Sabbath School

Sabbath School is one of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s most important departments that serves as the primary religious educational resource for the world church. The mission of the Sabbath School is to be a system of local church religious education that builds faith and practice, and seeks to promote discipleship among its members which reflects the teachings of the Bible and the tenets of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The Sabbath School builds faith in its members through the study of the Scriptures, the doctrines and teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.  It builds practice through the application of biblical principles and the teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church to the individual lives of the Sabbath School members.

The Sabbath School has four specific objectives:

Study Of The Word

The Sabbath School will help the students understand the gospel and make a personal commitment to it.  This it will do by engaging students into the study of the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy through the use of Bible Study Guides.  This will help students grow spiritually.  Sabbath School will also help students develop a prayer program and teach them how to interpret and apply the principles of the Bible to their lives.

Fellowship

The Sabbath School will promote fellowship among members in the weekly Sabbath School program, develop projects for recruiting new members and integrating them into church life, and find ways of restoring inactive members.

Community Outreach

The Sabbath School will help its members catch a vision of the church’s mission in the community, train them for service, and inspire them to witness.  The school will develop programs to involve its students in soul-winning activities.

World Mission Emphasis

The Sabbath School will present a clear vision of the global mission of the church.  It will promote a personal, systematic, and self-denying commitment to the support of world missions, and foster in all members a desire to help fulfill the gospel commission.

Sabbath School Alive! is the new approach to Sabbath School programming.  Sabbath School is the heart of the church!  It is a common thread that helps bind together members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church around the world.  The Sabbath School Alive! initiative highlights three vital components of thriving Sabbath Schools:

 1.     Bible Study & Prayer – discover the power of Bible study and prayer in Sabbath School

2.     Fellowship – experience the joy of fellowship through study and service in Sabbath School

3.     Mission – gain world mission education and community outreach training in Sabbath School

 The power of Sabbath School is that it follows the divine model for true discipleship – Bible study and prayer, fellowship, and mission.  Sabbath School Alive! is a worldwide initiative of the General Conference Sabbath School department helping local churches to rediscover the power and purpose of Sabbath School.

“The influence growing out of Sabbath School work should improve and enlarge the church” (Counsels on Sabbath School Work, p. 9).

 “The Sabbath School, if rightly conducted, is one of God’s  great instrumentalities to bring souls to a knowledge of the truth … (Counsels on Sabbath School Work, p. 115).