Sunday School

  As I cleaned out closets in preparation for the fumigation of the church, I happened upon bits and pieces of many of the lessons I have concocted over the past 3 years. There is the fruit of the spirit jigsaw puzzle, the body of Christ bingo, the services to others cootie catchers and the Noah’s ark matching game. I can’t help but wonder how much of it made any sense to the children. How much did they retain? Has all of this play dough and finger paint tethered any of the bibles stories into their hearts? Has any one of them been nicer to a strangers after reenacting the parable of the good Samaritan with stuffed animals and band aids? (Which, by the way, is not a good idea as the band aids do not come off that fake fur, ever.)

   It’s hard to know if anything during the hour or so a week that children are at church makes much of an impact. This is not like a science fair experiment; we can’t control for variables. Overall, knowing what affects a child in a positive way is difficult to discern. There are some sweeping generalizations when it comes to forming children.  Children who are read to every night usually do much better academically than those who are not. Children who get enough sleep and watch very little TV are in better physical and emotional shape than those children who stay up late watching TV. When it comes to the spiritual impact of making the Jordan River out of blue frosting, there is very little information and fewer conclusions.

   The truth is that no one knows what coming to Sunday school does for a child. It doesn’t seem to hurt. I know that it is not the cure all for kids who have gone astray. The best a parent can hope for is that Sunday school is a supporting role in the process of raising a child. Sunday school will affirm what the children are already hearing at home. Parents are the key to the core spiritual growth of a child.  Bringing a child to church regularly will, hopefully, result in him knowing a few bible stories and looking back on church as a safe and comforting place to be. In Sunday school we build on the teaching children hear at home; we are not a substitute for home. The difference is that we get to  do it with lots of glitter and glue.

God’s peace,
Michelle