New Britain herald., 1924-09-20
Increasing Interest Noted
 University of Chicago Gives Organization Plan.

Weekday religious education continues to occupy the attention of the churches in New Britain and there is much discussion of the sub ject.
 The following article In the Uni versity of Chicago press on the sub ject of weekday religious eduea- ton is printed by request Of local minister:
 There is no complete education without religious instruction" says President Kinley of the University of Illinois. That he is not alone in so believing is indicated by the in- creaslng demand from many quar- ters for increased religious instruc- tion. In the face of the tradition that religious instruction should be barred from the public schools, Eoy comes the startling revelation made by survey of religious edu-
 
 and religious development of young people a knowledge of Greek and Roman gods alone is not a suffi- cient foundation for well-bal- anced moral and religious life. Tests show, we are told. that without proper religious instruction more than one-half of our American school children will under tempta- ton display an unethical outlook on life, and, more than this, under temptation more than half of them will cheat, lie and steal. This is severe indictment, but these tests were conducted scientifically by ex- perts and are difficult to dispute.
 Theodore Roosevelt said, If we are going to do anything for the men of tomorrow. we must begin before they are men" The only way that we can help boys and girls increase in favor with God and man. as they increase in wisdom and stature" is to give them religious instruction of much bet ter type and by a more intensive program than they provided by the Sunday school. The program which has been found to meet best this urgent need is that of weekday religious education,
 The weekday plan does not pro- pose to abolish the work of Sun day schools, but rather to supple ment it in an effective way. History of Weekday Religious Instruction
 The history of weekday religious instruction dates back many years. The Jews. the first in the field, and the two great Christian denomfna- tions the Catholics and Lutherans, by their parochial schools or after school classes at the church, set the example long ago. The terSl week day religious education" as used today, however has a more limited meaning than that which IS given to such religious instruction by either Jews, Catholics, or Luth- erans, and has developed within the past twelve years in the Pro- testant churches. Weekday religi- ous schools differ from daily vaca- ton Bible schools in three respects:
 First: In their parallel to the public schol year. the classes being operated usually from September to June.
 Second; In the length of period for each session. The classes are held once or twice a week for a period varying from one-half hour to one hour and a half. Third: In the time devoted to congressional activity. With the long daily sessions of the daily va cation Bible school much more time can be given to this line of work.
 It was in North Dakota that the first attempt was made 10 under take a system of religious instruc- ton similar to the popular plan Of week k-day religious education. It was an experiment which attracted widespread attention and was known as the North Dakota plan for high school credit for Bible study" Other schools were tried in various states, Catholics, Pro- testants, and Jews uniting in for mulating the standard for the | systems.
 Types of Organization
 There arc four general types of organizations;
 I. The denomipational or indi- yidual church type. This includes schools conducted by the various churches independent of any other, being governed by an organization within the church, such as a board ! of religious education. or d rcligi- ous education director, or the pas tor.
 ,. The dcnominational coopcrat- ing group type, In reality all schools of this tyne belong to type 1. There is no general governing board, each church managing it's own school and using its own course of study, minstering to the