Sunday School Teachers

[Bandit]

Sunday School or Saturday School(whichever day you went)

Does anyone have any special teachers, events or memories from childhood that you hold close from your church or Temple? it does not have to be sunday school, but anything like that.

I will give a couple of mine to get started.

One teacher was named Sister Powell. She was the strictest of them all. She taught from her podium like a little preacher. Every sunday you knew she was going to preach about something we should or should not do. I remember she had the lessons on the bride of Christ & that was her main theme & how we want to present ourselves spotless & without wrinkle to the Lord.
Her biggest thing (because she was also the janitor) was no running in the house of the Lord & no chewing gum. She would not hesitate to stop us from running & give a lecture or stick her finger in our mouth & yank out the gum & nark to our parents. That was also the year (3rd grade) Sister Powell led us upstairs to the baptismal pool & we got to touch the water, to let us know it was there when we were ready.

Then there was Sister Wiseman. Wonderful lady with a big bun on her head. She taught on the book of James & the shorter books in the NT. She was always serious, so serious, that we got into this routine of playing jokes on her. One sunday we would start humming every time she would try to talk. Another week it would be throwing wads of paper at her. Then one time, we would stand up & clap our hands applauding her as soon as she would start speaking. She would hold up this little sign that said,
"if Jesus came back right now would you go to heaven?"
That usually worked
We were bad.

One sunday Sis. Wiseman got smart. This time we turned all of our desks around with our backs facing her when she started speaking. Well, in comes the assistant pastor (who must have been watching from the window) & oh boy did we get lectured on obedience! & so did all of our parents hear about it, so all our fun stopped.

Then we had Sister Crowfoot. Her thing was prayer. Every sunday she would ask for a volunteer to say the prayer. if we did not know what to say, she would say it & we would just repeat after her. She would put her arm around us & hold us real close because she wanted us to know that prayer was real. She made sure that every child did a prayer at least once that year. Sister Crowfoot rewarded us with a shiny 50 cent piece for volunteering.

But I do remember them all & how deeply those teachers really loved each & everyone of us.


Any special teachers in your life that helped bring you closer to the Lord and helped in your understanding later in life?

Muslims, Jews, Christians, Bahai, Buddah & all of the religions should be able to participate in this & I would sure enjoy hearing from them all.

[smkolins]

Sorry I missed this thread - but my contribution may be a bit off. As a child I was born into a generic protestant family (some lutheran and some episcopal) but my father's mother was Roman Catholic and for whatever reasons my parents sent me off to a Catholic Sunday school.

About the same time I was really getting into astronomy - a hobby that if things had taken different routes I could have made a profession. I was known to exhaust public library sections on astronomy for example.

So when it came to Sunday School I wanted to know about Galileo and why the Church opposed him.

Well it wasn't long before I was asked not to come back!

I became a Baha'i many years later - but there are indeed Sunday schools (mostly as a reflection of the christianized culture we're among in the west) where Baha'is have such classes and so on. I haven't taught any. Perhaps some others have.

[arthra]

Having been raised a Baptist i had several Sunday School Teachers that i recall..

I remember when i was about ten years old we were re-enacting the battle between the Philistines and the Children of Israel and the re-enactment got a bit physical. The pastor's son kicked me in the groin and i went flying sprawling on the floor and was almost martyred then and there. It was my first time being kicked there!

But I have also taught some Sunday School classes which we Baha'is sometimes offer at our Centers more or less to accomodate those who like to have them.

Also at our Summer Schools. I once had some teenagers and told them i would gove a reward to the ones who listened the best or were able to recall the material we were reading... So when the rewards came up I selected the youth who seemed to be least interested and wow there was a surprise... She was delighted and shocked at the same time... I actually gave rewards to all of them. But we had some fun.

- Art

[Bandit]

i am sorry to hear about this smkolins & arthra.

but i am not suprized at all & i think it is a shame & disapointing. i guess i am just really blessed with the teachers that I got and what i would call the BEST of the BEST. we are known around the country as the WORD church (as in bible).

glad to hear you are making a better sunday school teacher arthra & recovered from that kick.

smkolins, I know what it is like to be asked not to come back from other denominations. it sucks & it is stupid but i feel some relief in that!

[arthra]

Well the kick to the groin while memorable wasn't that serious and i was able to reproduce later...heh...heh... Just be careful when you ask children tto re-enact ancient battles.

- Art

[lunamoth]

Heaven help the little ones at my church because next week I'll be helping teach the VBS. We're recreating a Jerusalem marketplace during the passion week and my role is to run a spice shop, help kids grind spices and herbs to make a little satchet, tell them about how spices were used in the day (and today) and be excited about Jesus. Cool.

As my sister advises, I'll try not to warp them too much.

lunamoth

[Bandit]

Originally Posted by lunamoth

Heaven help the little ones at my church because next week I'll be helping teach the VBS. We're recreating a Jerusalem marketplace during the passion week and my role is to run a spice shop, help kids grind spices and herbs to make a little satchet, tell them about how spices were used in the day (and today) and be excited about Jesus. Cool.

As my sister advises, I'll try not to warp them too much.

lunamoth

awesome! VBS was the best. i remember all those teachers too.
you know there is a reward & blessing in teaching. even if you only (warp) reach one. they will remember you forever
i think you will be just fine there in that department.