SUNDAY SCHOOL, VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL & CHILDREN'S CHURCH PART 2...

A continuation of the history of the unbiblical practice of separating children from their parents in religious education.

Mattie P. Miles (1870-1949)

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOLS
Mrs. D.T. Miles or the wife of a Methodist "Reverend" David T. Miles, pastor of the Hopedale United Methodist Church in Hopedale, Illinois was the first person to invent a vacation bible school.  As is explained in a supportive website:

Vacation Bible School, as we think of it today, goes back a century. Part of the success of the concept is based on its universal appeal. Christian parents do not seem to worry about crossing denominational lines when sending their children to a VBS. Indeed, unchurched and non-religious parents are often quite happy to have their children participate in Vacation Bible School. The positive experience of generations of VBS-attendees has quieted sectarian concerns. It can be argued that VBS is one of the most effective ecumenical and evangelistic tools in the Church's "playbook."

The earliest link in the Vacation Bible School movement can probably be attributed to Mrs. D. T. Miles, the wife of a Methodist minister in Hopedale, Illinois. Having worked as a school teacher, Mrs. Miles was passionate about education. Desiring to teach the Bible to children and feeling limited by the constraints of once-a-week Sunday school, she instituted a daily Bible camp in the summer of 1894, utilizing classrooms in a nearby school building. The program lasted four weeks. Forty students were enrolled.

It's wonderful of Mr. Dai Morgan to enlighten us concerning the best way to water down the differences between religious groups and to show us how vacation bible schools are an "effective" tool in the "church's 'playbook'".  Of course, we have heard these terms before.  We know that "effective" means man-energized efforts, not based on the Spirit of God's work but on techniques which when used, yield results.

The Church of God has a very old "playbook".  It was handed down to us from Jesus of Nazareth, through his apostles.  It is VERY "effective" in that it brings the elect to God without fail or man-energized efforts.

Epiphany Baptist Church

Like all man made devices and systems, they are imperfect and need tweeking.  This was done by another woman, Eliza Hawes who was the "Children's Director" of the Epiphany Baptist Church in New York City.  She became interested in the large number of children of newly arrived immigrants that lived in the tenements of the lower East side of Manhattan.  In July of 1896, she rented a beer hall offering an "Everyday Bible School" with a program of worship, music, Bible stories and scripture memorization, games, crafts, drawing, cooking, etc.  Ironically, this recruitment program did not help the church which has disappeared from the pages of the history of New York.

VBS Convention 1925

To see that the same principles, put into action by Sunday School proponents, in the 19th century, are the same today, we quote from this website expounding the greatness of Vacation Bible School:

“Many of the events churches do are done to increase attendance. VBS is not one of those events. It never has been. VBS is work for the kingdom,” said Cathy Strom, children’s minister at Central Baptist Church. “We want the children, who might not have known Jesus, to be Christ followers. We want those who already knew him to build closer relationships with God.”

Vaughn

Again it is the same supposition, "the children who might not have known Jesus to be Christ followers."  What children are these?  All who Christ died for will reach heaven.  None of His sheep will be lost. Jesus promised that he would not lose one (John 6:39).

Speaking of the usefulness of Vacation Bible Schools, Mrs. Hazel Stafford (an influential inventor of this system) in a book titled, The Vacation Religious Day School, Teacher's Manual of Principles and Programs states:

Such a school does not claim to be the panacea for all religious ills, neither the last word in religious education, but it does claim to provide a sane solution for some of the problems and to furnish a happy efficient center for training and developing the religious life of the young.

Let's be clear.  What is meant by "the religious life of the young", is a moral education, at best a teaching of Bible facts, in other words, the same knowledge every demon knows who is going to hell.  There is no mention of the saving power of the blood of Christ, no mention of election from before the foundations of the earth, no, just formalism, en emphasis on right conduct and proper social etiquette.  It espouses a type of gradualism, a process where an unregenerate through successive steps becomes born again.  How far is this from Paul's preaching and very experience when he was thrown from his horse by a blinding

light!  Earlier in this section Mrs. Stafford calls the school a "machinery".  And so it is!

Definite action either for or against the plan should be secured at this meeting. If it is decided to establish a school, an Executive Committee from the cooperating churches should be established consisting of (i) general chairman, (2) chairman of curriculum and teachers, (3) chairman of equipment, (4) chairman of publicity, (5) chairman of finance and (6) chairman of a house-to-house canvass. If there is a Church Federation Committee in the community, it should appoint and back up the above named chairmen.

If only the New Testament churches had been organized on such a plan?  How "efficient" they would have become!  Indeed Paul should have mentioned to us about his organization of such schools!  But yet there is silence in the scriptures concerning any such organization.

Of course, in such a manmade organization like this the requirements surpass those of our Lord in the New Testament. Stafford states:

Only those possessing actual teaching experience and accept able according to public school standards should be considered. Of these choose only those who have been successful teachers and are of Christian character. Teaching experience in the Sunday schools is not necessary. Often married women who were formerly teachers will consent to teach for a half day, three-week period. A weekly salary is paid, usually ten to fifteen dollars a week for teachers, fifteen to twenty-five dollars for a superintendent.

Imagine if they had picked a fisherman, or an uneducated person to fulfill these high positions?  No, there is no necessity for the Holy Spirit to be involved.  With the proper accreditation, this machinery can supplant the Lord's requirements of a contrite and broken heart, humility, temperance, love, kindness, and above all a calling to the work by God as opposed to committee.

Mention is made of "house-to-house canvassing", a foreign term in New Testament parlance.  There we are advised to bypass certain types of people:

The workers should be assigned to their resident wards, and be supplied, if possible, with printed matter about the school. The worker will avoid trouble and criticism if she asks at the door of the home visited whether the family is Catholic or Protestant. If the former, pass on, for no proselyting is desirable. 

Since this machinery has no true love of souls, it only caters to what will not create trouble for the workers.  After all, Christ only went to the Jews when he was on Earth.  He had no time for Samaritans at a well, or Gentile centurions. Catholics, should be left to burn in Hell for the convenience of this great enterprise.  There can of course, be no children of God found among them, only among the Protestants.  Reading this book sickens us.  It is so based on the works of the flesh that there is no room for God's sovereign grace.

CHILDREN'S CHURCH

This newer "ministry" seeks to complete the separation of children from their parents during worship.  The reason usually given in defense of this action is that children will distract from the focus of worship and themselves not understand what is being said.  So, they are sent somewhere else when the formal worship begins to allow the adults to concentrate on the preaching.

Once again we are shocked that the New Testament is so silent about such an essential practice!  How could this be? It seems that the same origins fro a Children's Church during the worship service is the same as that of Sunday Schools and Vacation Bible Schools.  The first, sought to separate children from their parents before the worship service.  The second one, sought to separate children from their parents during the summer. And, the last one, sought to separate children from their parents in the last remaining place where they were together - the worship service.

Thus, we can see in these two charts the pecking order of this trinity of manmade systems.  Sunday Schools reign as a used term in books from 1800-2000 over Vacation Bible School.

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We can also see that the Vacation Bible School was a more widely used term than Children's Church among books written from 1800-2000.

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Thus, it is hard to race the origins of children's church historically.  Suffice it to say that it is a logical outcome of Sunday schools and vacation bible schools.

A classic example of the view in support of Sunday schools, vacation bible schools, children's church, puppet ministries can be seen an opinion piece written by Dale Thompson.  The essential problem with all these systems of religious instruction is that they are built on a false premise.  That false premise is that by using a certain technique, system or order of procedures, God will most likely work a saving experience in a person's life!  This is what is meant by that perverse word "effectual" that people who value the works of man use.

This can be seen in the most basic statements of Christ in John 3.  Speaking to Nicodemus Jesus says, "...Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.  Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." (John 3:5-6)  Thus, no method, system or order of procedures can procure or produce a spiritual birth!  The Spirit's work of regeneration cannot be controlled or manipulated by the works of man.  "The wind blows wherever it pleases.  You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.  So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."  (John 3:8)

Thus be it so with all the towers of Babel that man builds to try to reach the height and power of God.