Dear BPCWA worshipper,

As a worshipper in BPCWA, we all must understand the aim of a children Sunday school. It helps all of us to support it. For parents, the understanding will help you explain and prepare your child for it at home every week. For the teachers, you know what exactly you are seeking to build in the child. Together, parents and teachers work toward a common objective, while worshippers know how to pray for the children God has put in BPCWA. And if one day, you do need to send your child to the children Sunday school, you know what to expect, based upon the aim of children Sunday school. This pastoral covers my exhortation at the recent Sunday school promotion ceremony.

Isa 28:9-10 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. (10) For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.

Key aim of children Sunday school. Currently, there are 3 classes, namely, Pre-primary, Year 1-2, and Year 3-5. As we witnessed on Sunday, children get promoted sequentially through them. But there is an overall end objective for every class – to prepare the children to worship God rightly, on their own, as they grow in the church. You may wonder, “isn’t it to teach them God’s Word?”. Well, we do that of course, and have a comprehensive and systematic curriculum. It is an important aspect in every class. However, the primary duty of teaching children God’s Word is upon the parent’s shoulder. The church augments that. What children Sunday school aims to achieve with parents is to develop the child, in a group environment, to worship God as he should as he grows up. Children Sunday school occurs in the church, with other children, where they can be trained to learn to receive God’s Word in a group setting. This means that they learn to be respectful, concentrate, gain understanding, and learn to apply God’s Word into their own lives as they listen and as they hear God’s Word.

Pre-Primary goal. 1) What to ensure? In this class, the child must learn to sit still and listen. Parents must prepare their child to discipline himself. 2) Why is this important? It is the first step in preparation for learning reverence in worship and sitting still so that they can begin to pay attention to the Word taught. Parents and teachers should never feel that since the child cannot understand very much yet, then let him do what he wishes. If the child does not learn self-control, he will grow up not wanting to sit in worship, or listen to God’s Word. In fact, many do not like adult worship because they dislike exercising this self-control. Discipline is a critical first step development for eventual proper worship on his own as an adult. The child at this stage can begin to understand commands to be still, exercise a degree of obedience, and practice self-control. 3) How to train and measure? Use your family worship time to train your child to be still. Explain to them the need to be respectful whenever God’s Word is being taught even though they may not understand everything they hear. Train them not to disturb others. Tell them that you expect them to obey their Sunday school teachers and that you will ask the teachers to let you know if they have misbehaved. Tell them that Sunday school is not playtime, but a special time of learning about God and His commands – just like you would train them not to play with their food, jump around, or shout at the dinner table when adults are talking to them.

Year 1-2. 1) What to ensure? In this class, the child must start learning to read and write on his own. The body has developed a second nature to sit and listen, and now it is about disciplining the concentration. That is what secular schools expect in literacy and what they do with children in these grades.  2) Why is this important? After being able to be disciplined to sit and listen, the child must discipline himself to begin to read the Bible for himself and follow the lessons in the Word of God. He will be expected to copy down outlines given by the teacher, the reference texts, and learn new Bible words and their meanings. This is the important stage where they begin to handle the Bible themselves, learn to take notes on important points read or written for them, and begin to notice how to organise the learning of God’s Word in his mind. 3) How to train and measure this? Begin to teach your child to read so that they can follow when the Bible is read in class. Teach them to spell in writing. This keeps their interest in class because they start to do a bit of “adult” things. If you find that your child is not able to read much, it is important to spend time helping them with reading the Bible daily, not just for the sake of secular school development. When they cannot read, they will be embarrassed and not want to be in class and will begin to disrupt others because they cannot concentrate. This is part of the reason why a mother should be at home – for the important task of teaching their child to read God’s Word. Reading the Bible line upon line at this age is also important because children who do not grow up reading the Bible will be quick to dismiss the King James Bible when they grow up. While they are young, get them familiar with the KJV Bible as the only Bible to use for their devotions and learning.

Year 3-5. 1) What to ensure? At this stage, the child must understand lessons in more depth, and begin to be able to write down notes of the key points of the lessons. This is the stage of more serious comprehension ie being able to identify key points themselves by attentive listening developed in Year 1-2 Sunday school classes. But this comprehension is insufficient. The child must begin to make notes for himself about lessons he is learning in class. 2) Why is this important? As adults in worship, being still has already been developed into us as a second nature, and so is being able to read and follow outlines. But we are endeavouring to train up the true worshipper who seeks to worship God in spirit and truth. Such a one is not just present in person, not disturbing others, but is one who receives the Word of God reverently ie who listens intently so as to know God and to obey Him. Hence, serious concentration, knowing how to follow the message, identifying key lessons are being developed in the child for adult worship. 3) How to train and measure? Check your children’s comprehension in Sunday school by asking them what they learned and reviewing their notes with them. If they are hardly taking notes, parents should take note of it. It is likely a sign of either a need to help them in reading and comprehension or a sign that they are not interested in God and His Word. This is how you are working with the church to prepare your child to worship God aright. Remember, your interest in what they learned and the notes they have taken stirs them to be more serious about their attitude toward God and His Word. If you are not interested, you will send the message that what they do in Sunday school is not important. If you take it seriously, they will too.

Preparing a child for worship is an expected part of bringing up a godly seed. Teachers must take this task seriously every Sunday in their preparations. Parents must understand that Sunday school is to prepare their children to mature into a reverential worshipper of God. I urge parents to read this pastoral with their children and explain to them what they are being developed for!

Pr 22:6  Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Yours in our Lord’s service,
Pastor