The new structure for our Sunday classes is approaching fast. One concept that will help all teachers create meaningful 25-minute lessons is to exercise “generous authority.”
The concept comes from author and gathering expert Priya Parker, who discussed it with Brené Brown on Brown’s podcast Unlocking Us.
“Generous authority is using your power as a host”—or, in our case, your power as a teacher—“to protect and fulfill the purpose for the group,” Parker says.
According to the Church’s website, our Sunday classes are “meant to help members:
- Focus more on the teachings of Jesus Christ.
- Strengthen gospel learning at home.
- Increase fellowship, belonging, and community at church.”
Exercising generous authority will help teachers protect and fulfill those sacred purposes for class members.
Teachers may sometimes feel held back by worries that they will come across as bossy or strict. But generous authority invites us to embrace the power teachers have to create boundaries and make 25-minute lessons meaningful.
Participation by class members matters, but teachers set the tone.
What would exercising generous authority look like in a 25-minute lesson? Here are a few examples.
Protect People’s Voices
If one student in class is answering every question, the teacher should feel free to use their authority to kindly say something like, “Thank you for that insight. Let’s hear a few more perspectives on that question. Who else would like to share a thought?” This approach protects the other students by making it easier for them to participate. It also helps fulfill one of the purposes of Sunday gatherings: to learn from “every member that all may be edified together” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:110).
For more ideas and sample scripts for conducting discussions, check out this section in Teaching, No Greater Call.
Take Charge of Your Class
Teachers decide ahead of time which teachings of Christ a lesson will cover. Their job is to do more than ask a question and then just let the class take over with insights from their personal study.
Former Sunday School president Mark L. Pace explained it this way:
“You’ve had hands laid on your head, and you’ve been given the power and authority of your calling. … So we want to encourage [members] in their own experience at home, … then say, ‘These are all wonderful. Thank you for your comments, and we know many of you are having a wonderful experience in the scriptures, and we rejoice in that. Let’s talk about something that I was thinking would be important for us to study.’ Then, you take charge of your class, and you start moving forward.”
Deliberately Build Community
Teachers can also use their authority to help build community in the ward. One way to do this would be to offer moments of connection in class.
With shorter classes, time will feel precious, but connections can begin in just a minute or two. For example, at the beginning of class, a teacher could say something like, “One of the reasons we are here today is to connect with each other. Will everyone please share one good thing that happened to them this week with someone sitting near them? We will regroup in one minute.” Then, the teacher watches the clock and pulls everyone back together after one minute.
Why It’s Important to Use Generous Authority from the Start
The new Sunday meeting schedule offers a fresh start. Norms for how the 25-minute classes will work are still being established.
This fact provides teachers with an opportunity to use generous authority to get things going in the right direction and empower their classes. As Parker puts it, “You have to guide your guests so that they understand how [to] be successful here.”
When teachers are consistent, class members will naturally begin to help reinforce positive norms.
Here are a few ways teachers can guide students from the beginning:
- Set an example of transitioning promptly to class after sacrament meeting.
- Start lessons on time.
- Offer specific, short opportunities for connection.
- Have a plan for the lesson and make that plan known early on.
- Keep the lesson focused on the Savior’s teachings, as directed by the Church (Come, Follow Me for Sunday School; recent general conference talks for Relief Society and elders quorum; For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices for Aaronic priesthood quorums and Young Women classes).
- Embrace, not shy away from, the power a teacher holds to establish the tone for lessons.
For more insights into teaching, see the articles below:
▶ 3 ways to adapt your lessons to the new Sunday class schedule
▶ Why Christlike leaders don’t need to be loud to teach with power
▶ How to teach a Spirit-led Sunday class in just 25 minutes
