Stated Clerk's Column
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Written by Gradye Parsons
Each month the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Moderator or Vice Moderator of the 220th General Assembly write a column of general interest for the church-at-large.
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February 2012-Monthly column featuring Stated Clerk Gradye Parsons
Sunday school teachers
Who taught you in Sunday school? I can remember most of my teachers, which included my parents. My father taught the rowdy third-grade boys and my mother, the more mature sixth graders.
Mrs. Arnold corralled the kindergarteners on Sunday after teaching first grade in public schools during the week. She was infinitely kind and had x-ray vision for any good impulse. She was intolerant of meanness. She was an advocate for play and joy. She relayed Bible stories as if she was actually there – and, well, she did seem old.
When I visit congregations across the church, I am often told stories about legendary Sunday school teachers. The teachers are admired for their patience, their faith, and their loving tenacity. These folks are true gifts from God for the church.
I don’t think one will find any uniform approach or single teaching methodology among these folks – other than the uniform ability to earn a child’s trust. Some are great at storytelling, some at crafts, and some at music. Almost none of them are called by their full adult names, which is fine with them. After they’ve taught their classes, they usually arrive for worship a little rumpled with various colors of markers on their hands.
The church has many tasks, including the great apostolic call to go into all the world and make disciples. That big world needs the good news of Jesus Christ and the kingdom-justice of God. Another world also exists – that of the precious interior where a child develops his or her understanding of life. It is there where children build their understanding of what is good, who is good, and how to be good. The interior world that is structured around the stories of God and God’s people will be better able to navigate that big exterior world with all of its struggles. And, it won’t hurt to have some hymn tunes embedded in their heart.
Can you recite the twenty-third Psalm or hum “Jesus Loves Me”? Do you know the great stories of the Bible? More than likely, your Sunday school teachers are the ones to thank.
- Posted at 1:38 p.m.
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