(Excerpts from Fall Newsletter, November 2005)
In the 60’s God was declared dead. Books were written; articles were
published in major magazines; lectures were given; symposiums were held;
much breath was wasted with this bit of bizarre news. It wasn’t true then,
and it’s not true now.
In the 90’s Sunday School was declared dead; out of touch with the
culture; no longer a viable ministry; doesn’t work any more. Books have been
written, articles published; lectures given… you get the idea. It wasn’t
true then, and it’s not true now.
Sunday School is a vital, enduring ministry that has stood the test of
time. It is based on principles that do not go out of date, and it will
address the current culture if churches stay true to its historical purpose.
A recent George Barna article reports the following:
The Good News is
Church reliance upon Sunday school has remained stable: 19 out of every 20
Protestant churches (95%) offer “a Sunday school in which people receive
some form of planned or systematic Bible instruction in a class setting.”
Nearly the same proportion of churches – 97% – offered Sunday school eight
years ago, when the tracking research began. While churches are often
divided along denominational, theological, and methodological lines, the
research points out that Sunday school remains one of the most widely
embraced ministry programs.
The Bad News is
...
… In terms of Sunday school prioritization, the research showed that just 1
in every 7 Senior Pastors (15%) considers Sunday school to be their church’s
highest priority. This represents a significant drop from previous years –
2002 was the high point, when 22% of pastors claimed that Sunday school was
the top priority of their church.
The Real News is
...
Anticipating that some people will infer that Sunday school is fading,
David Kinnaman, the director of the study, explained that, ‘rumors of Sunday
school’s imminent demise are greatly exaggerated. Every weekend more than
300,000 churches offer some type of systematic religious instruction in a
classroom setting – and those programs are attended by nearly 45 million
adults and more than 22 million youth and children. In fact, nearly 9 out of
every 10 pastors said they consider Sunday school to be an important part of
their church’s ministry.’
http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=192
Many of today’s self-proclaimed church gurus have declared that Sunday
School is Dead! The next best thing is that new idea they thought of and
that has worked for them in their limited situation.
These new methods may be good; however, it seems that in order to put
forward their “next best thing” they have to put down those ministries that
have endured from the past. As good as some of their innovative methods are,
the reality is that most of our churches still rely on the enduring ministry
of the Sunday School small group Bible study to support three significant
congregational core values:
They are correct, however, in that Sunday School has issues to face.
In many congregations it has lost its purpose. It has changed from the open,
evangelistic, reaching ministry that exists mainly for those who have not
yet joined (the lost and unchurched) to become a closed, fellowship of the
church members who want “in depth” Bible study for their own spiritual
edification.
There
are several challenges facing Sunday School:
1.
Raising the priority of Sunday School to the next level for pastors
2. Establishing the purpose of the Sunday School as an
Open group with an evangelistic purpose and not a closed group with a
discipleship purpose.
3. Equipping the Sunday School Director in developing a
S.S. Ministry Planning Team instead of doing it alone.
4. Training the Sunday School leaders in the three core
values of the Sunday School: Ministry, Reaching, Teaching (H.O.T.)
5. Building on the timeless principles and developing
innovative methods to reach today’s culture.
Barna hit it squarely on the head when he reported, “Without
compromising the Gospel, Sunday school and other forms of Christian
education must continue to adapt to be effective in this ever-changing
environment.” Yes, Sunday School needs to change, but is it dead? Don’t you
believe it for a minute. Can more than 300,000 churches that have Sunday
School be wrong? Are those nearly 45 million adults and more than 22 million
youth and children who attend Sunday School weekly be that out of sync with
the culture? Are the nearly 9 out of every 10 pastors who consider Sunday
school to be an important part of their church’s ministry be that far off
base?
I think not! It’s high time that we tell those who declare that ‘Sunday
School is dead!’ to wake up and smell the coffee! Sunday School is alive and
well in most places, and in those churches where it languishes, well,
let’s wake it up!
-
Phil Stone, Bible Teaching & Church Administration Team Leader, Baptist
State Convention of North Carolina. email:
pstone@bscnc.org
