The Pros and Cons of Sunday School Today (Part 1)

Pros and Cons of Sunday School (Part 1)

When I first started in the ministry 46 years ago, Sunday School was the to do thing of the week. I remember SCCOG camp meeting after camp meeting where awards were given by Sunday School category. All preachers talked about was how many they were running in Sunday School, or the first thing an overseer would say in discussing a move was the Sunday School attendance of the prospective church he was sending you to.

Just like everything over time things evolve. 45 years ago we pastors hated the fact that people would come to Sunday School only to leave before morning worship. At that time Sunday School was the only time many were getting teaching from the Word of God. But as people became more educated and curriculum became more outdated churches of all sizes begin to see the lack of participation versus the cost of materials and started to change their perception of Sunday School. I can tell you from experience that spending $150 per quarter for material in a class that only had two students looses it's luster after 3 or 4 years and no matter what you did you couldn't get the family involved in SS on a regular basis. Frustrating, isn't it!

When resistance to change comes we older Christians usually get the blame, but this time it's not on us. Parents quit coming to Sunday School, so that kept the children out as well However, if you change and go away from Sunday School it's usually the one's who don't come that howl the most. I started a church over 25 years ago that was growing by leaps and bounds and we had a Bible Study and dedicated workers who taught on Wednesday night in age reflective classes. We had no Sunday School, and I believe we were one of the first at the time to operate like that in SCCOG. We stopped growing when I gave in to a few complainers who wanted Sunday School instead of starting at 10:30 as we had been doing since the church started. Within 3 months we stopped growing, attendance fell off on Sunday and Wednesday, people that were always faithful never came to Sunday School and started showing up late for morning worship. I was constantly trying to find fill-ins for teachers that were gone. The sad thing was that the people that wanted SS so badly never came! That's one time I should have not let a few voices drown out what the Lord had told me to do.

So here's a list of the pros and cons about Sunday School.  Most of the pros came from a CE website pushing the sale of their material. I came up with the cons based on experience. You can do with it what you wish, but just giving you some food for thought:

Pros: Sunday school provides a structure for teaching God’s Word. They say that preaching isn’t enough. A systematic teaching of the Scriptures, not just preaching, needs to occur for all age levels. 

Cons: We have proven in the COG that teaching and institutions don't always go hand and hand and that change is inevitable and will come. In my life time we've gone from Y.P.E. to F.T.H to Mid-Week service to Wednesday Night service to Girls Clubs, and to Royal Rangers. Children, youth, and adults do need opportunities for discovery, review, and interaction as they study God’s principles, but nothing will work if families don't get involved on a regular basis regardless of the name you call it or the day of the week.

Pros: Sunday school gears Bible teaching to a specific age group. It means a wiggly four-year-old can discover great biblical truth by doing fun things with the Word while adults may discuss whether their relationship with their spouse or responses to daily crises reflect their trust in God. Both age groups leave Sunday school with specific applications for the week.

Cons: Most people that come to Sunday School do so out of habit and not really to learn the same lesson they were taught three years ago. Children get tired of the same old techniques and unpreparedness of their teachers from week to week. If they get bored as a child, they begin to build a resistance as a teen, until finally they stop coming when they are able. That's not to say every teacher is unprepared, but there are more of them than you think.

Pros: Sunday school mobilizes and trains laity for leadership. It’s difficult to say who benefits more, the teacher or the student. 

Cons: When a pastor has to beg for teachers for classes it's embarrassing and difficult. People act like they want the institution, but refuse to participate because they want the same freedom as the members of their SS class to be gone when they want to gone. Pastors find it harder and harder to get volunteers who want to spend the time preparing or being trained on how to be the best teachers they can be. Every shepherd/teacher must have a desire to see each student in his/her flock have a spiritual life change, but it's hard to do so with empty classrooms and a shortage of workers.

Please read tomorrows blog before you criticize my take on this controversial issue. If SS were still as important in most denominations why is it our membership in the COG has increased around the world, but in the USA our Sunday School attendance is almost half as much as it was 25 years ago? Maybe it's because we refuse to accept the changes that our on the horizon and we just don't want to admit it.