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Sunday school

A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes.

Sunday school, Manzanar War Relocation Center, 1943. Photographed by Ansel Adams.
Baptist Sunday school group in Amherstburg, Ontario, [ca. 1910]

Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are used to provide catechesis to Christians, especially children and teenagers, and sometimes adults as well. Churches of many Christian denominations have classrooms attached to the church used for this purpose. Many Sunday school classes operate on a set curriculum, with some teaching attendees a catechism. Members often receive certificates and awards for participation, as well as attendance.

Sunday school classes may provide a light breakfast. On days when Holy Communion is being celebrated, however, some Christian denominations encourage fasting before receiving the Eucharistic elements.[1]

Early history edit

Sunday schools as a whole began with the Catholic Church's Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, founded in the 16th century by the Italian archbishop Charles Borromeo to teach young children the faith.[2]

Protestant Sunday schools were first set up in the 18th century in England to provide education to working children.[3] William King started a Sunday school in 1751 in Dursley, Gloucestershire. Robert Raikes, editor of the Gloucester Journal, started a similar one in Gloucester in 1781.[4] He wrote an article in his journal, and as a result many clergymen supported schools, which aimed to teach the youngsters reading, writing, cyphering (doing arithmetic) and a knowledge of the Bible.[5]

The Sunday School Society was founded by Baptist deacon William Fox on 7 September 1785 in Prescott Street Baptist Church of London.[6] The latter had been touched by articles of Raikes, on the problems of youth crime.[7] Pastor Thomas Stock and Raikes have thus registered a hundred children from six to fourteen years old. The society has published its textbooks and brought together nearly 4,000 Sunday schools.[8]

In 1785, 250,000 English children were attending Sunday school.[9] There were 5,000 in Manchester alone. By 1835, the Sunday School Society had distributed 91,915 spelling books, 24,232 New Testaments and 5,360 Bibles.[3] The Sunday school movement was cross-denominational. Financed through subscription, large buildings were constructed that could host public lectures as well as provide classrooms. Adults would attend the same classes as the infants, as each was instructed in basic reading. In some towns, the Methodists withdrew from the large Sunday school and built their own. The Anglicans set up their National schools that would act as Sunday schools and day schools.[3] These schools were the precursors to a national system of education.[5]

The role of the Sunday schools changed with the Education Act 1870,[5] which provided universal elementary education. In the 1920s they also promoted sports, and ran Sunday school leagues. They became social centres hosting amateur dramatics and concert parties.[3] By the 1960s, the term Sunday school could refer to the building and rarely to education classes. By the 1970s even the largest Sunday school had been demolished. The locution today chiefly refers to catechism classes for children and adults that occur before the start of a church service. In certain Christian traditions, in certain grades, for example the second grade or eighth grade, Sunday school classes may prepare youth to undergo a rite such as First Communion or Confirmation. The doctrine of Sunday Sabbatarianism, held by many Christian denominations, encourages practices such as Sunday school attendance, as it teaches that the entirety of the Lord's Day should be devoted to God; as such many children and teenagers often return to the church in the late afternoon for youth group before attending an evening service of worship.

Development in Protestant churches edit

United Kingdom edit

The first recorded Protestant Sunday school opened in 1751 in St Mary's Church, Nottingham.[10] Hannah Ball made another early start, founding a school in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, in 1769.[11] However, the pioneer of Sunday schools is commonly said to be Robert Raikes,[12] editor of the Gloucester Journal, who in 1781, after prompting from William King (who was running a Sunday School in Dursley), recognised the need of children living in the Gloucester slums; the need also to prevent them from taking up crime.[13] He opened a school in the home of a Mrs Meredith, operating it on a Sunday – the only day that the boys and girls working in the factories could attend. Using the Bible as their textbook, the children learned to read and write.[9]

In 18th-century England, education was largely reserved for a wealthy, male minority and was not compulsory. The wealthy educated their children privately at home, with hired governesses or tutors for younger children. The town-based middle class may have sent their sons to grammar schools, while daughters were left to learn what they could from their mothers or from their fathers' libraries.[14] The children of factory workers and farm labourers received no formal education, and typically worked alongside their parents six days a week, sometimes for more than 13 hours a day.[15]

By 1785 over 250,000 children throughout England attended schools on Sundays.[9] In 1784 many new schools opened, including the interdenominational Stockport Sunday School, which financed and constructed a school for 5,000 scholars in 1805. In the late-19th century this was accepted[by whom?] as being the largest in the world. By 1831 it was reported that attendance at Sunday schools had grown to 1.2 million.[9][16]

The first Sunday school in London opened at Surrey Chapel, Southwark, under Rowland Hill. By 1831 1,250,000 children in Great Britain, or about 25 per cent of the eligible population, attended Sunday schools weekly. The schools provided basic lessons in literacy alongside religious instruction.[17]

In 1833, "for the unification and progress of the work of religious education among the young", the Unitarians founded their Sunday School Association, as "junior partner" to the British and Foreign Unitarian Association, with which it eventually set up offices at Essex Hall in Central London.[18]

The work of Sunday schools in the industrial cities was increasingly supplemented by "ragged schools" (charitable provision for the industrial poor), and eventually by publicly funded education under the terms of the Elementary Education Act 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c. 75). 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 1886.[19]

Ireland edit

The earliest recorded Sunday school programme in Ireland goes back to 1777, when Roman Catholic priest Daniel Delany – later (1787) Bishop Daniel Delany of Kildare and Leighlin – started a school in Tullow, County Carlow.[20] This was a complex system which involved timetables, lesson plans, streaming, and various teaching activities.[21] This system spread to other parishes in the diocese. By 1787 in Tullow alone there were 700 students, boys and girls, men and women, and 80 teachers. The primary intent of this Sunday school system was the teaching of the Catholic faith; the teaching of reading and writing became necessary to assist in this. With the coming of Catholic Emancipation in Ireland (1829) and the establishment of the National Schools system (1831), which meant that the Catholic faith could be taught in school, the Catholic Sunday school system became unnecessary.

The Church of Ireland Sunday School Society was founded in 1809.[22] The Sabbath School Society of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland was founded in 1862.[23]

Sweden edit

The concept of Sunday school in Sweden started in the early to mid-1800s, initially facing some backlash, before becoming more mainstream, as it was often intertwined with the growth (and eventual legalization) of free churches. The first documented Sunday school was started in 1826 in Snavlunda parish, Örebro County, by priest Ringzelli, and was still active during the time of Pastor Lennart Sickeldal in the 1950s.[24] Ringzelli was also an early organizer of school meals for students who lived far from the school or were from poor families.[25]

Carl Ludvig Tellström, later missionary to the Sámi people, made another early attempt to start a Sunday school around 1834.[26] While in Stockholm, he was converted by George Scott, an influential Scottish Wesleyan Methodist preacher who worked in Sweden from 1830 to 1842 and was controversial due to his preaching in violation of the Conventicle Act.[27] Within the Church of Sweden, however, based on the format of Methodist Sunday schools, he started several in Flykälen, Föllinge, Ottsjön, Storå, and Tuvattnet.[28]

Later, Mathilda Foy founded an early Sunday school in 1843–1844. Influenced by Pietistic revivalist preachers such as Scott, and particularly Carl Olof Rosenius, Foy found herself part of the läsare (Reader) movement. Always engaged in charitable work, she started a Sunday school not long after her spiritual awakening. However, it was soon closed due to the protests of clergy, who considered it "Methodist".[29][30] Another attempt by Augusta Norstedt was noted around the same time.[26]

Sometime between 1848 and 1856, educator and preacher Amelie von Braun, also part of the revivalist awakening movement, started a Sunday school primarily teaching children Bible stories. She worked within the state church. Her Sunday school was supported by Peter Fjellstedt and grew quickly, with 250 students noted in 1853.[31]

Around 1851, Sunday schools were established by Foy's friends Betty Ehrenborg (1818–1880) and Per Palmqvist (1815–1887), brother of Swedish Baptist pioneers Johannes and Gustaf Palmquist.[32] That year, Ehrenborg and the brothers traveled to London.[26] The brothers, at least, reconnected with Scott, whom they knew from Sweden. In England, they studied the Methodists' Sunday schools and teaching methods, impressed by the number of students and teachers. There were over 250 children and 20 to 30 teachers;[33] classes were taught by laypeople and included literacy training in addition to Bible lessons, singing, and prayer.[34]

Upon Palmqvist's return to Sweden, he invited 25 local poor children and founded the first Baptist Sunday school; the same year, Ehrenborg began a Sunday school as well, with 13 mostly Baptist and free-church students.[34][32][35] Palmqvist was given £5 in financial support by the London Sunday School Association and used the money to travel to Norrland, home of a significant revival movement, to spread the idea of Sunday school there.[36] The first Sunday school association in Sweden, Stockholms Lutherska Söndagsskolförening, was started in 1868.[37][35] However, even despite the abolition of the Conventicle Act in 1858 and increasing religious freedom, there were still challenges: Palmqvist was reported to the Stockholm City Court by a priest in 1870 for teaching children who did not belong to his congregation, but was later acquitted.[37]

In Stockholm alone, there were 29 Sunday schools by 1871.[35] By 1915 there were 6,518 Sunday schools in the country among a number of denominations, with 23,058 officers and teachers and 317,648 students.[26]

Finland edit

The first Sunday schools in Finland were run by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, with the first one founded in 1807. They were often for those who had not become literate. As a form of schooling, they were recommended by the state in 1853. Some Sunday schools gave vocational training in the trades; after 1858 they were also preparatory schools for further education held during the week.[38][39] However, Sunday schools did not catch on until the later growth of free churches in the country as well as the establishment of public schooling, at which point they became a form of children's religious education.[35] One of the earliest free-church Sunday schools was founded by sisters Netta and Anna Heikel in Jakobstad in the 1860s. More Sunday schools were soon founded in the 1870s and 1880s: in Vaasa – including by the local Lutheran parish, in Kotka, Turku, Åland, Helsinki, Ekenäs, Hanko, and other cities.[40][41]

United States edit

The first organized and documented Sunday school in the United States was not founded in New England, but rather in Ephrata, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, by an immigrant from Germany, Ludwig Höcker, the son of a well-respected and influential Reformed Church Pastor and teacher in Westerwald. Ludwig immigrated in the 1730s and joined the Sabbatarian Ephrata Cloister in 1739, where he soon created the Sunday school for the impoverished children of the area, and published, on the Ephrata Press, a full textbook.[42] "It is especially interesting to us to know that a Seventh Day Baptist Sabbath school was organized about 1740, forty years before Robert Raikes Sunday-school. This Sabbath school was organized at Ephrata, Pa., by Ludwig Hocker among the Seventh Day Baptist Germans, and continued until 1777, when their room with others was given up for hospital purposes after the battle of Brandywine…".

 
Sunday school, Indians and whites. Indian Territory (Oklahoma), US, c. 1900.
 
Sunday school at a Baptist church in Lejunior, Harlan County, Kentucky in the United States, 1946.

The American Sunday school system was first begun by Samuel Slater in his textile mills in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in the 1790s. Notable 20th-century leaders in the American Sunday school movement include: Clarence Herbert Benson, Henrietta Mears, founder of Gospel Light,[43] Dr. Gene A. Getz,[44] Howard Hendricks, Lois E. LeBar, Lawrence O. Richards, and Elmer Towns.[citation needed]

Philanthropist Lewis Miller was the inventor of the "Akron Plan" for Sunday schools, a building layout with a central assembly hall surrounded by small classrooms, conceived with Methodist minister John Heyl Vincent and architect Jacob Snyder.

John Heyl Vincent collaborated with Baptist layman B. F. Jacobs, who devised a system to encourage Sunday school work, and a committee was established to provide the International Uniform Lesson Curriculum, also known as the "Uniform Lesson Plan". By the 1800s 80% of all new members were introduced to the church through Sunday school.[45]

In 1874, interested in improving the training of Sunday school teachers for the Uniform Lesson Plan, Miller and Vincent worked together again to found what is now the Chautauqua Institution on the shores of Chautauqua Lake, New York.

Form edit

 
Saddleback Church Children's Building in Lake Forest, California.

In Evangelical churches, during worship service, children and young people receive an adapted education, in Sunday school, in a separate room.[46][47]

Historically, Sunday schools were held in the afternoons in various communities, and were often staffed by workers from varying denominations. Beginning in the United States in the early 1930s and Canada in the 1940s, the transition was made to Sunday mornings. 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 sessions occurring during service times), adult Sunday-school classes are also popular and widespread (see RCIA). In some traditions, the term "Sunday school" is too strongly associated with children, and alternate terms such as "Adult Electives" or "religious education" are used instead of "Adult Sunday school".[48] Some churches only operate Sunday school for children concurrently with the adult worship service. In this case, there is typically no adult Sunday school.[49]

Publishers edit

In Great Britain an agency was formed called the Religious Tract Society which helped provide literature for the Sunday school.

In the United States the American Sunday School Union was formed (headquartered in Philadelphia) for the publication of literature. This group helped pioneer what became known as the International Sunday School Lessons. The Sunday School Times was another periodical they published for the use of Sunday schools.[50] LifeWay Christian Resources, Herald and Banner Press, David C. Cook, and Group Publishing are among the widely available published resources currently used in Sunday schools across the country.[51]

Teachers edit

Sunday school teachers are usually lay people who are selected for their role in the church by a designated coordinator, board, or a committee. Normally, the selection is based on a perception of character and ability to teach the Bible, rather than formal training in education. Some Sunday school teachers, however, do have a background in education as a result of their occupations. Some churches require Sunday school teachers and catechists to attend courses to ensure that they have a sufficient understanding of the faith and of the teaching process to educate others. Other churches allow volunteers to teach without training; a profession of faith and a desire to teach is all that is required in such cases.[citation needed]

It is also not uncommon for Catholic or Protestant pastors to teach such classes themselves. Some well-known public figures who teach, or have taught, Sunday school include Space Shuttle astronaut Ronald J. Garan Jr., comedian Stephen Colbert,[52] novelist John Grisham,[53] and former U.S. president Jimmy Carter.[54]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Kanel, Danny Von (2005). Building Sunday School by the Owner's Design. CSS Publishing. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-7880-2353-8.
  2. ^ Swezey, James A. (September 2008). "The Sunday School Movement: Studies in the Growth and Decline of Sunday Schools - Edited by Stephen Orchard and John H. Y. Briggs". Religious Studies Review. 34 (3): 216–217. doi:10.1111/j.1748-0922.2008.00301_2.x. ISSN 0319-485X.
  3. ^ a b c d Collins, Louanne (1996). Macclesfield Sunday School 1796- 1996. Macclesfield, Cheshire: Macclesfield Museums Trust. ISBN 1-870926-09-9.
  4. ^ John Carroll Power, The Rise and Progress of Sunday Schools: A Biography of Robert Raikes and William Fox, Sheldon, UK, 1863, p. 240
  5. ^ a b c Davies, Stella (1961). History of Macclesfield (Reprint 1976 ed.). Didsbury, Manchester and Macclesfield: E.J. Morten. pp. 219–225. ISBN 0-85972-034-9.
  6. ^ Michael J. Anthony, Warren S. Benson, Exploring the History and Philosophy of Christian Education: Principles for the 21st Century, Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2011, p. 266
  7. ^ William H. Brackney, Historical Dictionary of the Baptists, Scarecrow Press, USA, 2020, p. 231
  8. ^ Dan Graves, Fox Organized Sunday School Society, christianity.com, USA, May 3, 2010
  9. ^ a b c d Towns, Elmer L., "History of Sunday School", Sunday School Encyclopedia, 1993
  10. ^ . Archived from the original on 2008-07-05. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
  11. ^ . Archived from the original on 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
  12. ^ Churches and Churchgoers: patterns of Church Growth in the British Isles since 1700. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1977.
  13. ^ The Legacy of Robert Raikes - PhD Thesis. Nottingham University Library: Nottingham University. 2008.
  14. ^ Centuries of Childhood: A Social History of Family Life. USA: Random House. 1965.
  15. ^ When I was a Child. Stafford: Churnet Valley Books. 1903.
  16. ^ "Full text of "The first fifty years of the Sunday school"". archive.org.
  17. ^ The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement in England, 1780-1980. Christian Education Council. 1986.
  18. ^ (Rowe 1959, chpt. 3)
  19. ^ The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement in England, 1780-1980. Christian Education Council. 1986.
  20. ^ Russell, Matthew, “Sketches in Irish Biography, No. 28, Dr. Daniel Delany”, The Irish Monthly, Volume 23, 1895.
  21. ^ Rev. Martin Brenan, Schools of Kildare and Leighlin, A.D. 1775 - 1835, M.H. Gill and Son, Ltd, Dublin, 1935.
  22. ^ "About the Sunday School Society". from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved 2013-03-18.
  23. ^ John M Barkley, The Sabbath School Society for Ireland, 1862 - 1962 (Sabbath School Society for Ireland, 1961).
  24. ^ "Sölvesborgstidningen 1962-04-03 2022-04-12 at the Wayback Machine". tidningar.kb.se. Accessed 9 May 2020.
  25. ^ "Sölvesborgstidningen 1962-03-29 2022-04-12 at the Wayback Machine". tidningar.kb.se. Accessed 9 May 2020.
  26. ^ a b c d McFarland, John Thomas; Winchester, Benjamin S. (1915). The encyclopedia of Sunday schools and religious education; giving a world-wide view of the history and progress of the Sunday school and the development of religious education. T. Nelson & sons. p. 1061.
  27. ^ Jarlert, Anders. "George Scott". Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon (in Swedish). from the original on 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2022-04-05.
  28. ^ Föreningsinventering i Krokoms kommun: Rapport 1985 Del 1 (PDF) (in Swedish). Folkrörelsernas Arkiv i Jämtland. p. 11. (PDF) from the original on 2022-04-17. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
  29. ^ Lodin, Sven (1959). C. O. Rosenius (in Norwegian). Lunde. from the original on 2022-04-12. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
  30. ^ Hildebrand, Bengt. "A C Mathilda Foy". Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon (in Swedish). from the original on 2021-07-31. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
  31. ^ Malmer, Elin. "Amelie Fredrika Dorotea von Braun". Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon. from the original on 2021-05-08. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  32. ^ a b "Catharina Elisabet (Betty) Ehrenborg-Posse". Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon (in Swedish). from the original on 2022-04-10. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  33. ^ Bini, Elizabeth D. (1983). British evangelical missions to Sweden in the first half of the nineteenth century (PhD thesis). University of St Andrews. hdl:10023/13988. from the original on 2022-04-14. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
  34. ^ a b Bexell, Oloph. "Per Palmqvist". Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon (in Swedish). from the original on 2022-01-20. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  35. ^ a b c d Norström, Per (1930-11-01). "Söndagsskolans historia". Evangeliskt vittnesbörd (in Swedish). No. 21. p. 163. from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
  36. ^ Hagberg, Margareta. "Låt barnen komma till mig: En studie av Svenska kyrkans söndagsskola, avseende några historiska nedslag samt teologiska tankar på nationell nivå och i Linköpings stift" (PDF) (in Swedish). Linköping University. (PDF) from the original on 2022-04-11. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
  37. ^ a b "Grattis söndagsskolan, 150 år!". Dagen (in Swedish). 2001-11-09. from the original on 2022-05-15. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
  38. ^ Jossfolk, Karl-Gustav (2001). Bildning för alla: en pedagogikhistorisk studie kring abnormskolornas tillkomst i Finland och deras pionjärer som medaktörer i bildningsprocessen 1846-1892 (PDF) (in Swedish). Svenska skolhistoriska föreningen i Finland, (Nord Print). Helsinki: Svenska skolhistoriska föreningen i Finland. pp. 246, 267. ISBN 952-91-3442-8. OCLC 58384770. (PDF) from the original on 2022-03-16. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  39. ^ "Söndagsskola". Förvaltningshistorisk ordbok (in Swedish). from the original on 2021-05-10. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
  40. ^ Norström, Per (1930-11-01). "Söndagsskolans historia". Evangeliskt vittnesbörd (in Swedish). No. 21. p. 163, 166. from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
  41. ^ Norström, Per (1930-11-15). "Söndagsskolans historia". Evangeliskt vittnesbörd (in Swedish). No. 22. p. 171. from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
  42. ^ {{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Seventh_Day_Baptists_in_Europe_and_Ameri/u2RKAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Ludwig+Hocker+Sunday+School&pg=PA271&printsec=frontcover >Rev. Ira Lee Cottreell writes:
  43. ^ "Welcome - Gospel Light". www.gospellight.com. from the original on 2017-12-29. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
  44. ^ "About Gene - Bible Principles". from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  45. ^ "Sunday School Movement", Dictionary of Christianity in America, InterVarsity Press, 1990, p 1147
  46. ^ Jeanne Halgren Kilde, When Church Became Theatre: The Transformation of Evangelical Architecture and Worship in Nineteenth-century America, Oxford University Press, USA, 2005, p. 159, 170, 188
  47. ^ George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Christian Education, Volume 3, Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2015, p. 229
  48. ^ William H. Brackney, Historical Dictionary of the Baptists, Scarecrow Press, USA, 2009, p. 553
  49. ^ Greg Dickinson, Suburban Dreams: Imagining and Building the Good Life, University of Alabama Press, USA, 2015, p. 144
  50. ^ Little, Ellen. "Periodicals published by The American Sunday-School Union". University Library System, University of Pittsburgh. from the original on 4 February 2012.
  51. ^ Anderson, Don (11 November 2013). "Choosing Sunday School Curriculum: How Effectively Do You Want to Teach the Bible?". Faith.edu. from the original on 11 April 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  52. ^ Jean Lopez, Kathryn (October 25, 2010), Stephen Colbert's Sunday School, from the original on October 29, 2010, retrieved December 11, 2010
  53. ^ Norton Jr, Will (October 3, 1994), Conversations: Why John Grisham Teaches Sunday School, Christianity Today, from the original on March 24, 2012, retrieved December 11, 2010
  54. ^ "Maranatha Baptist Church". Maranatha Baptist Church. Plains, Georgia. from the original on 2018-07-25. Retrieved 2010-12-11.

Sources edit

  • Rowe, Mortimer (1959), , London: Lindsey Press, archived from the original on 2012-01-16, retrieved 2012-01-16

Further reading edit

  • Snell, Keith D. M. "The Sunday-school movement in England and Wales: Child labour, denominational control and working-class culture." Past & Present 164 (1999): 122–168.
  • Tholfsen, Trygve R. "Moral education in the Victorian Sunday school." History of Education Quarterly 20.1 (1980): 77–99. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/367891

United States edit

  • Bergler, Thomas E. The Juvenilization of American Christianity. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2012.
  • Boylan, Anne M. Sunday School: The Formation of an American Institution, 1790–1880 (1990)
  • Broadbent, Arnold. The First 100 Years of the Sunday School Association: 1833–1933. A centenary booklet issued by the Lindsey Press of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches.
  • Leal, K. Elise. " 'All Our Children May be Taught of God': Sunday Schools and the Roles of Childhood and Youth in Creating Evangelical Benevolence." Church History (2018). 87(4), 1056–1090. doi:10.1017/S0009640718002378

External links edit

  •   Texts on Wikisource:
    • “Sunday School” in Manual of The Mother Church. 1917.
    • "Sunday-Schools". The New Student's Reference Work. 1914.
    • “Should Infidels Send Their Children to Sunday School?,” The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll. 1907.
    • "Sunday-Schools". New International Encyclopedia. 1905.

sunday, school, church, organization, sunday, school, church, educational, institution, usually, christian, character, intended, children, neophytes, manzanar, relocation, center, 1943, photographed, ansel, adams, baptist, group, amherstburg, ontario, 1910, cl. For the LDS Church organization see Sunday School LDS Church A Sunday school is an educational institution usually Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes Sunday school Manzanar War Relocation Center 1943 Photographed by Ansel Adams Baptist Sunday school group in Amherstburg Ontario ca 1910 Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are used to provide catechesis to Christians especially children and teenagers and sometimes adults as well Churches of many Christian denominations have classrooms attached to the church used for this purpose Many Sunday school classes operate on a set curriculum with some teaching attendees a catechism Members often receive certificates and awards for participation as well as attendance Sunday school classes may provide a light breakfast On days when Holy Communion is being celebrated however some Christian denominations encourage fasting before receiving the Eucharistic elements 1 Contents 1 Early history 2 Development in Protestant churches 2 1 United Kingdom 2 2 Ireland 2 3 Sweden 2 4 Finland 2 5 United States 3 Form 4 Publishers 5 Teachers 6 See also 7 References 8 Sources 9 Further reading 9 1 United States 10 External linksEarly history editSunday schools as a whole began with the Catholic Church s Confraternity of Christian Doctrine founded in the 16th century by the Italian archbishop Charles Borromeo to teach young children the faith 2 Protestant Sunday schools were first set up in the 18th century in England to provide education to working children 3 William King started a Sunday school in 1751 in Dursley Gloucestershire Robert Raikes editor of the Gloucester Journal started a similar one in Gloucester in 1781 4 He wrote an article in his journal and as a result many clergymen supported schools which aimed to teach the youngsters reading writing cyphering doing arithmetic and a knowledge of the Bible 5 The Sunday School Society was founded by Baptist deacon William Fox on 7 September 1785 in Prescott Street Baptist Church of London 6 The latter had been touched by articles of Raikes on the problems of youth crime 7 Pastor Thomas Stock and Raikes have thus registered a hundred children from six to fourteen years old The society has published its textbooks and brought together nearly 4 000 Sunday schools 8 In 1785 250 000 English children were attending Sunday school 9 There were 5 000 in Manchester alone By 1835 the Sunday School Society had distributed 91 915 spelling books 24 232 New Testaments and 5 360 Bibles 3 The Sunday school movement was cross denominational Financed through subscription large buildings were constructed that could host public lectures as well as provide classrooms Adults would attend the same classes as the infants as each was instructed in basic reading In some towns the Methodists withdrew from the large Sunday school and built their own The Anglicans set up their National schools that would act as Sunday schools and day schools 3 These schools were the precursors to a national system of education 5 The role of the Sunday schools changed with the Education Act 1870 5 which provided universal elementary education In the 1920s they also promoted sports and ran Sunday school leagues They became social centres hosting amateur dramatics and concert parties 3 By the 1960s the term Sunday school could refer to the building and rarely to education classes By the 1970s even the largest Sunday school had been demolished The locution today chiefly refers to catechism classes for children and adults that occur before the start of a church service In certain Christian traditions in certain grades for example the second grade or eighth grade Sunday school classes may prepare youth to undergo a rite such as First Communion or Confirmation The doctrine of Sunday Sabbatarianism held by many Christian denominations encourages practices such as Sunday school attendance as it teaches that the entirety of the Lord s Day should be devoted to God as such many children and teenagers often return to the church in the late afternoon for youth group before attending an evening service of worship Development in Protestant churches editUnited Kingdom edit See also History of education in England The first recorded Protestant Sunday school opened in 1751 in St Mary s Church Nottingham 10 Hannah Ball made another early start founding a school in High Wycombe Buckinghamshire in 1769 11 However the pioneer of Sunday schools is commonly said to be Robert Raikes 12 editor of the Gloucester Journal who in 1781 after prompting from William King who was running a Sunday School in Dursley recognised the need of children living in the Gloucester slums the need also to prevent them from taking up crime 13 He opened a school in the home of a Mrs Meredith operating it on a Sunday the only day that the boys and girls working in the factories could attend Using the Bible as their textbook the children learned to read and write 9 In 18th century England education was largely reserved for a wealthy male minority and was not compulsory The wealthy educated their children privately at home with hired governesses or tutors for younger children The town based middle class may have sent their sons to grammar schools while daughters were left to learn what they could from their mothers or from their fathers libraries 14 The children of factory workers and farm labourers received no formal education and typically worked alongside their parents six days a week sometimes for more than 13 hours a day 15 By 1785 over 250 000 children throughout England attended schools on Sundays 9 In 1784 many new schools opened including the interdenominational Stockport Sunday School which financed and constructed a school for 5 000 scholars in 1805 In the late 19th century this was accepted by whom as being the largest in the world By 1831 it was reported that attendance at Sunday schools had grown to 1 2 million 9 16 The first Sunday school in London opened at Surrey Chapel Southwark under Rowland Hill By 1831 1 250 000 children in Great Britain or about 25 per cent of the eligible population attended Sunday schools weekly The schools provided basic lessons in literacy alongside religious instruction 17 In 1833 for the unification and progress of the work of religious education among the young the Unitarians founded their Sunday School Association as junior partner to the British and Foreign Unitarian Association with which it eventually set up offices at Essex Hall in Central London 18 The work of Sunday schools in the industrial cities was increasingly supplemented by ragged schools charitable provision for the industrial poor and eventually by publicly funded education under the terms of the Elementary Education Act 1870 33 amp 34 Vict c 75 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 1886 19 Ireland edit The earliest recorded Sunday school programme in Ireland goes back to 1777 when Roman Catholic priest Daniel Delany later 1787 Bishop Daniel Delany of Kildare and Leighlin started a school in Tullow County Carlow 20 This was a complex system which involved timetables lesson plans streaming and various teaching activities 21 This system spread to other parishes in the diocese By 1787 in Tullow alone there were 700 students boys and girls men and women and 80 teachers The primary intent of this Sunday school system was the teaching of the Catholic faith the teaching of reading and writing became necessary to assist in this With the coming of Catholic Emancipation in Ireland 1829 and the establishment of the National Schools system 1831 which meant that the Catholic faith could be taught in school the Catholic Sunday school system became unnecessary The Church of Ireland Sunday School Society was founded in 1809 22 The Sabbath School Society of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland was founded in 1862 23 Sweden edit The concept of Sunday school in Sweden started in the early to mid 1800s initially facing some backlash before becoming more mainstream as it was often intertwined with the growth and eventual legalization of free churches The first documented Sunday school was started in 1826 in Snavlunda parish Orebro County by priest Ringzelli and was still active during the time of Pastor Lennart Sickeldal in the 1950s 24 Ringzelli was also an early organizer of school meals for students who lived far from the school or were from poor families 25 Carl Ludvig Tellstrom later missionary to the Sami people made another early attempt to start a Sunday school around 1834 26 While in Stockholm he was converted by George Scott an influential Scottish Wesleyan Methodist preacher who worked in Sweden from 1830 to 1842 and was controversial due to his preaching in violation of the Conventicle Act 27 Within the Church of Sweden however based on the format of Methodist Sunday schools he started several in Flykalen Follinge Ottsjon Stora and Tuvattnet 28 Later Mathilda Foy founded an early Sunday school in 1843 1844 Influenced by Pietistic revivalist preachers such as Scott and particularly Carl Olof Rosenius Foy found herself part of the lasare Reader movement Always engaged in charitable work she started a Sunday school not long after her spiritual awakening However it was soon closed due to the protests of clergy who considered it Methodist 29 30 Another attempt by Augusta Norstedt was noted around the same time 26 Sometime between 1848 and 1856 educator and preacher Amelie von Braun also part of the revivalist awakening movement started a Sunday school primarily teaching children Bible stories She worked within the state church Her Sunday school was supported by Peter Fjellstedt and grew quickly with 250 students noted in 1853 31 Around 1851 Sunday schools were established by Foy s friends Betty Ehrenborg 1818 1880 and Per Palmqvist 1815 1887 brother of Swedish Baptist pioneers Johannes and Gustaf Palmquist 32 That year Ehrenborg and the brothers traveled to London 26 The brothers at least reconnected with Scott whom they knew from Sweden In England they studied the Methodists Sunday schools and teaching methods impressed by the number of students and teachers There were over 250 children and 20 to 30 teachers 33 classes were taught by laypeople and included literacy training in addition to Bible lessons singing and prayer 34 Upon Palmqvist s return to Sweden he invited 25 local poor children and founded the first Baptist Sunday school the same year Ehrenborg began a Sunday school as well with 13 mostly Baptist and free church students 34 32 35 Palmqvist was given 5 in financial support by the London Sunday School Association and used the money to travel to Norrland home of a significant revival movement to spread the idea of Sunday school there 36 The first Sunday school association in Sweden Stockholms Lutherska Sondagsskolforening was started in 1868 37 35 However even despite the abolition of the Conventicle Act in 1858 and increasing religious freedom there were still challenges Palmqvist was reported to the Stockholm City Court by a priest in 1870 for teaching children who did not belong to his congregation but was later acquitted 37 In Stockholm alone there were 29 Sunday schools by 1871 35 By 1915 there were 6 518 Sunday schools in the country among a number of denominations with 23 058 officers and teachers and 317 648 students 26 Finland edit The first Sunday schools in Finland were run by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland with the first one founded in 1807 They were often for those who had not become literate As a form of schooling they were recommended by the state in 1853 Some Sunday schools gave vocational training in the trades after 1858 they were also preparatory schools for further education held during the week 38 39 However Sunday schools did not catch on until the later growth of free churches in the country as well as the establishment of public schooling at which point they became a form of children s religious education 35 One of the earliest free church Sunday schools was founded by sisters Netta and Anna Heikel in Jakobstad in the 1860s More Sunday schools were soon founded in the 1870s and 1880s in Vaasa including by the local Lutheran parish in Kotka Turku Aland Helsinki Ekenas Hanko and other cities 40 41 United States edit The first organized and documented Sunday school in the United States was not founded in New England but rather in Ephrata Lancaster County Pennsylvania by an immigrant from Germany Ludwig Hocker the son of a well respected and influential Reformed Church Pastor and teacher in Westerwald Ludwig immigrated in the 1730s and joined the Sabbatarian Ephrata Cloister in 1739 where he soon created the Sunday school for the impoverished children of the area and published on the Ephrata Press a full textbook 42 It is especially interesting to us to know that a Seventh Day Baptist Sabbath school was organized about 1740 forty years before Robert Raikes Sunday school This Sabbath school was organized at Ephrata Pa by Ludwig Hocker among the Seventh Day Baptist Germans and continued until 1777 when their room with others was given up for hospital purposes after the battle of Brandywine nbsp Sunday school Indians and whites Indian Territory Oklahoma US c 1900 nbsp Sunday school at a Baptist church in Lejunior Harlan County Kentucky in the United States 1946 The American Sunday school system was first begun by Samuel Slater in his textile mills in Pawtucket Rhode Island in the 1790s Notable 20th century leaders in the American Sunday school movement include Clarence Herbert Benson Henrietta Mears founder of Gospel Light 43 Dr Gene A Getz 44 Howard Hendricks Lois E LeBar Lawrence O Richards and Elmer Towns citation needed Philanthropist Lewis Miller was the inventor of the Akron Plan for Sunday schools a building layout with a central assembly hall surrounded by small classrooms conceived with Methodist minister John Heyl Vincent and architect Jacob Snyder John Heyl Vincent collaborated with Baptist layman B F Jacobs who devised a system to encourage Sunday school work and a committee was established to provide the International Uniform Lesson Curriculum also known as the Uniform Lesson Plan By the 1800s 80 of all new members were introduced to the church through Sunday school 45 In 1874 interested in improving the training of Sunday school teachers for the Uniform Lesson Plan Miller and Vincent worked together again to found what is now the Chautauqua Institution on the shores of Chautauqua Lake New York Form edit nbsp Saddleback Church Children s Building in Lake Forest California In Evangelical churches during worship service children and young people receive an adapted education in Sunday school in a separate room 46 47 Historically Sunday schools were held in the afternoons in various communities and were often staffed by workers from varying denominations Beginning in the United States in the early 1930s and Canada in the 1940s the transition was made to Sunday mornings 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 sessions occurring during service times adult Sunday school classes are also popular and widespread see RCIA In some traditions the term Sunday school is too strongly associated with children and alternate terms such as Adult Electives or religious education are used instead of Adult Sunday school 48 Some churches only operate Sunday school for children concurrently with the adult worship service In this case there is typically no adult Sunday school 49 Publishers editIn Great Britain an agency was formed called the Religious Tract Society which helped provide literature for the Sunday school In the United States the American Sunday School Union was formed headquartered in Philadelphia for the publication of literature This group helped pioneer what became known as the International Sunday School Lessons The Sunday School Times was another periodical they published for the use of Sunday schools 50 LifeWay Christian Resources Herald and Banner Press David C Cook and Group Publishing are among the widely available published resources currently used in Sunday schools across the country 51 Teachers editSunday school teachers are usually lay people who are selected for their role in the church by a designated coordinator board or a committee Normally the selection is based on a perception of character and ability to teach the Bible rather than formal training in education Some Sunday school teachers however do have a background in education as a result of their occupations Some churches require Sunday school teachers and catechists to attend courses to ensure that they have a sufficient understanding of the faith and of the teaching process to educate others Other churches allow volunteers to teach without training a profession of faith and a desire to teach is all that is required in such cases citation needed It is also not uncommon for Catholic or Protestant pastors to teach such classes themselves Some well known public figures who teach or have taught Sunday school include Space Shuttle astronaut Ronald J Garan Jr comedian Stephen Colbert 52 novelist John Grisham 53 and former U S president Jimmy Carter 54 See also edit nbsp Christianity portalConfraternity of Christian Doctrine Family integrated church Hebrew school also called Sunday school by Reform Jews Sabbath School Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults Sunday School LDS Church Sunday school answer Sunday School Society Sunday School Union Vacation Bible School Youth ministryReferences edit Kanel Danny Von 2005 Building Sunday School by the Owner s Design CSS Publishing p 69 ISBN 978 0 7880 2353 8 Swezey James A September 2008 The Sunday School Movement Studies in the Growth and Decline of Sunday Schools Edited by Stephen Orchard and John H Y Briggs Religious Studies Review 34 3 216 217 doi 10 1111 j 1748 0922 2008 00301 2 x ISSN 0319 485X a b c d Collins Louanne 1996 Macclesfield Sunday School 1796 1996 Macclesfield Cheshire Macclesfield Museums Trust ISBN 1 870926 09 9 John Carroll Power The Rise and Progress of Sunday Schools A Biography of Robert Raikes and William Fox Sheldon UK 1863 p 240 a b c Davies Stella 1961 History of Macclesfield Reprint 1976 ed Didsbury Manchester and Macclesfield E J Morten pp 219 225 ISBN 0 85972 034 9 Michael J Anthony Warren S Benson Exploring the History and Philosophy of Christian Education Principles for the 21st Century Wipf and Stock Publishers USA 2011 p 266 William H Brackney Historical Dictionary of the Baptists Scarecrow Press USA 2020 p 231 Dan Graves Fox Organized Sunday School Society christianity com USA May 3 2010 a b c d Towns Elmer L History of Sunday School Sunday School Encyclopedia 1993 Nottingham City Centre Church Group History Archived from the original on 2008 07 05 Retrieved 2012 04 18 Robert Raikes and the Sunday School Movement Archived from the original on 2007 10 08 Retrieved 2007 10 26 Churches and Churchgoers patterns of Church Growth in the British Isles since 1700 Oxford Clarendon Press 1977 The Legacy of Robert Raikes PhD Thesis Nottingham University Library Nottingham University 2008 Centuries of Childhood A Social History of Family Life USA Random House 1965 When I was a Child Stafford Churnet Valley Books 1903 Full text of The first fifty years of the Sunday school archive org The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement in England 1780 1980 Christian Education Council 1986 Rowe 1959 chpt 3 The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement in England 1780 1980 Christian Education Council 1986 Russell Matthew Sketches in Irish Biography No 28 Dr Daniel Delany The Irish Monthly Volume 23 1895 Rev Martin Brenan Schools of Kildare and Leighlin A D 1775 1835 M H Gill and Son Ltd Dublin 1935 About the Sunday School Society Archived from the original on 2013 09 21 Retrieved 2013 03 18 John M Barkley The Sabbath School Society for Ireland 1862 1962 Sabbath School Society for Ireland 1961 Solvesborgstidningen 1962 04 03 Archived 2022 04 12 at the Wayback Machine tidningar kb se Accessed 9 May 2020 Solvesborgstidningen 1962 03 29 Archived 2022 04 12 at the Wayback Machine tidningar kb se Accessed 9 May 2020 a b c d McFarland John Thomas Winchester Benjamin S 1915 The encyclopedia of Sunday schools and religious education giving a world wide view of the history and progress of the Sunday school and the development of religious education T Nelson amp sons p 1061 Jarlert Anders George Scott Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon in Swedish Archived from the original on 2022 02 02 Retrieved 2022 04 05 Foreningsinventering i Krokoms kommun Rapport 1985 Del 1 PDF in Swedish Folkrorelsernas Arkiv i Jamtland p 11 Archived PDF from the original on 2022 04 17 Retrieved 2022 04 12 Lodin Sven 1959 C O Rosenius in Norwegian Lunde Archived from the original on 2022 04 12 Retrieved 2022 04 12 Hildebrand Bengt A C Mathilda Foy Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon in Swedish Archived from the original on 2021 07 31 Retrieved 2022 04 12 Malmer Elin Amelie Fredrika Dorotea von Braun Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon Archived from the original on 2021 05 08 Retrieved 2022 04 14 a b Catharina Elisabet Betty Ehrenborg Posse Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon in Swedish Archived from the original on 2022 04 10 Retrieved 2022 04 10 Bini Elizabeth D 1983 British evangelical missions to Sweden in the first half of the nineteenth century PhD thesis University of St Andrews hdl 10023 13988 Archived from the original on 2022 04 14 Retrieved 2022 04 12 a b Bexell Oloph Per Palmqvist Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon in Swedish Archived from the original on 2022 01 20 Retrieved 2022 01 20 a b c d Norstrom Per 1930 11 01 Sondagsskolans historia Evangeliskt vittnesbord in Swedish No 21 p 163 Archived from the original on 2022 05 01 Retrieved 2022 05 01 Hagberg Margareta Lat barnen komma till mig En studie av Svenska kyrkans sondagsskola avseende nagra historiska nedslag samt teologiska tankar pa nationell niva och i Linkopings stift PDF in Swedish Linkoping University Archived PDF from the original on 2022 04 11 Retrieved 2022 04 12 a b Grattis sondagsskolan 150 ar Dagen in Swedish 2001 11 09 Archived from the original on 2022 05 15 Retrieved 2022 04 11 Jossfolk Karl Gustav 2001 Bildning for alla en pedagogikhistorisk studie kring abnormskolornas tillkomst i Finland och deras pionjarer som medaktorer i bildningsprocessen 1846 1892 PDF in Swedish Svenska skolhistoriska foreningen i Finland Nord Print Helsinki Svenska skolhistoriska foreningen i Finland pp 246 267 ISBN 952 91 3442 8 OCLC 58384770 Archived PDF from the original on 2022 03 16 Retrieved 2022 03 16 Sondagsskola Forvaltningshistorisk ordbok in Swedish Archived from the original on 2021 05 10 Retrieved 2022 05 01 Norstrom Per 1930 11 01 Sondagsskolans historia Evangeliskt vittnesbord in Swedish No 21 p 163 166 Archived from the original on 2022 05 01 Retrieved 2022 05 01 Norstrom Per 1930 11 15 Sondagsskolans historia Evangeliskt vittnesbord in Swedish No 22 p 171 Archived from the original on 2022 05 01 Retrieved 2022 05 01 cite web url https www google com books edition Seventh Day Baptists in Europe and Ameri u2RKAAAAMAAJ hl en amp gbpv 1 amp dq Ludwig Hocker Sunday School amp pg PA271 amp printsec frontcover gt Rev Ira Lee Cottreell writes Welcome Gospel Light www gospellight com Archived from the original on 2017 12 29 Retrieved 2022 05 15 About Gene Bible Principles Archived from the original on 2016 03 04 Retrieved 2016 03 16 Sunday School Movement Dictionary of Christianity in America InterVarsity Press 1990 p 1147 Jeanne Halgren Kilde When Church Became Theatre The Transformation of Evangelical Architecture and Worship in Nineteenth century America Oxford University Press USA 2005 p 159 170 188 George Thomas Kurian Mark A Lamport Encyclopedia of Christian Education Volume 3 Rowman amp Littlefield USA 2015 p 229 William H Brackney Historical Dictionary of the Baptists Scarecrow Press USA 2009 p 553 Greg Dickinson Suburban Dreams Imagining and Building the Good Life University of Alabama Press USA 2015 p 144 Little Ellen Periodicals published by The American Sunday School Union University Library System University of Pittsburgh Archived from the original on 4 February 2012 Anderson Don 11 November 2013 Choosing Sunday School Curriculum How Effectively Do You Want to Teach the Bible Faith edu Archived from the original on 11 April 2015 Retrieved 7 April 2015 Jean Lopez Kathryn October 25 2010 Stephen Colbert s Sunday School archived from the original on October 29 2010 retrieved December 11 2010 Norton Jr Will October 3 1994 Conversations Why John Grisham Teaches Sunday School Christianity Today archived from the original on March 24 2012 retrieved December 11 2010 Maranatha Baptist Church Maranatha Baptist Church Plains Georgia Archived from the original on 2018 07 25 Retrieved 2010 12 11 Sources editRowe Mortimer 1959 The History of Essex Hall London Lindsey Press archived from the original on 2012 01 16 retrieved 2012 01 16Further reading editSnell Keith D M The Sunday school movement in England and Wales Child labour denominational control and working class culture Past amp Present 164 1999 122 168 Tholfsen Trygve R Moral education in the Victorian Sunday school History of Education Quarterly 20 1 1980 77 99 DOI https doi org 10 2307 367891United States edit Bergler Thomas E The Juvenilization of American Christianity Grand Rapids MI William B Eerdmans 2012 Boylan Anne M Sunday School The Formation of an American Institution 1790 1880 1990 Broadbent Arnold The First 100 Years of the Sunday School Association 1833 1933 A centenary booklet issued by the Lindsey Press of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches Leal K Elise All Our Children May be Taught of God Sunday Schools and the Roles of Childhood and Youth in Creating Evangelical Benevolence Church History 2018 87 4 1056 1090 doi 10 1017 S0009640718002378External links edit nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Sunday school nbsp Look up Sunday school in Wiktionary the free dictionary nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sunday school nbsp Texts on Wikisource Sunday School in Manual of The Mother Church 1917 Sunday Schools The New Student s Reference Work 1914 Should Infidels Send Their Children to Sunday School The Works of Robert G Ingersoll 1907 Sunday Schools New International Encyclopedia 1905 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sunday school amp oldid 1215555685 Publishers, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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