Come See the Annie Vallotton Bible Illustrations Collection Online at Rotation.org! These images are great for teaching, illustrating handouts and church newsletters, projecting in worship and teaching events, and more. They’re free to the supporting members of Rotation.org. The Griggs-Vallotton collection is organized into four categories. Jesus and the 12 Disciples Jesus and Peter Jesus: […]
Teaching with Bible Maps by Rev. Neil MacQueen Print the PDF here In this article: Intro Why teach with maps Example of teaching a story with a map Young Children and Maps 15 lesson ideas for teaching with maps Tips for displaying maps Note: I have updated this article and posted it over at www.rotation.org […]
Over at www.rotation.org we’ve created a presentation of some of our FAVORITE FREE “at-home” Advent and Christmas resources for families. Check out the video and go to www.rotation.org/pages/advent to see all the links to our favorites. Go to a menu of links to all the resources seen in the presentation Download article as PDF
Delivering Better Children’s Sermons an article by (Rev.) Neil MacQueen, www.sundaysoftware.com Heard any good children’s sermons lately? (Me either.) We’ve been attending a new church lately, and of the five different staff people we’ve heard deliver the children sermon, only the retired youth minister did a good one. The others, including those by the […]
Go see the new video clip presentations about the Rotation Model (I made them for Rotation.org!)You can print the following article as a PDF by clicking the print link at the bottom of the page.Why is the “Sunday Software guy” writing about the Workshop Rotation Model for Sunday School? Because I first started teaching with […]
Teaching about Prayer an article by (Rev.) Neil MacQueen, Sunday Software “Prayer” is a topic and practice that deserves a church’s full attention at every level of its life and program. This article addresses some key issues and shares MANY techniques particular to prayer in the Sunday School classroom. Among other things, I hope you […]
What should Bible characters look like? An uncomfortable think piece about the appearance of Bible characters, and Jesus in our teaching media, in our imaginations, …and in various likely realities from Neil MacQueen, www.sundaysoftware.com I originally wrote this in reply to a complaint that some Bible characters in one of our software programs looked too “modern” and […]
How to write and teach lessons that move from information to transformation. by Neil MacQueen The revised, improved and packed with examples version of this article is now posted at Rotation.org This article has two sections below: description, and techniques for transformative teaching. INTRO Years ago, Christian educator and author Scottie May shared these transformative […]
Perhaps you’ve never noticed it, but “rocks” figure into Jesus’ last days on earth in a big way. The following is a recollection of my “Rocks of Holy Week” presentation. I originally wrote it as a single sermon for a church where I served, and later presented in another of my churches as a series of Lenten […]
There was a time when all we had to do was open the door. But those days are long gone in most churches. People like to point fingers at the outside culprits (sports, kids these days, parents, etc.), but the truth is, we have always been competing against our selves, and still are. Those of […]
Thanks for visiting this page! I started writing this over a decade ago and have kept updating it. Funny how “timeless” the definition of “good” is — even though the tools have changed. BUILDING A GOOD CHURCH WEBSITE by Neil MacQueen What is a “good” church website? → Good means attractive, fresh, friendly, and not amateurish. […]
Update: Since posting this article in the early 2000’s, I’ve updated it a few times. Originally written for my own church, after posting it on the web, it was picked up by various publications and church newsletters, and you are welcome to do so too. Googling “benefits of church attendance statistics” will pull up a […]
Scripture selections, Lesson ideas, and Software suggestions from (Rev.) Neil MacQueen, www.sundaysoftware.com The life and teaching of the Apostle Paul often get scant attention in Sunday School curriculum, and it’s no secret why: TIME: Most Sunday Schools don’t get around to teaching something about Paul until late spring or summer, -after the resurrection, when attendance declines and […]
1 Corinthians, Acts, children, Early Church, lesson ideas for Sunday School., Paul, Romans, softwareNeil’s Bible Movie Guides & Outlines I love teaching with videos too, and often need a TEACHING OUTLINE of the movie for my own use or to give to a teacher. Thus, I occasionally create my own. Outlines help you lesson plan. They help set up the video with the kids, tell the teacher what to […]
The following comes from our January 2015 Email Newsletter. Subscribe! A Few Good Discussion Techniques for helping kids share in Sunday School from (Rev.) Neil MacQueen Discussion is not a lecture. Here are some techniques from my own “Bag O’ Tricks” that can help students participate more in discussion.☺Ask questions using an Open~Dig~Reflect strategy: Open: “Which […]
Why is this posted at my software site? Because this is one of several original articles about the Workshop Rotation Model by yours truly kept at this site. Most of my rotation articles are now in the Articles section of www.rotation.org. The following article about “scope and sequence” has been updated here at Sunday Software. […]
Are Kids Too Busy for Sunday School? The myths, excuses, and erroneous assumptions about “kids these days”, and some surprising conclusions based on actual survey data and research. by Neil MacQueen, www.sundaysoftware.com You are welcome to copy/excerpt this article for local church use. I am a Presbyterian minister, Christian education specialists, software developer, and Sunday School […]
Articles about “The Failure of Youth Ministry” by Mike Yaconelli, founder of Youth Specialties Posted by Neil MacQueen at https://sundaysoftware.com/yaconelli/ ON THIS PAGE: Article 1: “The Failure of Youth Ministry” and “An Apology” by Mike Yaconelli, founder of Youth Specialties and YouthWorker Journal The following articles are copyrighted material that was removed from YouthWorker’s website a number […]
This article is my contribution to all the other prayer resources out there. It addresses some key issues and shares some unique lesson techniques and for teaching about prayer in a Sunday School classroom. This article also includes references to three of my software programs that have content “about prayer” or can be used to generate […]
Concepts, Techniques, Lesson Planning, Room design By Neil MacQueen Please note: I’ve extensively improved and expanded the following article and posted it over at Rotation.org in their Video Workshop Forum where you’ll also find many other great ideas and techniques. Teaching with Video Concepts, How-to, Techniques, Lesson Plan Ideas, Room design Most people know me […]
Kids, Computers, and Church & Synagogue Libraries An article written for the Church and Synagogue Library Association Magazine by Neil MacQueen Note: This article is quite a few years old, but some of its advice is still good! Most website software, like WordPress, comes with a built-in search feature, meaning, you can simply create pages […]
Below is our courtesy listing of Church Library, Worship, and Church Membership and Management software. Update: This article is quite a few years old. We have deleted portions that have gone out of date. Church Library software List no longer provided. Most website software programs, like WordPress, come with a built-in search feature, meaning, you […]
Creating a Church Website with WordPress and… how to set up a free email newsletter with subscription feature at your site so members get automatically notified of new content. an article by Neil MacQueen, Sunday Software, www.sundaysoftware.com Update: When I originally wrote this article, not a lot of churches knew about WordPress, but now it’s […]
“The Tribe13 Experiment” A true story about a different kind of children & youth group, and Confirmation experience by Neil MacQueen This article (treatise?) has several sections of varying details for those who wish to go deeper. I don’t pretend that it is a “roadmap” for everyone or even a few. What I DO hope […]
