WHEN SUNDAY SCHOOL IS INTERACTIVEUsing Student Response in Sunday School and Youth Programs

Introduction

Motivating children and teenagers to attend worship services can be a tough sell. People often find themselves sitting through a non-engaging class or service with little interest. To most children, Sunday mornings are often viewed as a day to sleep in and relax.

In a digital society where Twitter, Instagram and Facebook help our children communicate, religious institutions have had to evolve. In an attempt to catch the attention of young people and motivate them to participate, many religious services are beginning to implement digital devices as part of sermons, meetings and Sunday school classes.

Worship services do not have to be lecture-driven. Audience response systems can be an affordable solution that engages students and congregations by making religious services interactive, creative and appealing. Turning Technologies ResponseCards (clickers) have been implemented in various churches and the results have been rewarding.

Josh Griffin, a high school youth pastor who has been using the devices, states, “Often times in youth ministry we talk at students. It’s not often that we get to hear from them. One of the fun things we were able to use the ResponseCards for is to create a very specific message based on what they wanted to hear and what they’re interested in. We used the results from surveys during the message to tailor the content to what they were struggling with and what they were dealing with.”

It’s Not Just for Kids

Staying motivated in church may seem like more of a problem for the younger learners, but adults find that using the audience response systems with a sermon or other services is more engaging and collaborative. By connecting and asking interactive questions, leaders can dynamically change a message throughout a service. The clickers act as an electronic survey that can gauge audience assessment, gather attendee data, collect anonymous feedback and offer instant voting capabilities on important issues. With the press of a button, presenters can know exactly what the audience is thinking in real-time.

People prefer to choose the way they worship. Turning Technologies audience response system now provides church-goers with the ability to choose what and how they worship. Congregations have a voice to choose the next song, scripture or even sermon topic. Ministers tasked with leading their flock during the most difficult of times can tap into the minds of their congregation by providing each audience member a keypad to respond. Posing meaningful questions can allow spiritual leaders to address and explore certain issues that may have been ignored otherwise (Broderick, 2009). Religion is often a personal and sensitive topic. Many participants can find it difficult to answer personal questions about their religion or how they worship. If asked how many times a day you pray, many individuals may not participate or answer honestly. However, with a response device you can simply press a button with the safety of anonymity, quickly see the real-time results in the easy-to-read graphs and compare your answers to the rest of the group. This allows people to respond without embarrassment and can help create a connection by showing that others agree with their beliefs.

Resources

Broderick, Mike. (2009, April 23). Reach the next generation of believers. Church Solutions.

An Affordable Solution

Turning Technologies’ ResponseCard solutions are affordable and easy to use. TurningPoint assessment software is free to download from the website and integrates seamlessly with PowerPoint. Responses are captured and gathered into detailed reports that can be used to make data-driven decisions for worship services. The low-cost ResponseCards are simple to use and helps save money as paper is no longer needed.

The Future of Worship

By investing in response technology you will see a service that has increased in engagement, attendance and satisfaction. You will also save time and money as you easily get to know your church community better. When asked about how his members felt about their experiences with the clickers, Pastor Joshua Shank from Youngstown, Ohio said, “They all loved it. Participation was close to 100% and even the chronic sleepers stayed with the interactive questions.”

Turning Technologies’ audience response system proves to be a tool that can help churches and other places of worship meet the needs of today’s digital consumers, young and old alike.