How Two Ecclesias Have Used Sunday School Resource Centers

The following reports are reprints of two short articles published several years ago in The Joy of Sunday Schooling Journal.1The reports tell how two ecclesias set up and used resources centers in their Sunday schools. The purposes served by Sunday school resource centers are as important today as they were then, even if the nature of some educational resources has changed. Notice the different ways the two ecclesias used their Sunday school resource centers.

Report 1

Our ecclesia has quite an extensive resource-library center. Perhaps a few ideas of what we have done may be helpful.

We have a lending library of about 300 books and tapes for children. The library is located in one of the Sunday school rooms. Each book and tape has a pocket and card, and the children sign their name each time they take something. They are allowed to take two things at a time: a book and tape/book or two books or two tape/books. There is a box for the signed cards to go in. There is a container for returned books. There is a box in which the librarian puts the signed cards in alphabetical order.

The books are arranged on the shelves according to level: primary and junior. The primary book shelf is organized by: (1) creation-nature books, (2) Old Testament books, (3) pop-up books, (4) New Testament books, and (5) books in a series. The junior book shelf is arranged in a similar way, omitting the pop-up books.

For the teachers we have the following resources located in another Sunday school room: (1) photocopy machine — a must! (2) filmstrip projector, filmstrips/ tapes2, and a portable wall screen (a large piece of white Bristol board can also be used); (3) large box of pictures and flashcard pictures (more on this below); (4) overhead projector and transparencies; e.g., Esther, Moses; (5) flannel graphs and flannel board; (6) slides — our filmstrip projector converts to a slide projec­tor; (7) cardboard building blocks (look like bricks); (8) puzzles and games; (9) puppets; (10) craft books; (11) songbooks, and (12) miscellaneous teacher notes, guides, and activities.

Each teacher is free to borrow the resources. Most of them are not carded. They are returned when the teacher is finished using them.

The flashcard pictures3are a nice addition to our teaching resources. Each package consists of between 11 and 30 cards, depending on the Bible story. The cards are 10” x 13” each and are in color. They tell the story of a Bible character. After the teacher has told the story using the cards, the cards can be mixed up and the pupils can sequence them and retell the story. A lesson book comes with each set of cards. The cost varies depending on the set you buy.

Some may be interested in how we promote the use of the library by our Sunday school children. Three Sundays of the month the children, ages three to twelve, have their own closing exercises as a group downstairs while the adults and teenagers have their closing upstairs. We sing hymns from the children’s hymn book (our own compilation), one class each week tells and/or shows what they have learned in class, we say the Lord’s Prayer once a month and the other Sundays a brother gives a prayer. It is during this closing session that new library books are shown, new resources for the teachers are shared, and reminders are made to visit the library.

Report 2

Over the years as a Sunday school superintendent I have learned that there is no perfect curriculum (i.e., published set of Sunday school lessons). The material in one curriculum may be too involved for one teacher or not provide enough background material for another. Consequently, I decided to stock as much resource material as possible for our teachers to use, including various Christadelphian Sunday school curricula.

Our move in this direction began with a goal. After years of using one curriculum or another, we took a complete break from prepared curricula altogether. As a Sunday school we wanted to spend a year specifically on the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, a theme not covered in any one curriculum with the particular emphasis we wanted. Meeting this goal presented quite a challenge to us, since the lesson material was not contained in any one book. The teachers had to use a variety of Christadelphian publications for their material.

The need for a Sunday school resource library became clear. For us, this required the installation of some extra shelves in one of our classrooms. For a Sunday school without its own building, it might require the superintendent, a teacher, or an ecclesial member to make space available in a home. We have since gone back to using a planned program of studies for the Sunday school. In the process we continue to make modifications and to build an inventory of supplemental resources for our teachers to use.

Here are the vendors of four Sunday school lesson programs (curriculums) pro­duced by the brotherhood. The information is current.

  • Birmingham Central Sunday School Scheme, available from The Chris­tadelphian Office: thechristadelphian.com. Click on SHOP and select PREACHING RESOURCES.
  • Christadelphian Sunday School Union, UK, materials: cssu.org.uk. Some materials can be downloaded from web site. Orders from the USA should be placed on-line via website. Enquires to Karen Phillips, karencssuorders@ yahoo.com; Canadian vendors are Peggy Handsaeme, edle@telusplanet.net, and Alan Ghent, aghent@mac.com.
  • Australian Christadelphian Sunday School Union materials: acssu.org.au.
  • Christadelphian Sunday School Association materials: cssa.asn.au. The North American vendor of CSSA materials are David and Jeff’ier Waye, (e-mail na_rep@cssa.asn.au or jwaye@currys.com.) Tel 905-891-7647.

Information about other educational materials and suggestions for Sunday school resource centers are invited. I will be happy to hear from you.

  1. Report 1 — Mary Jane Farrar, “The Sunday School Resource Center, What others are doing”, The Joy of Sunday Schooling, Winter,1993, p.4. Report 2 – Gordon Dangerfield, “The Sunday School Resource Center, What others are doing”, The Joy of Sunday Schooling, Spring,1993, p.12.
  2. Of course, we would use and LCD projector instead of a filmstrip projector these days.
  3. A Beka Book Flash-A-Card, Pensacola Christian College, Pensacola, FL 32523-9160. Go to com and search Flash-A-Card. Titles and prices are provided by grade level. Many of the picture cards are very good, but keep in mind that these are not Christadelphian products.