The History of Sunday School
The first ever Sunday School was started back in 1780, by a newspaper man called Robert Raikes. Raikes was concerned by the plight of poor children who were working long hours, six days a week in factories. He used his newspaper to great effect, exposing many of the evils of the age.
Tradition has it that one day, Raikes was at work in his office when due to the noise of a group of rowdy children playing outside his window, he couldn’t concentrate. He was also deeply troubled by the behaviour of these children, many of whom wandered the streets cursing and swearing and spending their time in “noise and riot.” From his work in visiting convicts and lobbying for prison reform, Raikes also became aware that many prisoners lives had been shaped by their deprived childhood.
In response to these experiences, Raikes set up a Sabbath School, where children we taught to read and write and instructed in the basics of the Christian Faith. His idea was soon copied and Sabbath Schools soon spread all over the country. Within two years, there were over 200,000 children attending Sabbath Schools in England.
Obviously much has changed over the past two hundred and twenty years. Children no longer work in factories and “absolute poverty” no longer exists in the UK. However, our modern generation are now facing the challenges of moral confusion and social fragmentation. Moral values do of course change from generation to generation, but there is clear evidence of a decline in the ability to discern what the boundaries are. By social fragmentation, I mean the rise of “individualism” and the breakdown of family and community relationships.
In response, we in the church offer an old solution to a modern problem. Whilst no one can guarantee that children will grow up as perfect people, what we can promise is that in conjunction with good parenting and good schooling, being nurtured in the beliefs, values and practices of the Christian Faith, does help in the moral, and spiritual development of the individual. It helps provide people with a firm foundation, from which they are able to make the right choices and reach their full potential.
