Sabbath School
Sabbath school is held by various Christian denominations on the day that they consider to be the Sabbath, either on Sundays (as with the Reformed and Methodists) or on Saturdays (as with Seventh-day Adventists).[1][2]
In first-day Sabbatarian churches (such as Reformed Churches and Methodist denominations),[1][3] Sabbath school occurs on Sundays, which is regarded as the Lord's Day and Christian Sabbath.[1][3][4] In the present day, first-day Sabbatarian denominations often refer to Sabbath school as Sunday school.[2][5]
In Seventh-day Sabatatarian churches (such as the Seventh-day Adventist Church,[6] Seventh Day Baptists,[7] Church of God,[8] among others), Sabbath School occurs on Saturdays.
Sabbath School includes a song service and Bible study lesson on the Sabbath. Sabbath school is normatively held before the service of worship, after which families worship together during the service of worship. Sabbath school includes programs that are Bible-based to foster Christian growth and include study of the Bible.
Activities
Sabbath school usually begins on the morning of the Sabbath before the worship service starts. The Sabbath school service for adults typically has two portions. The first portion begins with a song service, followed by a mission emphasis and a short talk. The second, and larger portion, is the lesson study. Different churches conduct Sabbath school in many ways, mostly teaching on the same topic or reading in a given week, as each quarter of the year has a different theme that reflects Bible, doctrinal, or church lifestyle teachings.
Sabbath school may be conducted in one large class, or the congregation may separate into smaller groups for discussion in the sanctuary or in different rooms. Participation is not restricted to church members. Young people often meet separately. After Sabbath school the church service begins.
Teachers
Sabbath school teachers are usually lay people selected by a designated coordinator, board, or committee. Normally, the selection is based on a perception of character and ability to teach the Bible rather than formal training in education, although some Sabbath school teachers have a background in education as a result of their occupation. Some churches offer courses in teaching, or hold teachers' classes to go over the lesson for that Sabbath; other churches allow volunteers who make a profession of faith to teach without training.
Curriculum
Methodism
The Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Church specifies concerning Sabbath Schools in ¶330, "The instruction given in the school shall be the doctrines of the word of God as expounded in the recognized standards of the Methodist Church. The Methodist Catechisms shall be taught in each school."[9][10]
Wesleyan Methodist denominations use various Sabbath School curricula, such as Circuit Rider (Old Paths Tract Society) and those texts published by Herald and Banner Press.[11]
Sunday Sabbath schools for people of all ages has been emphasized in the Methodist tradition:[12]
Constantly, we are meeting men and women fifty, sixty, and seventy years of age who have never seen a Bible. They come, anxious and earnest, to be led into the truth. Such, "as new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word." Now, all such people, no matter what their age or other circumstances, can only be considered as children. They should be, and are, gathered into Sabbath-schools to read and study the word of God.[12]
Seventh-day Adventism
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Adult church members are provided with the Adult Bible Study Guide (formerly known as Sabbath School Quarterly) issued four times a year. It is also known as the "Quarterly"[13] and the "Lesson". It is published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Sabbath school quarterlies are Bible study guides that cover a specific topic or book of the Bible every quarter. The quarterly is designed to be read during the week, so that during Sabbath School, the class members are ready to discuss questions and topics raised in that lesson in small groups. The adult Sabbath school always has a heavy focus on the Bible. All Seventh-day Adventists around the world use the same Sabbath school quarterly, translated into the necessary languages (with few exceptions such as Germany, where members cover the same topic with different material). As of 2012[update] the editor of the adult Sabbath school lessons was Clifford Goldstein.
At the same time as the adult study, children attend classes for their age group. Typical age group divisions are Beginner (infants), Kindergarten (K), Primary (Grades 1-3), Junior (Grades 4-6), Earliteen (Grades 7-8), Youth (High School), and Inverse (College and Young Adult). Each age division has its own specific quarterly, which is titled by the class name up to Primary. Juniors and Earliteens often share the same quarterly entitled PowerPoints. Some Earliteen groups use a separate publication entitled Real Time Faith. Youth use either Cornerstone Connections or InVerse. Some churches give the children a weekly magazine at the close of Sabbath school. Kindergarten receives Our Little Friend, Primary receives Primary Treasure, Juniors and Earliteens receive Guide, and the Youth receive Insight.
On the last Sabbath of the quarter, or the 13th Sabbath, a special collection is taken for a missionary project. During the 13th Sabbath Program, youngsters may present a music or acting special based on the subject learned that quarter or explain the traditions and dress in the attire of the countries or world regions which offerings collected will benefit. Communion service preceded by foot-washing may take place on or right after the 13th Sabbath.
A 2002 worldwide survey of local church leaders estimated that 67% of Adventists, including 63% of under-18s, "attend Sabbath School nearly every week".[14]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Discipline of the Bible Methodist Connection of Churches" (PDF). 2014. p. 30. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
We believe that the Lord’s Day, celebrated on Sunday, the first day of the week, throughout the Christian church, is the Christian sabbath, which we reverently observe as a day of rest and worship and as the continuing memorial of our Savior’s resurrection. For this reason, we abstain from secular work and from all merchandising on this holy day, except that required by mercy or necessity.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Antliff, William, ed. (1864). The Primitive Methodist Sabbath-School Hymn Book. Richard Davies. p. 23. Search this book on
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Tucker, Karen B. Westerfield (27 April 2011). American Methodist Worship. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-19-977415-9.
Methodists had no difficulty transferring the seventh-day legislation of the Decalogue to the first day of the week, a conclusion reinforced by the Sabbath theology of English Puritanism that had influenced Wesley and the nascent Methodist movement, and by the sabbatarian ethos of New England that permeated the religious life of the country. Required by their General Rules to avoid “profaning the day of the Lord,” Methodists regarded keeping the Lord’s Day as a duty, a delight, and a means of grace. No unessential labor or commerce was to be undertaken, and one was to avoid causing others to work. Private devotion and corporate worship were the duties at hand, yielding the dual blessings of spiritual renewal and physical rest. Personal and communal observance of the Lord’s Day was therefore taken quite seriously: Bishop Asbury berated himself for riding his horse unnecessarily on the Sabbath
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- ↑ Hughes, James R. (2006). "The Sabbath: A Universal and Enduring Ordinance of God" (PDF). Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Annual Report of the Massachusetts Sabbath School Society, Presented at the Annual Meeting. Massachusetts Sabbath School Society. 1853. p. 35.
General Synod's Sabbath School Union of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church: This Church embraces about 400 Churches and from 46,000 to 50,000 members. It has connected with it not far from 600 Sabbath schools and about 25,000 scholars. The Sabbath School Union of this Church was formed in 1828 and existed as an independent association until 1839.
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- ↑ Guide, Adult Bible Study. "2nd Quarter 2025-Allusions, Images, Symbols: How to Study Bible Prophecy". www.adultbiblestudyguide.org. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- ↑ "Seventh Day Baptist » Worship Resources". seventhdaybaptist.org. Archived from the original on 2015-07-16. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Sabbath School Lessons". www.churchofgod-7thday.org. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- ↑ Williams, John A. (1884). The Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Church. William Briggs. p. 153. Search this book on
- ↑ Minutes of the Central Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Western Methodist Book Concern Press. 1880. p. 449.
We long to see a time when every Methodist family shall read our own weeklies and every Methodist Sabbath-school be supplied with our own publications.
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- ↑ Mead, Frank Spencer; Hill, Samuel S. (2001). Handbook of Denominations in the United States. Abingdon Press. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-687-06983-5. Search this book on
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Sunday-School Union". Manual of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Phillips & Hunt. 1 (1): 253-254. 1880.
- ↑ "Redirector | Pacific Press". www.pacificpress.com. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
- ↑ "Three Strategic Issues: A World Survey". General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 2002. See question 4, on p19 etc. For youth, see question 58
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