Norwich bulletin., 1912-11-04
ORGANIZATION OF UNION
 TEACHER TRAINING GLASS.
Directed at Meeting of Sunday School Workers After Hearing w. I. Woodin of Hartford.

There were about g Sunday school teachers, superintendents and pastors gathered to consider the organization of Sunday school teacher training classes, at the meeting held under the auspices of the Bible study committee of the Church Federation at Y. NJ. C. A. hall Sunday afternoon. General Secretary F. R. StarkeY presided at the meeting, which opened with scrip ture reading by Rev. k. $. Worcester and prayer by Rev H. J. Wyckoff. Mir Starkey spoke of the purpose of the gathering and mentioned the plan of a union class, now in successful opera ton in Hartford. He then presented Wallace I. Woodin of Hartford, secre- tary of the State Sunday School asso- ciatiOn.
 The Sunday school as it is said MT. Woodin, is fairly efficient, bringing in as 1t does S- JaI cent. of the church memhsrEh T, but we are losing from the lhu4 c4 Gf Christ four out of five of the young people, who enter the Sun day school We are losing ground in some respects. We should bring the child, every child, into intimate rela- tions with Christ. We have been re- sorting to makeshifts for some time: these makeshifts have been good tenn pOrarily, but they are not lasting. We can't hope to solve our problem at once, but we can start in the right di- rection. There are three lines for our work: Graded schools with lessons of inherent interest to the children; training of teachers, and increasing the number of adult church members. We must build up a new force of l teachers. l say this without criticism | of the old teachers, the present teach . | CTS. those who have been the means OE | building up so far this marvellous in l stitution. The Sunday school depends | upon the teachers. l mean by q new | force of teachers. not only to bring
 in new teachers, but to increase the
 efficiency of the old teachers
 The teacher should know the Bible Secondly, she should know the child l The Sunday school must be made tc 1 fit the child, and not try to fit the | child to the Sunday school, as has oft
 en been the case in the past. Thirdly | the teacher should know how to Jeacf | the child, and, fourthly, should know | the Sunday school. The teacher o a department should understand tn, l work of every department and of th' l Sunday school as a whole.
 There are three classes for teacher l training. There is the union class tol
 the teachers of all the Sunday schools l This has been successful in many Cit ies and has failed nowhere. The unioi | class is not the ideal. but is an i'm portant step in this direction. The clas
 in the individual Sunday school is in ideal. The union class will turn Ou men and women capable of going int their own Sunday schools and leading
 teacher training classes there. Be
 sides the union class there are tW
 classes in the individual Sunday schOC l-the class during the Sunday schoC
 hiur for the training of the young peo
 ple who are to become teachers, an
 the class during the week for the de
 velopment of the present teachers. Tn 1 training includes systematic cours
 in Bible study, psychology and peda
 gOgy.
 l The speaker next referred to the pl1 1 of the union class now operating l
 Hartford, and showed the outline the work on the blackboard
 MT. Starkey then announced that ti institution of a union class would res with the Bible study committee of il
 Federation of Churches. but said ! would like to hear expressions trol , some of those present. Rev. F. Il Worcester said that in the Broadwa Congregational church there had a
 ready been instituted teacher trall
 ing class and that there would prooi blv be few from that Sunday scho who would enter a union class. a . ! thougb he was heartily in favor Of Il . ! organization of such a class sever : l others expressed their desire for su' move and when Mfr. Starkey call
 1 for a general opinion all voted in flaw ' of having the Bible study commit ; organize a union teacher trainll
 | class.