Every church a school, every school a church

All churches together forming a local Christian school as a concrete expression of the Church of Jesus Christ discipling its own children while reaching the community children and families.

I sometimes walk into a church thinking, “this has the makings of a school!” A little mantra forms in my head and in my heart: every church a school; every school a church. The local church, a community of worship, spiritual nurture, teaching, discipleship, character growth, community outreach, service, and world mission, is a centre of learning. What if that learning was not restricted to ‘spiritual things’ but was understood as a shepherding responsibility for the growth in Christ in all things? This mandate flows inter-generationally, reaching next generations with a Spirit-filled, Word-based discipleship vision. 

Sunday School was, in its origin, a school on Sundays. “Sunday Schools were founded in 1780 in Gloucester, England, by newspaper publisher Robert Raikes to take labouring children off the streets on Sundays. Religious instruction, later the main curriculum, was at first secondary to teaching reading and writing.” It was revolutionary, reaching out to the less-privileged working class who would otherwise not receive an education. Sunday schools have been limited almost exclusively to the Reformed or Protestant traditions, largely as a legacy of Swiss theologian John Calvin’s stress on rational learning.

Raikes’ innovation, quickly copied throughout Britain, was brought to Canada, especially by the Presbyterian and Congregational churches. The Church of England (Anglicans) had one in Halifax in 1783. Methodism tended to apply the concept more broadly to the whole community of believers; between the visits of the ordained or licensed circuit riders or ‘saddlebag preachers’, lay leaders maintained the congregation as church school with classes for all ages.

After becoming a fixture in western society, reaching millions, it was eventually relegated to religious education. This narrowed focus was part of a decline of continued marginalization to the point where today it is almost irrelevant to society at large.

Might it be time to revisit the origins of school on Sunday? A first glance would very quickly conclude that the original Sunday School is even more unnecessary than the contemporary version. Society is vastly different. Schools are universally available and obligatory for children. Child labor is outlawed. The need is not what it was.  

But a second look reveals crumbling societal values, broken homes, increasingly little positive adult investment in children, an educational system increasingly opposed to Christ-centred education, and an encroachment of alternative religious views into mainstream western society. Even Christian homes are less and less characterized by parental discipleship.

Children spend more time in school than anywhere else. Their worldview, values and opinions are shaped by teachers who very often have a perspective very different than that of parents or the local church. In addition, local churches are often searching for a compelling vision for relevancy in their communities. Is it time that they be seen as more than places for funerals, weddings, Christmas programs and bingo nights?

The movement spearheaded by Robert Raikes and others transformed society. As more and more people saw the need for universal education, this vital building block was eventually removed from the Church. Similarly, higher education institutes, which almost universally originated from church contexts, have become ‘secular’, and in most cases, anti-Christian.

What if every church were a school; and every Christian school a church in the sense of being a gathering of believers and seekers worshipping, serving and reaching their community and beyond? Is it time for the church to re-engage with society on this most formative of levels? Is it time to put school back into Sunday, and Sunday back into school?  

Howard Dueck is involved with the Canadian Christian Education Movement, CCEM exists to help churches, parents, and educators provide Christ-centered educational initiatives in their communities. http://cemovement.ca