Once upon a Time⤒🔗

Years ago, there was Sunday School, and there was catechism. The former taught the Bible stories and songs thought important. The latter taught doctrine. Men and women from the church taught Sunday School. Seminary-trained ministers taught most of the children's cat­echism classes. My good friend Dr. P.Y. De Jong, known to many of you, once told me he instructed over 500 catechism students per week while serv­ing in his second charge in a church in Grand Rapids, MI. The practice developed for several reasons.

• First, such ministers were, in many cases, some of the most well-educated people in the church, certainly the most thoroughly equipped to teach Reformed doctrine.
• Second, it had be­come an expected part of the work of the preacher.
• Third, in many areas, all the kids came for catechism after school or on Saturday mornings, so it was physically possible within the lim­its of the pastor's schedule. There were some benefits too. The kids got to know the preacher, and he them. That simple fact provided more pastoral benefits than we'd care to admit, maybe even more than the educational benefits.

Times Have Changed!←⤒🔗

But times have changed haven't they? No longer is such a thing physi­cally possible. In the church I serve, for example, there is no way I could gather the kids together after school for catechism; students in this church attend about 25 different schools all around the Dallas metropolis. Furthermore, during the Sunday School, the pastor can only teach one class, and he is often involved in adult edu­cation. Additionally, such a depen­dence on one man isn't educationally wise. Years ago, there was a com­mon ground among most of the stu­dents in many Reformed churches. Most had been raised with the same kind of education; most knew the Bible stories, and possessed a similar knowledge base. No more! The kids we deal with today come from an extraordinarily wide diversity of back­grounds, both familial and educa­tional. Some know little if anything about the Bible. Many don't know the books of the Bible; few know more than a handful of Bible stories. The church's educational ministry is, by definition, much more challenging. In some cases, training requires a 1 to 1 student/teacher ratio! It certainly requires teachers who can do more than ask the students if they memo­rized the answer to Lord's Day 7 of the catechism!

And let's face it, having the preacher do it all wasn't such a good idea. Sure, some did a wonderful job, and the churches were blessed because of it. But some were simply horrible teach­ers, and generations of kids learned to loathe catechism because of it. (Folks have said to me "my worst memory of church as a kid was catechism class with the preacher. I don't want to do that to my children.")

What must we offer if we are going to reach, train, disciple the children of today's world as they fall under our shepherding care? Certainly, as Re­formed believers we are committed to God's Word and the historic Re­formed creeds as foundational mate­rial for our educational ministry. But how do we use these in teaching ef­fectively today? If old style "question-school" (training children to recite memorized catechism answers) won't cut it today, what will? How can we prepare today's children for service to Christ? Some of you are elders; you're charged with oversight. Here are some ways you can oversee the educational ministry to the children of the church.

Questions for Assessment←⤒🔗

1. Assess the situation. Before any­thing else, you must know what train­ing your local church is providing. Is the curriculum consistent? Is it high-quality? Do the teachers know what they're doing? Do they know their place in the larger curriculum goals? Look over the student body you are called to train: are they from widely diverse backgrounds? Do some have good knowledge of the Bible, while others are intimidated and shy be­cause of their lack of knowledge? Are some classes boring, so that students aren't challenged? Are others more like baby-sitting services for coffee-drinking parents? What have the most recent 12 or so professions of faith been like? Have the students been su­perficial in their faith, or have they revealed deep, thoughtful and articu­late faith? Do the hard work of honestly assessing the king and caliber of training you are currently providing to the lambs of the flock.
2. Identify your educational goals. This may be scaly, because many churches don't have any, at least not any that are clear and that function to shape their educational process. But such goals are absolutely crucial! Al­low me to offer an idea of what I mean, hoping that it will prod you to ask the difficult questions in your set­ting. I believe that the nurture of today's children must provide at least three kinds of Scriptural knowledge — distinct, yet in­terdependent — by the time a student com­pletes your training regiment at the end of high school. Ask yourself whether your church is providing some, most, or all of the following:

• ​​Bible knowledge of both Old and New Testaments. By this I mean a thorough grounding in the sto­ries, broad knowledge of the ma­jor books, themes, and teachings of the Bible, memorization of key passages, and demonstrated ability to work with Scripture — to conduct or even to lead a Bible study, to explain the outline of the gospel in an evangelistic setting, to use resources like concordances and commentaries. Every believer must be sufficiently trained in these things to be considered "equipped" for ministry (which is what Ephesians 4:12 tells us our goal must be)
• Doctrinal knowledge. By this I mean a thorough grounding in the confessions of the Reformed faith, so that each knows what he believes and how he is to answer the blowing winds of doctrine that shift rapidly in new directions each day. We used to call this "catechism." We must still teach the old truths, but we must do a much better job of it so that the Iambs of the flock know it, can articulate it and use it effectively against the errors that are so much more ag­gressive today.
• A world-view perspective that enables each student to think Christianly about God, church, world and their place in it, includ­ing personal vocation issues. By this, I plead for a training regimen that equips students to be ready for the aggressive worldliness they will face in their future. They must be able to read the daily newspaper or watch the TV news and to identify the sinful power of secu­larism, hedonism, relativism and humanism. They must know that the Reformed faith is bigger than just the 5 points of Calvinism, that it also embraces a way of living out the truth that "the earth is the Lord's and everything in it!" They must understand the con­cept of office, that wonderful Bib­lical theme that teaches us that each believer has a calling and not just a job.

3. Assess Your Curriculum. Most churches buy a curriculum, either from their denominational publishing division or from someone else's. The CRC, the OPC, the PCA and several other Reformed churches offer con­sistent, well-developed curricula that vary widely in quality. Here's the ques­tion you must face: Are the curriculum materials we use achieving our (newly stated) goals? Are the children learning the Scriptures thoroughly? The doc­trines of the faith? A Reformed world ­and-life view?
4. Back to Basics. Look, I know that if you do the work I suggest above, you may well be a bit frustrated. Ev­ery church I've seen, including those I've served, needs help in these areas. I'm not asking you to fire all your teachers, pitch out your curricular materials, and begin to wring your hands. I do suggest that before you do anything else, you elders must come to agreement on what kind of disciples the Lord expects you to cul­tivate. You must come to some posi­tion on goals for your church's nur­ture — and you must do that work. Only then can you begin to develop a strategy for improvement.