Over the past decade or so, many churches have done away with their Sunday school program and have chosen to do a children’s church program or no program instead. But dropping the Sunday school program leaves adults without social interaction and Bible study. It leaves children unable to hear the Word of God in ways that are meaningful to them, and it robs children of being able to connect with others of the same age for support in their Christian walk.
Instead, we see churches using what was once the Sunday school hour to extend the morning worship service over 2 hours. And churches have added a variety of other weekly church programs in place of Sunday school. But has dropping the Sunday school program hurt the church or hurt the church body? It may have.
Sunday School Legacy
Sunday school used to be a highlight of what churches offered. Many a child has been influenced to follow Christ because of the actions of a Sunday School teacher. Many adults have given over their lives to the Lord because their ears were opened and their hearts recognized truth heard in a Sunday School classroom.
Not All About the Numbers
Has the shift away from Sunday school programs hurt the church? Are church numbers growing without the inclusion of a Sunday school program? Some may be, but church growth isn’t all about the numbers. Sometimes the spiritual life of the church members suffers when programs are dropped and change occurs in the church.
Sunday School Dropped for Low Attendance
How do you feel about the trend of doing away with Sunday school programs and moving toward children’s church programs only? No matter how you feel about it personally, there are reasons why it is happening. The drop in attendance is a significant reason. Parents and children want the extra time to sleep-in before church. Furthermore, some folks feel the time spent in extra-long church services is time enough to commit to being in church.
Sunday School Dropped for Lack of Teachers or Funds
Another reason why Sunday school programs are being dropped is due to lack of teaching staff. Pleas are made for Sunday school teachers, but often, the need goes unfilled. And children don’t give great resources in the offering plate, so the financial needs of running a Sunday school program, often falls on church finances. A church may reason that a program that can’t fund itself financially or can’t get teaching staff, is a program that must be discontinued.
Sunday School Programs and Church Health
Fortunately, I attend a church that still focuses on providing a Sunday school program for both children and adults. Adult class offerings usually cover what is needed for Sunday school materials for all the classes. And I believe that one of the reasons my church is healthy and growing is attributable to its Sunday School program, one that is self-supporting and has a great teaching staff.
Avoiding Sunday School Teacher Burnout
Where I attend Sunday school, teachers are not expected to burnout. Substitute teachers cover summer months and every August is vacation time. No extra church programs happen during August to give church workers that much needed time off to refresh. Then when classes begin again in September, they begin with vigor and with inspired Sunday school teachers ready to share the gospel with their classrooms full of students.
Ministry Times Affect Attendance
Although dropping Sunday school programs has been a church trend in the late 90’s and into this century, it may not have been a progressive move. When churches fail to make time for Biblical instruction in Sunday school, the incentive to be a part of any other Bible class or fellowship gathering is diminished. Many folks who would attend Sunday school on Sunday morning, won’t attend Bible study on week nights and can’t attend during times they typically work. So the Sunday morning hours are often the best times for churches to offer Bible-based programs for adults and children.
Change Verses Attendance, Growth, and Ministry
If your church is one that has followed the trend to drop the Sunday School program, your leadership might want to consider what may have been lost in such a move. They need to ask themselves questions like these. Have more children been encouraged to serve the Lord because of dropping the Sunday school program? Have more young people entered the ministry or become missionaries because of it? Are more young adults remaining in church because of feeling connected? And finally, are more families remaining in church, because their children’s needs are being met?
Sunday school has value; it’s been proven over and over again throughout the generations. If your church leadership is toying with the idea of dropping the Sunday school program or if your church has already dropped the program, encourage them to reconsider. Sometimes it’s more important to infuse new life into a program, than to drop it entirely–better to fix what is broken, than to discard it for something new.
