The first ''national'' Sunday School effort began in America during this period. The American Sunday School Union, a cross-denominational national organization founded in [[Philadelphia]] in 1824, published curricular materials and children's books that were used in many Sunday Schools in that day; its stated purpose was to organize, evangelize and civilize. The focus was intentionally [[Evangelical Christians|evangelical]], and so within the next 100 years the Sunday School had become the primary outreach arm of the Protestant churches. | The first ''national'' Sunday School effort began in America during this period. The American Sunday School Union, a cross-denominational national organization founded in [[Philadelphia]] in 1824, published curricular materials and children's books that were used in many Sunday Schools in that day; its stated purpose was to organize, evangelize and civilize. The focus was intentionally [[Evangelical Christians|evangelical]], and so within the next 100 years the Sunday School had become the primary outreach arm of the Protestant churches. |