Sunday school ranked third, behind the pulpit and prayer, as an effective method for evangelism. The survey results from nearly 600 churches in our study indicated that Sunday school is an effective evangelistic tool in most of these churches.

With the exception of smaller churches (0 to 299 attendance), more than two-thirds of the churches responded enthusiastically about Sunday school's evangelistic effectiveness. Our follow-up interviews revealed more about the level of enthusiasm for Sunday school.

Leaders have not been oblivious to comments by experts about the prospective demise of the Sunday school. They expressed bewilderment that a method so effective in their churches was declared terminally ill by pundits.

Several pastors shared that they had listened carefully to the critics, trying to determine if they and their churches were about to be left behind in a future methodological wave. But ultimately all came back to the position that Sunday school is neither ill nor dying nor dead.

On the contrary, Sunday school, done well, is one of the most God-blessed methodologies in the recent history of the church.

So we asked these pastors and other leaders to share with us how they use Sunday school in their churches. Their responses actually reviewed many of the basics of Sunday school.

Sunday school lessons

Two-thirds of the churches identified Sunday school as a contributing or main factor to the churches' evangelistic effectiveness. We made a special study of these churches to learn in greater detail how they used Sunday school. We have categorized their responses into four "lessons" in this article and four "keys to success" for the following article.

Lesson #1: A healthy Sunday school is evangelistic

At Cana Baptist Church in Burleson, Texas, Minister of Education Matthew Leilich told us that their Sunday school evangelistic outreach is alive and well. Class members are taught to mark their Bibles and "go out with the Paul and Timothy model to do one-on-one soul winning."

Each Sunday school department meets for dinner on Monday nights; they then go to the homes of prospective members and unchurched persons. Accountability takes place through the minister of education.

In Laurinburg, North Carolina, Pastor Lewis McLean told us a similar story about Stewartsville Baptist Church. This evangelistic church, with an attendance of 400, conducts its outreach through care groups in each Sunday school class.

Each care group has five members, one of whom is the leader. On Tuesday nights, two of the five members visit prospects for their classes. In the actual Sunday school classes, the plan of salvation is presented on a regular basis.

There were many more such stories. I confess that I was surprised at the level of intensity with which evangelism is carried forth through the Sunday school in many of these churches.

In 1987, R. Wayne Jones offered a prophetic voice on the future of Sunday school: "The most important task that keeps the Sunday school as a viable organization in the world today is the task of reaching people for Christ. . . . No matter what else the Sunday school does, no matter how appropriate or good it may be, if churches fail to reach people for Christ, they have failed."

Church growth literature of the past 25 years has offered churches many ways to grow and to reach people for Christ. While these methods captured the attention and excitement of many Christians, Sunday school methodologies continued to be used effectively without much fanfare.

Leaders of the churches we studied were keenly aware of the latest developments in church growth tactics. Many regularly attended conferences and read the latest church growth books. They had tried many of the innovative techniques and approaches to outreach, some with great success, others with less success. Yet most of the pastors and staff members kept returning to the basics of Sunday school outreach as one of their key evangelistic tools.

Why has the traditional Sunday school maintained its usefulness in these evangelistic churches? A pastor in California explained, "We simply have found no other way to train all age groups in Scripture; to have small groups in place without creating a new organization; to have outreach accountability; and to have groups which naturally provide ministry to one another within their fellowship."

Lesson #2: A healthy Sunday school provides biblical education to all age groups

In "Giant Awakenings," I cited a study about mainline churches by mainline authors Dean Hoge, Benton Johnson, and Donald Luidens. The surprising conclusion of the study was that mainline churches were declining because they had failed to provide or emphasize regular biblical training for all age groups.

Thus an entire generation grew up in the church without comprehending biblical truths, the uniqueness of the Christian faith, and the demands of discipleship. Without an anchor to hold them, millions left mainline churches.

Evangelical churches affirm the total truthfulness of Scripture. But mere affirmation of the trustworthiness of Scripture is of little value if these churches fail to train their members in the complete revelation of the Bible.

One reason these evangelistic churches continue to place a strong emphasis on evangelism is because they are equipping members in God's Word.

"As we study different books of the Bible," a Mississippi layperson told us, "we are regularly reminded of the good news of Jesus Christ which must be shared with others."

After listening to hundreds of comments about the vital importance of ongoing biblical training, I see clearly now the significance of the Hoge study mentioned earlier. The church that fails to educate all generations in the totality of Scripture is headed for decline and possible death.

Lesson #3: A healthy Sunday school provides means and opportunities for ministry

In more than half of our follow-up interviews, the pastor or other interviewee indicated that the Sunday school was a primary instrument of ministry. While the emphasis of this study was the outward focus of the Sunday school; we were told repeatedly that a healthy Sunday school has ongoing ministry to its own members as well.

Lesson #4: A healthy Sunday school assimilates church members

No other aspect of Sunday school received more comments than its role in assimilation and discipleship of new members and new Christians. Part of the reason for the overwhelming response we received came from a simple question we asked in our survey: "What specific measures do you take to ensure that the people baptized remain involved in the church?"

Hundreds of churches told us that their specific measure for assimilation was the Sunday schoo1.

Over 90 percent of the assimilation and discipleship methodologies of these churches were directly or indirectly related to Sunday school.

An Ohio pastor told us, "We have tried closing the back door a dozen different ways, but it seems like we always come back to Sunday schoo1."

The mere existence of a Sunday school organization does not guarantee effective evangelism, effective assimilation, effective ministry, or effective teaching. Indeed, the leaders of these churches expressed concern about the ineffectiveness of many Sunday schools they had observed.

What are the keys to doing Sunday school well? Join us next week as we look deeper into this critical methodology.