Well-Equipped Volunteer: Train & Grow Your Children's Ministry Volunteers

If you asked a group of Sunday School teachers the one thing they would like help with, the answer will more than likely be classroom discipline. It’s a difficult subject and a lot of teachers don’t feel confident in this area.

This series of posts will give you tools for building a philosophy of classroom discipline and creating classroom rules that encourage discipleship! As an extra bonus, I will share a classroom motivating technique that I have used in elementary aged classes.

First, it is helpful for teachers to understand that we don’t discipline for discipline’s sake.

We discipline for the sake of making disciples. If the goal of Sunday School is discipleship (and I believe that it should be), then loving discipline has to be a part of the process.

Jesus said to His disciples, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”(John 14:15)

A chapter later He said again, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” (John 15:14)

A disciple of Jesus is one who obeys what He says. If our goal in Sunday School is discipleship then we need to teach and encourage obedience.
“Discipline” comes from the root word “disciple,” which means “training that molds character, behavior and values.” (Sorry, I can’t remember where I got this definition from!)

Discipline then is about shaping disciples of Jesus by molding children’s behavior. It should be seen in a positive light.

It is encouraging for teachers to see that discipline is more than just making kids obey the rules. There is a larger goal and one that teachers can truly get behind.

Let’s make disciples!