Sunday School

Barna Research (like Gallup poll) recently found that "When it comes to church engagement, those who attended Sunday school or other religious programs as children or as teens were much more likely than those without such experiences to attend church and to have an active faith as adults." In other words, statistics point to Sunday School as critically important to a child's (under 12 or so) entire life. To put it another way, without regular Sunday School participation, it is very difficult for a child, as she matures, to have the faith tools for adult life. Not impossible, but hard. What we do the first 12 years has lasting effects.

 

Over the years, I have noticed a trend (one Barna seems to have seen.) We, in the Episcopal Church – St. Andrew's, have seen parents opt out of Christian Education on Sunday for their children more and more. Where school, sports competition and leisure are critical pieces to a parent's (or grandparent, uncle, aunt, neighbor) care of a child, faith development may not seem important.

 

I want to set children up for success in later life. I have found that my grades have little bearing on my adult life, the school I went to has just as little bearing, and I never was a professional athlete or even a scholarship one. I paid off loans to go to school.

 

But my mother took me to Sunday School every week. And, I have been through marital difficulties, health issues, death, two bouts of being unemployed, betrayal of friends, financial woes (selling a house in the last recession,) addiction and crises in my children's (and grandchildren's) lives. Jesus DID matter and so did my years of training.

 

Encourage a parent (meaning, do everything you can do to help) or child to participate in Sunday School. It will matter later on.

 

Lord, help me, in this fast-paced, overloading-with-choices, world of substance mixed in with so much glitter, to see you in the education of a child. Then give me the resolve to do something about it.