Back to Basics — Evangelistic Sunday School

I once watched a jazz workshop on television. The master teacher invited one of the students to the stage to play a familiar jazz standard. The eager student climbed onto the stage with his sax and began improvising feverishly. His youthful lungs exhaled a flurry of rapid scales and hot riffs through his horn. When the song ended, the master teacher turned to the student and asked, "Why did you improvise? I just wanted to know if you knew the melody." The master teacher's question underscored the importance of getting "back to basics."

The Basics of Sunday School

How many of us know why Sunday schools began in the first place? The original intent of Sunday school was evangelism. Students of history know that laypeople and clergy reached out to children to provide them with basic instruction in reading and writing and Bible study. Outreach fueled the Sunday school movement.

The Founder(s) of Sunday School

There is some question about who actually pioneered the Sunday school movement. The common consensus credits Robert Raikes, an English philanthropist and Anglican layman, with starting Sunday schools.

Raikes apparently decided to create a Sunday school when a group of unruly children made so much commotion outsidehis office that he could not concentrate on his work. Raikes had been working with the incarcerated and believed that schooling provided the best intervention for lawlessness.

Raikes, along with Thomas Stock, a local curate, gave lessons in reading and writing on Sundays. The schooling took place on Sundays because the boys worked in factories the other six days of the week. Laypeople, the best available teachers, were also available on Sundays.

Paul Chilcote, author of Recapturing the Wesleys' Vision: An Introduction to the Faith of John and Charles Wesley, states that Hannah Ball pioneered Sunday schools in England, long before Robert Raikes. Ball, a leading member of the Methodist society, "founded her school for the express purpose of teaching Scripture, reading and other elementary subjects to neglected children. She met with the children to provide this education every Sunday and Monday for more than twenty years."

Mission-Driven Sunday School

Notice the key reasons that generated the mission for Sunday school.

• Caring laypeople (Robert Raikes, Hannah Ball) and clergy (Thomas Stock) decided to reach out to "at-risk" children. They addressed critical life skill needs by teaching reading and writing — what Wesley would call Works of Mercy. They also addressed spiritual needs by teaching Scripture study and catechism — what Wesley would consider Works of Piety.
• Sunday school convened at times when the children and lay volunteers were most available.

Key Questions

1. Ball and Raikes addressed children's basic education needs. What critical needs do children, youth, and adults have that Sunday school needs to address today?
   
2. Raikes had worked with the incarcerated prior to starting Sunday schools. He believed that intervention was crucial. If the Sunday school's mission is outreach — to include the unruly — what intervention goals should Sunday schools have?
   
3. The Sunday schools that Ball and Raikes organized clearly demonstrated what Wesley called Works of Mercyas well as Works of Piety. Which of the works of mercy and works of piety does your Sunday school intentionally practice? Consult "Grace According to John Wesley" below.
   
4. When are the best times to reach children and youth in your local setting? (Consider days other than Sunday.)

Summary

Historically, the basics of Sunday school included practicing outreach and mission, addressing social and spiritual needs, doing works of mercy and works of piety (see the table below). With that in mind, let's embrace our evangelistic history of Sunday school. It's time to get back to the basics.

Grace According to John Wesley Means of Grace
Works of Piety	Works of Mercy
Prayer	Doing Good
Searching the Scriptures	Visiting the Sick and Prisoners
Holy Communion	Feeding and Clothing People
Fasting	Earning, Saving, Giving All One Can
Christian Community	Opposition to Slavery
Healthy Living

Resources

• Beyond the Roll Book presented by Bishop Scott Jones (Nashville: Abingdon Press; book and DVD)
  
• I Knew Them All by Heartby Myrtle K. Felkner (Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2006)
  
• How to Reach Secular Peopleby George G. Hunter, III (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1992)
  
• Church for the Unchurchedby George G. Hunter, III (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996)
  
• The Race to Reach Out: Connecting Newcomers to Christ in a New Centuryby Michael J. Kleiner and Douglas Anderson (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2004)

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Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. All rights reserved. Used by permission.