How Sunday School Grew the Free Church
Since its earliest days, EFCA leaders have shared the gospel with children.
For some, Sunday school stirs warm memories of singing songs, learning Bible verses, watching stories acted out on flannelgraph, memorizing the books of the Bible and making crafts with beloved teachers and friends. Today, children’s ministry in EFCA churches might look different but the focus on Jesus has stayed the same.
From the days of the earliest immigrant Free Churches, there was great emphasis on teaching children about Jesus. It was common for a church to have far more children attending Sunday school than members in the church. At the time of the 1950 merger of the EFCA the stated purpose was “…to organize churches and Sunday schools and establish and maintain Christian missionary work…” (emphasis mine).
The Sunday schools were always run by the local churches, but as the EFCA grew, it developed resources to help them. Rev. C. Chester Larson became secretary of Sunday schools in 1954 and served for many years with great initiatives, such as teacher training courses, Sunday School of the Year trophies and challenges like the 1963 “Double in a Decade,” a goal adopted by many churches to encourage growth. The Evangelical Beacon published weekly stories and a column for children and teachers. But perhaps the most effective was the annual Sunday School Improvement Days each fall, an EFCA initiative providing resources to significantly improve the quality of teaching in the Sunday schools.
Larson was followed by Kenneth Meyer and then Marlin Jones with an increasing emphasis on helping EFCA churches with high quality Sunday school training and programs. In 1976, the Sunday school office was merged into EFCA National Ministries, now known as ReachNational.
God has greatly used our Sunday schools over the years to win children to Christ and disciple them in the faith. Only in heaven will we know of the countless thousands of children who have made decisions for Christ, who have gone on to become leaders in our churches and have multiplied themselves as Sunday school teachers, pastors and missionaries.
What were your favorite memories of Sunday School? How did it impact your life?
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