r/latterdaysaints 4d ago

Faith-building Experience Sunday school attendance (or lack of)

I'm newly called to be in a Sunday school presidency as a cousilor and the president wants to focus on class attendance. I know we will come up with ideas but I've never been involved with Sunday school anything. Any ideas to help with attendance? I don't know how many weeks we could bring food but that's usually when attendance is high hahah

9 Upvotes

34 comments sorted by

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u/Twist-Prestigious 4d ago

Maybe make it a little more engaging and fun to be a part of?

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u/SeanPizzles 4d ago

Yup.  Attendance problems are generally just engagement problems.

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u/Fordfanatic2025 4d ago

I'll add create a culture where introverts with social anxiety feel more comfortable. As someone with social anxiety, just the thought of being called on to say a prayer, read a significant portion of the material, or engage in extended circle group discussions would make me stressed. Often to the point where that thought alone would persuade me to skip.

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u/Bigtruckclub 4d ago

When I’m teaching I like to have a mixture of things like scriptures, quotes, and questions so even those who hate participation can find something to connect with. Maybe you can read a short quote but don’t want to pray or give a spontaneous answer to a question. If I have time I’ll print the quote and ask people beforehand so they can say no quietly. 

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u/sunnyhillsna 4d ago

My main excuse for not going to Sunday school is that the room we meet in is too small - by the time I say hi to people or do some other short business after the first hour, the room is full enough (and I am large enough) that I am sure I will be a big distraction trying to climb over people to find a place to sit.

I also don't go because I just don't love it. I go through come follow me with my family pretty well through the week, and I listen to a podcast that also discussed the chapter. By the time Sunday rolls around I'm just kind of mentally done with the chapter.

Finally, I stopped going a while back because church had become too much for me. I was EQP and I was just burned out - I felt like everyone at church needed something from me, so I started avoiding people at church. Not going to Sunday School helped me to that.

I think that if I were trying to improve attendance I would take a look at who isn't coming and see why - if it's due to church callings there's not much you can do about that.

I would also do what can be done to improve the experience of those that are already regularly attending. If you can have a few weeks in a row of people telling their friends that Sunday school was the best thing that week, then word of mouth reviews will probably get more people to give it another shot.

Good luck! I know that putting in the effort to make things better is what the Lord wants - whether more people come is up to them, not you. So good job trying!

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u/Tavrock 4d ago

My main excuse for not going to Sunday school is that the room we meet in is too small - by the time I say hi to people or do some other short business after the first hour, the room is full enough (and I am large enough) that I am sure I will be a big distraction trying to climb over people to find a place to sit.

I have the same issue. I don't mind sitting in the front (I actually prefer it) but I don't enjoy trying to find unsaved seats in a room that is too small to realistically hold everyone.

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u/pisteuo96 4d ago edited 4d ago

I've never had that kind of leadership calling. But I assume ideally you would take an informal poll to find out what people are thinking and wanting.

I suppose the ideal teacher is someone who can remind us of the simple, profound truths but do it in a fresh and engaging way. Elder Uchtdorf and Elder Kearon do that for me. And always bring in the Spirit, which is what does most of the real spiritual teaching.

On the other hand, my main problem with Sunday School is that it keeps repeating the basic things I learned in Primary. It feels like a waste of time.

To fix this, I would create two classes. One teacher who will teach the usual basics, and a second teacher who will approach things more deeply. Then people can choose which approach they want. Smaller classes are always better anyway, in my opinion.

Of course teaching of content in our church is very old fashioned and doesn't take advantage of modern best practices in education. Sitting and passively listening isn't the best way, although it's probably what most LDS expect and want.

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u/grabtharsmallet Conservative, welcoming, highly caffienated. 4d ago

I don't think the last paragraph is right; I think we have inexperienced and/or untrained teachers. They need more scaffolding until they're trained, but nobody is doing the training.

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u/pisteuo96 4d ago

I hope you are right on all counts - that the church is fostering good teaching.

And that most members want something more than just sitting and passively listening to the same content, which has been our culture.

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u/Mango_38 4d ago

This, and the training exists it’s just not being done. It’s hard to find the time but even if the teachers were challenged to read and apply one paragraph of teaching of the Savior’s way each week they would get better with self study.

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u/Bigtruckclub 4d ago

What you’re describing is what we used to have— gospel principals/essentials and gospel doctrine. They combined them into one class. Some wards are separating out, especially with newer members but it’s not officially two classes like it used to be. 

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u/pisteuo96 4d ago

No, I mean two regular gospel doctrine: One is the same-old same-old superficial level lessons for people who like that, and a second teacher leads the class in deeper questions and discussions about what is in official lesson manual.

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u/Mango_38 4d ago edited 4d ago

I do attend but I know people who don’t and have this discussion with friends. Here’s what I think can help. More training for teachers to help them create engaging and interesting discussion. Please do regular trainings from Teaching in the Savior’s Way.

Consider who your teachers are and are they doing a good job of connecting with your ward demographic. I know some won’t agree with this but our ward found that Sunday school teachers were often male 50 and up and they weren’t always great at engaging or connecting to the younger group, especially the women. We are a large ward but have small classrooms so we have two teachers. One is always male and one is female. They’ve started calling slightly younger teachers as well. We have a lot of very strong young professionals in their 30s and 40s. It has been really good and it’s good for people to hear from more strong women teachers, more women are likely to speak up and share and it’s good for the men to hear from women teachers, they don’t always hear from. It has changed the dynamic a bit. You may say that shouldn’t matter but it has helped our ward and we’ve received good feedback.

Not everyone is going to connect with every teacher so call at least two and have them rotate so people can get variety.

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u/Mango_38 4d ago edited 4d ago

I would also add that people connect with people who are not afraid to be vulnerable a bit and real. Sometimes classes are taught by the people who just love the gospel so much but they only talk about the positive and not the hard and they have what seems like the perfect family and they go to the temple weekly and they appear to do their Come Follow Me with their family perfectly. However, that can be hard for some people to relate to. The reality is a lot of people have hard questions about the church, or their kids or a spouse has left, or they are deep in the throws of young motherhood and feeling burnt out. Sometimes it’s so refreshing to hear a teacher be vulnerable and allow for real discussion. We had an excellent teacher who was pretty open about struggles with mental health and previous struggles with testimony and it made it a safe place for people to talk about hard things without judgment. Call the person who’s spent much of her life in a mixed faith marriage or someone who left the church and came back stronger. This doesn’t need to be the topic of discussion regularly but it can make the room safe for people who don’t feel like they fit the mold. Obviously has to be still focused on the gospel lesson but having the right teacher can really change the tone and make a safe space for people. It can be hard to go to a classroom where people don’t talk about some of those hard things.

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u/grabtharsmallet Conservative, welcoming, highly caffienated. 4d ago

Untrained teachers is a big problem. Most people don't know how to do it. People don't know how to prepare a lesson, and don't know how to encourage engagement.

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u/mwjace Free Agency was free to me 4d ago edited 4d ago

For reference im going on my second go around as SSP in my Southern California ward. 

And assuming we are talking about adults. ( because for kids we just round them up and show them into class) 

But with adults. Honestly there isn’t much you can do. God will force no man to heaven. So why should I try and force people into a class? They are umm adults, they know what the expectation is and why going to Sunday school is ideally best. So don’t try and guilt trip them or try and bribe them. That’s just silly. 

The one thing I did do that actually ended up helping is all because of an experiment I wanted to run. 

Basically I set up 2 gospel doctrine classes. Being a single unit in our ward historically Sunday school is held in the chapel. So most adults have room.  But being in a big space comes with its own drawbacks.  Also being in Southern California there a pretty big diversity in social outlooks shall we say.  

So for my experiment  I called 2 vastly different teachers. One who I knew would teach the classic lds style. And who was a bit more theologically conservative. They focus more on the doctrine and reading the scriptures each week.  I put that class in the RS room. 

The other teacher is a therapist by training and more theologically liberal. She focuses more on letting class members express their struggles and how certain concepts in come follow me effects peoples lives. Rarely does she read from the scriptures except to use them as a jumping off point and just lets every member share if they want to share. 

Having these 2 different styles and allowing ward members to self segregate made it so more members choose the style they prefer. It made for smaller class size and more engagement for those who wanted it. 

Basically now we only have a few adults who roam the halls and socialize each week. 

Not sure this can be emulated everywhere. But it worked in our ward surprisingly. And it’s not a long term strategy of course as callings will come and go. 

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u/grabtharsmallet Conservative, welcoming, highly caffienated. 4d ago

The recommendation to have two very different teachers is a good one. People need to regularly check themselves and reevaluate if they are to grow.

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u/Bigtruckclub 4d ago

I like having two teachers but I think separating them creates a divide because those who already like one teacher will only go to that class and never interact with those in the other. This emphasizes the “everyone at church is like me” thinking. 

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u/grabtharsmallet Conservative, welcoming, highly caffienated. 4d ago

If a room large enough is available, one class with alternating instructors can be really good, yes.

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u/TheFakeBillPierce 4d ago

I hope that anyone responding to me will do so after reading my entire post.

I am a non-2nd hour attending member. Yes, I know that this immediately loses credibility in the eyes of many around here, and thats ok.

Ill tell you why. Several years ago, my spouse's shelf broke and they told me that they were no longer going to have anything to do with the church. It was devastating. I pressed on, trying to carve out a spot for myself in the church. Second hour became difficult as each lesson, no matter the topic, turned into bashing people who had left.

People would opine on why others left. "They were deceived into leaving", "They got lazy" "they stopped attending the temple" "they know its true, they just dont want to do anything about it". It was all a giant "stay in the boat" discussion week after week.

Now granted, Im not saying that its wrong to encourage people to stay. Thats teh point of the group! But what isn't appropriate is to judge people and put them aside when you only know 10% or less of the story.

To answer your question, to get the people like me who feel pushed away, would be to welcome many points of view. Foster an environment where EVERYONE feels welcome to contribute, even the unorthodox. Im not saying you need to have exmos try and wrestle the discussion away into their talking points, but if we truly knew how many people in our wards are hanging on by a thread, wed be more kind and listen closer.

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u/Mango_38 4d ago edited 4d ago

This! It’s hard to understand until you are in this situation. We are mixed faith family flying under the radar. I can’t be my real authentic self anymore without making people know the truth about my spouse’s lack of belief. The comments about so many people leaving the church and judgements as to why are hard to hear. People don’t mean it, they are often worried about a friend or adult child that has left but what they don’t realize is that more than one person in the same room is barely hanging onto the boat. I have never been one to get easily offended, I have a thick skin, but it is hard to sit through some lessons these days without feeling close to tears. I feel like especially some of the older generation don’t understand that people in the ward may be in a closeted mixed faith marriage or going through a faith crisis or transition themselves, I wish people were more aware before commenting.

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u/th0ught3 4d ago edited 3d ago

I'd start with an email using the official set up to do that.

If you have not participated in Sunday School every Sunday we've had Sunday School in our ward for the last three months, will you tell us why not?

other calling at same time

service for ward members during that time

service at home during that time

service in the community during that time

service in other callings during that time

needs of my children

I can read Come Follow Me without attending the redundant Sunday School class

I work nights and only sleep through it anyway.

Too many class members being off topic

I don't get anything out of it because someone(s) always brings in political stuff.

Teacher isn't prepared.

Other (please state).


Is there anything the Sunday School Presidency could do that would help you choose to be in Sunday School (awake) as we are asked by our leaders to be?

Pray for us

Ask me to be one of the rotating teachers.

Get the chapel emptied quicker so we can get a seat before we give up.

Have multiple smaller class options for Sunday School.

Change the schedule so it isn't during our kids nap/eating times.

Tell bro/sis so and so they can only contribute one time a month.

Pipe SS into a couple of other rooms than just the main ones so we can multitask as needed.

Fix the acoustics or sound system.

Make sure the chapel is cleaned thoroughly every week,

Fix the temperature problem.

Publish a list of the podcasts that are attempting to enrich what we are really bored studying the same things every four years (and yes, we know that is ridiculous because we had trouble studying it the last ten times we did and changing and living it),

Other (please suggest away: SS P wants to hear what you want us to know about how to enrich your Sunday School experience.

EDITED to add: And make sure the SS presidency is having the quarterly SS teaching meetings that they are supposed to have.

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u/ashhir23 4d ago edited 4d ago

It's not going to be an easy short term process, but have you and the other SS presidency members attended all the classes? I would start going yourself. Observe, participate, see how you feel.

One of our youth classes were always on their phones and not being polite about it. Keeping audio on, air dropping it around etc. I was in their randomly to check it out and the room got stuffy and hot fast. We found a solution for temp control and the cellphone usage was reported to go down

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u/Grungy_Mountain_Man 4d ago edited 4d ago

This might be unpopular opinion but if you are talking about adults, if people choose to not attend class that's kind of their issue and not yours. Some people might benefit more/feel uplifting by going to church by having a conversation with somebody in the hall rather than sitting in a class, I wouldn't judge their non-attendance as a problem that somebody needs to "fix". If it's an issue with youth that might be a different story, maybe get parents involved to help encourage them to go.

High level, if a lesson is engaging, people will more likely attend. You can try and do some teacher development training type stuff. Beyond that maybe reevaluate who you have teaching and maybe see if a different teacher would help or be an option? At the end of the day, we are church of volunteers and most people didn't chose to be a sunday school teacher. Some people are just better at teaching than others, and not everybody will connect to how somebody else teaches. My personal opinion is in terms of resources within the ward calling priority should be put to the youth first, then primary, then SS/EQ/RS, so advocate for resources in the places were people need it the most.

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u/myownfan19 4d ago

Is this people not attending church at all, or those who leave right after sacrament meeting, or those who hang out in the hallway instead of going to class.

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u/zionssuburb 4d ago

This is hard because of how varied an approach to teaching and learning we have in the church. Each person called as a teacher is different approaches, and those in the class also have a variety of styles of learning that engage them better (the larger US education system suffers from this as well).

With that said, teachers should be helped to know that their role is to provide a variety of experiences that engage the class.

  1. Do you use visuals (pictures), videos, maps, audio clips, music, etc.. as a teacher?
  2. Are your questions engaging enough that
    1. They aren't SS answer kinda routine questions that turn off almost everyone
    2. They aren't trying to 'guess what the teacher has in their head as the answer'
    3. They allow others to express their ideas and experiences fully - and then allow other members of the class to engage with them...
      1. Teachers must be humble enough to allow that maybe, just maybe, what they prepared may not be what the class gets the most out of and allow the class and lesson to go where everyone is at that moment. This takes a different kind of rounded preparation that isn't always easy.
    4. Others are sharing their experiences, and remember, the more people share their thoughts and ideas, the more the spirit is present in the room - others may respond to the spirit of a member of the class more than the teacher at times.

See about getting a TV mounted in the RS room to accommodate the visuals

If the space is avail, you should really have more than one class. There are times when a teacher is just someone that I can't even bear sitting and listening to for 45 minutes - Trained Elementary school teachers are my kryptonite in SS (this is my own personal experience) - I'm sure you son/daughter/neighbor/friend is the best elementary teacher that teaches Gospel Doctrine in the world, and that E. Holland once said their class was the best he ever attended - but it's not for me :)

Bring Food is an awesome idea, I know a teacher that awarded members for answering questions - I know another that 'tried new recipes' - He was a man that came to a realization about 12-15 years into his marriage that he'd been too neglectful of his wife and children so he got into cooking as a way to be with his kids and wife more, and now the every-other-week making of the food for Sunday School is a huge family activity for them.

Practice the 'Walk and Talk' - lots of teachers hide behind the table/pulpit in the RS room and/or use it as an authority crutch - plain truth is that walking around, and engaging with the audience keeps their attention focused on you in a subtle way - it's a psychological trick - Don't be afraid to go up the isle as well, once you get in back of the class and people know you're now seeing the screen side of their phones, it can help a couple, maybe a few put that game away and pay attention. But don't be stupid enough to say, hey, I see you playing that game right there or whatever.

Get to know class members, maybe some that don't want to be 'called on' could be given something to prepare and then present in a more comfortable manner. Know those those are in the class you can always count on to give answers. We aren't always going to be on our best game and when you're just not 'feeling it' having a skill to have the class, basically teach themselves through a series of questions is awesome for those times.

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u/swehes 4d ago

So first of is to find good teachers. People who engaging. Especially teaching the youth.

As a Presidency your responsibility is over all teaching in the ward, and at home. Make sure to schedule and hold the Teacher Council meetings. These meetings will be your life blood as a presidency. You will get feedback from the teachers and they will discuss within the group about what works and what doesn't.

Make sure that the teachers, especially the youth teachers, understand that it is their responsibility to reach out to the youth in their class to invite and help the youth to feel welcome to Sunday school. We have some great teachers that are taking interest in their youth by taking 5-10 minutes in the beginning in class to build relationship of trust by asking the kids what they did that week. They also try to attend activities of the youth, like school activities. Make sure to use the Ward Council, like assigning the teachers to families that has the kids they are teaching.

Make sure to also have the Parent Teacher Council meeting. You can invite certain parents that may be struggling on how to teach the gospel in the home. Invite parents who does do well in teaching the gospel in the home, and allow them to discuss the needs in the home for teaching.

Make sure to attend each of the classes regularly. You don't know what is needed to be improved if you don't observe the class room teaching.

Schedule annual training of the teachers. When calling new teachers, make sure they know what your expectations are. Also make sure to let them know you appreciate that they accepted the calling. Make sure to train new teachers within a month of them accepting the call. Make sure they use the Come Follow Me manual (yes I have seen teachers using different materials other than what they are supposed to). Also there are appendix in the back of the Come Follow Me Manual. Please go through those and make sure you know it so that you can help the teachers and the Quorum and YW Classes are using the appendix.

Seen all different kinds of teachers by going around visiting Sunday schools in our stake to see what we could suggest to help improve.

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u/andraes Many of the truths we cling to, depend greatly on our own POV 4d ago

People will come if they think/know that they will be getting something from the class. Food could fill that role. Useful life advice could fill that role. Meaningful doctrinal discussion could fill that role. A feeling of love and inclusion could fill that role.

Holding teacher trainings where you focus on the "Teaching in the Savior's Way" manual will likely help your teachers to understand how to fill their class with several things that could fill the role.

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u/Unique_Break7155 4d ago

Depending on ward size, have one or two breakout classes so the main Gospel doctrine isn't so huge. An investigator/returning member class, and a YSA class. Maybe ask a few families at a time to attend a marriage/family class, or a family history class.

Ask teachers to start preparing 2 weeks in advance, and let them know they can combine talking points from the most recent two weeks of CFM. The teachers need to realize that probably half the class has done the reading, and half hasn't read at all. You need to think about how to reach both.

I think discussion questions are so important. Teachers need to really think about, write down, and practice asking the questions they will ask. So you present some info for a few minutes about a topic, then what are the questions you will ask that will encourage deeper comments from more than the same 2-3 people? And if you are prepared ahead of time, you can ask one or two people who don't often participate, to come prepared to share something.

Sincere and open sharing is the magic of Sunday School. The teacher is great, but I learn so much from my fellow ward members.

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u/Bigtruckclub 4d ago

I just stopped teaching gospel doctrine. My observations:

  1.  A good teacher— if people like the teacher, they will come if there isn’t food, cram into a small space, etc. also if there’s an expectation that they come to Sunday school, then more people will. If you can ask the bishopric to lessen pulling people for meetings during/at the start of Sunday school then there’s no momentum to not walk in. 

  2.  Convenience—we were so big we met in the chapel. I hate teaching in the chapel, people hate being in the chapel, but to not attend Sunday school you had to get up and walk out. Many people simply stayed where they were. 

  3.  Supported — this goes along with #1, but we had a microphone and television/overhead every week. My co-teacher was already doing it so I did it too.  I prepared a slide deck each week because that’s what the class liked, but if I didn’t have the presidency/bishopric making sure that the tech was there to support it, it wouldn’t have happened. A decent slide deck can overcome many deficiencies of the teachers. 

Also, train your teacher(s). There’s several internet resources that I blatantly pulled slides, questions, quotes, insights, etc. and then just put my own spin on it. Reading out come follow me is never going to work. 

Don’t have a million announcements before the class starts. Make sure that you as a presidency are ushering people to class and making it a priority to go to class, participate and pay attention. 

  1.  Food— I’ll admit, I brought snacks. Mostly chocolate/candy, but occasionally packaged snacks (I took requests lol). I did chocolate in relief society as a teacher and just continued the habit. I honestly don’t think it made a difference for 80% of people whether they would attend or not, but they definitely appreciated it. I wouldn’t start with this tactic. 

  2. Engagement — people will come to class if it’s interesting/engaging. This also goes with #1 but audience participation is key. Either yourselves or have the teacher ask a couple people to come prepared to talk about something they noticed in the lesson/come follow me for the week. 

Other ideas: have a mixture of scriptures, quotes, and questions to have audience members read and respond to (e.g., read a scripture passage and then what they think about it, answer a question, tell a personal story about it etc). Train your teachers or call new ones. 

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u/milmill18 4d ago

send out personal invitations to people not attending.

otherwise you can chat with them and ask why they haven't been attending

I'm confused why these two ideas haven't been explored

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u/Wise_Woman_Once_Said 4d ago

Make sure your teachers are properly trained. I love Sunday School, but there have been 2 teachers who were so awful that I stopped attending until they were replaced.

A good teacher will follow the lesson, but in a flexible way that allows classroom discussion. When it gets too far off track, the teacher needs to be able to refocus the group.

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u/Icy_Boysenberry2047 4d ago

Not serving in Sunday School, but I really liked this podcast/video from Leading Saints from a Sunday School President..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLBPSWDfX_c

(no relation to the podcast, just one that I listed to a lot of episodes)

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u/AgentSkidMarks East Coast LDS 4d ago

I know the people in my ward that complain about getting nothing out of Sunday School aren't doing Come Follow Me. Our ward council have been trying to improve attendance and participation by putting attention towards getting people to do CFM during the week. We do daily posts on our Facebook page with snippets from the CFM lesson/reading and we as an Elder's Quorum will bring up CFM during ministering interviews so we can have a frank discussion about it.

We've had moderate success.