I teach the Legacy Builders Bible Fellowship Group (think old folks Sunday school class) at our church. Because we never sing a hymn in the worship service, we sing a hymn each week in class. Recently, we sang “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms,” and that opened floodgates of church memories for me. My earliest memory of church is standing beside my mother at the First Baptist Church of Fairfield, Texas. My father was the pastor, and the year would have been 1954. That memory prompted me to remember other things of the SBC past. Old timers reading this will nod and smile (I hope), and younger readers may find these memories quaint, strange, or even bizarre.
The typical weekly church schedule was like this:
Sunday—10:00 a.m. Sunday School
11:00 a.m. Worship
6:00 p.m. Training Union (a program for training disciples)
7:00 p.m. Evening Worship
Wednesday—7:00 p.m. Prayer Meeting, Girls Auxiliary (missions) & Royal Ambassadors (boys’ missions)
8:00 p.m. Choir Practice
The Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) would meet during the daytime during the week, as did the Sunbeams (missions for preschool kids). Personally, I played triangle in the Sunbeam Rhythm Band.
Before heading off to Sunday school, my mother would be sure that each of us kids had our “offering envelope.” She would place a coin in the envelope and then fill out the report checklist, which included Bible brought, offering given, and number of contacts. I forget the other items; you can help me with this.
Every church had a report board that hung in the auditorium beside the pulpit platform. The report board indicated Sunday school attendance this week, attendance last week, Sunday school offering, and contacts. Some churches had a board on the other side of the platform that listed the hymns for that Sunday.
Almost all of the churches used literature published by the Baptist Sunday School Board (now Lifeway). There was only one curriculum, so you could visit another SBC church and be assured your church back home was studying the same lesson.
Sunday school attendance was tracked very carefully, and a healthy child with a pious mother could earn a perfect attendance pin. These were not just for children. I knew a deacon in Arkansas who had 46 perfect attendance pins. One Sunday, he wore them all. If you were away from home, you could bring back a bulletin from the church you visited. That would keep your perfect attendance record intact.
On Sundays, we wore our “Sunday best” clothes. For ladies, Sunday best was a dress, stockings, hat, and gloves. In town churches, men wore suits and ties.
In worship, we sang only hymns and responses found in the hymnbook. The responses included the doxology, which we sang each Sunday after the offering. Some churches would sing “The Lord Is in His Holy Temple” at the beginning of the worship service and a three-fold amen at the end. Many churches included a responsive Scripture reading each week. These readings were found at the back of the hymnbook. They were arrangements of Scripture designed for a leader to read one verse and the congregation to read the next. We always had a public invitation (altar call) at the end of the sermon. There were certain hymns reserved for this, like “Just as I am” and “Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling.”
Most churches had both a piano and an organ. Each service would begin with a musical prelude and conclude with a postlude. Hardly anyone heard the postlude; everybody was eager to go to lunch.
The SBC established and maintained a training program for lay persons, called “The Church Study Course.” This training involved “study courses,” and featured books of about 100 pages. The Convention Press published books on Bible books, Baptist history, Baptist doctrine, church administration, evangelism, religious education, and many others. If a layperson, read a certain list of the books and did the assignments, the member would receive a certificate. Some of the books on the Bible had been topics of study in the January Bible Study. Each January the SBC would sponsor the study of a book of the Bible, or a portion of a book. If you visit a church library, you’ll probably find a number of these books. Larger churches would invite a seminary professor to teach the January Bible Study.
Related to the study courses were programs to train “State-Approved Workers,” State Convention Approved Workers were laypersons who had been trained in Sunday school ministry. The SBC grouped Sunday school pupils by age: cradle roll (nursery), beginners (age 4-5), primary (age 6-8), juniors (age 9-11), and intermediates (age 12-14). A Sunday school teacher could become “state-approved” by completing the designated study course books and attending Sunday school workshops. Once approved, the teacher then was eligible to lead training workshops. My mother was trained to teach primaries by Mrs. Ellen Tyler, a state-approved worker from Ozark, Arkansas.
Every five years or so, associations would sponsor a World Missions Conference (WMC). This was an 8-day missions emphasis that ran from Sunday through Sunday. The association would work with the state convention, Foreign Mission Board, and Home Mission Board to facilitate the conference. Churches voluntarily participated in the WMC. The churches would hold a missions service on two Sunday mornings and each night during that week. During the WMC the churches heard reports on state missions, home missions, and foreign missions. For my part, I would preach on missions on Sunday morning, and I would share my furlough presentation (slide show) each night in a different church. Sadly, few associations sponsor WMCs anymore.
Well, dear readers, what are your memories? It may be that I misremembered something or left something out. I would love for you to share your memories. Or, it may be that you would like some clarification. Whatever. Let me hear from you.
