Over the years, as our young family moved around the country, we attended a number of churches and visited just as many Sunday schools. In our denomination (Lutheran), these classes were typically led by enthusiastic, kind women of the church with minimal supervision or direction from the pastors.
The pastors understandably spent their time in other godly pursuits such as preparing for their Bible studies, ministering to the sick and dying, and composing the Sunday sermon— so they left the Sunday school teachers to do their thing. This is very understandable; however, the result was abysmal: time-consuming coloring pages, silly crafts that teach nothing of importance, preschool-age ditties that everyone over the age of four hates and is embarrassed to sing, and absolutely no substance during the whole 45-minute to an hour time period.
My children never, not once, at any age, came out of Sunday school having learned anything they didn’t already know. They were never excited about gaining some new insight into the Scriptures because nothing of substance was ever discussed. Their peers were likewise dulled and unenthused. I know, because I’ve sat in on a number of these classes. Nothing beyond an oversimplified version of one of the top 10 or so stories in the Bible is ever discussed. You have your pick: Creation, Adam & Eve, David & Goliath, Noah & the flood, Samson & Deliah, Daniel & the lions’ den, Moses & the 10 commandments, Jonah & the whale, baby Jesus, and Jesus’ death & resurrection. Now put those stories into about 10-15 sentences each, and there you have it. That’s about all they’d ever get.
At 10 years old, my daughter was still being taught about Noah and the flood in the same simplistic way, just as if she were three years old.
Discouraged pastors have told me that the content has to be dumbed down due to the background of the children attending Sunday school. The fact that these children have never been taught Bible stories creates a sense of fear, and the assumption is that to reach them, we must dumb the stories down for them.
However, this stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of how children learn and how to garner enthusiasm and interest in a subject. You talk up to people you want to interest in something, not down to them. Children are intelligent human beings, and they should feel they are being treated as such. They can sense when you think they’re stupid and incapable. That shuts their brain down. They no longer care what you have to say. You should talk to them like the people they are. You should also bring in other less-frequented stories to your Sunday schools. You can share facts with them and point out things they might not have noticed. You can and should give more pertinent information, not less.
When everything is overly simplified, no one, not even the youngest child, maintains interest.
The reason you never see a family genuinely invested in having their child attend Sunday school for its own sake is that they are not invested in it. No one is. Parents just put their kid in it for the babysitting while they attended adult Bible study. Moms don’t talk about the benefits of Sunday school because there aren’t any currently. That is a shame. We can do better.
Pastors, I encourage you to focus more on the content of your Sunday school programs. The church needs your leadership in this area. I know you’re tired, overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. I understand you carry a heavy load. I don’t write this to add more burden to your shoulders, but I write this because it is true. We depend on pastors to guide willing parishioners and ensure that the youngest members of our congregations are well-fed and spiritually nourished. A prime time for this is during Sunday school. To make this time more than just babysitting requires time, effort, and close supervision.
Please don’t wait until children reach the age of confirmation to invest your time and energy; it’s far too late by then. Children are most impressionable and malleable when they are very young, and they are ready to absorb the information you provide to shape their thoughts and beliefs. They are open to you, and they are open to God. Sunday school is a valuable time, and we should utilize every minute to provide children with a unique opportunity to delve into God’s Word and develop a closer relationship with their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
