There is a big gap in thinking between clergy and church members as to why Sunday school students are decreasing in number. An opinion survey conducted last November by Korea Christian Media Forum (board chair: Rev. Kim Ji-cheol) and JI & COM Research, Inc. (representative: Ji Yong-geun), through interviews with 100 clergy and 900 church members, showed the following results: Church members attributed the downturn first of all to students’ increasingly heavy study burden, and also pointed to the low national birthrate, weakened parental appreciation of education for faith, and inadequate church education standards. On the other hand, many clergy (43%) named “weakened parental appreciation of education for faith” as the main cause of decline in students’ Sunday school attendance.
Reporter Pyeong Seon Jeon (junbs@kmib.co.kr), with Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)
Original Article in Korean:
[그래픽 미션-교회학생 줄어드는 이유] 성도 셋 중 한 명꼴 “공부 중압감 때문”