I was planning the agenda for a Sunday School staff meeting in my church. I wanted to come up with an inspired way to encourage honest self-evaluation of the job we were doing as teachers.
The idea came to invite a guest speaker. I wanted someone who would have the greatest possible understanding of the appropriate procedures to follow for establishing a more effective Sunday School. It became immediately apparent that the only person to fill this role was Mary Baker Eddy. She could speak to us through her provisions for Sunday School in the Manual of The Mother Church.
At the meeting, we passed out copies of the Church Manual and opened to Article XX. There, in just six sentences, is every guideline, procedure, and directive a Sunday School teacher will ever need to know about.
The staff meeting consisted of earnestly considering the full implication of each of the six special instructions listed in the Manual.
1. "Pupils may be received in the Sunday School classes of any Church of Christ, Scientist, up to the age of twenty years, and by transfer from another Church of Christ, Scientist, up to that age, but no pupil shall remain in the Sunday School of any Church of Christ, Scientist, after reaching the age of twenty."
A key word here, we felt, was received. This directive encouraged our staff, throughout the entire week, to embrace expectantly, nonjudgmentally, enthusiastically, and unselfishly all the children in the community. The results have included not just better attendance by our "regulars," but the attendance of young people from a variety of religious, nonreligious, and ethnic backgrounds. The new students have come for a lot of reasons. Some want to be healed of alcohol and drug abuse. Others want out of criminal gangs. These young people are searching for better answers to their questions about God and His role in their lives.
2. "None except the officers, teachers, and pupils should attend the Sunday School exercises."
We saw this provision as not just eliminating spectating adults, but also as a requirement that every teacher be fully "in attendance," mentally as well as physically. Teachers must have a well-prepared lesson. But we must also be free from a sense of burden, boredom, or possible resistance regarding our interaction with the students. Our goal is to be, in the words of Hymn 58, "... expectant, joyful,/Ready for Thy right commands." Christian Science Hymnal This alertness to committed attendance has resulted in a tangible increase in student interest.
3. "The Sabbath School children shall be taught the Scriptures, and they shall be instructed according to their understanding or ability to grasp the simpler meanings of the divine Principle that they are taught."
As a result of our considering this passage, our goal has been to teach students the undiluted power of "the Word," and to realize that they are able to grasp and understand it. Students can dig more deeply below the surface of ancient Bible stories, find the timeless spiritual laws they illustrate, and work on applying them in today's world. Results have included more consecrated Bible study by the staff, greater appreciation of the Scriptures by the students, and more alertness to reject the temptation to wander into quasi-Scriptural materials.
4. "The first lessons of the children should be the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-17), the Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13), and its Spiritual Interpretation by Mary Baker Eddy, Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:3-12)."
The phrase "first lessons" doesn't, we saw, limit the use of these foundational teachings to just the younger classes. These lessons are "first" (of primary importance) relative to whatever is being taught at any level.
5. "The next lessons consist of such questions and answers as are adapted to a juvenile class, and may be found in the Christian Science Quarterly Lessons, read in Church services."
Among other things, we saw this as a twin demand: to stay up to date on current issues facing the students and to be willing to discuss them believably, from a spiritual perspective. One result of this effort was one student's interest in turning to God for help with a domestic violence situation. He introduced his Spanish-speaking mother to the chapter titled "Marriage" in a Spanish edition of Science and Health. She read and discussed this chapter with her husband, and this has led to a peaceful reconciliation and put their relationship on a more spiritual basis.
6. "The instruction given by the children's teachers must not deviate from the absolute Christian Science contained in their textbook."
This last directive we saw as most important. We are to let the books speak for themselves, with their fearless, undiluted promise that "... with God all things are possible." Matt. 19:26 We agreed that our teaching of these absolute truths would ring true with the children in direct proportion to our living them in our daily lives. We prayed to respond to opportunities to bring healing to students' challenges. One student had a quick healing of a cut finger. The needs of other students are becoming more obvious to us. We are responding with offers of prayer.
As we prepare Sunday School lessons each week, these six sentences provide the best possible way to check the completeness of our teaching preparation. In exchange for a little more thoroughness on our part, what a wonderful promise Mrs. Eddy gives us: "Of this I am sure, that each Rule and By-law in this Manual will increase the spirituality of him who obeys it, invigorate his capacity to heal the sick, to comfort such as mourn, and to awaken the sinner." The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 230
