Last Year....eldest daughter and I were asked by the powers that be, at the church to run the sunday school program beginning last September. After much prayer and consideration...we said yes! The year went fairly well although there was one big huge snafu......the time.
The old 9:30am time, before church, just wasn't workin', ya know what I mean....parents that are super busy all week long just don't want to make it a priority to get there kids to church.....(although if it's a hockey practice they seem to make the supreme sacrifice!) So.....we suggested that the church try the 11:00am slot....during church time......this was met with a fair bit of resistance from those that enjoy having their children in church with them....even though they spend most of their time keeping their children occupied and quiet and don't really take in the church service......or they don't keep their children occupied and everybody sitting 10' around them can't enjoy the service either!
On the whole, it didn't work out too badly although some of the teachers really needed a break and desired the opportunity to participate in the church service....which I totally understand.....eldest daughter and I wouldn't mind that ourselves,..but since we're in charge it kind of falls to us to always be there! :0) With that in mind, and also thinking that it might be easier to get replacement teachers for the 09/10 year, we made another suggestion. How about starting church at 10:30 am...not 11.....everybody....teachers and kids...could be in for the first half hour....mostly the praise time...then the teachers and kids leave for sunday school time.....church would end about a half hour earlier than us....but....most parents/adults stand around conversing for at least a half and hour after church anyways...they could even have coffee time then.....and they could have their conversations without their children crying/whining/ and running around disturbing their moms and dads. Well, the 1/4 of the congregation that was at the church meeting to vote on this turned it down...they didn't want to give up their 'we've always done it this way' attitude.
So, where does this leave eldest daughter and I...you guessed it....not enough teachers! I must confess to having thoughts of turning sunday school into a co-op....you know, if your child attends then you must take a turn also....why do parents of today feel that they can have their children in a church program but they shouldn't have to help out too??????
Boggles the mind people!!!!!!
Just my rant,...for this Monday..two weeks before schools starts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5 comments:
11:00 is the traditional time, but who can fathom why. It is too early to squeeze brunch in before, but too late to get out in time for lunch: it simultaneously ruins two meals!
10:00, or even 10:30, is a much better time, and having the teachers & kids all leave after the worship time has worked well for a long time in many churches, including my own.
However, getting a traditional church to make any change, including a change in the traditional time, is comparable to moving Gibraltar. You might have had more success if, instead of proposing it as a full "change", proposing it instead as a "trial." Propose to try it for half the sunday school year, say, till Christmas. "Trials" are always easier to slip by the traditionalists. For one, it sounds less threatening (since it's supposedly temporary) so some just actually feel less threatened. Others are just as opposed to it as they always will be, but they agree to a "trial" because they assume that it will crash and burn, prove you wrong, and then they will vindicated and you will have to shut up and stop bothering them. Whatever their motivation, they always accept "trial changes" more easily than "changes." Then, after the trial, at the next congregational meeting, you'll have the killer "but look, it worked" argument on your side, and that might, you never know, actually swing the vote.
Haha, that sounds good. Let's try that.
Let's hope no teachers read your blog....like the ones who have their kids in hockey!
Did you count how many !! you put at the end there!?!
No worries...very few people read my blog and certainly no one from the church. That's why I could rant. I tried to count them but it was too hard, these old eyes couldn't handle it!
I heard once that the reason for the 11:00 start time came from the "olden days", when that was the earliest the farmers could make it after milking their cows.... but yes, the hardest argument to argue against is the "we've always done it this way" argument. Very frustrating....
Man, such a bummer that the congregation did not see the brilliance of your plan. I am sure that everything will work out soon!
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