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{{Short description|Religious educational institution}}
{{For|the LDS Church organization|Sunday School (LDS Church)}}
[[File:Sunday-school-Manzanar-Ansel-Adams.jpeg|thumb|Sunday school, [[Manzanar|Manzanar War Relocation Center]], 1943. Photographed by [[Ansel Adams]].]]
[[File:Baptist Sunday School group in Amherstburg, Ontario (I0027813).tiff|thumb|Baptist Sunday school group in Amherstburg, Ontario, {{Circa|1910}}]]
[[File:71.40.137 - DPLA - 15694fccdcb1a9cc9678c3985d0fda7f (page 14) (cropped).jpg|thumb|The story behind Robert Raikes' sunday school]]
A '''Sunday school''', sometimes known as a '''Sabbath school''', is an [[educational institution]], usually [[Christianity|Christian]] in character and intended for children or neophytes.
Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday [[church service]] and are used to provide [[catechesis]] to Christians, especially children and teenagers, and sometimes adults as well. Churches of many [[Christian denomination]]s have classrooms attached to the [[church (building)|church]] used for this purpose. Many Sunday school classes operate on a set curriculum, with some teaching attendees a [[catechism]]. Members often receive certificates and awards for participation, as well as attendance.
Sunday school classes may provide a light breakfast. On days when [[Eucharist|Holy Communion]] is being celebrated, however, some Christian denominations encourage [[fasting#Christianity|fasting]] before receiving the Eucharistic elements.<ref name="Kanel2005">{{cite book |last1=Kanel |first1=Danny Von |title=Building Sunday School by the Owner's Design |date=2005 |publisher=CSS Publishing |isbn=978-0-7880-2353-8 |page=69 |language=en}}</ref>
==Early history==
Sunday schools in Europe began with the Catholic Church's [[Confraternity of Christian Doctrine]], founded in the 16th century by the archbishop [[Charles Borromeo]] to teach young Italian children the faith.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Swezey |first=James A. |date=September 2008 |title=The Sunday School Movement: Studies in the Growth and Decline of Sunday Schools - Edited by Stephen Orchard and John H. Y. Briggs |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-0922.2008.00301_2.x |journal=Religious Studies Review |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=216–217 |doi=10.1111/j.1748-0922.2008.00301_2.x |issn=0319-485X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Protestant Sunday schools were first set up in the 18th century in England to provide education to working children.<ref name="MSS">{{cite book|last=Collins|first=Louanne|title=Macclesfield Sunday School 1796- 1996|publisher=Macclesfield Museums Trust|___location=Macclesfield, Cheshire|year=1996|isbn=1-870926-09-9}}</ref> William King <!-- (see memorial in Dursley Tabernacle Church) -->started a Sunday school in 1751 in [[Dursley]], Gloucestershire. [[Robert Raikes]], editor of the ''[[Gloucester Journal]]'', started a similar one in [[Gloucester]] in 1781.<ref>John Carroll Power, ''The Rise and Progress of Sunday Schools: A Biography of Robert Raikes and William Fox'', Sheldon, UK, 1863, p. 240</ref> He wrote an article in his journal, and as a result many clergymen supported schools, which aimed to teach the youngsters reading, writing, cyphering (doing arithmetic) and a knowledge of the Bible.<ref name="Dav">{{cite book|last=Davies|first=Stella|title=History of Macclesfield|publisher=E.J. Morten|___location=Didsbury, Manchester and Macclesfield|year=1961|edition=Reprint 1976|isbn=0-85972-034-9|pages=219–225}}</ref>
The [[Sunday School Society]] was founded by [[Baptists|Baptist]] [[deacon]] [[William Fox (deacon)|William Fox]] on 7 September 1785 in Prescott Street Baptist Church of London.<ref>Michael J. Anthony, Warren S. Benson, ''Exploring the History and Philosophy of Christian Education: Principles for the 21st Century'', Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2011, p. 266</ref> The latter had been touched by articles of Raikes, on the problems of youth crime.<ref>William H. Brackney, ''Historical Dictionary of the Baptists'', Scarecrow Press, USA, 2020, p. 231</ref> Pastor Thomas Stock and Raikes have thus registered a hundred children from six to fourteen years old. The society has published its textbooks and brought together nearly 4,000 Sunday schools.<ref>Dan Graves, [https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/fox-organized-sunday-school-society-11630302.html Fox Organized Sunday School Society], christianity.com, USA, May 3, 2010</ref>
In 1785, 250,000 English children were attending Sunday school.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> There were 5,000 in [[Manchester]] alone. By 1835, the [[Sunday School Society]] had distributed 91,915 spelling books, 24,232 New Testaments and 5,360 <!--complete?-->Bibles.<ref name="MSS"/> The Sunday school movement was cross-denominational. Financed through subscription, large buildings were constructed that could host public lectures as well as provide classrooms. Adults would attend the same classes as the [[infant]]s, as each was instructed in basic reading. In some towns, the [[Methodism|Methodists]] withdrew from the large Sunday school and built their own. The [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]] set up their National schools that would act as Sunday schools and day schools.<ref name="MSS"/> These schools were the precursors to a national system of education.<ref name=Dav/>
The educational role of the Sunday schools ended with the [[Elementary Education Act 1870|Education Act 1870]],<ref name=Dav/> which provided universal elementary education. In the 1920s they also promoted sports, and ran Sunday school leagues. They became social centres hosting amateur dramatics and concert parties.<ref name="MSS"/> By the 1960s, the term ''Sunday school'' could refer to the building and rarely to the activities inside. By the 1970s even the [[Stockport Sunday School|largest Sunday school]] had been demolished. The locution today chiefly refers to catechism classes for children and adults that occur before the start of a church service. In certain Christian traditions, in certain grades, for example the second grade or eighth grade, Sunday school classes may prepare youth to undergo a rite such as [[First Communion]] or [[Confirmation]]. The doctrine of [[Sunday Sabbatarianism]], held by many Christian denominations, encourages practices such as Sunday school attendance, as it teaches that the entirety of the Lord's Day should be devoted to God; as such many children and teenagers often return to the church in the late afternoon for [[Youth ministry|youth group]] before attending an evening service of worship.
==Development in Protestant churches==
===United Kingdom===
{{See also|History of education in England}}
The first recorded Protestant Sunday school opened in 1751 in [[St Mary's Church, Nottingham]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.nottinghamchurches.org/heritage/stm-heritage/stm-history/ |title= Nottingham City Centre Church Group » History |access-date= 2012-04-18 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080705035038/http://www.nottinghamchurches.org/heritage/stm-heritage/stm-history/ |archive-date= 2008-07-05 }}</ref> [[Hannah Ball]] made another early start, founding a school in [[High Wycombe]], [[Buckinghamshire]], in 1769.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.gracemagazine.org.uk/articles/historical/raikes.htm | title = Robert Raikes and the Sunday School Movement | access-date = 2007-10-26 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071008143459/http://www.gracemagazine.org.uk/articles/historical/raikes.htm | archive-date = 2007-10-08 }}</ref> However, the pioneer of Sunday schools is commonly said to be [[Robert Raikes]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=Churches and Churchgoers: patterns of Church Growth in the British Isles since 1700|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1977|___location=Oxford}}</ref> editor of the ''[[Gloucester Journal]]'', who in 1781, after prompting from William King (who was running a Sunday School in [[Dursley]]), recognised the need of children living in the Gloucester slums; the need also to prevent them from taking up crime.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Legacy of Robert Raikes - PhD Thesis|publisher=Nottingham University|year=2008|___location=Nottingham University Library}}</ref> He opened a school in the home of a Mrs Meredith, operating it on a Sunday – the only day that the boys and girls working in the factories could attend. Using the Bible as their textbook, the children learned to read and write.<ref name="ReferenceA">Towns, Elmer L., "History of Sunday School", Sunday School Encyclopedia, 1993</ref>
In 18th-century England, education was largely reserved for a wealthy, male minority and was [[compulsory education|not compulsory]]. The wealthy educated their children privately at home, with hired [[governess]]es or tutors for younger children. The town-based middle class may have sent their sons to [[grammar school]]s, while daughters were left to learn what they could from their mothers or from their fathers' libraries.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Centuries of Childhood: A Social History of Family Life|publisher=Random House|year=1965|___location=USA}}</ref> The children of factory workers and farm labourers received no formal education, and typically worked alongside their parents six days a week, sometimes for more than 13 hours a day.<ref>{{Cite book|title=When I was a Child|publisher=Churnet Valley Books|year=1903|___location=Stafford}}</ref>
By 1785 over 250,000 children throughout England attended schools on Sundays.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> In 1784 many new schools opened, including the interdenominational [[Stockport Sunday School]], which financed and constructed a school for 5,000 scholars in 1805. In the late-19th century this was accepted{{by whom|date=March 2019}} as being the largest in the world. By 1831 it was reported that attendance at Sunday schools had grown to 1.2 million.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name=Watson>{{cite web|url= https://archive.org/stream/thefirstfiftyyea00watsuoft/thefirstfiftyyea00watsuoft_djvu.txt|title= Full text of "The first fifty years of the Sunday school"|website= archive.org}}</ref>
The first Sunday school in London opened at [[Surrey Chapel, Southwark]], under [[Rowland Hill (preacher)|Rowland Hill]]. By 1831 1,250,000 children in Great Britain, or about 25 per cent of the eligible population, attended Sunday schools weekly. The schools provided basic lessons in literacy alongside religious instruction.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement in England, 1780-1980|publisher=Christian Education Council|year=1986}}</ref>
In 1833, "for the unification and progress of the work of religious education among the young", the [[Unitarianism|Unitarians]] founded their Sunday School Association, as "junior partner" to the [[British and Foreign Unitarian Association]], with which it eventually set up offices at [[Essex Street Chapel|Essex Hall]] in [[Central London]].<ref>{{harvcol|Rowe|1959|loc= chpt. 3}}</ref>
The work of Sunday schools in the industrial cities was increasingly supplemented by "[[ragged school]]s" (charitable provision for the industrial poor), and eventually by publicly funded education under the terms of the [[Elementary Education Act 1870]] ([[33 & 34 Vict.]] c. 75). Sunday schools continued alongside such increasing educational provision, and new forms also developed, such as the [[Socialist Sunday School]]s movement, which began in the United Kingdom in 1886.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Rise and Development of the Sunday School Movement in England, 1780-1980|publisher=Christian Education Council|year=1986}}</ref>
===Ireland===
The development of Sunday schools in Ireland was significantly influenced by the efforts of the Reverend Dr. Kennedy, who served as [[curate]] in the parish of [[Bright, County Down]]. He established his Sunday school programme in 1770 before [[Robert Raikes]] organised his Sunday-schools ten years later in July, 1780.<ref>{{cite book |title=National Repository |volume=7–8 |year=1880 |publisher=Hitchcock and Walden |___location=Cincinnati |page=410 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IyLZAAAAMAAJ&dq=bright+parish+county+down&pg=PA410 |access-date=26 June 2025}}</ref> Concerned by the widespread neglect of Sunday observance among local youth, Dr. Kennedy initiated gatherings focused on singing practice. This initiative proved successful and was subsequently expanded to include the reading of [[Psalms]] and [[Religious text|scripture]] lessons.<ref name=CWM>{{cite book |title=The Christian World Magazine (and Family Visitor) |volume=16 |year=1880 |language=English |page=491 |publisher=Unknown |___location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Christian_World_Magazine_and_Family.html?id= |access-date=26 June 2025}}</ref>
By late 1785, Dr. Kennedy became aware of similar educational movements in England aimed at establishing Sunday schools. Recognizing that his own initiative aligned with these efforts, he collaborated with local associates to adopt a more structured and comprehensive approach modelled on the English system. During the winter months, they disseminated information about the concept and secured financial support from interested parties.<ref name=CWM/>
Following these preparations, the Bright Sunday School was formally inaugurated on the first Sunday of May 1786. Robert Henry, Esq., was appointed superintendent, with members of his family and other respected individuals serving as instructors. Thomas Turr, the parish clerk, also contributed to the school’s operations as needed.<ref name=CWM/>
In 1787, a correspondent writing in Robert Raikes’ newspaper reported that the Bishops of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cloyne|Cloyne]] and [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Clonfert|Clonfert]] had established Sunday schools within their dioceses. These initiatives yielded such evident results that the governing authorities of Ireland resolved to propose to the [Parliament of Ireland] a national education plan aimed at extending educational opportunities to the poorest segments of society.
Further institutional support emerged in 1805 when the [[Methodist Church in Ireland|Irish Methodist Conference]] passed resolutions advocating for the establishment of Sunday schools in every circuit. This endorsement facilitated the rapid expansion of the system throughout the country. As the movement grew, the demand for educational materials became increasingly pressing. However, the [[Sunday School Society]] in [[London]] was unable to provide adequate assistance, highlighting the need for a local organization to manage resources and support. This led to the founding of the Hibernian Sunday School Society, which played a pivotal role in sustaining and expanding Sunday school education in Ireland.
[[Daniel Delany]], Roman Catholic priest also started a school in 1777 in [[Tullow|Tullow, County Carlow]].<ref>[[Matthew Russell (priest)|Russell, Matthew]], “Sketches in Irish Biography, No. 28, Dr. Daniel Delany”, ''The Irish Monthly'', Volume 23, 1895.</ref> He set up a complex system which involved timetables, lesson plans, streaming, and various teaching activities.<ref>Rev. Martin Brenan, ''Schools of Kildare and Leighlin, A.D. 1775 - 1835'', M.H. Gill and Son, Ltd, Dublin, 1935.</ref> This system spread to other parishes in the diocese. By 1787 in Tullow alone there were 700 students, boys and girls, men and women, and 80 teachers. The primary intent of this Sunday school system was the teaching of the Catholic catechism and articles of faith; the teaching of reading and writing became necessary to assist in this. With the coming of Catholic Emancipation in Ireland (1829) and the establishment of the [[National school (Ireland)|National Schools]] system (1831), which meant that the Catholic faith could be taught in school, the Catholic Sunday school system became unnecessary.
The [[Church of Ireland]] Sunday School Society was founded by the established Anglican Protestant church in 1809.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sundayschoolsociety.ie/sunday-school-society/|title=About the Sunday School Society|access-date=2013-03-18|archive-date=2013-09-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921044122/http://sundayschoolsociety.ie/sunday-school-society/|url-status=live}}</ref> The Sabbath School Society of the [[Presbyterian Church in Ireland]] was founded in 1862.<ref>John M Barkley, ''The Sabbath School Society for Ireland, 1862 - 1962'' (Sabbath School Society for Ireland, 1961).</ref>
=== Sweden ===
The concept of Sunday school in Sweden started in the early to mid-1800s, initially facing some backlash, before becoming more mainstream, as it was often intertwined with the growth (and eventual legalization) of [[free church]]es. The first documented Sunday school was started in 1826 in Snavlunda parish, [[Örebro County]], by priest Ringzelli, and was still active during the time of Pastor Lennart Sickeldal in the 1950s.<ref>"[https://tidningar.kb.se/2823724/1962-04-03/edition/149572/part/1/page/2/?q=%22lennart%20sickeldal%22&from=1919-01-01&to=1995-12-31&page=2 Sölvesborgstidningen 1962-04-03] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412093929/https://tidningar.kb.se/2823724/1962-04-03/edition/149572/part/1/page/2/?q=%22lennart%20sickeldal%22&from=1919-01-01&to=1995-12-31&page=2 |date=2022-04-12 }}". ''tidningar.kb.se''. Accessed 9 May 2020.</ref> Ringzelli was also an early organizer of school meals for students who lived far from the school or were from poor families.<ref>"[https://tidningar.kb.se/2823724/1962-03-29/edition/149572/part/1/page/3/?q=%22lennart%20sickeldal%22&from=1962-03-01&to=1962-03-31 Sölvesborgstidningen 1962-03-29] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412093930/https://tidningar.kb.se/2823724/1962-03-29/edition/149572/part/1/page/3/?q=%22lennart%20sickeldal%22&from=1962-03-01&to=1962-03-31 |date=2022-04-12 }}". ''tidningar.kb.se''. Accessed 9 May 2020.</ref>
Carl Ludvig Tellström, later missionary to the [[Sámi people|Sámi]] people, made another early attempt to start a Sunday school around 1834.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last1=McFarland |first1=John Thomas |url=https://archive.org/details/02521824.1527.emory.edu/page/n283/mode/2up?q=palmqvist |title=The encyclopedia of Sunday schools and religious education; giving a world-wide view of the history and progress of the Sunday school and the development of religious education |last2=Winchester |first2=Benjamin S. |publisher=T. Nelson & sons |year=1915 |pages=1061}}</ref> While in Stockholm, he was converted by [[George Scott (missionary)|George Scott]], an influential Scottish [[Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain)|Wesleyan Methodist]] preacher who worked in Sweden from 1830 to 1842 and was controversial due to his preaching in violation of the [[Conventicle Act (Sweden)|Conventicle Act]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Jarlert |first=Anders |title=George Scott |url=https://sok.riksarkivet.se/sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=6426 |access-date=2022-04-05 |website=[[Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon]] |language=sv |archive-date=2022-02-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202070056/https://sok.riksarkivet.se/sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=6426 |url-status=live }}</ref> Within the [[Church of Sweden]], however, based on the format of Methodist Sunday schools, he started several in [[Flykälen]], [[Föllinge]], Ottsjön, [[Storå, Sweden|Storå]], and Tuvattnet.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.faj.se/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/F%C3%B6reningsinventering-Krokom-del-1-1985.pdf |title=Föreningsinventering i Krokoms kommun: Rapport 1985 Del 1 |publisher=Folkrörelsernas Arkiv i Jämtland |pages=11 |language=sv |access-date=2022-04-12 |archive-date=2022-04-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417184334/https://www.faj.se/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/F%C3%B6reningsinventering-Krokom-del-1-1985.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
Later, [[Mathilda Foy]] founded an early Sunday school in 1843–1844. Influenced by [[Pietism|Pietistic]] [[Christian revival|revivalist]] preachers such as Scott, and particularly [[Carl Olof Rosenius]], Foy found herself part of the [[Läsare|''läsare'' (Reader) movement]]. Always engaged in charitable work, she started a Sunday school not long after her spiritual awakening. However, it was soon closed due to the protests of clergy, who considered it "Methodist".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lodin |first=Sven |url=http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2012012408064 |title=C. O. Rosenius |publisher=Lunde |year=1959 |language=no |access-date=2022-04-12 |archive-date=2022-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412193129/https://www.nb.no/items/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2012012408064 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hildebrand |first=Bengt |title=A C Mathilda Foy |url=https://sok.riksarkivet.se/sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=14413 |access-date=2022-04-12 |website=[[Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon]] |language=sv |archive-date=2021-07-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731163833/https://sok.riksarkivet.se/sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=14413 |url-status=live }}</ref> Another attempt by Augusta Norstedt was noted around the same time.<ref name=":02" />
Sometime between 1848 and 1856, educator and preacher [[Amelie von Braun]], also part of the revivalist awakening movement, started a Sunday school primarily teaching children Bible stories. She worked within the state church. Her Sunday school was supported by [[Peter Fjellstedt]] and grew quickly, with 250 students noted in 1853.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Malmer |first=Elin |title=Amelie Fredrika Dorotea von Braun |url=http://skbl.se/en/article/AmelievonBraun |access-date=2022-04-14 |website=[[Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon]] |archive-date=2021-05-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508001434/https://skbl.se/en/article/AmelievonBraun |url-status=live }}</ref>
Around 1851, Sunday schools were established by Foy's friends [[Betty Ehrenborg]] (1818–1880) and [[Per Palmqvist]] (1815–1887), brother of Swedish Baptist pioneers [[Johannes Palmqvist|Johannes]] and [[Gustaf Palmquist]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Catharina Elisabet (Betty) Ehrenborg-Posse |url=http://skbl.se/sv/artikel/BettyEhrenborgPosse |access-date=2022-04-10 |website=[[Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon]] |language=sv |archive-date=2022-04-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410100827/https://skbl.se/sv/artikel/BettyEhrenborgPosse |url-status=live }}</ref> That year, Ehrenborg and the brothers traveled to London.<ref name=":02" /> The brothers, at least, reconnected with Scott, whom they knew from Sweden.<!-- Unsure if Ehrenborg had any connection to Scott herself – she was involved in similar "nyevangeliska" circles (C.O. Rosenius, etc.) and some of her friends such as AC Mathilda Foy were connected to Scott, but nothing specific mentioned about Ehrenborg. --> In England, they studied the Methodists' Sunday schools and teaching methods, impressed by the number of students and teachers. There were over 250 children and 20 to 30 teachers;<ref>{{Cite thesis |title=British evangelical missions to Sweden in the first half of the nineteenth century |url=https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/13988 |publisher=University of St Andrews |date=1983 |degree=PhD |first=Elizabeth D. |last=Bini |hdl=10023/13988 |access-date=2022-04-12 |archive-date=2022-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220414003515/https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/13988 |url-status=live }}</ref> classes were taught by laypeople and included literacy training in addition to Bible lessons, singing, and prayer.<ref name=":2" />
Upon Palmqvist's return to Sweden, he invited 25 local poor children and founded the first Baptist Sunday school; the same year, Ehrenborg began a Sunday school as well, with 13 mostly Baptist and free-church students.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Bexell |first=Oloph |author-link=Oloph Bexell |title=Per Palmqvist |url=https://sok.riksarkivet.se/Sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=8010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120163452/https://sok.riksarkivet.se/Sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=8010 |archive-date=2022-01-20 |access-date=2022-01-20 |website=[[Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon]] |language=sv}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite periodical |last=Norström |first=Per |date=1930-11-01 |title=Söndagsskolans historia |url=https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/aikakausi/binding/979220 |magazine=Evangeliskt vittnesbörd |language=sv |issue=21 |page=163 |access-date=2022-05-01 |archive-date=2022-05-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220501122142/https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/aikakausi/binding/979220 |url-status=live }}</ref> Palmqvist was given £5 in financial support by the London Sunday School Association and used the money to travel to [[Norrland]], home of a significant revival movement, to spread the idea of Sunday school there.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hagberg |first=Margareta |title=Låt barnen komma till mig: En studie av Svenska kyrkans söndagsskola, avseende några historiska nedslag samt teologiska tankar på nationell nivå och i Linköpings stift |url=https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:391137/FULLTEXT01.pdf |publisher=[[Linköping University]] |language=sv |access-date=2022-04-12 |archive-date=2022-04-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411184812/https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:391137/FULLTEXT01.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The first Sunday school association in Sweden, Stockholms Lutherska Söndagsskolförening, was started in 1868.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2001-11-09 |title=Grattis söndagsskolan, 150 år! |url=https://www.dagen.se/livsstil/2001/11/09/grattis-sondagsskolan-150-ar/ |access-date=2022-04-11 |website=Dagen |language=sv |archive-date=2022-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515170508/https://www.dagen.se/livsstil/2001/11/09/grattis-sondagsskolan-150-ar/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":4" /> However, even despite the abolition of the Conventicle Act in 1858 and increasing religious freedom, there were still challenges: Palmqvist was reported to the [[Stockholm City Court]] by a priest in 1870 for teaching children who did not belong to his congregation, but was later acquitted.<ref name=":3" />
In Stockholm alone, there were 29 Sunday schools by 1871.<ref name=":4" /> By 1915 there were 6,518 Sunday schools in the country among a number of denominations, with 23,058 officers and teachers and 317,648 students.<ref name=":02" />
=== Finland ===
The first Sunday schools in Finland were run by the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland]], with the first one founded in 1807. They were often for those who had not become literate. As a form of schooling, they were recommended by the state in 1853. Some Sunday schools gave vocational training in the trades; after 1858 they were also preparatory schools for further education held during the week.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=Jossfolk |first=Karl-Gustav |url=https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/19804/bildning.pdf |title=Bildning för alla: en pedagogikhistorisk studie kring abnormskolornas tillkomst i Finland och deras pionjärer som medaktörer i bildningsprocessen 1846-1892 |date=2001 |publisher=Svenska skolhistoriska föreningen i Finland |others=Svenska skolhistoriska föreningen i Finland, (Nord Print) |isbn=952-91-3442-8 |___location=Helsinki |pages=246, 267 |language=sv |oclc=58384770 |access-date=2022-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316185409/https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/19804/bildning.pdf |archive-date=2022-03-16 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Söndagsskola |url=https://fho.sls.fi/uppslagsord/9515/sondagsskola/ |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=Förvaltningshistorisk ordbok |language=sv |archive-date=2021-05-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510184857/https://fho.sls.fi/uppslagsord/9515/sondagsskola/ |url-status=live }}</ref> However, Sunday schools did not catch on until the later growth of free churches in the country as well as the establishment of public schooling, at which point they became a form of children's religious education.<ref name=":4" /> One of the earliest free-church Sunday schools was founded by sisters Netta and [[Anna Heikel]] in [[Jakobstad]] in the 1860s. More Sunday schools were soon founded in the 1870s and 1880s: in [[Vaasa]] – including by the local Lutheran parish, in [[Kotka]], [[Turku]], [[Åland]], [[Helsinki]], [[Ekenäs, Finland|Ekenäs]], [[Hanko, Finland|Hanko]], and other cities.<ref name=":32">{{Cite periodical |last=Norström |first=Per |date=1930-11-01 |title=Söndagsskolans historia |url=https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/aikakausi/binding/979220 |magazine=Evangeliskt vittnesbörd |language=sv |issue=21 |page=163, 166 |access-date=2022-05-01 |archive-date=2022-05-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220501122142/https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/aikakausi/binding/979220 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite periodical |last=Norström |first=Per |date=1930-11-15 |title=Söndagsskolans historia |url=https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/aikakausi/binding/979221 |magazine=Evangeliskt vittnesbörd |language=sv |issue=22 |page=171 |access-date=2022-05-01 |archive-date=2022-05-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220501140218/https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/aikakausi/binding/979221 |url-status=live }}</ref>
===United States===
The first organized and documented Sunday school in the United States was founded in [[Ephrata, Pennsylvania|Ephrata]], Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, by an immigrant from Germany, Ludwig Höcker, the son of a well-respected and influential Reformed Church Pastor and teacher in Westerwald. Ludwig immigrated in the 1730s and joined the [[Sabbatarianism|Sabbatarian]] [[Ephrata Cloister]] in 1739, where he soon created the Sunday school for the impoverished children of the area, and published, on the Ephrata Press, a full textbook.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u2RKAAAAMAAJ|title=Seventh Day Baptists in Europe and America|date=1910|publisher=Seventh Day Baptist General Conference|page=271 et seq}}</ref>
Rev. Ira Lee Cottrell writes:"It is especially interesting to us to know that a Seventh Day Baptist Sabbath school was organized about 1740, forty years before Robert Raikes Sunday-school. This [[Sabbath School|Sabbath school]] was organized at Ephrata, Pa., by Ludwig Hocker among the [[Seventh Day Baptists|Seventh Day Baptist]] Germans, and continued until 1777, when their room with others was given up for hospital purposes after the battle of Brandywine…".
[[File:Sundayschool1900.jpg|thumb|Sunday school, Indians and whites. Indian Territory (Oklahoma), US, c. 1900.]]
[[File:Sunday school at the Baptist church which is not on company property and was built by the miners. Lejunior, Harlan... - NARA - 541342.jpg|thumb|Sunday school at a Baptist church in [[Lejunior, Kentucky|Lejunior]], [[Harlan County, Kentucky]] in the United States, 1946]]
In New England a Sunday school system was first begun by [[Samuel Slater]] in his textile mills in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in the 1790s.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://journals.uwyo.edu/index.php/workingclassstudies/article/view/6189/5425|author=Michael Pennell|title=More than a 'Curious Cultural Sideshow': Samuel Slater's Sunday School and the Role of Literacy Sponsorship in Disciplining Labor|journal=Journal of Working-Class Studies|volume=4|date=2019|issue=1 |pages= 51–66|doi=10.13001/jwcs.v4i1.6189 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
In the mid-1860s philanthropist [[Lewis Miller (philanthropist)|Lewis Miller]] was the inventor of the "[[Akron Plan]]" for Sunday schools. It was a building layout with a central assembly hall surrounded by small classrooms, conceived with Methodist minister [[John H. Vincent|John Heyl Vincent]] and architect [[Jacob Snyder]]. It was soon widely copied.<ref>H. F. Evans, "Architecture of Sunday Schools" in ''The Encyclopedia of Sunday Schools and Religious Education,'' ed. by John T. McFarland and Benjamin S. Winchester, (1915). pp. 28–55 [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediasun00wincgoog/page/n6/mode/1up online.]</ref>
John Heyl Vincent collaborated with Baptist layman B. F. Jacobs, who devised a system in the 1870s to encourage Sunday school work, and a committee was established to provide the International Uniform Lesson Curriculum, also known as the "Uniform Lesson Plan". By the 1800s 80% of all new members were introduced to the church through Sunday school.<ref>"Sunday School Movement", Dictionary of Christianity in America, InterVarsity Press, 1990, p 1147</ref>
In 1874, interested in improving the training of Sunday school teachers for the Uniform Lesson Plan, Miller and Vincent worked together again to found what is now the [[Chautauqua Institution]] on the shores of [[Chautauqua Lake]], New York.
Increasingly the public elementary schools were handling literacy. In response the Sunday schools switched to an emphasis on Bible stories, hymn singing, and memorizing Biblical passages. The main goal was encouraging the conversion experience that was so important to evangelicals.<ref>Boylan, ''Sunday School'' p.112–113, 135.</ref>
Notable 20th-century leaders in the Sunday school movement include: [[President Jimmy Carter]], Clarence Herbert Benson, [[Henrietta Mears]], founder of Gospel Light,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gospellight.com|title=Welcome - Gospel Light|website=www.gospellight.com|access-date=2022-05-15|archive-date=2017-12-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229074530/http://www.gospellight.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> Dr. Gene A. Getz,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bibleprinciples.org/about-gene/|title=About Gene - Bible Principles|access-date=2016-03-16|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043729/http://bibleprinciples.org/about-gene/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Howard Hendricks]], Lois E. LeBar, Lawrence O. Richards, and [[Elmer L. Towns|Elmer Towns]].<ref>Glenn A. Jent, "Some Thoughts about Sunday School: An Analysis of the Views of Selected Celebrated and Noncelebrated Persons" (DEd disertation, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1983. 8320587) [https://www.proquest.com/docview/303171254?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true&sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses online].</ref>
==Form==
In [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical]] churches, during worship service, children and young people receive an adapted education, in Sunday school, in a separate room.<ref>Jeanne Halgren Kilde, ''When Church Became Theatre: The Transformation of Evangelical Architecture and Worship in Nineteenth-century America'', Oxford University Press, USA, 2005, p. 159, 170, 188</ref><ref>George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, ''Encyclopedia of Christian Education, Volume 3'', Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2015, p. 229</ref>
Historically, Sunday schools were held in the afternoons in various communities, and were often staffed by workers from varying denominations. Beginning in the United States in the early 1930s and Canada in the 1940s, the transition was made to Sunday mornings. Sunday school often takes the form of a one-hour or longer [[Bible study (Christianity)|Bible study]], which can occur before, during, or after a [[church service]]. While many Sunday schools are focused on providing instruction for children (especially those sessions occurring during service times), adult Sunday-school classes are also popular and widespread (see [[Order of Christian Initiation of Adults|RCIA]]). In some traditions, the term "Sunday school" is too strongly associated with children, and alternate terms such as "Adult Electives" or "religious education" are used instead of "Adult Sunday school".<ref>William H. Brackney, ''Historical Dictionary of the Baptists'', Scarecrow Press, USA, 2009, p. 553</ref> Some churches only operate Sunday school for children concurrently with the adult worship service. In this case, there is typically no adult Sunday school.<ref>Greg Dickinson, ''Suburban Dreams: Imagining and Building the Good Life'', University of Alabama Press, USA, 2015, p. 144</ref>
==Publishers==
In Great Britain an agency was formed called the [[Religious Tract Society]] which helped provide literature for the Sunday school.
In the United States the [[InFaith|American Sunday School Union]] was formed (headquartered in Philadelphia) for the publication of literature. This group helped pioneer what became known as the International Sunday School Lessons. The ''Sunday School Times'' was another periodical they published for the use of Sunday schools.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Little, Ellen|title=Periodicals published by The American Sunday-School Union|publisher=University Library System, University of Pittsburgh|url=http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/is/enroom/ASSU/assu_per.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204053406/http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/is/enroom/ASSU/assu_per.html|archive-date=4 February 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> [[LifeWay Christian Resources]], Herald and Banner Press, [[David C. Cook]], and Group Publishing are among the widely available published resources currently used in Sunday schools across the country.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Anderson, Don|title=Choosing Sunday School Curriculum: How Effectively Do You Want to Teach the Bible?|publisher=Faith.edu|url=http://www.faith.edu/resources/publications/faith-pulpit/message/choosing-sunday-school-curriculum-how-effectively-do-you-want-to-teach-the-bible/read|date=11 November 2013|access-date=7 April 2015|archive-date=11 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411202945/http://www.faith.edu/resources/publications/faith-pulpit/message/choosing-sunday-school-curriculum-how-effectively-do-you-want-to-teach-the-bible/read|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Teachers==
Sunday school teachers are usually [[Laity|lay people]] who are selected for their role in the church by a designated coordinator, board, or a committee. Normally, the selection is based on a perception of character and ability to teach the Bible, rather than formal training in education. Some Sunday school teachers, however, do have a background in [[education]] as a result of their occupations. Some churches require Sunday school teachers and catechists to attend courses to ensure that they have a sufficient understanding of the faith and of the teaching process to educate others. Other churches allow volunteers to teach without training; a profession of faith and a desire to teach is all that is required in such cases.{{citation needed|date=April 2012}}
It is also not uncommon for [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] or [[Protestantism|Protestant]] pastors to teach such classes themselves. Some well-known public figures who teach, or have taught, Sunday school include [[Space Shuttle]] astronaut [[Ronald J. Garan Jr.]], comedian [[Stephen Colbert]],<ref>{{Citation
| last = Jean Lopez
| first = Kathryn
| title = Stephen Colbert's Sunday School
| date = October 25, 2010
| url = http://www.headlinebistro.com/hb/en/columnists/lopez/102510.html
| access-date = December 11, 2010
| archive-date = October 29, 2010
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101029025357/http://www.headlinebistro.com/hb/en/columnists/lopez/102510.html
| url-status = live
}}</ref> novelist [[John Grisham]],<ref>{{Citation
| last = Norton Jr
| first = Will
| title = Conversations: Why John Grisham Teaches Sunday School
| publisher = Christianity Today
| date = October 3, 1994
| url = http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1994/october3/4tb014.html
| access-date = December 11, 2010
| archive-date = March 24, 2012
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120324063814/http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1994/october3/4tb014.html
| url-status = live
}}</ref> and former [[President of the United States|U.S. president]] [[Jimmy Carter]].<ref>{{cite web
| title = Maranatha Baptist Church
| publisher = Maranatha Baptist Church. [[Plains, Georgia]].
| url = http://www.mbcplains.org/
| access-date = 2010-12-11
| archive-date = 2018-07-25
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180725105256/http://www.mbcplains.org/
| url-status = live
}}</ref>
==Records==
On 12th January 2025, Pam Knowles achieved a [[Guinness World Records|Guinness World Record]] by becoming the longest serving Sunday School teacher. She has taught for over 73 years at [[Church of St Anne, Aigburth|St. Anne's Church]] in [[Aigburth|Aigburth, Liverpool]], beginning in 1951.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Longest serving Sunday school teacher at the same institution (female) {{!}} Guinness World Records | url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-serving-sunday-school-teacher-at-the-same-institution | access-date=2025-08-22 | website=www.guinnessworldrecords.com}}</ref>
==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity}}
{{div col|colwidth=50em}}
*[[
*[[Family integrated church]]
*[[Hebrew school]] (also called "Sunday school" by Reform Jews)
*[[Sabbath School]]
*[[Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults]]
*[[Sunday School (LDS Church)]]
*[[Sunday school answer]]
*[[Sunday School Society]]
*[[Sunday School Union]]
*[[Vacation Bible School]]
*[[Youth ministry]]
{{div col end}}
==References==
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{{Reflist}}
==Sources==
* {{citation |last=Rowe |first=Mortimer |title=The History of Essex Hall |___location=London |publisher=Lindsey Press |date=1959 |url=http://www.unitarian.org.uk/support/doc-EssexHall0.shtml |access-date=2012-01-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120116153833/http://www.unitarian.org.uk/support/doc-EssexHall0.shtml |archive-date=2012-01-16 }}
==Further reading==
===United Kingdom===
* Crockett, Alasdair. "Rural-Urban Churchgoing in Victorian England." ''Rural History'' 16.1 (2005): 53-82.
* DuPree, Sherry Sherrod. "Sunday Schools," in George Thomas Kurian, ed. ''The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization'' (2011) https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470670606.wbecc1331
* Farrell, Sean. "Feed my lambs: the Reverend Thomas Drew and Protestant children in early Victorian Belfast." ''New Hibernia Review/Iris Éireannach Nua'' 19.2 (2015): 43-58.
* Kendall, Guy. ''Robert Raikes; a critical study'' (1939) pp.161–170. [https://archive.org/details/robertraikescrit0000kend/page/n5/mode/2up online]
* Lacquer, T. W.''Religion and respect-ability: The English Sunday School and the formation of a respectable working class'' (Yale University Press, 1976).
* McCartney, Caitriona. "British Sunday schools: an educational arm of the churches, 1900–39." ''Studies in Church History'' 55 (2019): 561-576.
* McDermid, Jane. ''The schooling of girls in Britain and Ireland, 1800-1900'' (Routledge, 2013).
* Martin, Mary Clare. "Childhood, youth and denominational identity: church, chapel and home in the long eighteenth century." ''Childhood, Youth and Religious Minorities in Early Modern Europe'' (2019): 127-164. [
* May, Andrew J. "The banner of the cross" in ''Welsh missionaries and British imperialism.'' (Manchester University Press, 2017). 131-153.
* Snell, Keith D. M. "The Sunday-school movement in England and Wales: Child labour, denominational control and working-class culture." ''Past & Present'' 164 (1999): 122–168. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/651277 online]
* Tholfsen, Trygve R. "Moral education in the Victorian Sunday school." ''History of Education Quarterly'' 20.1 (1980): 77–99. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/367891
===United States===
* Bergler, Thomas E. ''The Juvenilization of American Christianity.'' Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2012.
* Boylan, Anne M. ''Sunday School: The Formation of an American Institution, 1790–1880'' (1990); [https://archive.org/details/sundayschoolform0000boyl online]; also see [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1085380 online book review]
* Broadbent, Arnold. ''The First 100 Years of the Sunday School Association: 1833–1933''. A centenary booklet issued by the Lindsey Press of the [[General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches]].
* Jent, Glenn A. "Some Thoughts about Sunday School: An Analysis of the Views of Selected Celebrated and Noncelebrated Persons" (DEd dissertation, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1983. 8320587) [https://www.proquest.com/docview/303171254?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true&sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses online]
* Leal, K. Elise. " 'All Our Children May be Taught of God': Sunday Schools and the Roles of Childhood and Youth in Creating Evangelical Benevolence." ''Church History'' (2018). 87(4), 1056–1090. doi:10.1017/S0009640718002378
* Lynn, Robert W., and Elliott Wright. ''The big little school: two hundred years of the Sunday school'' (1980) [https://archive.org/details/biglittleschoolt00lynn online], a scholalrly history
* McFarland, John T., and Benjamin S. Winchester, eds. ''The Encyclopedia of Sunday Schools and Religious Education,'' (1915). [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediasun00wincgoog/page/n6/mode/1up online.] comprehensive coverage.
==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
* {{Wikisource-inline|list=
** “[[Wikisource:Manual of The Mother Church/Church Services/Sunday School|Sunday School]]” in [[Wikisource:Manual of The Mother Church|''Manual of The Mother Church'']]. 1917.
** {{Cite NSRW|wstitle=Sunday-Schools|short=x|noicon=x}}
** “[[Wikisource:Should Infidels Send Their Children to Sunday School?|Should Infidels Send Their Children to Sunday School?]],” ''The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll''. 1907.
** {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Sunday-Schools|short=x|noicon=x}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunday School}}
[[Category:Sunday schools| ]]
[[Category:Evangelical ecclesiology]]
[[Category:Christianity and children]]
[[Category:Sunday events]]
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