Maranatha Baptist Church in

Plains, Ga., is a Sunday School class with a church. That is, the Sunday

School class taught by former President Jimmy Carter eclipses the church

in seeming importance and reputation. The rule is that when President

Carter is in Plains, he teaches his class and the crowds come to Maranatha.

When he is not in town, the average crowd shrinks significantly.

The Carter Class gives me opportunity

to rant a bit about Sunday School classes that hold the church hostage

or that flow in a different direction than the Pastor's vision or

even the church's stated doctrine.

Some of my readers will be

mystified about what I am saying. They would not understand. Yet, countless

pastors do understand what I am talking about as I write. In fact, there

are Sunday School classes right now acting in defiance to the pastor and

the church. I refer to the pastor because in many of these Sunday School

classes the pastor is discussed and chewed to pieces regularly. The class

becomes a forum for invective. Some of the more "pious" classes

will make the pastor and staff a matter of prayer, explaining to God the

needs of the pastor and how God could fix him.

Perhaps the Sunday School class

domination is unique to the south. After World War II, many classes started

and swelled to hundreds in members in the larger churches. The teachers

of these classes competed with the pastor for the leadership of the church.

The rooms where these classes met were off-limits to anyone or any other

group in the church. Many classes had their own pulpit.

I remember one such class in

a former church. Started after the war, its membership grew to 250 in

number. Many members would come to class and then go home, never staying

for the worship church and to hear the sermon of the pastor. Yet, many

of these classes took such great pride in their size and dominance that

they failed to focus on outreach, thereby sowing the seeds to their own

demise. When I was pastor of this particular church in the '80s,

the class had dwindled to about an average attendance of ten, but still

cherishing hallowed pictures of former teachers and group shots. They

still talked about the glory days of the past.

As initially founded, Sunday

School classes were to be focused on reaching people in order to teach

them the Bible and to enlist them in the work of the church. Sunday School

classes were founded to support the work of the church. The Sunday School

was conceived as an arm of the church, not the body of the church. They

were intended to encourage and pray for the pastor and the different aspects

of the church. They were never intended to have a life of their own.

But still, as you look over

the church scene today you will find these classes that often perceive

their mission as preserving the faith handed over from the fathers and

critiquing every move of the pastor. Should not be! Perhaps you should

check out your Sunday School class. Do all your members attend the worship

service and hear the pastor's vision and perspective? Do you hear

criticism of the church regularly in your class? Is your class reaching

out to new people or has it become comfortable with those already on the

roll? Is my class growing?

Maybe you can be a catalyst

for change in your class. Set up a conversation with your teacher and

discuss with him or her the purpose of the Sunday School as originally

conceived by Arthur Flake, a church layman and businessman.

There's an old expression:

as the Sunday School goes, so goes the church.

How is your Sunday School going?

John Hatcher is pastor of Outreach

International Center, 1091 South Jeff Davis Drive, Fayetteville, Georgia

30215. 770-719-0303

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