SundaySchoolHelp.com
Title
SUNDAY SCHOOL
Description
The Pennsylvania State Sunday School Association is an interdenominational, non-profit organization dedicated to providing resources and training for all Sunday school and Christian education teachers and leaders.
From a humble beginning over 200 years ago, Sunday school has grown to become one of the major sources of Christian Education today. The Sunday school movement traces its beginning back to Gloucester, England. There, in 1780, a young printer named Robert Raikes, became concerned for the boys of his neighborhood and their lack of education. Because Sunday was the only day when the boys were not working in the local factories, Raikes gather them on that day to teach them "the three-R's" and the Bible. The idea of Sunday school quickly caught on and grew rapidly in America. By the mid-1800's, Sunday schools had been established in most communities, but Sunday school leaders found themselves on their own. In an effort to find help and guidance, many leaders came together to form Sunday school associations. In this attitude of cooperation and with a firm purpose of meeting the needs of the Sunday schools of the Commonwealth, the first Pennsylvania State Sunday School Convention met in Philadelphia in 1862. The first president of the newly formed Pennsylvania State Sabbath School Association was the Honorable James Pollock, a former governor of Pennsylvania, an active Sunday school teacher and the director of the United States Mint in Philadelphia. During the first fifty years, the Association attracted many outstanding leaders. Such well known men at John Wanamaker and Henry J. Heinz gave outstanding leadership to Sunday school work throughout the state. By the early 1900's, the Sunday schools had been organized to the point where Pennsylvania was declared "the greatest Sunday School State." Today, our state remains a leader in the Sunday school movement with over 11,000 schools. And, the Pennsylvania State Sunday School Association remains as the only full time State Sunday School Association in existence today.
The Pennsylvania State Sunday School Association currently offers a wide range of programs directly to churches and individuals and through its affiliated County Associations operating in about one-third of the counties of the Keystone State. Although specific programs may differ in some areas to meet local needs, the goals of the Association are well stated in its charter, written in the early 1900's: "to unite Christian workers in efforts to improve the Sunday schools of Pennsylvania by elevating their standards, and increasing their efficiency, through better methods of teaching and management, the purpose also being to win acceptance of Jesus Christ as a personal savior and to develop Christian character and life."
Languages
English
Contact
- PA STATE SUNDAY SCHOOL ASSOCIATION
-
- HARRISBURG PA
- US 17112-2222
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- 5915
