Bulletin of Nizhnevartovsk State UniversityBulletin of Nizhnevartovsk State University2311-14022686-8784Nizhnevartovsk State University49389Research ArticleInteraction between families and sunday schools in the process of moral upbringing of childrenArtemievaG. NCandidate of History, Assistant Professor at the Department of Education and Development Psychology-Nizhnevartovsk State University150620152515605112020Copyright © 2015, Artemieva G.N.2015Moral upbringing of the younger generation is one of the topical issues associated with the revival of spirituality and preservation of the Russian national, moral and cultural traditions. Spirituality and morality are universal human values essential to the development of a civilized society. Currently, when Russian people are looking for the ways of spiritual renewal, Orthodox educational tradition is especially relevant. Orthodox spiritual and moral education, along with the secular one, is a subject of many researches and works written by scientists, holy fathers and teachers of the Church. In Russian tradition, family is the main educational institution. Parents are responsible to society for creating the conditions and providing the best opportunities for spiritual and moral upbringing of children. However, nowadays family is undergoing major changes: interpersonal relations are becoming more complicated, mental and physical health of family members decreases, and family values are lost. Orthodox spiritual and moral upbringing of children in Sunday schools is less subject to fundamental changes. Orthodox education is aimed at creating conditions to support the development of person’s spiritual life. This paper considers the conditions of interaction between families and Sunday schools, the latter being a structural unit of the Russian Orthodox Church, in the process of spiritual and moral upbringing of children. Interacting with families, Sunday schools perform a number of important functions: developing family’s educational opportunities, providing pedagogical instruction within Orthodox traditions, involving parents in joint activities with children, and correcting the educational process in individual families. The paper describes the interaction between families and the Sunday School in the Church of the Nativity of Christ in Nizhnevartovsk. Many students starting a Sunday School perceive the learning process as an orientation period. Here children learn basic concepts and principles of Christian life and Orthodox Church. The Sunday School in Nizhnevartovsk was founded twenty years ago, and now it is gradually turning from a traditional children’s school into a family school. Here we describe the experience this Sunday School gained in working with families, such as discussions of family’s spiritual and moral potential initiated by school teachers and priests, joint training sessions, joint home reading, conferences reports on local summer excursions and pilgrimages, participation in traditional religious holidays and festivals, joint work in drawing and craft competitions in Nizhnevartovsk district.spiritualitymoralityspiritual and moral upbringingSunday Schoolдуховностьнравственностьдуховно-нравственное воспитаниевоскресная школа[Вопросы православной педагогики / Общ. ред. свящ. А.Владимирова. М., 1992. Вып. 1.][Духовно-нравственное воспитание младших школьников в свете ФГОС второго поколения: Методические рекомендации. Белгород, 2013. Ч. 3.][Зеньковский В.В. Проблемы воспитания в свете христианской антропологии. М., 1993.][Педагогический энциклопедический словарь / Гл. ред. Б.М.Бим-Бад. М., 2002.][Протоиерей Виктор Дорофеев. Опыт работы воскресных школ Московской епархии. URL: www.mepar.ru/ library/vedomosti/57/1045.]