The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-03-13
EPWORTH LEAGUE.
A Mass. Meeting of Sunday-SchOol
Workers.

A mass meeting of the Sunday-schocl
workers and the Epworth League PreSl-
dents was held in the ladies' parlor of the
Central Methodist Episcopal Church last
evening The Epworth League is an organl-
cation for church work of the young people
of the Methodist Church.
The meeting was presided over by William
Abbott. Superintendent of the Central
Church Sunday school, who opened the pro-
ceedings by short address. After brief
prayer by the Rev Thomas Tilden of the
Bush-street Methodist Episcopal Church
for increased efficiency among Sunday
school workers. Rev. DIR. Case gave well
coming address,. He alluded to the meet
ing as being one of workers. and said the
workers in any church were always safe.
He eXhorted his hearers to take a lively
interest in the work of other churches. say
ing that in this altruistic spirit lay tho
secret Of human happiness, and concluded
with few graceful words of welcome to
the speakers of the evening, Lieutenant IL.
Z. Mcintosh and the Rev. DR.. Coke.
MUSIC AND SPEECHES.
A Committee on Resolutions, consisting
of Mr.. Watt, Miss Nicholson and Rev. MI.
Beattie, was then appointed, and male
sextet- Messrs. j. j. Morris, j. Follinshy,
Theodore Hodge, +. IL. Jackson and c. w.
Drew-sang a sacred selection.
Lieutenant fl. p Mcintosh, Superin-
tendent of the Simpson Memorial Sabbath
school, next addressed the conference on
''The Sunday-school Army" He advocated
more interest being taken in the Sunday
school by grOwn-up members of the church,
and went at some length into the difficulty
Of collecting money for the necessary eX-
penSeS of Sunday-Sch00ls. lie suggested as
n remedy that the School superintendent
should present their estimates at the au-
nual church meeting, and that the amount
required should be noted in advance.
ADDRESS OF THE EVENING.
The Rev. DIR. Coke Secretary of the
Northwest District of the Sunday-seho0l
evening. The address. which lasted about
an hour, was lighted up by cOpi0uS illustra-
ton and pointed anecdote. and was listened
TO with marked attention by the large audi
ence.
DIR. Coke acknowledged that he was a
Sunday-schOol crank. but said a crank is the
thing that makes the machine 20. lie pro-
tested against the popular view that regards
the Sunday-schOol as substitute for home
religious training.
The average age of n child" said the
speaker "when he comes TO Sunday school
is years. A great authority on pedagogy
has said that child learns more in the first
five years of his life than he does in the
rest of life of three scUre years aad ten.
II this is approximately true it is tIemen-
Q0uS truth.
HOME TRAINING.
The speaker then described the advantages
which home training possessed over the
training provided by the Sunday school. He
dwelt at some length on the right of author
ity possessed by the parents, and the failure
to exercise it. ~ fnd." said he, "a great
deal of social disorder in America. One rea-
son for this which has not had enough recog-
milton from Christian teachers is the decay
of authority in the home" The Sunday
school was not the children's church. They
should be brought to the preaching service.
The Sunday-school is the supplement of
home training and of the preachers teach
ings.
The Methodist Church had increased by
900 members during the last year, and
three-lourths of these were under 20 years
of age, anG came. therefore. from the Sun
day school. How important then was the
Sunday-scho0i work.
The proceedings closed by the delivery of
the henedictiOn by the Rev. DR.. Angelo
Canoll.
The conference is to be resumed to-mor-
row at o'clock, and continued i'll the even
ing.