The age-herald., 1901-04-01
SUNDAY SCHOOL
 CENSUS IF CITY
Plan Now on Foot by the City
 Association
QUARTERLY CONFERENCE
President Atkins of the State organi zation Will be Here Tomorrow Night-Work Has Been Sue
 cessfuI in Other Cities.


 The executive committee of the City Sunday School Association is planning for a house to house canvass of the city in the interest of the Sunday schools and churches.
 The plan contemplates the visiting of every home and business house in Bir- mlngham on the same day and the taking of a complete Sunday school and church census. The census will give to pastors complete list of all families expressing a preference for their respective denomi- nations.
 It will be remembered that a church census was undertaken in the city some years ago. The city was divided into dis tricts and each church was made respon- siblc for a certain district. The result was not all together satisfactory. The plans now being perfected are somewhat different and have been tried successfully in cities even as large as Philadelphia, where two million people were visited, invited to the Sunday schools and  to Sunday school membership and church preference was obtained in one day, and only this month a house to house Visita- tion was successfully made in Buffalo. N. Y, in five hours. During that short interval seventy-two thousand records were secured, representing nearly three hundred thousand people. In this can vass the Catholic clergy urged their peo pie to give all desired information to the visitors and records of twenty-six thous and Catholic families and individuals were secured
 The Division.
 It is proposed to divide the city of Birm- ingham into four districts, Twentieth street and the Alabama Great Southern Railway being the dividing lines. Head quarters will be established in each dis trict, with district manager in charge. The district manager will after a careful study of his district, sub-divide it into small sections, which can easily be vis- tied by two persons during the morning or afternoon. Volunteer workers will be appointed to the districts needed and will then be assigned to the sub-districts,  unsectarlan, no two workers of the same denomination will be sent out together if it can be avoided.
 The visitors will enter all homes and business houses assigned to them and will spend such time as may seem agreeable | in talking Sunday school. A cordial in | vitation will be extended to all to attend | the Sunday school of their denomination l printed matter pertaining to the work will be left and a card will be filled out giving the street and number, names of heads of families and the number in the household eligible for Sunday school membership. The church preference of each will be shown on the card and whether or not church members have afiliation with their church in Birmng- ham.
 The cards filled out by the visitors will be turned in to the district managers as soon as all visits have been made. and all information will be tabulated anI the reports and cards will be passed to The city headquarters.
 At the city headquarters the statistics from the various districts will be con-
  assorted according to denominati>nal preference and will then be delivered to the pastors of the respective churches.
 Has Proven Successful.
 Wherever this plan has been faithfully carried out there has been decided in crease in Sunday school attendance and in church membership. In some cities, notably in Selma, the increase in the Sun day school was as high as 40 per cent.
 Quarterly Conference.
 The quarterly convention of the city Sunday School Association, which meets at the First Presbyterian church tomor- row evening at 8 o'clock, will be largely devoted to a discussion of the proposed house to house visitation. An address will be made by MT. W. T. Atkins, president of the State Sunday School Association. President Atkins has conducted success fully several house to house visitations, and seeing the beneficial results which in- varlably follow, is an enthusiast on the subject.
 For several Sundays past members of the executive committee of the city Sun day School Association have visited all of the city Sunday schools their number would permit them to reach, for the pur- pose of presenting the plan to the Sun day school workers In each school visit ed volunteers for the work have been called for with gratifying success.
 The Work Is Needed.
 Owing to the large influx of people in- to the city during the past few months just such work as that now being planned is badly needed. While the growth of all churches in the city and of the Sunday schools is remarkable, 1t is not propor- donate to the rapid increase in the pop ulation of the city.
 It is believed that enough interest will be aroused in the plan to insure a house to house visitation during the spring in every suburb as well as in the city and it is expected that many Sunday school workers from suburban points will get together with the Christian workers of the city, and will flock to hear President