09 - Chapter 9
CHAPTER IX A RELIGIOUS EDUCATION CAMPAIGN In view of the fact that many boys and girls and young people were becoming members of the church, and that many fathers and mothers and other adults were also joining, a special meeting of the advisory board had been called at the pastor’s home for the purpose of discussing what adjustments should be made in the church life and activity because of the coming of these new members. The pastor gave the story of the- campaign from the time of the first meeting of the church officers. Then he said:
“Whenever a baby comes into our homes we must make an adjustment of our home life so as to provide for the proper training of that- new life. We do not ask the child to make all the adjustments. We cannot run our homes after the babies come as we did before they came; nor as we will after the babies are grown up and.have gone into homes of their own. We cannot come and go as freely as we did. We cannot spend all our income upon our own food, clothes, and pleasures. The house does get cluttered up with toys and muddy from playing children. Furniture gets marred, dishes broken, and the wall-paper shows finger-prints of little children.
We cannot manage our homes after the children get to be noisy Juniors as we did when they were babies, when we could put them to bed and they would stay there until we took them up; nor can we have everything our own way when these children enter high school and have ideas of their own as to the management of the house. As parents of growing children we must constantly adjust our home life to the changing needs of our children. In the same way we must not run our churches simply from the adult point of view. We must constantly study the needs of our boys and girls and young people and make such changes as will help our boys and girls and young people grow up with Christian habits, attitudes of mind, and a love for the church.
“ There are four things which as a church we ought to do at this time: (1) The new members of our church should know that they are wanted. (2) They should come first. The baby in the home comes first. Can we do less for our new-born Christians? (3) There must be a loving atmosphere in our church. Children thrive best under love. (4) There must be a warm, genuine, spiritual life among us.
“ As your pastor I am going to give much more attention to the youth of our church. I am going to be their pastor and adjust my program so as to include them. This is especially true of my preaching. I have been trained to preach to mature minds. Our services of worship have been formed with only adults in mind. This is wrong. Our services of worship should be for the whole family.
“ For a long time we have taught our boys and girls to go to Sunday school, but not to worship. Now there is something which comes into our lives when the whole family of God unites in a service of common worship that cannot come in any other way. Our young people need this spiritual uplift. I have been thinking about our morning service of worship. It has little to interest our boys and girls because it is almost entirely for the adult mind. I believe this should be changed, that children and young people should have a part in the worship, and that my own message should include them. Beginning with next Sunday, I shall plan a service of worship with a junior choir, with special recognition of the children and with a sermon which shall have something in it for them. The junior age is the great habit-forming period of life. Our children over nine years old should be forming the habit of regular church attendance. It is absurd to bring up our children outside of the worship service, and then expect them by some strange power to acquir2 habits of church attendance after their main habits of life have been set and after they have acquired the habit of staying away.
“ It will take some time to work this out. The children will do exactly that which we expect them to do and that which they see the adults doing. The question of reverence and order on the part of children is almost wholly an adult attitude. Let us set the proper example. Children can sit with parents or with Sunday school teachers in the front of the church, never on the back seats or in the gallery. Some of the older members of the church should sit with them. Be patient with this experiment.
Believe in this and stand by me in this important part of our church work.
“ The excuse which is so often given for children staying away from the service of worship, namely, that the service is too long for them, is an adult excuse and never originated in the mind of a child. No child would ever think the two and one-half hours of the service of Sunday School and church too long if he had not heard some adults make it. The children are in- the habit of a threehour service in public school. We need, of course, to get the cooperation of the parents in this service. I am planning to write a personal letter to each parent, and just as rapidly as possible I am planning to call upon the parents and explain our plans and secure cooperation.
“ I have been thinking about the educational program of our church. Have you noticed that a large percentage of those who accepted Christ are becoming members of our church? This is due to our educational program of evangelism. When the boys and girls accepted Jesus as their personal Saviour they did it largely as the result of the teaching and personal work of their teachers and parents. Then we had our instruction classes. Parents who thought their children were too young to join the church were perfectly willing when they knew of our plans of instruction, when they saw how genuine their children were in their Christian lives in the home, and when we explained to them our plans through our Sunday school and our junior and intermediate societies for the further training of the young Christians.
“ We in the advisory board see the value of winning and training our youth for Christ; but all of our people do not. We need to put on an educational program for the members of our church. I have been giving this a great deal of thought. I want your cooperation in putting across a six-weeks’ School of Religious Education in our church. As I have given this careful study I believe that Sunday night is the best time for such a school. This is the general plan. The details we can work out, if you approve of the plan,” THE PROGRAM 6.00. Light lunch in the church for those who wish to come.
6.30. Group Courses:
1. Juniors. Age, 9-11. Bible Drills, Memory Work, Music, Story-telling, and Dramatization.
2. Intermediates. Age, 12-14. Bible Drills, Music, Dramatization, Discussions and Debates.
3. Young People. The Fourfold Life Program, Physical, Social, Mental, Religious.
4. Men. “ Boys and Their Fathers.”
5. Women. “ Girls and Their Mothers.”
6. Sunday School Officers and Teachers. “ Organizing and Conducting a Modern Sunday School.”
7.30. General Assembly of all Classes for the Evening Service. Theme, The Home.
Six Sunday Evening Popular Messages:
1. The Christian Home.
2. Children in the Home.
3. Young People in the Home.
4. Education in the Home.
5. Religion in the Home.
6. All Working Together for the Home.
“ Pastor,” said Deacon True, “ we agree with you that our church should give more time and thought to its young people. I have been grieved again and again as I have seen our Sunday school pupils going home without attending the service of public worship. I think it is time that we frankly face this question and make our services so attractive to our boys and girls and young people that they will want to come. I move that we recommend to the church the adoption of the pastor’s plans for the morning service.”
“ As for the school of Religious Education, which the pastor has proposed,” said Deacon Miller, “ I am heartily in favor of it. We can get the young people’s society back of the young people’s group. This will widen the interest and the vision of the society in the young people of the church and community. We can get the men’s Brotherhood back of the men’s class, the woman’s society back of the woman’s class, and the Sunday school back of their section. Then we can get the Junior Department of the Sunday school interested in the junior class and the Intermediate Department in the intermediate class.”
“ I am especially interested in the idea of the series of Sunday-evening addresses on vital subjects of home life,” said Mrs. Read. “ There has been a breakdown in our American home life. The church is the institution which should stand for true home life. I believe that we can make these Sunday-evening services so helpful that many will attend. We will not be satisfied until we have more Christian homes and all of our homes more truly Christian.”
“ I have been watching this campaign of evangelism of youth in our church with great interest,” said Mr. Smith, the senior deacon. “ I have become convinced that our deacons should not be all old men. Some of the deacons should be young men with growing families, men who have the point of view of young people and who are dealing with the practical problems of youth in their own homes. In our present system I do not see how this can be brought about. I believe we ought to have rotation of offices in our church so that after any one has served one full term he would not be eligible for reelection for one year. In this way no one can stay on year after year in the same office, and our new members and our younger men can be worked into the various offices. I am ready to move that we recommend to the church that our constitution be changed so as to secure rotation of office in our church.” After careful and full discussion this motion was carried.
Mr. Richards, the superintendent of the Sunday school, expressed his joy in the outcome of the evangelistic campaign. He rejoiced in the increased attendance, the new devotion on the part of the teachers, and the deepened spiritual life of the pupils. He commended heartily the plan to secure the attendance of the Sunday school pupils upon the public services of worship and said: “I have been considering this question for some time. I have been talking with other superintendents about it, and I have heard of one plan that appeals to me very much. In the La Grange, Illinois, Presbyterian Sunday school, the superintendent has introduced an education system of records for his juniors and intermediates. It is possible for each child to earn one hundredpercent, each Sunday.
Church attendance had been neglected. By giving twentyfive points to this, the attendance at church was increased from nothing to sixty-nine on a recent Sunday. Each class is rated according to the total percentage of all the members. If a class rates low the boys want to know why.
Then they get after the delinquents. A boy cares little for what we say, but he cares a great deal about the opinions of his own gang. A silver cup was provided by the school. The class having the highest percentage for a quarter had its name engraved on the cup. The first class to receive this honor had a percentage of ninetyseven.
“ I am going to recommend to the Sunday school the adoption of this system of records. At the end of each quarter we will send to each parent a report of the child’s standing in the school. Here is a sample card, which I have worked out for our school:
Department.
^Class.
Name.
Present, $ On Time, 5
Bible, 10
|
Offering, 10
Hand Work, 10
Deportment, 10 Junior Worship, 15 Church Attendance, 35
Total
“ We should begin to train our own teachers. No one will do it for us. It takes trained teachers to teach in these days. Our school must have the very best. The special class in our School of Religious Education will do much good, but we need a class in our school, meeting at the Sunday school hour, made up of our best young people, studying the regular New Standard Teachertraining course. In connection with this class we shall need a good Sunday School Workers’ library.
“ We must have more time for religious instruction. The one hour on Sunday out of one hundred sixty-eight hours in the week is not sufficient. I understand that as much real training can be given in five weeks of a Daily Vacation Bible School as in six months of Sunday school.
I want to move that we recommend to the church that we conduct a Daily Vacation Bible School this summer and that a committee be appointed to promote and supervise this school. We are hearing much about Week-day Schools for Religious Instruction. We need to prepare for this great opportunity which is upon us.”
Mr. Witter, the president of the young people’s society, said: “ I have been more than interested in this conference tonight. Upon our society will fall much of the responsibility of training young people who have recently accepted Christ. They need to know the Jesus way of living as given in the fourfold life, physical, mental, social, and spiritual. Our society can be of great assistance to the church both as a training-school for new converts and as a practise-school in Christian living. One thing is very clear to me. Our society should be a young people’s society, run by the young people for the young people. We welcome the help and encouragement of the older Christians, but we do not want them to do our work for us. The only way young people can learn and grow is by being given responsibility and an opportunity to learn by doing.
“ I am prepared to recommend to our society that we limit the active membership of our society to the age of youth. According to our best educational authorities, the period of youth begins at 12 and ends at 24. Adult life begins at 25. By the time a person
“ I believe,” said Mr. Watson, president of the Men’s Brotherhood, “that I see a real task for our men in ’brothering the boy.’ I must confess that there have been times when I wondered if we had any real place in the church life, but if we are going to make good as fathers and be Big Brothers to the boys of our church, we have a great big job. I like the pastor’s suggestion for a class of men studying ’ Brothering the Boy.’ I can already see three important things for us to do: (1) Get behind the Boy Scouts in our church in an effective manner; (2) make a careful study of the older boy and solve that problem in our church; (3) have a strong men’s Bible class for the study of the Bible from a man’s point of view.”
“ What do the women think of our Campaign of Evangelism, and what changes if any do you need to make? “inquired the pastor of Mrs. Read, president of the woman’s society.
“This campaign,” said Mrs. Read, “has brought several new members into our society. It has also opened our eyes to our task as mothers in the home and as women in the church. We approve of the plans for special studies about ’ Mothers and Their Girls ’ and for the Sunday-evening sermons about the home. It seems to me that our task in the church is to enlist all the women in active service for Christ and to plan for the girl life of our church. In recent years there has been an awakening among the men for the boys. As I have come to see the situation our boys are being better cared for than the girls. If the m.en of our church are to undertake the boys’ work we mothers ought surely to look after the girls. It has always been woman’s task to care for small children. This is true in our church today. The work of the Cradle Roll, Beginners’ Department, Primary Department, and for the most part of the Junior Department is given to the women. This present campaign has certainly proved the value of an educational program for our children. It seems to me that our women can well make the closest study of child life so as to make the children’s division of our Sunday school the very best, in order that the right foundation may be laid for strong Christian character in later life.”
“ What have the trustees to say? “ asked the pastor of Mr. Peterson, chairman of the trustees.
“ I have followed this campaign,” said Mr. Peterson, “ with increasing interest. One thing is becoming very apparent to me. Our church building was never constructed for boys and girls and young people. If we are to continue to minister to the youth of our community we must face the question of educational and social equipment for our church. We have reached the physical capacity of our church in our Sunday school. I have noticed that a Sunday school will not grow beyond the point where the pupils have physical comfort. For a short time we can put on a special campaign and increase our attendance, but in the long run the school will not average beyond the. number who can be cared for with physical comfort. Since we started this special work I have investigated several of our churches which have built new buildings adapted to an educational program, and I have found that in each case there has been immediate increase in attendance in the Sunday school. We have a beautiful auditorium, but this church needs larger and better rooms for our work with our boys and girls and young people. I believe we should face this question and furnish in the near future an adequate educational plant for our church. This will cost a great deal of money.
I have been thinking of ways and means for providing the necessary money. There are two things that are clear to me: (1) I believe in tithing. I believe our church should introduce tithing as our method of financing our work both locally and for our missionary enterprises. I believe each of these young Christians should be taught the joy of partnership with God in money matters. If the members of our church should give God a tenth of their income, there would be enough money to build our new educational plant, equip it, and provide for the increased cost of maintenance. (2) Men and women will give money more quickly and in larger sums for work for boys and girls than for any other purpose. I am sure that if we continue to put on a real program for our youth we can go to our own members and to the parents of the children and secure all the money we need to carry on our program. I believe bigger days are coming for this church. I believe we should give ever-increasing attention to our young people. We are headed in the right direction. The trustees are ready to do their part.”
It was evident to each member of the advisory board that the church was facing a new day, with new interest, new zeal, new resources, and a larger program.
“ I want to thank you,” said the pastor, “ for your hearty cooperation in our ’ Campaign of Evangelism of Youth.’ God has indeed blessed our church. I want your cooperation in some follow-up work. With your approval and with your help I want to center our work for the next few weeks on this task. ’Every member of every family a member of our church/ We want more homes united in Christ. We want all of our homes to be more truly Christian.
“ I have prepared a complete list of the families in our church. I have the names of every member of each family who is not now a member of the church. We will pray for them and endeavor to win them to the Lord Jesus Christ.”
TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What advantage would there be in a local church putting on for Sunday night or the regular midweek night A school of religious education “?
2. What difficulties can you see in the adoption of such a plan?
3. What plans do you know for securing church attendance of young people?
4. In your own church what adjustment in the regular service would be necessary?
5. Why cannot older people successfully run a young people’s organization?
6. Think of your woman’s society. What is it doing for the women and girls of the church? What could it do?
7. Think of the men in your church. How many are in official position? What are they doing for boys?
What service are they rendering to the church or to the community?
8. How are you going to get new blood and young people into the official life of a church or Sunday, school?
9. What changes are needed to make your church building adapted to an educational program?
10. What adjustment is needed in your church to meet the needs of young people?
REFERENCES “ The Church and Its Juniors,” Brockway.
“ Brothering the Boy,” Raffety.
“ The Girl in Her Teens,” Slattery.
“ Emancipation of Youth,” Roberts.
“ Help Those Women,” Agar.
“Efficient Laymen,” Cope.
“ Planning Church Buildings,” Tralle and Merrill.
“ Church Officers,” Agar.