Akangjungla
Unlike in the institutionalised schools, the experience of Sunday school is a delightful one. Those volunteering in Sunday school come out of personal or religious commitment and not necessarily for professional gain. Most teachers are either young graduates or youths, or working in different offices. And therefore, considering this fact, very few Sunday school teachers take up the task without having the skills required in a class room setting is worth appreciating. Sunday school is considered as the launch pad for the church growth and individual who identify themselves as Christians. For any Christianity-based society, the institute of Sunday school finds a place of value and attention, especially in the church unit, its yearly schedule and financial planning, with certainty. To refresh memory, Sunday schools were originally plainly schools where the needful and underprivileged children could obtain education. The Sunday school movement started in the 1780s in England during the Industrial Revolution which had resulted in many children working in factories and it soon established as schools for faith-based education.
Today, after all the changes and transformations it has undergone over the decades, Sunday schools remain very relevant and significant, and must inevitably continue into the future. From the evangelism point of view, it has been one of the major carriers of Christian faith. The very fact that many churches in Nagaland no longer considers or treats Sunday school teachers as “voluntary service,” recognising the responsibility they hold towards the health and growth of children and the church, validates its importance.
Ask any church on the purpose of running a Sunday school in the Naga community and the most unmistakable response would be ‘to teach the Bible.’ In a technologically driven period and mixed communities thriving culture, it will be erroneous to believe that the only purpose and focus of the Sunday school should be Christian teachings. To limit Sunday school as an establishment for teaching and learning about Bible characters and reciting scriptures would also limit its effectiveness in the current world. In the urban environment, the chances of misunderstanding Sunday school as a place to learn mother tongue or simply for preserving indigenous language is demoralising. Some assume it to be a ‘day care’ centre where children are kept engaged in singing and reciting verses so that the adults can attend an hour of worship uninterrupted.
Sunday schools deserve to be freed from these assumptions. It is misunderstood in so many layers. For families and parents with Sunday school going children, irrespective of any particular religious conviction, it will be helpful to be made aware that the creative use of the Sunday school hour actually contribute towards character development of the child with liberal belief in supernatural being and secular narrative focused on the values of life. Not every Sunday school will match with this profile to bring into being ‘nice’ and ‘good people,’ as the church, society and parents would expect, nonetheless, discarding some of these false impressions can set free and allow this arm of the church to counter the interpretation of the world and equip the children with the discovery of knowledge to address the issues of life, both as persons and as a component of the community they belong to.
Sunday school becomes a place for children to experience social life for the first time in so many ways and not just a place to preserve the Christian faith and identity. There are possibly many ways of denying the importance of a place like Sunday school, and stop considering it as a place of significance. But it has not stopped being relevant even after 244 years of its institution, and hopefully it will continue to be a thriving institution.
Comments can be sent to akangjungla@gmail.com
