out of 10

Book Title and Author The book Sunday School That Really Excels was edited by Steven R. Parr and co-authored by a number of other leaders in the Sunday School movement. Parr is an adjunct professor at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and the Vice President for Sunday School for the George Baptist Convention. He has authored a number of books on the subject of ecclesiology: Sunday School That Really Works and Sunday School That Really Responds.

Author’s Main Purpose The purpose is to profile different churches with different Sunday Schools and how they not just survive but actually thrive.

Table of Contents

• Chapter 1 (written by Steve Parr and titled “The State of Sunday school Today”) is the record of an interview conducted with Dr. Thom Rainer, who is the President of Lifeway Christian Resources. Parr asks Dr. Rainer a number of questions about the modern Sunday school movement and what the church is doing right and wrong with Sunday School.

• Chapter 2 (written by Josh Hunt and titled “Excels in the Middle of Nowhere”) is a chapter illustrating that a “normal” or “plain” or “ordinary” church can have a vibrant Sunday school program. The church used as an illustration throughout the chapter is Vansickle Baptist Church in Greenville, Texas.

• Chapter 3 (written by Tim S. Smith and titled “Excels in a Rural Area”) profiles Corinth Baptist Church in Haralson County, Georgia. Like Ch. 2, it also seeks to demonstrate a thriving Sunday school program can exist in churches in rural areas.

• Chapter 4 (written by Ben Pritchett and titled “Excels in Revitalizing an Established Ministry) looks at Houston First Baptist Church and their five key principles that have given this aged church a vibrant Sunday school ministry (1) Know the purpose of what your Sunday school is, and stick to it. (2) Make certain that the key leaders share a common understanding and agreement of the purpose of Sunday school. (3) Make sure the members of the Sunday School understand and accept the purpose. (4) Keep the strategy of outreach and evangelism at the heart of the Sunday school. (5) Train and equip your leadership to do the work for the Sunday school.

• Chapter 5 (written by J.D. “Sonny” Tucker and titled “Excels with a Small Congregation”) takes a glimpse at Beulah Baptist Church in Farmersville, Louisiana. This country church has a vibrant Sunday school program that focuses on four things: intentional evangelism, warm and loving fellowship in the church, prayer, and the guest ministry.

• Chapter 6 (written by Bob Mayfield and titled “Excels in Hands-on Missions) discusses the connection between having a successful Sunday school program and a heart for local and global missions.

• Chapter 7 (written by David Francis and Sam Galloway and titled “Excels on the Heels of a Crisis”) shares the story of how First Baptist Church of Vandalia, Ohio built up their Sunday school program while their pastor was suffering from the effects of a massive stroke and then later died.

• Chapter 8 (written by David Francis and Gary Jennings and titled “Excels in Equipping Leaders”) looks at Dunkirk Baptist Church in Dunkirk, Maryland and their method of building up and training leaders for their Sunday school program.

• Chapter 9 (written by J.D. “Sonny” Tucker and titled “Excels with a Volunteer Sunday School Director”) profiles New Life Baptist Church in Alexander, Arkansas and seeks to demonstrate that you don’t need especially trained men to lead a Sunday school ministry – just willing servants.

• Chapter 10 (written by Elmer Towns and titled “Excels with an Attendance Campaign”) overviews a campaign called “Friend Day” where people are encouraged to bring just one friend to church – a friend being someone who doesn’t attend church.

• Chapter 11 (written by Bob Mayfield and titled “Excels Out of Decline”) takes a look at First Baptist of Inola, Oklahoma and how they implemented a successful Sunday school program in a dying church and, thus, saw the church’s attendance turn around.

• Chapter 12 (written by Leroy Gained and titled “Excels in Multicultural Community”) examines First Baptist Church of Vacaville, California and how their multicultural demographic of members has helped build a strong Sunday school.

• Chapter 13 (written by Elmer Towns and titled “Excels in Transitioning to Small Groups”) speaks to the issue of how to use small groups in your church’s Sunday school.

• Chapter 14 (written by Tim S. Smith and titled “Excels at Combining Traditional Sunday School and Innovative Home Groups”) profiled Lakewood Baptist Church in Gainesville, Georgia. This church has decided to combine both traditional and modern forms of Sunday school ministry and has done it with success.

• Chapter 15 (written by Ken Coley and titled “Excels in Teaching God’s Word”) examines Richland Creek Community Church in Wake Forest, North Carolina. It’s goal is to show how the primary focus of simply teaching God’s Word can be effective in Sunday school.

• Chapter 16 (written by Steve R. Parr and titled “A Tour of Some Sunday Schools That Excel”) takes one more look at five other Sunday schools in five other churches in the USA: Lindsay Lane Baptist Church Athens, Alabama, First Baptist Church of Summit, Mississippi, Lawndale Baptist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, First Baptist Church of Indian Trail, North Carolina, and First Baptist Church of Frisco, Texas.

• Chapter 17 (written by Steve R. Parr and titled “A Plan to Excel-erate Your Sunday School”) is where some final keys are given for those who want to improve their Sunday school: elevate the strategy, express appreciation, communicate the correct purpose, equip your leaders, lead your groups to minister together, expand the enrollment, reach out to the unchurched, assign group by life stage, teach age-appropriate applicable Bible studies, and expand the leadership base.

Why You Should Read This Book

First, it is enjoyable to see the variety of ways Sunday school that is being done around our country and in different types of churches. It is clear that God can use different forms and demographics to communicate His Word. We learn from the variety mentioned in the book that there is no perfect way to do Sunday school.

Second, the author does a fine job surveying the various churches and giving explanation for how they are applying various styles of Sunday school ministry to the churches. I did not find myself with unanswered questions. It is will written.

Third, the author did convince me even more how helpful a Sunday school ministry can be. There are few things that people cannot get anywhere else outside the church and a Sunday school program is one of them.

What I Wish Was or Wasn’t In the Book

I am not sure there was a major flaw with the book. Ordinarily, I might say that here wasn’t much biblical support but the goal of the author(s) didn’t seem to be about building a biblical case for why every church needs a Sunday school program. Each chapter was really just a profile of a different type of Sunday school ministry in a different types of church and how that can be done with excellence.

One additional item that would have been helpful is a chapter of how to identify what form of Sunday school would be best for your church. Because there is such a plethora of ways Sunday school can be done, the author(s) needed to make suggestions for how to look at the landscape of their church, the potential leadership for the program and then decide what style of Sunday School ministry will excel in their own church. In all the cases they describe in the book, each pastor or church new exactly what they wanted to do. Especially, for church planters or new pastors having some helps on how to choose a Sunday school ministry would have been helpful.

Is It a Book I Would Recommend to Someone Else?

The only reason I would recommend this book is if someone is interested in reading stories about different styles of Sunday school and how they thrive in different types of churches. That is a summation of the book. If anyone is looking for any other type of help or information on Sunday school ministry, this is not a helpful resource.

I would like to thank Kregel Publications for providing a free copy for an unbiased review.