Commentary: Sunday school – Fount of theological ignorance?

By Teddy Ray, Special Contributor…

One of the places where America began to become theologically illiterate was an odd one: Sunday school. I believe the introduction of Sunday schools truly has caused the American church to know less about what they believe.

For one thing, when we began focusing on Sunday schools, we moved from having theologically-trained pastors teach to having laypeople teach. (Don’t get too worked up about this yet. More below.)

Teddy Ray

Secondly, the Sunday school movement was ecumenical (i.e., representing a number of different Christian churches). A lot of denominations have at least slightly different beliefs regarding doctrine, so they moved away from teaching any version of those debatable doctrines. The easiest commonality was to teach Bible stories. So that’s where the focus went.

Some disclaimers

Please hear these before making any angry comments!

I’m thrilled that laypeople teach. I don’t believe you have to have been to seminary to be allowed to teach. With that said, there are times that we’ll take any warm body, even if that warm body doesn’t know what repentance is or why in the world we would need to be adopted by God. I applaud willing volunteers, but we can’t expect our learners to learn theology that their teachers don’t know.

Also, I love ecumenical efforts. The catholic (universal) church has far more in common than it has in opposition. But if we run from any disputed doctrines, we’ll run from some things that have had the greatest impact on my life (e.g., a Wesleyan understanding of prevenient, justifying and sanctifying grace).

Finally, we must teach the Bible! Of course! And learning theology through the narrative of Scripture is incredibly important. But we’ve tended to replace our wider theological beliefs with the stories. So you can find a lot of teenagers who know the story of David and Goliath, but very few who can define sanctification, or even articulate a Christian understanding of growing in holiness.

Suggestions for change

Our teachers need to know basic theology. We don’t have to have seminarians teaching every class, but there does need to be a baseline. Please don’t just look for the best warm body.

“But we don’t have enough people!” you say. “We have to take whomever will volunteer.” That’s probably true in a lot of places. So some more encouragement: If you have a good handle on basic theology, we need you! Please volunteer to teach. If you are willing to teach but don’t have a good handle on basic theology, please find a way to get a crash course. You and those you teach will all benefit.

Also, we need to teach the specifics of our faith. Presbyterians, teach about election and perseverance. Methodists, teach about prevenient grace and entire sanctification. Dispensationalists, teach about . . . well, never mind. (I jest. Kind of.)

Continue to teach the Bible! Teach all of the stories. But make sure that you are teaching something beyond just the story and beyond just nice morals. (e.g., Please don’t teach the story of Noah and the ark and then use it to talk about Noah’s patience with all those stinky animals and how we should be patient, too. I’ve actually seen this in a children’s Bible!) This means intentionally asking what big doctrines are being communicated through certain stories.

The story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal teaches us about God’s faithfulness, judgment for the wicked, and God’s almighty power. Emphasize those! And don’t be afraid to teach from non-narrative pieces like the psalms and New Testament letters.

Yes, Sunday school (along with many other factors) has contributed to rampant theological illiteracy in the American church. But we can fight back!

Mr. Ray is a licensed local pastor who serves as executive pastor at First UMC of Lexington, Ky. His blog is at www.teddyray.com.

Special Contributor

This story was written by a special contributor to The United Methodist Reporter. You may send your article submissions to
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