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Sunday school, Indians and whites. Indian Territory (Oklahoma), ca. 1900.

"Sunday school" is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.

[edit] Development

The first Sunday school may have been that opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham.^[1] Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, who founded a school within the town in 1769.^[2]

However the founding of Sunday schools is more commonly associated with the work of Robert Raikes, editor of the Gloucester Journal, who saw the need to prevent children in the slums descending into crime. 1784 was an important year, with many new schools opening, including the interdenominational Stockport Sunday School, which financed and constructed a school for 5000 scholars in 1805; in the late nineteenth century this was accepted as being the largest in the world.^[3] The first Sunday school in London opened at Surrey Chapel under Rowland Hill. By 1831, Sunday schools in Great Britain were attended weekly by 1,250,000 children, approximately 25 percent of the population. They provided basic literacy education alongside religious instruction. Their work in the industrial cities was increasingly supplemented by ragged schools (charitable provision for the industrial poor), and eventually by publicly funded education under the late nineteenth century school boards. Sunday schools continued alongside such increasing educational provision, and new forms also developed such as the Socialist Sunday Schools movement which began in the United Kingdom in the late 19th century.

The American Sunday School system was first begun by Samuel Slater in his textile mills in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in the 1790's.

Some Roman Catholic churches operate Sunday schools, though Catholics commonly refer to Sunday school as "Catechism class".

[edit] Form

Sunday schools, contrary to the name, are virtually never recognized educational institutions; rather than offering formal grades or transcripts, Sunday schools simply attempt to offer meaningful instruction concerning Christian doctrine and keep little or no record of performance for any given week. Attendance is often tracked as a means of encouraging children to attend regularly, and awards are frequently given for reaching attendance milestones.

Sunday school often takes the form of a one hour or longer Bible study which can occur before, during, or after a church service. While many Sunday schools are focused on providing instruction for children (especially those occurring during service times), adult Sunday school classes are also popular and widespread (see RCIA.) In some traditions, Sunday school is too strongly associated with children and alternate terms such as "Adult Electives" are used instead of "Adult Sunday school". Some churches only run Sunday school for children concurrently with the adult worship service. In this case there is typically no adult Sunday school.

[edit] Today

Today many different expressions of Sunday schools exist. They range from traditional methods of teaching, using small groups, Bible-based teaching, familiar songs etc. to the more contemporary. Sunday school is often part of a larger Christian Formation program in many churches.

Postal Sunday schools conduct religious education via correspondence for children in sparsely populated areas.

In 1986 a new kind of Sunday school started out of a ministry of Bill Wilson in the inner city of Brooklyn, New York, called Sidewalk Sunday School. With little delivery trucks that can be converted to stages, project areas and parks are being served Sunday school programs. Metro Ministries is now in many major cities in the U.S. and has branches in eight other countries.

[edit] Teachers

Sunday school teachers are usually lay people who are selected for their job by a church board or committee, normally because of their advanced experience with the Bible — few teachers receive any formal training in education, though many Sunday school teachers have a background in education as a result of their occupations. Some churches, however, do make Sunday school teachers and catechists attend several courses on religion to ensure that they have a mature enough understanding of the faith to educate others. Some Baptist Churches (particularly Southern Baptist Churches) do allow volunteers to teach even without formal educational backgrounds. A profession of faith and a desire to teach is all that is required in such a case.

It is also not uncommon for Roman Catholic priests or Protestant pastors (church ministers) to teach such classes themselves.

[edit] See also

• Bible study (Christian)
• Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (a form of Catholic religious education)
• Hebrew school (also called "Sunday school" by Reform Judaism)
• Religious ministry (Christian)
• Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults
• Socialist Sunday Schools
• Sunday School (LDS Church) : an auxiliary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Vacation Bible School
• Youth Ministry

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Robert Raikes and the Sunday School Movement