One of the members of the "Littles" class at Edgemont community Sunday school enjoys creating her masterpiece. Photos courtesy of Ericka Koller-Ross.

Edgemont United Church has an average worship attendance of 32. The Sunday school attendance dwindled. Rather than not have Sunday school, Erica Koller-Ross, a local veterinarian, decided to try offering the Sunday school with others.

“This is a congregation that covers a huge geographic region, 1,400 to 1,600 square miles. It includes the communities of Pringle and Edgemont. It is hard for families to connect and come every Sunday,” said Pastor Peary Wilson, who serves Edgemont United.

Koller-Ross is the Sunday school superintendent, teacher, and developed the curriculum. She came back to the Edgemont area, after being gone for ten years, to launch her career and raise her family. Her family has always attended Edgemont United, and she wanted to have her children share the faith journey she had experienced.

Erica found that there were fewer families with children attending Sunday school. As the mother of two young children, she wanted her children to learn about Jesus, so she stepped forward.

Students in grades four through middle school work on an activity at Edgemont community Sunday school.

“My heart is in a sad place. There are less and less people coming to our church. I don’t want to leave our church. I want my children to experience what I had and what our church offers,” Erica says. “I want to make Sunday school a good experience for my children and the other children in the community. I am hoping they will feel the love that I felt growing up.”

Purchased Sunday school curriculum can be expensive. Erica knew that the cost of purchasing curriculum kits was more than the congregation’s budget could handle. She connected with the Lutheran church in town and explored the possibility of combining to offer a children’s and youth ministry program and share the expense of the curriculum. 

She found that the kits were still more than both of the churches could afford.  She spent time exploring on the Internet and got to work developing a story-based curriculum.

“I thought back to my days in Sunday School and what I remembered,” said Erica. “I valued the stories of the characters of the Old and New Testament. I still remember them and use them in my life.”

Pinterest and a website, www.dltk-bible.com were two digital sources that guided the development of the curriculum. Each lesson has a story, craft or activity, songs, snack, and discussion. The fall curriculum focuses on the Old Testament, and the spring curriculum will focus on the New Testament.

Pastor Wilson describes the program as a good model for rural churches out there. 

The younger children sing during worship service at Edgemont United Church as part of the community Sunday school program.

“The Sunday school program she has developed is excellent,” Pastor Peary says. “The curriculum is story-based, thoughtful, and very well put together. The curriculum creates an understanding or cross-section of the Christian faith and science. As a veterinarian, she was well equipped to do that.”

Every Sunday two groups meet at the Lutheran Church in Edgemont for Sunday school, the “Bigs” and the “Littles.” The “Littles” group includes children in grades preschool through third grade. The “Bigs” includes everyone in fourth grade through middle school. The two groups will break down into smaller groups for discussion around the story.

Erica teaches the “Littles” every Sunday she can, as does her sister. Two other adults lead the “Bigs” and a high school group.  As a veterinarian, she is sometimes called away at the last second. “I have to have everything ready for other adults around take it and go. So I have everything in a notebook, with photos, so the curriculum is easy to follow,” Erica said. 

There are 13 kids consistently involved each Sunday in the program. Parents and kids are excited about what is happening. "You can see the light on the kids' faces when they get into an activity. They giggle and don't want to stop," says Erica. "They keep coming back." 

This story was first reported in stories of transformation in the Dakotas Conference Vital Signs dashboard.  Report your stories so that we can share them with others across the conference.