Oh, how my family is missing Sunday School! My oldest was just telling me the other day about how much she loves Sunday School. Sunday School benefits are abundant! I love the excitement my girls had each Sunday morning to go to church, sing songs, do crafts, play with friends, and be loved on by caring adults. While some churches, including ours, are heading back to in-person services, our family isn’t stepping back into physical socialization just yet.
This is hard! There are so many great things about Sunday School. It was one of my favorite hours when I worked at a church. The hour leading up to it, not so much, but once the kids showed up and we got to enjoy age-appropriate worship and have a blast learning about Jesus together, my gifts shone and my soul felt invigorated.
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Brief History of Sunday School
Sunday School started in Britain in the 1780s as an outreach for poor children who spent 12 plus hours a day 6 days a week working in factories. These children were unable to attend school and were not being taught to read. Christians wanted to provide these kids an opportunity to learn to read and Sunday was the only day they had free from work.
What started as one school, grew to serve over 2 million children plus their families in 60 years. The first Sunday School did not set out to impact already Christian kids in their “Sunday Best.” It started as a way to empower working-class kids to break out of the cycle of poverty using the Bible as their textbook.
Purpose of Sunday School
One of the most impactful things that I learned in seminary was the true purpose of children’s ministry. In my Family Ministries class with Dr. Chap Clark, he taught us that VBS, specifically, and much of children’s ministry by extension, is not about deep kid’s discipleship that fulfills all of their faith training needs. It is about helping kids to learn that the church is a fun, safe place and God loves them. As a Children’s Ministry Director this was incredibly freeing.
Then I became a parent and the weight of pointing a child to a life of following Christ was back on my shoulders again, for real this time. As a Christian mama, I saw a new purpose for children’s ministry: to support and equip families as they pursue Christ every day in their homes and in their communities.
8 Benefits of Sunday School
I have been involved in all sides of children’s ministry. I’ve been the kid in the classroom. I’ve been a teen volunteer. I have been a single, young adult volunteer. I have been the director both as a parent and not a parent. Now, I am just the parent. Here are just some of my favorite benefits of Sunday School.
1) Kids learn church is a fun, safe place.
2) Children develop relationships with other trusted Christian adults.
3) Kids connect with other Christian kids.
4) Kids can learn from others’ creativity and perspective, not just mama’s.
5) Parents build relationships that can provide resources for helping minister to our kids at home.
6) It reinforces lessons kids learn at home.
7) It provides a safe place for kids to practice having faith discussions outside of the home.
8) It provides a safe place for older children, teens, and adults to express their gifts and serve God and his people.
What Sunday School Is Not
In my time as a Children’s and Youth Ministries Director, I faced so many misconceptions of what Sunday School was “supposed” to be. These misconceptions came from parents, committee members, staff members, volunteers, elders, and those outside of the church. Here are three of the top myths people believe about Sunday School from my experience.
Babysitting
I have 5 kids! I get it! And I love that I get to drop off my girls into safe, loving hands for FREE and walk away for an hour or so. But, when I do this, I do it with 2 caveats that reflect my strongly held belief that Sunday School is NOT babysitting.
- I go to my own faith-building opportunity on campus.
- I expect that time to be purposeful for the Kingdom and their ages.
When I was on church staff, I knew couples who would drop their kids off at Sunday School and leave campus. I get it, I do! But, it made me so sad. Sad for the volunteers, sad for the parents missing out on community and faith education, and sad for the church. We are missing something special if we treat Sunday School as babysitting.
One and Done Faith Training
Sunday School also does not check off the box for teaching our kids about Jesus. I grew up going to Sunday School for years and did not find out until college that Jesus wanted a personal relationship with me. I don’t blame the church for that at all. The church taught me that I was loved by Jesus and His people and that church was a fun and safe place. That is their job, and they did that.
I knew the stories, memorized Scripture, and could sing the songs. But, I did not know that Jesus wanted to be a part of the other 6 days of my life. How could the church teach me that if they weren’t there the other 6 days of the week? They can’t.
In Spiritual Parenting, Charles Spurgeon writes, “Let no Christian parents fall into the delusion that Sunday School is intended to ease them of their personal duties. The first and most natural condition of things is for Christian parents to train up their own children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
Does this purpose of parenting sound intimidating? It doesn’t have to be! I offer Parent Coaching to encourage and equip you in this role.
Experts
On the Bible
Most of the leaders in Sunday School are teens and adults that volunteer their time because they love Jesus and love kids. That’s it! Some of them may not even really love kids, but their love of Jesus compels them to serve anyway, but that is a different topic for a different day 😄
Regardless, a majority of them probably feel ill-equipped to teach God’s Word and are grateful for the awesome curriculum provided by the church. They are mamas, daddies, and other Christ-followers just like you that have the same Holy Spirit guiding them and use the same text.
If they can do it (which they can!), you can do it, too! They aren’t experts on the Bible, only willing faithful servants.
On Child Development or Education
Most of the leaders in Sunday School are not school teachers, psychologists, therapists, or otherwise trained in child development. Again, they are just friends of Jesus that He has called and equipped to serve kids on Sunday morning.
Meaning, they don’t have any special degrees on how to teach the Bible or what is age-appropriate faith-based learning. They have probably gotten some training from your church and follow a curriculum created by experts. Both things you can do!
Again, if they can do it (which they can!), you can do it, too! They aren’t education experts only willing faithful servants.
On Your Individual Kids
You are the expert on your child. You know your child best and spend more time with your child than your AMAZING Sunday School volunteers. The volunteers love your kids and may know your kids, but YOU are the expert on your child, their interests, their needs, their brokenness, and their joys.
Conclusion
Sunday School is AWESOME! However, it is not the answer to your kids having an abundant, life-long, world-changing, powerful relationship with Jesus. It is one tool that parents can and should use, but please use it as the sprinkles on the sundae of your kids’ faith training. They need more than 1 hour a week of Jesus, and, really, don’t we all?
If you are a parent and would like some help in bringing more discipleship into the home, book a free consultation with me to hear more about Parent Coaching. I love to walk with mamas as they point their children to the Lord.
If you are a Children’s Ministry leader or volunteer, find out how I can support you in equipping your families by booking a free consultation or checking out my page for churches.
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Sunday School plays and important role but it isn’t the only role! This article is so good! I will be sharing in my Family Foundations Page!
Thanks, Renee!