Philosophy

Sunday School isn’t mandated in scripture—we could actually dispense with it without violating scripture–so why do we have it?  Though most of us may have an instinctive aversion to the word “school” – that is precisely where the value of such a ministry lies.  Both believers and unbelievers can profit from sustained exposure to the Word and biblical thought in such a forum.

Our teaching goal is to encourage a devotional and accurate application of the Word.  We also aim to use Sunday school to support our pulpit ministry – repeating series preached years ago by our pastor, choosing studies that complement current preaching series, or by forming up our church’s family’s collective Bible knowledge through a structured curriculum approach.  In addition, we have found Sunday school to be a good forum through which to expose our people to some classic devotional literature to aid them in their understanding and application of Scripture.

Structurally, our adult Sunday ministry is set up to maximize three biblical priorities:

   ·      To provide a vehicle in which our elders' pastoral ministry can be magnified and efficiently administrated.

   ·      To provide for the spiritual development of our people and increased opportunities for their service.

   ·      To provide additional opportunities of spiritual fellowship in smaller formats.

Historically, Sunday schools did not officially begin until the late 18th century; however, the concept of subdividing larger groups into smaller ones for more effective pastoral ministry has been a longer-term ministeral tool.  For example, read the thoughts penned by John Wesley in his Journal for April 25, 1742:

      "I appointed several earnest and sensible men to meet me, to whom I showed the great difficulty I had long found of knowing the people who desired to be under my care.  After much discourse, they all agreed there could be no better way to come to a sure, thorough knowledge of each person than to divide them into classes . . . . This was the origin of our classes at London, for which I can never sufficiently praise God, the unspeakable usefulness of the institution having ever since been more and more manifest."

Topics our adults have studied together since 1999, include the following (listed in reverse chronological order):