Some people have already written the death knoll for Sunday School. I have colleagues with which I minister that have joined the bandwagon. And if you think about it, there are some things about Sunday School that need to die:
- In any church where Sunday School classes look like it did ten years, it probably needs to die and be resurrected.
- If children's and preschool Sunday School classes are the lifeblood, then it may be time for that Sunday School to die. The lifeblood of any growing Sunday School will be the new groups that are reaching adults. We must provide effectively for preschool, children, and youth, but adult Bible study groups must be the foundation for long-term growth.
- Any Sunday School that has not started at least one new adult group in the last three or four years probably needs to die. We will have a difficult time reaching new people if we do not provide new opportunities.
- Any Sunday School that is not looking at options beyond Sunday morning probably needs to die. People's schedules do not always make them available on Sunday anymore. While we can cuss and discuss how bad it is that Sunday is not honored anymore, the reality is that our unchurched culture does not care what we think. People will have to be reached with alternatives outside of Sunday morning.
- Any church that still calls their Bible study classes Sunday School might be on the verge of dying. Sunday School cultivates old feelings of the Bible being forced down the throats of uninterested and bored children. I think many adults even have the feeling that Sunday School is boring and uninteresting. Just the title scares them. We are going to have to create a better name.
- Any Sunday School that has not re-visited its purpose in the last couple of years is probably dying. Why do we do Sunday School? Is there any real vision for it? Do we do it because we have always done it.
I can think of many more. What do you think? What do we need to do create a living Sunday School? I have some ideas on what will keep Sunday School alive and vibrant. But that is for another blog at another time.
