The following about The Sunday School Dilemma and a Proposed Solution is a release from the Board of the Reformed Fellowship. Inc.
In 1970, the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church approved the document presented by the Board of Publications entitled “Toward a Unified Church School Curriculum” (cf. Acts of Synod, 1970, Supplement 13, p. 206). At this point in Christian Reformed church history. the denomination actually said that there should no longer be a “two-track” system of Christian instruction for Christian Reformed children and young people. In “shirt sleeve” English this simply means that in the CRC there shall be no more Sunday School, no more catechism. In its place there will be a “church-school” plan which will be neither Sunday School nor catechism but a “singletrack” system seeking to “do justice to the two-track program current in our churches by way of Sunday School and catechism instruction” (cf. Acts, 1970, p. 210).
This decision of Synod still comes as a surprise to many CRC people even though it was a decision made two years ago. But the decision is a reality and the firstfntits of its products have now appeared in the form of Bible Steps series (Grades 1 and 2) (Mini-Mutt) and the Bible Trails series (Grades 3 and 4) (Butch and his friends).
THE SS DILEMMA
Already many legitimate and heated reactions have come in with regard to the new “Sunday School papers” which is now an actual misnomer because they are in reality “church-school papers,” substitutes for catechism materials in Grades 3 on up. The negative reactions center mainly on the format of the material, the memory work (and lack of it) and the overall teaching content of both series. Many parents are frustrated. All Christian Reformed Churches will now have to decide whether or not they are going to maintain the “two-track” system of Sunday School and Catechism programs, or join the denominational union of the two in the “Church-school” plan. All churches desiring to keep the “two-track” program will have to look elsewhere for Sunday School materials.
THE RECOMMENDATION
In view of this development, the Board of Reformed Fellowship has examined the products of several publishers of Sunday School materials. It has found an acceptable solution in the materials put out by Great Commission Publications (Orthodox Presbyterian Church).
We now present what we judge to be . the fine qualities of the Sunday School material produced by Great Commission as well as information about the supplements to the Great Commission program which Reformed Fellowship, Inc. plans to prepare in order to adapt the Great Commission program to the specific needs of the CRC Sunday School program. It must be understood however, that our endorsement of Great Commission Sunday School program applies to the Sunday School program only. Reformed Fellowship, Inc. stands committed to a separate and thorough program of catechetical instruction in Reformed doctrine in the Christian Reformed Church.
GREAT COMMISSION PUBLICATIONS
The task of the Sunday School in the CR Church, as it ministers to both covenant children and community children, is to teach the Bible in such a way that children may fully comprehend the message that runs through the entire Scripture. The Sunday School curriculum must not treat the Scripture as a mere collection of stories or lessons or morals, or as a string of chronological events which bear little or no relationship to each other. Instead, it is imperative that the Sunday School curriculum shall present the “Bible-in-Perspective.” Great Commission Publications, with its Reformed approach to the doctrine of Scripture, identical to our own, has successfully achieved this goal in its three-faceted program:
1. Great Commission SS curriculum seeks to “teach the Bible in the perspective of the wonders of God’s great plan of salvation announced to Adam and Eve and glimpsed by the apostle John (in the book of Revelation) in glorious fulfillment.”
2. Great Commission SS curriculum presents the contents of the Bible in the perspective of the wonders of God’s created universe. “The events of secular history, wonders of nature, and the mysteries of space are all employed to enrich the students’ understanding of God’s revelation and to enlarge the scope and significance of the truth declared in the Bible.”
3. Great Commission SS curriculum presents the contents of the Bible in the perspective of the wonders of God’s Spirit at work in the hearts of men transforming them from rebellious sinners into dedicated servants of the living Christ. “God has spoken in the Bible in order to call men out of their sin and to bring them into fellowship with Himself.”
All three of these unifying themes of Scripture are geared to the needs of 1) Evangelism and 2) Christian Nurture and they are developed in each department: Primary (Grades I, 2, 3), Junior (Grades 4, 5, 6), Junior High (Grades 7, 8, 9) and Senior High (Grades 10, 11, 12). The Bible-in-Perspective concept “that has guided the development of this curriculll1n assures that the message of the Bible will both ‘come across’ to pupils with little or no Bible background and also ‘come alive’ to pupils who might be inclined to view Sunday school materials as the ‘same old stuff.’ By approaching what may be familiar materials with the threefold perspective of this curriculum, the pupil with extended exposure to Bible instruction is challenged in new ways at every age level to put his faith into practice. On the other hand, because the core of the curriculum is limited to the basic elements of the Bible’s message, the student with little or no Bible background is able to grasp the central thrust of the Bible with little difficulty.”
“In the whole curriculum, therefore, there is to be found a dynamic that moves toward genuine Christian maturity. The legitimate and necessary objectives of evangelism are achieved by a full and well-developed presentation of the message of the whole Bible instead of by a simplistic and anemic ‘gospel appeal.’ At the same time the end of Christian growth is served by this constant effort to teach the Bible in perspective. Confronted at every point by the contents of the Bible as they relate not only to redemption, but also to the world and personal life, each student is challenged to grow up into Christ, ‘to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’” (Quotations taken from the Great Commission brochure, The Bible-in-Perspective Sunday School Curriculum).
The student papers and manuals contain superior teaching technique and meaningful pupil response in stimulating activities and a variety of exercises. Each issue captures the heart of the lesson and is embodied in a colorful and relevant format.
THE SUPPLEMENTS
In order to adapt the Great Commission series to the specific needs of the Christian Reformed Sunday School, the Reformed Fellowship will prepare and make available the following supplements:
1. Teacher’s manual supplement containing an “in-depth” exegesis of the Scripture passage to be studied in each lesson. This supplement will be produced in quarterly installments and made available to Sunday Schools well in advance of the scheduled time of use.
2. Memory work supplement drawn up for the Junior, Junior High, and Senior High departments. Great Commission has a well-developed memory work program in attractive format for the Primary department. There is suggested memory work for the other departments which will be explained and amplified in our supplement. In certain cases the suggested memory work will be changed so that it will not duplicate the memory work program outlined by the National Union of Christian Schools. Periodic recitation award programs will also be recommended in our supplement.
3. Guidelines for Leaders of Teachers’ Meetings will be developed to correspond with the lessons.
4. Teachers’ workshops will be made available to all churches requesting them. The workshops will be helpful in the following areas:
a. Understanding the basic Biblical themes developed by Great Commission Publications and our supplements.
b. The art of storytelling.
c. The use of the question and answer discussion method.
d. The availability, development and/or use of visual aids.
THE PRE-K AND K DEPARTMENT
The Reformed Fellowship commends the continued use of the Christian Reformed Sunday School materials for the Pre-K and Kindergarten department until the Board of Publications produces new “Church-school” materials for this department (projected for 1974 or 75). This current material is published in quarterly booklets entitled Little Ones’ Bible Stories.
CONCLUSION
Because the church is the “apple of God’s eye,” and its children her future leaders, we as a Reformed Fellowship are concerned that the Christian instruction which emanates from her be as pure and full-orbed as possible that “the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.”
In 1970, the Synod of the Christian Reformed Church approved the document presented by the Board of Publications entitled “Toward a Unified Church School Curriculum” (cf. Acts of Synod, 1970, Supplement 13, p. 206). At this point in Christian Reformed church history. the denomination actually said that there should no longer be a “two-track” system of Christian instruction for Christian Reformed children and young people. In “shirt sleeve” English this simply means that in the CRC there shall be no more Sunday School, no more catechism. In its place there will be a “church-school” plan which will be neither Sunday School nor catechism but a “singletrack” system seeking to “do justice to the two-track program current in our churches by way of Sunday School and catechism instruction” (cf. Acts, 1970, p. 210).
This decision of Synod still comes as a surprise to many CRC people even though it was a decision made two years ago. But the decision is a reality and the firstfntits of its products have now appeared in the form of Bible Steps series (Grades 1 and 2) (Mini-Mutt) and the Bible Trails series (Grades 3 and 4) (Butch and his friends).
THE SS DILEMMA
Already many legitimate and heated reactions have come in with regard to the new “Sunday School papers” which is now an actual misnomer because they are in reality “church-school papers,” substitutes for catechism materials in Grades 3 on up. The negative reactions center mainly on the format of the material, the memory work (and lack of it) and the overall teaching content of both series. Many parents are frustrated. All Christian Reformed Churches will now have to decide whether or not they are going to maintain the “two-track” system of Sunday School and Catechism programs, or join the denominational union of the two in the “Church-school” plan. All churches desiring to keep the “two-track” program will have to look elsewhere for Sunday School materials.
THE RECOMMENDATION
In view of this development, the Board of Reformed Fellowship has examined the products of several publishers of Sunday School materials. It has found an acceptable solution in the materials put out by Great Commission Publications (Orthodox Presbyterian Church).
We now present what we judge to be . the fine qualities of the Sunday School material produced by Great Commission as well as information about the supplements to the Great Commission program which Reformed Fellowship, Inc. plans to prepare in order to adapt the Great Commission program to the specific needs of the CRC Sunday School program. It must be understood however, that our endorsement of Great Commission Sunday School program applies to the Sunday School program only. Reformed Fellowship, Inc. stands committed to a separate and thorough program of catechetical instruction in Reformed doctrine in the Christian Reformed Church.
GREAT COMMISSION PUBLICATIONS
The task of the Sunday School in the CR Church, as it ministers to both covenant children and community children, is to teach the Bible in such a way that children may fully comprehend the message that runs through the entire Scripture. The Sunday School curriculum must not treat the Scripture as a mere collection of stories or lessons or morals, or as a string of chronological events which bear little or no relationship to each other. Instead, it is imperative that the Sunday School curriculum shall present the “Bible-in-Perspective.” Great Commission Publications, with its Reformed approach to the doctrine of Scripture, identical to our own, has successfully achieved this goal in its three-faceted program:
1. Great Commission SS curriculum seeks to “teach the Bible in the perspective of the wonders of God’s great plan of salvation announced to Adam and Eve and glimpsed by the apostle John (in the book of Revelation) in glorious fulfillment.”
2. Great Commission SS curriculum presents the contents of the Bible in the perspective of the wonders of God’s created universe. “The events of secular history, wonders of nature, and the mysteries of space are all employed to enrich the students’ understanding of God’s revelation and to enlarge the scope and significance of the truth declared in the Bible.”
3. Great Commission SS curriculum presents the contents of the Bible in the perspective of the wonders of God’s Spirit at work in the hearts of men transforming them from rebellious sinners into dedicated servants of the living Christ. “God has spoken in the Bible in order to call men out of their sin and to bring them into fellowship with Himself.”
All three of these unifying themes of Scripture are geared to the needs of 1) Evangelism and 2) Christian Nurture and they are developed in each department: Primary (Grades I, 2, 3), Junior (Grades 4, 5, 6), Junior High (Grades 7, 8, 9) and Senior High (Grades 10, 11, 12). The Bible-in-Perspective concept “that has guided the development of this curriculll1n assures that the message of the Bible will both ‘come across’ to pupils with little or no Bible background and also ‘come alive’ to pupils who might be inclined to view Sunday school materials as the ‘same old stuff.’ By approaching what may be familiar materials with the threefold perspective of this curriculum, the pupil with extended exposure to Bible instruction is challenged in new ways at every age level to put his faith into practice. On the other hand, because the core of the curriculum is limited to the basic elements of the Bible’s message, the student with little or no Bible background is able to grasp the central thrust of the Bible with little difficulty.”
“In the whole curriculum, therefore, there is to be found a dynamic that moves toward genuine Christian maturity. The legitimate and necessary objectives of evangelism are achieved by a full and well-developed presentation of the message of the whole Bible instead of by a simplistic and anemic ‘gospel appeal.’ At the same time the end of Christian growth is served by this constant effort to teach the Bible in perspective. Confronted at every point by the contents of the Bible as they relate not only to redemption, but also to the world and personal life, each student is challenged to grow up into Christ, ‘to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’” (Quotations taken from the Great Commission brochure, The Bible-in-Perspective Sunday School Curriculum).
The student papers and manuals contain superior teaching technique and meaningful pupil response in stimulating activities and a variety of exercises. Each issue captures the heart of the lesson and is embodied in a colorful and relevant format.
THE SUPPLEMENTS
In order to adapt the Great Commission series to the specific needs of the Christian Reformed Sunday School, the Reformed Fellowship will prepare and make available the following supplements:
1. Teacher’s manual supplement containing an “in-depth” exegesis of the Scripture passage to be studied in each lesson. This supplement will be produced in quarterly installments and made available to Sunday Schools well in advance of the scheduled time of use.
2. Memory work supplement drawn up for the Junior, Junior High, and Senior High departments. Great Commission has a well-developed memory work program in attractive format for the Primary department. There is suggested memory work for the other departments which will be explained and amplified in our supplement. In certain cases the suggested memory work will be changed so that it will not duplicate the memory work program outlined by the National Union of Christian Schools. Periodic recitation award programs will also be recommended in our supplement.
3. Guidelines for Leaders of Teachers’ Meetings will be developed to correspond with the lessons.
4. Teachers’ workshops will be made available to all churches requesting them. The workshops will be helpful in the following areas:
a. Understanding the basic Biblical themes developed by Great Commission Publications and our supplements.
b. The art of storytelling.
c. The use of the question and answer discussion method.
d. The availability, development and/or use of visual aids.
THE PRE-K AND K DEPARTMENT
The Reformed Fellowship commends the continued use of the Christian Reformed Sunday School materials for the Pre-K and Kindergarten department until the Board of Publications produces new “Church-school” materials for this department (projected for 1974 or 75). This current material is published in quarterly booklets entitled Little Ones’ Bible Stories.
CONCLUSION
Because the church is the “apple of God’s eye,” and its children her future leaders, we as a Reformed Fellowship are concerned that the Christian instruction which emanates from her be as pure and full-orbed as possible that “the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.”