Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-15
THE SUNDAY LESSON.
Fifteen Millions of the International
Series Published
AND DISTRIBUTED EVERY WEEK
The. Work Done by q Committee Of the
Sunday School Convention.
AN ENTERPRISE IN BIBLE TEACHINGS
WRITTEN FOE THE DISPATCH.

WRITTEN FOE THE DIsPArcH.1
The approaching International Sunday
School Conventions naturally e1cites some
curiosity as to the "how" Of the Interna-
tional Lesson Series, now SO popular. AL
most every tot old enough to make the
rifle" with two or three schools for Christ
mas candy, knows that the same lessons are
used in all, and perhaps many adults know
little more of the mysterious source, except
that there is some sort OF q committee.
The International Lesson Committee is
the creature of this convention. 1t is COM
posed of representatives Of nearly all of the
Evangelist denominations. The present
committee was appointed in 1884, though
many of its members had served before, and
is constituted as follows: President. Rev.
Warren Randolph, D. D. (Baptist), Bishop
]. H. Vincent (M. E.). Rev. John Hall
(Presbyterian), Mr.. B. F. Jacobs (Baptist),
Rev. D. Berger, D. D. Omitted Brethren),
Chancellor s. H. Blake Protestant Episco-
pai), Moses Hoge, D. D. (South Presby-
terian), W. g. E. Cunningham, D. D.
(Southern Methodist). Prof. John A.
Broadus, D. D. (Bapt1st), Prof. Fl. L.
Baugher, D. D. (Lutheran), John Potts,
D. D. canadian Methodist), Rev. E. A.
Dunning, D. D. (CongregationaD, Prof. j.
I'D. Hinds( Cumberland Presbyterian, Rev.
Isaac Errett, D. D., deceased (Christian),
with five corresponding members in Europe.
SEVEN YEARS IN A COURSE.
This committee maps out the lesson for a
seven-years' course, covering the entire
Bible. The present course, which is the
third, began in 1888. Seven times 81 is 364.
Getting up that many lessons is formidable
task, but it is not all done by the committee
as a whole, or at one session. A meeting is
held at which different parts of the work are
assigned to the respective members, and,
after agreeing on the general features, they
separate to complete the work assigned,
meeting annually, or as required, at their
homes. Only one years lessons are COM
pleted and published at a time. This list is
printed by Mr.. L. 81. Bigelow, the treasurer
of the committee, and furnished the various
concerns publishing lesson-helps.
The Lesson Committee does not prepare
the lessons ready for printing and teaching.
It does just four things: It designates what
verses shall constitute the lesson text, it
names the lesson or gives it a title. it selects
golden text and appoints certain verses to
be memorizedj only this and nothing more.
The members of the committee receive moth
ing for their services; only travelling expen-
ses are paid, and these not after the fashion
OF Congressional committees. This expense
and others of the convention is met BY vari-
Gus resources First, there is the fund
raised by popular subscriptions in the con-
vention. Then each publishing house using
the list OF lessons is asked to contribute. In
addition to this the statistical secretary of
the convention receives in his report the ad-
dresses of large number of superintendents
all over the country, and it has been pos
sible to dispose Of this Tor advertising pur-
poses TO dealers in music books, and other
supplies for quite round sum.
THE MILL BEGINS TO GRIND.
The list of lessons for the ensuing year
comes into the hands of the various editors
and compilers of help on the lessons some
time in the summer. Now the real work of
preparing the lessons as they appear in
printed form begins with the usual amount
of fault-fnding and kicking over the COM
mittee's work. Some of the titles are OBJ
jected to as misleading; the Golden Texts
NAV be pot metal in some instances, so far
as adaptation to the particular lesson is con-
cerned, or the lesson text itself too frag-
mentary or too long. In 1885 the Congre-
gational, Methodist Episcopal and others Of
the leading denominational Sunday school
editors "put their heads together" and de-
cided that their pages were being imposed
upon by the ineonvenient length of some of
the texts, and agreed to print only so much
as they had room for. Only one house in
the country, it is believed, was enterprising
enough to add the extra pages necessary and
print the whole text.
The number of copies of the prepared
lesson in circulation every Sunday is some
thing enormous. The Methodist Episcopal
Church alone put out about 5000, 900 Sun
persons in the land. The Southern Metho-
dist Church publishes about 1,OOO, 900, the
PRESBYTERIAN (North) Church about 800, 900,
the Lutherans $4,000, the Baptists over
1000, 900. Altogether, there must be dis
tributed every Sunday not less than Is, ,000,-
900 Sunday school papers and lesson books,
so that by two holding on and two more
looking over their shoulders every fellow
of the go, 900, 900 might study his lesson if
he wanted to. But the distribution is not
so equal as that. 1t is estimated that only
10, ,000, 900 are engaged in Sunday school
work.
THE FINANCIAL PART OF IT.
Think of the capital invested in such q
businessl When the International lessons
first began to call for SO much printing it
was nearly all done by the church publish
ing houses. But shrewd Illinois Yankee
saw chance for profit, and went into busi-
ness on bis own hook. He used cheap
tinted paper, fashy, illuminated covers,
and cut rates away down as a
bid for patronage. And he got
it at first. Then the denominational houses
had to come down in their prices and up in
the quality and attractiveness Of their
goods to hold their own trade. This they
did gracefully and readily until now the
modern Sunday school lesson help is a
thing Of beauty mechanically. as handy in
arrangement as pocket in shirt, and q
marvel OF cheapness. For about one-ffth
of cent one may have the lesson text for
the Sunday, all the cross references an So
Oxford Bible gives, a section of S. Bible
dictionary, the cream OF hundred or two
dollars worth of commentaries, an install
ment of catechism and picture or two and
some nice songs thrown in, to keep him
from being heather and help him live in
the image of his Maker.
DOCTOR OF DIVINITY.