The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-12-15
L
SAVE THE CHILDREN
Hudson Associations Plan
to Bring Them Into the
Sunday Schools.
OUTLINE OF THE SCHEME
Ministers Favor the Work-News
From Churches Of All
Denominations.

The Hudson County Sunday Schoo
| Association has taken a large-sized con
tract upon it's hands, and, If it carries
it out, it deserves the appreciation OF
the entire community, whether they be
lieve in the Evangelical methods ad-
vanced by the association or not. BY
carefully prepared estimate they have
found that 60 per cent. of the children
of this city do not go to Sunday Schoo
and that the majority of those who dc
not attend receive little or no religious
training at home. Now, as no religion
can be introduced into the public schools,
| it is not difficult to see that the number
of young Americans who are growing
up in ignorance of everything pertain
ing to the religious life is very large.
What the Hudson County Sunday
School Association proposes to do is
to find out just where the children who
are growing up in darkness are located
and endeavor to bring e under the
good influences of the Sunday School.
How to reach the unrcached children OF
| Hudson county has been worrying the
association for nearly three years. 1t
| has been repeatedly discussed at the
meetings during that time and various
| plans for action have been advanced
but no definite move was made until
x.bout one month ago. In November
the annual meeting of the association
! was held. THE Unreached Children
was the principal topic discussed. The
| Executive Committee was instructed to
Immediately map out some plan of ac-
ton. The committee met a couple of
weeks ago at the home of Mr.. Forster,
No. Is Bentley avenue, as was reported
in "The Jersey City News" and de-
cided upon a plan similar to that which
was carried out with more. or less sue
cess in Illinois some time ago. 1t was
the Rev. H.. C. Cronin, who, within the
past year, has taken the pulpit at the
Second Presbyterian Church, that sug-
gested that way. Before coming to Jer-
sey City he was stationed in Illinois
and took part in the operations there.
OUTLINE OF PLAN.
The plan as outlined to a Jersey City
News reporter by Mr.. f. w. Davey,
corresponding secretary of the associa-
ton, is this: All the churches in the
| county will be invited to cooperate
and work eoncertedly. The work will
not DS TeStEiCttQ SIlilpiy " ~ Ivan
gelieal denominations. Episcopalians
and Roman Catholics will be invited to
take ptrt in it, and there will be a place
for the Salvation Army, if it desires to
go into the work.
The whole of Hudson county will be
mapped out into districts. and each dis
trict will be sub-divided into sections.
These sections will be allotted one to
sist in the scheme. 1t will be the duty
of each church to divide their section
into sub-sections of perhaps a block,
and to appoint a for each
arranged so that there will be no hitch
when the time for action arrives the as
ISOLATION will furnish each of the can
vassers with a number of printed forms.
When all this machinery is properly adj
justed it will be set in motion on a
given day appointed by the Executive
Committee of the Hudson County Sun
day School Association. and the first
real step towards getting at the I'M
reached children of Jersey City and
leading them into the light will have
ain dizzy all the eanvassers that have
been appointed, and they will be counted
by the hundreds, viii be turned loose
on the community at large and will
lions which they expect to be answered,
and the answers to which they will jot
down on the printed forms supplied them
TO for that at p ppSeP61se- or The bet questions quest ms viii will
NC cC ~ Y - IN 1A0 IAly
they go to Sunday School? If there
are children, and they go to Sunday
they attend. If they do not attend n.y.,
it will be asked what one, if any, they
prefer. In this way the association hopes
to get as nearly as possible a complete
record of the Sunday School attendance
in the county, and a census of those
children who are without proper re-
ligious training. 1t will be ne easy
44-Ir o-I $50 I'LL L. -
with. Having doors slammed in their
faces is the least of the unpleasant
things he canyassers must expect to
meet with. When the whole city has
been canvassed. and it will all be done
in one day, the canvassers will all re-
port to headquarters the results of their
efforts.
TABULATING THE REPORTS.
When all the reports are in, a corps
of clerks will be set at work to arrange
and properly tabuIate them. Having
secured the statistics. the next thing
to do is to make practical use of them.
This will be done as follows:-The peo-
pie who have expressed a preference
for, or who are already connected with,
together, and so with the other churches.
Then their names will be handed to the
pastor of the church of the denomina-
ton they prefer, which is nearest to
their homes. The pastor or the sun
day School Superintendent will appoint
a visiting committee. who will be furzl
nished with the names, and will hunt up
the families who have expressed a pref
erence for their church, and will, If pos
sible, get them to send their children
to Sunday School. Those people who
express no preference will be taken
care of by the church nearest their
fome.
The work of preparing for the can
vass will probably be started at an
early date. Shortly after the holi-
days there will be a meeting of the
pastors and Sunday School Superintend-
ents to bear the report of the Executive
Committee and to make final prepara-
lions. Opinions differ as to the degree
of success which will attend the can
vass. Following are a few of them,
gathered by 1.-THE News reporter
Mr.. J.. B. Applegate, Superintendent
of the Bergen Baptist Sunday School,
1T is an excellent plan, and should be
fruitful in good results. 1t is what has
long been needed. 1t is more necessary
In some parts of the city than in others.
In lower Jersey City, which is essen
TALLY a mission field. it should bring
big results. while on the Hill you viii
n that there are few children who do
not attend some Sunday School,"
The Rev. DR.. w. D.. Grant, pastor of
the South Bergen Reformed Church,
thought 1t an excellent plan, but was
sort of skeptical as to what the re-
suits would be. He cited the canvass
made by the ministers of the Hill sew
eral years ago, and said that, as far
as his parish was concerned, he saw
very little accomplished by IL He