Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Sunday School Memories

A tweet by Keli Gwyn, an author and devoted Sunday School teacher, got me thinking about my experiences with Sunday school. As a child of the 80s who grew up in a tiny Oklahoma town, attending Sunday school and church on Sunday morning was a given. I have great memories of my Sunday school days:

Lacy socks
My mom would dress my sister and I in our Sunday best, which included patent mary janes and white socks with lace around the hem.

Felt Boards
We had felt figures like Noah's ark, the ten commandments, a fishing boat, fish, and loaves of bread to stick to the felt board. There were also several generic felt people in long robes who served as whichever Biblical character we were learning about that week.

Rocking boat
We had a wooden rocking boat that turned into steps when you flipped it over. We spent hours re-enacting Bible stories on that boat/stage.

Frosted animal crackers
This was one of my favorite parts of the hour. The cookies always came with a paper cup of juice made from little more than sugar, water, and red food coloring.
Did you attend Sunday School as a kid? What are your memories?

34 comments:

  1. Ah! We must have the same fashion designers, chefs, and teachers!

    Thanks for making me smile! :) I loved Sunday school. Let's all break out with Father Abraham now! And I am one of them and so are you so let's just praise the Lord...

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    1. I'm going to be singing that all day now! :) Thanks a lot, Jessica. Lol.

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  2. What a fun post, Julie. I went to Sunday School a couple of decades before you, but I remember Mary Janes and lace-edged socks. Each year we'd get a fancy Easter outfit, and I would enjoy those black patent Mary Janes of mine all year long.

    I smiled when I read about the frosted animal cookies. That's the very treat I served my students Sunday, right before the craft during which I learned that using permanent puffy paints was NOT a good idea. Who knew one young lady would get the sleeve of her new Christmas gift hoodie in the paint? Oops!

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    1. Thanks for inspiring the post, Keli! I could use a big hand full of cookies right now.

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  3. Julie! This so made me smile. Lacy socks and felts boards...I'm right there with ya! Good memories and great lessons learned!

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    1. I'd love to go into my childhood church and see if there's still a felt board in one of the classrooms. :)

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  4. Oh such memories! I remember my lacy socks. My shoes were black patent leather. I remember having to clean them and shine them up for Sunday.

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    1. :) The church we attend now is casual, which I love, but there is also something sad about giving up the days of putting on clothes that were reserved for Sunday mornings.

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  5. I love this, Julie. And yes, I had the lacy socks and felt board too. Oh, and I still remember tearing the hem of my best dress when we learned the story of the lost little sheep. Apparently crawling on the floor like a sheep isn't a good idea in a dress. :)

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    1. Poor little sheep :) I think my mom eventually started putting tights on me because I ended up crawling or rolling around on the floor in my dress.

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  6. Oh, my goodness! The felt board brings back memories! I'm also an 80s child, and I remember my mom buying the cut-outs of the Bible stories for Sunday School. I begged to wear Mary Janes until my mother finally broke down and got me a pair, lol. Then I harangued her for white cotton gloves. Thanks for the retro trip, Julie!

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    1. White Gloves-Yes! I had those too, but we usually just broke them out on Easter.

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  7. These are great memories! We had flannel graph and frosted cookies too.

    I remember my dad giving me a dime to put in the little white plastic church bank. He would turn the dime over and show me how fancy it was on the back. He said it was so fancy because it was 'church' money.

    I remember Benjie Beaver stories in Children's Church, and singing Jesus Loves The Little Children of The World.

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    1. "He said it was so fancy because it was 'church' money." :) I love that!

      I heard someone else refer to it as a "flannel" board. It must be a regional thing.

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  8. Some of my earliest memories of attending church as a kid are about learning the songs. I remember flannel board stories! Probably not as cool for kids these days with all our technology. :)

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  9. I didn't have a whole lot of Sunday school. We were catholic, but I did love wearing pretty clothes to church. ;-)

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    1. At the time, I didn't like getting dressed up. I was a tomboy. Looking back now, I love that my mom got me all dressed up.

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  10. Those Mary Janes and socks are so sweet! I also grew up Catholic and there was no Sunday school. But I remember always wearing a dress and a poncho.

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    1. A poncho - I would love to see a photo of that.

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  11. I went to Catholic school, so no Sunday school here. But I remember the days when church attire was a lot more formal than it is today.

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    1. Yes. Jeans in church would have been so taboo when I was growing up. Now it's the norm.

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  12. My first Sunday School teacher was in a little place called Maud, Oklahoma. She was a teacher at my grandmother's church, a little frame building with a membership of 25 on a "crowded" day.
    Mrs. Drumwight taught all of the kids, regardless of age. She is old in my memories, but she touched my life with her teaching and her homemade sugar cookies packaged in a brown paper bag. She died at the age 96, still living on her own, still sharing the word of God. When I taught, she was the picture of success I strived to attain.

    I still say "Mrs. Drumwright said..."

    50 years from now I hope one of the kids I taught says "Sis. Sharon said..."

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  13. What a wonderful story! Thanks for sharing, Sharon!

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  14. I did attend Sunday School. We always got a donut before it started, and I loved the jelly donuts. While most of my memories are fond, I do remember not being able to recite the 4th commandment and getting in trouble for it!

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  15. I loved the felt boards! when my daughter was going to SS I made her one:)
    Yes I have wonderful memories of going to SS where i even earned my first Bible:) It's where I learned about Jesus and finally accepted him as my Savior.

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    1. I should do that for my son. He would love it.

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  16. Oh yes, felt boards! I can still picture the stories. I think I was short changed though since I didn't get those frosted animal crackers. :) Fun post!

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  17. I did not wear Mary Janes, but I do remember going to church one Sunday and my mom made me go home with my dad to change my socks. I actually thought white socks were in with dress slacks. Mom did not agree.

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    1. Ha! I think you could bring white socks and dress slacks into style.

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  18. Hi Julie, It was fun meeting you over at Jill's place today. You certainly have a beautiful family (posted earlier)!

    You've reminded me of two wonderful ladies who were the backbone of our Sunday School. One of the favorite songs was "In the Garden" and I now sing it almost every week during our nursing home Bible study. (I rocked my babies to it and know my daughter rocked hers to it, too. The only difference is that she can carry a tune.)

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    1. Thanks, Patti. I have some great memories of my Sunday School teachers as well. :)

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