Sunday school talk- What is the protocol?

It has been quite a while since I have attended Sunday school but something occurred to me while thinking about it recently. What is the exact point of Sunday school?

I have always thought it was there for a time of indepth teaching as well as discussion over the topic at hand and the leader is at the controls the keep the conversation directed without going adrift, if possible.

The Sabbath school I visited was similar to this but what I heard from the people there, as far as conversation, alarmed me. The depth of their faith in the conversation seemed to be very shallow. Discussing animals and in heaven and how some in the group had the icky feeling about some such as snakes. Personally, I felt embarrassed for me. It was akin to teen girls grappling over emotions about yucky stuff but these were people from the age of 50 on up.

Then, there is an independent fundamental baptist church who broadcasts over the radio. On occasion I will tune in just to see what is going on. They also broadcast their Sunday school and it is the pastor doing it. It is like a mini service. Seems like the opposite end of the Sabbath school.
(btw, the preacher at this church was talking about wine and how it was essentially grapejuice but the tone he used in saying it told me he wasn't convinced but only following independent baptist lingo. I felt embarrassed for him as well. Never figured out how people could be so gung ho over drinking grapejuice when wine is what gives folks that buzz after a time.)

What is protocol for Sunday school anyway?

I recall, growing up in the Lutheran Church, mom made my brother and I go to Sunday school. Hated it with passion for 2 reasons. It was just like going to school but only for 90 minutes. In a class with other kids reading and doing school work with an occasional lecture by the teacher. Mom dressed me in a 3 piece suit complete with vest and a clip on tie. The kind to choke the throat with not room to breath. Because of that experience I never dress in suit and tie for any church. Funny how those experiences stay with a person.
John

John, am not sure of the history of beginnings of the modern day Sunday School, but it is my understanding that Dwight L. Moody popularized it by bringing in the children from the streets and teaching them Bible.

It was this way when I was a child and we still do so in our church. I teach an adult woman's class and concentrate on teaching from the Biblical text. There are some who rarely will but will only talk of their opinions. [EDITED]

John, I understand your observation. But do hope you wear something better then jeans when attending worship services! :-)

My favorite sunday school, (or bible study) environment is where the leader does not lecture, but rather elicits discussion of the biblical text or topic being discussed. This way, each believer can contribute as they are led and this is how we learn from other members of the body.

I agree that the discussion should not stray too far off topic, but rabbit trails can be very good, depending on the rabbit trail. It is important for the leader to be able to control this to some extent and know how to rein it in.

I am currently leading a Bible study on 1st John and my style is to ask a lot of questions. I like good discussion, and I think you lose people's interest quickly if you lecture and do not elicit discussion. We learn from the text, the leader, and from each other if we are allowing the HS to work and lead.

ginnyrose wrote:

"But do hope you wear something better then jeans when attending worship services!"

Why?

QUOTE:
""But do hope you wear something better then jeans when attending worship services!"

Why?"
______________________________________________________________

Because of modesty.

Ginnyrose

Whenever I go to church it is jeans and a collar shirt and tennis shoes. I want to be comfortable and not dress to impress. My sister n law and family do dress to the hilt. I think it is funny personally and a little sad. I say that only because I think of myself as the kids dressed to the nines and I hated it. They may not hate it but I really hated getting that dressed up.

There is modesty in jeans.

On Saturday night the church I somewhat attend have a service. Come as you are type of thing and some do wear shorts but most do not. Ironically the vast majority of people who attend it as 40+ years old. I will go when I have to work weekends.

I don't know if this church has a Sunday school or not. I know they have house church meetings thought. I forget what they call them. They do them in 8 week sessions so the homegroup volunteers don't get overwhelmed with it.

I would like to share a bit more about SS protocol. Seems as though my comment about jeans got the subject hijacked...:-(

I love to teach SS, any age will do, be it children or adult women. It became easy after I conquered a crises.

I was teaching from Romans and got stuck, absolutely stuck - had no clue how to teach this lesson or what it was all about, even. Hard. I prayed, I was desperate, really desperate. Then the Holy Spirit so peacefully said, "Just talk abut the greatness of God". Oh, oh...well. I looked at the lesson again and the truths just popped out at me - hey! it was easy then! Today, this is my basic motivating point in teaching the WORD: what does it tell us about God? Start there; after exhausting it according to time limitations, address the issue of "how I am going to respond to this knowledge?" "How will this impact my life where the rubber meets the road?"

How this is presented will vary from lesson to lesson. Many times the lesson will grip me so I end up lecturing; other times I will go slower, in any case I will work to keep rabbit trails from getting too long - the devil loves long rabbit trails. At the heart of the matter is that one needs to pray, study the WORD thoroughly and then speak out of the revelation the Holy Spirit gave/gives you. I may have notes but not often. In short it is important to let the Holy Spirit lead you but you must first do a lot of preparation ahead of time - you must love the message of the WORD.

This is how I do it - hope it will help someone. Guess I just love the WORD and talk about it...but one must realize that you must first be challenged before you can help another.

God bless.