The Sabbath School Department functions as the primary religious education system of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and it has four primary purposes: study of the Scripture, fellowship, community outreach, and world mission emphasis.

"The Sabbath School is an important branch of the missionary work, not only because it gives to young and old a knowledge of God's word, but because it awakens in them a love for its sacred truths, and a desire to study them for themselves; above all, it teaches them to regulate their lives by its holy teachings."-Counsels on Sabbath School Work, pp. 10,11

"The Sabbath School , if rightly conducted, is one of God's great instrumentalities to bring souls to a knowledge of the truth." Counsels on Sabbath Work, p. 115.