Sabbath School is a function of the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

Seventh Day Baptist Seventh Day Baptists are Baptists who observe the Sabbath as the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as a holy day to God. They adopt a covenant Baptist theology, based on the concept of regenerated society, conscious baptism of believers by immers ...

Church of God (Seventh-Day) The Churches of God (Seventh-Day) is composed of a number of sabbath-keeping churches, among which the General Conference of the Church of God, or simply CoG7, is the best-known organization. The Churches of God (Seventh Day) observe Sabbath on ...

, some other

sabbatarian Sabbatarianism advocates the observation of the Sabbath in Christianity, in keeping with the Ten Commandments. The observance of Sunday as a day of worship and rest is a form of first-day Sabbatarianism, a view which was historically heralded ...

denominations, usually comprising a song service and Bible study lesson on the

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...

. It is usually held before the church service on Saturday morning, but this may vary. It includes programs that are Bible based, to foster Christian growth. This period usually lasts for a period of 1 hour 40 minutes. During this time the "lesson study" is also conducted.

Activities

Sabbath School usually begins at 9:30am or 10:30am on Saturday mornings before the

worship service A church service (or a service of worship) is a formalized period of Christian communal worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adorat ...

starts. The Sabbath School service for adults typically has two portions. The first portion begins with a song service, followed by a mission emphasis and a short talk. The second, and larger portion, is the lesson study. Different churches conduct Sabbath School in many ways, mostly teaching on the same topic or reading in a given week, as each quarter of the year has a different theme that reflects Bible, doctrinal, or church lifestyle teachings. The lesson booklet is called the "quarterly." Sabbath School may be conducted in one large class, or the congregation may separate into smaller groups for discussion in the sanctuary or in different rooms. Participation is not restricted to Church members. Young people often meet separately. After Sabbath School the church service begins, usually at 11:00am. On the last Sabbath of the quarter, or the 13th Sabbath, a special collection is taken for a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

project. During the "13th Sabbath Program," youngsters may present a music or acting special based on the subject learned that quarter or explain the traditions and dress in the attire of the countries or world regions which offerings collected will benefit. Communion Service preceded by footwashing may take place on or right after the 13th Sabbath. A 2002 worldwide survey of local church leaders estimated that 67% of Adventists, including 63% of under-18s, "attend Sabbath School nearly every week".

Teachers

Sabbath School teachers are usually lay people selected by a designated coordinator, board, or committee. Normally, the selection is based on a perception of character and ability to teach the Bible rather than formal training in education, although some Sabbath School teachers have a background in

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

as a result of their occupation. Some churches offer courses in teaching, or hold teachers' classes to go over the lesson for that Sabbath; other churches allow volunteers who make a profession of faith to teach without training.

Study guides (Seventh-day Adventist)

Adult lesson

Adult An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...

church members are provided with the ''Adult Bible Study Guide'' (formerly known as ''Sabbath School Quarterly'') issued four times a year. It is also known as the "Quarterly"Pacific Press Publishing Association – Search
/ref> and the "Lesson". It is published by

Pacific Press Publishing Association The Pacific Press Publishing Association, or Pacific Press for short, is one of two major Seventh-day Adventist publishing houses in North America. It was founded in 1874 by James White in Oakland, California, and is now located in Nampa, Id ...

. Sabbath School quarterlies are Bible study guides that cover a specific topic or book of the Bible every quarter. The quarterly is designed to be read during the

week A week is a unit of time equal to seven days. It is the standard time period used for short cycles of days in most parts of the world. The days are often used to indicate common work days and rest days, as well as days of worship. Weeks are ofte ...

, so that during Sabbath School, the class members are ready to discuss questions and topics raised in that lesson in small groups. The Adult Sabbath School always has a heavy focus on the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. All

Seventh-day Adventists The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...

around the world use the same Sabbath School quarterly,

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

into the necessary

languages Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

(with few exceptions such as Germany, where members cover the same topic with different material). the

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

of the Adult Sabbath School lessons was

Clifford Goldstein Clifford R. Goldstein (born in 1955) is an American author and editor. He is a leading figure in the Seventh-day Adventist denomination and espouses mainline Adventist beliefs. Biography Goldstein was born in Albany, New York in the United St ...

Other lessons

At the same time as the adult study,

children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

attend classes for their age group. Typical age group divisions are Beginner (infants), Kindergarten (K), Primary (Grades 1-3), Junior (Grades 4-6), Earliteen (Grades 7-8), Youth (High School), and Collegiate (College and Young Adult). Each age division has its own specific quarterly, which is titled by the class name up to Primary. Juniors and Earliteens often share the same quarterly entitled ''PowerPoints''. Some Earliteen groups use a separate publication entitled ''Real Time Faith''. Youth use either ''Cornerstone Connections'' or ''Collegiate Quarterly (CQ)''. Some churches give the children a weekly

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

at the close of Sabbath School. Kindergarten receives ''Our Little Friend'', Primary receives ''Primary Treasure'', Juniors and Earliteens receive ''

Guide A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Expl ...

'', and the Youth receive ''

Insight Insight is the understanding of a specific cause and effect within a particular context. The term insight can have several related meanings: *a piece of information *the act or result of understanding the inner nature of things or of seeing intu ...

''.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Adult Bible Study Guide official website
History of the Seventh-day Adventist Church Sunday schools