I Did Not Graduate from Church School
By Bishop Adam Jefferson Richardson, Jr., Senior Bishop
I ended my sermonic effort at the unveiling of the cornerstone of the magnificent, state-of-the-art African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church Publishing House in Nashville, Tennesee, with an emphatic confession, “I never graduated from Sunday School.”
I conceded to having graduated from several levels of schooling, beginning with kindergarten and progressing to a professional doctorate — all upward steps to being reasonably literate.
The decades have mounted since I graduated from THE Florida A &M University, and from that citadel of theological study, the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in Atlanta, and the course of study for the Doctor of Sacred Theology degree. I have been exposed to a plethora of books and articles and a multitude of lectures, sermons, speeches, and relevant conversations. However, I did not graduate from Bible study.
To be a Christian, in my opinion, is to submit to a life-long continuing education experience. There is always something new to learn, not always in a formal setting, but finding something intellectually stimulating and spiritually nutritious to grow on, something to discover, something to edify mind and soul. In Florida, it was one of the reasons we began referring to this intentional time of reflection as Bible Discovery Hour.
I have lived to be an aged man, but I resist the thought of being beyond my capacity to receive incoming information, of gaining new perspectives on familiar texts, to seeing new insights from the Word that connect the dots to my contemporary circumstance. I join the faithful group of Bible “scholars” nearly every week and sit under the teaching of whoever has been given the assignment and opportunity to share witness and insight into the International Sunday School lesson on any given day, dubbed as “Liberating Faith Studies.” There is always something fresh to ponder. It is the ancient book that never gets old.
My professor of the Hebrew Bible in seminary, Professor G. Murray Branch (who succeeded Martin Luther King, Jr. as pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery), remarked one morning in class: “I have never heard a sermon or a lecture from which I received nothing from the presentation.” My best friend from college, Rochester Johnson, seated next to me, said under his breath, barely audible, “I have!” Dr. Branch did not hear the comment but, without missing a beat, proceeded to put context to his assertion by adding, “Even if it is no more than how I would treat the subject matter.”
On any given Sunday morning, it does not matter who has the assignment–I expect to glean something essential to contribute to my development as a believer, to reinforce my presumed knowledge of the text, to enhance my faith commitment — “even if it’s no more than how I would treat the subject matter.”
I am not bothered that we are not at the same levels of scholarship, academic achievement, or spiritual maturity. What matters is the agape of the fellowship, that we all have a compelling interest in the same God in Christ event, and that there is profit in discovering the truth, meaning, and application of God’s Word for our lives.
Further, Jesus mandates that we study. Jesus said to his disciples, “Learn of Me!”
Learning of–studying Christ–is what it means to be a disciple. To be a disciple is a call to study. Paul said, “That I may know Him!” From the word disciple comes the word discipline. A disciple is a learner, and to be a disciple is to practice the discipline of the one who is doing the teaching. In this sense, Jesus said, “Take my yoke and learn of Me.” Discipline is foundational to our faith tradition as Methodists – it was the style of John Wesley and Richard Allen.
As it was in my youth, Church School continues to be an environment where we forge lifelong friendships. Each Sunday morning, we gather as kindred spirits, grateful to have a forum that spans time zones and continents. I have learned to sit quietly and absorb what is being taught, no matter who leads the discussion. It is also an opportunity for fellowship across Episcopal Districts, reinforcing our connection with the Connection.
I am also blessed to hear the singing of President/Publisher Dr. Roderick Belin. Not only is he gifted with a voice that can bless a believer’s heart, but he also chooses a hymn, hymns that most of us grew up loving to hear, hymns that factored into our spiritual enrichment, and punctuate our core theological beliefs. I had not considered the day when hymns would yield to obsolescence for their disuse. The publisher encourages us to sing along, with our devices muted, but forming the words in our mouths (as singing is formative, as he is wont to say). This, too, is Christian Education.
Every Sunday morning, I have somewhere to go. I have invited the people of the Terrifically Talented Tenth Episcopal District to meet me in Church School. They have consistently followed the leader who said, “Follow me to Sunday School.” It is the reason Texas wins the coveted Attendance Banner every week. This, too, is Methodist Discipline.
Thus, I am a self-declared disciple of Jesus Christ. I have a mandate to “learn of Him.” It is a school I enrolled in at my parent’s insistence on the Cradle Roll of the St. Luke AME Church in Tampa, Florida, seven decades ago, progressing through the age-related classes from Beginners to Primary, to Junior, to Senior, to Adult Classes. It was a school I enrolled in as a toddler, from which I do not expect to graduate. I am still learning.
So, if you are looking for me on Sunday mornings, you can find me in Church School.
