There is no magic formula to growing a Sunday School, says a minister from one of the fastest growing Sunday Schools in Georgia.

Sunday School/Open Group Ministries at GBC performs an annual evaluation to find the fastest growing Sunday Schools in Georgia. Using criteria that includes not only percentage and net gain and average attendance in Sunday School enrollment in the past four years, but also total baptisms, GBC staff found the top 100 churches. But they also discovered that almost 400 churches had a record year in total enrollment and average Sunday School and Open Group attendance.

"The Georgia Baptist Convention is blessed to have outstanding leaders in local churches providing leadership in Sunday School and Open Groups," said Steve Parr, specialist with GBC Sunday School/Open Group ministries. "Georgia accounted for 52 percent of the net gain in enrollment in the Southern Baptist Convention last year."

The fastest growing Sunday School in the medium church range - 200 to 399 average attendance - was Summit Church in Loganville. Five years ago the church averaged 199 in Sunday School attendance. Today it averages 389 in weekly attendance at three Sunday Schools.

"We don't have a magic formula," said Craig Story, associate pastor at Summit, who organized adult education for the past four years. "Our teachers are trained to be shepherds of the class. Their job is not to just teach a lesson, but also to develop leadership within the class."

Each class has an assistant teacher, an outreach leader, a social leader, a secretary and a ministry/care group leader.

As the church has grown, Sunday School has become more than a place to study biblical truth.

"In a church our size it's impossible to know everybody. We teach our members and visitors that if you don't get plugged into a small group, then when something happens the church may not know about it and you're going to feel let down."

When people visit the church, even if only at a worship service, they are assigned to a Sunday School class. Within a week a team from that Sunday School class will visit the family and mail a hand-written note.

"We try not to be pests about it. If they are there consistently we contact them at least once every two weeks. If they don't attend very often, we drop that back to once a month. We don't want to be pushy, but we want them to know we care."

 

Small Churches (less than 100 average Sunday School attendance)

Order, Church, City, Pastor, Association
01 Tates Creek Church, Toccoa, Jerrell Beatty, Liberty
02 Altamaha Church, Baxley, Charles Hutcheson, Consolation
03 Harvest Church, Covington, Richard Culpepper, Stone Mountain
04 Browntown Church, Kingsland, Bobby Russell, Piedmont-Okefenokee
05 Macedonia Church, Oxford, William Herndon, Stone Mountain
06 Redemptive Life Church, Snellville, Leonard Perryman, Gwinnett Metro
07 Peachtree Church, Byron, Jay Lauritsen, Rehoboth
08 Hope of David Messianic Fellow., Stone Mountain, Derek Leman, Atlanta Assoc of SBC
09 Wheeler Heights Church, Macon, Franklin Etheridge, Macon
10 Schomburg Road Church, Columbus, Buddy Lamb Jr, Columbus
11 Grove First Church, Grovetown, Frank Thigpen, Augusta
12 Pleasant Hill Church, Rossville, Clay Powell, Northwest GA
13 Cong Hisp. El Camino Miss., Cairo, Arnaldo Gonzalez, Grady County
14 Pine Grove Church, Collins, James Rogers, Tattnall-Evans
15 Marshes of Glynn Church, Brunswick, C Harold Turner, Southeast
16 Sherwood Church, Augusta, Jim Johnson, Augusta
17 New Hope Church, Rydal, E L Bush, Bartow
18 Oakman Church, Oakman, Kenny Sherrif, Gordon Memorial
19 Antioch Community Church, Fayetteville, Jerry Garner, Flint River
20 Lighthouse Church, Macon, Hershel Sizemore, Rehoboth
21 Mt Carmel Church, Buena Vista, Raymond Smith, Friendship
22 Blundale Church, Swainsboro, Jamie Archer, Emmanuel
23 Westview Church, Milledgeville, Jody Branch, Washington
24 Pine Grove Church, Gillsville, Chris Humphries, Chattahoochee
25 Living Waters Church, Covington, Joe Brock, Stone Mountain

 

Intermediate Churches (100-199 average Sunday School attendance)

Order, Church, City, Pastor, Association
02 East Side Church, Stockbridge, Bob Halstead, Henry
03 Victoria En Cristo Church, Jonesboro, Rubin Torres, South Metro
04 Fort Creek Church, Dearing, Phil Bray, Kilpatrick
05 Gardi Church, Jesup, Stanley Todd, Altamaha
06 Hope Church, Nashville, Steven Pickern, Valdosta
07 Oak Lawn Church, Newnan, David Arrington, Western
08 New Life Church, Metter, Andy Haman Jr, At Large Churches
09 Marie Church, Dublin, Bobby Hutto, Laurens
10 Kathleen First Church, Kathleen, Rehoboth
11 Rehoboth Church, Claxton, David Hagan, Tattnall-Evans
12 Skidaway Island Church, Savannah, James Staubes, Savannah
13 Providence Church, Newnan, Ken Norton, Western
14 Lighthouse Community Ch., Stockbridge, Jeff McBurnett, Henry
15 Port Wentworth First Ch., Port Wentworth, Sam Self, Savannah
16 Sargent Church, Sargent, Joe Bufford, Western
17 Altamaha Church, Jesup, Daniel Lee, Altamaha
18 Bishop Church, Bishop, Eric Buffington, Appalachee
19 Oak Hill Church, Waycross, Dixon Teke, Piedmont-Okefenokee
20 Lakeland First Church, Lakeland, John Bracken, Valdosta
21 Bethesda Church, Ellerslie, David Helms, Columbus
22 Salem Church, Calhoun, William Roberts, Gordon Memorial
23 Dewy Rose Church, Dewy Rose, Gary Purvis, Hebron
24 Towne Lake Comm. Ch., Woodstock, Bill Ratliffe, Etowah
25 Pleasant Valley N Church, Rome, Mac McCurry, Floyd County

 

Medium Churches (200-399 average Sunday School attendance)

Order, Church, City, Pastor, Association
01 Summit Church, Loganville, Carl Butcher, Appalachee
02 Temple Church, Columbus, Mike Stevens, Columbus
03 Hinesville First Church, Hinesville, Charles Owens, New Sunbury
04 Celebration Ministry, Hoschton, Mike Day, Chattahoochee
05 Belmont Church, Calhoun, Jeffrey Hawkins, Gordon Memorial
06 Bethabra Church, Hoschton, Terry Hawkins, Mulberry
07 Maysville Church, Maysville, Brian Stowe, Sarepta
08 Fellowship Church, Brinson, Stanley Phillips, Bowen
09 Zion Church, Braselton, Mike Phillips, Mulberry
10 West Cobb Mission, Powder Springs, Kenneth Williams, Noonday
11 Poplar Springs N Church, Dublin, Joe Slocum, Laurens
12 Highland Hills Church, Macon, James Dart, Macon
13 Rolling Hills Church, Buford, Jeff Rogers, Gwinnett Metro
14 New Life Spanish Church, Dalton, Ernesto Mendez, North Georgia
15 East Newnan Church, Newnan, Frank Powers, Western
16 Sandersville First Church, Sandersville, Lee Lacey, Washington
17 Royal Church, Newnan, Paul Dennis, Western
18 Ty Ty First Church, Ty Ty, Danny James, Mell
19 Centennial Church, Rutledge, Wilburn Hill, Morgan County
20 Watkinsville First Church, Watkinsville, Carlos Sibley, Sarepta
21 Beallwood Church, Columbus, Billy Duncan, Columbus
22 Cornerstone Church, Hartwell, Terry Meeks, Hebron
23 Calvary Church, Austell, West Metro
24 Haynesville First Church, Clinchfield, David Fisher, Rehoboth
25 Union Church, Winder, Rusty Newman, Mulberry

 

Large Churches (400 plus average Sunday School attendance)

Order, Church, City, Pastor, Association
01 First Redeemer Church, Cumming, Richard Lee, Roswell
02 Canton First Church, Canton, George Anderson, Etowah
03 South Crest Church, Newnan, Jeff Chandler, Western
04 Oakwood Church, Chickamauga, Darrell Henry, Northwest GA
05 Sugar Hill First Church, Sugar Hill, Richard Mark Lee, Gwinnett Metro
06 Rosemont Church, LaGrange, Max McCord, Troup
07 Midway Macedonia Church, Villa Rica, Todd Wright, Carrollton
08 Tabernacle Church, Cartersville, Don Hattaway, Bartow
09 Hopewell Church, Gainesville, Robert Foster, Chattahoochee
10 Sunrise Church, Lawrenceville, David Poe, Gwinnett Metro
11 Villa Rica First Church, Villa Rica, Richard Holcombe, Carrollton
12 West Rome Church, Rome, Glynn Stone, Floyd
13 Macland Church, Powder Springs, Richard Walker, Noonday
14 Emmanuel Church, Blackshear, Mike Stone, Piedmont-Okefenokee
15 Glen Haven Church, McDonough, Ralph Easterwood, Henry
16 Ephesus Church, Winston, Billy Godwin, West Metro
17 Curtis Church, Augusta, Mark Harris, Augusta
18 Second Church, Griffin, David Hill, Flint River
19 Mt Pleasant Church, Carrollton, Douglas, New Carrollton
20 Chestnut Mountain Church, Flowery Branch, Jeff Benefield, Chattahoochee
21 North Metro First Church, Lawrenceville, Frank Cox, Gwinnett Metro
22 West Acres Church, Evans, Larry Harmon, Augusta
23 Bethany Church, McDonough, Allen O’Quinn, Henry
24 Statesboro First Church, Statesboro, John Waters, Ogeechee River
25 Abilene Church, Augusta, William Harrell, Augusta