Does the Sunday School Model Need Updating?

It can be beneficial to consider why we do what we do.

For example, while I love having a predictable rhythm in my life, sometimes I think about why I do a particular thing and realize that a habit has become unnecessary. While many of the things we do as Bible-believing churches are profitable, perhaps there are some that need reconsidering from time to time? Don’t worry, I’m not suggesting a new Bible version or more modern music. Stick with me.

I teach adult Sunday School at my local church and enjoy doing it. It keeps me sharp in my study of the Word of God (to know it best, teach it!) and provides the congregation an additional opportunity for Bible teaching on different topics beyond the morning worship service. I feel that it can be profitable both to the teacher and the hearers.

However, sometimes I wonder if we need to think differently about this church “staple.”

While the instruction of God’s people is clearly Scriptural (e.g. Acts 20:28), Sunday School itself is an invention of man. Clearly, Sunday School has evolved greatly from when it provided actual schooling for children who worked the other six days of the week before the addition of child labor laws and public schools. Today, Sunday School frequently involves splitting up the family with adults headed in one direction and their children in another direction to learn lessons from Scripture. Multiple classes may be offered depending on the size of the congregation.

THE GROUP DYNAMIC

Is splitting up the family the best approach to learning the Word of God?

The American family now more than ever can be fragmented by work, school, and a host of activities that are custom-tailored for different age groups. The time families spend together (laughing, crying, growing, living) is dwindling.

When it comes to spiritual matters, is it not the family unit that should be working together for common goals with each member being encouraged by the others in their walk with the Lord? For children, is learning with their peers the best model for instruction in wisdom?

THE ROLE OF FATHERS

Thinking about bringing the family back together brings me to the topic of spiritual training in the home. Have fathers ceded too much of their responsibility to churches when it comes to training in spiritual things?

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)

Could you envision a model where a Christian father oversees his family during the week, and based on his observations and study of Scripture, develops spiritually based training for the family that he shares on Sunday morning before the church meeting? Rather than something new, should this not be our expectation for Christian fathers?

QUESTIONS

You may be thinking about scenarios that don’t fit the ideas above. I have too. What about visitors, or very new believers that would struggle to host their own in-home Bible study?

These are good questions. However, dropping a visitor or new believer into an adult Sunday school class may quickly cause them to be overwhelmed while at the same time their child may be somewhere else wondering where their parents are.

A new approach may allow us to reach out to these individuals more specifically, providing discipling that can be the foundation of their new life in Christ.

IN CONCLUSION

Let me be clear that I’m not trying to “blow up” church services just for the sake of change. Perhaps only small adjustments would make for substantial gains. I’m also not arguing for less time in the church house (e.g. Hebrews 10:25). In all honesty, I think some of the options above would free the church for other Bible-study opportunities during the week.

Let’s be careful to avoid tradition diminishing our effectiveness as we seek to grow “the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).