Should you kill that small Sunday School class?

An educational staff person recently asked me about a problem often encountered in the Sunday School program. She had a class of (older) adults whose Sunday School class averaged around 3 persons (but not always the same three persons!). These kinds of classes bring up several administrative issues for those leading a Sunday School program, like (1) they occupy one whole classroom so arguably, not good stewardship of facility space, (2) they bring down the average Sunday School attendance figure (gasp!), (3) they tend to be a “closed” group and therefore are not good at welcoming or reaching out to new people, (4) this size group raises legitimate questions about educational effectiveness (What are they really doing in there? Are they teaching the curriculum?).

My friend asked whether she should “kill the class” to make room for a new class with potential for numerical growth. Some of this, I suspect, is that old over-focus on numbers and growth. But, as mentioned above, there can be legitimate educational concerns about how effective a “class” of three people can be.

Should she kill the class? Maybe. But I’d ask some questions, first:

• Is this a real “class”? (Obviously not)
• Is this a small group? (Perhaps. But they lack the critical mass to constitute an effective discussion, discipleship, or educational small group)
• What holds these people together? Is it legitimate? (Are they the radical misfits for whom there is no other outlet for fellowship and/or learning that meets their faith style or stance?
• Are they a small demographic group who have found a place (perhaps the ONE place) where their developmentally-related faith needs are being met?)
• Are they bothering anybody? (If not, just leave them alone. Hey, they’re coming to church—just challenge them.)
• Is it the remnant ghost of a former class that’s on its dying cycle? (Then let it die with dignity in their own time. If you need the room then negotiate the space, but not at the expense of taking away something that’s meaningful to them).

Sometimes an important issue is about getting clear about what constitutes “educating in faith.” Does that require being perpetually in “school”? At some point do people need sometime different rather than more of the same to help them on their faith journey? Is a large class format the only, or even the best way to help people grow in faith? If it is true that relationships mediate spiritual formation then perhaps this faithful small group of three to four gathered in His name are getting more out of the Sunday School hour than someone else in the next classroom sitting among 25 other “students” listening to the sage on the stage wax eloquent about something that may or may not address the burning point of need in his spiritual life.