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diff --git a/35050-8.txt b/35050-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..356cdcf --- /dev/null +++ b/35050-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4686 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Organizing and Building Up the Sunday School, by +Jesse Lyman Hurlbut + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Organizing and Building Up the Sunday School + Modern Sunday School Manuals + +Author: Jesse Lyman Hurlbut + +Release Date: January 24, 2011 [EBook #35050] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ORGANIZING THE SUNDAY SCHOOL *** + + + + +Produced by Emmy, Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Note: Bold text is surrounded by =equal signs= and italic +text by _underscores_. + + +MODERN SUNDAY SCHOOL MANUALS + +Edited by Charles Foster Kent in Collaboration with John T. McFarland + +ORGANIZING AND BUILDING UP THE SUNDAY SCHOOL + +By JESSE LYMAN HURLBUT + +[Illustration] + + NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS + CINCINNATI: JENNINGS & GRAHAM + + + + + Copyright, 1910, by + EATON & MAINS + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + + + PAGE + I. The Historic Principles Underlying the Sunday School + Movement 7 + II. The Constitution of the Sunday School 14 + III. The Necessity and Essentials of a Graded Sunday + School 21 + IV. The Grading of the Sunday School 30 + V. The Departments of the Graded Sunday School 37 + VI. The Superintendent 46 + VII. The Superintendent's Duties and Responsibilities 53 + VIII. The Associate and Department Superintendents 63 + IX. The Secretary of the Sunday School 69 + X. The Treasury and the Treasurer 75 + XI. Value of the Sunday School Library 81 + XII. The Management of the Library 91 + XIII. The Teacher's Qualifications and Need of Training 98 + XIV. The Training and Task of the Teacher 105 + XV. The Constituency of the Sunday School 113 + XVI. Recruiting the Sunday School 122 + XVII. The Tests of a Good Sunday School 129 + Appendix 135 + + + + +PREFATORY + + +IN the preparation of this volume the purpose was to supply a convenient +handbook upon the organization, the management, and the recruiting of +the Sunday school, to be read by those desiring information upon these +subjects. But after the larger part of the work had been prepared a +desire was expressed that the method of treatment be so modified that +the volume might be employed as a text-book for classes and individual +students in the department of teacher-training. It has been the aim of +the author not to alter the work so materially as to render it unfitting +for the general reader; and with this in view the series of blackboard +outlines for the teacher, and the questions for the testing of the +student's knowledge, have been placed at the end of the book. In the +hope that both the reader and the student may receive profit from these +pages the book is committed to the public. + + =JESSE LYMAN HURLBUT.= + + + + +I + +THE HISTORIC PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL MOVEMENT + + +1. =Magnitude of the Sunday-School Movement.= At the opening of the +twentieth century the Sunday school stands forth as one of the largest, +most widely spread, most characteristic, and most influential +institutions of the Anglo-Saxon world. Wherever the English race is +found the Sunday school is established, in the Mother isle, on the +American continent, at the Cape of Good Hope, and in Australasia. In the +United States and Canada it has a following of fourteen million members, +representing every religious denomination. Its periodical literature has +a wider circulation than that of any other modern educational movement. +It touches every class of society, from the highest to the lowest; and +its largest membership is found among the young, who are of all ages the +most susceptible to formative forces. It is safe to say that this +institution has exerted a powerful influence upon the majority of the +men and women of to-day, and is now shaping the character of millions +who will be the men and women of to-morrow. + +2. =A Modern Movement.= Great as it appears in our time, the Sunday +school is comparatively a modern institution. Undoubtedly, the germ of +it can be traced back to that source of all the religious life of the +civilized world, the Hebrew people. The elemental principle of the +Sunday school is possibly to be found in the prophetic guilds before the +Exile, and the schools of the Jewish scribes after the Restoration. The +great Bible class of Ezra (Neh. 8) was not unlike a modern Sunday +school. Yet as an organized institution the Sunday school began with +Robert Raikes, the philanthropist of Gloucester, England, who on one +Sunday in 1780 called together a group of street boys in a room on Sooty +Alley, and employed young women to teach them the rudiments of reading +and religion. If Raikes had not happened to be the editor of the town +newspaper, and in constant need of copy, his Sunday school might soon +have been forgotten. But from time to time he published concerning it +paragraphs which were copied into other papers and attracted attention, +so that the Sooty Alley Sunday school became the parent of a vast +progeny throughout the United Kingdom and beyond the seas. No +institution then in existence, or recorded in church history, suggested +to Robert Raikes either the name or the plan. Both arose out of his own +good heart and active mind. But since his day both the name "Sunday +school" and its plan of working have been perpetuated, and every Sunday +school in the world is a monument to Robert Raikes, the editor of +Gloucester. + +3. =A Lay Movement.= It is a significant fact that the first Sunday +school was established not by a priest, but by a private member of the +Church of England, that its earliest teachers were not curates, nor +sisters, but young women of the laity, and that throughout its history +the movement has been directed and carried forward, in all lands and +among nearly all denominations, by lay workers.[1] This is noteworthy, +because in the eighteenth century, far more than in our time, the +teaching of religion was regarded as the peculiar function of the +clergy, and lay preaching was frowned upon as irregular. The earliest +Sunday school may have been preserved from churchly opposition by its +own insignificance; or it may have won the favor of the clergy by the +fact that all its pupils at the close of the morning session were +regularly marched to church. Whatever the cause may have been, it is +certain that under a providence which we must regard as divine, both in +its beginning and throughout its history, the Sunday school, although a +laymen's movement, has received favor, and not opposition, from the +clergy and the Church. + +4. =Unpaid Workers.= It has been stated that Raikes paid the young women +who taught in his Sunday school a penny for each Sunday. But as the +movement went onward the conductors and teachers were soon giving their +service freely; and this has been the prevailing rule throughout the +world. There are a few Sunday schools wherein a curate or assistant +pastor is the superintendent, and a few mission schools that employ a +salaried teacher who works through the week as a visitor; but it may be +asserted that the world-wide army of Sunday-school workers lay upon the +altar of the Church their free-hearted, unpaid offering of time, study, +and effort. This has been and is a noble, a self-denying, a splendid +service; but it has also been a potent element in the progress of the +movement. Those who would establish a school, alike in the city and on +the frontier, have not been compelled to wait until funds could be +raised for the salary of a superintendent and teachers. If only churches +rich enough to pay for workers had established Sunday schools in our +country, the Sunday school as an institution would not have advanced +westward with the wave of population. And not only has the unpaid +service aided the growth of the movement, it has also added to its moral +and religious power. The pupils and their parents have recognized that +the teachers were working not for pay, but from love for their scholars +and their Saviour; and that love has imparted to their message a power +all its own. + +5. =Self-supporting.= The Sunday school has been from the beginning and +even now remains in large measure a self-supporting movement. It +everywhere involves expense for furniture, for teaching requisites, for +song books, for libraries; but for the most part the money to meet these +expenses has been contributed in the school, among its own members, and +not by the church. Instances are on record, even, where the church, in +former times, charged and received rent for the use of its property by +the Sunday school! Such short-sighted practice has been rare, but +multitudes of churches have found the Sunday school a source of far +greater profit than expense. In other words, those who have done the +work of the school have also paid its bills, and many families that have +received its benefits have been exempt from its burdens. It is +noteworthy, however, that this condition is passing away, that churches +are awakening to their responsibility and opportunity, and are giving to +the Sunday school that liberal support which its work requires and +deserves. In the ratio of investment and return, no department of the +church costs so little and rewards so richly as an efficient Sunday +school. + +6. =Self-governing.= As a result of being self-supporting, the Sunday +school has also been a self-governing institution. Paying its own way +and asking no favor, it has been almost everywhere an independent body, +accepting no outside authority. It has grown up almost unrecognized and +unnoticed by the churches. Fifty years ago scarcely one of the +denominations, great or small, gave the Sunday school recognition as an +integral part of its system. Little attention was paid to it in the +ruling body of the local church. It chose its own officers, obtained its +own teachers, made its own rules, and for its teachings was responsible +to no ecclesiastical authority. It was generally an ally to, but +independent of, the church. In this respect a gradual change has taken +place. Its relations are now much closer, its position is defined; and +the institution is sanctioned and supervised by the church. + +7. =Self-developing.= The system of the Sunday school has been evolved +without guidance or control from any human authority. It has been from +the first self-organizing, and has been also self-developing. Some might +consider the form which it has taken accidental; but it is better to +regard it as providential. The men and women who laid the foundations +of the Sunday school were building under a divine direction of which +they were unconscious. Working apart from each other, on both sides of +the sea, and separated by wilderness and prairie, everywhere they +established an institution under the same general principles, and with +substantial unity in its plans. Perhaps one cause for its unity of +method is that it arose in the midst of the Anglo-Saxon race, a people +which has instinctive tendencies toward law, system, and organization. +If it had started among a Latin people, where men, and not systems, +rule, there might have been a different form of organization, with +different aims, with different titles for officers, in every province. +But throughout the English-speaking world, which is the habitat of the +Sunday school, the institution bears the same name. Its principal or +conductor is called a superintendent--cumbrous though the title may +be--and its working force are known as teachers. + +8. =Bible Study.= The most prominent trait in the Sunday school of the +present is that it has become the most extensive movement for +instruction in the Sacred Scriptures that the world has yet seen. All +these millions of members, young and old, are engaged in the study of +one book--the Holy Bible. Many of these millions, indeed, study the +Bible superficially, unintelligently, with narrow interpretations and +crude methods; yet in the Sunday schools of the lowest type as well as +of the highest some portion of the Bible every week is brought to the +scholars' attention. That the Bible is so generally known and so widely +circulated, that the demand for this ancient book warrants the printing +of more than ten million copies every year, is due more to the Sunday +school, with all its defects of method, than to any other institution. +This concentration of attention upon the Bible has grown gradually in +the Sunday school. In the eighteenth century Sunday school, both of +England and America, religious instruction was only one of its aims; and +it was instruction in the catechism and forms of worship rather than in +the Bible. But by slow degrees the Bible came more prominently to the +front, until now the Sunday school is everywhere the school with one +text-book. He who surveys the Sunday school through the inner eye +beholds it on one day in each week covering the continent with its +millions of students, all face to face with some portion of the great +text-book of religion. The thoughtful observer will reflect that a +people whose children and youth come into weekly contact with the living +word will not wander far from the path of righteousness. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] An exception is to be noted in the Sunday schools of the Roman +Catholic Church, where most of the teachers belong to religious orders. + + + + +II + +THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL + + +The general characteristics of the Sunday school, as they have gradually +developed during its long history, must be considered in any plan for +organizing and conducting an individual school. The institution should +be studied both ideally and practically: practically, to ascertain what +the Sunday school has been and is now; yet ideally, with a view to +developing its highest efficiency and largest usefulness. Such a plan +for the specific Sunday school may be called its constitution. It is +desirable to have the constitution in written or printed form, but it is +not necessary. There is no more complete system than the government of +Great Britain, yet it has no written constitution; and Mr. James Bryce +has shown us in America that the instrument known as the Constitution of +the United States by no means represents our own actual method of +government. In every nation there is an unwritten law, wrought out of a +people's consciousness, which is more imperative and enduring than any +parchment scroll or printed form. + +The general principles to be maintained in establishing and developing a +Sunday school are the following: + +1. =Aim.= The primary aims of the Sunday school are religious +instruction, character-development, and effective service. It is not to +teach history, nor science, nor sociology, but religion; and not merely +to impart a knowledge of religion to the intellect of its pupils, but, +infinitely more important, to make religion an effective force in the +life of the individual scholar. As a Christian institution, in the +definition given by one of its greatest leaders,[2] "The Sunday school +is a department of the Church of Christ, in which the word of Christ is +taught, for the purpose of bringing souls to Christ, and of building up +souls in Christ." If it be in connection with a Jewish synagogue or +temple--as are some of the best Sunday schools or Sabbath schools in our +land--it is for the purpose of instruction in the faith of the ancient +fathers, and of making their teachings live again in the men and women +of to-day. A true religious education, such as the Sunday school seeks +to give, will include three aims: (1) knowledge, (2) character, (3) +service. There must be an intellectual grasping of the truth; a +character built on the truth, out of faith in God, and the life of God +inspiring the human soul; and service for God and humanity. The Sunday +school seeks to develop not only saints in fellowship with God, but +workers for God, who shall strive to realize on earth the kingdom of +God, not seeking to be ministered unto but to minister. There have been +centuries in the past when the Christian ideal was the cloistered saint, +living apart in communion with God. But that was a pitiably incomplete +conception of the perfect man. In our age we have the larger ideal of +saintliness with service; and to promote this should be the aim of every +Sunday school. + +2. =Method.= To attain its aim the Sunday school employs the teaching +method. The Sunday school is not, as some weak-minded people have called +it, "the nursery of the church." Nor is it, as it has been named, "the +Bible service"; for, although it holds a service, it is more than a +service. It is not--or should not be--a gathering of groups, large or +small, where silent hearers listen to sermonettes by little preachers, +miscalled teachers. It holds a service imbued with the spirit of +worship, yet worship is not its central purpose. It should have music, +but it is not primarily a service of song. It should be pervaded by an +atmosphere of happiness, but mere enjoyment is not its object. The +Sunday school is a _school_: and the very word shows that its aim is +instruction and character formation, and its method is that of teaching. +For the work of a Sunday school the essentials are three: + +(1) There must be the living teacher who is fitted to inspire, to +instruct, and to guide. His part is not merely to pour knowledge into +his pupils, but to awaken thought, to guide the search for truth, to +call forth expression in character and in action.[3] + +(2) There must also be the scholar who is to be taught. It is his part +in the process of instruction not merely to listen and to remember, not +merely to receive impressions, but to give expression to the teaching, +in life, in character, in influence, and in service. The true +effectiveness of the teaching in the Sunday school will be shown by the +reproductive power of the truth in the life of the scholar. + +(3) There must be a text-book in the hands of both the teacher and the +pupil. In any school for religious instruction one book will of +necessity stand prominent, that great Book of books which records the +divine revelation to man. The Sunday school may teach history, +geography, institutions, doctrines, literature of the Bible, but these +only as a framework or a foundation for the education of the heart into +a personal fellowship with God. This character-molding, faith-impelling +force is the divine truth taught in the Bible through the experiences +and teachings of patriarchs, prophets, priests, psalmists, sages, and +apostles, and above all by the words and life and redemptive work of the +Master himself. And the subjects of study in the Sunday school need not +be limited to the text of Scripture. There may be extra-biblical +material for the teaching of character and service; and all this should +be open to the Sunday school. + +3. =Relation to the Church.= However independent of the church +organization the Sunday school may have been in its beginnings, and +however self-dependent some union Sunday schools may of necessity be in +certain churchless regions, the general fact is established that the +Sunday school as an institution belongs to the church, is under the care +of the church, has a claim upon moral and financial support by the +church, should be a feeder to the membership of the church, and should +gratefully accept the supervision of the church. It should regard itself +and be recognized by all as in many ways the most important department +of the church. + +4. =Government.= All power must be under direction, and the mighty +energies of the Sunday school especially need a wise, strong guidance. +In the general management of the Sunday school two elements should be +recognized: (1) the rights of the workers and (2) the authority of the +church. + +(1) It must ever be kept in mind that the Sunday school is an army of +volunteers. Its workers are men and women who of their own accord give +to the school without compensation their gift of service. Those who make +such a contribution to the success of the Sunday school should certainly +have a voice in its management. + +(2) But it is not to be forgotten, on the other side, that the Sunday +school is not superior to the church, nor independent of it, but +subsidiary to it; hence the church should be able to exercise some +control over the school if such control shall ever be needed. For +example, in the choice of a superintendent, who is the executive officer +of the school, the ruling body of the local church and the working body +of teachers and officers should unite. No one should undertake to +conduct a church Sunday school unless he thus has the definite assurance +that his teachers are with him, and that his church is officially +supporting him. + +5. =Officers.= Little need be said here on this subject, for it is one +with which every worker is familiar. + +(1) There must be a leader, or manager, the executive head of the +school, who is universally styled the superintendent. If we were +organizing a new institution, and not describing one already world-wide +and with officers already named by common usage and consent, we would +prefer that the executive of the Sunday school receive the title of +Principal or Director; but the somewhat awkward word Superintendent is +settled upon him, and will remain. + +(2) There must also be an assistant superintendent, or more than one, as +the size of the school may demand. The better title is associate +superintendent, as is now given in the larger number of well-organized +schools. The superintendent should have the privilege of nominating his +own associates or assistants, the nominations to be confirmed by the +board of teachers and officers. + +(3) There will be a secretary, with such assistants as he may require, +to be nominated by the secretary and confirmed by the teachers. + +(4) There will be a treasurer, to care for the funds, and to disburse +them as ordered by the board of teachers, or the Sunday school as a +whole. + +(5) Lastly, but most important of all, there must be the working force +of instructors, the faculty of the institution, its teachers, who should +be carefully chosen. The pastor, as well as the superintendent, should +have an active voice in their call, since they are his coworkers in the +religious instruction of the congregation. + +6. =Membership.= In the conception of a Sunday school, both ideal and +practical, the constituency for which it is established must be +considered. As has been noted, it was originally for children only, and +only for children who were destitute of home training, and outside of +church relationship. The earliest Sunday schools were what are called +in England ragged schools, and in America mission schools. But in the +noble evolution of the movement the Sunday school constituency has been +vastly enlarged; and now it is recognized that the Sunday school is for +all ages and all classes. It should embrace the young and old, the +ignorant and intelligent, the poor and rich, the sinner as well as the +saint. The Sunday school which fulfills its mission to society will +welcome all the world. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] Bishop John H. Vincent. + +[3] For qualifications and functions of the teacher see Chapters XIII +and XIV. + + + + +III + +THE NECESSITY AND ESSENTIALS OF A GRADED SUNDAY SCHOOL + + +1. =The Necessity of Grading.= As the result of the gradual and unguided +evolution of the Sunday school through a century or longer, most schools +are now divided in a vague way into certain departments, generally known +as the Primary, or Infant Class; the Youths Department, or Boys and +Girls; and the Adult Department, or Bible Classes. Many who have charge +of schools such as these regard them as graded, and so report them. But +the mere naming of departments does not constitute a graded school. +Whoever studies the ungraded or loosely graded Sunday school will +perceive in it certain evils which can be removed only by a thorough +system of grading, maintained faithfully through a series of years. Some +of these conditions which make the graded Sunday school an absolute +necessity are the following: + +(1) _The School as a Whole._ The close observer, looking at the entire +school, notes first of all that its gains and its losses in membership +are at the extremes of its constituency. It is the normal condition for +the gains to come in the Primary section; for the little children in +families are attracted to the school or brought there by older children. +There is almost invariably a constant increase in this department, +requiring frequently the organization of new classes in the grade +above, among the younger boys and girls. But, on the other hand, there +is a constant loss of older scholars. In most schools, at the age of +fourteen, in what is known as the early adolescent period of life, the +pupils, for one reason or another, begin to drop out, and few enter to +take their places. Almost every school is thus growing at the bottom and +dying at the top. The Primary classes are full, but the classes of those +above fourteen years are usually small--two large boys here, three +yonder. And although girls continue in the school more frequently than +boys, there will appear the same conditions--some large classes of girls +and young women, but others where discouraged teachers are sitting down +with one, two, or three pupils. Six or eight years ago these same +classes came out from the Primary Department, each with eight or ten +pupils; now they are mere skeleton classes, barely alive, and threatened +with dissolution. Every earnest, thoughtful superintendent would rejoice +to find some plan that will guarantee large classes of young people +between sixteen and eighteen years of age, for this is the most vital +period in the life of the individual. Such a plan is proposed in the +graded system. + +(2) _The Condition of the Classes._ Fixing the attention upon the +several classes, the critic of the school system notes three unfavorable +conditions: + +(a) There is the inequality in the size of classes, to which reference +has already been made. When classes come together by accident, pupils +bringing their friends, or new members joining whatever classes they +please, some classes of boys or girls will inevitably be too large for +good government or good teaching, and others will be too small to +create any enthusiasm, either in the teacher or the pupils. + +(b) There is also an inequality in the ages of pupils in the same class. +A class may include one pupil or two pupils sixteen years old, and +others as young as ten, or even nine years; some who during the week are +in the high school, and others who can scarcely read the verses assigned +to them. + +(c) Where these inequalities of numbers and ages exist there is a lack +of that class spirit which is an essential element of power in a +well-ordered Sunday school. Every class should be a unit, with a strong +social bond; but this ideal cannot be realized when there are in the +class two or three youths in the noisy, assertive, self-conscious stage +of early adolescence, and others who are several years younger. Nor can +there be a proper social bond in a class with only two or three members. +They are likely to be irregular in attendance, to find excuses for +absence or for leaving the school, until at last the discouraged teacher +and the listless scholars together drop out of sight. + +For the correction of these evils of inequality in numbers and in ages, +and of this lack of class spirit, the only successful method is to grade +the school, and resolutely to keep it graded. + +(3) _Difficulties of Administration._ The difficulties which confront +the superintendent in the management of an ungraded school are many and +great. + +(a) The first and ever-present difficulty is in obtaining teachers for +new classes. The constant growth of the Primary Department is his +perennial perplexity. To relieve the congestion in the crowded Infant +Class its older pupils must be brought into the main school, and +teachers must be found for them. The superintendent is always seeking, +and often seeking vainly, for new teachers. + +(b) Another difficulty is found in the attempt to transfer scholars from +one class to another. No matter how much out of place a pupil may be, it +is almost impossible to transfer him to another class without incurring +the displeasure of the teacher, the scholar, or the scholar's family. +And however overgrown or ill-assorted a class may have become, to divide +it is a delicate task, almost sure to cause ill feeling. Also, when +there arises the need of a teacher for a new class just emerging from +the Primary Department, the natural plan would be to combine some of the +skeleton classes in the other departments, and thereby release a teacher +for service with the new class. But the superintendent who attempts this +plan finds that almost invariably it results in some of the older +scholars leaving the school because their teacher is taken from them. + +2. =The Essentials of a Graded School.= Briefly stated, the essentials +of a graded Sunday school are the following:[4] + +(1) _Departments._ The graded Sunday school is organized in certain +distinct groups, of which the most important, for our present purpose, +are the Primary, Junior, Intermediate, and Senior Departments. To these +will be added the Beginners and Adult Departments when the subject comes +up for a complete treatment. Each of these departments should have, if +possible, a separate room; but if these rooms cannot be provided in the +building, the pupils should be seated by departments in the different +parts of the one room. Perhaps it may be assumed that there is a +separate room for the Primary Department; then let those who have most +recently come from the Primary be seated on the right block of seats; +the Youths or Intermediate in the middle; and the Senior classes on the +left block, or vice versa. The younger classes of the department should +have the front seats, the older those in the rear, in regular gradation. +The school may be arranged in the order shown in this diagram: + + + +---------------------------------------------+ + |+-----------+ +------------+ +------------+| + || OLDER | |FOURTH YEAR | |FOURTH YEAR || + |+-----------+ +------------+ +------------+| + | | + |+-----------+ +------------+ +------------+| + || OLDER | | THIRD YEAR | | THIRD YEAR || + |+-----------+ +------------+ +------------+| + | | + ||YOUNG WOMEN| |SECOND YEAR | |SECOND YEAR || + +-----------+ +------------+ +------------+| + | | + |+-----------+ +------------+ +------------+| + || YOUNG MEN | | FIRST YEAR | | FIRST YEAR || + |+-----------+ +------------+ +------------+| + | SENIORS INTERMEDIATES JUNIORS | + | | + | +-----------------------+ | + | | PLATFORM | | + +---------+-----------------------+-----------+ + +(2) _Classes._ The number of classes should be fixed for each +department, and their relationship established, so that when a group of +scholars is promoted to a higher grade in the same department, or in the +next department, they do not enter as classes, but as individuals; not +to form new classes in the department, but to be placed in classes +already formed. This plan will keep the classes in the Senior Department +always full, and avoid the unfortunate skeleton classes of the ungraded +school. It will also impress upon the pupils the importance of faithful +work. + +(3) _Promotions._ There should be annual and simultaneous promotions +throughout the school. One Sunday in the year should be set apart as +Promotion Sunday; and on that day all promotions should be made. Those +who are to be advanced from the Intermediate to the Senior Department +are called out by name and placed in their classes, which are not new +classes, but old classes replenished with new members. These promotions +will vacate the seats of the Fourth Year classes in the Intermediate +Department. But these seats will at once be filled by the Third Year now +becoming the Fourth Year, and taking their seats; the Second Year pupils +becoming the Third Year; and the First Year the Second Year. The First +Year of the Intermediate Department will be left vacant, to be filled by +promotion of the Fourth Year in the Junior Department, and the moving up +of classes to the year above in the same department; and the First Year +of the Junior Department will be filled by promotion from the Primary +Department. + +(4) _Teachers._ As groups of scholars pass either from one grade or from +one department to another there must also be a change of teachers. This +constitutes the crux of the entire system, and in its inception is apt +to prove the most formidable obstacle in grading the school. The pupils, +however, are accustomed to a system of promotions in the day school, and +expect to leave their teachers when they change their grades; but many +of the teachers in the Sunday school, not being trained under the +system, dislike to lose their scholars, and show their dissatisfaction +in ways that affect their pupils. This difficulty must be overcome by +tact and an appeal to unselfish motives; teachers must consent for the +sake of the common good to give up their old classes and take new ones +which begin in the department. The teacher may remain in the grade and +receive a new class each year as his pupils advance to a higher grade; +or he may remain with the class and advance until the pupils pass from +their former department to a higher one, as from Primary to Junior, from +Junior to Intermediate, and from Intermediate to Senior. He should then +return to a new first year's class in his own department and lead it +through the course. If any teacher asks, "Why cannot I go with my class +into the Senior Department?" the answer is that if the plan be permitted +for one it must be recognized for all; and in the Senior Department +there will follow an increasing number of classes, with a relatively +diminishing membership in each class. The scholars also need the +inspiration of contact with different teachers. Furthermore, the teacher +who is adapted to the Junior or Intermediate Department is rarely a +suitable teacher for Senior scholars. Hence there is need of a careful +assignment of teachers no less than of pupils. Therefore, to maintain a +graded school the pupils must change teachers when they change +departments. + +(5) _Lessons._ There should be graded lessons for each department. If a +graded system be followed in the school, as it should be, with different +subjects, text-books, and lessons for each department, giving to the +entire school a regular, systematic, progressive curriculum, this +requisite will be met. If, however, the uniform lesson for all the +school be followed, as at present is still the case in many Sunday +schools, the graded teaching must be given in the form of supplemental +lessons, taught by the head of the department where it has a separate +room, or by the teacher if the departments must be assembled in one +room. In some form the graded teaching is an absolutely essential +requisite of the graded school. Most schools, when once thoroughly +graded, will realize the need of the next step in the evolution of the +institution--lessons graded in subjects as well as in methods for the +several departments. + +(6) _Basis of Promotion._ The question is often asked, "Should +promotions be made on the basis of age, or as the result of +examinations?" The examination system may be regarded as desirable in +the Sunday school, but there are as yet few schools where thorough +examinations can be rigidly insisted on as a part of the school system, +and promotions invariably made to depend upon standing. A school which +meets only once a week, for a session of less than an hour and a half, +and with but one lesson period of forty minutes or even less, cannot +maintain the same strictness in its standards as the public school. +Moreover, new scholars are continually entering the schools, and, while +most of them begin at the foot of the ladder in the Primary Department, +yet others enter at various ages and in various grades. Any system of +promotion based merely upon acquirement attested by examination is sure +to become in many instances a meaningless form when applied to the +Sunday school. Yet acquirements and examinations need not be ignored in +the graded Sunday school. There may be certain ages at which the pupils +shall by right pass from a lower grade to a higher. But it may also be +arranged that pupils who are exceptionally bright, well-informed, and +studious can be promoted a year in advance of their classmates by +passing examination. Let the examination be given in writing to all the +pupils, and let all be urged to take it; with the promise that those who +pass will be promoted, even though they be less than the required age. +But let it also be understood that failure to pass the examination will +not keep the student for more than one year from promotion. In other +words, the examination may well be made the door through which earnest +students may pass on, and so keep abreast of their equals in training +and ability. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[4] For a more complete statement, see the volume of this series on The +Graded Sunday School in Principle and Practice, by Dr. H. H. Meyer. + + + + +IV + +THE GRADING OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL + + +The question is often asked, "How may an ungraded Sunday school be +placed on a graded basis?" The work may seem simple, and easy of +accomplishment, but when it is undertaken difficulties arise which must +be intelligently and tactfully met. + +1. =The Difficulties.= If all our Sunday-school teachers were trained +educators, accustomed to the methods of the public school, they would +see at once the advantages of the graded system, and heartily enter into +it. But most of our teachers are untrained, and their range of vision +often fails to reach beyond their own class and their immediate +environment. The relation between teachers and scholars is personal +rather than official; and on both sides the personal equation often +complicates the problem. In every school there are a few teachers who +are so strongly influenced by their feeling for their pupils that they +fail to recognize the needs of the school. There are also scholars, +especially in the sentimental early adolescent age, who are unwilling to +leave their teachers when promotion is offered to them. But unless the +change of teachers is maintained the graded system will utterly fail to +benefit the school; it will be graded in name only, and not in fact. +This part of the program must be carried through, even though it may +cost the school the loss of a teacher or two teachers and their +scholars. + +2. =The Remedy= for this difficulty is only to be found in carefully +considered action by presenting the necessity and value of the plan so +clearly that the teachers as a whole will fully understand it, +appreciate its importance, and heartily accept it. The grading should +not be attempted upon the mere fiat of the superintendent, nor on the +vote of a bare majority of the workers. The teachers must recognize the +self-sacrifice which it requires, and must make that self-sacrifice +generously, giving up their scholars for the general good. The possible +objections of the scholars are more easily overcome, for they are +accustomed in the public schools to promotions with change of teachers, +and readily accommodate themselves to the same system in the Sunday +school. Thoughtfulness and kindness, with time, will soon remove the +hindrances from the path of the graded school. + +3. =The Method of Grading.= The school may be graded in either of two +ways, the gradual or the simultaneous method. + +(1) In the gradual method the superintendent, with the concurrence of +the teachers, may announce that after a certain date all promotions will +be made in accordance with the graded system, leaving the classes as +they are until the time for promotion arrives. Then promote from Primary +to Junior, from Junior to Intermediate, and from Intermediate to Senior, +according to the principles of the graded school; and in four or five +years, if the system be maintained, the result will be a school fully +graded in all its departments. + +(2) In the simultaneous method of grading, the plan must be carefully +matured, and general coöperation of all assured. The following plan has +been tested in more than one school, and found to work successfully: + +(a) Let a careful committee be chosen to arrange the details of grading. +The committee should consist of teachers acquainted with the scholars as +far as may be practicable, and should, of course, include the +superintendent. They should also take an abundance of time for their +work. + +(b) Obtain the ages of all the scholars between eight and eighteen years +of age, and, approximatively, the ages up to thirty. Let this list be +made quietly by each teacher for his or her own class. It may be +desirable not to inform the pupils for what purpose the enrollment is +made. Instances have been known where scholars have understated their +ages, hoping thereby to remain with favorite teachers. + +(c) Let the committee go over the lists and assign the scholars to +classes according to age and acquirement. In some degree social +relations should be considered, so that each class may be as far as +practicable a social unit. In the Intermediate Department boys and girls +should be in separate classes, and not more than six or eight pupils +should be placed in one class. No announcement of the assignment of +scholars to classes should be made until the day fixed for the +reorganization of the school. It will be a good plan to prepare a map or +chart of the schoolroom, with the place proposed for each class +indicated upon it. + +(d) On the day appointed, after the opening exercises, first let the +seats or rooms set apart for the Senior Department be vacated; and then +let the roll be called according to the new list. "Class No. 1, Senior +Department. Mr. A----, with the following scholars." As their names are +called let them take their places, until the list of classes and +scholars in this department is filled. Next vacate the seats assigned to +the Intermediate Department, and let these teachers and pupils take +their places; then the Junior Department, according to the same plan. +The Primary Department can be graded by its superintendent or teacher +without aid from the committee. + +Let it be understood that every scholar must take the place assigned to +him at the time when his name is called; and that only for an important +reason can an assignment, when once made, be changed. In a large school +there will be found a few cases where the committee has made a mistake, +even with the greatest care; and these mistakes should be rectified, but +not until the pupils have taken their new places temporarily in the +scheme of the school. + +4. =Advantages of Thorough Grading.= Many benefits will follow from the +proper organization of the school; and their value will be increasingly +apparent as the system is maintained through a series of years. + +(1) _Appearance._ It is the testimony of every superintendent and pastor +who has graded his Sunday school that the appearance of the school is +greatly improved by the graded system. The older scholars are assembled +in one body, instead of being scattered throughout the room; scholars +of the same size and age are brought together in classes. The school +will also actually seem larger than it was before the grading. + +(2) _Order._ The order of the school will be more easily maintained. The +big boys and the giggling girls, both at the self-conscious, awkward +age, will be in a new environment, no longer the leaders over smaller +and younger pupils, but in classes by themselves, and with +responsibilities appealing to their self-respect. + +(3) _Social Relations._ It will be a benefit to the scholars of each age +to be associated in groups of the same period in life, with the same +interests and similar mental acquirements. Many scholars will find their +new associations more congenial than their former ones in the ungraded +classes, where older and younger people have been brought together. The +class will now become, far more than it was before, a social power. + +(4) _Teaching Work._ In the ungraded class, with older and younger +pupils together, the teacher met with his greatest difficulty in finding +a common ground of interest. In the graded class, with pupils of uniform +age and equal intellectual understanding, the teaching can be better +adapted to the needs of the pupils. + +(5) _Incentive to Interest._ The prospect of promotion awakens an +interest in the classes. Each scholar looks forward to the time when he +will attain to a higher grade with its enlarged privileges. + +(6) _Obtaining Teachers._ The grading of the school greatly aids in the +solution of the ever-present problem of obtaining new teachers, (a) The +graded school requires a smaller number of teachers than the ungraded +school, since it provides for the consolidation of skeleton classes in +the Senior Department. This sets at liberty a number of experienced +teachers for service in other grades. (b) Whenever a new class comes +from the Primary Department, a teacher is already at hand in the Junior +Department whose class at the same time has advanced to the Intermediate +Department. The teacher goes year by year with his class until it leaves +the department, and then he returns to a new class beginning the studies +of the same department. (c) After the results of a teacher-training +class are available there will always be trained teachers waiting for +classes. + +(7) _Leakage Period._ The young people between fifteen and twenty years +of age constitute the "leakage period,"[5] when they are in great danger +of drifting away from the school. They will be held to the school far +more firmly if they have before them the prospect of membership in large +classes of young people, with social opportunities, and club life, so +popular with youth at the early adolescent age. It has been clearly +shown by practical experience that an organized Senior Department, with +large classes kept full by regular reinforcement from the Intermediate +Department, will maintain itself and hold its members, while skeleton +classes of the young people constantly tend to disintegration. + +The well-organized, completely graded Sunday school possesses such +evident and great advantages that it is certain to be established +wherever thorough and efficient religious instruction is sought. The +sooner it comes, and the more faithfully it is maintained, the better it +will be for the church of to-day and to-morrow, and the more quickly and +effectually will the grave problems of our modern civilization be +solved. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[5] Dr. A. H. McKinney, in After the Primary--What? + + + + +V + +THE DEPARTMENTS OF THE GRADED SUNDAY SCHOOL + + +=General Scheme.= The four departments essential to a graded Sunday +school, whether large or small, have already been named by anticipation. +But it is necessary to give to the subject a closer consideration, and +to add the names of other departments which are needed either as +departments or subdivisions in the school. Following the analogy of the +secular schools, the great divisions of a Sunday school may be named as +Elementary, Secondary, and Advanced or Adult. The Elementary Division +will include the Cradle Roll, Beginners, Primary, and Junior, taking the +scholar up to twelve years of age. The Secondary Division will include +the Intermediate and Senior Departments, also the Teacher-training +Class, and will embrace the scholars between twelve and twenty years of +age. The Advanced or Adult Division will include all the classes wherein +the average age is above twenty years, including the Home Department. +Beginning with the youngest children, the departments of a thoroughly +organized school are the following: + +1. =The Cradle Roll.=[6] This should include all the little ones in the +families of the congregation who are too young to attend the school. +Their names, in large lettering, in plain print rather than script, +should be recorded upon a list, framed and hung upon the wall in the +Primary room. A separate card catalogue should be kept of the names +alphabetically arranged, with ages, birthdays, parents' names, and the +street address of each family. Every effort should be made to keep the +list complete; children should inform their teachers of new little +brothers and sisters for the Cradle Roll; the pastor in his visitation +should take their names and report them; and the teacher or conductor in +charge of the Cradle Roll should occasionally visit every family on the +list. Whenever gifts are made to the pupils of the school, as at +Christmas or on birthdays, toys and dolls for the little ones of the +Cradle Roll should not be forgotten. In a small school the care of the +roll and the visiting of the families may be assigned to the Primary +superintendent; but in a large Sunday school it will call for a special +conductor, and recognition as a separate department. Let no one suppose +that this is an unimportant, sentimental matter. The Cradle Roll, +maintained as it should be, will awaken interest in every family having +a name inscribed upon it, and in due time will lead many little feet to +the Sunday school. + +2. =The Beginners Department.= At about three years of age the little +children should be brought to the school, and be regularly enrolled as +attending members, their names being now taken from the Cradle Roll. +They should remain in the Beginners Department from the age of three to +that of six years--the Kindergarten period in the public school. Here +they should be told simple Bible and nature stories, without effort to +place the stories in chronological order; for children of this age have +only a faint conception of the sequence of events. They may be taught +simple songs, marching exercises, etc. It is a mistake, however, to give +them much, if any lessons, to tax the memory, beyond a few short +sentences of the Bible and verses of children's songs. If they can meet +in a room by themselves, with their own teacher, it will be better than +to have them in the Primary room; for the work in this grade should be +constantly varied, and the stories very brief, in order not to weary the +little ones. If they must meet in the room with the Primary children, +they should sit by themselves as a separate section, and not with their +older brothers and sisters. + +3. =The Primary Department.= This department should be the home of +little children between six and eight or nine years of age. They should +remain in it until in the day school they have begun to read. Boys and +girls may be placed in the same classes, which should be for those six +years old, seven years old, and eight years old, respectively. With each +year their seats should be changed, indicating their promotion from the +lower to the higher classes. In this department the simpler stories of +the Bible and other helpful stories adapted to the grade should not only +be told but taught, and the children expected not only to learn but also +to tell them. The Twenty-third Psalm, the Lord's Prayer, the Ten +Commandments, a few other selected passages of Scripture, and some +standard hymns of the Church should be memorized. + +In many well-organized Sunday schools both the Cradle Roll and the +Beginners class are recognized as subdivisions of the Primary +Department, and are under the direction of the Primary superintendent. + +4. =The Junior Department.= This department will care for the children +from the ages of eight or nine until the full age of twelve; except that +boys or girls who are especially advanced in intelligence may be +promoted upon examination at eleven years. In a very small Sunday school +all the pupils of this department may form one class, provided they can +have a room by themselves. If they must meet with the rest of the +school, they may be organized either in two classes, one of boys, the +other of girls. If, however, the number of scholars will admit, it is +far better to place the pupils in separate classes for boys and girls, +with different classes for each year of the period. To scholars of the +Junior grade the great characters and events of Bible history should be +taught in their order; also the most important facts about the Bible, +and in a simple form the lands and localities of the Bible. In churches +which use a catechism this should constitute a part of the teaching in +the Junior Department, for at this period the child's verbal memory +attains its greatest strength. + +5. =The Intermediate Department.= Here the pupils are from twelve to +sixteen years of age. The classes should be small, generally of six boys +or girls, never more than eight. This period in life is known as early +adolescence, and calls for careful direction by wise teachers. In the +Intermediate Department the great biographies of the Bible should be +studied, either as the regular or the supplemental lessons; also the +heroic lives of leaders in the history of the Church, of foreign +missionaries, and of men and women who have labored in the home fields. +Boys and girls in this stage of life are instinctively hero-worshipers, +and before them should be set high ideals of character and service. +Special effort should be made in leading the scholars to personal +consecration to Christ and to union with the Church; for if the great +decision be not made before the age of sixteen is reached, there is +great danger that it will never be reached. But that decision should +include more than a formal profession. It should embrace a full +surrender to the will of Christ, an inward, conscious spiritual life, an +aim for completeness of Christian character, and especially a +willingness to work for God and humanity. Youth is a season of ardor and +of energy, a period of lofty ideals and noble endeavor. All those active +powers of the youthful nature should be guided into channels of +usefulness. The true twentieth century disciple of Christ is not one who +lives alone feasting his soul on God, but one who stands among his +fellow-men, eager to aid in the world's betterment. + +6. =The Senior Department.= This is the preferable title, although some +organized schools call it the Young People's Department, and restrict +the word Senior to the classes of fully adult age. Still others call it +the Assembly, and give it an organization independent of the Sunday +school.[7] The age of entrance should be sixteen, except with some who +in stature and mind are mature beyond their years. It is imperative, as +we have already seen, that at the door of this department the young +people should leave their former teachers, and should not form new +Senior classes, but as individuals enter classes already established. +This department includes the members of the school between sixteen and +twenty years of age; not that members of classes must necessarily leave +them at twenty, but that men or women above that age entering the school +should rather join the Adult Department. The classes may be as large as +the arrangement of rooms will allow; larger where each class can have a +separate room, which is the ideal plan. Generally, young men and young +women should be in separate classes. The teacher of a young men's class +should be a man whose character will inspire the respect and win the +fellowship of his class. The teacher of the young women's class will +generally be a lady, although often men have been successful teachers of +young women. + +In this department the classes should be organized, each with its own +officers, chosen by the members; and the class should be consulted when +a teacher is to be appointed, although the voice of the class in the +decision should be advisory and not mandatory. Especial attention should +be given to the social activities of this department. Each class should +have its own gatherings, classes of young men and women should meet +together occasionally, and a Senior Reception should be held at least +annually to promote acquaintance among the members. The interest of the +young people should also be enlisted in some definite form of service +for the church or the community. + +7. =The Teacher-Training Department.= The most promising young people, +both men and women, should be selected at sixteen years of age--the time +of promotion into the Senior Department--and should be organized as the +Teacher-training or Normal Class. The best teacher obtainable should be +assigned to this department. Often in the high school or some near-by +college, a scholarly, Bible-loving instructor may be found who is +willing to give a part of his time to the equipment of teachers for the +coming generation. A text-book should be chosen from among those +approved by the International Teacher-training Committee. No person +should be admitted to this class who is not willing to give some time +during the week to the study of the course. While the rest of the school +may be studying the regular lessons, whether graded or uniform, this +class should be at work with the teacher-training text-books. There +should be thorough instruction with examinations looking toward a +certificate of work done, such as the International Teacher-training +diploma.[8] The course may cover two, three, or four years; and new +members may be placed in the class at the opening of each year, to begin +at the point where the class is studying, and to remain until they shall +have completed the entire course. In a properly graded school after a +few years there will be a class graduating from and a class entering the +Teacher-training Department each year. + +This department should also include a Reserve Class, consisting of those +who are ready to act as substitutes for absent teachers. If the uniform +lessons are followed, the Reserve Class should study the lesson a week +in advance of the school. Into this class the graduates of the +Teacher-training Class should be placed, to remain until classes are +ready for them in the school. + +In some schools the Teacher-training and Reserve Classes do not form a +separate department, but are two classes in the Senior Department. But +it is the better plan in a large school to establish the +Teacher-training Department, with its own officers, thereby adding to +its prestige in the school. + +8. =The Adult Department.= This will include all who are above the age +of twenty years. It is the judgment of advanced leaders in Sunday-school +work that at twenty years those who have belonged to Young People's +classes in the Senior Department should leave them for the Adult +Department. Otherwise, the Senior Department in a few years will cease +to be a place where young people of sixteen and eighteen years feel at +home. In the Adult Department men and women may meet together as members +of the same class, unless there arise a demand for separate classes and +the numbers enrolled justify the division. In conducting these classes +two forms of instruction have been found to be successful: (1) the +colloquial method of teaching, the class studying and discussing the +lesson together under the guidance of the leader; and (2) the lecture +method, the teacher being the principal speaker, but always admitting +questions and answers on the subject suggested by the lesson. Classes in +this department may be allowed to choose their own courses of study, +provided (1) that the subjects and methods are in line with the general +aim of religious education, and not merely secular science or history; +(2) that the courses of successive years have some sequence, and are not +chosen in a haphazard, accidental manner. The Adult Department under +wise direction should promote a large, intelligent, broad-minded, +philanthropic type of Christian character in the church and the +community. + +9. =The Home Department.= This department, like the Cradle Roll at the +other extreme of the Sunday-school constituency, is composed of people, +both young and old, who cannot be present at its sessions, but are +interested in its work, and willing to give some time to its studies. In +every community there are such people--aged or infirm men and women, +invalids, mothers unable to leave their offspring, commercial travelers, +and people who live too far from the school to attend it. These are +organized into the Home Department, furnished with the literature of the +school, study its text-books, make their report of work done, and send +their contributions to its support through the Home Department +superintendent or visitor.[9] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] This department is now named in Sunday schools of the Protestant +Episcopal Church, and some others, the Font Roll, or Baptismal Roll. + +[7] Suggested by Dr. J. H. Vincent. + +[8] For full information concerning Teacher-training, courses, +examinations, and diplomas, write to the State Secretary of Sunday +School Work, or to the office of the International Sunday School +Association, No. 140 Dearborn Street, Chicago. + +[9] For plans of the Home Department, address the Secretary of the State +Sunday School Association, or Dr. W. A. Duncan, Syracuse, New York, who +is recognized as the founder of this system. + + + + +VI + +THE SUPERINTENDENT + + +1. =His Importance.= Several years ago, the president of the New York +Central Railway was called upon by a legislative committee to explain +the system of signals employed upon the railroad for the protection of +passengers. He gave a detailed statement, answered every question, and +then made this remark: "However perfect the system may seem to be, there +must always be a man to work it; and in the final analysis more depends +on the man than on the plan." + +That which is true in every human organization is especially true in the +Sunday school: its success depends not on a constitution, whether +written or unwritten, but upon a man. In the Sunday school that man is +the superintendent, who not only works the plan, but also generally +plans the work. Given an efficient superintendent, an efficient school +will usually be developed; for the able man will call forth or will +train up able workers. Hence the first and greatest requisite for a +successful Sunday school is that the right man be chosen as +superintendent. + +2. =His Appointment.= The selection of the superintendent should be the +task not only of the officers and teachers in the Sunday school, but of +the entire church, for every family in the congregation has an interest +in his appointment. The pastor should be consulted, and should give +diligent attention and time to the search for a superintendent, not +merely because he may be presumed to know his constituency, but more +especially because out of all the church the superintendent is to be his +most important helper. The election of the superintendent should be made +by the workers in the school, its board of teachers and officers, and +its action should be formally confirmed by the ruling board of the local +church. No man should hold the office of a superintendent who fails to +receive the approval of the church of which the school is a part. He +should know that in his appointment the school, the church, and the +pastor all unite. + +3. =His Term of Office.= He should be chosen for a term of one year; but +may be reëlected for as many terms as appear expedient. Frequent changes +in the management of the school will tend to destroy the efficiency of +its work. But whenever the great interests involved in the religious +education of an entire church or community require a new superintendent +the change should be made, even though sympathy be felt for the one set +aside. The institution must not be sacrificed to save the feelings of +the man. + +4. =His Qualifications.= It is important to consider the qualifications +of an ideal superintendent, remembering, however, that all these +qualities are rarely to be found in one man. We must set before us high +ideals, not expecting that they will always be fully realized, yet ever +seeking to attain them as far as may be possible in this imperfect +world. The following are the most important qualifications for a +superintendent; some of them are essential, all are desirable: + +(1) _Moral Character._ The Sunday school undertakes to train the young +in character; therefore he who stands as its responsible head must +possess a character worthy of admiration and imitation. His life must +honor, and not dishonor, his profession. It is possible for a man whose +work for an hour on Sunday is in behalf of the gospel so to live in his +family, in business, and in society as to work for six days against the +gospel, and more than undo all his efforts for good. The leader in such +an uplifting movement as the Sunday school must have clean hands and a +pure heart. What Saint Paul wrote of a bishop he would have written of a +Sunday school superintendent: he must have "a good report." In the +well-known painting of the Emancipation Proclamation may be seen +standing at the right hand of President Lincoln the Secretary of the +Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, who once said, "A man in my position must not +only seem right, but be right; and not only be right, but seem right." +So will every one say of the Sunday-school superintendent. + +(2) _A Devout Believer._ The superintendent's character should be +irradiated with the fine glow of a Christian faith. He should be one who +has seen the heavenly vision and unto it has not been disobedient; one +whose spirit has been kindled by the Divine Spirit burning like a fire +within; one who is himself a Christian man, longing to lead other men +into fellowship with the Father through Jesus Christ the Son. + +(3) _A Working Church Member._ We have already learned that the Sunday +school is not a society or an institution standing alone. It is a +branch of the church, and one of the most important branches. The normal +growth of the church depends in large measure upon the Sunday school, +and the support of the Sunday school comes, or should come, from the +church. The superintendent who endeavors to do his duty to his scholars +will strive to lead them to Christ and into active membership and +service in the church. Therefore, he himself must be a professed, loyal, +and effective member of the church. His name should not only stand upon +its roll, but his heart should also be enlisted in its behalf. + +(4) _A Bible Student._ The Sunday school is the school with one +preëminent text-book; and of that Book the superintendent should be a +diligent student. His work is executive and not instructional; yet he +must supervise the teaching, and this supervision he cannot rightly give +unless he is familiar with the course of study. He should study the +lesson of each department, perhaps not as thoroughly as the teachers in +the department, but sufficiently to maintain acquaintance with their +work. And he should master not only the specific lessons of the +immediate course before his school, but also the Book as a whole. + +One successful superintendent gave as a secret of his power to make his +school, both teachers and scholars, willing to do whatever he asked, "I +never expect my teachers or scholars to do anything that I am not ready +to do myself. Before I ask them to bring their Bibles I bring mine. When +I asked my school to be ready on the following Sunday to repeat in +concert the Nineteenth Psalm, I committed it to memory during the week, +and when the time came spoke the words with the school." Only that +superintendent who himself loves the Bible, and studies it, can have a +true Bible school. + +(5) _An Able Executive._ The Sunday school is like that vision seen by +the prophet Ezekiel, a system of wheels within wheels, all endowed with +life; and the master of the mechanism directing its motion is the +superintendent. Moreover, each of these living wheels in the +Sunday-school machine is a volunteer worker, who may at any moment drop +out of his orbit. To hold together these varied elements, to combine +their movements, to guide each in his own sphere, to compass the common +purpose through all the forces working as one, requires a wise brain and +a skillful hand. The superintendent should have a plan for the school, +with details throughout for every emergency; he should be ready to +assign to every worker the task for which he is best fitted; he should +be able to work with others, not merely to command others; and he should +be a leader whom others will follow, not by the might of an +overmastering will, but by the magnetism of an attractive personality. +He should never forget that with others as well as with himself service +in the Sunday school is not compulsory but voluntary, that his +associates lay on the altar their free-hearted, unpaid labor; and that +such workers cannot be commanded, although by tact and wise generalship +they may be led to accomplish the most difficult tasks. + +(6) _Sympathy with Youth._ The superintendent's office will bring him +into relations with youth during all its stages, from early childhood +through the entire adolescent period. He must be able to see life and +the world through the eyes of a little child, of a growing boy, and of a +young man. The sympathy which he needs is not a compassionate feeling +_for_ youth, but a feeling _with_ youth, an ability to put himself in +its place; to feel as young people feel, and to understand why they act +as they sometimes do. This sympathy will impart a love for young people, +such a love as will enable him to be patient with their foibles and +faults, to exert a powerful influence over them, and to keep before them +noble ideals of character and service. + +(7) _Teachable Spirit._ No matter how much the superintendent knows, or +thinks he knows, he should hold his mind open to new knowledge. He +should be on the alert for new ideas, from the periodicals, from books, +and from his fellow workers, in conversation, at conventions and +institutes; not that he may inflict every new method upon his school, +but that out of many methods he may select the best. When Michael Angelo +was past eighty-five years old, and almost blind, he was found one day +beside an antique torso which had recently been dug out of the ground, +bending over it, and carefully pressing his fingers upon its surface. +When asked what he was doing, he answered, "I am learning"! The masters +in every department of work are never too wise nor too old to learn. + +If a man can be found who possesses all these seven traits of character +and temperament, the school which can secure him for its superintendent +will be fortunate indeed. And the superintendent who thoughtfully reads +the catalogue of qualifications, and feels that in some of them he is +lacking, may by divine grace and his own will working together make +progress toward the goal of becoming an ideal superintendent. + + + + +VII + +THE SUPERINTENDENT'S DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES + + +The superintendent has been found, has been chosen, and is in his +place--what are the prerogatives and the duties of his office? These may +be considered under three classes: (1) His general duties. (2) His +duties during the week. (3) His duties in the session of the school. + +1. =General.= (1) _Supervision._ It is his right to supervise and direct +the work of the school without interference as to details from the +teachers, the officers of the church, or the pastor. The pastor may be +the admiral of the fleet, directing the general movements of the sea +campaign; but the superintendent is the captain of the ship, through +whom orders are to be given to all on board. + +(2) _Selection of Teachers._ He should have the chief word in the choice +and appointment of teachers, but in the choice he should obtain the +concurrence of his pastor; and their election should be made upon the +superintendent's nomination by the teachers and officers. + +(3) _Assignment of Scholars._ He should possess the final authority in +the assignment of scholars to classes, in any changes from class to +class, and in promotions from lower to higher departments. In these +responsibilities he may be greatly aided by an associate superintendent, +to whom his authority may be delegated. + +(4) _Program of Services._ It is the superintendent's prerogative to +plan and direct the services of the school session. It may be the part +of wisdom for him to consult with the musical director or organist in +the selection of hymns, but it is the superintendent's right to choose +and to announce them, in common with all parts of the program. + +(5) _Support._ He is entitled to a loyal support from all his fellow +workers; but if he is tactful he will take them into his confidence, +will present his plans for their consideration, and will not attempt +important reforms or changes without their concurrence. + +2. =Week-day Work.= He is the superintendent of the Sunday school for +seven days in every week; and will find much work to be done between the +sessions. His week-day duties will include some that have already been +mentioned. + +(1) _Program._ Before he comes to the school he should invariably +prepare a well worked out program for each session. It is a good plan to +have a large blank book, in which two pages opposite each other are +assigned to the session for the day. Every hymn should be selected in +advance and noted in its place; every announcement to be made should be +written; the outline of a lesson review, if one is to be given, should +be indicated; and space should be left for memoranda of miscellaneous +matters which may need attention. This program should be laid upon the +desk, so that if for any reason the superintendent should be out of his +place upon the platform an associate can go forward without delay. + +(2) _Lesson Study._ In schools where the uniform lesson is still +followed in all or most departments, the superintendent should make +himself thoroughly acquainted with the lesson for the coming session. As +has been intimated, he should be prepared for any work expected of his +teachers and scholars. He should be ready after the class study to give +a practical summary of the teachings in the lesson, in a crisp, +well-outlined talk, which will be aided by a blackboard illustration. +And in the increasing number of schools which are employing graded +lessons, not uniform in the departments, the superintendent should have +at least a general knowledge of the subjects studied in each department. +The more thoroughly the superintendent fills his own mind and heart with +the truth, the more efficiently will the truth be taught in his school. + +(3) _Social Duties._ The superintendent should know all his teachers, +and, as far as possible, his scholars also. If it be practicable for him +to visit teachers at their homes, the visitation will greatly increase +his influence and his usefulness. If in his own home, or in the parlors +of some family in the congregation, a social gathering of the teachers +and officers can occasionally be held, it will add to the social power +of the school. And in the social relations much can be accomplished +before and after the church service, the school session, the prayer +meeting, and the other gatherings of the congregation. There are +superintendents who keep before them up-to-date lists of the classes, +and by study of faces during the school session, with judicious inquiry, +are able to call large numbers of the scholars by name. Such greetings +will strengthen the superintendent and heighten the loyalty of the +school. + +(4) _Seeking Workers._ In nearly all Sunday schools there is a constant +need of helpers, to fill the places of withdrawing or absent teachers; +and the work of supplying the demand generally falls upon the +superintendent. He may find relief in the work of an associate +superintendent, as will be seen in the next chapter. Both the +superintendent and his associate should always be on the alert for new +teachers and for new scholars. As the builder in stone looks at every +fragment of rock, to see where it will best fit into his wall, so the +whole-hearted superintendent studies every individual in the parish, to +find exactly the place he may fill in the school, as an officer, a +teacher, or a scholar; and not infrequently his search will be rewarded +by a treasure. + +(5) _Cabinet Meetings._ The superintendent should confer frequently with +the several heads of departments, and with all the officers; talking +with them freely about his own plans, and learning theirs, for the +welfare of the school. It is not necessary that these cabinet meetings +should be formal, having a secretary and a record. They may be held +occasionally, for a few minutes after the session of the school, or as a +social evening at a private house. + +(6) _Special Days._ He should keep a calendar of special occasions in +the school year, such as the Sundays set apart for temperance and for +missions, Easter, Children's Day, Rally Day, Decision Day, Christmas, +Promotion Day, and other notable events. Weeks in advance of each +occasion--in the case of some of them even months in advance--he should +begin to consider what special exercises should be held, what +preparation is needed, and who can best supervise the plans. For a +fortnight before Children's Day or the Christmas celebration, many +Sunday schools are in a turmoil of confusion, and lessons abandoned, +simply because the superintendent did not take thought in sufficient +time. + +(7) _The Convention._ The Sunday-school work of the Christian world is +now thoroughly organized in international, state, county, and town +associations. Each school finds itself a part in a mighty movement; and +it is the duty of the superintendent to see that his school takes its +place in the Sunday-school army. He should see that in the institute and +the convention his school is well represented; and if at all possible he +should attend these gatherings, and be active in them. Many a worker who +for most of the year is alone, burdened with perplexities, has been +refreshed, has found his vision enlarged and his plans improved, by +conference with other workers, and by listening to experienced +specialists. + +3. =His Duties in the School Session.= (1) _Present Early._ He should be +at his post, if possible, from twenty minutes to half an hour before the +opening of the school. However early he may arrive, he will probably +find a group of children there in advance of him; and they will behave +better if his eye is on them, especially if his glance is kind, and with +it is a hand-shake or a word of recognition. The early superintendent +will often be surprised to find how much business in the interest of +the school can be transacted before the session. + +(2) _Open Promptly._ With his program ready, he should begin the session +exactly on the minute, and should carry out every item according to the +plan. If for any reason the superintendent is not at the desk when the +moment for the opening arrives, the associate or first department +superintendent should be empowered to call the school to order and begin +the opening service. + +(3) _Conduct Program._ The superintendent should conduct the general +program of services; although it is advisable to recognize the associate +and others, by calling upon them to take some part in the opening or +closing services. A superintendent whose methods were always well chosen +was wont once in each month to invite some official or prominent member +of the church, who was not an attendant upon the school, to be present, +sit upon the platform, and offer the prayer at the opening of the +session. This kept the leading members of the church in closer relation +to the school. + +(4) _During the Lesson._ As a general principle, the superintendent +should remain at his desk during the lesson period; but to this rule +frequent exceptions will be made. The supply of substitutes for absent +teachers, and the assignment of new scholars to classes, belong to the +field of the associate superintendent. + +(5) _Lesson Review._ In the Sunday schools which still follow the +uniform system of lessons, studying the same portion of Scripture in +all, or nearly all, the grades of the school, the superintendent should +give a brief practical summing up of the practical points in the lesson; +but this review should not exceed five or six minutes in length. If the +pastor possesses the gift of terse, crisp speaking, this practical talk +may be given by him. In the schools adopting the graded courses of +lessons this review should be given in each department by the department +superintendent. Here again the adaptation to the point of view and needs +of the pupils of each grade can be made much more effective than in the +ungraded school. + +(6) _Closing._ The superintendent should so carry out the program as to +close the session at the time appointed. An hour and a quarter is as +long as is profitable for the school; and everything that needs to be +done can be brought into that space. Often much time is lost by +unnecessary delays between the numbers on the program. + +4. =Miscellaneous Duties.= Here are a few general suggestions, hints, +and "don'ts" for the superintendent, briefly stated: + +(1) _Notebook._ Let the superintendent remember to obtain that notebook, +to keep it at hand, and to make use of it. Some pages at the end of the +book might be reserved for special suggestions gathered from books, +periodicals, and meetings. + +(2) _Quiet._ Let him be careful not to make much noise during the +session, but to set an example--which will soon be felt--in favor of +quiet and orderly conduct. It is not at all certain that he needs a bell +for calling attention; but if he uses one, let it be a little, gentle, +quiet bell, held in the hand as a signal, and never rung vociferously +or repeatedly. Said a new superintendent as he tested the bell on +Saturday before assuming office, "What a magnificent bell this would be +for calling missionaries home from India!" But he never used it in the +school. One of the best superintendents of a generation ago was widely +known as "the silent superintendent." He was not deaf nor dumb, but his +manner was noticeably quiet, and his large Sunday school was always in +perfect order. + +(3) _Early Lesson._ Let the opening service be short, so that the lesson +period--which is the important part of the program--may be reached while +the teachers and scholars are fresh and the air of the room is pure. + +(4) _Use the Bible._ If a Scripture lesson is read by the superintendent +and school responsively, it should be from the Bible upon the desk or in +the hand of the leader, and not from a lesson quarterly. Encourage the +use of the Bible as a text-book and for reference. If the superintendent +always brings his own Bible, he can appeal to his teachers and scholars +to follow his example. With regard to the Scripture reading in the +opening service, it is the judgment of many thoughtful superintendents +that even in a school following uniform lessons the reading should not +be the lesson for the day, but a devotional portion of Scripture, +perhaps a selection from the Home Readings of the week. It is a good +plan for the first reading of the lesson for the day to be by the +teacher and the class together. + +(5) _Lesson Period._ No interruption should be allowed to break into the +time assigned for class study, except under imperative necessity. The +teacher and the class should hold that period sacred to united study, +without being diverted from their task by secretary, librarian, +superintendent, or pastor. Said Bishop Vincent once, "I would like to +have suspended from the roof of the Sunday-school hall a series of great +glass half-globes, one for each class, to be dropped down over the +class, and kept there during the time reserved for the study of the +lesson!" + +(6) _Speakers._ A visitor should rarely be invited or allowed to address +the school; never, unless the superintendent has sufficient knowledge to +be sure that he will speak briefly, interestingly, and pointedly. Before +the uniform lesson concentrated the studies of the Sunday school it was +the custom to invite almost any visitor to speak to the school; and many +were the wrongs inflicted upon the boys and girls in those good old days +by dull, loquacious Sunday-school orators. But almost everybody now +understands that the Sunday school is a working institution, and its +work must not be interrupted. + +(7) _Self-control._ There will be times when the superintendent will +need to be on guard over himself; times when he feels depressed, or +melancholy, perhaps a little cross. If he yields to his natural +impulses, the school will soon perceive the state of his nerves, and +some scholars may even endeavor to add to his trials. At such times, let +him watch over himself mightily, and resolve, no matter how he feels, to +"keep sweet," to speak gently, and to look cheerful. + +(8) _The Aim._ Lastly, one purpose should ever stand before the +superintendent, and should be the constant object of his endeavor--to +lead all his scholars into a personal, vital relation to Jesus as the +Christ, to bring them into union with the church, and to inspire them to +enter upon active Christian service. + + + + +VIII + +THE ASSOCIATE AND DEPARTMENT SUPERINTENDENTS + + +1. =The Necessity.= In every Sunday school there is need of an officer +to aid the superintendent and to take his place when absent. Even in a +small school the supervision can be more thorough and the teaching more +efficient, if some one is at hand with authority to relieve the +superintendent of minor details, and give him freedom for the general +management. And in a large school assistants to the superintendent are +an absolute necessity, for each department becomes in itself a school. +There is need, therefore, of a general assistant to be the chief of +staff to the superintendent, and, in a large and well-organized school, +of a special assistant in each department. + +2. =Titles.= Until recently, the assistant superintendent in most Sunday +schools was merely one of the teachers named to take the place of the +superintendent when absent, but with no duties when the head of the +school was present. In the complete organization that is now becoming +general, the office has been renamed, and its functions distinctly +assigned. The chief assistant to the superintendent is now generally +called the Associate Superintendent, a higher title for his important +and regular duties. The chief of each department in the Sunday school is +generally called Department Superintendent, that is, Primary Department +Superintendent, Senior Department Superintendent; and each department +superintendent has the same relation to his department that the +associate superintendent holds to the school. + +3. =Appointment.= The associate superintendent should be nominated by +the superintendent and confirmed by the board of teachers and officers. +When two candidates are nominated for the office of superintendent, and +one obtains a majority, it is not wise to elect the minority candidate +as associate superintendent, unless he is entirely acceptable to the +newly chosen superintendent. The chief executive of the school should +not be compelled to find next to him a rival, who may be an uncongenial +worker, to carry out plans with which the latter may not be in accord. +In order to possess freedom in his policy the superintendent should +choose his own chief helper; but he should receive the confirmation of +his choice from his fellow workers in the school. The same plan of +nomination and confirmation should be followed in the choice of the +department superintendents. The associate and the department +superintendents should constitute the superintendent's cabinet, to be +called together often for consultation upon the interests of the school. + +4. =Duties of the Associate Superintendent.= (1) _Not a Teacher._ Unless +the school be small, with less than a hundred members, the associate +superintendent should not at the same time be the regular teacher of a +class. He will find other work to occupy his time, both before and +during the session of the school. He may, however, hold himself ready to +act as substitute for an absent teacher. + +(2) _Deputy Superintendent._ If for any reason the superintendent is +absent, his place should be taken promptly by the associate +superintendent. It should also be understood that if at the moment of +opening the school, or at any point in the general service, the +superintendent is not on the platform, the associate shall act as his +representative, without the slightest reflection upon the +superintendent's administration, the two being regarded in their work as +one. + +(3) _Providing Substitutes._ One definite duty of the associate +superintendent should be to provide substitutes for absent teachers, +relieving entirely the superintendent from that burdensome and +perplexing task. The teachers should permit no ordinary hindrance to +keep them from their classes, for no one can fully supply the place of a +true teacher in the regard of the scholars. But when a teacher finds it +necessary to be absent he should make strenuous endeavor to find a +substitute; and if unable to secure one, should notify, not the +superintendent, but the associate; and before the lesson period the +associate should have a supply ready. + +If the school has been properly graded it will include a +Teacher-training Class; but under no circumstances should the associate +take one of its members as a supply teacher, even for one Sunday. This +class should remain untouched by the demand for teachers until its +members have completed the prescribed course. If there is a Reserve +Class, substitutes should be called from it in some order, preferably +alphabetical, so that the same members will not be taken too +frequently. + +Where the Sunday school is held in the afternoon or at noon, the +associate can generally provide for needy classes by watching at the +morning service for possible teachers. If he is compelled to look for +them in the Adult or Senior classes of the school, he should be present +early, and if possible obtain his supplies before the opening of the +school. If the associate superintendent has done his work, when the +lesson begins, every class will have a teacher seated before it, ready +for the Bible study. He should never wait until the time for opening the +lesson to see what classes need teachers, and then undertake to obtain +them by interrupting the teaching in three or four classes and calling +for volunteers, while the classes without teachers are listlessly +waiting, and valuable time is lost from the half-hour of the lesson +period. All this work should be done before the lesson, and, if +possible, before the opening of the school. + +(4) _Assignment of New Scholars._ Another duty of the associate +superintendent is to meet new scholars and assign them to classes. For +this work he should be present early, meet the scholars as they come, +learn who the new scholars are, write down names, places of residence, +ages, parents' names, why they come; and prepare material for the card +catalogue under the secretary's care. Scholars bringing new members, and +teachers into whose classes they may come, should introduce them to the +associate superintendent, who should at once take charge of them. No new +scholar below the grade of Senior should choose his own class, although +his desire to be with friends should be considered, so far as it will +not interfere with the established system of classification. Some large +graded schools have a temporary class to which new pupils in the +Intermediate and Junior grades are assigned for a few sessions until +their permanent place can be fixed. + +(5) _Detailed Supervision._ There are also minor duties wherein the +associate superintendent can be of great service. While the +superintendent is at the desk directing the general exercises, his +associate may be upon the floor, quietly observing the condition and +needs of the school. He can note where Bibles, song books, or lesson +quarterlies are needed, and can see that they are distributed without +interrupting the service. He can also give quiet attention to the order +of the school, calling to their duty boisterous, talking, or inattentive +scholars. For the superintendent to stop in announcing a hymn or reading +the Scripture, to rebuke some disorderly or thoughtless pupil, breaks +into the service and mars its dignity. The associate superintendent can +accomplish the desired result at the right moment by a light step and a +gentle word. + +(6) _Chief of Staff._ In a word, the associate superintendent should be +the chief of staff to the executive head of the school, his eyes, ears, +and hand; possessing full acquaintance and accord with his plans, and +carrying them out in his name; informing and advising him, yet careful +of criticism; avoiding all that would hinder, and aiding in all that +would make his management successful. He can divide the labor, and +relieve his chief of some of the most perplexing and trying details, +leaving him free to watch over the general interests of the school. +Whoever can fulfill such a service is an invaluable worker, and should +be held in high honor. + +Many of the duties named above may be in the sphere of the department +superintendent, who should be in his section what the associate +superintendent is to the school. + + + + +IX + +THE SECRETARY OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL + + +1. =Importance.= The secretary of the Sunday school is an officer of far +greater importance than is generally supposed. In too many schools some +youth in the adolescent period is made secretary, merely to keep him in +the school, without consideration of his capacity and adaptedness to the +office. As a result of an unsuitable appointment, the minutes of the +teachers' meetings are incomplete, the registry of the classes is +neglected, and the true condition of the school cannot be ascertained. +If by any good fortune or by a more careful choice an able and faithful +secretary takes his place, at once a new impulse is felt by the school. +The superintendent, the teachers, and even the scholars will realize +that energy, accuracy, and thoroughness count for much in the work of +this department. They will appreciate faithful service, and will +themselves respond to its influence. + +2. =Qualifications.= The ideal secretary of a Sunday school should +possess the following characteristics: + +(1) _A Business Man._ He should possess the instincts of a man of +business, being willing to work, systematic in method, and thorough in +care of details. + +(2) _Regular in Attendance._ He should make the Sunday school his +business on Sunday, with a fidelity equal to that which he manifests +toward his vocation through the week. His regularity should also +embrace promptness, coming in advance of the hour; for much of the +secretary's work may be done before the opening of the service. + +(3) _Good Writer._ He should be able to write legibly, and possess skill +in framing sentences correctly, and in writing them plainly, without +unnecessary flourishes. + +(4) _Quick Mental Action._ His mental processes should be sufficiently +rapid for him to set down an ordinary motion, presented in a public +meeting, without requiring it to be repeated or written out by the +mover. An able recorder will promptly express in the minutes the form of +a motion or the spirit of a speech, thereby saving much time in the +meeting and much space in the report. + +(5) _Quiet Manner._ The secretary should watch the program and do his +work without interrupting it. He should never appear among the classes +during prayer, during the reading of Scripture, or while a speaker is +addressing the school. Only under urgent necessity should he come to a +class in the lesson period, and in that case only at its beginning. +During intervals in the service, or during the singing, he may find it +needful at times to pass among the classes; but he should do this +necessary work quietly, without distracting the attention of the school. + +(6) _Courteous Conduct._ His bearing should always be that of a +gentleman, refined and courteous, thoughtful of others and patient +toward all; a manner enabling him to win the friendly aid of every +teacher, upon whom the accuracy of the class record must depend. + +Whoever can be found, in the school or the community, possessing these +qualities, or approaching them, should be chosen as secretary of the +Sunday school, whether man or woman. Often a young woman, accustomed +through the week to business methods, becomes an efficient secretary of +the Sunday school. + +3. =Appointment.= The secretary should be elected by the board of +officers and teachers. As he is not merely an assistant to the +superintendent, but an officer of the school, it is not necessary that +he should receive a nomination from the superintendent. His term of +office should be one year, with as many reëlections as will promote the +good of the service. + +4. =Assistants.= In almost any school the secretary will need an +assistant, whom he should nominate, subject to confirmation by the board +of teachers and officers. + +5. =Department Secretaries.= In a graded Sunday school there should be +an assistant secretary for each department, who may be one of the +teachers, or in the Senior and Adult grades, one of the scholars. He +should take the records of the classes in the department and transmit +them to the secretary of the school. But the secretary is responsible +for the records of the entire school, and should see personally that the +record of each department is complete. + +6. =Duties.= The work of the secretary may be classified as follows: + +(1) _Record of Meetings._ As secretary of the board of teachers and +officers, he should be present at all business meetings and make a +careful record. Every motion should be stated clearly, with the names +of its mover and its seconder, and the action taken. A statement should +be given of every committee appointed, its purpose, and the names of its +members. All committees should be expected to present written reports, +however brief. A concise summary of each report, in a few sentences, or +a single clause, should appear in the minutes of the meeting at which +the report is presented; and the report itself should be filed for +reference in case it should be needed. A committee once named is on the +minutes, and cannot be ignored nor forgotten until its report has been +presented and adopted, and the committee has been formally discharged. +For example, it is not sufficient for the committee on the Christmas +entertainment to hold the entertainment; it must afterward report that +the entertainment was held on a certain date; must have its report +adopted, and receive its discharge. It should be the duty of the +secretary from time to time to call for reports of committees named in +the minutes of previous meetings, to insist that a report be rendered, +and that some action be taken upon it. + +(2) _Record of the School._ In every well-ordered Sunday school the +secretary summarizes in writing the attendance in each department, the +total attendance, the number of new scholars, and other items to be +preserved, including the weather, which may sometimes account for a +small attendance; also a comparison with the record of the same Sunday +last year. This report should be read to the school by the secretary at +the call of the superintendent, or posted before the school; and it +should also be recorded in a book which will contain the statistics of +the school through a term of years. + +(3) _Records of Classes._ The secretary and his assistants should +prepare the books in which the class record of attendance is recorded. +The name of each scholar should be given correctly and fully (for +example, not "F. Jones," but "Frederick Jones"). The secretary should +see that the record of attendance for each Sunday is accurately kept. He +will need to give special attention to classes where substitutes take +the place of absent teachers, and to see that the record for the day is +not neglected. As often as the arrangement of the class books requires +the rewriting of the names of the scholars, he should transcribe the +list, always writing every name in full. In looking through the class +lists he should note the names of those who have been absent for a +series of sessions, and should report them to the superintendent, for +consideration and for investigation of every habitual absentee. If these +scholars can be visited, many of them may be retained in the school. + +(4) _Records of Scholars._ In addition to the record in the class books, +another record should be kept of every member of the school, including +every officer, teacher, and scholar; a card catalogue, each name upon a +separate card, and all the cards filed in alphabetical order. The card +for each scholar should give besides his name the date of his entrance +to the school, either the date of his birth or his age at +entering--approximative, if above eighteen years; his residence, with +street and number in a city; parents' names; class to which he is +assigned; his relation to the church or congregation, and any other +important facts. The card should contain the record of every promotion, +and its date; of any changes in residence, and other details, so that it +becomes a reliable and complete history of each individual in the +school. In many schools the birthday of each member is kept upon the +record, and is recognized by sending a birthday card. If a scholar or +teacher leaves the school the fact is recorded, and the card is then +taken from the regular catalogue and filed permanently in the list of +"former members." + +(5) _Literature of the School._ The secretary should be in charge of the +literature used by the school, its text-books, lesson-quarterlies, and +other periodicals. He should see that the literature is ordered in full +time, should receive it, keep it in his care, and attend to its +distribution. The particular text-book for each grade is fixed by the +superintendent; and the secretary should receive from him direction as +to the lesson helps for each grade. + +(6) _Correspondence._ The secretary should conduct all correspondence in +behalf of the school or of the teachers as a body, unless for a special +purpose the chairman of a committee be in charge of correspondence +relating to his work. + +The secretary who with the aid of his staff undertakes to do all the +work that rises before him will not find his task a light one. But his +department carried on with vigor will greatly promote the success of the +Sunday school. + + + + +X + +THE TREASURY AND THE TREASURER + + +1. =In the Early Sunday School.= A study of origins has shown that in +the earliest Sunday schools in America, as in England, provision was +made for the payment of officers and teachers. In the first schools +established in and near Philadelphia, each paid teacher had charge of +what would now be considered a department, and the practical teaching +was given under his direction by scholars, who were called monitors. But +in a new country, where the settlements were small and the people mostly +poor, the system of paid teachers soon passed away, and the schools were +carried on by voluntary and unpaid workers. It was fortunate for the +American Sunday school that in its beginnings it required but little +money. For the place of meeting any chapel or schoolhouse or settler's +cabin would serve. The literature was exceedingly meager--a few +Testaments and spelling books, and generally these were brought by the +teachers and scholars. When the earliest lesson books were published, +they were not quarterlies, nor annuals, to be thrown away after one +using, but were studied year after year. The largest item of expense was +the library; and as this was an institution for the entire neighborhood, +the families willingly contributed toward it. Not until the Sunday +school had become thoroughly founded did the question of its financial +support arise as a problem. + +2. =In the Modern Sunday School.= As the Sunday school advanced in +position, in influence, and in better methods of work, its expenses +naturally increased. Now, in the opening of its second century, its +financial requirements are far greater than they were even a generation +ago. It asks for special and suitable buildings, with rooms and +furnishings adapted to the educational needs of its several departments; +for a periodical literature suited to teachers and scholars of every +grade, and requiring to be renewed every year; for an organ or +piano--often for several, with an orchestra added; for an equipment of +song books different from those in the church service; for +entertainments and gifts at Christmas, and a day's outing for all in the +summer; for libraries containing popular books for the scholars and +helpful works for the teachers in their work. The demands of a large and +growing Sunday school, in city or country, are great, but in nearly all +congregations the funds for the support of the Sunday school are +obtained with less effort than those for any other department of church +activity, and in this liberality the Christian people show their wisdom +and insight. + +3. =Practical Ways and Means.= The methods of financial support for the +Sunday school are exceedingly varied. The simplest plan is through a +regular weekly contribution in the classes. Where attention is given to +the collection, and an appeal is occasionally made in its behalf, the +school will generally obtain the funds needed for its own support. When +the special need arises for the purchase of a piano or a library, some +entertainment may be held which will by its profits swell the receipts. +The objection to these methods, which are almost universal, is that they +appeal to self-interest, and fail to educate the members of the school +in true liberality. It is for _our_ school, _our_ piano, _our_ library, +that the appeal is made and the money is contributed. The scholars +should be taught to give to the cause of Christ and his gospel, and not +merely to interests from which they themselves are to receive a reward. + +4. =The Ideal Way of Giving.= The more excellent way is for the church +in its annual estimate of expenses to include a fair, even liberal, +allowance for the Sunday school, and at intervals through the year pass +over to the treasury of the Sunday school the funds appropriated, to be +expended according to principles and regulations provided. Then let +every officer, teacher, and pupil in the school, from the Adult +Department to the Primary, and even to the Beginners, make his own +weekly offering to the church. Most church schools contribute to the +cause of foreign missions; but there is equal reason why they should +give to all the general benevolent objects for which the church receives +an annual collection. This plan would unite the church and the school +more firmly, would avoid multiplying and conflicting objects for which +funds are raised, and, best of all, would train every child in the +Sunday school to systematic giving upon the true gospel principle, which +is "not to be ministered unto, but to minister." + +5. =The Sunday-School Treasurer.= The work of the treasurer is very +different from that of the secretary; yet the two offices are often held +by one person. In that case they should be regarded as distinct +positions; the election to the two offices should be separate, and not +at the same time for one person as secretary and treasurer. At every +business meeting a separate report should be presented for the two +departments, and the treasurership should not be regarded as a branch of +the secretary's work. If the plan outlined in the last paragraph be +adopted as the method of providing for the financial needs of the Sunday +school, it might be well to choose the treasurer of the church as +treasurer of the Sunday school, thus giving unity to the financial +administration of the entire organization. + +6. =The Treasurer's Work.= This will require a person who is known as +careful in accounts, as well as honorable in all his dealings. + +(1) _His Charge._ All the funds of the Sunday school should pass through +his hands. If money is raised for any purpose, or a money-making +entertainment is held, the treasurer should take charge of the receipts +and pay the bills. For this purpose he should be ex officio a member of +all committees required to receive and disburse funds. + +(2) _Bank Account._ Except in small and remote places, the treasurer +will find it desirable to keep an account with a bank in behalf of the +school, and deposit therein all moneys received. Under no circumstances +should he deposit Sunday-school funds as a part of his own private +account, but should keep separate accounts as an individual and as +treasurer. + +(3) _Reports and Vouchers._ At each meeting of the governing board of +the school he should present a statement of the condition of the +treasury, with exact mention of all moneys received and paid since the +last meeting; and for every payment he should show a receipt or voucher, +and on it the "O. K." or approval of some qualified person who knows +that it is correct. + +(4) _Bills._ He should receive all bills against the school, and should +inform himself concerning them, in order to be able to answer any +questions raised by members of the board. He should present at the +meeting a statement of all the unpaid bills on hand, with a forecast of +bills expected, and obtain a vote of the board upon each bill that is to +be paid. + +(5) _Checks._ It is desirable to pay bills as far as possible with +checks, as the check will often serve as a receipt; and the receipted +bills should be filed together for reference. + +(6) _Audits._ An Auditing Committee should be appointed, to examine the +accounts of the school from time to time, and always when the treasurer +completes his term, alike whether he is reëlected or gives place to a +successor. This committee should either present a written report, or +should sign their names to the treasurer's report, with the indorsement, +"Audited and found correct." + +Most of the above recommendations, perhaps all of them, state the +methods that would be followed by any intelligent, businesslike +treasurer. But in the continent-wide area of the Sunday school, of +necessity, not all treasurers are intelligent or experienced in business +methods; and there are doubtless many who may profit by these +suggestions. + +(7) _Study of Benevolent Interests._ One of the most important duties of +a treasurer in a modern Sunday school is to study the different +charitable objects that present themselves to the school, decide upon +their merits, and then present them understandingly to the members of +the school, with a view to eliciting their interest and training them in +the spirit and habit of intelligent giving. This important task raises +the treasurership out of mere mechanical service, and constitutes it one +of the directing forces in the school. + + + + +XI + +VALUE OF THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL LIBRARY + + +1. =The Library of the Past.= Until quite recent times the Sunday-school +library was understood to be a collection of books, mainly of an +entertaining character, kept in the school, distributed at its sessions, +and read by the scholars, for enjoyment rather than for instruction. +Such a library was regarded as an essential of the Sunday school. +However small or however poor the school, it must have a library. Books +were scarce, and desirable books were high in price. There were no free +public libraries, and few circulating libraries. The library was +regarded as the principal attraction of the school, and it drew the +scholars. Many children attended two Sunday schools in order to obtain +each week two library books. The books were read by all the family; and +in many homes the Sunday-school library furnished most of the reading +matter. The literature may not have been of the highest grade, but, with +all its defects, the Sunday-school library of the past was a useful and +valuable institution. + +2. =Its Decline in the Present.= In recent times, and especially in +well-settled and cultured communities, the Sunday-school library has +lost much of its importance. Very many schools have closed their +libraries; and in the schools continuing their use only a small +proportion of the scholars obtain books. Inquiry has shown that in +cities and suburban towns a school of two hundred members will include +not more than thirty who make use of the library. When the library is +closed scarcely any complaints from the scholars are heard; nor is the +closing of the library followed by a loss of scholars. Publishing houses +which formerly issued fifty new books each year, especially for +Sunday-school libraries, have entirely abandoned this branch of +business. It cannot be maintained that the Sunday-school library for the +entertainment of the scholars now holds a prominent place, or is a +factor of success, in the best American Sunday schools. + +3. =Causes of Decline.= It is not difficult to find reasons for this +present lack of interest in the Sunday-school library. Books are now far +more abundant than they were formerly. They are sold cheaply, and are to +be found in almost every home. The periodical literature in circulation +to-day is apparently a hundredfold greater than it was two generations +ago. Every city and almost every town has its public library. Many +schools are furnished with free libraries. Readers can scarcely find +time for the books and magazines that are open to them. Moreover, the +Sunday school now stands in such recognized honor and power that it no +longer needs the old-time library as a bait for scholars. The library +for mere recreation does not readily fit into the general scheme of +education in the modern Sunday school. Then, too, the educational work +of the school demands such an outfit of books and periodicals, renewed +each year, that the additional expense of the library is a heavy burden. +Sharp criticism is passed upon the quality of the books in most +Sunday-school libraries, as being almost wholly stories, and stories of +a cheap and commonplace character, many of them absolutely injurious. +The conducting of the library is often found to interfere with the order +and work of the school. These are among the causes which have led to +disuse of the library in many Sunday schools. + +4. =The Uses of a Good Library.= Notwithstanding the objections to the +Sunday-school library, its neglect by many scholars, and its abolition +in many schools, the fact remains that the majority of Sunday schools +still retain the library, and claim that it is needed. There are even +places where the Sunday-school library holds its own constituency in +competition with the town library; and in small villages the Sunday +school supplies most of the books in circulation. The principal claims +made in behalf of such a library are the following: + +(1) _Family Needs._ Every family needs good reading matter. The books +that interest the young generally interest the old also. People who +would be at a loss to select a book from the shelves of a public library +will read the book brought to them from the Sunday-school library. The +reading of the library-book fills leisure time on Sunday afternoons and +on long winter evenings. + +(2) _Moral Influence._ While most Sunday-school books as literature are +open to criticism, yet in the realm of ethics they generally present +high ideals. The characters depicted in them may not be symmetrical, but +on the whole they are earnest and upright. Youth admires heroism; and +the personalities portrayed in popular Sunday-school books are +generally heroic, even though they may be unduly emotional. The boys who +are picked up by the police in railroad centers, armed for fighting +Indians or robbing trains, generally carry an assortment of cheap +novels, but they are not from Sunday-school libraries. If the criterion +be ethics and not literature, most Sunday-school books will stand the +test. + +(3) _Aid to the School._ As has been already suggested, the original aim +of the library was to attract scholars to the school. In many places +this influence is no longer needed; but there still remain communities +where scholars are obtained and families are interested by means of the +library. And it is an open question whether if the library had advanced +step by step with the other departments of the school, if the same +attention had been given to the supply and management of the library as +has been given to the educational work, if the right books had been kept +upon its shelves, and advanced methods had been sought in their +distribution, the library of the Sunday school might not still be a +vigorous and successful institution. + +5. =Principles of Selection.= If the governing board of the school +decides that a library for general reading by the scholars is desirable, +the question at once arises as to what principles shall determine the +selection of books. A few of these principles may be stated: + +(1) _Variety._ The library should represent more than one department of +literature. So general is the taste for stories that the tendency will +be inevitable to overload the library with works of fiction. Therefore +special care should be given to include in it the lives of great and +good men--heroes, statesmen, explorers, leaders of the church, and +missionaries. All of these present life on its romantic side, and may be +found written in an entertaining manner. Upon the shelves should also be +placed history and science--not in many-volumed treatises for scholars, +but in popular books for young people. In fact, there are few +departments of a good public library which may not properly be included +in the library of the Sunday school, especially in places where the +school is expected to supply the reading matter for the community. + +(2) _Popularity._ Merely to place books on the shelves of a +Sunday-school library will not insure the reading of them. This library +aims to be emphatically a circulating library. Its books are not for +show, but for use; and their place to be seen is not on the shelves of +the library-room, but in the homes of the scholars and teachers. It is +absolutely essential that no book be placed in the library unless it is +sufficiently interesting to be taken out and read, for an unread book is +worse than useless in the Sunday-school library. Although its principles +be as sound as the Ten Commandments, if it be dull it must be condemned. +Students may be willing to plod through an uninteresting book because it +is profitable, but ordinary readers, especially youthful readers, will +turn from it. Books should not be purchased because they are good, or +because they are cheap; nor, on the other hand, should they be chosen +only because they are popular; yet an interesting, popular quality +should be an absolute requirement in every book placed upon the library +shelves. + +(3) _Literary Quality._ Books are influential teachers, and a style like +that of Hawthorne or Eliot will unconsciously mold the language of those +who read it. On the other hand, the habitual readers of the slang in the +comic paragraph of the newspaper will talk in a careless and inelegant +manner. Of course, all books should be excluded from the library which +deal in low, profane, or immoral language, without regarding the +specious plea that such describe life as it is. We do not need to learn +the language of the slums to know life; and, as one writer has said, we +do not want a realism that can be touched only with a pair of tongs. The +best pirate story in the English language is one that is without an oath +from cover to cover,[10] and we would not exclude it from the +Sunday-school library. Let us seek for writers whose expression is +direct, smooth, and cultured. The Sunday school in its literature as +well as its teaching should lead upward toward refinement of taste. + +(4) _Moral Teaching._ The ethical standard of every book in the +Sunday-school library should be of the highest. Not that every paragraph +should end with the application like the _Hæc fabula docet_ of Æsop's +fables, or that the characters in a story should be of a "goody-goody" +kind, or that none but good people should appear upon the page. There +must be some shadows in the perspective that the light may stand in +contrast. But in no case should wrong, or sin, or the doubtful +moralities of modern society be made attractive. Moral problem stories, +in which the boundary lines of right and wrong conduct are crossed and +re-crossed until right seems wrong, and wrong seems right, should have +no place. "Should love stories be admitted?" Not if the element of love +enters as the dominant thought of the book. A story should not be +forbidden because there is a pair of lovers in it; but it should not be +accepted if the book shows no higher motive than to set forth their +passion. Books should be sought that will inculcate a noble manliness +for young men and a noble womanliness for young women, and there are +such books in numbers sufficient to fill the library shelves. + +(5) _Christian Spirit._ It is not required that every book should set +forth and illustrate a spiritual experience. It may be religious without +preaching religion. But the morals it inculcates should be founded upon +the gospels and inspired by faith. It should be reverent in its +treatment of the Bible, of the church, and of the ministry. A book or a +story designed to weaken belief in the Scriptures as records of the +divine will, or holding the church up to scorn, or showing a minister as +its villain, should be kept out of the Sunday-school library. Criticism +or discussion of the Bible, of the church, and of the ministry has its +place, but its place is not in the Sunday school. The Sunday school is +distinctively a religious and a Christian institution, and the +atmosphere of the Christian religion should pervade its library. + +6. =The Coming Sunday-School Library.= Another library of a higher type +than that designed for the reading and recreation of the scholars is now +arising to notice in many advanced Sunday schools, and is destined to +become the Sunday-school library of the future, either supplementing the +library of the past or taking its place. It is the library which is to +the Sunday school what the college library is to the college, a workshop +equipped with tools for the use of the teacher and the scholar. It will +be at once a reference library, containing the best Bible dictionaries, +cyclopedias, expository works, and gospel harmonies, open at certain +times for the use of students; and also a lending library of books upon +the Bible, upon the Sunday school, upon teaching, upon religion, upon +character, and upon the varied forms of social service which are now +calling for workers, and will call yet more imperatively in the coming +years. The books for this library must be chosen with wisdom; for they +should represent the results of the best scholarship, yet be expressed +in language that the nonprofessional reader can understand; and many of +them must be for the scholars, who are of all ages and all degrees of +intelligence. Those of the Primary Department should be able to find in +such a library the stories of the Bible told in such a fascinating +manner that a child too young to read them may listen to them with +interest, and picture-books illustrating the events, the people, the +dress, and the landscape of the Bible. It should be planned to meet the +needs of every grade in the Sunday school, and to aid every teacher and +every scholar; and when established it should be made effective in the +educational work of the school. Just as in the secular school and the +college students are sent to the library with directions as to the books +they will need, so in the Sunday school teachers will be able to counsel +their scholars and to give them week-day work, so that the teaching will +be more than the talk of the teacher; it will embrace the results of +searching on the part of the scholar. Under the system of uniform +lessons the use of such a library was well-nigh impracticable, because +every class would need the same books at one time. But the uniform +lessons are being rapidly displaced by the graded system, giving to each +grade its own series of lessons; and this method, requiring different +books for each age in the school, will open the way for reference work +and study in the library. The time is at hand when such a working +library will become a necessity in every well-organized school. + +7. =The Public Library and the Sunday School.= It would seem that +wherever the public library is free, available, and well conducted some +arrangement might be effected whereby the Sunday-school libraries could +be united with the public library. This would lessen expense and +difficulty in management, would avoid the unnecessary reduplication of +copies of the same books, and would give to the scholars at once a wider +selection and the advantage of the open shelf. In more than one town +this has been accomplished. The Sunday schools have transferred all +their libraries to the public library, to its enlargement, and with no +loss of members to the schools. Some Sunday schools in cities have been +recognized as branch stations of the public library, giving them the +benefit of frequent changes in the equipment of books, which at regular +intervals are selected from the store of the public library by the +library committee of the school. The working library for teachers and +scholars, proposed in the last paragraph, in many places might be +established in the public library, wherever the schools in the community +will unite to show that it is needed, to name the books required, and to +make it practically useful. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[10] R. L. Stevenson's Treasure Island. + + + + +XII + +THE MANAGEMENT OF THE LIBRARY + + +1. =Library Committee.= For the selection of books, whether in the +reading library for scholars or the working library for teachers and +scholars, a wise, intelligent, and careful committee should be chosen, +and should be maintained in permanent service. The pastor and the +superintendent should be ex-officio members of this committee, but it +should also include some other persons sufficiently acquainted with +books to pass upon their merits, and willing to give time, inquiry, and +thought to the library. There may be schools fortunate in possessing +librarians who devote themselves to the selection of books, as well as +to the care of them; and in such schools the library committees will +find their labors lessened. No book should be admitted to the library +without examination and approval by the committee. + +(1) _Purchase of Books._ The simplest method for finding books is far +from being the best method. It is to have a quantity of books--a hundred +or more at one time--sent by booksellers on approval. This method +involves hasty examination, and generally results in obtaining many +useless, worthless books intermixed with a few good ones. The better +plan is for the committee, first of all, to be supplied with catalogues +from reputable publishers of books for children and young people, and +also books on religious and biblical education; next to read carefully +the reviews of books in these departments as given in the best literary +and religious periodicals; then, to send only for such books as they +judge will be desirable, receiving them on approval. Every book should +not only be looked at, but read; and if at all doubtful read by more +than one member of the committee. In some Sunday schools there is placed +at the door a library box, in which may be deposited the names of books +desired by members of the school. Lists of approved books are published +by various houses and societies; and the catalogues of a few good +Sunday-school libraries will aid committees. The library committee must +scrutinize closely all donations of books offered to the library, and +resolutely decline every book that is unsuitable, even at the risk of +offending the donor. The Sunday-school library room must not be turned +into a mausoleum for dead volumes. The committee must also beware of +bargains offered by some booksellers who would unload upon Sunday +schools their left-over and unsalable stock. That which costs little is +generally worth less. The Sunday school must obtain only books that will +be read and are worth reading. + +(2) _Frequent Additions._ The usual method is to use the old library +until its best books are either worn out or lost, and then to make a +strenuous effort at raising money for the purchase of an entirely new +collection. But the better plan is to add a few carefully selected books +each month to the library. To examine at one time two hundred volumes is +an impossibility, and in so large a purchase many undesirable books are +sure to be included. It is not difficult to select after careful +examination ten books each month, and thereby keep the library always at +a high grade of excellence. With each purchase a slip describing the new +books might be printed, and distributed to the school, thus keeping the +library constantly before its patrons. + +2. =The Librarian.= There is a close analogy between the work of the +librarian in the public library and that in the Sunday school. For the +public library everywhere a specialist is sought, one who knows books, +can select them wisely, and can aid seekers after literature in their +reading. The Sunday school needs just such a librarian, and all the more +because the scholars cannot select from the open shelf, but must guess +at the quality of a book from its title in the catalogue. It has been +noticed that wherever a Sunday-school library is successful in holding +the interest of the scholars there is found with it a librarian adapted +to his work and devoting himself to it. We notice the characteristics of +a good librarian in the Sunday school: + +(1) _A Bookman._ He is a lover of books, acquainted with them, and +interested in good literature. His work is more than to distribute +books: he should aid, sometimes supervise, their collection. + +(2) _A Business Man._ He is practical, orderly, and systematic in his +ways of working; with a plan for his task, and fidelity in accomplishing +it. + +(3) _Gentle in Manner._ Opportunities will be frequent for the librarian +to clash with the scholars on the one hand, or with the superintendent +upon the other. With one he may appear arbitrary, with the other +disorderly, his work sometimes breaking into the program of exercises. +He should be pleasant toward all, uniform in his dealings, and attentive +to the general order of the school. + +3. =His Assistants.= In most schools one assistant, in large schools +several assistants, will be required by the librarian. He should +nominate them, subject to the approval of the governing board of the +school; and should require of them regular and prompt attendance, and +attention to their work in the library. It is very desirable that the +business should be so arranged as to allow the librarians to take part +in the opening devotional service with the school, and not to be at work +arranging books while others are at prayer. + +4. =The Management of the Library.= This involves four processes: the +collection, the assignment, the distribution, and the return of the +books. + +(1) _The Collection._ The books can easily be collected without +interfering with the order of the school, if the library window is near +the entrance to the building, and the scholars as they enter leave their +books at the library. This is the method employed in most schools. + +(2) _The Assignment._ How to enable each scholar to choose his book +introduces one of the three problems in library management. The plan +generally followed is to supply each scholar with a card bearing a +number which represents the scholar. He selects from the catalogue a +large assortment of books, and writes their numbers upon his card: the +librarian assigns the scholar any one of the books selected, crosses it +from his list, and upon another list marks the number of the book +opposite the number of the scholar. The weakness of the plan is in the +fact that the scholar has no means of learning from the catalogue what +books are desirable; and a book desired by one may be entirely +undesirable to another. Theoretically the scholar has the whole +catalogue from which to choose; practically he has no choice, except the +suggestion in the titles of the books. The open-shelf plan cannot be +established in the Sunday school, for the room is usually too small, the +time of the session is too brief, and the work of the school too +important to allow interruption. + +In some graded Sunday schools another plan is pursued, taking from the +scholar all choice, but assigning to each grade books of certain +numbers, all printed upon the card of the scholar, any one of which +books he may receive at any time during his stay in the grade, but each +of which will fall to his lot but once. This plan demands a library of +books carefully selected, and as carefully fitted to each grade in the +school. But this method is apt to be unsatisfactory to the scholars, who +have their own preferences among the books. The difficulties in +assigning books, and disappointments of scholars in failing to obtain +the books desired, is a frequent cause for the disuse of the library; +and this problem has not as yet been fully solved. + +(3) _The Distribution._ This takes place at the close of the school, and +brings in the second problem of library management. The books may be +brought to the classes by the librarians, and distributed by the +teachers; each scholar's book being indicated by his card placed within +it. This method often causes confusion; scholars being dissatisfied +with their books and leaving their classes press around the library. +Sometimes they exchange books with each other. This is a simple plan as +far as the two scholars exchanging are concerned, but sure to make +trouble in the record of the librarian. Or each class may be dismissed +in turn, and obtain its books at the library window while passing out. +But this plan causes a congestion of scholars at the library, and also +requires much time. To manage the distribution of books demands a strong +will, coupled with a gentle manner in maintaining the library rules. + +(4) _The Return._ The theory of the Sunday-school library is that each +scholar will bring his book back after a week or two weeks. But boys and +girls--sometimes older scholars also--are apt to be careless. Books are +exchanged between scholars, are loaned from one home to another, are +forgotten, and are lost. And the books lost most readily are frequently +those that are most sought for by the scholars. How to induce scholars +invariably to return their books constitutes the third problem of +library management. In many schools the percentage of lost books is +exceedingly large. The librarian should do his utmost to reduce the loss +to a minimum. To this end a few suggestions may be given: + +(a) Record of Scholars. Every scholar's name and address, with his +library number, should be kept on record in the library; and every +effort should be made to make the record conform to all changes in +residence. + +(b) Record Sheet. The library should contain a record sheet, showing +the number of every book issued, and the number of the scholar receiving +it; to be canceled when the book is returned. This will show who is +responsible for every book out of its place from the library. + +(c) Fines. A fine should be assessed upon the scholar for every book +kept over time; and notice sent to the scholar at his home when a fine +has become due. + +(d) Rewards. Scholars should be paid a reward, perhaps of ten cents for +each book, if they can succeed in tracing and finding any book which has +been out of the library two months or more. These plans, or others, may +lessen, but no plan will entirely remove, the evil of books lost to the +library through neglect or a worse crime. + + + + +XIII + +THE TEACHER'S QUALIFICATIONS AND NEED OF TRAINING + + +While the superintendent in the school is the moving and guiding +intelligence, the pulse of the machine, the teacher in the class is the +worker at the anvil, or the loom, or the lathe, for whom all the plans +are made, and upon whom all the success depends. In the warfare for +souls he is on the picket line and at close range, fighting face to face +and hand to hand. The sphere of his effort is small, that group gathered +around him for an hour on Sunday, but in that little field his is the +work that counts for the final victory. His task requires peculiar +adaptedness, supplemented by special training. + +1. =His Qualifications.= There are on the American continent not less +than a million and a half Sunday-school teachers, who give to the gospel +their free-will offering of time, and toil, and thought. They are not +like civil engineers or the majority of public-school teachers, +graduates of schools that have given them training for a special +vocation. In every respect they are laymen, engaged for six days in +secular work, and on one day finding an avocation in the Sunday school. +Yet there are certain traits, partly natural and partly acquired, which +they must possess, if they are to find success in their Sabbath-day +service. + +(1) _A Sincere Disciple._ The Sunday-school teacher must be a follower +of Christ, not merely in profession but in spirit. He is one who has met +his Lord, has heard and has obeyed the call, "Follow me." He enlisted in +the grand army of which Christ is the Commander, before he received his +assignment to the army corps of the Sunday school, and his fidelity to +the department is inspired by his deeper loyalty to his Lord. It is +eminently desirable that the Sunday-school teacher should be a member of +the church; but it is imperative that he should be a disciple of Christ. + +(2) _A Lover of Youth._ By far the largest proportion of scholars in the +Sunday school, perhaps nine tenths, are under twenty-five years of age. +Therefore, with few exceptions, the teachers must deal with young +people; and youth at all its stages is not easy to understand and to +manage. Moreover, the fact that not only the teachers, but to a large +extent the scholars, are volunteers enters into the problem. Pupils +attend the week-day school and submit to a teacher's rule because they +must, whether their teachers are acceptable or are disliked. But the +rule in the Sunday school is not the law of authority; it is the law of +persuasion. The teacher who cannot draw his scholars, but repels them, +soon finds himself without a class. In all teaching sympathy, or the +coördination between the interest of the teacher in the pupil and of the +pupil in the teacher, is a strong factor in success; but in the Sunday +school it is an absolute necessity by reason of the voluntary element in +the constitution of the Sunday school. That mystic power which will +combine uncongenial spirits, and fuse the hearts of teacher and scholar +into one, is love. Let the teacher love his scholars, let him see in +each pupil some quality to inspire love, and the battle is half won. +Love will quicken tact, and love and tact together will win the complete +victory. + +(3) _A Lover of the Scriptures._ Whatever the Sunday school of to-morrow +may become, the Sunday school of to-day is preëminently a Bible school. +There are tendencies in our time which may in another generation render +the Bible less prominent, and introduce into the Sunday school studies +in church history, in social science, in moral reform, in missions, +perhaps in comparative religion, or in some other departments of +knowledge. But as yet the great text-book of the school is the Holy +Scriptures. The volume should be in the hand of every teacher and of +every scholar during the school session; and the teacher, especially, +must study it during the week. If all of the Bible that he knows is +contained in the paragraphs assigned for the coming lesson, and the rest +of the book is sealed to his eyes, he will be a very poor teacher. He +needs to have his mind stored with a thousand facts, and to have these +facts systematized, in order to teach ten; and the nine hundred and +ninety which he knows will add all their weight to the ten which he +tells. + +(4) _A Willing Worker._ The teacher's love for Christ, for his scholars, +and for his Bible is not to expend itself in emotion or even in study; +it is to find expression in efficient service. A task is laid upon him +which will demand much of his time and his power of body, mind, and +spirit. He must be ready to meet his class fifty-two Sundays in the +year: on days of sunshine and days of storm; when he is eager for the +work, and when he is weary in it; when his scholars are responsive, and +when they are careless; when his fellow workers are congenial, and when +they are anti-pathetic; when his lesson is easy to teach, and when it is +hard. He must be regular in his service, not turned aside by +opportunities of enjoyment elsewhere; and he must give to it all his +powers and all his skill. Work such as this can be sustained only by an +enduring enthusiasm, a devotion to the cause; and therefore the teacher +must have his heart enlisted as well as his will. + +As a Sunday-school teacher, then, four harmonious objects will claim a +share in his love: his Lord, his scholars, his Bible, and his work. + +2. =His Need of Training.= For two generations it was supposed that any +person fairly intelligent, without special equipment, was fitted to be a +Sunday-school teacher. There are found no records of training classes in +Sunday-school work earlier than 1855, when the Rev. John H. Vincent +began to gather young people and train them for service in his Sunday +school at Irvington, New Jersey. The seed of his "Palestine Class" grew +into the "Normal Class"; and by 1869 there were in a few places classes +for the teaching of teachers in the Bible and Sunday-school work. It is +not remarkable that Sunday-school teacher-training should be delayed so +long after the organization of the first Sunday school, when it is +remembered that in America the first Normal School for secular teachers +was not founded until 1839. The Chautauqua movement, begun in 1874, gave +a strong impetus to Sunday-school teacher-training; the state +associations and denominational organizations took up the work; and now +teacher-training classes are to be found in every state and province on +the American continent. The thoroughly graded school includes in its +system a class for the training of young people who are to be teachers. + +It is late in the day to inquire why the Sunday-school teacher needs +training; but the question is often asked, and the answers are ready: + +(1) _The General Principle._ All good work involves the prerequisite of +training. Especially is this true of teaching; and there is a reason why +the principle holds with regard to the Sunday-school teacher even more +directly than with the secular teacher. While the subjects of teaching +are vitally important, relating to character and efficient service, the +time for teaching is short, less than an hour each week, in contrast to +the twenty or twenty-five hours in the week-day school. To make an +impression in so short a teaching period, with such long intervals +between the lessons, demands that the teacher be one who possesses +exceptional fitness for his work, and this superior fitness cannot be +obtained without special and thorough training. + +(2) _The Teacher's Responsibility._ All-important as is the work of +religious teaching, for which the Bible is the chief text-book in the +church, there is but one institution in our time charged with that +mighty duty, and that is the Sunday school. The Bible is rarely taught +in the home, which should be the first place for teaching it; it is only +incidentally taught in the pulpit, of which the aim is not so much +instruction as inspiration. Practically all the teaching of the Bible +now devolves upon the Sunday school, and the Sunday school only. If the +Sunday schools of the world for one generation should fail to teach the +word of life, the knowledge of that word would well-nigh cease. And the +one person charged with that task, the one on whom the responsibility +rests, is the Sunday-school teacher. He who is intrusted with so great a +work, and upon whose fidelity the work depends, must have a proper +equipment; and that equipment presupposes training. + +(3) _The Demand of the Age._ We are living in an intellectual age, +unparalleled in the history of the world. The boundaries of knowledge in +every direction have widened, and in each realm the search is deeper and +more thorough. Such wealth has been added through recent investigations +to the store of Bible knowledge that most commentaries, expositions, and +introductions of the past have now but slight value. Another exceedingly +important realm that has been added to the domain of knowledge is that +of child study, but recently an unexplored field, now open to every +reader. In such a time as this the teacher who would impart the contents +of the Bible to the young must have eyes and mind opened. He must know +the results of modern investigation in the Scriptures and in the nature +of those whom he teaches. His pupils are under the care of trained and +alert specialists through the week; they must receive instruction from +well-taught minds in the Sunday school. + +(4) _The Teacher and His Class._ The peculiar relation already referred +to as existing between the Sunday-school teacher and his class presents +another incentive to training. His relation is not like that of the +secular teacher, who speaks with authority, and can command attention +and study. The teacher in Sunday school cannot require his scholars to +learn the lesson; the authority of the parent is rarely employed to +compel home study; and as a result most of our scholars come to the +Sunday school unprepared. This is not the ideal or the ultimate +condition, but unfortunately it is still the real condition in at least +nine out of ten Sunday-school classes. This condition makes the demand +upon the teacher all the greater. Because his scholars are unprepared he +must be all the better prepared. He must be able to awaken and arouse +his pupils; he must inspire them to an interest in the lesson; he must +so teach as to lead them into knowledge of the truth and a desire to +seek it for themselves. Anyone can teach the scholar who is eager to +learn; but to teach those who come to the class unprepared and careless, +to send them away with a clear-cut understanding of the lesson, and an +awakened intelligence and conscience--all this, under the conditions of +the Sunday-school teacher's task, and in his peculiar relation to his +scholars, requires not only ability, but also thoroughly trained +ability. + +In view of all these considerations, it is not surprising that at the +opening of the twentieth century the demand of the Sunday schools +everywhere is for better teaching, and for teachers who have themselves +been taught and are able to teach others. + + + + +XIV + +THE TRAINING AND TASK OF THE TEACHER + + +1. =The Training Needed.= Many faithful workers in the Sunday school +realize their need of preparation; but, while conscious of unfitness, +they have no clear conception of the equipment which they require. What +are those fields of knowledge which should be traversed by one who has +been called to teach in the Sunday school? They comprise four +departments: (1) the Book, (2) the scholar, (3) the school, and (4) the +work. + +(1) _The Book._ We have already noted that the Sunday school is +differentiated from other systems of education in the fact that it uses +mainly but one text-book, the Holy Scriptures. For that reason the +teacher must first of all acquaint himself as thoroughly as possible +with the contents of that wonderful volume. He should be a twentieth +century Bible student; not a student or a scholar according to the light +of the Middle Ages, or the seventeenth century, or even of the first +half of the nineteenth century; for in all those periods the aims, the +methods, and the scope of Bible study were different from those of the +present time. He who is to teach the Bible successfully to-day must have +some knowledge of the Bible in the following aspects: + +(a) Its Origin and Nature. He must have a definite idea of how the +sixty-six books of Scripture were composed, written, and preserved; +and, as far as may be known, who were their authors. + +(b) Its History. The Bible is, more than anything else, a book of +history, containing the record of a people who received the divine +revelation and preserved it. The divine revelation cannot be taught nor +comprehended unless the annals of that remarkable people, the +Israelites, be first read and understood. Therefore biblical history +should be the first subject to be studied by the teacher in the Sunday +school. The leading facts and underlying principles of that unique +history must be understood; not in an outline of minute details, but as +a general landscape, in which each lesson of the Bible will take its +place. + +(c) Its Geographical Background. The Bible brings before us a world of +natural features which remain--seas, mountains, valleys, and plains; a +world of political divisions which has passed away; its empires, +kingdoms, and tribal relations; and cities and towns, some of them now +desolate, others in poverty and in ruin. The teacher who is to instruct +his pupils must be able to see those abiding elements, and by the aid of +his historical imagination to reconstruct those that have changed. He +must make that ancient world of the Bible roll like a panorama before +the eyes of his mind. + +(d) Its Institutions. Upon every page of the Bible are stamped pictures +of manners, customs, institutions, forms of worship, that are unfamiliar +to our Christian, Anglo-Saxon, modern world. The teacher must become +familiar with this local color of another civilization, and enable his +class to see it through his eyes. + +(e) Its Ethical and Religious Teaching. In the past, and until a +generation ago, the Bible was studied only for its doctrines. It was +generally treated as one book, all written at once and by one author; +its history, biography, institutions, were passed over as unimportant; +while every sentence was searched for some light upon theology. From the +Bible, by assorting and grouping its texts out of every book, a system +of doctrine was constructed; and the mastery of this system with its +proof-texts was regarded as the principal work of the Bible student. +That method of Bible study has justly fallen into disuse among modern +scholars. The Bible is now looked upon as a record of life rather than +as a treasury of texts. Yet its stream of ethical, religious, and +spiritual teaching must be found and followed by the student who is to +teach the truth; and the doctrines revealed through the Bible should be +regarded as a necessary part of his training. + +(2) _The Scholar._ One book must be studied closely by the teacher, and +that is his pupils. During the last thirty years human nature in all its +stages, as child, as youth, during adolescence, and in maturity--especially +in the earlier periods--has been investigated as never before. The +student in our time can enter into the results of special study upon +these subjects. He needs to know what the best books can give him of +child study and mind study; and to supplement book-knowledge in this +department with watchful eyes and close thought upon the traits which he +finds in his own scholars. + +(3) _The School._ The teacher in the Sunday school needs to understand +the institution wherein he is a worker. The Sunday school is like the +week-day school, yet unlike it; and the teacher must be able to +appreciate at once what he can follow and what he should avoid in the +methods of the secular school. The history of the Sunday-school +movement, its fundamental principles, its organization, officers, +methods of management, and aims--all these are in the scope of the +teacher's preparation. + +(4) _The Work._ Whether on Sunday or on Monday, a teacher is after all a +teacher, and the laws of true teaching are the same in a Sunday school, +in a public school, and in a college. The application of those laws may +vary according to the ages of pupils, the subjects of instruction, and +the aims of the institution, but the principles are unchanging. Those +enduring principles of instruction are well understood, are set down in +text-books, and can easily be learned by a student. There are successful +teachers who know these principles by an intuition that they cannot +explain; but most people will save themselves from many mistakes and +comparative failure by a close study of modern educational methods. + +In some way knowledge in all these four great departments of training +should be obtained by the teacher, if possible, before he enters upon +his task; but if he has missed earlier opportunities of preparation he +must acquire this knowledge even while he is teaching. The outlines of +such a course of study should be given in the training class for young +people; and such a training class should be regarded as essential to +every well-organized school.[11] + +2. =The Teacher's Task.= All the preparation briefly outlined in these +last paragraphs is only preparatory to the work which the teacher is to +do in his vocation. The task set before the teacher is fourfold: + +(1) _As a Student._ The studies named above are not completed when the +teacher has passed out of the training class with a certificate of +graduation. The public-school teacher who ceases to study after +finishing the course of the normal school is foredoomed to failure. The +training class or the training school has only outlined before the +teacher the fields to be traversed, and shown him a few paths which he +may follow. He who has undertaken to teach a group of scholars, whether +in the Beginners Department, the Senior Department, or any grade between +them, must continue his studies, in the Bible, in the specific course of +graded lessons which he is teaching, and in general knowledge; for there +is no department of thought or action which will not bring tribute to +the teacher, to be turned into treasure for his class. The Sunday-school +teacher must ever maintain an open mind, a quick eye, and a spirit eager +for knowledge. His accumulation will prove a store upon which to draw +for teaching; and even that unused will give its weight to truth +imparted to his class. + +(2) _As a Friend._ The teacher is more than a student dealing with +books; he is a living soul in contact with living souls. If the most +masterly lesson teaching in the realm of thought could be spoken into a +phonograph, and then ground out before a class, it would fail to teach, +for it would utterly lack the human element. Knowledge counts for much +in teaching, but personality counts for far more. If a teacher is to be +successful he must have a close relationship with his class. They must +know him, he must know them, and there must be a common interest, nay, a +common affection, between the two personalities of teacher and pupil. He +must be a friend to each one of his scholars, schooling himself, if need +be, to friendship; and each of his scholars must be made to realize that +his teacher is his friend. This personal affection need not always be +stated in words. The teacher who constantly assures his scholars that he +loves them will not be believed as readily as the one who shows his love +in his spirit and his acts, even though he may refrain from affectionate +forms of speech. + +(3) _As a Teacher._ Teaching requires more than the possession of an +abundant store of information upon any subject. He is not a teacher who +simply pours forth upon the ears of his pupils an undigested mass of +facts, however valuable those facts may be. The true teacher after large +preparation assorts his material, and selects such matter as is +appropriate to his own class. This he arranges in a form to be readily +received, thoroughly comprehended, and easily remembered. He comes +before his class with the fixed purpose that every pupil shall carry +away with him a knowledge of the lesson, and shall not forget it. He +must awaken the pupil's attention; for talking to an inattentive group +of people accomplishes no more than preaching to tombstones in a +graveyard. He must obtain the coöperation of the pupil's interest, and +induce him to think upon the subject. He must call forth from his pupil +some expression of his thought in language, for one is never sure of his +knowledge until he has shaped it into words; and that which the pupil +has stated he is much surer to remember than that which he has merely +heard. Teaching, then, involves (1) selection of material, (2) +adaptation of material, (3) presentation of truth, (4) awakening +thought, (5) calling forth expression, (6) fixing knowledge in the +memory. + +(4) _As a Disciple._ It is the teacher's task not only to impart to his +scholars valuable information about the Bible, about God, about Christ, +and about salvation; but, far more than imparting an intellectual +knowledge, to bring the living word into relation with living souls, to +inspire a fellowship of his pupils with God, to have Christ founded +within them, to make salvation through Christ their joyous possession. +Nor is his work as a working disciple accomplished when all his scholars +have become Christians in possession and profession, and members of +Christ's Church. By his example and his teachings he should lead them to +efficient service for Christ in the church, in the community, and in the +state. There is work for every member in the church, and work for +everyone possessing the spirit of Christ in the community. Whatever may +have been the type of a saint in the twelfth century, or in the +sixteenth, or even in the early nineteenth century, in these stirring, +strenuous years of the twentieth century the disciple of Christ is a man +among men or a woman among women, active in the effort to make the world +better, and to establish in his own village, or town, or ward of the +city, the kingdom of heaven on earth. To inspire his scholars for such +labors, and to lead them, is the supreme opportunity and work of the +teacher. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[11] For detailed methods and plans, see the volume of this series on +The Training of Sunday School Teachers. + + + + +XV + +THE CONSTITUENCY OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL + + +1. =Relation to the Community.= The Sunday school is a temple built of +living stones; and the quarry from which they are taken in the rough, to +be cut and polished for their places in the building, is the entire +community in which the school is placed. In our time, more than ever +before, the reasons are imperative why special study should be given to +the community from which the school must draw its members. Certain +principles of administration will become apparent when once the field is +carefully considered. + +(1) _Constituency Adjacent._ The population from which a given Sunday +school draws its members must be generally that immediately around it. +Some teachers and scholars may come from a distance, but even in this +age of convenient transit by trains and trolley cars, it is found that, +taking the church building as a center, the constituency of the Sunday +school in a city is mostly within a radius of half a mile, and in the +country within a mile. Throughout that sphere of influence the church +should look well to the population, should know its proportionate +elements, as far as possible should come into acquaintance with the +families, and should plan to win, to evangelize, and to hold all its +natural following. + +(2) _Membership Representative._ Upon general and almost invariable +principles, the Sunday school should represent all the elements of the +population within its environment. If it be a residence section with +isolated houses, each containing but one family of well-to-do people, +the church is apt to be a family church, and a large Sunday school must +not be looked for, since large mansions rarely contain large families. +If, on the other hand, the neighborhood be populous, characterized by +varied strata of society--a few rich, a goodly number fairly prosperous, +and a greater mass of wage-earners, yet the section as a whole American +and not foreign in its civilization--then a flourishing, active, and +growing Sunday school should be expected. And it should embrace all +these elements, the rich, the middle class, and the wage-earners, in the +proportion which each bears to the community as a whole. If the school +in such a population be small, or if it be composed exclusively of one +class, whether it be the so-called better class or the mission class, +there is a serious error in its policy. The true Sunday school should be +representative of all the elements in the population. It is both a crime +and a blunder to limit the efforts of a Sunday school to one class of +society: a crime, because such a school leaves multitudes around it to +perish; and a blunder, because the effort results in an anæmic, +dwindling, dying institution. + +(3) _Methods Adapted._ Almost every community, whether in city or in +country, possesses some traits peculiar to itself. There may be two +towns ten miles apart, one the wealthy residential suburb of a city, the +other a settlement surrounding a great factory. The population of these +two places will be in marked contrast, and the methods of Christian +work successful in one will utterly fail in the other. One street or +avenue in a city may mark the boundary line between family churches and +mission churches. Within ten minutes' walk of each other may stand two +churches of the same denomination, yet so utterly apart in spirit as to +possess nothing in common but name. It is possible that each of these +two organizations might learn something from the other, and might do +their Master's work better by a closer community of interest and +feeling. Yet it would be a mistake to introduce into either church all +the plans that are successful in the other; or to reject in one Sunday +school any method because it has proved a failure in another and a +different field. The work of each church and Sunday school must be +adapted to the population from which its membership is to be drawn. + +2. =The Changing Population.= One of the most imperative questions +confronting the gospel worker, both in the church and the Sunday school, +arises from the constant changes taking place in our population. In the +cities we see stately churches, once thronged, now well-nigh desolate, +while their walls echo to the tread upon the sidewalk of a churchless +multitude. In front of a fine old church, where once millionaires +worshiped, the writer has often passed a news-stand upon which are for +sale newspapers in seven different languages. And too often one finds +that the churches of a generation ago have been turned into low +theaters, or torn down, giving place to stores and office buildings. The +general principle may be laid down, that a church in the city almost +never lives more than one generation in the same building and with the +same character. After thirty years as the very longest period, if it is +to retain its members, it must follow them in the march up-town; or if +it is to retain its location and still hold a congregation it must seek +an absolutely new constituency, and to this end must transform its +methods of work. Nor are these migrations of population confined to the +city. The towns and villages are governed by the same law of change. A +village, once the seat of quiet homes, is suddenly turned into a factory +town, with a new and strange population. The farms on country roads, +abandoned by the families that formerly tilled them, are occupied by +foreigners of alien speech and manners. The building of a railroad will +open new towns, and at the same time will make more than one deserted +village. These changes in population must be considered in their +relation to the work of the Sunday school. The movement will be +characterized by varied traits in different places. + +(1) _A Growing Population._ The change may be that of a healthy growth +in population, making the community a desirable place for a church and a +Sunday school. Such a development is constantly taking place in the +newer portions of a city, whose population is moving from the center to +the rim; or it may be noted in suburban towns, as facilities of +transportation bring new residents from the metropolis; or it may appear +in villages springing up on the line of a railroad, where home-seekers +are settling and building habitations. Leaders in church and +Sunday-school work must watch these growing centers, and provide wisely +for their religious needs. It will not suffice to wait for these +newcomers to build their own churches and organize their own Sunday +schools. Most of them are taxed to the utmost in building or buying +their own homes, and will scarcely realize their need until the habit of +neglecting worship has become fixed, and their children grow up without +religious education. The old and strong churches must extend a hand to +the settlers, must preëmpt church sites at the very beginning, must help +to erect chapels, for a time must supply workers, and must set the +current of the new settlement Godward and churchward. The reward of +their labor and their liberality will not long be delayed. + +(2) _A Declining Population._ There are places where the population has +lessened, making the work of the Sunday school increasingly difficult +and its results meager. It may be in the city, where business has +crowded away the dwellers of other years, as in the lower end of +Manhattan Island in New York. There tall office buildings and warehouses +stand on sites formerly occupied by churches, but no longer needed, now +that almost the only residents are the janitors and their families, +living on the roofs of the towerlike temples of trade. But oftener the +region of the declining population is found in the country. Villages +once prosperous have gradually lost their inhabitants. In places where +three or four churches, each with its Sunday school, were formerly well +supported, there is now scarcely a constituency for one. Yet all these +churches, though decayed and dying by inches, are still maintained; and +each church still houses a discouraged Sunday school, attended by a +faithful few, but with no hope of growth and an imminent peril of +extinction. If loyalty to a denomination could give way to love for the +kingdom of Christ, these might be consolidated into one church and one +Sunday school for all the community. We venture the prophecy that before +the twentieth century comes to its close this will be throughout the +American continent the accepted settlement of the question. May its +fulfillment be not long delayed! In the meantime these decayed but still +enduring Sunday schools and churches in a community should seek for +peace and friendship, not emphasizing the points of doctrine or of +system that differ, but those that agree, and striving to maintain the +unity of the spirit in a bond of love. + +(3) _A Population Changing Socially._ A serious problem often arises, +not from a decline but from a change in the social condition of the +population within the sphere of the church. The downtown church may have +been forsaken by its former members, but people of another class, and in +greater numbers, have taken their places. The mansions have become +boarding houses, flats and apartment houses have arisen, while the +thronged sidewalks, and the children playing in the streets, are +evidence that the material for members of the church and the Sunday +school is greater than before. True, the new inhabitants are of a +different social order from the old, clerks and porters instead of +merchants, employees instead of employers, working people in place of +the leisure class. The fact that the social level of the neighborhood +may be regarded by the worldly-minded as lower than formerly does not +lessen its need of the gospel, nor render it less promising for +Christian work. The church should look upon its field with unprejudiced +eyes, should have an understanding of the time; should be alert to see +and to seize its opportunity; and should change its methods with its +changed constituency. The field must not be abandoned; it must be +cultivated, and new forms of tillage will bring forth abundant harvests. + +(4) _An Alien Population._ The most perplexing of all social problems +arises when immigration has swept into the district surrounding the +church a tide of people whose birth and speech are foreign, supplanting +and in large measure driving out the native population. There are +sections in our cities where the signs on the stores are all Bohemian, +or Polish, or Yiddish; where an English-speaking church would remain +absolutely empty, though thousands throng the streets. It may be that in +such conditions gospel work under American methods can no longer be +maintained; and a removal may be necessary. But even in the most +unpromising fields this conclusion should not be hastily reached. We +spend large sums in sending missionaries to the lands from which some +strangers come; should we not embrace opportunities of evangelizing +these at our own door? There are difficulties, but they are not nearly +as insuperable as those in foreign fields. These foreign-born or +foreign-descended children sit beside our own in the public school; +should we shut them out from our Sunday schools? In less than a +generation millions of these boys and girls will be as thoroughly +American as our own children. When we consider the question of +abandoning any field on account of its foreign population, let us widen +our horizon of thought to embrace the future as well as the present, and +then form our conclusion concerning the duty of the Sunday school to the +community. + +3. =Practical Suggestions.= A few hints, some of them already given, may +summarize the practical side of the subject: + +(1) _Study the Field._ The Sunday school must live not in the past, but +in the present, with a clear vision of the future. It must not only +cherish a loving memory of its field as it has been, but understand +thoroughly what it is, and what forces are shaping it for the future. +The leaders in each Sunday school working for itself, or preferably +those conducting the Sunday schools of a neighborhood working unitedly, +should ascertain the nationality, religious condition, and church +relations of every family in the district; and not only of every family, +of every individual who may have a room in a boarding house. Each +political organization knows the residence and party proclivities of +every voter in the district; and the churches may learn from the +politicians practical lessons upon the best methods of work. + +(2) _Cultivate the Field._ Since the scholars must come to the school +from the population around it, they should be sought, brought in, +taught, and evangelized, with all the energy and wisdom which the church +possesses. And not only the scholars, but also, in large degree, the +teachers must be home-born and home-taught; therefore the Sunday school, +to be successful, must train up workers from its own constituency. + +(3) _Provide for all Elements._ By diligent and constant effort the +school should be made representative of all ages, of all classes, of all +sections, and as far as practicable of all races found in its community. + +(4) _Adapt Methods._ If a former constituency has removed from the +field, and a new population has surged in, the new element must be +looked upon as the constituency of the school. Its needs must be +recognized, however different they may be from the needs of the past; +and plans must be formed to meet those needs, whatever transformation of +the school the new plans may involve. + + + + +XVI + +RECRUITING THE SUNDAY SCHOOL + + +1. =Necessity.= The aspiration for advancement is natural and noble; and +therefore every member of the Sunday school who is interested in its +welfare, whether officer, teacher, or pupil, desires it to increase in +membership, and to spread its benefits as widely as possible. But the +recruiting of the Sunday school is not only desirable, but necessary. It +is found that in every school there exists an outflow as well as an +inflow of members. If in certain departments, as the Primary, new +scholars are constantly enrolled, in other departments, as the older +grades of the Intermediate and the Senior, there is as constant a +dropping out of members from the school. It has been estimated that in +most Sunday schools from twenty to twenty-five per cent of the +membership changes annually, so that the average period of a teacher or +scholar in the Sunday school is less than five years. There are some who +remain longer, but others who are members for even a shorter time. Upon +the average, every school is a new school once in four or five years. If +one fifth of the school leaves every year, there must be an equal number +enter it, to keep the school at its normal size. But any institution +dependent upon the maintenance of a constituency, whether it be a +periodical, a life-insurance association, or a Sunday school, begins to +decline when its number remains stationary. The health and life of the +school, therefore, require a constant renewal of its membership. The +school must have new blood, or it will soon be impoverished and in time +die. + +2. =The Losses from the School.= Before the presentation of plans for +winning new scholars comes the vital question of holding the scholars +already on the roll; for the condition of leakage has a close relation +to growth or decline. If the causes of the leakage can be ascertained, +and the drain can be stopped, we shall be materially aided in our effort +to enlarge the school. + +(1) _The Search in the School._ Careful notation should be kept of the +grades from which scholars are lost, or which are below a normal +membership; and equally careful inquiry should be made as to the cause +of the decline, and methods to correct it should be sought. Is it in the +Primary Department, which should be the most rapidly growing department +in the school? Is it in the Junior or Intermediate Department, where +there ought to be a steady increase, even if it be slow? Is it in the +Senior Department? Here there is great danger of losses, especially +among young men. Is it not possible to find why they leave the school, +and what will induce them to remain? Perhaps the school is deficient in +the Adult Department. Must it be admitted that the Sunday school is for +children only, and that as soon as its members become men and women +their departure from the school is to be expected? The investigation +should be more than general, ascertaining what departments are suffering +loss; it should be personal, including the name and grade of every +scholar who has ceased to attend for a definite period; and as far as +possible the reason for his leaving the school. + +(2) _Following up Absentees._ A systematic plan for watching over the +membership of the school should be instituted and vigorously maintained. +For example, in some schools a report of every absentee is made by the +secretary to the superintendent. On Monday morning each teacher receives +by mail the list of his absent scholars, with a request to send in +writing, as soon as practicable, the cause of absence for each one. In +many schools this work of looking after the absentees is performed by +paid visitors--a good plan, but not so good as for the teacher to come +into personal touch with his own scholars. A business firm watches over +its customers, and endeavors in every possible way to hold them. The +Sunday school which can maintain its grasp upon its members has the +problem of growth already half solved. + +3. =Characteristics of a Growing School.= The strongest force in +recruiting the Sunday school is to be found in the character of the +school itself. The merchant must have his shelves stocked with +attractive goods if he expects customers. In order to obtain scholars +there must be a good school. + +(1) _Efficient._ The school should maintain high educational standards; +should be thoroughly graded in all its departments, with suitable +lessons for each grade; and should have organized classes for young +people and adults. The thoroughly good school will rarely lack for +scholars. + +(2) _Attractive._ The school should be attractive as well as efficient. +Its meeting place should be cheerful and airy, with suitable furniture +and apparatus, above ground, and not a damp, dingy basement. It should +have enjoyable exercises, like a school, yet not too severely like a +public school. It should greet new members heartily, make them feel at +home, and cultivate acquaintance with them. There should be an animating +spirit of loyalty and love for the school; a devotion which will inspire +active effort in its behalf. Around the school should be the atmosphere +of a happy home. + +(3) _Prominent._ Among the activities of the church the school should +stand forth prominently. It should be kept in mind that, as the +neighborhood furnishes the constituency of the school, so the school +furnishes the members for the church. In our time three fourths of the +accessions by profession of faith come from the Sunday school. The +school should be held in honor as the principal source of supply to the +church membership. If the audience room is large and imposing, and the +Sunday-school room is inferior and unattractive; if the pulpit and the +choir are amply supported while the school receives a narrow sustenance, +however great the prosperity of the church its duration will be brief. +The Sunday school must stand in the foreground, and not in the +background, if the church is to grow; and the growing church should have +a growing Sunday school. + +(4) _Special Occasions._ Throughout the Sunday-school year occur days +which should be recognized, as breaking the monotony of the regular +exercises, and as attractive features of the school. Such are Christmas, +Easter, Children's Day in June, Rally Day in the fall, and Decision Day, +when the net is drawn for discipleship in behalf of the church. Some +superintendents look upon these occasions as burdensome, but with +careful preparation and an attractive program they will add to the +interest of the school, while in no wise detracting from the efficiency +of its educational work. An occasional social entertainment for the +school, or for each department in turn, and an outing day in the summer, +will strengthen that _esprit de corps_ or animating spirit of the school +which is its strongest drawing power in attracting new members. + +(5) _Special Helps._ There are communities where certain methods may +avail more than elsewhere. A well-conducted Sunday-school library, no +longer needed in many places, may be of great value in villages where +there is no public library. A reading room, social hall, and gymnasium +may constitute the church a home for young men whose dwelling places may +be in close tenement houses. Young men are in saloons, and young women +are in amusement parks, who might spend their evenings under the healthy +influence of the church if places were provided. These plans and other +features of the institutional church will need careful and wise +administration if they are to do good and not harm; but in many places +they will minister to the success of the school and the church, and also +to the uplifting of the community. + +4. =Reaching Beyond the School.= Thus far in this chapter we have +considered the school rather than the field. One of the chief tasks of +the Sunday school, however, is to reach out and lay hold of all the +inhabitants, both young and old, in the area of its influence. The +following active measures have proved effective in reaching the people +and winning them to the school. + +(1) _Advertise._ The school should be kept before the community in every +legitimate way. Merchants tell us that the secret of success is first to +have salable goods, and then to advertise them; and the same principle +applies to the Sunday school. Printer's ink should be used liberally, +but wisely. Only neatly printed, attractive matter should be employed. +Invitation cards, leaflets, programs of special services, a little +periodical devoted to the school, a year book containing the school +register, and many other forms of advertisement will help to inform the +neighborhood that the school is at work and is ready to welcome new +members. + +(2) _Invite._ Every officer, teacher, scholar, and parent should +consider himself a committee to speak to others about the school, and to +invite his friends and acquaintances to attend it. The little children +should ask their playmates, boys and girls in school their classmates, +young men their shopmates, young women their associates. No printed +paper can have a tenth of the power possessed by the living voice and a +hearty hand-shake. It is assumed that the invitation is given only to +those who are not already attached to any church or school. All possible +care should be taken to maintain a fraternal spirit, and not to build up +our own wall by pulling down another. + +(3) _Visit._ The field belonging to the school should be bounded +definitely, and should be thoroughly and systematically canvassed. It +should be divided into districts, and each district assigned to a +visitor and a committee, who should know who may be included in the +proper constituency of the school. For this work many schools and +churches employ a paid visitor or a deaconess; and none can surpass the +zeal or fidelity of many who enter upon such a vocation. But the schools +which cannot afford professional workers include some teachers and some +adult scholars who can give a portion of their own time to the same +task. An organized class of men might be named which grew into over a +hundred members through persistent work by a simple plan. A lookout +committee, after careful inquiry, would report the names and addresses +of men eligible for membership. Then the members in order and by +appointment, in groups of two, called upon each candidate, formed his +acquaintance, and invited him to the class. Sometimes thirty or forty +men would call, but in time almost every man visited yielded to the +friendly social influence, became a member, and soon after a worker for +the class. + +5. =A Danger.= A caution may be needed with reference to all these plans +of recruiting the school. Advertising may be carried to the excess of +becoming sensational. Invitations may be pressed upon scholars in other +schools. The effort for increase may degenerate into unfriendly rivalry. +A good plan may work evil when worked in a selfish spirit. And a +too-rapid growth is sure to be unhealthy. The late B. F. Jacobs said, +"God pity the Sunday school that gets a hundred scholars at one time!" A +quiet, steady, diligent, persistent effort for the school will be of +permanent benefit, rather than a spasm of enthusiasm. + + + + +XVII + +THE TESTS OF A GOOD SUNDAY SCHOOL + + +In the United States more than a hundred thousand Sunday schools are in +session every week. Some of them are very good, many are only moderately +efficient, and some are poor in every respect. The question arises, what +constitutes a good Sunday school? Is it possible to establish some +standard of measurement by which the rank of any Sunday school can be +fixed? In such a standard there must be several factors, for the points +of excellence in Sunday school are not one, but many. It is the aim in +this closing chapter to ascertain the criteria or the tests of a good +Sunday school. The statement of these tests involves the summing up and +in some measure the repetition of much already given throughout these +pages. + +1. =Representative Character.= The first test of a Sunday school is +found in its relation to the community around it. The Sunday school is +not a bed of exotic plants, dug up from their native soil, potted and +protected in a conservatory. It is an outdoor garden wherein are +cultivated the flowers and fruits that are indigenous to the region. A +true Sunday school is a group of people drawn out of the larger world +around it, and representing every element in that world, both as regards +social life and age. If it represents the rich and the prosperous only, +it is not a good school, unless the neighborhood is unfortunate in +containing only such people. If it is a mission school for poor people +in the midst of a self-supporting population, it is not a good school. +If it includes few members above sixteen, and none above twenty-five +years of age, it is not a good school, for it should embrace all ages +from the infant to the grandfather. The school which is to stand on the +roll of honor is one that fairly represents its constituency. + +2. =Organization.= Another requirement for a good school is that it be +well organized as a graded school. There may be Sunday schools which +make up by their spirit for what they lack in system; yet the exceptions +are few to the rule that in Sunday-school work organization is essential +to success. It is true that machinery creates no power; there is nothing +in a constitution and by-laws to make an institution successful. It is +the efforts of living men and women that bring to pass results. But +organization directs and economizes power; so that, other elements being +equal, the graded school quickly becomes the best school. We have +already seen that a graded school is one with departments defined, with +the number of classes in each department fixed according to the needs of +the school, with promotions at regular periods, based either on age or +examination or merit, or on all three factors in combination, with +lessons graded according to the departments, and, as its most important +element, with a change of teachers when the pupil is promoted from a +lower to a higher grade or department. The graded system is not easy to +establish; it requires firmness and tact in the authorities, and a +self-denying spirit on the part of teachers; but it will abundantly and +quickly repay all it costs in effort and sacrifice, and it is an +essential in a really good Sunday school. + +3. =Order.= A good school is orderly, yet it is not too orderly. +Everybody is in place at the proper time. At the minute, and not a +minute later, the superintendent opens the school. If he rings a bell, +it is a gentle, musical one, held up by the leader as a signal and +scarcely sounded. There is not more confusion than at the opening of any +other religious service. Only one service is conducted at a time; +singing is worshipful, just as well as prayer, and the Scriptures are +read thoughtfully and reverently. No officers are rushing up and down +the aisles during the services; no loud calls are made for order; yet +there is a suitable quietness when quietness is desirable. A good school +is never disorderly, yet it cannot be said that the best school is +always the most orderly. Occasionally one sees a Sunday school where +order has gone to the extreme of repressing all enthusiasm, where the +program is too finely cut and too thoroughly dried, where the mechanism +moves with the precision of the lockstep in a state prison. The ideal of +the Sunday school is not that of the French minister of education who is +reported to have stated that he could look at his watch and tell at that +minute what question was before each class in every school in France! + +4. =Spirit.= For lack of a more definite term we call the next +characteristic of a good Sunday school its spirit. In any successful +school one feels rather than finds a peculiar and individual atmosphere. +Every member, from the superintendent to the Primary scholar, manifests +an interest in the institution; an interest of blended love, loyalty, +enjoyment in it and enthusiasm for it. There is a social spirit in each +class and in the school as a whole. Its members do not meet as +passengers in a railway station, each one wrapped up in his own business +and watching for his own train. They all have their individual +friendships and social relations, yet a bond unites them all as members +of one Sunday school. This peculiar _esprit de corps_, an interest in +the institution, is a strongly marked feature in every progressive +Sunday school. + +5. =Educational Efficiency.= The Sunday school is in the world with a +definite work--religious education. Its religion will be based on the +Old Testament and kindred literature in a Jewish school; it will be +based on both the Old and New Testament and supplemental literature in a +Christian school; but whether Jewish or Christian, its work is the +teaching of religion, as contained in the living Word, and illustrated +by the lives and teachings of the heroes of the faith. The true test of +a Sunday school is the answer that it can give to the question, "Does it +teach the vital religious truths of the race so as to develop individual +character and efficiency?" That is its task, and by its success in +accomplishing it each school is to be judged; not by the splendor of its +building, or the exactness of its machinery, or the enthusiasm of its +members. The thirty or thirty-five minutes devoted to the lesson is the +supremely important period in every true Sunday school. The time is +often bound to be all too short for teaching divine truth, and printing +it upon mind and memory so deeply that all the studies and pleasures of +the six days between the two Sundays will not cause the teaching to +fade. Yet the time is as long as the ordinary teacher (or preacher) can +hold attention to one subject, and therefore in most classes it is +sufficient. Toward that half hour of teaching, therefore, all the +energies of the school, of the training class, home study, teachers' +meeting, gradation, government, should be turned. For the vital aim of +the Sunday school is the eternal message of God to men through men, so +that men and women of the Christ spirit and character may be developed. + +6. =Character-Building.= The first task, therefore, of the Sunday school +is to teach the Word, but that teaching is only a means to an end, and +that end is greater than mere intellectual knowledge--it is the building +up of a complete character. This is more than "bringing souls to +Christ," or leading them into church membership. If the sole aim of the +Sunday school was to compass the salvation of the scholar and to +surround him with the walls of a church, then we might safely dismiss +our scholars when they have passed through a crisis of conversion and +entered the church door. But the Sunday school is to do more than save +its scholars from sin. It is to train them in the completeness of a +Christian character; and such a character involves not only personal +righteousness but also service for God and humanity. Its aim is not to +take people apart out of the world, but to set them in the world, +equipped for work in making the world a Christian world, and thereby +establishing on earth the kingdom of heaven. The measure by which the +Sunday school accomplishes such a work as this, constitutes the final, +crucial test of its success. + +It cannot be said that any one of these six essentials of a good Sunday +school stands supreme. They do not march in Indian file; nor are they to +be set one against another in a comparison of values. These traits of a +complete Sunday school should rather be regarded as one of the New +Testament writers describes the traits of a complete character, in that +familiar yet only half-understood passage, "As in the harmony of a +choral song, blend with your faith the note of energy, and with your +energy the note of knowledge, and with your knowledge the note of +self-mastery,"[12] through all the eight aspects of the Christian; so +let these six essential elements be combined to form that noble +institution, the ideal Sunday school. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[12] 2 Pet. 1. 5-7. + + + + +APPENDIX + +BLACKBOARD OUTLINE AND REVIEW QUESTIONS + + +I. THE HISTORIC PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL MOVEMENT + +BLACKBOARD OUTLINE + + 1. =Mag.= + 2. =Mod.= + 3. =Lay.= + 4. =Unp. Wor.= + 5. =Sel.-sup.= + 6. =Sel.-gov.= + 7. =Sel.-dev.= + 8. =Bib. stu.= + + +REVIEW QUESTIONS + +To what race in the world does the Sunday school mainly belong? + +What are some of the lands in which it is found? + +What does the circulation of its literature show? + +What influence is the Sunday-school movement exercising upon the world? + +How many salient traits of the Sunday school are named in this chapter? + +What are those traits in the order named? + +To what race can the ancient germ of the Sunday school be traced? + +What institutions among that people contained the elemental principle of +the Sunday school? + +What gathering similar to a Sunday school is described in the Bible? + +Who was the founder of the modern Sunday school? + +In what place, and what year, was the first Sunday school held? + +What aided to make this institution known? + +Was the first Sunday school established under direction of the clergy or +the laity? + +Has the clergy, or the laity, been the more prominent in the work of the +Sunday school throughout its history? + +What has been the attitude of the church toward this institution? + +What has been stated concerning the compensation of the teachers in the +earliest Sunday school? + +Was the plan of paying teachers for their services continued? + +Are the majority of Sunday-school officers and teachers now paid for +their services? + +What has been the effect of this condition, of unpaid service, upon the +growth of the Sunday-school movement? + +How has this condition of voluntary, unpaid work affected the moral +influence of the Sunday school? + +How have the expenses of the Sunday school in most places been met in +the past? + +How are such expenses met in the best schools at the present time? + +How has the self-support of the Sunday school in the past affected its +government? + +What is the present share of the church in the government of the school? + +What forces have directed the development of the Sunday school as a +movement? + +What fact in its origin largely accounts for the unity of method in the +Sunday school? + +What is the text-book studied in the Sunday school? + +What has been the influence of the Sunday school in behalf of the Bible? + + +II. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL + +BLACKBOARD OUTLINE + + 1. =Aim.= Rel. ins. (1) Kn. (2) Ch. (3) Ser. + 2. =Meth. Tea.= (1) Teach. (2) Sch. (3) Text-b. + 3. =Rel. Ch.= Bel. ch. Ca. ch. Sup. ch. Feed. ch. Sup. ch. + 4. =Gov.= (1) Rights of teach. (2) Auth. of ch. + 5. =Off.= (1) Sup. (2) Assoc. sup. (3) Sec. (4) Treas. (5) Fac. + 6. =Mem.= All ag. all clas. + + +REVIEW QUESTIONS + +What is a Sunday-school constitution? + +What is the difference between an ideal and a practical plan? + +Are all constitutions written? + +What six points should be provided for in the constitution of the Sunday +school? + +What should be the aim of the Sunday school? + +State the definition of the Sunday school as given by Dr. Vincent. + +What three elements are involved in a true religious education? + +What difference may be noted between the Christian ideals of the past +and of the present? + +What method does the Sunday school employ in its work? + +What are the three essentials in the working of a school? + +What does the Sunday school seek to accomplish in its pupils? + +What text-book is generally used in the Sunday school? + +Why is this book taught so widely? + +May material outside of this book be employed in teaching? + +What is the relation between the Sunday school and the church? + +Why is some government needed in the Sunday school? + +What two elements should be recognized in the management of the school? + +Name the officers of the Sunday school. + +Who should constitute the members of the school? + + +III. THE NECESSITY AND ESSENTIALS OF A GRADED SUNDAY SCHOOL + +BLACKBOARD OUTLINE + + 1. =Nec. Gra.= (1) Sch. as wh. (2) Cond. cla. (a) Ineq. + siz. (b) Ineq. ag. (c) Lac. cl. sp. (3) Dif. adm. + (a) Obt. tea. (b) Trans. sch. + 2. =Ess. Gra.= Sch. (1) Dep. (2) Fix. num. cla. (3) Ann. + sim. pro. (4) Ch. tea. (5) Gra. Less. (6) Bas. pro. + + +REVIEW QUESTIONS + +Into what departments are most Sunday schools divided? + +Why does not the mere division into departments constitute a graded +Sunday school? + +In what department is the school growing most rapidly? + +From what departments does the school lose its pupils? + +What is often the condition of classes for young people of fifteen years +and older? + +What inequalities may be noted in the classes of an average Sunday +school? + +What spirit is apt to be lacking in the school? + +What two great difficulties are met by the superintendent of an ungraded +school? + +Sum up the six difficulties or defects which will be removed in a +measure by grading the school. + +Name the six essentials of a thoroughly graded Sunday school. + +Draw a diagram representing the manner of seating the departments of a +Sunday school. + +What is meant by a fixed number of classes in each department of a +graded school? + +How should promotions be made from one department to another? + +Why should not teachers accompany their classes when the pupils are +promoted from one department to another? + +What kind of lessons should be taught in the different departments of +the school? + +Should promotions be made on the basis of age, of merit, or as the +result of examination? + +Why cannot examinations in the Sunday school maintain the same standards +as those of the public school? + + +IV. THE GRADING OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL + +BLACKBOARD OUTLINE + + 1. =Diff.= + 2. =Rem.= + 3. =Meth.= (1) Grad. (2) Simul. (a) Com. (b) Ag. sch. + (c) Ass. sch. (d) Ro-ca. + 4. =Adv. Thor. Gra.= (1) App. (2) Ord. (3) Soc. rel. + (4) Tea. wk. (5) Inc. int. (6) Obt. tea. (7) Leak.-per. + + +REVIEW QUESTIONS + +What is the greatest difficulty to be met in grading a Sunday school? + +What is the remedy for this difficulty? + +What are the two methods of grading an ungraded school? + +How may a school be graded by the gradual method? + +What are the four steps to be taken if a school is to be graded by the +simultaneous method? + +What is to be done when scholars are unwilling to receive promotion? + +Name seven advantages of the graded school. + +Wherein does the graded school differ in appearance from one ungraded? + +How is order maintained more easily in the graded school? + +How does grading influence the social relations of the scholars? + +Why is teaching easier in the graded school? + +How does the graded Sunday school increase the interest of the pupils? + +Why is it easier to supply teachers in the school after it has been +graded? + +What is meant by "the leakage period" in the scholars of the Sunday +school? + +How does the graded school hold the scholar in the school? + + +V. THE DEPARTMENTS OF THE GRADED SUNDAY SCHOOL + +BLACKBOARD OUTLINE + + 1. =Cradle Roll.= (1) Members. (2) Catalogue. (3) How + obtained. (4) Gifts. (5) Management. (6) Value. + 2. =Beginners Dep.= (1) Ages. (2) Teaching. (3) Meeting + place. + 3. =Primary Dep.= (1) Ages. (2) Classes. (3) Lessons. + 4. =Junior Dep.= (1) Ages. (2) Classes. (3) Lessons. + 5. =Intermediate Dep.= (1) Ages. (2) Classes. (3) Lessons. + (4) Special aim. (5) Christian character. + 6. =Senior Dep.= (1) Name. (2) Ages. (3) Classes. + (4) Teachers. (5) Organization. (6) Social life. + 7. =Teacher-Training Dep.= (1) Members. (2) Teacher. + (3) Studies. (4) Requirements. (5) Aims. (6) Reserve + class. + 8. =Adult Dep.= (1) Members. (2) Classes. (3) Methods. + (4) Courses of study. + 9. =Home Dep.= (1) Need. (2) Plan. + + +REVIEW QUESTIONS + +What are the four principal departments of an ordinary Sunday school? + +In this chapter how many departments are described? + +What are the names of these departments? + +What department includes the names of the youngest children? Wherein +does this department differ from most of the other departments? How +should the list of its members be kept? How may names be obtained for +it? What privileges should be given to the members of this department? +What are the benefits of this department to the school? + +What is the name of the second department? What ages should it embrace? +What should be the exercises in this department? How should these +pupils be seated in the school? + +What is the third department named? What ages should it include? How +should it be organized? What lessons should be taught in it? + +What is the fourth department? What are the ages of its pupils? How may +they be classified? What lessons should be taught to them? + +What is the fifth department? What ages does it include? How should the +classes be formed? Why should small classes be the rule in this +department? What lessons should be taught? What should be a special aim +of teachers in this department? What type of Christian character should +be sought? + +What is the sixth department? What other names are applied to it? What +ages should it include? What requirement should be made of those +entering this department by promotion? How should the classes be +organized? Who should teach in this department? How may the social +spirit be cultivated? + +What is the seventh department? Who should be included in its +membership? Who should be sought as the teacher? What condition should +be required of its members? What studies should be followed? How should +the course be conducted? What other class should also be connected with +the Teacher-training Department? How shall this class be conducted? + +What is the eighth department? Who should be included in it? What are +the two methods of instruction in this department? What courses of study +should be taken? + +What is the ninth department? Who constitute its members? What care and +help should be given to these people? What should be expected of them as +members of the school? + + +VI. THE SUPERINTENDENT + +BLACKBOARD OUTLINE + + 1. =Imp.= (N. Y. C. R. R.). + 2. =Appt.= Tea. ch. past. + 3. =Ter. Off.= One ye. + 4. =Qual.= (1) Mor. char. (2) Dev. bel. (3) Wor. ch. + mem. (4) Bib. stu. (5) Ab. exec. (6) Sym. you. + (7) Tea. spi. + + +REVIEW QUESTIONS + +What illustration from a railroad will show the importance of the +superintendent? + +How should the appointment of the superintendent be made? Who should +unite in the selection? How long should be his term of office? + +What are the traits named for an ideal superintendent? + +What should be his moral character? Why is such a character necessary in +his office? What story of a statesman illustrates this? + +In what respects should the superintendent be a believer in the gospel? + +Why should he be a member of the church? What is his duty to the Bible? +How may the superintendent influence his school to follow his requests? + +What should be his qualifications as an administrator or executive? + +What trait in relation to the young should he possess? + +What should be his mental attitude toward knowledge, especially +knowledge of methods? + +What story is told of a great sculptor? + + +VII. THE SUPERINTENDENT'S DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES + +BLACKBOARD OUTLINE + + 1. =Gen.= (1) Sup. (2) Sel. tea. (3) Ass. sch. (4) Prog. + ser. (5) Sup. + 2. =We.-d. Wor.= (1) Prog. (2) Les. stu. (3) Soc. dut. + (4) Seek. work. (5) Cab. meet. (6) Sp. d. (7) Conv. + 3. =Dut. Sch. Sess.= (1) Pre. ear. (2) Op. pr. (3) Con. + pro. (4) Dur. less. (5) Les. rev. (6) Clos. + 4. =Misc. Dut.= (1) N. B. (2) Q. (3) E. L. (4) Us. B. + (5) Les. per. (6) Sp. (7) Sel.-con. (8) Aim. + + +REVIEW QUESTIONS + +Into what three classes may the duties of the superintendent be divided? + +What are his general duties and prerogatives in relation to the school? + +What are his duties through the week? + +What social duties should he endeavor to fulfill? + +How may he obtain teachers and workers? + +What is the purpose of cabinet meetings? + +How may the superintendent be ready for special occasions in the +Sunday-school year? + +What is his duty toward conventions and associations of workers? + +What are the duties of the superintendent during the session of the +school? + +What suggestions are given concerning the conducting of the program of +the school? + +Who should review the lesson? + +Name some miscellaneous hints concerning his work. + +How may he have a quiet, orderly school? + +How may he promote the use of the Bible as a text-book by teachers and +scholars? + +What rule should be kept with reference to the lesson period? + +Under what conditions should visitors be allowed to address the school +during the regular session? + +What suggestion is made concerning self-control? + +What aim should be kept before the superintendent and the school? + + +VIII. THE ASSOCIATE AND DEPARTMENT SUPERINTENDENTS + +BLACKBOARD OUTLINE + + 1. =Nec.= Gen. asst. Dept. asst. + 2. =Titles.= Asso. sup. Dep. supt. + 3. =App.= Nom. sup. Conf. tea. "Minor. cand." + 4. =Duties.= (1) Not tea. (2) Dep. sup. (3) Prov. sub. + (4) Assig. new sch. (5) Detail. sup. (6) Ch. st. + + +REVIEW QUESTIONS + +What is the need of an assistant to the superintendent in the Sunday +school? + +What two classes of assistants are required in an organized school? + +What titles should be given to these officers? + +How should the associate superintendent be chosen? + +Why should the superintendent possess the right to nominate the +associate superintendent? + +Should the associate superintendent be at the same time a teacher in the +school? + +When should the associate take charge of the school? + +How should substitutes be obtained for teachers who are absent? + +What class should not be called upon to furnish substitute teachers, and +why? + +What class will supply teachers in a properly graded school? + +How, when, and where should the teachers be obtained? + +When should supply teachers be ready and in their places? + +What is the work of the associate superintendent with reference to new +scholars? + +Should new scholars select their own classes? + +What part may the associate take during the general exercises of the +school? + +What military title might properly be given to the associate +superintendent? Wherein does this title apply to him? + +Give a summary of the six duties performed by the associate +superintendent. + + +IX. THE SECRETARY OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL + +BLACKBOARD OUTLINE + + 1. =Imp.= + 2. =Qual.= (1) B. M. (2) R. A. (3) G. W. (4) Q. M. A. + (5) Q. M. (6) C. C. + 3. =App.= + 4. =Assts.= + 5. =Dep. Secs.= + 6. =Dut.= (1) R. M. (2) R. S. (3) R. C. (4) R. S. + (5) L. S. (6) C. + + +REVIEW QUESTIONS + +Who is frequently and unwisely chosen as secretary of the Sunday school? +What are the results of such a choice? + +What results follow from an efficient secretary? + +What six qualifications are named for the ideal secretary? + +What traits of a business man should he possess? + +What should be his principle with regard to regular attendance? What +also should be included in his attendance? + +Wherein should the secretary be a good writer? + +What should be the traits of his mental action? + +What exercises in the school should never be interrupted by the work of +the secretary? Should he ever come to a class while the lesson is being +taught? + +What should be the behavior of the secretary? + +How should the secretary be chosen? + +How long should be his term of office? + +How should the assistant secretary be appointed? + +What are department secretaries, and who should be appointed to this +position? + +What seven duties are named for the secretary and his assistants? + +What record should be kept of business meetings? + +What are his duties with reference to reports from committees? + +What weekly record should be kept of the attendance in the school? + +What are the duties of the secretary with regard to the records of class +attendance? + +What general catalogue of the members of the school should be kept? How +should this record be arranged? + +What is the duty of the secretary with regard to the literature used in +the school? + +How should the official correspondence of the school be conducted? + + +X. THE TREASURY AND THE TREASURER + +BLACKBOARD OUTLINE + + 1. =Early S. S.= Light expenses. + 2. =Modern S. S.= Large expenses. Objects. + 3. =Practical Ways and Means.= Methods. Objections. + 4. =Ideal Way.= Allowance. Subscriptions. Benefits. + 5. =S. S. Treasurer.= Relation to secretary. + 6. =Treasurer's Work.= (1) Charge. (2) Bank account. + (3) Reports and vouchers. (4) Bills. (5) Checks. + (6) Audits. (7) Study of benevolent interests. + + +REVIEW QUESTIONS + +Why was little money required by the early Sunday schools? Wherein was +this fact fortunate for the schools? + +Why are the expenses of the Sunday school greater than they were in the +early years? + +What are the principal expenses of a modern Sunday school? + +What are the methods of supplying funds for the Sunday school in most +places? + +What is the objection to these methods? + +What is the ideal method of supporting the Sunday school? Under this +plan what should be expected of the members of the school? What are the +advantages of this plan? + +Should the same person act as secretary and as treasurer? In that case +what principles should be observed? + +What kind of a person should be chosen as treasurer? + +What funds should be placed under his charge? + +Where should he keep the money of the school? How should this bank +account be conducted? + +What reports should the treasurer present, and where should he present +them? + +How should all payments of the treasurer be authorized? + +What should be done with bills against the school? + +In what form is it desirable to make payments for bills? + +How and when should the accounts of the treasurer be audited? + +What service can the treasurer render to the school in relation to +benevolent interests? + + +XI. VALUE OF THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL LIBRARY + +BLACKBOARD OUTLINE + + 1. =Lib. Pas.= + 2. =Dec. Pres.= + 3. =Cau. Dec.= + 4. =Uses. G. Lib.= (1) Fam. ne. (2) Mor. inf. (3) Aid + sch. + 5. =Prin. Sel.= (1) Var. (2) Pop. (3) Lit. qual. + (4) Mor. tea. (5) Ch. sp. + 6. =Com. S. S. Lib.= + 7. =Pub. Lib. & S. S.= + + +REVIEW QUESTIONS + +Why was the library important to the school in the earlier times? + +What are the facts regarding the decline of the Sunday-school library in +recent times? + +What causes are assigned for the decline of the Sunday-school library? + +How are books more accessible now than in former times? + +Why is the library no longer needed to draw pupils to the school? + +How does the present educational aim of the Sunday school affect the +interest in the library? + +What criticism is made upon the books in most Sunday-school libraries? + +How does the management of the library often interfere with the order of +the school? + +What three benefits are named from a well-conducted Sunday-school +library? + +How does the library in many places aid the school? + +What four principles should guide in the selection of books? + +What classes of books should be in the library? + +Why must the books be popular and interesting? + +What should be the literary standard for books in the Sunday-school +library? + +Should love stories be admitted? + +What moral standards should be maintained? + +What is meant by the Christian spirit in the Sunday-school library? + +What kind of a library should be sought for in the educational work of +the Sunday school? + +How may the use of such a library be promoted in the school? + +How may the public library be made useful to the Sunday schools in a +city or town? + + +XII. THE MANAGEMENT OF THE LIBRARY + +BLACKBOARD OUTLINE + + 1. =Lib. Com.= (1) Pur. bks. (2) Freq. add. + 2. =Libr.= (1) Bkm. (2) Bus. m. (3) Gen. man. + 3. =Asst. Lib.= + 4. =Man. Lib.= (1) Coll. (2) Ass. (3) Dist. (4) Ret. + (a) Rec. sch. (b) Rec. she. (c) Fin. (d) Rew. + + +REVIEW QUESTIONS + +Who should choose the books for the Sunday-school library? + +What should be expected of the library committee? + +Why should a large purchase of books at one time be avoided? + +How may the committee learn of new books? + +How should donations of books be regarded? + +What are the advantages of small additions at frequent times? + +Who should be sought for the Sunday-school librarian? + +How should the assistant librarians be chosen? + +What plan should be followed in collecting the books returned to the +library by the scholars? + +What are some plans for choosing books? + +What difficulties are met in the choice of books by scholars? + +How should the books be distributed? + +What are the difficulties met in the return of books by scholars? + +How may the loss of books be avoided? + +How may lost books be traced and brought back? + + +XIII. THE TEACHER'S QUALIFICATIONS AND NEED OF TRAINING + +BLACKBOARD OUTLINE + + 1. =Qual.= (1) Sin. dis. (2) Lov. you. (3) Lov. ser. + (4) Wil. work. + 2. =Nec. Train.= (1) Gen. prin. (2) Tea. resp. (3) Dem. + ag. (4) Tea. cla. + + +REVIEW QUESTIONS + +Why does the work of the Sunday-school teacher require special +qualifications? + +What four qualifications are named as requisite? + +What should be the relation of the teacher toward Christ? + +What should be his attitude of mind and heart toward young people? Why +is this attitude necessary? + +What should be his relation to the Bible? + +What is required of him as a worker? + +When did training for Sunday-school teachers begin in America? + +What have been various stages and periods in the movement for +teacher-training? + +What four reasons are named why the Sunday-school teacher should receive +training? + +How does the shortness of the time and its weekly meeting of the Sunday +school relate to the training of the teacher? + +How does the teacher's responsibility make his training necessary? + +What does this age demand of teachers? + +Why does this age make special demands upon Bible teachers? + +In what condition of mind with regard to the lesson do most of our +scholars come to the Sunday school? + +Why does the condition of the scholar require preparation on the part of +the teacher? + + +XIV. THE TRAINING AND TASK OF THE TEACHER + +BLACKBOARD OUTLINE + + 1. =Train. Nec.= (1) Book. (a) Or. nat. (b) Hist. + (c) Geog. back. (d) Inst. (e) Eth. rel. tea. + (2) Schol. (3) Schoo. (4) Work. + 2. =Tea. Tas.= (1) Stu. (2) Fri. (3) Tea. (4) Dis. + + +REVIEW QUESTIONS + +What are the four departments of teacher-training? + +What in the Bible does the teacher need to know? + +What does he need to know about his scholars? + +What does he need to know about the school? + +What does he need to know about teaching? + +What are the four departments of the teacher's task? + +What has he to do as a student? + +What may he do as a friend? + +What is required of him as a teacher? + +What is his work for his class, as a disciple of Christ? + + +XV. THE CONSTITUENCY OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL + +BLACKBOARD OUTLINE + + 1. =Rel. to Com.= (1) Const. adj. (2) Mem. rep. + (3) Meth. adap. + 2. =Chang. Pop.= (1) Gro. (2) Dec. (3) Ch. soc. + (4) Ali. + 3. =Prac. Sugg.= (1) St. fi. (2) Cul. fi. (3) Pro. + f. all ele. (4) Ad. meth. + + +REVIEW QUESTIONS + +What kind of a temple is the Sunday school? + +Whence must come the members of the school? + +What duty does the school owe to the population around it? + +Of what should a Sunday school be representative? + +What elements in a mixed community should enter into the Sunday school? + +What methods should be sought in localities where the traits and needs +of the people differ? + +What fact regarding the population of our country brings great problems +to the church and Sunday school? + +Give some instances of the effect of changing population upon churches. + +How often are churches generally compelled to change their constituency? + +What are some causes of the changed conditions in cities and country +places? + +What should be done in growing communities? + +What are the conditions, and the remedy for them, in a declining +population? + +How may a population change socially while increasing numerically? + +What is the duty of a Sunday school in changing communities? + +When may a church or a Sunday school rightly abandon its field? + +What is the first duty of the Sunday school in relation to its field? + +What is its duty to the population in its field, wherever the population +can be reached? + +What elements in the population should be provided for in the plans and +efforts of the school? + + +XVI. RECRUITING THE SUNDAY SCHOOL + +BLACKBOARD OUTLINE + + 1. =Nec.= + 2. =Los. fr. Sch.= (1) Sear. in sch. (2) Foll. abs. + 3. =Char. Gro. Sch.= (1) Eff. (2) Attr. (3) Prom. + (4) Sp. occ. (5) Sp. hel. + 4. =Reach. Bey. Sch.= (1) Adv. (2) Inv. (3) Vis. + 5. =Dang.= + + +REVIEW QUESTIONS + +Why is it not only desirable but necessary to seek for increase in the +membership of the Sunday school? + +What is the percentage of change in Sunday schools annually? + +For what should search be made in the school? + +How may the absentees from the school be looked after? + +What traits in a Sunday school will naturally draw to it scholars? + +Why should the Sunday school be made a prominent feature in the church? + +What are some special occasions in the year to which attention should be +given? + +What special methods of building up the school may be employed in +certain localities? + +How may the school be advertised? + +What are some advantages in a personal invitation? + +What plans for the visitation of the field are suggested? + +What caution should be given concerning methods of recruiting the Sunday +school? + + +XVII. THE TESTS OF A GOOD SUNDAY SCHOOL + +BLACKBOARD OUTLINE + + 1. =Rep. Char.= + 2. =Org.= + 3. =Ord.= + 4. =Sp.= + 5. =Edu. Eff.= + 6. =Char.-buil.= + + +REVIEW QUESTIONS + +What is meant in the title of this chapter? + +How many tests or criterions are here named? + +What are these tests? + +What is meant by the representative character of a Sunday school? + +Why is organization necessary to constitute a good school? + +What is included in a graded school? + +To what extent is order a requisite? + +How may the demand for order be carried to excess? + +What is "spirit" in a Sunday school? + +What constitutes efficiency in Sunday-school work? + +For what purpose is the teaching and work of the Sunday school? + +What is included in the building of a character, as an aim of the Sunday +school? + +How should these tests or traits be viewed? + +What illustrative passage is given from the New Testament? + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Note: + +Text uses both Sunday School and Sunday-School. + +Obvious punctuation errors repaired. + +Page 71, "5" changed to "6" (6. =Duties.=) + +Page 85, "useles" changed to "useless" (useless in the Sunday-School) + +Page 109, "(1)" changed to "(2)" ((2) _As a Friend._) + +Page 147, "be" changed to "he" (should he present them) + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Organizing and Building Up the Sunday +School, by Jesse Lyman Hurlbut + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ORGANIZING THE SUNDAY SCHOOL *** + +***** This file should be named 35050-8.txt or 35050-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/0/5/35050/ + +Produced by Emmy, Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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