Sunday School roll

Last week one of the Bishops in our stake cornered me in the hallway and asked me a question that perhaps some of you may be able to answer - or at least give me some rationale for why we are doing something that makes little sense.

His specific question was "why do we keep a roll for the Gospel Doctrine class"? The data gathered from that roll goes nowhere. Most times if it is returned to the ward clerk, it is just filed away and eventually thrown away. The Bishop in question wonders why we continue keeping that roll. Just what data could be gleaned from that roll that a Bishop (or Sunday School President) couldn't determine for himself by attending the class every so often?

I just really couldn't give him a good answer as to why we should be keeping that roll since it is used nowhere in any accounting of attendance, nor used when compiling the unit and stake quarterly report.

And now that I think about it, the only Sunday School roll used for any type accounting is the Primary roll which is used for compiling the quarterly report. Why keep the other Sunday School rolls either for that matter?

The short answer to your question can be found in item # 4 here.

http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,5440-1,00.html

Pilotfly wrote:The Bishop in question wonders why we continue keeping that roll. Just what data could be gleaned from that roll that a Bishop (or Sunday School President) couldn't determine for himself by attending the class every so often?

People rarely lose their faith in a blow out, it's usually a slow leak.

Taking attendance in Sunday School is a way to see trends before things before things get critical. People that are not attending Sunday School probably ought to be addressed by the Sunday School President during Ward Council.

"Wow, I see the Smiths here every Sunday for sacrament meeting, but I hadn't realized that they haven't attended Gospel Doctrine for the last 3 months until I reviewed the attendance rolls."

One of the things I really like about the sample agenda attached to the following post is it's sections: "Active but struggling" and "Less active but progressing." I like that because it helps us keep the meeting focused on the important stuff.

http://tech.lds.org/forum/showthread.ph ... #post13583

Taking attendance in Gospel Doctrine provides a key early indicator in identifying those that may become "Active but struggling" to see what kind of increased support might appropriately be offered. A drop of in attendance might also indicate other problems, like a need for a new Gospel Doctrine teacher, for example. Sometimes those things happen so gradually, they go unnoticed unless tracked on paper. Thus attendance rolls for Sunday School.

Pilotfly wrote:And now that I think about it, the only Sunday School roll used for any type accounting is the Primary roll which is used for compiling the quarterly report. Why keep the other Sunday School rolls either for that matter?

I would think it more crucial for the other Sunday School classes than for Gospel Doctrine, but jbh001 makes some great points about Gospel Doctrine. In our ward, the Bishop and Sunday School Presidency have invited specific couples to attend the auxiliary Sunday School classes for a quarter. I think there hope is to invite a new set of couples to those other Sunday School classes every 3 months or so for the rest of the year. Given that the invitations are to certain individuals and couples, you could probably see why an attendance roll might be more helpful in our situation.

mkmurray wrote:In our ward, the Bishop and Sunday School Presidency have invited specific couples to attend the auxiliary Sunday School classes for a quarter. I think there hope is to invite a new set of couples to those other Sunday School classes every 3 months or so for the rest of the year.

For example, in an ideal situation, at some point every adult in the ward would be rotated through the Teaching the Gospel course (which can be taught during Sunday School). Attendance rolls would help you track who has attended the class and who hasn't, or if it has been long enough that it is time for a refresher course.

It may be determined that some are not attending Gospel Doctrine because they are struggling in their marriage, and the inviting them to attend a Marriage and Family Relations class during Sunday School might help them.

Please I need to look at the sunday school classes roll call. From 12 & 13, 14 & 15, 16 & 17.

In Leader and Clerk Resources, choose Organizations > Sunday School on the menu.

(His current calling grants access.)