DALLAS (ABP) — Some things have changed a bit since 1949 at Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas. Then, the church met in a house. Today, its 9,000 members fill a mammoth sanctuary in multiple worship services.
One thing hasn’t changed, though: Martha Howard still can be found teaching her room full of kindergartners every Sunday morning — just as she has for 60 years.
The church called her husband, Herbert, as pastor in 1948. Their first year at the church, she taught a Sunday school class for college girls.
The next year, however, there was no one to teach the kindergarten class. Since her oldest daughter was one of the students, she took over.
“I was totally hooked,” Howard said.
At age 90, Martha Howard still teaches a kindergarten Sunday school class at Park Cities Baptist Church—as she has for 60 years. (PHOTO/George Henson)
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Teaching in a garage
Her classroom was the garage of the house that served as the church’s only building at the time. There was an oil stain in the middle of the garage where a car once parked.
“We just pulled a table over it and put chairs around that, and that was my class,” she recalled.
While it may have been a humble beginning, it has been a rich journey, said Howard, who celebrated her 90th birthday earlier this year.
“I now have taught 60 years the same age group, and they are my love. It’s certainly a thrill to see them grow up and become fine citizens. My graduates are all the way from California to Georgia, and they come back, and I get to see them, and I learn of the wonderful things they are doing.
“It’s so rewarding. I go back to that Scripture where Jesus said, ‘Let all the children come to me, for such is the kingdom of heaven.’ And truly it is the kingdom of heaven when you see them grown men of God and grown women of God with wonderful homes and wonderful careers, practicing Christians and teaching themselves,” she said.
She recalled being invited, 25 years ago, to attend the ordination of one of her former students, Bill Chamblee, at First Baptist Church in Denton, Texas. She recently returned as the church and city of Denton honored Chamblee for 25 years of service to youth there.
Howard doesn’t use a current curriculum. Rather, she uses lessons published in the 1950s and 1960s as the basis for her team of teachers because she wants to make sure the children she teaches have a firm foundation.
“My joy through all the years has been that to some boy, some girl, I have taught the lesson and that they know God loves them. We start out with these children teaching them the song ‘Jesus Loves Me’ and [the Scripture verse] ‘God is love.’ If they can learn that, we go on from there,” Howard said.
Current crop
This year, Howard and her team have about 40 students — all learning important truths they can carry with them for a lifetime.
“My children have only been in there since September, and they can already say the Lord’s Prayer, and they can tell me where it is” in the Bible, she revealed.
“Their responses are so remarkable. They like to tell me things about ‘my grandmother and how she read to me about Jesus’ and ‘this is my Bible’ and then they want to show it to you,” she said.
“And can there be any greater joy than sharing that with a child? No! Never. They’re so endearing, and they are so responsive. I think that is one reason I love it so much.”
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Howard is quick to say, however, that she is not alone in molding these children’s minds and hearts. Many of the other teachers who join with her on Sunday mornings also have more than a decade of service — some closer to 20 years. The newest teacher is one of Howard’s graduates who now has college-aged children of her own.
The team makes sure their lesson plans always are in place at least three months in advance, complete with the lesson aim, the focus Bible story and Scripture, and the songs to be sung.
“I have wonderful teachers, and we do it together,” she said. “We are a team. We are a teacher group, and we work together for one cause. We all love the children.”
She maintains it is the children who make it all work, however.
“This is the age group when I feel like they are like little sponges. Everything I teach this age group, they can remember. They can’t read, and that’s a challenge, but they want to learn.
“They are old enough by now to know how to behave in Sunday school. They know why we go to Sunday school. They know why we want to be there,” Howard said.
“I teach a tremendous repertoire of Bible stories, and then I test them in preparation for the first grade. ‘Now, is this lesson today from the New Testament or the Old Testament?’ They can tell me. It has become my life to watch their development.”
One thing that helps her watch her students’ development is that so many come back to see her each week — even teenagers now in the youth department.
Tried-and-true methods
“Another thing I do that most people don’t anymore [in Sunday school classes] is I have a pianist. And we sing and we sing and we sing. And the songs are not just whatever anybody can think of — they are planned to carry out the lesson plan.
“There is one time when we can sing ‘your favorite song,’ but we sing all the songs every child should know. Everything from ‘Jesus Loves Me’ to ‘O, How I Love Jesus,’ ‘Happy Sunday Morning’ and on and on.
“And the little quiet child who is very hesitant at first will sing. He or she learns because all my songs are from Scripture. They’re not just some song,” Howard explained.
“I’m old-timey. I’m old. I have old methods, but it gives me great joy to share it.”
Tommy Sanders, who leads the graduate program for children’s ministry at Dallas Baptist University and worked with Howard almost five years while he was children’s minister at Park Cities, says he's a Martha Howard fan.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “People come back to make sure their grandchildren are in her class. She’s there every week 30 to 45 minutes early, and her classroom is ready to go when that first child comes into the classroom. She’s the real deal when it comes to preparation and commitment.”
Some wonder why a nonagenarian still is hanging out with 5-year-olds, but Howard is very content to still be in kindergarten.
“A friend — a loving, caring friend — not long ago said, ‘You’re 90. Why don’t you just quit and come over here to the big class?’ And I said, ‘No, I’ll wait until they tell me I’m too old.’
“I don’t expect any commendations, attention or laurels,” she said. “It just happened to be my mission. All joys have been mine in serving children.”
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George Henson is a staff writer for the Texas Baptist Standard.