Sunday school vs. worship

I think Rich Melheim has it right:

I'm running into churches who continue to run worship concurrent with Sunday School. They are perpetuating a number of systemic problems and setting their churches up for long-term slow death by doing this.

They are setting up a system where people choose between worship and education, where mothers (mostly mothers) are teaching Sunday Schools and children RARELY see a male faith role model, let alone see their fathers engaging in faith issues with them. They are knocking their heads against the walls to recruit teachers who don't want to be there, and then enabling people to drop their kids off and disengage from their faith lives. They are setting up a system that recruits teachers who never worship, and educating kids who never worship, and making it darn convenient for parents and kids to never talk faith together.

It seems to me that the systems we put in place either bless or curse us.

If you set up a system where children DON'T worship, you will raise a young adult who WON'T worship.

I think there's a better way.</blockquote>

Here's hoping that he'll keep elaborating on the better way -- his work so far certainly points in that direction!