The Church’s Unsung Hero: The Persevering Sunday School Teacher

I recently finished an almost year-long stint as interim pastor for a vibrant church just a half hour from my home. It’s always a blessing to open God’s Word for God’s people week after week and to pray for and give guidance to a staff and congregation during a time of transition.

Not long ago, I took one of the church members to lunch, a guy in his 30s who grew up as part of the congregation and had recently found his way back. Over a basket of chicken tenders and fries, he raved about the woman who teaches the third-grade Sunday school class his son attends. It’s the same woman who taught him Sunday school at that age. Thirty years later, she’s still in the role.

“She doesn’t play around,” he said. “She knows the Word she’s going to teach those kids, she comes prepared, she stays on point, and she does her job with excellence. What she did for me she’s now doing for my son. That’s special.”

Celebrate Consistency

Sometimes we wonder how frequent or how rare it is to find examples of people that consistent and faithful over so many years to the same ministry. In my experience, the cases are more frequent than we think, but it’s rare that we hear about or celebrate these people.

The persevering Sunday school teacher is the unsung hero of the church. Everyone can see the preacher on Sunday. The same goes for the worship team or the instrumentalists. Or the short-term mission teams that go out and do service in the name of the Lord and then come back and give testimony. But few take notice of the faithful Sunday school teacher—the man or woman in the background laboring over a Bible lesson, incorporating new ways to engage children with the truth of God’s Word, and following up with prayer and support as the kids grow up.

Committed Sunday school teachers are a big part of what makes discipleship effective. Yet how often do we let weeks and years go by without lifting up their example or celebrating their faithfulness? These leaders are like the part of the engine that only the mechanic can see yet that’s still critical to the car’s well-being and functionality.

Influence of Group Leaders

And let’s not just brag on Sunday school teachers devoted to kids. A faithful man or woman who prepares a Bible study for an adult class every week for a period of five years will perform this task 250 times. If your Sunday school teacher has been serving for 10 years, they’ve probably done 500 Bible studies. The 20-year veterans have taught 1,000 hours (and that doesn’t count the time spent in preparation).

What’s funny, most group leaders tell me that when they started, they had no idea how long their service would be. Often they begin as a coteacher, or a fill-in for someone else, or they agree to one year . . . and that ministry gets extended again and again, like renewing a contract they never signed. Over time, they develop the knack for leading others into an encounter with God’s Word. They learn to enjoy the regular routine of preparing a lesson and how it reinvigorates their personal Bible study. They deepen relationships with the people they’ve shared life with, men and women who’ve passed in and out of their group.

These are unsung heroes. The church is full of them. So is the Bible.

In Colossians 4 , the apostle Paul highlights 10 lesser-known figures from the early church. In Tychicus, we have an example of encouraging one another through God’s Word, while Onesimus illustrates how the gospel transforms lives, turning the “useless” into the “useful.” Aristarchus exemplifies the importance of sharing in both joys and sufferings, and Mark teaches us the value of resilience as he overcame past failures and became the writer of one of the four Gospels. Justus models a primary identity grounded in Christ, and Epaphras shows us how to contend for others in prayer. Luke the doctor demonstrates how our professions can serve God’s glory, while Demas serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of worldliness. Nympha shows that even small contributions can have significant effects, and Archippus challenges us to remain faithful to our callings.

And let’s not forget the profound influence of Lois and Eunice on Timothy, as noted in 2 Timothy 1:5 . These two women instilled in Timothy a faith that would shape his ministry and influence the early church. The most significant contributions to the kingdom often come from those who never stand in the spotlight.

Look around your church and find the unsung heroes. They don’t want you to sing their praises. They’ll be perfectly content if you direct that praise to the God who called and equipped them for ministry. So let’s make sure we do so. Let’s offer gratitude for the plodding, persevering work of God’s people who devote countless unseen hours to serving the next generation. Church wouldn’t be church without them.

Trevin Wax is vice president of research and resource development at the North American Mission Board and a visiting professor at Cedarville University. A former missionary to Romania, Trevin is a regular columnist at The Gospel Coalition and has contributed to The Washington Post, Religion News Service, World, and Christianity Today. He has taught courses on mission and ministry at Wheaton College and has lectured on Christianity and culture at Oxford University. He is a founding editor of The Gospel Project, has served as publisher for the Christian Standard Bible, and is currently a fellow for The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. He is the author of multiple books, including The Thrill of Orthodoxy , The Multi-Directional Leader , Rethink Your Self , This Is Our Time , and Gospel Centered Teaching . His podcast is Reconstructing Faith . He and his wife, Corina, have three children. You can follow him on Twitter or Facebook , or receive his columns via email .