Chapter VIII: Part 8

#79. Examination# is the process through which the teacher aims to test the result of instruction and learning. Its value is twofold: it adds to the learner's knowledge by the preparation he makes for the examination, and it gives the teacher a means of measuring the results obtained through instruction and drill. If the examination tests only knowledge gained by direct teaching, it is of little value. If, on the contrary, the questions are so phrased as to cause the pupil to think his way out of things known into some newer and higher order of knowledge, it is a valuable exercise. Usually before examinations are given the teacher and pupils join in a _review_.

#80.# The #review# is an invaluable teaching agency when it results in such a reorganization of unrelated or partly related facts of knowledge as to give the pupil a clearer and surer grasp upon the relative value of the facts previously acquired. A drill fixes a given fact more securely or solidly in the soul; a review organizes these drilled facts into new systems and wider classifications. It is seeing the old once more, but seeing it from a new point of vantage; just as a man climbing a tower with windows at stated points sees in each case all that he saw before, but sees it in a new setting, sees it as part of a larger scene, and sees it finally as a part of a mighty whole. Wisely conducted, the review establishes proportion in the knowledge set in the soul and leads finally and directly to the fact that all truth is at last one truth; all life at last one life; all parts at last one great infinite unity, whose name is God.

Test Questions

1. What two processes are at work in every good recitation?

2. What four elements does teaching include?

3. What are the three phases of oral instruction?

4. Define each of these three phases.

5. What law underlies all oral teaching?

6. What is meant by drill?

7. Define examination. What is its twofold value?

8. When is a review valuable?

Lesson 10

What Will-training Leads To

#81.# The soul by #thinking, feeling, and willing# completes its round of activities. It is not a three-parted power, each part doing one and only one of these things; but it is a single power, capable of doing in turn all these things. The soul _thinking_ is at work in an intellectual process. The soul _feeling_ is at work in an emotional process. The soul _willing_ is at work in a volitional process. These three processes are so inter-related that it is not easy to separate them at any given time, and yet a bit of reflection upon how the soul does operate will make fairly clear these distinct processes. A child that has not been made unnatural by arbitrary training always follows its emotions and its thoughts by action. The inference from this is significant. The soul untrammeled always translates thought and feeling into action. This is only another way of saying that all intellectual and emotional products are under the direction of the will. _The will is the power of the soul that resolves to do, that causes us to act._ The will uses thought and feeling in much the same way that a sailor uses compass and rudder to guide a vessel in the right course.

#82. The First Step, Obedience.#--At the beginning the feeling and thought elements are so numerous and so complex that the will is unable rightly to organize all this data into guidance. Hence the child must be guided by a will that has, through experience, acquired this power. The will of the parent and of the teacher is at the outset the effective guide, and the one necessity for the welfare of the child is obedience. Gradually the child finds his way through the maze of things his intellect and his sensibilities have retained, and then he becomes self-directive. His own will has asserted itself. He is now able and should be free to direct his own actions. When he does this his difficulties will not disappear. At times, he will find his will at a loss to give the guidance he knows he should have. Then, by all means, it is important that he should willingly surrender his finite will to the infinite will, his imperfect guidance to the perfect guidance; and he shall thus find his complete freedom of action in full surrender to the will of Almighty God.

#83.# In this first stage, when parent and teacher are motive and will to him, the child needs to be guided with the utmost care. _There must be reasonableness in the guidance._ Caprice, anger, impatience, arbitrariness, and severity are the methods of weaklings and cowards. From all such the child should be freed. Consistency, kindness, patience, reasonableness, and moderation are the methods of strong, successful teachers. If you utter a command, see to it that the child obeys. Nothing is quite so deadly in the realm of the will as the fact that the pupil knows that his teacher threatens, commands, talks--but never acts. If you really do not intend to enforce obedience, do not utter the command. If you do not intend to compel obedience, do not assume the role of guide and teacher. How many children come into caprice instead of regulated conduct because they have from infancy lived in a realm of caprice, of confusion, and of disorder; a realm that moved by no law and hence set no law of guidance in the soul of the child.

#84. The Aim of Teaching is Right Living.#--We err when we assume that intellectual endeavor will inevitably lead to right conduct. Nothing is more obvious than the fact that our conduct is far below the plane of our thought. We _know_ vastly better than we _do_ the things that are right and true. Nor do we quite understand the function of good teaching if we neglect to cultivate the feeling powers of the soul. It is my conviction that we act more nearly in harmony with our feelings than our thoughts. If, then, conduct, right action, or character is the end of all true teaching; if, as Jesus taught, it is not what we know, nor yet what we feel, but what we do, that makes life worth while, it is of the utmost importance that we should so train the feeling life as well as the thought life as to prepossess the soul to right conduct. But the feelings are intensely concrete. Whence arises again the value of concrete teaching as a method in will training.

#85. Self-control.#--Aim to bring the pupil speedily into the exercise of his own will, into self-regulated conduct. Nothing will so surely negative good instruction as to deny to the pupil the freedom to exercise his own will as soon as that will has become sufficiently powerful and reasonable to be an adequate agency to direct the pupil's conduct. Many teachers and parents insist upon guiding the pupil long after he is capable of self-direction. Here, of course, is the critical moment in the pupil's life, and only the most careful study of the pupil and constant prayer for Divine assistance will insure the wisest procedure. When a boy has acquired self-control it is always a mistake to treat him as you would a small child. His self-respect is involved in his desire to do things in the way his own will determines. To ignore this fact is to predispose the boy to rebellion against his teacher; and perhaps against all constituted authority--human and divine.

#86. Teach What to do, Rather than What not to do.#--Above all, do not build a negative code in the soul of a child. It is not what he is restrained from doing, but what he is constantly encouraged to do that makes for right will training. The great power of Jesus as a teacher lies in his steadfast ability to teach the world what to do, how to act, right conduct in the midst of complex conditions. A negative code stops all endeavor, a positive code sets the soul aglow with the consciousness of things done, of processes initiated and completed, of struggles with wrong successfully ended, of progress from weakness to strength, from human error to Divine truth.

#87.# The end of all endeavor is to do the will of God, and the goal of all teaching is to equip a human soul to live in joyous accord with the infinite wisdom. "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Test Questions

1. In what three ways does the soul round out its activities?

2. What is meant by the will?

3. What should be the effective guide for the child at first?

4. Name five elements that characterize the methods of strong teachers.

5. Why are some children capricious rather than obedient?

6. What is the aim of teaching?

7. What mistake will most surely negative good instruction?

8. What is Jesus' great power as a teacher?

9. What is the goal of all teaching?

Text Questions for Review

Lessons 6 to 10

1. What is meant by a law of the soul?

2. What is the first law as to the subject matter of teaching?

3. What is the earliest power that becomes educationally active?

4. What is meant by the inductive method?

5. Why is mere telling not teaching?

6. What is the gain, and what the danger, in using illustrations?

7. Illustrate what is meant by a concrete notion.

8. What are four tools at the teacher's disposal?

9. What constitutes a good story?

10. What two processes are at work in every good recitation?

11. What are the three phases of oral instruction?

12. When is a review valuable?

13. What is meant by the will?

14. Name five elements that characterize good teaching?

15. What is Jesus' great power as a teacher?

NOTE.--This entire subject has been more fully discussed by Dr. Brumbaugh in his book "The Making of a Teacher."

THE SCHOOL

MARION LAWRANCE

LESSON PAGE
1. The Sunday-school 219
2. The Sunday-school Equipped 224
3. The Sunday-school Organized 228
4. The Sunday-school Organized (concluded) 232
5. The Sunday-school in Session 236
6. The Sunday-school Teacher 240
7. The Workers' Meeting 244
8. Sunday-school Finance 248
9. The Sunday-school and Missions 251
10. Organized Adult Classes 255

Teaching Hints

Leaders of classes, and individuals pursuing these studies
apart from classes, are urged to read the chapter entitled
"Teaching Hints," on page 259, before beginning this section

Lesson 1

The Sunday-school

#1.# The Sunday-school is the Bible-studying and teaching service of the church. It is a _church service_. All the members of the church should be connected with it. It should be under the care and control of the church. Its purpose is to present the Word of God, by the hand of competent living teachers, to every man, woman and child, for the purpose of leading them to Christ, developing their Christian characters, and training them for service.

#2. The Earliest Schools.#[A]--Schools for the study of God's Word seem to have existed as far back as the time of Abraham. In Moses' day, schools were maintained for the religious training of the young. These schools were numerous also in Ezra's time. Jesus no doubt attended such a school in his boyhood days. The schools of his time resembled the modern Sunday-school in some of their methods. There were elementary schools for children, and senior schools for both children and adults. These latter schools were connected with the synagogue. It was through these schools, chiefly, that the Christian church was extended and built up.

#3. The Raikes Movement.#[A]--The first seventeen centuries of the Christian era witnessed, for the most part, a general decline in the church and in Christian activity. During all this period, the church's life increased or waned in proportion as it attended to or neglected the religious instruction of the young. The seventeenth century, and much of the eighteenth century were dark days for the church. It was toward the close of this period that God saw fit to connect the name of Robert Raikes with the Sunday-school movement of the world. While he was probably not the founder of the first Sunday-school, his name is nevertheless inseparably connected with the beginnings of the modern Sunday-school. In the city of Gloucester, England, July, 1780, this man--the editor and proprietor of the Gloucester Journal--started his first Sunday-school, in the kitchen of a dwelling-house. This room was eleven feet long, eight feet wide, six and a half feet high. "The children were to come soon after ten in the morning and stay till twelve. They were to go home and stay till one, and after reading a lesson, they were to be conducted to church. After church, they were to be employed in repeating the catechism till half past five, and then to be dismissed with an injunction to go home without making a noise; and by no means to play in the street." Four women were employed as teachers in this school, at a shilling a day. The early Raikes schools were not connected with the church in any way.

[A] The statements in these paragraphs are taken in
substance from "YALE LECTURES ON THE SUNDAY SCHOOL"
(Trumbull).

#4. Sunday-school Extension.#--Sunday-schools soon became very popular, and spread over Great Britain and into Europe. Sunday-schools are known to have existed in the United States as early as 1786, and probably much earlier than that (even in 1674). They found congenial soil in the Western Hemisphere, and multiplied rapidly. There are now more than a quarter of a million Sunday-schools in the world, enrolling more than twenty-five millions of people. More than one-half of this vast army is in North America.

#5. The Sunday School Union of London.#--This organization was effected in 1803 in Surrey Chapel, London, and is the oldest expression of organized Sunday-school work. It is local only in name. Its auxiliaries are to be found in all parts of the United Kingdom, Continental Europe and the various dependencies of Great Britain. It holds valuable properties in London, conducts an extensive printing establishment, and maintains a large corps of workers as secretaries, colporteurs, etc., not only in Great Britain but on the Continent, in India and elsewhere.

#6. The American Sunday School Union.#--The earliest Sunday-school organizations in North America were a Sunday School Union in New York City in 1816, another in Boston the same year, and still another in Philadelphia in 1817. These were combined in 1824 into a national society known as The American Sunday School Union. This society, through its large corps of missionaries, plants new Sunday-schools, especially on the frontier. It conducts a large publishing establishment at its headquarters in Philadelphia, and has done and is doing a great work.

#7. The National Sunday School Convention.#--The first national interdenominational convention in the United States was held in the city of New York in 1832. Delegates were present from fourteen states and four territories. A second convention was held in the city of Philadelphia, the following year, 1833. Not until 1859 was the third convention held, and this one also in the city of Philadelphia. In 1869, in Newark, N. J., may be said to have begun the present series of great conventions in our country, for they have been held triennially from that time until the present. The fourth and last strictly national convention was held in the city of Indianapolis in 1872. Here the International System of Uniform Lessons had its birth. The International Lessons went into use January, 1873. They are selected by a committee appointed by the International Convention, co-operating with a similar committee appointed by the Sunday School Union of London. It was decided that the next convention should be international in character, and include the Dominion of Canada.

#8. International Sunday School Movement.#--International conventions have been held triennially since 1875.

The International Sunday School Association administers its affairs through an Executive Committee of nearly one hundred men, representing every state, province, territory and country in and belonging to North America. In its main Association, and through its auxiliaries, it employs a large number of Sunday-school workers in its various departments. It is supported by the voluntary offerings of Sunday-schools and individuals. Under its auspices are held annually about sixteen thousand Sunday-school conventions, the purpose of which is to give information, stimulation, and education along all lines of Sunday-school work.

#9. Auxiliary Associations.#--The various states, provinces, territories and countries of North America maintain associations auxiliary to the International Sunday School Association. The oldest existing organization is that of the Province of Quebec, which has been in continual operation since 1836. The states and provinces, for the most part, maintain annual conventions. Auxiliary to these auxiliaries are the associations of the counties or next smaller political divisions. In the thickly settled portions of the country, still smaller organizations are effected in the townships and cities.

#10. The World's Sunday School Association.#--The First World's Sunday School Convention was held in the city of London, England, in 1889, about two hundred and fifty delegates attending from North America. The Second World's Convention was held in connection with the Seventh International Convention at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1893. The Third World's Convention was held again in London in 1898. Three hundred delegates were present from North America. The Fourth World's Convention was held in Jerusalem, Palestine, in 1904. Over eight hundred delegates attended from North America, and nearly five hundred from Great Britain, traveling in chartered steamships. The World's Fifth Sunday School Convention was held in the city of Rome, Italy, in 1907, with over eleven hundred delegates. And there the World's Sunday School Association was organized, to hold conventions, gather statistics, and to co-operate with other organizations in increasing the efficiency of Sunday-schools throughout the world. The World's Sixth Sunday School Convention is to be held in Washington, D. C., 1910.

Test Questions

1. What is the Sunday-school?

2. Give instances of the earliest schools for the study of God's Word.

3. Describe what is known as the Raikes movement.

4. How early are Sunday-schools known to have existed on our continent?

5. How many Sunday-schools in the world to-day?

6. What proportion of these are in America?

7. What is the Sunday School Union of London?

8. What is the American Sunday School Union?

9. Where and when were the four National Sunday-school Conventions held?

10. When and where did the International Lessons have their origin? When put into use?

11. How many International Conventions have been held?

12. By whom are the International Lessons selected?

13. What is the work of the International Sunday School Association?

14. Describe its system of Auxiliary Associations.

15. What is the World's Sunday School Association?

Lesson 2

The Sunday-school Equipped

#11. Buildings.#--A discussion of Sunday-school buildings properly comes under the head of equipment, but as that is a large topic by itself, it is not our purpose to consider it here but to confine ourselves to those features of equipment which may be used in any building. The buildings should be made with the needs and conveniences of the Sunday-school in mind. The department rooms and class rooms are but expressions of this idea. The school deserves as good a room as the preaching service, and one as thoroughly adapted to its uses. Department rooms and class rooms can often be temporarily arranged by the use of curtains or screens, in a building where no regular partitions have been provided.

#12. Seating.#--Chairs are better than pews. They should be comfortable, and adapted to the size of the pupils who are to use them. No one can sit quietly very long unless his feet can rest squarely on the floor. If the room is not carpeted, the chair legs should have rubber tips.

#13. Tables.#--Such of the officers as need to use desks or tables should have tables of their own, so that all of their books, blanks, and supplies may be kept in proper order. Class tables are very desirable. They need not be very large. Each table should have a drawer or box in it for the song-books and other property of the class. This economizes time and saves confusion, as nothing will need to be distributed.

#14. Class Boxes.#--Where it is impossible to use class tables, a class box is next in value. It should contain the song-books and everything else belonging to the class, and should be kept in a given place where some member of the class can secure it before the school, and replace it after the school is closed.

#15. Blackboards.#--It is impossible to overestimate the value of blackboards in Sunday-school work when rightly used. There ought to be one in the main school, and one in every department room. It would be well, also, if there were a small blackboard in every class room. It can be used for so many purposes, such as reviewing the lesson, announcing hymns or displaying reports. The revolving blackboard is the best for general use, and the most ornamental. Square crayons of half an inch, or one inch, in size are better than the ordinary round school crayon. Simple work is better than elaborate work. Anybody can use a blackboard to advantage, whether he can draw or not.

#16. Maps.#--If a school can have but one map, let it be the map of Palestine. Then add the following maps, in the order named: Bible Lands; a second map of Palestine,--one for Old Testament and one for New Testament; Paul's missionary journeys; a missionary map of the world; a missionary map of the denomination. A sand map is good for use in the later elementary grades, but should not wholly displace the wall map.

#17. Charts.#--Many helpful charts are now prepared for Sunday-school use; charts of the life of Christ, charts for missionary purposes and temperance teaching, charts with choice passages of Scripture and hymns.

#18. Libraries.#--If possible, have two libraries, one for teachers, one for scholars. A teachers' library should contain Bible-study helps and books for Sunday-school workers, which treat of special phases of Sunday-school work. The scholars' library should be properly classified so that the members of all departments will feel an equal interest in it.

#19. Missionary Curios.#--Material aid in creating missionary interest will be secured by showing woods, stones, plants, flowers, clothing, and birds from the various foreign fields, and by the use of pictures and models of their buildings, which reveal the customs of the lands under consideration. These things are abundant, and are comparatively inexpensive.

#20. Flags and Banners.#--Every school should have the flag of the nation displayed at each session. Many schools use the Christian flag, also, made of white silk with a blue field and red cross. The "Conquest Flag" is also popular. Banners for Star Classes, Excelsior Classes, Honor Classes, etc., are desirable if properly used. Considerable school spirit may be cultivated by having school colors embodied in a pennant, which is always displayed when the school is in session.

#21. Objects.#--Many objects are now prepared that are valuable in Sunday-school work, such as building blocks, models of the Tabernacle, globes, and birthday banks.

#22. Bibles and Music Books.#--Every member of the school who is old enough to read should bring his own Bible. Nevertheless, it is well to have a supply of school Bibles, as they should be used in the school instead of lesson helps. Select a good music book, and get plenty of copies. If every member has a book, the singing and the order will be better. Hymn banners and song rolls are useful adjuncts.

#23. Pictures.#--Choice pictures are not only beautiful, but valuable in many ways. The walls of the Sunday-school room, and especially of the elementary departments, should be well decorated with choice inexpensive pictures, illustrating various Bible scenes; there may also be miscellaneous pictures of an equally elevating and refining character.

#24. Stereopticon.#--Here and there a school is able to have a stereopticon or magic lantern. This instrument is becoming more popular every day. If properly used, a stereopticon is very helpful in Sunday-school work.

#25. Lesson Helps.#--Supply yourselves with plenty of lesson helps for officers, teachers, and scholars. Get the very best, but _leave them at home on Sunday_.

#26. Records and Printing.#--Records that are worth keeping, at all, are worth keeping well, and in well-made books. All printing should be well done or not done at all. Business houses are judged by their printing; Sunday-schools likewise. Use good paper, occasionally colored inks, and let all the printing be neat and tasteful.

#27. Bells.#--Bells are useful, if not used too much. Do not use a gong. A small tea bell is large enough for an ordinary room. The less noise the superintendent makes, the less noise the scholars will make.

#28. Equipment for Hand-Work.#--This comparatively new feature of Sunday-school work is rapidly gaining favor. It is usually the most successful in the Junior Department, though it is used extensively in both the Primary and Intermediate departments. In this brief paragraph, we can but mention some of the phases of hand-work, as follows:--The sand map; the pulp map; map drawing; written lesson outlines; cutting and pasting pictures in blank books (with or without writing), treating of the current lessons, or missionary lands and themes; sewing; modeling Oriental objects in clay, pulp, etc., etc.

Test Questions

1. When there are no separate rooms for departments, what may be done?

2. Name some of the requisites in the most satisfactory seating.

3. Name two important articles of class promotion.

4. What are some of the uses of a blackboard?

5. State what maps are needed in the school.

6. What kind of books should a teacher's library contain?

7. Suggest ways of creating missionary interest.

8. What banners and objects would be valuable?

9. Who should bring Bibles to the school?

10. What is the proper place for lesson helps on Sunday?

11. What are some of the things needed for hand-work in the school?

Lesson 3

The Sunday-school Organized

#29.# A Sunday-school is organized for work when (1) the official positions are filled; (2) there are teachers for all the classes; (3) the scholars are properly enrolled and classified; (4) and it has intelligently set itself thoroughly to accomplish, in a definite way, that for which a Sunday-school stands.

#30. Enrolment.#--The name of every member of the school should be enrolled either in a book or by the card system. The enrolment should show not only name and address, but date of entry, birthday, date of promotion from one department to another, date of uniting with the church, date and cause of leaving the school; date of death, if necessary.

#31. Classification (or Grading).#--Classification consists in placing the scholars in such departments and classes as will secure for them and for the whole school the best results in the best manner. This will require that the scholars be advanced from one department to another at proper intervals, in order to meet their changing needs.

#32. Departments.#--Every Sunday-school should be divided into departments. Three or four departments are possible in the smallest schools, and more are desirable in larger ones. It is usually possible to maintain the following departments in an ordinary school:

(1) _The Cradle Roll_, for children too small to attend the
regular sessions. These are usually under three years of age.

(2) _The Beginners_, for children from three to six.

(3) _The Primary_, for children from six to nine.

(4) _The Junior_, for children from nine to eleven or twelve.

(5) _The Intermediate_, for boys and girls from twelve to
fifteen or sixteen. (In some schools, a Senior Department,
coming between the Intermediate and the Adult, is
recognized.)

(6) _Adult_, for all over fifteen or sixteen.

(7) _The Home Department_, for those who cannot attend, but
who will study the lessons each week.

(8) _The Teacher-Training Department_, for those who are
preparing to become teachers.

In many schools of several hundred or more, the Adult Department indicated above is divided into a Young Men's Department, a Young Women's Department, and a Senior Department of classes of either sex.

An educational test may be required for promotion with honors from one department to the other; but transfer (without honors) may be made upon the age basis. Without departments there can be no thorough grading.

#33. Departmental Organization.#--Each department should have some organization within itself, at least a superintendent in general charge. The superintendent of the department determines in what classes new scholars shall be enrolled, and carries into effect the plans of work outlined by the cabinet or the superintendent of the Sunday-school. The teachers should be especially adapted to the work of the department, and should remain in that department as long as they can do their best work there.

#34. Classification (or Grading.)#--Proper classification cannot be maintained unless some one especially appointed for this purpose gives it careful attention every Sunday. Neither teachers nor scholars should be allowed to bring new members into their classes without the consent of the officer in charge of the classification, nor should new scholars be permitted to join whatever class they wish, regardless of proper classification. Eternal vigilance is the price of grading. The superintendent of classification will determine to what department the new scholar belongs, and his word should be final.

#35. Promotions.#--There comes a time when a scholar ceases to belong in one department, and belongs in another. Promotions should be made regularly, and at a public service. All members of the school up to and including the intermediate scholars should be promoted at the same time, changing seats, as far as possible.

#36. Records.#--The general records of the school should be well kept, in ink, in a good book adapted to the purpose. There should be annual, quarterly, and weekly reports which should be comparative and complete.

Officers and their Duties

#37.# The officers will vary in number and work, according to the size of the school and the character of its organization. Certain officers, however, are needed, no matter how large or small the school may be. Many schools are under-officered; it is oftener so than otherwise. Not all of the officers we shall name here could be profitably used in a small school, and yet each of them is important.

#38. The Pastor.#--Since the Sunday-school is a church service, the pastor not only has privileges there, but has responsibilities as well. His chief responsibility lies in the directing of the teaching, for the pastor of a church is as responsible for the teaching that is done in his Sunday-school as for the teaching that is done from his pulpit. This determines largely his place of greatest opportunity--the selecting of material for the teacher-training class, and helping to select and appoint the teachers in all departments of the school. He should not act as superintendent, if it can be avoided, neither should he usually teach a class, except as a substitute teacher. He should attend the school regularly, and have a vital part in the program of every session.

#39. The Superintendent.#--The superintendent should be regarded as a church officer, and, except in union and mission Sunday-schools, should be elected by the church to which the Sunday-school belongs, in the same manner as other church officers are elected. He should have general charge of the Sunday-school, and be regarded as its executive head. He should have sole authority to appoint all of the other officers of the school: such appointment to be confirmed either by the church or some body representing it, such as a Sunday-school Board or teachers' meeting. He should have a voice in the appointing of the teachers in all departments. During the school session he should study the school, seeking to discover the weak places and how to strengthen them.

#40. The Assistant Superintendent.#--The assistant superintendent should take charge of the school in the superintendent's absence, and should also have specific duties to perform in every regular session. These duties will be determined by the size and requirements of the school, and the efficiency of the other officers.

#41. The Secretary.#--The name of this officer indicates his duties. His reports should be neatly kept in ink, in a book prepared for the purpose. They should be comprehensive and comparative, so that it may be determined at a glance whether the school is growing or not. He should make reports weekly, quarterly, and annually.

#42. The Treasurer.#--The duties of this officer are likewise indicated by his name. He should be more, however, than the custodian of funds. He should endeavor to increase the offerings to the proper amount. He will pay out money only upon orders properly placed in his hands.

Test Questions

1. Name four conditions that mark the organized Sunday-school.

2. What facts should enrolment show?

3. What is meant by grading?

4. Name the principal departments into which a school may be divided.

5. What officer should receive and locate new scholars?

6. What are some of the factors in wise promotion of school members?

7. State the pastor's chief responsibility for the school.

8. What are the duties of the superintendent?

9. The Assistant Superintendent?

10. What are the secretary's duties?

11. The treasurer's?

Lesson 4

The Sunday-school Organized (Concluded)

#43. The Superintendent of Classification.#--This office may be filled by one of the assistant superintendents, but in a school of one hundred or more, it is well to have a separate officer. His duty will be to classify the new scholars, first ascertaining by personal investigation the department in which the new scholar belongs. This is a most important office, and cannot be neglected a single Sunday without detriment to the grading of the school.

#44. The Librarian.#--This officer should have charge of the library or libraries and of all supplies. New books should have his approval before being added to the library. He should properly classify the books, so that those in each department may know which are best adapted to their needs. It would be well, if possible, to give him control of a library fund, with authority to add one or two books at a time as the funds will allow. All such books should be announced from the platform on the day they are placed in the library. A library maintained in this way will always be fresh, and never lose its interest.

#45. The Birthday Secretary.#--This officer takes charge of the birthday contributions of the members. Each member of the school may be asked to contribute on his birthday as many pennies as he is years old, or as much more as he may choose. The money thus gathered may be used for benevolent and missionary purposes and become the means of creating considerable interest.

#46. The Substitute Teacher Secretary.#--This officer should see that classes whose teachers are temporarily absent are supplied with teachers. Having secured a list of names of those who will substitute, he should send notices each Monday to those who are pledged for the following Sunday, notifying them that their date is at hand, and asking them also to attend the Workers' Meeting that week.

#47. The Biographer.#--Some schools call this officer the Historian. He keeps in a book, or by the card system, permanent records of all the members, with date of entering the school and other items of interest, such as date of promotion, of joining church, removals, deaths, etc. Where this work is properly done, the records become exceedingly interesting and valuable.

#48. The Door Men.#--A door man should be placed in charge of each door entering the building, or opening from one room into another. These door men should know just when the doors may be opened for people to pass without interfering with the school. They should be in their place before the school begins, allowing none to enter the room when their entrance would disturb the services. They should pay special attention to strangers and visitors, and prevent boisterous conduct or talking about the doors.

#49. The Ushers.#--Every school should have at least one usher, and as many more as are needed. In a school of three hundred or over, several ushers can be used profitably. They should be in their places early, to pay proper attention to visitors, and to see that they do not occupy seats intended for regular scholars. They can also look after new scholars as they enter, and see that they are directed to the Superintendent of Classification.

#50. The Courtesy Committee.#--This committee will be needed chiefly in larger schools. Its purpose is to make visitors welcome, and show them every courtesy that is possible. The Courtesy Committee relieves the superintendent and other officers of this particular duty, thus enabling such officers to do those things for which they are responsible. Visitors greatly appreciate this attention, and will go away with a good impression of the school. A Guest Book may be kept, to secure the names of visitors.

#51. The Missionary Secretary.#--Every Sunday-school ought to be a missionary society. The Missionary Secretary will endeavor to cultivate missionary interest and spirit in the school. He can do this by securing a proper distribution of missionary literature, by helping to prepare missionary programs and concerts, by keeping in touch with those phases of mission work supported by the school, or church or denomination, and reporting from time to time. He will have charge of the missionary maps, charts, and curios.

#52. The Temperance Secretary.#--This officer should endeavor to cultivate the spirit of temperance and good citizenship. If temperance pledges are used in the school, it would be well for him to keep a record of them, and to enter the names permanently in a book, reporting from time to time how many names he has. He can aid the superintendent, also, by helping to prepare temperance concerts, and by introducing various appropriate features into the program on Temperance Sunday.

#53. The Superintendent's Aides.#--These are usually boys, twelve to sixteen years of age, who are hands and feet for the superintendent. They prepare the platform and room for the school service, put the blackboard into place, adjust the hymn-board and the flags, if they are used. They may also distribute the hymn-books and Bibles.

#54. The Messenger Cadets.#--These are usually boys of the Junior Department, and their chief business is to carry messages to absentees, flowers to the sick, or messages to any one, for the superintendent or pastor. Under the direction of the Home Department Superintendent they may deliver the quarterlies and other supplies. They should be in charge of a man who understands boys and loves to work with them.

#55. The Sunshine Band.#--This is usually made up of girls of the Junior age, who visit the sick, carry them flowers, sing and read to them, and minister to them in every way they can. They should be in charge of a woman appointed for this work.

#56. The Department Superintendents.#--These should be looked upon as officers of the Sunday-school. Each superintendent is expected to preside in his own department, with as much care as if it were the entire school; to preserve the grading provided for by the superintendent of classification; to endeavor to keep the classes as nearly uniform in size as possible; and to cultivate a department life and interest.

#57. The Superintendent's Cabinet.#--All of the officers named above, and the Chairmen of all the committees named above, constitute the Superintendent's Cabinet. Nothing should be presented to the teachers or to the school as a whole until it has first been decided upon by the Cabinet. The Cabinet should have regular meetings, perhaps once a month.

Test Questions

1. What are the duties of a superintendent of classification?

2. Of the librarian?

3. How can a Birthday Secretary be utilized?

4. How may substitute teachers be secured?

5. In what ways can door-men render service?

6. What may ushers do?

7. Through what officers may missionary work be emphasized, and how? Temperance work?

8. What is meant by Superintendent's aides? Messenger Cadets? The Sunshine Band?

9. How may a Superintendent's Cabinet help the school?

Lesson 5

The Sunday-school in Session

#58.# The Sunday-school session is not the Sunday-school, for the same reason that a church service is not the church. The session begins, carries out a certain program, and closes. The Sunday-school continues throughout the week. Much previous planning and preparation are essential to the success of any Sunday-school session.

#59. Time.#--The most convenient hour is the best hour. Having discovered that hour, hold to it the year round. Frequent changes will bring disaster. Every hour has its advantages and disadvantages. The morning hour is usually attended by more tardiness of teachers and scholars, but all are fresher. The noon hour will suffer less from tardiness and will have a larger attendance of adults. Discipline will be more of a problem, especially if the school is continued far beyond the dinner time. The afternoon hour has the following advantages: (1) The school does not precede nor follow another service, which is detrimental to both. (2) A completely rounded program can be carried out because the time will be longer. (3) There is opportunity for after-meetings, if desired. Many of the best schools are held in the afternoon. There are the following disadvantages, however: (1) It breaks in upon the Sunday afternoon home life. (2) It prevents the members from working in mission schools, etc. (3) It may interfere with the attendance at the night services.

#60. Length of Session.#--The usual session is one hour long, but this is too short to secure the best results. An hour and a quarter is better, and is long enough for a morning or noon school. Under good management, an afternoon school can use an hour and a half to advantage.

#61. Program.#--The superintendent should have a written program, and know his ground every step of the way. The pastor and chorister should have copies. So also should every individual participant. The passing from one feature of the program to the next should be done quickly, and, so far as possible, without announcement.

#62. How to Begin.#--Be ready. Insist that all officers and teachers shall be ready. Begin exactly on time. Do not wait for anything nor anybody. Be sure all understand the signal for beginning. Give the signal once, _never oftener_. Wait for silence. Do not begin without it.

#63. Signals.#--Use the bell sparingly, if at all. For certain signals the bell may be desirable, but never to secure order. A chord on the piano is better than a bell. Piano signals should be arranged so that a signal given in a certain way always means the same thing. The superintendent's rising in his place, or, if standing, simply raising his hand, should be signal enough to secure the attention of any school. It will be, if the school is properly trained, and so seated as to be able to see a signal.

#64. Music.#--An orchestra is good, but should not be too large for the room. A piano is better than an ordinary organ because of its distinct tones. The next best instrument to add is a violin for a small room and a cornet for a large one. Do not consume too much time with instrumental music in the session. The orchestra can give an overture at the opening, a number while classes reassemble after the teaching period, and a postlude at the close. That is sufficient. The superintendent should select the hymns, in conference with the chorister. Some of them should be appropriate to the lesson of the day. Use one or two old church hymns at each session. Select a good book, and have plenty of copies. The best results cannot be secured where even two sing from the same book. The hymn numbers should be placed on the blackboard or hymn-board, before the opening, in plain sight of all.

#65. Prayers.#--Sunday-school prayers should never be long, and those who pray aloud should keep the children in mind. All the rest will follow. Two or three short prayers at different times are better than one long prayer.

#66. Memorizing Scripture.#--Every school should repeat some Scripture from memory every Sunday. Select the verses carefully, and not too many of them. A few verses thoroughly memorized are better than many imperfectly learned.

#67. Lesson Study.#--The lesson study period should be the heart of the session. It should never have less than thirty minutes. Hold this period sacred to the teachers, without interruption of any kind. No visiting of classes by officers at this time should be permitted. The necessary business of the session should be conducted during the opening and closing services. Do not distribute books nor papers to the classes until the close of school--certainly not during the teaching period.

#68. Review.#--The superintendent should not review the entire lesson; he should mention only that part of it which enables him to fix the personal application he has in mind for the school that day. The blackboard will help if properly used.

#69. Reports.#--Reports should be few, and very short, never in detail. Calling the roll of officers and teachers is a waste of time. To give the number present, the number absent, the offering for the day, the missionary collection, and the names of the sick is usually sufficient, except in cases of emergency, such as deaths or funerals.

#70. Announcements.#--The fewer announcements the better. Those that must be made should be brief, plain, striking. Do not call them "announcements." Work them in, one at a time, as comments on the program in hand. The announcement that you have an announcement to make is an announcement wasted, and time wasted, too. Never take the time of all to make an announcement that concerns but a few. Do not fall into set forms. Announcements may be interesting and instructive, but usually they are not so. They should be made a study.

#71. How to Close.#--The lesson review or application should be followed by a short prayer. Then sing a sweet, familiar hymn bearing upon the truth you have tried to impress, the school remaining seated. Then the benediction, school still seated. Then a moment of silent prayer, followed by the piano or orchestra softly playing the music that has just been sung. Let this be the signal for dismissal.

Test Questions

1. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of the various hours for Sunday-school session?

2. What are some of the details to look out for in beginning a session?

3. Name a signal that is better than a bell.

4. State how you would plan to secure good singing.

5. What should not be allowed during the lesson period?

6. Outline a good plan for the closing service.

Test Questions for Review

Lessons 1 to 5

1. What is the purpose of the Sunday-school?

2. How many Sunday-schools in the world to-day?

3. Suggest ways of creating missionary interest in the school.

4. What are some of the requisites for hand-work in the school?

5. Give four conditions that mark the organized Sunday-school.

6. What is meant by grading?

7. Name the principal departments into which a school may be divided.

8. When and where did the International Lessons have their origin?

9. By whom are the International Lessons selected?

10. What is the work of the International Sunday School Association?

11. What is the World's Sunday School Association?

12. How may substitute teachers be secured?

13. What is meant by Messenger Cadets?

14. What are special points to look out for in beginning a session?

15. How would you plan to secure good singing?

Lesson 6

The Sunday-school Teacher

#72. The Teacher's Office.#--Next to the minister of the gospel, the Sunday-school teacher occupies the highest office in Christian service. The central and most important feature of every Sunday-school session is the Bible-teaching period. All the other exercises of the school should be so arranged as to make the teaching period as effective as possible. The teachers do the teaching; hence the importance of the office. The character of the teacher and the efficiency of the teaching usually determine the efficiency of the school; like teacher, like school.

#73. The Teacher in Prospect.#--Probably the greatest problem in Sunday-school work, at present, is that of securing a sufficient number of good teachers. The only solution of this problem is for every school to have at least one teacher-training class each year. Any school which sets itself definitely to the task of training its own teachers, from its own ranks, for its own classes, will reduce the teacher problem to a minimum. Such a class should be composed of young men and women between the ages of sixteen and thirty, specially chosen by the pastor and superintendent because of their interest in the work and apparent fitness for it. The class should be taught by the best teacher obtainable, though he need not be an expert. It should meet at the church, at the regular Sunday-school hour, thus solving the difficulty as to time and place. Substitute teachers should never be drawn from this class. A teacher's diploma should be issued to each student completing the course and passing the required examination.

#74. The Teacher Trained.#--Many who are now teaching desire to take a teacher-training course. Difficult though it is to maintain a class for such workers, it can be done. Evidently it cannot meet at the Sunday-school hour, as the teachers are already occupied. A full week-night is preferable, if it can be had; if not, it may come before or after the Workers' Meeting or prayer-meeting, though this arrangement is always more or less detrimental to both meetings. Interdenominational training-classes are much better than none, but the training-class in the local church is the ideal, and should be maintained wherever it is possible. When it is impossible to attend a teacher-training class, or there is none, individuals may take a course alone, and this is often done.

#75. The Teacher Chosen.#--The teacher should be chosen and appointed by the proper authority representing the church and the Sunday-school. The committee for appointing teachers should be composed of three persons: the pastor of the church, the superintendent of the Sunday-school, and the superintendent of the department where the teacher is to teach. If there is a separate superintendent of teachers in the Sunday-school, he may represent the superintendent of the school in this capacity. No one should be set over any class as teacher whose appointment is not satisfactory to the three persons named above.

#76. The Teacher Installed.#--The Sunday-school is a church service, hence the teacher should be properly recognized by the church. It is desirable that all the officers and teachers should be assembled and installed in their offices for the coming year with fitting exercises, at a regular service of the church. Such a service as this dignifies the office of the Sunday-school teacher, places upon him the approbation of the church, and makes him feel that his work is appreciated. The installation service should be in charge of the pastor of the church, and the officers and teachers should be seated in a body. Appropriate exercises for such a service have been arranged, and may be easily secured from the denominational publishing houses.

#77. The Teacher Protected.#--During the general opening and closing exercises of the Sunday-school session the superintendent is in charge. But during the teaching period the teacher outranks everybody else, and is entitled to the full time set apart for teaching without any interruption. The officers of the school should not be allowed to disturb the classes in any way. The making of the class reports, gathering of the offering, and similar matters, should be attended to before the recitation begins, and in such a manner as to make the least interference with the class work. It is a sin to disturb a class unnecessarily after the teaching has begun.

#78. The Teacher Between Sundays.#--The wise teacher will regard the intervening week between two sessions of the school as the time of his greatest opportunity. He will review in his mind the experiences of the previous Sunday, endeavoring to learn therefrom how to improve his work in the future. He will give himself diligently to the preparation of his lesson and to the visiting of the absent, and will be especially careful to call upon the sick members of his class. He will attend the Workers' Meeting, and avail himself of every opportunity for improvement. He will seek personal interviews with those of his scholars who have been troublesome in the matter of discipline, and will talk individually with all the members of his class in order to win them to Christ. He will identify himself with the International Reading Circle, as a member of which he pledges to read at least one good Sunday-school book each year, and thus keep in touch with the Sunday-school movements of the world.