New Britain herald., 1930-11-12
Weekday Church Schools Seen
 As Aid to Character Building, Adjunct to Education System
Many Educators Believe Civic Methods Weakest at Point Where Moral Values Are Involved, Rev. A. D. Heininger Tells Religious Board.

The meeting of the board of direc- tors of the United Weekday Church Schools was held last evening at the South Congregational church. Miss Estella A. Dickinson, executive sec letary, reported the present enroll ment of the schools as Sl9. She reported that a few changes had been made in the arrangement of schools and classes. The Camp school children who have hitherto been attending classes in the South church have been assigned to the First Baptist church as their meet ing place. 7-1 and 8-2 classes now meet in the First Congregational church on Thursdays, 7-2s and S-l's in the South church. This provides for these pupils two consecutive years Of meeting in the same church.
 The Importance of Weekday Church Schools as a Unit in Our Total Program of Religious Educa- tion" was the subject of an address given by Rev. Heininger of the First Church Of Christ.
 During the period immediately following the colonial period. or ap- proXimately from 1775 to 1925, there went forward in this country a defi- mite movement toward the seculari- Zation of the public schools. Rei7 zion was removed from the curricu- h, of nI, do education for character building and morality. During this period tha doctrine of the separation Of church and state was greatly emphasized.
 Tn more recent years, particular ly within the last 15 or 20 years. a new and nationwide movement for character education has swept over the country. This is due to the fact hat the sccularization Of public school education was carried much farther than the carly leaders in the movement could forcsee and with the results which they neither forc- saw or desired, There has been q growing conviction on the part of religious and educational leaders that more definite ttention must be paid to character values in our pub lie school education. Moreover. many educators have seen clearly that public school education is weak est at the point where character and moral values are involved
 Recent scientific studies of char scter education have revealed the fact that many of the schemes of character education which have been worked out in recent years anl some of which have gained wide spread use are practically useless m actually achieving the results they plm at. Moreover, psychological in- Nestigations have revealed that In the mind of the growing child there are no abstract virtues such as hon. estN, courtesy truthfulness and kindness but that honesty can be learned only in definite concrete situations. Such studies have reveal ed the fact that a person may be thoroughly honest in one relation ship and utterly dishonest in anoth- CT relationship without being aware Of any incongruity. The net result Of these Investigations is that many educators are carefully sCrutinizing methods which have been used in character education and religious education and new methods are be- ing sought which will actually achieve the desired results.
 The week day church school movement IS an attempt Of the re- ligious forces ot the community 10 cooperate with the public school authorities in countcracting the dritt toward complete sccula rzing of edu- cation with the resultant lack Of sanctions for moral control The International Council Of Religious Education, which includes 42 dcnom- nations cooperating in this field, has recently appointed a standing com mittee on weekday church schools. This group is made up of prominent leaders in public school education and in religious education and is giving careful study to the problems involved"
 The speaker then reviewed the outstanding features of the week day church schools in New Britain. which have now entered upon the sixth year, and pointed out the value of the work being done in the United ek-day Church schools, the ne cessity of maintaining the highest possible standards of educational efficiency, the values of intcrdenom- national cooperation in commu- nifty enterprise of this sort and the value which this movement has had in helping the churches of New Brit ain to come to regard religious edu- cation as a major enterprise of the Christian church.