Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-06-20

| least 800, 900 While 1t Is generally
understood that each Sunday school rep
resents some particular church. and that
every Protestant church has It's own
Sunday school. the latest statistics show
| that q per cent of the churches In Amer
| lea. mostly rural. have no Sunday school
and do no Sunday school work. In one
| state in the Union there are Sos churches
which have no Sunday school in connec-
! ton. However. there are quite num-
Der OF union or undenominational Sun
DAY schools, which include a scholarship
reaching at least to 100000.
| The Sunday School Association is non
sectarian. and the adoption of the uni
form graded lesson
Uniform Lessons system has done
more than anything
Lower Barriers. else to break down
UNCONVENTIONAL barriers between the sun
day schools of all the Protestant
churches While the first uniform les
sons were put forth by the Sunday Schooi
Association eighty-five years ago, their
general adoption by all the churches is
comparatively recent, and the new sys-
tenn is great improvement over the
earlier issues.
The graded lessons proved an advance
step in several ways 1t already mas
done much toward retaining the interest
of the older scholars. There are four
courses. namely: Beginners, for chill
dren under six years: primary, for ch'i-
dren from six 10 nine; general for pu-
pills from nine to fourteen; ana the ao-
vanced or adult, for those oder than
fourteen. Promotion systems are now
being planned in the Sunday schools
modelled after the methods obtaining IN
the public schools, and these VIII aod
still more to the efficiency of the graded
lesson system. The advantages OF
uniform system of Sunday school in
struction are obvious. and there are few
schools in the United States which are
not using the same lessons. The dl1er-
ent church denominations issue SUNDAY
school periodicals of their own. but al
most without exception they publish the
bible lesson as scheduled and arranged
by the Sunday School Association.
With uniformity OF lessons and regu-
lar system of promotion comes the need
OF uniformity in the qualifications OF
tea chers, which is one Of the matters to
which the convention will give special
attention. The time is coming when a
Sunday school teacher will need to have
q knowledge of pedagogical methods sim
liar to that required by the public school
teacher in addition to a thorough and
adequate knowledge Of all scriptural sub
jects.
Training schools for Sunday school
workers are already in existence, and
their nunDer Is IHulupiNlHS CpcSidi
summer courses in this work will be held
In various parts of the country A large
number of those will be located In the
mountains or at resorts. so that the stu
dents find their surroundings as pleasant
"a those Of an ordinary vacation. Cor
respondence schools through which ad
vanced Sunday school work may be stud
led at home are also being arranged for.
With the demand for trained workers
comes the question of paid Sunday school
teachers, which has
Paw of Teachers already been met In
some schools with
a New Feature. good success. The
volunteer teacher cannot of necessity
give the time and effort to his work that
would be possible if 1t were remunera-
tive. The fact that all Sunday school
work has been volunteer up TO this time
has had its drawbacks as well as its ad-
vantages Many a class of bright. In
tellgent Young people has disbanded
because it was inflicted with a teacher
who however sincere and honest In IN
tentions, lacked the intelligence and per-
sonality to hold the attention of the
class. If test OF qualifications OBTAINS
the incompetent teacher will no longer
be the bugbear of the progressive super
intendent.
One of the latest developments in Sun
dav school work is the establishment OF
a supervisor. who looks personally aitef
all the details of Sunday school work
many of which will escape the notice OF
the ordinary superintende he super
visor will note the condition Of the school
library and the books most in demand.
Tho music, the equipment OF materials
for the work of the different classes. no
less than the course of the Sunday schooi
lesson. will receive his attention. FROM
Berkeley, Cal. comes a suggestion likely
to be brought forward prominently dur
ing the present convention. This Is tnat
the Protestant churches of town unite
In paying for the services OF q SUNDAY
school supervisor, who shall divide his
time among the Sunday schools OF the
different churches. This experiment has
been tried during the year In several
churches with good results In the opin-
ION of the most progressive leaders the
| work of Sunday schoo. supervisor VIII
develop into a new profession within the
next ten years. In addition to the spir-
| itual and religious qualifications and a
pleasing personality such supervisor
must possess no small amount OF versa
tility and originality. He will have a
hard position to fill, and should. and
doubtless will, command at least COM
Portable income, for the churches are at
st beginning to realize that even In lay
religious work the laborer Is worthy OF
| his hire
The development OF the paid and train
| ed Sunday school worker will require a
| larger expend-
Churches Are Working itnre Of
to Endow Schools. sun d a y
school work. and many churches are now
working toward the establishment OF
permanent Sunday school endowments.
Some of these are coming in the form OF
beouests The Sunday school of Con-
| gregational church in Chicago received
| an endowment last winter OF 10000
Quite a number OF schools are building
up their own permanent endowment
fund. A Sunday school in Brooklyn.
n. Y, has for five years raised thou
sand dollars annually for this purpose
| and others are following its example.
| The expenses for the equipment Of a
Sunday school are increasingly heavy.
The periodicals are attractively gotten up
as regards appearance and material.
Many of the best paid writer's In the
world contribute to their columns, and
their illustrations compare favorably
with those Of other juvenile publications.
The Sunday school library Is continu-
Gus source of expense, as II Is n a GER
tain way the rival Of the free public