Teaching Sunday School in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic (#1874)

I’ve taught dozens of adult Sunday school classes over the years, mostly during the twenty years I served in congregational ministry. Since joining First Presbyterian Church last May, I’ve taught a few adult Sunday School classes as a volunteer.

All of these experiences were in a pre-COVID-19 world. And, all classes were taught in classrooms, libraries, sanctuaries, fellowship halls, or other physical spaces on the campus of a local congregation.

Online Sunday School

First Presbyterian Church has not held in person worship nor has it conducted other ministry activities on campus since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. While a data driven plan for phased reopening has been approved, implementation isn’t likely for quite some time since a key metric required to move to the next phase is an ongoing decline in the number of COVID-19 cases.

screenshot from Tarrant County website showing number of COVID-19 cases reported over time (June 21, 2020)

Lessons I’m Learning

Thankfully, I’m familiar with online education. I taught online undergraduate religion courses for nearly a decade; and have facilitated, taught or been a part of a teaching team for several less formal online educational offerings.

After teaching online adult Sunday school for three weeks, the three most significant lessons I’m learning are

The social and interpersonal elements of Sunday School are more important than ever. People need opportunities to see one another, and to connect.
Keep the technology simple. Remember that some participants are first time online learners who would never choose online education if in person options existed.
Good online teaching is good online teaching. Most best practices for online education apply to adult Sunday School.

This post is part of the “In the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic” series: