From the late 1940s to the 1970s, Australian Sunday schools were booming,
bringing messages sending messages.
In the early 60s, one in seven children under 14 went every week to listen to
Bible stories, talk about God and learn Christian values.
Sunday school now
in Australia, it all started at St. John's paramita. Here, Sunday school
continues the tradition that began at this Anglican Church over 200 years ago.
Before the sermon starts 30 children Three to 12 leave church to join the
Sunday school class.
Speaking he said,
bro the BART out into deep water and let your net down to catch some fish and
action. What do we do,
bro?
But Sunday school actually began in the 18th century when English newspaper man
Robert rakes founded Sunday school for child workers of the Industrial
Revolution.
Well originally when Sunday school came into being, it wasn't anything to do
with the churches. It was purely secular. It was to give basic literary
education to the children that worked in the mills in the factories in the mines.
Because the only day they had off work was Sunday. They wanted these children
to read the Bible but Before they could read the Bible, I had to teach them how
to read.
So they invented Sunday school.
In 1961, nearly 90% of Australians identified as Christian. Sending
children to Sunday school had become standard practice for Protestant
families.
I think when I was growing up, many people would send their children to
Sunday school because they had a cultural Christianity. They believed
that they were Christian. They believe that because their parents were
Christian and their parents before that were Christian and somewhere deep in the
family tree there was probably a member of the clergy. So of course we send our
children to Sunday school.
Jesus bless the gifts we bring.
But some church leaders at the time, were highly critical
of Sunday school. My hackles rise, because I think that Sunday schools have
done more damage to the Church of God than anything else I can think of
Bishop, our wit, Bishop of Northwest Australia. First of all most important,
of course, is that a Sunday school simply cannot teach children to worship.
Why do you come to Sunday school?
Another complaint was the parents regularly drop their children off at
Sunday school, but didn't go to church themselves. Why do
they send their children to Sunday school?
I feel that
we owe it to them to make a choice.
I think they learn more than if they didn't go.
It takes away from the parents of the child their responsibility in giving
their children religious education.
But the world was changing.
between 1963 and 1973. Sunday school numbers almost halved
the sexual revolution had arrived
less people were going to church and soon other interests took over.
Well, it was the upsurge in Sunday sport was a great contributed to the decline.
At St. John's paramita, the flock has changed. But the message is the same.
Here in paramita, you've got people of all manner of different cultures all
manner of different beliefs and and they've come from every corner of the
globe.
How long?
How are you guys?
What are you guys learning about today?
When I was at summer school, the things that were taught bottom layers are
exactly the same things that were taught in Sunday School man, what happened to
the blind man? The fundamental message of the Christian faith is always the
same.
He could see a guy.
We want the children to have an understanding of the Bible so that as
they grow up, that becomes the foundation for their living, not just a
piece of understanding, but something which guides their living something
which gives them wisdom in life. Sophie, you tell me.
God fixed him.
Sunday school because I like learning about the Bible. Like about Sunday
school, the stories because I really like the stories like a story
about Jesus, because adult church is boring.
We're gonna put our hands together,
and we're gonna close our eyes and we're just gonna say another
Heavenly Father, we thank you for that we can come here
today, just 8% of Australians attend church regularly. And it's an aging
congregation.
Churches only ever one generation from extinction. So the next generation is
always important.
I think the challenge is actually to reach out to the children who are not in
the Sunday school. To see the children in the street and say, Would you like to
hear some Bible stories? In effect? That's always a challenge.
Ron's church on the Central Coast is trying out new ways to get children
involved.
Then we've got
an adults are welcome to
well, Messy Church is a new type of Sunday school and all is people who
don't necessarily want to come to your regular church who feel more comfortable
coming to what they call a Messy Church, because it's very informal. Tables are
set up with all sorts of things craft on them. But we introduce a Christian scene
into that table,
shop, culture church down with the bare hands. Small fan, more I reckon Ward
21st century type church, whereas with the church, you just sit in church, and
that's how I'm taking that's how all right that's my view of it. I come here
because my daughter loves coming here. And I have never been to a church
before. And as we're driving down the road, you saw a sign and she said,
Mommy, Mr. Church and not read the sign and I went, Okay, I'll take you. And now
we just have coming in. Because the people there are beautiful and she
enjoys the craft and education. So I'm not a religious person. So learning
about the stories it's really fascinating to me, did you like message
children The next generation,
the next generation of leaders, their little disciples, their little people.
children grow up into teenagers and teenagers grow up into young adults. And
those young adults take responsibility, whether it's in church or in society. So
children must have a very special place in the church, to be taught to be
nurtured, to be brought forward.
The future of Sunday school it seems to be going on the way it is, is a ministry
to the church families. The churches that have big congregations, they'll
have big Sunday schools and for the churches who have small congregations or
predominantly very elderly congregations, they will have a small
Sunday school or perhaps none at all.