CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
This chapter is to address the background to the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, significance of the study, delimitation of the study, research procedure and definitions of terms.
1.1 Background to the Study
From the beginning of the Church of God in the 1880s, Christian education has played a crucial role in the life of the movement. One of the most concrete ways, in which Christian education has influenced the Church of God, is through the Sunday school. For decades, the Sunday school has played a primary role in congregational life and in its broader sense, national organizational structure of the movement[1]. According to Dr. Darren W. Thomas in his book “the role, history and decline of the Sunday school” quoted Thom Rainer who identifies seven primary methods and programs that contribute the most to effective assimilation: special events, weekday ministries, recreational activities, youth programs, preschool programs, Sunday school, and children’s programs. He said that Rainer’s research revealed the Sunday school as being the most effective of these methods and programs at closing the back door of the church and assimilating individuals into the life of the congregation. When it comes to reaching people and effectively assimilating them into the life of the church the Sunday school ministry still remains one of the most effective tools some 200 years after its beginnings. Thom Rainer also said that the “Sunday School has been among the key methodologies of the past two centuries to train adults and youth in the depths of the Bible.” Experts are telling us that the Sunday school still works.
Dr. Darren W. Thomas also referred to Harry Piland who also identifies the Sunday school as being a key role in the health of a church accomplishing its mission. “Because of the nature and mission of a church revealed in the Scriptures, and because of the centrality of the Bible in Sunday school, the Sunday School is at the heart of the mission of the church. It is central – not a side issue; it is major – not minor”. He further made mentioned of Dr. George W. Bailey, President of the World’s Sunday School Association 1910-1913, who wrote that the goal of the Sunday school was to, “put the open Bible into the open hand of every opening heart that is quickened by life from God”. Even with its effective record Sunday school still has its critics that claim it is no longer relevant as an outreach and assimilation ministry to the church. This debate over its relevance is nothing new. With each new generation, the question arises and with each new generation the answer is clear, the Sunday school is still effective. [2]