As adult conversions became scarce and more children were born into the faith the school evolved into a Theological Seminary, with catechism being performed on a more personal level over the childhood and lifetime of the believer.
[1][2] This system was ineffective as it relied mostly on the rote memorization of stories, verses, and praises, and paid no attention to actual comprehension of theological concepts.
The low quality of Christian education coupled with harsh waves of persecution under Mamluk and Ottoman rule, resulted in centuries of darkness for the Coptic Church.
By the reign of Pope John XVIII (1769-1796) the presence of these Catholics finally began putting pressure on the Coptic Church with regards to issues of conversion and mixed-marriages.
To achieve this mission he opened the country up to foreign interests in hopes of benefiting from their expertise in modernizing the Egyptian economy, military, bureaucracy, and education system.
[4] The American Presbyterian Mission also had begun running "Sabbath (Sunday) Schools" in order to target and proselytize to children using illustrated books, pictures, and the question and answer method of catechism.
[8][9] While the Coptic Church had taken many steps to combat western proselytization of adults through the education of the clergy, and the publishing of apologetic periodicals, the youth and children remained vulnerable.
In these meetings he sought to replicate the model of the Sunday Schools run by the missionaries in order to better educate the Coptic children on their faith.
[2] In 1907 Pope Cyril V wrote a message to encourage the Sunday School Servants and pastors in continuing to educate the future generations.
[2] Habib Girgis who was by this time the Dean of the Theological Seminary, was named General Secretary of the Committee, with Pope Cyril V being its president.
To maintain the quality of the spiritual education offered by the Sunday School servants, Habib Girgis mandated that they all pass specific accreditation courses.
By the end of Habib Girgis's life, in 1951, the Sunday school movement had expanded to include 650 branches, with a total of 2100 classes, 43,000 pupils, served by 2,500 teachers in both Egypt and Sudan.
[6] The highly bureaucratic and well organized form of the Sunday School movement designed by Habib Girgis did not survive long after his death.