National Republican., 1881-11-02
CHRISTIAN WORKERS.
THE suNDAY-scHooL INSTITUTE.
The Opening Day-Iuterestlns Addresses by Revs
Hurlburt and Meredith-Thc Dignity and
Promise OF the Teachers Work
Valuable Suggestions.

| this country and the increased interest In the
study OF the Bible has been the subject Of common
remark IN all religious gatherings Of recent years
The facts fully bear out all that has been said on
the subject. The increase In the attendance upon
Sunday schools and the advancement from sub
ordinate to q leading position Of this department
| of Christian work is almost phenomenal. The IA
ciltes for the study Of the Bible and the invention
Of new methods and aids for making the schools
attractive have kept pace with this nnid
growth, and now the machinery oi the
Sunday school In all iis muilIorm n
the most important Of these modern devices Tor
making this work more effective Is the sunday
school Institute which brings together the teach.
ers for the purpose of hearing experiences and re;
ceivlng suggestions Yesterday the Congregational
Church witnessed q gathering OF this character
| AZ three o'clock the opening session of the in-
stitue. held under the auspices OF the Sunday
School Union, was begun. There was present
large representation Of the sunday school teachers
and workers Of the city.
NEARLY EVERY SCHOOL IN THE DISTRICT
was represented, and the ladies andn-gentlemcn
came carrying their Bibles and noNEooks, eyi.
of welcome Mr.. I. II. Cobb, the president OF me
Union, remarked that he wished to say to the
gentlemen who were to conduct the institute that
they had come to learn nnd to work, aud the more
they could learn during the session the better they
would be pleased. The schools of the District
eighty. eight schools, with an at. attendance nn@
| DCr only $40 were nu0eu 10 lUC lnCnlutIhhlp
ofthc churches, This is the record. A little over
per cent of the Sunday school scholars nave
been gathered into the churches; The question Is,
Have we been doing our duty We want bet
ter conservation to the work. We want TO learn
how to study the Bible aud the best methods OF
teaching; how to get the 10000 children that hnye
no Sunday school connections into the schools,
and how to teach them nfler they are there.
HE THEN INTRODUCED REv. J. L. nuRLBuRT,
who Is well known among Sunday school workers,
%PG %BbIe iperpTeinton T He said a The t
requisite for teacher wns TO believe tnht tue
Bible was true and ,he1 to Smdesyos & TO unIfr nS .he
hindranccs TO the study Of the Bible such as the
Language. the style, the subjects and the limita'
planned some Of the helps in the study Of the
Bible and said that the
MOST IMPORTANT WAS COMMON SENSE
and then sincere love of the truth. These topics
| were elaborated and explained, ana the speaker
concluded by giving number OF suggestive hints
for the Interpretation of the Scriptures. In this
commentary, and replied that was q very dimcull
question TO answer. lie mentioned q number Of
commentaries on portions Of the Bible, and ,iIa sac
needed, but, did not exist Upon the
briefly OF the character Of the average Sunday.
: school teacher his earnestness lack OF time and
needed. lie thought they could not be helped by
passing resolutions in conventions and holding
up picture Of the ideal teacher. That used to bt
practical suggestions.
EVENING SESSION
The evening session was even better attended
than that OF the afternoon The body OF u,
the gallery were occupied; Rev. Dr. Forrest; u,
assistant rector of Trinity Church, conducted Thu
exposition Of another normal lesson, entitled
The four fold Gospel" The lesson comprised
and e the the outline given was as follows: lime when
written, place where written, persons TO whom
written, subjects treated Of the aspect of Christ
character they presented, and the characteristic
I features. "The dignity and promise of the sun
l day. school teachers work was the subject of {
very eloquent, as well as interesting discourse b
THE REMEDY OF HUMAN sELFIsTSEss,
and that God, instead of using supernatural
agencies had placed the responsibility OF carrying
the gospel to men upon Christians. Jesus Chris
had enforced the necessity ofnctiye Christian work
and the dignity of the teachers work lay in thi
fact that It was q commission OF Chrlst-"Go worl
in my vineyard" There seemed to be o feeling
S%Sns Was well dY~e enough % for young ST%o0 people
but beneath the dignity oftheir broad culture an,
colossal intellect The speaker showed at iengu
= teachers occupied the ground of vantage on th
temperance question, as they could influence tn
i why the rum traffic continued was :
make money and Sv # n peqPiS S%na S9nid d
- lie then went on TO speak OF, the aim Of tn
teachers work, which was to win souls 70 Chris
and the glorious promise IL afforded both ior tn
present and the future. The address, which wa
quite lengthy, received the appreciatiyc attention
of the audience to the close Mr.. Hurlbut an
nOunced the following
PROGRAMME FOR TO-DAY:
800, devotional exercises Rev. Mr.. Grimke; 3:l(
normal lecture, Conversion and Christian Cultur
of Little Children" Mrs. W; T. Crafts; normal les
son, personal influence Rev. J. l.. Hurlbut
430, conversation, The superintcndcnrs Ofic
and Work" Evening session, p MI supel
devotional exercises, Rev. j. g.. But
=. Ter, ID. D.; 740, normal address, "Teacl
L ing the Lesson" Rev. j. l.. Hurlbu
$40 teachers meeting, lesson for November
!. The Day of AtOnement," Lev. xvi, 1880, Rev.
II. Meredith. Conversation and question drawe
, The half hour before the evening session WI
,, begun was spent by those interested In primaI
work with Mrs. W. Il. Crafts, who spoke of IL
III bcst methods of conducting an infant class.