Comments for sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/rethink_-_childrens_church_and_sunday_school

Comment #363

2006-05-31T20:30:45Z

Thanks, all! This is the kind of input I'd hoped for when I started this blog. Discussions, ideas, debates, exchange of information, and all that good stuff.

Comment #362

2006-05-31T16:18:24Z

One of the things we do at my church is have Sunday school after the service, and it is indeed divided by age, approximately, and in very small groups. However, public worship itself is never divided (save perhaps temporarily for the occasional temper tantrum and subsequent discipline...I'm sure you can relate). As you point out, a big reason is because the younger folks need to see the "how" and "why" from their parents. To take a trivial example, it seems to me that it is very helpful for a child to see his mother and father thanking God for all their blessings if a child is really to understand that all blessings do, in fact, come from God. To do otherwise has the danger of appearing hypocritical. (In general, I think we underestimate the power of worship itself to evangelize the young and old alike--that's the whole point of Daniel 6. I worry the the modern evangelical approach makes evangelism something separate from worship. I'm thinking of Rick Warren here....but I digress). There is certainly biblical precedent for this keeping one body of people worshiping together--God didn't send Moses down the mountain twice, once for the adults and once for the children! One has to understand that this is a pattern that is preserved from the old to the new covenant, though we assemble elsewhere (Heb 12:18-24).

In addition to Sunday school, Pastor puts some family discussion questions in the bulletin for us to use in our own family devotional time during the week as they relate to the morning and evening sermons. Much of this is built around the idea that Mom and Dad are the teachers, and with so many homeschooling families this works very well to bring unity to the whole church. For those of us college students, we usually get together and discuss the sermons on our own using this as a point of departure.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the idea of Sunday School itself isn't a bad thing as long as it doesn't get in the way of God's assembly talking with God (through prayer), and God talking to his people (through His Word). I worry this is what a separate "children's church" does. Our Sunday school differs from the Worship service not in subject matter but rather that the focus of our attention is different; Sunday school is dialogue amongst the assembly about God. Of course, this isn't some kind of hard and fast line, as elements of both the "horizontal" and "vertical" aspects of the Christian life are present in both, but I find it to be a helpful distinction to consider when it comes to matters affecting what we do on the Lord's Day.

Comment #361

2006-05-25T12:42:34Z

And to my parents I say "Is't God wonderful?" Despite the fact that you discovered "too late" how important it is to live your faith in front of and with your children, God has loving called both to be faithful servents! What we lost from not having such experiences as you describe God is building in us now. Praise the Lord!

Comment #360

2006-05-24T22:43:45Z

This is a good thing to think about. We have enjoyed having Jonathan in the service with us, or at least outside the doors listening, preferring that over putting him in the nursery.Jon has had a couple of long conversations with the Children's Ministry coordinator, mostly stemming from our request to not be automatically put on the "volunteer" rotation just because we are parents. It takes quite a rethinking for someone to accept that we "don't believe in Sunday school." I would think homeschoolers would more readily accept it, already knowing the desire not to have someone else teach their children. It is true that there are many in our church that would be surprised to discover that we don't agree with all its theology!
We haven't done a complete boycott of Children's Ministry, one because Jonathan has discovered that he likes playing with the toys in the nursery, and two because we have agreed to be substitute volunteers when necessary. However, I think we do have to do some more thinking on exactly what we want to do when November comes and Jonathan will technically graduate to the next class.