Does Scripture Teach A Church Should Provide Bible Study Sunday Classes for Children and Adults?

If we are to be faithful stewards of the ministry God has granted us, we must work diligently to cultivate a ideology for ministry that is both essentially critical and thoroughly biblical.Consider the following questions:*

1. What should propel the ministries at said Church, any of the particular ministry?
2. * Are there different approaches I can take to have an meaningful ministry?
3. * How do we evaluate a potential ministry opportunity
4. * How do we cultivate a ministry that is biblically-driven?

Does Scripture Teach A Church Should Provided Bible Study Sunday Classes for Children and Adults?

Charles E. Whisnant

Are we past the idea of having a Sunday, Bible Study Time in our culture today? Due to the effort of getting people to attend church in general, churches have offered options. There is the Saturday Night Service, the early Sunday Morning Worship Service. And then you have three options on the kind of Worship you want to attend. Some churches have youth worship on Sunday Evening.

Are the Christians, and/or parents, in our churches so busy with their lives that they do not have time to serve the church in the area of teaching children and youth?

Are parents not wanting to attend an extra hour for Bible Study?

Is Sunday School outdated today in our society and church life?

Charity’s dad Bob Temple, Sr, and I went to Grace Baptist Church in Marion Ohio for the Ohio WBF lunch and meeting with ABC president David Bryant. Great meeting by the way.

I asked Bob about the Sunday School. He said, "If you don’t go after people, you often won’t get them." If you don’t encourage people to go and invite people they won’t." Sunday School for Baptists has been the means for many years of reaching new people. Bob and I talked about Sunday School and what is necessary to have a good Sunday School, I will relate this in another post later next week.

In the last three years I have been out of the loop, you might say. That is to say, I have not been employed by a church to work in the area of Education. Therefore, I am not really sure of the condition of Education in our churches in 2006. Most Baptist churches have Sunday School, but I would say they are struggling. (I am thinking of the churches in the Portsmouth area.) Reading the church paper of Grace Baptist Church of Marion, Ohio, they had 200 for worship and130 for Sunday School.

But I have over the last 40 years been involved in the ministry of Education. More currently I have been involved in the development of Bible Fellowships for Adults and Sunday School for children and youth. (2001-2003). Most recently I have reorganized a Sunday School program that was shut down due to so few attending. We were able within six months to reorganize the Children’s Sunday School and Adult Bible Fellowship Classes.

I have several portfolios on Christian Education in the Local Church.

I can only speak of the current church I attend. From my understanding, there is a need for work in this area of Children’s Bible School. They have a very good Discipleship Hour for two adult classes.

1. Do we really need to provide a time for Bible Study?
   Several churches in our area have AWANA at times other than on Sunday Morning. So could this be a substitute for Sunday Morning Bible Study?
2. Do those in leadership feel that Bible Study is no longer necessary in the philosophy of their church ministry?

I do not have the answers to those specific questions. Maybe I should research that out.

NEVERTHELESS, the question is: SHOULD THE CHURCH PROVIDE A SPECIFIC TIME TO TRAIN AND DISCIPLE THEIR MEMBERSHIP AND FAMILY?

In my opinion, I believe the church should provide training in discipleship to all ages in the church body. Why? I will review this in the next post, thread, article.

Drafted by Charles E. Whisnant 12 01 06 Proof read Chariy 12-01 06 Part One