Sunday School Revisited

Our Sunday classes have shrunk in size since the pandemic. At 9:30 on Sunday morning at the Central Church of Christ, two classes meet: an adult class and a children’s class. For now, the teens meet with the adults and have their own breakout group. Soon they will have their own class.

My friend Laura and I alternate quarters teaching the children’s class—ages ranging from 4 to almost 12. That’s a huge range to keep them all involved and learning! At times I think it goes great; at other times, not so much. Last Sunday was one of the “not so much” days. At the time to start class, we had one regular and one visitor with his mother. I started the class a couple of minutes late, hoping more would come. Two sisters arrived and we began. Part of our plan was pressing grapes through a sieve to “make grape juice,” which we did during the first few minutes. Each one had a turn or two and we got some juice to use in our lesson. I showed da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper and told them the story from Matthew 26:17-30 of what Jesus said, especially about the bread and the cup.

Then another child arrived, so I tried to catch him up on the story. He is the oldest in the class, so I figured he probably knew the story anyway.

Then the last three arrived! This included the two four- and five-year-olds. At that point, how could I tell the story again without boring the first arrivals? So I had them help me tell it, and I realized I must not have done a very good job because they didn’t know it very well.

But I persisted. I kept drilling and asking questions with clear answers. I really wanted them to have a good sense of what weekly communion is all about. We talked about Jesus giving the bread and the grape juice/wine and we each took our bread and juice and prayed. Will they remember the meaning, when they see their parents taking communion? Will they recall that it can be called “the Lord’s Supper” or “communion”?

Some parents in our church encourage their children to take communion if they want to. I think it is a privilege reserved for baptized believers; they believe they can train their children in the meaning of communion by letting them take it. Either way, children need to know what it’s all about.

In class, we have boxes with a class member’s name on each. In those, we put the disposable bread and juice items that we use for communion since the pandemic caused us to stop passing the bread and the juice. Next week we will review, and see if they know how that reminds us of Jesus’ love for us. See if they know what is meant by the bread and juice in their boxes.

We talked about how we can show love as Jesus did. I asked what they would do if they saw a person crying. Most answers were obvious and appropriate, but one little boy of color said, “I would run away because they might want to hurt me.” What a sad world, when children need to be alert to every situation possibly causing them harm!

Finally, I asked the four-year-old what he would tell his mother that we studied in class today. His immediate answer: “I just want to run around the room in circles.”

Yep. I’m a model teacher, all right. Making a difference in the lives of children, and all that.

Pray for me.

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.  James 3:1