Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-11-14
Purpose and Needs of Sunday School
BY REV. HENRY p. JUDD.

l. tine toiIO"lD9 douTSbs, eHtlIeu
"The Purpose and Needs OF the Sun
day School," was delivered by Rev.
Henry p. Judd, superintendent OF the
Sunday schools Of the hawaiian Evan
qeIieaI Association, at the opening SEES
SIGN Of the Sunday school teachers
| &C inference which came to close TO-
day in the parish house Of Central
Union ehurch:1 ..z..- ..=
II is fitting that the opening address
Of the second annual conference for
Sunday school teachers CT Honolulu
should have as its subject The Pur-
pose and Needs Of the Sunday School. -
Before we launch forth during the four
DAYS of this conference upon discus.
sions that pertain 10 the school. the
teacher, the pupil and the lesson, we
she uld have in our minds clear con
eeption Of the purpose Of the school.
and should at the same time realize
the great needs Of this worthy insti-
tuition.
Il is rather strange that erroneous
IDEAS prevail among intelligent men
and women as TO the object Of the
Sunday school. Some persons regard
the hour Of n eeting as time Tor so
eial life, and the social features APP
peal very keeniy to people 81 this
type. Others think Of the Sin Jay
school as a lace. fere the children
may besafely sent to spend an hour
each Sunday nlcrn;ne durin.; which
they may earn th'1es Of value to
them; they will certqinIy be nut OF the
way for the time being. 1t is this
class Of pareats WHO are nlt,ier too
ignorant or 10 lazy to !npars relig-
icus instruction to their own children.
They have no conception of the pur-
pose OF the school and need t. gain
a new and loftier view Of L.
In searching about for ourselves for
conception Of the purpose Of the
school, 1t will be well to turn to some
well-known authorities on the subject.
Dr. Vincent, one CT the eldest writer's
on the subject, stated the purpose Of
the school In the following words:
THE Sunday school is q DEPARTMENT
cf the church Of Christ, in which the
WORD of Christ Is taught for the pur-
AbSe Of bringing souls to Christ and OF
bnilding up souls IN Christ" Ii the
handbook entitled Preparation for
Teaching and written by Mr.. Charles
As1Olivsr OF the Pennsylvania 8. s.
Association. we find this definition,
The Sunday school is :; the church
sfnHy5ffg the word Of God to know His,
viii and teaching its truths for the
three-fold purpose of leading souls to
Christ, developing Christian character
and training ChristianswogKers." sGom-i
,pafing these Eoest9teuents or the
Pufpcse Of the school, We note that
thesmore recent utterance of-AIT. Oil
yer comes nearer to the point when he
declares that the Sunday school Isl
the church. studying etc, whereas
DR.. Vincent regarded the Sunday
school as "a department of the
church" In the high ideal which we
are to have for the school, we must
regard 1t as the church itself ASSUME.
ing the function Of teaching. These.
two authorities agree that the school
Is TO lead souls to Christ and to de-
veiop Christian character, while Mr..
Oliver adds the phase Of training
Christian workers.
Let us next turn to Dr. Edward L.
Pell's excellent book, Secrets of Sum
day School Teaching In 1t we find
these pointed words which 1t will pay
us to ponder over and to give diligent
heed to. Dr. PelI says, 1.-THE Sunday
school is not something apart from the
church. Nor Is 1t q part of the
church. Nor is II an appendix to the
church. II is the church itself or
ganized for specific purpose. That
purpose is not 10 conduct day school
on Sunday, not to conduct q theologi-
ca lschool, not solely to in1part relig-
ious instruction, not solely to teach
the Bible. The aim Of the church, or
ganized into a Sunday school is the
development Of character by means OF
the study OF the Word of God. Its
business is to teach, not merely In or
der that its pupils may know some
thing, important as the knowledge
may be. but In order that they may be
something and do something. 1t does
not undervalue knowing, but it places
the emphasis upon being. The great
business Of the Sunday school is TO
bring the pupils in contact with the
Word Of God and In contact with
teacher whose life has been trans
formed by that word, If Sunday
school succeeds in imparting vital.
transforming truth. 1t Is q success; If
II fails to impart vital. transforming
truth. ii is a failure. Let us have
trained teachers by all means, provid-
ed they have that essential thing
provided they are living episties of
Christ written so plainly that little
children can read them in their eyes
and In their hand-touch.
One Of the best oil the recent hand
bocas along the line of teacher-train-
ing is entitled First STANDARD, Manual
Of Teacher Training" by Wade Craw-
ford Barclay, and published by the
Methodist Book Concern of New York |
and Cincinnati Under the section
headed The Purpose of the School,
M Barclay says: What is the pur-
pose Of the Sunday school? The an
sWeF Is fundamental, because it will
determine means methods and In
some measure the spirit with which
the work is approached. The answer
most frequently given in recent years