Sunday School Movement
The
Sunday School is the backbone of Christian education today. There were
catechetical instruction in the churches as well as in the schools which were
established by the churches. Sunday School became a regular Christian education
programme in the churches gradually and the movement spread out all over the
world within a few decades. 
As
the name suggests, it is a church sponsored school that functions on Sunday
(more on purpose below). Generally, the three objectives of Sunday School can be summarized as-
(a) to keep the children off the streets on Sunday.
(b) To teach the children to read and write.
(c) To bring them the gospel.[1]
(a) to keep the children off the streets on Sunday.
(b) To teach the children to read and write.
(c) To bring them the gospel.[1]
Context of the Origin of Sunday
School Movement[2]
1. Industrial
revolution in England: England started shifting from an agrarian to an
industrial society called industrial revolution as a result of scientific
inventions and discoveries. The effect of this industrial revolution was the
rise of capitalism which created social class distinction between the rich and
the poor, rich capitalist and poor working class.
2. Migration:
Many people migrated from village to cities in search of jobs in industries and
these people were living in slums with miserable living conditions.
3. Monetary
System: A paradigm shift in many economy- shifts from barter to monetary
system and many did not know the value of money and used it for gambling and
drinking.
4. Child Labor:
The new industries employed children with low wages mostly from poor family. They
worked twelve hours a day and six days a week in unhealthy and unsafe
condition. Sunday was the only free day and they wondered about the street
indulging in anti-social behavior and involving in crimes and many ended in
prison cells.
The Birth of the Sunday School
Movement:
Robert Raikes (1736-1811) from Gloucester, England
is considered to be the father of Modern Sunday School Movement. He was born on
14 September, 1735 and died on April 5, 1811. [3] He
was a journalist and editor of Gloucester journal. He was a son of wealthy
family who inherited his father’s wealth. The physical, intellectual and moral
conditions of the masses in Raikes’s day were deplorable. Raikes had a great
concern for destitute children and he used his newspaper as a means to helping
the naked, starving children and those who were rotting in jails. There was no
system of public education; the majority of the people could not read. Prisons
were filled with people of all types from confirmed criminals to respectable persons;
Raikes felt that education was an effective tool in battling vice and moral
degeneration. He was determined to develop an experimental school to test his theory;
however, he was legally prevented by the Church of England. In 1779 the
‘Enabling Act’ granted permission to have such programs. In 1780, he and Thomas
Stork enlisted children from the lowest rung of the socio-economic ladder in
Gloucester. Hence, this led to formation of a school that meets only in Sunday.[4]
Purpose of Sunday School[5]
1.To
keep children occupied on Sundays.
2.To
impart basic elementary education- literacy training like reading, writing for
the poor children who did not have the privilege to attend the schools.
3.To
teach the word of God to poor children which the Church had been neglected.
4.To
instruct the poorest of the children without interfering with any industries
during the weekdays.
5.To
discipline the children because these streets children who were rude and rowdy
involved with anti social elements.
6.The
ultimate objective of the schools was to form character, and the Bible was
considered as the essentials means of achieving this.
The first school of the Sunday
School
The
first school was held in the kitchen of Mrs. Meredith in 1780. Mrs. Stomas
Stork was the Teacher other women also employed as teacher. Later they met in
Mrs. Brandon’s kitchen when Meredith quit. Raikes paid both women for using
their kitchens as well as supervising the Sunday School. But, when the
enrollment of Sunday School grew bigger they stopped paying the teachers and
ran the Sunday School with volunteers. Within four years time, Sunday School
movement grew in the neighboring countries and Riakes formed the Board to look
after the Sunday school management. In 1921, the name of the Union was changed
to ‘National Sunday School union’.[6]
Organization:
The
organizational pattern generally adopted are as follows:[7]
- Gradle Roll
- Nursery- Some includes Gradle Roll and Nursery as one.
- Beginners- 4-5 years
- Primary- 6-8 years
- Juniors- 9-11
- Intermediate- 12-14
- Seniors- 15-17
- Youth or Young People- 18-24
- Adults- 25 and above.
Opposition
The
Church of England and British government strongly objected the Sunday School
Movement. The reasons given were:[8]
1.A
Laymen should not interfere with church ministry, as it is exclusively done by
the ordained clergies. It defiles the sanctity of the church.
2.It
may help the laity to revolt against the owners of the company therefore laity
should not be educated.
3.It
may threaten the welfare of wealthy people by the laborers demanding more
wages.
4.Churchman
believed that the Sunday School would make disunity in the Church.
Success and Results of the Sunday School
Three
important factors contributing for the success of Sunday School:
- One element for the success of the Sunday School movement was the position of Raikes as editor in newspaper and also his wealth.
- Another important factor for the success of the Sunday School was William Fox, a prosperous London Merchant who believed that every person in the world should be able to read the Bible. Hence, in 1785, August 30, The Sunday School Society was established by William Fox and it became an important movement for Sunday School growth. In 1803, London Sunday School Union was formed in England when Churches adopted Sunday School as the activity of Christian education.
- The other factor for the success of Sunday School to the rapid development of the movement was the active support given by John and Charles Wesley they preached from the pulpits and announced the importance of Sunday School ministry for the poor.[9]
Conclusion:
The
purpose of Sundays School Union was to stimulate and encourage the education
and religious instruction for the younger, to improve the methods of
instructing, to promote opening of new schools; to furnish literature suited
for Sunday Schools at a cheap rate.
Sunday
School offers religious instruction to all ages from early infancy through
adulthood. The Sunday School serves as the two arms of the church, the one
embracing the children of the church to keep them from straying away, while the
other arm extends beyond into the parish, to reach individuals and families
outside of the local church. At present the Sunday School is the greatest
recruiting agency of the Church. Both of its arms must be kept alive.
[1] Peter P.Person, An introduction to Christian Education
(Grand Rapis; Michigan, 1985), 132.
[2] Limatula Longkumar, Christian Education for Transformation:
Foundations, Approaches and Effective Teaching (Kolkata: ESPACE, 2017), 74.
[3] Ibid., 130.
[4] C. B. Eavey, History of
Christian Education (Chicago; Moody Press, 1964), 223.
[5] Longkumar, Christian Education for Transformation, 75.
[6] Person, An introduction to Christian Education, 131-132.
[7] Person, An introduction to Christian Education), 137.
[8] Eavey, History of Christian Education, 237.
[9] Longkumar, Christian Education for Transformation, 76.
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