Chapter 19
#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.
#79. The Teacher's Aim.#--The teacher should aim, first of all, to win the confidence and esteem of his scholars. Until this is done little else is possible, because there can be no effective teaching without co-operation. He should give his scholars faithful and efficient instruction in the Word of God. The lesson itself should be taught each Sunday, and not allowed to be brushed aside by the discussion of any other topic, though other topics may be used to introduce or illustrate the lesson. He should endeavor to lead his scholars to an acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. This is oftener accomplished by a personal interview than in the class. He should aim to lead his scholars into membership in the local church. He should aim, by careful training and instruction, to build his scholars up into strong Christian characters, and to fit them for the duties of civic and religious life. Let him remember that his work is for eternity.
#80. The Teacher's Reward.#--The teacher receives much of his reward as he goes along, but not all of it. The privilege of being associated with the Great Teacher, and laboring in obedience to his command; the joy of leading souls to Jesus Christ, and sending them out into the world as witnesses for him; the consciousness of growing power in service because of work well done; the companionship of kindred spirits engaged in the same great work--these are surely rewards enough. But there is another reward when the work is done. It is God's "Well done" to the faithful.
Test Questions
1. What should be the most important feature of every Sunday-school session?
2. What is the solution of the problem of getting teachers?
3. Who should be in a teacher-training class?
4. Who should choose the teachers?
5. In what special way may the teacher be recognized by the church?
6. What may the teacher accomplish between Sundays?
7. What do you regard as the teacher's proper aims?
8. What is the teacher's reward?
Lesson 7
The Workers' Meeting
#81.# The meeting which is commonly called the Teachers'-Meeting we prefer to call the Workers' Meeting, because it should be as helpful to the officers as to the teachers. It is impossible to overestimate the value of a properly conducted Workers' Meeting, and yet it is difficult to maintain one. A Sunday-school without a Workers' Meeting is a collection of classes, and not a school at all, strictly speaking. A helpful Workers' Meeting maintained regularly every week guarantees a good Sunday-school. It is a thermometer accurately indicating the true condition of the school. To the tired worker it is a refreshing port-of-call between the two continents of Sunday; to the discouraged, it is a heart stimulant; to the over-busy, it is a storehouse filled with what they need, and ready for their use. To all who are willing to pay the price of the best work, it is a necessity.
#82. Leadership.#--The superintendent should preside. It is his meeting. The program should be in his hands, and of his making. He should not teach the lesson unless he is the best qualified person to do it. He should have a special message for the workers at each meeting, bearing upon some phase of the work.
#83. Equipment.#--All who attend should have their own Bibles. Tablets and pencils should either be brought from home or be furnished by the school. There should be a good blackboard at hand, also the necessary maps and charts for lesson study. A teachers' library is very important, and the librarian should be present, so that the workers may take home the books if they desire. Models of the tabernacle with its furniture, the temple, an Oriental house, etc., will be helpful. Leaflets on various phases of the work, for distribution, may profitably be used from time to time.
#84. Who Should Attend.#--Certainly the pastor. The teachers are his best helpers; the Sunday-school is the whitest part of his great field. He cannot afford not to be in vital touch with the workers of the Sunday-school. He may or may not be the best person to teach the lesson. All the officers of the school should be there, for the details of their official duties will be discussed from time to time. Of course the teachers will be there, and the substitute teachers who are to act on the following Sunday. It would be well also for the prospective teachers or the members of the training class to be present, if possible. Some schools require the attendance of the teachers upon this meeting.
#85.# #The purpose of the meeting# is to study the school, to plan for the school work, to create Sunday-school enthusiasm; to disseminate Sunday-school intelligence; to maintain a vital relation to the great Sunday-school movements of the day; to show how to teach the lesson for the following Sunday. It is to help, instruct, encourage, and equip the officers and teachers at every point, and in every way.
#86. Time and Place.#--If possible, devote an evening to it, late in the week and at the church. Settle upon one night and stick to it. Those who are absent will always know exactly when and where the next meeting will be held. No more important meeting is ever held at the church than this, and it ought to have the right of way one night in the week. It is a short-sighted policy on the part of any church to deny this.
#87. Methods of Lesson Work.#--The Workers' Meeting is not a Bible class. To conduct it as one will usually kill it. A good Workers' Meeting presupposes previous preparation of the lesson on the part of the teachers. They do not come there to study the lesson. Other things being equal, that Workers' Meeting is the best which, under wise leadership, has the largest number of participants. It should be conducted on the catechetical rather than the lecture plan. The method of presenting the lesson should have more consideration than the subject-matter. The "Angle Method" of conducting the lesson periods of a Workers' Meeting is very popular, and is explained by the following, which may be printed on cards, and handed a week in advance to ten persons, each of whom is asked to be prepared on a given "Angle."
#Angle No. 1--Approach.#
Give subject of last lesson, brief intervening history, time, place, and circumstances leading to this lesson.
Let the lesson text be read at this point.
#Angle No. 2--The Lesson Story.#
Give the lesson story in your own words.
#Angle No. 3--Analysis.#
Give one or more simple working outlines for studying and teaching this lesson. Use the blackboard if convenient.
#Angle No. 4--Biography.#
Give the names of persons, classes, and nations mentioned or referred to in the lesson.
#Angle No. 5--Orientalisms.#
Give any Oriental customs or manners peculiar to this lesson.
#Angle No. 6--Central Truth.#
Give the central truth of the lesson and your reason for its choice.
#Angle No. 7--First Step.#
Give a good way to introduce this lesson so as to secure attention from the start.
#Angle No. 8--Primary.#
Give the features of this lesson which are best adapted to small children.
#Angle No. 9--Illustrations.#
Give a few incidents or facts that will serve as illustrations.
#Angle No. 10--Practical Lessons.#
Give the most practical lessons in personally applying the truths of this lesson.
The leader should be prepared on all the "Angles," so that he can take the place of any one who is absent.
#88. Program.#--Begin with a bright, earnest, tender devotional service of ten minutes, remembering in prayer any who may be sick, and special cases of interest mentioned by those present. Then devote fifteen or twenty minutes, according to the need, to some feature of the school work previously decided upon. It may be a discussion of finances, led by the treasurer, or of the records, led by the secretary, or of grading, led by the superintendent of classification, or a consideration of a given department, led by the superintendent of that department. Follow this with thirty or thirty-five minutes in the consideration of the lesson. Then devote about ten minutes to messages or suggestions from the pastor or superintendent, or both, closing with a five-minute service of prayer and song. The service can be made to come within an hour, by shortening some of the items named above. At the close of the Workers' Meeting, spend a few minutes in social intercourse. A Workers' Meeting conducted after this manner will be a veritable dynamo of power for the Sunday-school, and none who can attend will willingly remain away.
Test Questions
1. State some of the gains in having a Workers' Meeting.
2. Who should lead that meeting?
3. What equipment is needed for it?
4. Who should attend it?
5. Describe the "Angle Method" of lesson study at the Workers' Meeting.
6. Outline a suggested program for such a meeting.
Lesson 8
Sunday-school Finance
#89. Christian giving is Christian worship.# No test of Christian character is so accurate or severe as the motive and method of giving. Giving is a Christian grace, and the Sunday-school is the best place to cultivate it. The Sunday-school should be the "West Point" of the church, in this as in other things. Since the Sunday-school is a church service, the church is evidently responsible for its maintenance and support. It does not follow, however, that the church should pour into the Sunday-school all the money it needs, nor that the Sunday-school should give away all the money it raises.
#90. The Financial Board.#--There is in many a church, and should be in every one, a board having the special care of the finances of the Sunday-school. This board should be composed of certain officials in both the church and the Sunday-school, so that their action may be wise and intelligent. Certainly the pastor, superintendent, church treasurer, and school treasurer should be members of this board. They should be empowered to carry out the financial policy of the school, direct in all matters of financial detail, audit all bills, and see that these are promptly paid, so the good credit of the school may be maintained.
#91. The Budget.#--At the beginning of each year a carefully prepared budget should be presented by the Financial Board, indicating how much money the school will be asked to raise, and what proportion of it should be used for benevolences, church support, school expenses, etc. A liberal allowance should be made for unexpected expenditures that cannot be foreseen. The budget should be printed, so that each member may have a copy. If satisfactory, the budget may be accepted by the school, by vote, as an indication of its loyalty to the board and to the church.
#92. Right Motives in Giving.#--All giving should be "as unto the Lord." The scholars should be taught that we are all stewards, and that everything we have belongs to God. Sunday-schools properly imbued with right motives in giving to-day mean churches aflame with financial and spiritual power to-morrow. When the motive is right, giving is a means of Christian growth. Love is the only worthy motive; giving is the test of love. You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving; God _so loved_ the World that he _gave_ his only son. Without love, there is no joy in giving. Without joy in giving, we cannot please him; "God loveth a cheerful giver." No deeper joy ever comes to the Christian heart than the joy of right giving. Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Every Sunday-school should be taught this truth, and taught why it is truth.
#93. Right Methods in Giving.#--Every member of the school should be asked to contribute a certain amount regularly each Sunday, making up the same in cases of absence. This amount should be decided upon by the scholar in conference with his parents or the teacher, unless the scholar earns his own money. Avoid spasmodic efforts in raising money. In the end, the effect on the school is not good, and the results are not satisfactory. Every member should be urged to give something, no matter how small. The sum given should be in proportion to the ability to give, and not gauged by what others do. One of the safest foundations that can be laid for the development of Christian character and a happy life is to fix in youth the habit of regular, systematic, intelligent giving. Small, dated envelopes for each scholar, one for each Sunday, stating the purpose for which the money is used, generally insure larger offerings and greater satisfaction to the givers. Do not gather the offering during the singing or during any other feature of the service. Dignify it by giving it a place and time. Offer a prayer over it before passing it to the treasury.
#94. How to Use the Money.#--The larger share of the money contributed by a Sunday-school ought, if possible, to be devoted to missionary work and benevolences. A certain proportion of the money should be passed over to the church treasury, so that every member of the school may know that he is helping to support the church, and feel that the church's pastor is his pastor. A certain portion of the money should be used for the expenses of the school. This will teach economy and independence. The proper division of these funds will not be the same in all cases, but should be determined by the Financial Board, in view of the local conditions and needs.
#95. Records and Reports.#--No account should be kept of the money given by any member, but only of the fact of giving. Thus may be avoided the appeal to the pride of the well-to-do, and the envy of the very poor. The report for each Sunday should show how many givers and how many omitters there are in each department or class and in the whole school. Mentioning the departments or classes having no omitters will stimulate other departments and classes to seek that distinction. A blackboard properly ruled so that nothing need be done but put in the figures, can be made to show this in a manner that will not be forgotten, and it will be a good object-lesson to the whole school. Frequent reports should be made to the entire school as to the use that is made of the money. Printed statements should be issued, if possible, with full, detailed report of all funds received and expended, which the scholars may take home to their parents. The more thoroughly the school and the home are kept informed as to these financial operations, the more generous and intelligent will be the giving.
Test Questions
1. How should the Financial Board be made up, and what are its duties?
2. What is the true motive for giving?
3. Name some right methods in giving.
4. What use should be made of Sunday-school contributions?
5. What facts should the Treasurer's weekly report include?
Lesson 9
The Sunday-school and Missions
#96.# "It is the whole business of the church, and it is the business of the whole church, to carry the whole Gospel to the whole world as speedily as possible." Missionary work is not _one_ of the features of church activity; it is _the_ one all-important work of every church, every Sunday-school, every Christian. Without intelligent missionary interest there can be little spiritual power. Every Sunday-school should be, in fact, a missionary organization, and set itself to definite, far-reaching missionary tasks.
#97. Missionary Secretary.#--Every Sunday-school should have a Missionary Secretary. He should be deeply interested in missions, and as thoroughly informed as possible. He should bring to the school from time to time the latest missionary intelligence, especially from those fields in which the denomination, the church, and the school are most interested. He will select the missionary books for the scholars' and the teachers' library. He should co-operate with the other officers and teachers in creating and maintaining a missionary atmosphere in the school.
#98. Missionary Committee.#--If the school is large, a Missionary Committee will be useful. It should be under the general direction of the Missionary Secretary, and should consist of one person from each department of the school. This will insure that all departments are brought into vital touch with the missionary activities of the school. Such a committee will be most helpful in arranging missionary programs, selecting members for the mission study classes, planning the entire missionary instruction of the school, and attending to the proper distribution of missionary periodicals and literature. This committee may also assist in securing a missionary training of the teachers in the teacher-training classes.