Sunday School

I think I started helping to teach Sunday school when I was about 11 years old. My mom was the teacher and she brought me along to help. I taught essentially without a break until I was 41 -when I decided that I needed to learn other ways to serve, and perhaps I was preventing others from serving in this area if I continued teaching.

It was hard to stop teaching. After all, I had done it for 30 years, and I felt incredibly guilty about it. I didn't stop totally - I continued to help with VBS in the summer. However this fall I'm back teaching again. I'm coordinating the Sunday School program here at church and team teaching with my sister Ruth Sunday mornings. I also help with the Wednesday night program at Daryl and Kristen's house.

I have decidedly mixed feelings about the whole thing. I love to teach. I teach for a living - and have for many years. I like to teach Sunday school too. However, it also means that I can't attend class for myself. It also means that I'm tied down - I can't easily go away for a weekend. It takes a fair bit of effort, and planning and all the rest of it. It also means that I don't really have a day off from teaching - I do it for a living Monday through Friday, prep for Sunday School on Saturday, teach it on Sunday; fit in marking and planning, etc. between times. I nearly always feel blessed when I do it though - I come away feeling refreshed and uplifted.

One of the things I found when I stopped teaching was that it forced me to grow in other areas. I committed myself to try new things. I would mix the sound, for example (traditionally this seems to be a male only role). I would greet, make the coffee, and pray. However, here in Regina, there's no need to have someone to mix sound, or make the coffee, or greet. I need to be careful now that I'm teaching again, that I don't stop committing myself to growth - just because I'm doing what is easy and familiar.