The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-02-12
MEET TO ADVANCE
 SUNDAY SCHOOLS International Conference Begins
 Here Sunday MIL DIICu MnDE M cTATC
WILL PUSH WORK.IN STATE
w. c. Pearce, One of the Great Sunday School Workers of the Country, Will Preside at Local
 Conferences.

| ganized Adult Bible Class is to be held in the First Methodist church next Sun day and Monday. It will bring many prominent church workers to Birming- ham from different parts of the country, while the local churches will be rep resented by delegations
 There will be many features of the con- ference, while the keynote of the session will be Men and Women Studying the Bible and Working Actively in the Sun day School"
 w. c. Pearce of Chicago, superinten- dent of the adult department of the In- ternational Sunday School association; J. will conduct these conferences, assisted by Dr. A. L. Phillips of Richmond, Va, and other leading adult department work CTS in Alabama.
 D. II. Marbury of Birmingham, chair man of the adult department of the In- l ternational Sunda ySchool association; J. s. Bridges of Birmingham, superintendent of the adult department of the Alabama Sunday School association, and D. w. Sims of Montgomery, Judge Carthers successor as general secretary of the Ala bama association, have planned the con- | a statewide campaign for winning men and women to the Sunday school and Bible study equally with children. MT Pearce is considered as being without a peer as a winner of men and women to the study of the Bible so that Sunday school people throughout the Birmingham district are planning to make his visit here signally successful in bringing Ala bama to the front in this worldwide movement
 Much interest is also being manifested in the Bible class demonstra tion, which 1 is to be the feature of the Monday night programme. The Ruhama Baraca class of East Lake has been chosen to give 1 this demonstration, and every detail of | the working Of a model Bible class will be shown by them.
 l The following call las been sent to Sun day school workers throughout the dis trict:
 "Is it surprising that now large number of the first grade Sunday schools in North America have more adult members in attendance than children and more children than ever before? You know that the idea took root only a few years ago that if the fathers and mothers and big brothers and sisters were interested and worked in the Sunday school, the children would naturally do likewise, and that the Sunday school would help, and was the place for grown folks as we'll as children, instead of for children only How to interest the grown folks be- came the question. Soon a concensus of opinion was reached as to methods of doing so, The great number of | men and women who have come into the Sunday school from that time, wherever these methods have been | tried. aggregating over half million a year in America constitutes this movement one of the very greatest epochs in Sunday school work. "The International Sunday School as- sociation quickly recognized and took care of this movement. At it's conven- tion in Toronto in 1905, the association placed 1t. along with teacher training. in charge of its leading international field worker. MT. W. c. Pearce, known, loved and honored by Sunday school workers throughout North America. At the next convention held last year at Louisville, Ky, the association con cluded that Sunday schools would make their great advance during the next three years in adult work. Mir. Pearce was therefore directed to give all his time to it. if
 Alabama isl far behind many west ern states in this work and also more backward in regard to 1t than several other branches of Sunday school work. Shall we not advance into the first rank?
 MT. Pearce will be in Birmingham Sunday and Monday, the 14th and 18th of this month, to start us there. Mir. Pearce will be assisted by Dr. Phillips of Richmond, Va., Professor Leavell of Nashville and some of our state lead CTS in adult work. MT. Pearce. with their assistance, will unfold and in struct us in the accepted methods that have had such signal success elsewhere. This will doubtless be the most inpor- tant and helpful meeting for Sunday school workers in our state this year.
 "Of course you will take advantage of this great opportunity, but what about others? Will you not make a definite resolution to do all within your power to get others to do like wise both singling out certain indi- viduals with whom you have influence and also doing everything you can to get your Sunday school to attend in body from the intermediate depart ment up. Above all join in the prayer and expectation that the Sunday school workers of this district will do their full part toward making this meeting all the Master would have it.'