The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-04-19
LEARNING TO TEACH
SuDd aY School Institute Be-
gins a Four Even
ings' Session.
REV. J. FRANCIS MORGAN'S ADDRESS
Talk May Be Cheap But There
Are Many Good Cheap
Things.

The Sunday School Institute, which is
to be held four evenings this week in
Emory M. e. Church, opened last night.
Nearly two hundred teachers and super
intendents attended the opening exercises,
which began at 7:45 O'Clock with devo-
tional services. led by the Rev. T. j.
Kommers. The >singing was led by the
quartette choir of Emory Church, under
the direction of Alfred Evans. The SER
vice, which Included a short Scripture
lesson, read by the Rev. Mr.Kommers,
lasted nearly half an hour, during which
time the teachers continued to come from
all parts of the county.
The regular order of business was be-
gun with an address of welcome by ]. B.
Apologize, Superintendent of the Bergen
Baptist Sunday School. 1.-THE methods in
use in the Sunday schools of twenty-five
years ago" he said. .are not available to-
day. we need in this day greater helps,
more assistance. and so the Hudson
County Sunday school Association was
formed. We are here tonight that we
may consult. confer and listen to those
who can give us needed instructions"
Mr.. Apologize then read a letter from
the Rev. DIR. Cornelius Brett, who was to
have made the principal address, saying
that owing to the severe illness of his
wife, which demanded that he spend
every minute possible at home, he could
not fill his engagement. j. V. Forster,
President of the association, was asked
to take DR.. Brett's place and speak on
Important Statements Emphasized HE
said
s.The teacher in the Sunday school oc-
cupies the important place. II IS neceso
a properly organized school, but without
good teachers nothing can be accom-
piished. To teach one must know the
Truth. that is, the Word of God. Whether
the teacher has one or fifty pupils, he, or
she. should know them individually, as
intimately as possible. A teacher should
not teach In a Sunday school unless ne, or
she, knows the Christ who has appointed
him, or her, to be a teacher. The teacher
must learn to be patient and wait for re-
suits. Results win come to those who
work faithfully and prayerfully aud VINO
The Rev. j. Francis Morgan talked on
suggestions from the word Teach; we
are told" he said. that talk is cheap. !
think that there are many cheap Things
which are good. In his Institute we DO
not want so much long addresses as we
do talk. We want conversations--ques-
tons, answers-talks with Jesus ana tanks
with each other. It seems to me that we
might take the five letters OF the WORD
teach and get a fair vision OF what the
teacher is. Let the first letter stand for
tongue. The Bible says that the tongue
is an unruly member capable of doing
great bad. While the tongue no man can
tame God can tame it. In the teacher
he can consecrate It to His service Tor
the rood of the pupil and for His glory.
II usually find that the people VINO say
that they are not good takers in the
Christian life are usually great takers
outside the Christian life. If | ask the
nt1fa1 women i'm my a-OnQrPP2ti0n 70 tGStl-
fy they say that that IS something new,
that they have always been taught to
keep silence, that is. St. Paul commanded
the women to keep silence in his day and
surely the women of Jersey City mould
keep silence. In Sunday school work 1t
is not the amount of talking you do bun
the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh, then let us begin at the heart.
Let the lesson we teach be born OF our
own experience. 1t must be born ana
reborn throughout the week; it must be
prayed over and lived over all the week.
A person must have a poor tongue III
deed who could not tell to others such an
experience. A person may have a very
slow tongue and yet may influence people
and say a good deal ii they are full OF
their subject.
"A teacher is not as good a teacher as
he or she ought to be unless he or she
can get into the lives of the pupils and
have some special truth at hand which
will go home to each one. Teach every
one III lil0 cldcS dllQ lHdhc liz WOIh d.
personal as if there was only one in the
class. Then all the time you must re-
member that you are a teacher all the
time. 1t is astonishing O a child will
Gins to its eacher. My little girl thinks
her Sunday-school teacher is next to her
father and mother, and 1 believe she is.
Suppose such q teacher should do some
thing wrong, what an influence it would
have over the child. On the other hand,
if she does something Christiike how the
child likes to follow her examDleiv
Speaking of the observance of Sunday
Dr. Morgan said he was shocked on
picking up the paper yesterday morning
to find that a number of ministers had
on the previous day preached on the war
question. What we want on Sunday
said DR.. Morgan, lis the love Of God.
We want to be Gained instead of having
oar feeling reused over the Spanish
American war
The session closed with discussions, led
by Mrs. c. Storey, on the following ques-
TONS
/. in what spirit would you axe up
the study of the Word of God2"
2. Suppose you were asked why you
believe the Bible to be the Word of
God, what answer would you give?"
3. What would you do with difficulties
in the Bible which. you cannot understand
or explain?'