Sunday School - Maintenance or Mission?
By Julia Shipley

Common opinion is that Sunday school is in decline. Increasingly we read of declining attendance, churches eliminating Sunday school, closing them through the summer holiday period. Walk into any Christian bookstore and you will find many books showing statistics on the decline of Sunday school and the lack of biblical knowledge amongst the population. Books on how to revitalize your Sunday school are big sellers. The most popular workshops at our conventions are those that tell us how to see growth and renewal in this area of church life.

Obviously we do have problems in Christian education. Many people are concerned and want to do something about it. But the danger is we have developed a "maintenance mind-set" in our approach. Our time is consumed with "ought" and "should." We "should" fix up our property and more people will come. We "ought" to get a new curriculum that is more effective and appealing. We "should" get more socially involved in the community, inviting them to church. We "ought" to advertise through different media then they will come.

I am sure you can think of many other things we "should" and "ought" to do. The problem is all these things keep us busy in the planning and discussion meetings, but, does this busy work have any impact on God's people? Will it change lives? Will troubled souls be comforted? Will God's love be shared? Will people be interested in coming to Sunday school to spend time with these maintenance concerns?

What we need to do is get "mission minded" as history clearly shows this is what is most successful. When we reach out to a needy world of hurting people telling them the message of Jesus Christ. When we tell them of his death and resurrection we embody a first century Christian spirit, centring our attention on God and His action in the world. Keeping our eyes firmly on God's presence and ministry is our first priority and everything else will fall into place.

People today are increasingly making it clear that they desire more spirituality in their lives. They are seeking to know the meaning of life. They are seeking support in times of trouble, personally and in times of national crisis. Support generally as they journey though life. What are we going to do to help them? Are we going to continually get distracted putting our emphasis on the "should" and "ought" of our maintenance minded approach to Sunday school? Which does nothing to share God's message of love and at worst serves only to rearrange the chairs for a continually declining group.

Our maintenance approaches have been showing little fruit. Perhaps it is time to return to a sense of mission and renewed emphasis on sharing God's love in today's world.

Julia Shipley is a committed Christian and loves to teach young people the word of God. For more information visit http://www.quick-christian-resources.com

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