The Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead

Volunteers needed for Sunday School.
Our attempts to encourage volunteers to help the hard pressed Sunday School teachers have not been successful; Kitchener style finger pointing didn’t work, so we are hoping this more reasoned appeal will be more fruitful.

There are now only eight regular teachers (leaders as opposed to helpers) taking the four groups which means each has to take a session at least once a fortnight and in practice, for some, more frequently. This is too much and approaching a crisis point. If you have children who attend any of the groups; if you are concerned that there should be a church in 50 years time or if more children in church during the service will drive you round the bend, then please think hard about volunteering to help. As a parish we are committed to having two adults present at each group. Our critical need is for more leaders but more helpers would be useful too. If you are already a helper, perhaps you should think of graduating to leading some sessions.

People seem to be put off for four reasons
1. Fear of teaching. There is no denying that even quite small children can be a little intimidating and crowd control can sometimes be a challenge, especially with the older children. But you will not be on your own and there are some very experienced teachers to guide you. Most importantly, however, these anxieties will evaporate very quickly once you have started.

2. Ignorance of the Bible etc. This should not be worry; however little you know, you will be surprised how much less the children know. Anyway, we have good resources and help on hand (both in the Parish and from the Diocese) to keep you a chapter ahead of the children. Moreover, we are blessed with clergy who think the Sunday School matters and are prepared to give practical help. Little of the teaching is (or need be) about academic knowledge anyway; you can react to a story as well as the children and you will certainly be more adept with the scissors, the crayons and the glue.

You will find too that teaching your faith to young and open minds has a stimulating effect on your own understanding and belief. Clarifying what you think in order to be clear with children can be a very useful exercise.
3. Not wanting to miss the service. However satisfying it is to teach children, we all feel this. But you might consider that most of those doing most of the teaching now do not have their own children in the Sunday School (and the others won’t have for much longer) . Is it fair that they sacrifice the pleasure of listening to the choir or the sermon almost every week?
There are valuable compensations; it is very satisfying to have helped children do something well, whether it is their part in an All Age Eucharist, a display for Easter or Christmas or just to realise that you have helped them to become aware of their spirituality in some small way or enabled them to see how God matters in their lives (in however, minor or naïve a concern)
4. Fear of commitment. Of course, we do need commitment, but the more who are prepared to give it, the less it will be. A few more volunteers doing one session a term would make a great difference; a lot more would achieve a truly equitable division of labour. How long you spend planning and preparing your lesson depends largely on your inclination; two hours would be well above average. Couldn’t you spare six hours a year?

So, parents and others, please think again about what you can do and be assured that although we are asking for some commitment, time and effort, the rewards are great. If you value your faith, don’t you think it is something you should help to pass on to the next generation? Andrew Penny