Did you go to Sunday School today? If so, you can thank Robert Raikes who died on April 5, 1811 in Gloucester, England. Raikes was a printer who couldn’t understand why there were so many young children known as “white slaves” getting into trouble on Sundays. He learned they worked in factories 6 days a week and most of their parents were either dead or in prison. With the help of his local vicar they started teaching reading and writing and Bible lessons on Sundays for these children and soon 4,000 Sunday Schools were a part of regular Christian worship in England. This is a statue of him in London.
