Williamsport Hosts Sabbath School Alive Seminar

Story by Andre Hastick

Recently, the Williamsport (Md.) church held Sabbath School Alive, a one-day training seminar to equip Sabbath School leaders to create more engaging experiences for class attendees by focusing on prayer, Bible study, fellowship and mission. Guest speaker Ramon J. Canals (pictured), director of Sabbath School and Personal Ministries for the General Conference, trained participants by helping them develop practical plans to make each Sabbath School class vibrant.

“Many Adventists tend to skip Sabbath School and go right to the church services,” says Andrew Choi, Sabbath School superintendent for Williamsport. “We wanted to make a special emphasis on Sabbath School. We invited Dr. Canals to teach us how to draw more people to church through Sabbath School. We have a plan to begin inviting non-church members to small group studies, and then inviting them to a Sabbath School class.”

During the training, Canals emphasized the importance of program simplicity, fostering a praying community and seeing each class as an opportunity for spiritual growth. The Williamsport church is hoping to turn this into a yearly training event so leaders can continue to learn how to make Sabbath School an instrumental program for church growth.

“Sabbath School is one of the most important institutions in the Seventh-day Adventist Church,” says Canals. “It has a powerful influence in the lives of people. We need to tell everyone that Jesus is coming soon.”