Sunday school

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Sunday school

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Sunday school institution for instruction in religion and morals, usually conducted in churches as part of the church organization but sometimes maintained by other religious or philanthropic bodies.

In England during the 18th cent., occasional efforts were made by charitable individuals to provide some education in religious matters as well as secular instruction to children of the poor. Probably the first to be called a Sunday school was that started (1780) by Robert Raikes for factory children in Gloucester. The curriculum largely consisted of simple lessons in reading and spelling in preparation for reading the Bible, and memorizing Scripture passages and hymns. The plan was copied in other places; sometimes Saturday instruction in writing and arithmetic was added to that on Sunday. An important educational movement was thus started; by 1795 the Society for the Support and Encouragement of Sunday Schools had helped found more than 1,000 schools.

In 1803 the London Sunday School Union was founded to promote the extension of schools with voluntary teachers. This organization published simple lesson plans, catechisms, spellers, and other aids. Unions were developed in Ireland and Scotland. In 1862 a general Sunday school convention was held in London, at which a program was initiated for extending the movement to the Continent.

In the United States there is evidence that instruction in the Scriptures was given to children on Sundays at Plymouth in 1669 and at Roxbury, Mass., in 1674, but it was not until 1786 that a Sunday school patterned on Raikes's plan was founded in Hanover co., Va., by the Methodist preacher Francis Asbury . The American Sunday-School Union, formed (1817) among various churches of the East, determined to establish Sunday schools as rapidly as possible in the pioneer communities of the Mississippi valley. This project met with wide support and considerable success.

In 1832 a national convention of American Sunday school workers was held. At the convention of 1872 a plan of uniform lessons was adopted in cooperation with the British Sunday School Union, and from that time the movement was international. The first World Sunday School Convention met (1889) in London; in 1907 its name was changed to the World's Sunday School Association, and in 1947 to the World Council of Christian Education. It has units in many countries; the North American unit is the International Council of Religious Education. The arrangement of periodic world Sunday school conventions and aid in leadership training and curriculum are among the chief concerns of the council.

Bibliography: See studies by R. Swann (1961), E. W. Rice (1917, repr. 1971), and R. W. Lynn and A. Boylan (1988).

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"Sunday school." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Jul. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Sunday school." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (July 10, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Sundaysc.html

"Sunday school." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved July 10, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Sundaysc.html

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Sunday school

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | © The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2009, originally published by Oxford University Press 2009. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Sun·day school • n. a class held on Sundays to teach children about their religion.

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Sunday schools

The Oxford Companion to British History | 2002 | | © The Oxford Companion to British History 2002, originally published by Oxford University Press 2002. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Sunday schools. The English Sunday school movement is usually associated with Robert Raikes of Gloucester (1735–1811), the founder of the Sunday School Union. From 1782 Raikes established classes, often on Saturdays as well as Sundays, for children of the poor who were in employment for the rest of the week. Adults also received instruction. The curriculum was partly secular, consisting largely of reading, writing, and religious education. The movement saw its task as the inculcation of religion and the elimination of radical ideologies which had spread since the industrial revolution. A century after the movement began, over 5¾ million children in England were attending these schools. As economic conditions improved, restrictions on the use of child labour increased and with the introduction of day schools the role of the Sunday school became restricted to religious instruction taught on Sundays.

Peter Gordon

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JOHN CANNON. "Sunday schools." The Oxford Companion to British History. Oxford University Press. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Jul. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN CANNON. "Sunday schools." The Oxford Companion to British History. Oxford University Press. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (July 10, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-Sundayschools.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article The Sunday School Children of First, Port Colborne. (People & Places).
Magazine article from: Presbyterian Record; 10/1/2002
Free Article The Sunday School Children. (People & Places).
Magazine article from: Presbyterian Record; 10/1/2002
Free Article Members of the Sunday school of St. Andrew. (People & Places).
Magazine article from: Presbyterian Record; 10/1/2002

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The Sunday School Children of First, Port Colborne. (People & Places).
Magazine article from: Presbyterian Record; 10/1/2002; 18 words ; THE SUNDAY SCHOOL CHILDREN of First, Port Colborne, Ont., donated $200 for the purchase of mosquito nets for Malawi. Read more
The Sunday School Children. (People & Places).
Magazine article from: Presbyterian Record; 10/1/2002; 21 words ; THE SUNDAY SCHOOL CHILDREN of St. Paul's Carluke, Ont., gather on the church steps with the banner they made for the 2001 General Assembly. Read more
Members of the Sunday school of St. Andrew. (People & Places).
Magazine article from: Presbyterian Record; 10/1/2002; 29 words ; MEMBERS OF THE Sunday school of St. Andrew's, Tweed, Ont., proudly display the banner they made, under the direction of Roseanne Ballast (kneeling in front), for the 2001 General Assembly. Read more
Last October, the Sunday school children of St. Andrew's Church. (People & places).(fund-raisers for victims of terrorist attacks against United States; St. Catharines, Ontario)(Brief Article)
Magazine article from: Presbyterian Record; 6/1/2002; 35 words ; LAST OCTOBER, the Sunday school children of St. Andrew's Church, St. Catharines, Ont., held a bake sale and hamburger lunch, raising $176 for the American relief fund, established following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Read more
Here's another mission effort by the Sunday school at First, Pictou, Nova Scotia, which raised $2,010.76 this past spring for their Christian School Fees mission project in India (The Helen MacDonald and Margaret Leask Memorial Schools).(people & places)
Magazine article from: Presbyterian Record; 12/1/2006; 93 words ; ...s another mission effort by the Sunday school at First, Pictou, Nova Scotia, which...past spring for their Christian School Fees mission project in India (The...MacDonald and Margaret Leask Memorial Schools). From front row, left: Klorissa... Read more
On Dec. 18, the Sunday school of St. John's, Cresswell, Ont., entered a float in the hamlet's Santa Claus Parade.(people & places)
Magazine article from: Presbyterian Record; 5/1/2005; 38 words ; [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: On Dec. 18, the Sunday school of St. John's, Cresswell, Ont., entered a float in the hamlet's Santa Claus Parade. Afterwards participants and onlookers congregated in the church hall for hot drinks and goodies. Read more
Every Sunday, the church school children at Essa Road, Barrie, Ont., insert pennies into slots on a map of Canada. (People & Places).
Magazine article from: Presbyterian Record; 5/1/2003; 45 words ; Caption: Every Sunday, the church school children at Essa Road, Barrie, Ont., insert pennies into slots on a map of Canada. The pennies are going toward the support of five Presbyterian Church ministries to Aboriginal people through the Partners -- Meeting First Nations Friends program. Read more
Presbyterian World Service. (People & Places).(receives donation from Sunday school, London, Ontario)(Brief Article)
Magazine article from: Presbyterian Record; 7/1/2003; 43 words ; Jeff Olsen, a member of the Presbyterian World Service and Development committee, is surrounded by Sunday school members and staff at a PWS&D event held at St. Lawrence Church, London, Ont. The Sunday school presented Jeff with $1,200 for the PWS&D orphanage project in Malawi. Read more
Every congregation is encouraged to study the document Sunday schools in 2007: Does It Still Work?
Magazine article from: Presbyterian Record; 7/1/2007; 51 words ; Every congregation is encouraged to study the document Sunday Schools In 2007: Does It Still Work? The document notes that growing Sunday schools have good teachers, focus on connecting with families... Read more
Sunday School conference.(Conference news)
Newspaper article from: Banbridge Leader (Banbridge, Northern Ireland); 6/5/2007; 62 words ; ...Presbyterian Church were among those to attend the annual Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church Sunday School Conference Service at Rademon on Friday. All the Sunday Schools taking part enter work in different age groups and categories, for which prizes and... Read more
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