Image courtesy PostcardRoundup.com.[/caption]
Stetzer went on to mention four things that have led to the demise of Sunday school or weakened its effectiveness: 1) A shift from transformed lives to church growth; 2) a move from volunteers to paid professionals; 3) a movement that became a program; and 4) a change from being children-focused to consumer-focused.
Sunday school in the beginning was just that: a one-day-a-week school for at-risk children on Sundays. In the wake of the Industrial Revolution, children became employees, often working 12 hours a day, six days a week. In 1780, in Gloucester, England, Robert Raikes saw the plight of these children and provided a way for them to get some education and avoid sinking into crime and despair. Sunday was the only day available for school for these youth. Children learned to read by reading the Bible. When Raikes died in 1811, there were approximately 400,000 children attending Sunday schools in Great Britain.
When compulsory education became the law, the emphasis of Sunday school shifted to Christian education exclusively. Sunday school became a productive way to evangelize and disciple people, and Southern Baptists led the way. In a sermon/research paper, “Baptists Are the New Methodists,” Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, stated, “In 1945 the SBC [churches] baptized about 257,000 people. In 1955, about 417,000 people were baptized. Since 1955, the SBC never reached the mark of 450,000 baptisms. We doubled in 10 years, but then could not increase 35,000 in more than 50 years. What happened to the harvest?”
Whatever Happened to Sunday School?
From the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s, Southern Baptists lived on the cutting edge of church growth, primarily by growing strong and evangelistic Sunday schools.
Today we are viewed as a denomination in decline, with decreases in baptisms, worship attendance, church membership and Sunday school attendance spanning at least eight years.
If Sunday school was the tool that enabled us to lead the way in church growth, what has happened to Sunday school?
“It’s probably not a secret that Sunday school is no longer the en vogue program of the local church,” Ed Stetzer, former director of LifeWay Research, wrote in 2011. “You would be hard pressed to find a contemporary church plant that includes Sunday school as part of its structure.”
[caption id="attachment_41565" align="alignright" width="350"] Image courtesy PostcardRoundup.com.[/caption]
Stetzer went on to mention four things that have led to the demise of Sunday school or weakened its effectiveness: 1) A shift from transformed lives to church growth; 2) a move from volunteers to paid professionals; 3) a movement that became a program; and 4) a change from being children-focused to consumer-focused.
Sunday school in the beginning was just that: a one-day-a-week school for at-risk children on Sundays. In the wake of the Industrial Revolution, children became employees, often working 12 hours a day, six days a week. In 1780, in Gloucester, England, Robert Raikes saw the plight of these children and provided a way for them to get some education and avoid sinking into crime and despair. Sunday was the only day available for school for these youth. Children learned to read by reading the Bible. When Raikes died in 1811, there were approximately 400,000 children attending Sunday schools in Great Britain.
When compulsory education became the law, the emphasis of Sunday school shifted to Christian education exclusively. Sunday school became a productive way to evangelize and disciple people, and Southern Baptists led the way. In a sermon/research paper, “Baptists Are the New Methodists,” Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, stated, “In 1945 the SBC [churches] baptized about 257,000 people. In 1955, about 417,000 people were baptized. Since 1955, the SBC never reached the mark of 450,000 baptisms. We doubled in 10 years, but then could not increase 35,000 in more than 50 years. What happened to the harvest?”
Image courtesy PostcardRoundup.com.[/caption]
Stetzer went on to mention four things that have led to the demise of Sunday school or weakened its effectiveness: 1) A shift from transformed lives to church growth; 2) a move from volunteers to paid professionals; 3) a movement that became a program; and 4) a change from being children-focused to consumer-focused.
Sunday school in the beginning was just that: a one-day-a-week school for at-risk children on Sundays. In the wake of the Industrial Revolution, children became employees, often working 12 hours a day, six days a week. In 1780, in Gloucester, England, Robert Raikes saw the plight of these children and provided a way for them to get some education and avoid sinking into crime and despair. Sunday was the only day available for school for these youth. Children learned to read by reading the Bible. When Raikes died in 1811, there were approximately 400,000 children attending Sunday schools in Great Britain.
When compulsory education became the law, the emphasis of Sunday school shifted to Christian education exclusively. Sunday school became a productive way to evangelize and disciple people, and Southern Baptists led the way. In a sermon/research paper, “Baptists Are the New Methodists,” Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, stated, “In 1945 the SBC [churches] baptized about 257,000 people. In 1955, about 417,000 people were baptized. Since 1955, the SBC never reached the mark of 450,000 baptisms. We doubled in 10 years, but then could not increase 35,000 in more than 50 years. What happened to the harvest?”