Christian Education Sunday

Definition and Meaning

Christian Education Sunday is a Sunday on which the church reflects on the faith education of the next generation and of its members. On this day the church prays for its educational ministries, including the church school, and for its teachers, and renews its commitment to this work. It is not so much a traditional observance of the liturgical year as a commemorative Sunday designated and observed by denominational general assemblies or individual congregations. "Education" here is not limited to the instruction of children and youth; it refers to the entire teaching ministry of the church, including the young adult ministry, adult Bible study and discipleship training, and the senior ministry.

Biblical and Historical Background

Churches that observe Christian Education Sunday cite the following passages as the basis for passing the faith on to the next generation:

• Deuteronomy 6:6-9: Parents are told to teach God's words diligently to their children.
• Proverbs 22:6: "Train up a child in the way he should go."
• Ephesians 6:4: Children are to be brought up "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
• Matthew 28:19-20: The Great Commission, which includes the charge "teaching them to observe all things."

Historically, the observance is connected to the Sunday school movement of eighteenth-century Britain. Around 1780 in Gloucester, England, Robert Raikes gathered poor working children and taught them reading and the Bible on Sundays, an effort widely regarded as the beginning of the modern Sunday school. The movement spread through British and American churches and was brought to Korea by missionaries. From its earliest days the Korean church regarded the Sunday school as an important ministry, and Christian Education Sunday may be understood as a day established within this tradition so that the whole church might remember its educational ministry together.

Practice in the Korean Church

The date varies by denomination and congregation. Some churches observe it in May, Korea's "family month," near Children's Sunday and Parents' Sunday, while others schedule it to coincide with the season when new teachers are appointed. In some cases a denominational general assembly includes Christian Education Sunday in its annual calendar and its education department publishes worship resources, but there is no common date shared across denominations.

Common activities on this day include:

• Sermons on the theme of faith education
• Songs and presentations by church school departments such as the kindergarten department, elementary department, and middle and high school department
• The appointment of teachers, a teachers' dedication service, and expressions of gratitude for teachers' labor
• A special offering for educational ministry and the awarding of student scholarships
• Prayer for seminary students and for ministers responsible for education

In recent years, as the declining school-age population and the shrinking of church schools have come to be seen as challenges facing the Korean church, some congregations have emphasized Christian Education Sunday as an occasion to assess the current state of education for the next generation.