I grew up going to Sunday school, starting with the “Cradle Roll” department of First Baptist Church of Decatur, Texas, the town where I was born. Like all the kids at that church, when I learned to read, I was…
Election 1980: When a D.C. congregation had to vote on one of its own
During the four years of his presidency, Jimmy Carter was an active member of the First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, D.C., worshipping at least 75 times in the sanctuary a mile north of the White House and,…
New book features transcripts of Jimmy Carter’s Sunday school lessons while president
Attending church and teaching Sunday school helped Jimmy Carter through some of the most challenging moments of his presidency, author Christi Harlan said. While in the White House, Carter and his family were members and frequent attenders of The First…
Lessons in coffin carrying
Years ago, as a pastor, I noticed when one of our ordinarily regularly attending senior adult men stopped attending his men’s Bible study class, as well as Sunday morning worship. I contacted the man I’ll call Bill and asked if…
Keep your Bible where it belongs
When I took my first Bible class in college, I was required to memorize the books of the Bible. A lot of people in my class found that exercise of writing out the books of the Bible from memory in…
Apparently not all children learned the same things as me in Sunday school
When I was child, I loved Sunday school. I loved hearing about Jesus and how Jesus loved everybody and talked to everybody and healed so many people. Had Jesus not been the Son of God, I probably would have said,…
What will become of Sunday school?
A decade ago, while on a sabbatical research project, I visited 15 churches of various denominations across the United States that bore only one common trait — they were in some way “traditional” churches. Even among that group, one of…
Inside the spiritual life of Anne Lamott
I recently sat down with Anne Lamott, beloved and debated American novelist and non-fiction writer, to discuss her new release, Dusk Night Dawn. This book has all the trademarks that make Lamott a household name and New York Times best-selling author: Empathy,…
Remember that time you were teaching Sunday school on Zoom and a cat entered the screen?
Moving from in-person to virtual spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic has boosted engagement and outreach for many churches, but the transition came with a variety of growing pains, especially around technology and online etiquette. And the challenges were experienced by…