Pastor’s Corner: Sunday School

May 17, 2023

This coming Sunday we recognize the young people of our Sunday School and the teachers who have worked with them this past school year. They’ve learned a great deal. They’ve explored a great deal. I’m extremely proud of them all, the teachers and the students!

The first Sunday School was established in Dursley, Gloucestershire, England, in 1751 – but it didn’t limit its curriculum to Jesus and the Bible. In the 18^th century, only the children of the wealthy received an education. The school in Dursley was for the children of the working poor. In fact, the students were working poor. Classes were held on Sunday because they were at work the rest of the week.

In 1785 the Sunday School Society was founded in London to support the expanding movement, which soon reached 4,000 Sunday Schools with 250,000 pupils.

The first Sunday Schools in North America predate the founding of the United States. The first was established by a Reformed Church in Ephrata, Pennsylvania (the Reformed Church is one of the ancestors of the UCC). In the 1790s textile mill owner Samuel Slater developed a Sunday School system in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.  The first missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands probably learned both faith and reading in Sunday Schools.

Our current secular schools owe a great deal to the value placed on education by the Hawaiian monarchs, ali’i, and church leaders. The Sunday School maintains an important place in the life of the Church. In this space and time, we pass the gospel to a new generation. These are the stories. This is the God they describe. This is the love given by God to us all.

Mahalo nui loa, Sunday School! Blessings to all!

In peace,

Pastor Eric