Being an all-converts-all-the-time parish (no wait, there's that russian lady and her mother who come now, and all the kids we've had...)...OK, mostly-all-converts-mostly-all-the-time...we all bring our experiences from various backgrounds into Orthodoxy with us.
One of those things is Sunday School. We have a wonderful Sunday School in our parish. We love our kids. We have piles of them too. We not only want to teach them at home, we want to teach them at Church. And we do. Dedicated teachers, brilliant Sunday School directors...you know the drill.
But something is niggling on my mind. And it is this: When Sunday School starts at 9 a.m. (and it IS alot of work), and the Divine Liturgy does not start until 10 a.m. (and it is also alot of work) it really really reduces the number of people who can effectively fully participate in the pre-eucharistic fast. (Not that it's really any of my business, so I'm speaking of myself here.) 10 am DL with a half a day's work in advance of it? I get up, I cook food for common meal, I get my family ready and out the door, I teach Sunday School....this would leave me exhausted and hungry on any day, even WITH breakfast. And I AM exhausted on Sundays, even WITH breakfast (hypoglycemic I am, and all, health concerns, yadayadayada...but it bothers me that I can't cut down more, fast better, participate in the life of the Church more.)
I know I'm going out on a limb here, but it seems to me that we have a clash of paradigms going on here: do we prepare to meet Christ through Bible stories, on an intellectual and rational level, or do we as Orthodox prepare to meet Christ through taking in his Body and His Blood in the Eucharist FIRST, without then neglecting the study of the Holy Scriptures as well? And what are we teaching our kids this way, really? Is our late start time preventing people who otherwise would from coming forward for communion?
And I'm not saying Christian Ed. is not important. Goodness knows I work hard to make it happen, and I have a heart for it. But more and more I'm starting to wonder if it needs to happen some time OTHER than right before Eucharist, first thing Sunday morning?
What if Divine Liturgy were at eight o'clock or eight-thirty? It'd be over by ten. More people could fast more fully and the day would be open for the rest of it: the Sunday School, the meal together, etc. after that.
Is this not perhaps a case where we have New Wine, but we are trying to let it mature in our old wineskins?
One of those things is Sunday School. We have a wonderful Sunday School in our parish. We love our kids. We have piles of them too. We not only want to teach them at home, we want to teach them at Church. And we do. Dedicated teachers, brilliant Sunday School directors...you know the drill.
But something is niggling on my mind. And it is this: When Sunday School starts at 9 a.m. (and it IS alot of work), and the Divine Liturgy does not start until 10 a.m. (and it is also alot of work) it really really reduces the number of people who can effectively fully participate in the pre-eucharistic fast. (Not that it's really any of my business, so I'm speaking of myself here.) 10 am DL with a half a day's work in advance of it? I get up, I cook food for common meal, I get my family ready and out the door, I teach Sunday School....this would leave me exhausted and hungry on any day, even WITH breakfast. And I AM exhausted on Sundays, even WITH breakfast (hypoglycemic I am, and all, health concerns, yadayadayada...but it bothers me that I can't cut down more, fast better, participate in the life of the Church more.)
I know I'm going out on a limb here, but it seems to me that we have a clash of paradigms going on here: do we prepare to meet Christ through Bible stories, on an intellectual and rational level, or do we as Orthodox prepare to meet Christ through taking in his Body and His Blood in the Eucharist FIRST, without then neglecting the study of the Holy Scriptures as well? And what are we teaching our kids this way, really? Is our late start time preventing people who otherwise would from coming forward for communion?
And I'm not saying Christian Ed. is not important. Goodness knows I work hard to make it happen, and I have a heart for it. But more and more I'm starting to wonder if it needs to happen some time OTHER than right before Eucharist, first thing Sunday morning?
What if Divine Liturgy were at eight o'clock or eight-thirty? It'd be over by ten. More people could fast more fully and the day would be open for the rest of it: the Sunday School, the meal together, etc. after that.
Is this not perhaps a case where we have New Wine, but we are trying to let it mature in our old wineskins?
Comments
What exactly am I saying? Uhh...good luck. :-)
Please tell Bethany I say "Hello!" and "Yes, I'm still wearing diapers...." ;-) She was a real blessing to have at Summer Camp again this year. Thank you for sending her!
We need to start asking why we're feeling guilty. It could be a number of factors that could be psychological, environmental and so forth. "Why do I feel guilty for missing even one Sunday? Why do I feel guilty if I have to eat a little something before receiving the Eucharist? Why do I feel guilty for making love with my spouse on a Saturday night?" Hmmmm ... the attitude among many people who aren't "all convert all the time"" is one of apathy. I've been told this by more than one "non-convert." That' isn't ideal either. Their question should be the similar, except they should start out, "Why don't I care that ..."
Balance is a good thing, though. I think it's good to have a mixture of convert and non-convert. This can't always be helped, but it's good.
I don't know what the answer is, because as you say, the pre-Liturgy fast is difficult on teachers and on the students in class, but then afterwards you get the soccer games, and the exhausted kids.
As for a meal/repast afterwards, maybe a rotating list where individuals or families could commit to providing for and cooking the dinners. That has worked at my parish for many years. Unfortunately as the meal has to follow almost immediately after Liturgy it has to be prepared at an earlier time.
As for the pre-Communion fast and your health speak with your priest or spiritual father about this. You may be able to get an 'exemption' to partake of medications or a small amount of food.
And of course we could NOT do SS after DL before eating. From a physical/eating stand point, that would be the same as what we are doing right now.
We want an oustanding choir, and we have one. And we want an outstanding SS program and we have that as well.
At what cost? And perhaps there is in reality no real cost at all. I'm just thinking out loud, here.
We will be attending a new Church when we move and it will be interesting to see how I feel about the change in schedule as they have SS during coffee hour. I wonder if it can be a blessing as it gives the kids something to do besides run around driving mom crazy as she wonders where the heck they are and "what are they getting in to, I hope they aren't up behind the altar." It'll be interesting.
About the breakfast thing, I never thought about how with church school they are usually needing to wait even longer before communion and my eldest, who is 9 1/2, started fasting Sunday mornings when she was 8 and started confessing. She didn't make the connection either, I guess anyway, otherwise I would have heard about it.
Overall, this works very well. We have a ton of kids at our church, so they usually have some time to run around and get the ants out of their pants before Sunday school begins. Then the adults have "Theology 101," where we all sit in a circle in the fellowship hall and ask Father questions about the sermon, the gospel or the epistle reading.
It does make for a long day (folks head home around 1:00, sometimes!), but it really works and we're just used to dedicating a majority of our Sundays to being in church.
I REALLY like how your Sunday is scheduled out!
Our schedule is: 8:45 a.m. Sunday School (altar servers dismissed at 8:20); 9:00 a.m. 3rd & 6th Hours; 9:30 a.m. Divine Liturgy. I'm fortunate if I get a solid 30 minutes for a lesson.
There are about 20 kids on the rolls. Maybe 12 show up. Sunday school only goes up to grade 8. And we are down to one teacher - me! So this year we are doing a one-room school house situation.
Our *single* classroom is in the basement of the rectory. NO adult from the parish ever comes to visit the room. They don't even know what it looks like. Some don't even know where it is.
Coffee hour is most important. I doubt they'd be willing to sit through an adult Sunday school class while they're kids went to Sunday school after coffee hour.
Thus I'd be thrilled with another teacher and about 10 more kids, evenly split between elementary school and middle school.
Also, how does one have an effect Sunday School program with virtually no money? Maybe $350 to $400 for ALL materials.
Sorry I sound bitter. I'm not. I *love* teaching and being with the kids. I just wish there was more I could do to make our program thrilling, fun and bigger. But there is only so much one person can do.
Prayers appreciated.