Sunday School Teachers

So there has been a lot of drama at my church regarding Sunday School teachers.

Without going into needless detail about what is going on, I have taken the position that we should not simply say, "So and so feels called to be a Sunday School teacher, lets let them do it." Rather, we should ensure that they are indeed actually qualified to teach kids.

I have suggested at the very least that

1) They should have a growing/developing love for Jesus Christ.

2) They should not be new converts.

3) They should actually study the scriptures, and not study for the sole purpose of teaching.

4) They should have a lifestyle that is on the road to godliness.

THEN if someone meets those qualifications, we can pray and ask the Lord if they should teach.

We have a great need for teachers at my church; however, we never see if anyone is qualified or we just trust the pastor to make the decision.

I am also a Sunday School teacher at my church. No one has ever asked me even a solitary question about my life, what I believe, what I teach, etc. I pretty much have free reign to do what I want. I could be caught up in all kinds of licentiousness and be a total drunk and hide it from people and no one notice or I could be filling their kids with false doctrines and evil ideas and still be a Sunday School teacher.

I struggle to know even what the Biblical model for this is supposed to be. Most of these kids have parents that go to church, and I don't even know if they teach their own children. It terrifies me slightly that all of this is going on and it seems like no one is really doing anything about it.

So how do we do this well? Any advice for us? This is certainly and area we can grow in, I think.

Is a certain curriculum used for SS classes or are teachers on their own?

I agree that being a true Christian is essential as well walking the talk.

But for kids I think a desire to teach and relate to the kids is as important as a lot of bible knowledge. My wife and I teach 1-4 graders in SS- my wife is far better than me. I know more but she relates to the kids much better. You can only go so deep with little ones. Knowing how deep is an art and requires the leading of the HS.

Arrange a talk with the church about this and share these four questions. That should be a good start and will tell you where others are at.

What Scriptural warrant is there to implement such a practice (SS teachers)?

And where in Scripture would the 4 qualifications you've suggested be found for these SS teachers?

The only Biblical model I see is for parents to be responsible to teach their children about God and His Word. As new Christians we did not understand this and relied on our children to learn from Sunday School teachers. None of our children walks with the Lord today and I know that is not only the failure of those teachers, we take responsibility for it, but it highlights some of the problems you point out. My main concern though is with the curriculums that are commonly used to teach children in a majority of churches, it's shallow and teaches "another Gospel." It seems like the parents don't notice though...