When I became a teenager, I started to develop a distaste for Sunday School. I’d loved doing a variety of Christian Science activities when I was a kid, including attending Christian Science Sunday School. But now, I was becoming hyperaware of all the times when our class discussions would go off topic or when it felt like I hadn’t learned anything. Also, I was never satisfied with what happened in the class. When we only read from the weekly Bible Lesson (found in the Christian Science Quarterly), I wished we’d had a discussion. When we did have a discussion, I wished we’d read from the Lesson. I was blind to these contradictions and focused on the negative.

As time went on, I felt less motivated to go to Sunday School, and my attendance dropped. Even when the pandemic lockdown caused my church to close for an undetermined amount of time, my dislike for Sunday School only grew as I continued to reflect on all the things about it that weren’t working for me. 

Then the opportunity arose to attend an online version of Christian Science Sunday School sponsored by another church. I liked it and preferred many aspects over the in-person experience. I loved the thoughtful discussions and the way every topic was one I’d never before discussed from a Christian Science perspective. I felt like I didn’t want to go back to my original Sunday School routine, when this new class was working so well for me.