Sunday School

Today was my last day working at the Global Ministry Center. In just a few days I will be going home to Pennsylvania, and in a few weeks I will be going to Romania.

When I moved to Kansas City five years ago and applied to work at Nazarene Headquarters, I wanted to work in the World Mission department. It seemed like a logical connection, given my interest in missions. When I got a job in Sunday School Ministries department, however, I had to learn a lot in an area I wasn’t familiar.

For me, Sunday school was something that I had been teaching kindergarten children in Sunday school for several years, at my home church and throughout college. For me, Sunday school was that hour before church on Sunday morning that is mostly for kids, although some teens and adults also go to Sunday school classes. It didn’t take long for me to realize that Sunday school is for all ages. Not only that, but the SSM department also included many other discipleship ministries (for example, men’s and women’s ministries, single adult and marriage ministries, lay training, quizzing, VBS, and much, much more!)

A few years ago, the department name was expanded to Sunday School & Discipleship Ministries International (SDMI). Since then, discipleship has been a big part of what we do. Adding the word “International” also forced us to think intentionally about our constituents outside the USA, and how we can resource them.

So, now that I’m leaving the Kansas City area, going to Romania, I find it a bit ironic that when I came here I knew very little about Sunday school, but now I leave with the intention to use the resources and knowledge I’ve learned working for SDMI to Romania with me. The focus of my ministry there will be training lay leaders in the churches there and working with them to develop discipleship ministries, such as Sunday school.

Photo: SDMI staff present on my last day

Photo by Tony DePina