A SUNDAY SCHOOL CHANGE chapter 94

I met with the high school Sunday school teacher twice before Sunday. The first meeting was just to talk about the class problems from his perspective. He was quite concerned about this lack of attentiveness and the constant talking. He felt they were rude and disrespectful.  He described some the actions. The two boys in question would walk around, throw spit wads, talk to one another and attempt to get the attention of the girls. Sometimes they would just leave.

The longer I talked to the teacher the more I like him. He didn’t feel like he was the right person for the class, but no one else wanted to teach them. He had a great heart and was willing to do whatever was needed in the church. It appeared that this might not be the right fit.

On our second meeting we went over the lesson for Sunday and I asked him to do what he normally did. “Please do not change a thing.” I had asked the same thing of the boys.

Sunday came and only Tom showed up. I never met the other boy. He did not return to church after my contact with his home. We never spoke. Over the years, I heard a great deal about him, but that was the extent of our contact. Tom was there and he apparently carried on like his buddy was there. He never left, but he talked, threw spit wads and was generally a total pain-in-the-neck distraction. If that class was typical, I wasn’t sure why Tom ended up with so much of the blame, except that he was louder than the others. Nearly everyone whisper to one another, and out of a class of about 20, it did not appear that more than 4-5 were at least quiet. Even that group did not appear to be listening.

There were several problems at work. First, the teacher never once lifted his head from the material he was reading to the class. He was a bit of a monotone and never asked any questions. He may have tried that in the past and he likely never had a response. I have to hand it to the teacher. He did not break down in tears and plugged along doing his thing, while the class did their thing. It felt like everyone in that class must have been there because parents were forcing them. Frankly, it was the most boring, ineffective class I have ever seen.

I met with the teacher during the next week and asked more questions about the class and his passion. I finally gave him an out. “If you felt like it would not leave this class without a teacher, would you like to be relieved of the responsibility?” His enthusiastic “yes” said it all. I thanked him for his service and told him he could be assured the role would be filled by Sunday, as I would take his place. He was very relieved.

I met with the pastor that afternoon to tell him what I had done and hoped it would meet with his approval. He was fine with it, actually glad it happened, but asked that I meet with the SS Superintendent and ask, not tell him, for his permission. While I did not like the idea of asking him, I did as instructed. He was not pleased with my decision. I should have asked him first. He wanted to personally make sure this is what the teacher wanted. He felt sure I had booted him out so I could take over. I encouraged him to contact the teacher to confirm whatever it was he needed confirmed. He was not happy that I had stepped on his authority. He made it quite clear the SS was his domain. He was somewhat kind about it, but it was clear. This new kid had better keep his distance and watch what he says and does. He wanted to make sure I would follow the curriculum. I explained that I would get back on track, but I needed to win them over first. I did not know how long that was going to take.

I went back to the pastor to explain what had happened. He just laughed and assured me I had done the right thing. He was aware of problems in the class and was glad there was going to be a change of direction. No one wanted the class because no one had ever gotten control.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to do it, but I was determined I was going to become friends with these kids and SS was going to become interesting. My whole focus was on rescuing this for the good of kids. They were good kids and they were being bored to death. To me, that was wrong. Now God, how are we going to change that?