The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-04-22

h<A'-.A az . - LAOGh
Rev. j. J. Hight moved that a com
mit5ee OF Que from each District be
appointed to prepare programme for
the next Convention, and that the
Chair appoint the committee, which
motion prevailed.
Rev. f. Gaskns moved to recon
slider that part Of the motion which
referred to the appointment by the
Chair. and 70 proceed to the appoint.
ments at.opce. ~
Mr. q n Thayer said that i
the motion prevailed he hoped tha5
time would he afforded Che members
to get together and make suchselec-
tions as would meet the appreciation
OF the delegates. It required work
and he thought that, ia order to give
satisfaction the committee should be
selected with care eaw
The vote was then taken on the
question to reconsider. and lost The
Presi3 dent then requested delegates to
hand to him the names of such gem
ilemea al they desired to serve on
the committee.
Rev. G. NaSims then proceeded to
deliver a fifteen minutes g address on
the best method of teaching youths
classes, with Illustrative exercises. He
had not prepared written essay, and
did not think that the best method Of
treating the subject He thought
everything In connection with a Sun
day School should be practical.
While delegates were engaged Ia de
hberating on the important subject of
Sunday Schools, all else ought TO be
forgotten. 1.-THE subject" continued
the Reverend speaker, chosen for
the fifteen minutes time allotted TO
me, Is The best method of teaching
youths classes. First IN Importance IS
that each teacher should understand
the mind of the youth, and the
capacity of that mind. Secondly the
teacher should have an object IN view,
AMI ought to have, each Sabbath, some
thoughts, gained By 2 research of the
lesson, to communicate to the
class All should understand that
the Sunday School is not
place Of Amusement, bat a place
for thought and reflection The larg-
est Sunday School he had ever had
under his pastoral charge was one IN
der the superintendent Of a man who
udu no DAUAlCdA huOWIC4ZEf d4tL " AD
70 have no object In view
other than to secure a large attend
ance at the school. That school to-
day is where it was years ago, having
made no advancement that could be
In order that a Sunday
School be made what It ought to be,
there must be a distinct purpose and
aim in teaching, and that purpose aud
aim should be to teach moral ideas
and ineulcafe religious doctrines, and
not to teach geography or history.
Such a method of teaching as theAast-
named would never be attended with
good results. The speaker stated that
he had once been in a class where
all these last-named things had been
taught, and that no great advance
ment in religious Improvement or
religious knowledge had been made.
The method he would recommend Is,
to have great practical religious
truths clearly taught. and inculoated
In the minds of those who compose
the class, and not mere abstract ideas,
but matters of practical importance.
Another method Of teaching was TO
feel as Nathan did on a certain 0cea-
sion toward David, Thou art the
man, aud to have each one IN the
class feel that the teaching was direct
ed to and intended for him. The
Reverend speaker argued that there
must be a system 10 teaching a class,
a system Ia selecting lessons, and that
the lessons of each succeeding Sab
bath ought to be linked with the one
that preceded. By that means the
class would be made to reflect and
think Of what had been read and
learned. He stated that one great
reason why so many fail as Sunday
School teachers, was on account Of
laziuess, want Of preparation to
properly instruct the class He had
heard of special talent as teachers,
but thought the special talent
consisted IN going before the
class thoroughly prepared for
the work, with fresh thoughts and
new ideas each Sabbath to present to
the class. He opposed the use Of
question books Ia Sunday School Il
was too much Ike the use Of a KEY
to an ari thmetic Such books we're
used 10 days gone by but had all
been discarded. and now the best
authors aid not place the answer 10
the problem in the books at all.
Whenever question books are used.
teachers fail; they lack independence
of thought, and instead of learning
the great truths for themselves. de-
pend or others for the knowledge
they ought to acquire themselves. aud
which, if acquired IN shat way. w0u d
be the better underwood and the
longer remem bered. He then hastily
reviewed what he had said First.