How the Sunday School Came About
Mrs Jemima Khoo
The founding of the modern Sunday school movement has been attributed to Robert Raikes (1735-1811), the editor of the Gloucester Journal. A benevolent man, he used the newspaper as a means to help unfortunate people who had turned into criminals. The physical and moral conditions of the masses during that time were deplorable. People lived in dwellings rudely put together, often in the company of animals such as geese and chicken. There was no proper system of education and ignorance, vice and ungodliness prevailed.
Instructing the Children
Raikes worked for about a quarter of a century to eliminate vice then decided to try out a new experiment. In the streets of Gloucester, neglected children played, quarreled, and fought on Sundays. They worked in factories during the week as there were no child labour laws. Raikes knew these children and the habits of their parents. He concluded that vice could be prevented by instructing the children.
First Sunday School
The first Sunday school was started in 1780 in the kitchen of Mrs Meridith in Sooty Alley (chimney sweep territory). The children were from the lowest levels of society and from places of the worst reputation. Some were not willing to attend Sunday school and had to be marched there with logs of wood tied to their feet so that they would not run away. The children were so bad that Mrs Meredith gave up her work after a few months. They were then transferred to the care of Mrs Critchely. She taught for two years before Raikes made public what he was doing.
Disciplining the Children
Raikes disciplined the children that came. They had to come with clean hands and faces with theirhair combed. Ranging from ages 6 to 14, they came from ten to five on Sundays and rewards such as Bibles, books, games and clothing were given to those well-behaved. Soon, Sunday schools were started in other slum areas. Although his purpose was to teach literacy to the poor children for the purpose of bettering their lot in life, the Bible was used as a text book and he aimed at religious education for the poor whom the church was neglecting.
Children Reformed
When Raikes was convinced that he could bring reform among children, he published it in his newspaper. While some opposed his schools, others supported them. By the time of his death in 1811, Sunday schools were widely established in England and there were as many as 400,000 pupils. Thus a benevolent man, who worked hard to help unfortunate children, developed a movement that has become a tremendous agency for God and the cause of Christian education throughout the world.
Committed Teachers
We would like to encourage all parents to send their children to Sunday school. We have a team of committed teachers who are ready to help them in their spiritual growth. Oftentimes we send our children to the best tuition and enrichment classes to help them to achieve good grades in school. We take much trouble to find the best for them. But do we take a thought for spiritual matters which are of an eternal value? And do we take the trouble to make sure that our children have the most exposure to the Word of God?
God’s Requirement
“And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? (Deut 10:12, 13). One way to help our children to fear God and walk in His ways is to bring them on Sundays to study the Word of God at both the Sunday school and Children’s Worship.
Training a Child
Proverbs 22:6 tells us, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” We are to create a taste or desire in the child for the things of God, according to his mental and physical development. And when your child is correctly nurtured in the things of God, his eventual desire will be to cling to them. What better way than to make the effort to bring them to Sunday school in addition to the Children’s Worship.
Don’t Take Away This Good Thing from Your Children
It takes just a little effort to leave home a bit earlier to come for Sunday school and it will be a huge benefit to your children. By coming in on time, we instill in our children the importance of their spiritual walk with God. If we stroll in haphazardly at any time we like, we instill in our children a “couldn’t- care-less attitude” about the things of God.
Back to School for You & Your Children
Sunday school is not only for children as we have a class for every level at 9.15 am. The children meet at the classrooms on Level 6, the Teens in the Tanglin II and the adults in the Auditorium. We have a fairly good attendance at Sunday school but we can do even better if everyone makes the effort to come. We invite one and all to join in our weekly Sunday school classes, not just for children but for parents too. We hope to see you next week!
[Ed: Sunday School is for both young and old. Parents, bring your children to Sunday School and at the same time attend the Adults’ Sunday School now studying the Epistle of Paul to the Romans with Bro Clement Chew. Why miss out on a good thing? Let’s study the Word of God more and more for our own good. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matt 4:4).]
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
