Entrenched But Incapable
Stephen A. Bly
January 1, 1989
I gasped. "George Nye has been Sunday school superintendent for forty-seven years?"
"Yep. He's an institution here at First Church," I was told.
Stability, I thought. It will be great to have at least one position where I won't have to beg someone to take charge.
For a young seminarian at his first church, what an awesome discovery: George already had been supervising the Sunday school for twenty years when I was born. He had witnessed the coming and going of eight pastors. When he started, the streets in town weren't paved, the farmers in the countryside didn't have electricity, and half the homes still had outhouses. And he assured me everything in the Sunday school was under control.
I casually asked George one day when the next Sunday school teachers' meeting would be.
"Why?" he growled.
"Oh, I just want to get to know everyone," I stammered.
"I gave you a list of the workers," he reminded me. "We don't have meetings unless I feel there is a need. We'll probably have one in December to plan the Christmas program."
I didn't press the matter. After all, what did I know about Sunday school, except for some seminary classes and three years of teaching third- and fourth-graders? No plans for the Christmas program until December? The thought kept nagging me.
The first week in December, I asked George about the Christmas program.
"I decided not to have a program," he announced. "It's the same thing year after year. Mrs. Nye and I bought the children candy canes instead."
A quick informal survey of the teachers, who had not had a meeting, revealed disappointment. They counted on the program as a way to meet some of the nonchurch children's parents. At the last moment, we designated a Sunday for each class to hold its own Christmas party. ...
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