The Sunday school and its methods...

Front matter

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

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Preface

This book was written because some such book was needed. That it is not from a more competent source is due to the fact that at the time it was undertaken no one else, in the field for which it is specially designed, seemed willing to assume the responsibility of its preparation. Whether this volume is what was wanted remains to be seen. If it is not, the fault lies elsewhere than in the honest purpose and earnest effort of which it is the representative. Of its deficiencies no one can be so thoroughly conscious as the writer, since no one knows so well the disabilities under which he labored.

Holding the Sunday-school to be of divine origin, it is here considered as an institution of the Church. With other ecclesiastical agencies and instrumentalities, except as related to the subject in hand, this treatise has nothing to do. Where thus related, they are spoken of in precisely such terms as are employed in the treatment of the main subject, and, it may be added, with a freedom which may appear to some unwarranted.

If in these pages the Sunday-school is exalted, the purpose of this work is thus far accomplished. The author takes no stock in the apprehensions of those who tremble for "the time-honored ministry," fearing lest it be overshadowed by this last grand expression of God's purpose "by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." The prestige of the pulpit is more liable to eclipse from the preaching of foolishness than from any and all other causes combined. By as much as the office and min-

6 Preface.

istry of the Church in its Sunday-school development is magnified, by so much is the demand for preachers of righteousness enlarged, the opportunities of the pulpit multiplied, the apostolic "necessity" realized, the apostolic conviction emphasized — " Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel ! " More schools and better schools ; more religious teaching and better teachers ; more childhood religion and less adult backsliding; more room for working Christians and less occasion for idle ones — these are among the objects to which this book is devoted. If any one shall choose, by wresting passages from their legitimate connection — a practice far too common — to extort from them a different meaning, he must do so over the protest of the author, who, from beginning to end, has written, not from the stand-point of a professional " Sunday-school man," but from that of a pastor who repudiates the notion that sermonizing and socializing are to be accepted as making full proof of our ministry, and who steadfastly believes in a heavenly calling of God in Christ Jesus which makes every recipient of divine grace in some sort a minister of the same to others. Speaking through the Sunday-school of to-day, the Master repeats in the plainest possible way, "To every man his work."

Some people are disposed to shut their eyes against all appearance of theory. To such fair warning is given : they will find the opening chapters of this book full of theoretical stumbling-blocks, put there on purpose, among other reasons, to remind the reader that in any well-accomplished work the why is always antecedent to the how; that, in other words, the particular way in which a thing ought to be done depends upon a particular reason for doing it. A good method without an adequate sustaining motive is one

Preface. 7

of those things much sought after but never found. "True theories are at the root of efficient work. He who holds an error is likely to practice it." On this principle we may account for the prevalence of defective Sunday-school methods and the impotence of many well-meant efforts for their improvement. "Among the imperative needs of the times," says a sagacious observer, "are a clearer conception of the true theory of the Sunday-school and a fuller knowledge of the philosophy and methods of teaching." This book is the outgrowth of a like conviction, and the critical reader will be at no loss to discover in the numerous evidences of an unpremeditated enlargement of the one testimony to a corresponding increase of the other.

Some will find this an intensely practical book throughout — too much so now and then for real enjoyment, perhaps. Willing to be misjudged if thereby the cause of Christ may be advanced through a quickening of dormant consciences, I have tried to tell, in a straightforward, unmistakable way, those truths which need to be told. Where terseness of expression is so required, as in a work of this kind, apologies for seeming incivilities can have no place. Knowing no other relation to the Sunday-school work — if there be any other — than that of a worker, and aiming to help most those of my fellow-laborers who most need help, I have, in trying to make things plain, sought, rather than avoided, " plain English." To this aim the experience and observation of years have been made subservient. Among all those with whom I have been associated in this field, the one most in my thoughts while writing was that widely known and most estimable person, "the average man." To him, therefore, this little manual will, it is hoped, be of special service.

8 Preface.

I have sought by due credits to recognize assistance derived from the writings of others, and trust that no injustice has been done in this direction. To my brethren of the Holston Conference, who so generously sustained me in my field work as Conference Sunday-school Secretary, and whose faith failed not when something of that work gave place to this, I would thus again express my gratitude. But for that work of faith this labor of love had not been. I gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness to the Kev. J. H. Vincent, D.D., Primate of the Sunday-school Department, Methodist Episcopal Church, and "Bishop of Chautauqua," for special favors experienced at his hands and expressed in these pages. To the management of the Southern Methodist Publishing House, and especially to Mr. J. L. Kirby, "corrector of the press," I am under obligations for the fidelity with which my oftentimes enigmatical "copy" has been translated, and for the handsome style in which the whole work has been executed.

Having done what I could to make this book what I thought it ought to be, I send it forth upon its mission with a prayer to Him in whose fear it was begun and of whose abounding mercies it has been brought to completion, that by His attendant blessing it may in some measure contribute to the development of all that is truest and best in the principles and methods of Sunday-school work, to the end that souls may be led to study more closely the word of God, to believe more implicitly on the Son of God, to receive more abundantly of the Spirit of God, and live more constantly to the glory of God. J. A. Lyons.

Knoxville, Tenn., January, 1883.

PART FOURTH. Church and School

I. The Church General and the Sunday-school. . . 65

II. Preaching and Teaching 71

III. The School System 80

IV. A Summary of Benefits 91

10 Contents.

CHAPTER PAGE

V. The Church Denominational and the Sunday-school 95

VI. The Church Local and the Sunday-school 102

VII. Ingathering 109

VIII. Discipleship 117

IX. Maintenance of the School 122

X. Mission Schools 127

XI. Sunday-school Organization and Management. 131

PART FIFTH. Officers and Teachers

I. The Pastor's Place 142

II. Serving the School from the Pulpit 152

III. Preaching to Children 157

IV. The Superintendent 163

V. Concerning "Our Superintendent" 172

VI. Other Officers 187

VII. The Teacher's Office 194

VIII. The Lack of Teachers 200

IX. Training Teachers. 208

X. Unconverted Teachers 215

XI. The Teacher's Spirit 220

PART SIXTH. Week-day Work

I. An Indispensable Condition of Success 227

II. Studying the Lesson 234

Contents. II

CHAPTER PAGE

III. Other Duties , 242

IV. The Pastor's Work 249

V. The Superintendent's Work 255

VI. The Teacher's Work 262

VII. Preparing to Teach 266

PART SEVENTH. School-room Work

I. Preliminaries 274

II. Opening the School 287

III. The Lesson Service — Securing Attention 305

IV. The Lesson Service — Questioning 314

V. The Lesson Service — Talking to the Class 325

VI. Closing Exercises 335

PART EIGHTH. Incidentals

I. The Eecords 340

II. The Finances 346

III. The Library and Its Management 357

IV. Special Occasions 376

V. Teachers' Meetings 383

VI. The Service of Song 389

VII. The Use of Illustrations 398

VIII. The Blackboard 407

IX. The Use of Printer's Ink 426

' X. Country Sunday-schools — Winter-quarters. . . . 435

12 Contents.

CHAPTER PAGE

XI. Architecture 469

XII. The Infant Class.. 483

XIII. Sunday-school Conventions and Institutes 488

Sunday-school Statistics for the United States and

British Provinces 500

Form of Collection Envelope 503

Form of Library Check 504

Form of Library Card 505

PART FIRST. History of the Sunday-school

CHAPTER L DEVELOPMENT OF THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL IDEA.

The modern Sunday-school is not of

man's discovery, or invention, much less is it of his creation. It is a growth ; as truly and legitimately so as the good tree that dispenses its blessings in foliage, flowers, fragrance, and fruit. Both are the outcome of good seed in good soil.

The germinal idea of the Sunday-school — Soul-culture — hidden in the heart of man from the beginning, and hinted at in primeval sacrifices, becomes clearly historic in God's commendation of Abraham, the father of the faithful : " For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the w T ay of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him."

Household religion is the root of all organic religious life and activity. First the patriarch, and afterward the prophet; Abraham the father, then Moses the lawgiver.

The duty of teaching the young in the principles of religion stands as a distinct and unequivocal clause in the original constitution of the Church of God.

In his valedictory address, Moses, acting under the divine sanction, rehearsed the law of Sinai, and, speaking with equal authority, said : " Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart ; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."

To WHOM WAS THIS LANGUAGE ADDRESSED ? To

parents ? Certainly. To parents only ? No, but to Israel—" all Israel "— to the Church of God. Then, as now, there were orphanage and other conditions adverse to moral and religious culture not provided for in statutes governing the family. Then, as now, the pity of the Lord was equal to the occasion. "Thou, Israel, shalt teach thy children " — teach them the law of the Lord — "teach diligently." How frequently this injunction was repeated in the after-history of the Jewish Church, and with what emphasis, is well known to every Bible-student.

Development of the Sunday-school Idea. 15

That specific methods were employed in discharge of this obligation can hardly be doubted. What these methods were we do not know, nor is it to us a matter of serious concern. Divine wisdom made the duty plain ; means for its faithful performance were within easy reach of a sanctified intelligence, " as it is at this day."

The Jewish synagogues — said to have numbered in Jerusalem alone over four hundred and fifty — furnished the model after which the services of the primitive Christian Church were for the most part fashioned. These were admirably adapted for securing to the people systematic instruction in the Scriptures.

Passages referring to public exercises in the synagogues indicate that they were held on the Sabbath-day exclusively. In its principal features the Sunday-school service of our day closely resembles that of the ancient synagogue.

The faithfulness of the early Christians, in associated study of the word of God and teaching the young the doctrines and practice of religion, is fully attested by the history of their times. " Their tender solicitude for the religious instruction of their children," says Coleman, "is one of their most beautiful characteristics." After telling how the Bible furnished stories for the nursery, entertainment for the fireside, and did service as almost the first, last, and only school-book, he adds : "As the mind of the child expanded, the parents made it their sacred duty and delightful task daily to exercise him in the recital of se lect passages of Scripture relating to the doctrine*, and duties of religion." Mosheim says: "There can be no doubt but that the children of Christians were carefully trained up from their infancy, and were early put to reading the sacred books and learning the principles of religion. For this purpose, schools were erected from the beginning."

As to the manner in which these schools were organized and conducted, we are left to conjecture. That they were something different from the catechumenical schools is clear. These latter were for the especial benefit of persons who were candidates for baptism. They were like our Sunday-schools in that the aim was " to impart a knowledge of the letter and meaning of the Holy Scriptures, and to develop a life of faith in the pupil." They were unlike Sunday-schools in that " they were taught privately, on week-days chiefly," by bishops, presbyters, deacons, and other official catechists. After a term of instruction, varying at different times from eight months to three years, the catechumens— pupils — were publicly examined before the congregation, and, if found qualified, were baptized. With the

Development of the Sunday-school Idea. 17 administration of this rite they graduated from the school.

In the Middle Ages, true religion was as a mere rush-light, shining here and there through the long barbaric night. Among the clergy, the spirit of humility, that enters the kingdom of heaven as a little child, was unknown. Wisdom of words warred against the simplicity of the gospel. Heathen philosophy w T as substituted for the precepts of Christ — logic for love; for bread the children received a stone. The possible exceptions to this statement were as rare as was the exercise of Christian charity. The catechumenical schools gradually declined until about the close of the seventh century, where all traces of them are lost. Conceding the statements of some writers as to the fidelity of the Culdees and Waldenses in the matter of religious education, the history of this period, taken altogether, is fairly epitomized by one who says there \\ T as "only an occasional prince, or pastor, or layman, in the spirit of the Master, to teach the children the way of life."

A dark picture — truly so. Obscure in detail, and, as to the main fact, inconclusive. Granted. But let criticism be suspended until it is illuminated by the light of later events. It will then be found that the "Sunday-school idea" is present in all its essential elements and in unbroken suc- 2 cession. "Upon what grounds," it may be asked, "is such an assertion possible?" Among others, this : that without it the Church must have perished.

With the open Bible of the Reformation came liberty of conscience, expressing itself in word and action. " The hearts of the fathers being turned to the children," in the year 1527 Sunday-schools were established by Luther at Wittemberg; about the year 1560, by John Knox, in Scotland ; and toward the close of the sixteenth century, in Lornbardy, by Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan. In the celebrated cathedral of Milan there is now a large school, taught by priests, said to have been kept up, with slight intermissions, since his day. It may here be stated that while catechetical instruction has had among Roman Catholics most zealous advocates (e. g., the Jesuits), the Sunday-school system has never flourished under popish supremacy. Circumstances have forced its adoption, in a modified form, by Romanists in the United States, and will work the same result on the European continent at an early day.

Eighteenth Century.— It is of undoubted record that Sunday-schools were established in various parts of England and on the continent during the seventeenth and early in the eighteenth century. The first of which we have knowledge in the United States were, one at Roxbury, Massachu-

Development of the Sunday-school Idea. 19 setts, in 1674, and one at Plymouth, same State, in 1680.

It is well known that John Wesley organized a successful school at Savannah, Georgia, as early as 1736 ; and one established at Ephratah, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1747, continued uninterruptedly for more than thirty years, until the building in which it was held was taken for a hospital during the Kevolutionary War.

Chapter II. The Eaikes Movement

The first real epoch in Sunday-school history begins with the founding of the Gloucester schools by Robert Raikes, in the year 1780.

Mr. Raikes was born in Gloucester, England, September 14, 1736, and on the death of his father became publisher of the Gloucester Journal. His first philanthropic work, of which record is preserved, was in ameliorating the condition of prisoners confined for petty offenses in the county jail. Thus obedient to the promptings of a generous Christian spirit, his mind and heart w T ere being trained for nobler service.

In order that Mr. Raikes's connection with the Sunday-school movement may be put in the clearest possible light, and that the many conflicting statements and unfounded opinions which have obtained currency, respecting both the man and his work, may be stamped with their real value, w r e let him tell his own story, in his own singularly modest and convincing w T ay, as it is found in Lloyd's "Life of Robert Raikes."

In the Gloucester Journal of November 3, 1783, Mr. Raikes inserted the following paragraph:

"Some of the clergy in different parts of this country, bent upon attempting a reform of the lower class, are establishing Sunday-schools for rendering the Lord's-day subservient to the ends of instruction, which has hitherto been prostituted to bad purposes. Farmers, and other inhabitants of the towns and villages, complain that they receive more injury in their property on the Sabbath than all the week besides. This, in a great measure, proceeds from the lawless state of the younger class, who are allowed to run wild on that day, free from every restraint. To remedy this evil, persons duly qualified are employed to instruct those that cannot read, and those that may have learned to read are taught the catechism and conducted to church. By thus keeping the minds engaged, the day passes profitably, and not disagreeably. In those parishes where the plan has been adopted, we are assured that the behavior of the children is greatly civilized. The- barbarous ignorance in which they had before lived being in some degree dispelled, they begin to give proof that those persons are mistaken who consider the lower orders of mankind as incapable of improvement, and therefore think an attempt to reclaim them impracticable, or, at least, not worth the trouble/'

This simple statement was copied by the London papers. The effect was wonderful. "Letters of inquiry poured in upon the astonished Mr. Raikes" — among others one from Colonel Townley, a gentleman of Lancashire, addressed to the mayor of Gloucester, requesting fuller information of the matter. Mr. Raikes, under date of November 25, 1783, replied as follows:

The Townley Letter.— "Sir: My friend, the mayor, has just communicated to me the letter which you have honored him with, inquiring into the nature of the Sunday-schools. The beginning of this scheme was entirely owing to accident. Some business leading me one morning into the suburbs of the city, where the lowest of the people (who are principally employed in the pin manufactory) chiefly reside, I was struck with concern at seeing a group of children, wretchedly ragged, at play in the street. I asked an inhabitant whether those children belonged to that part of the town, and lamented their misery and idleness. 'Ah! sir,' said the woman to whom I was speaking, 'could you take a view of this part of the town on a Sunday, you would be shocked indeed, for then the street is filled with a multitude of these wretches, w T ho, released from employment, spend their time in noise and riot, playing at chuck, and cursing and swearing in a manner so horrid as to convey to any serious mind an idea of hell rather than any other place. We have a worthy clergyman (Rev. Thomas Stock), minister of our parish, who has put some of them to school ; but upon the Sabbath they are all given up to follow their own inclinations without restraint, as their parents, totally abandoned themselves, have no idea of instilling into the minds of their children principles to which they themselves are entire strangers.'

" This conversation suggested to me that it would be at least a harmless attempt, if it were productive of no good, should some little plan be formed to check this deplorable profanation of the Sabbath. I then inquired of the woman if there were any decent, well-disposed women in the neighborhood, who kept schools for teaching to read. I presently was directed to four. To these I applied, and made an agreement with them to receive as many children as I should send upon the Sunday, whom they were to instruct in reading, and in the Church catechism. For this I engaged to pay them each a shilling for their day's employment. The women seemed pleased with the proposal. I then waited on the clergyman before-mentioned, and imparted to him my plan. He was so much satisfied with the idea that he engaged to lend his assistance by going round to the schools, on a Sunday afternoon, to examine the progress that was made, and to enforce order and decorum among such a set of little heathens.

"This, sir, was the commencement of the plan. It is now about three years since we began, and I could wish you were here to make inquiry into the effect. A woman, who lives in a lane where I had fixed a school, told me, some time ago, that the place was quite a heaven upon Sundays, compared to what it used to be.

"The numbers who have learned to read and say their catechism are so great that I am astonished at it. Upon the Sunday afternoon the mistresses take their scholars to church — a place into which neither they nor their ancestors ever entered with a view to the glory of God. But what is yet more extraordinary, within this month, these little ragamuffins have, in great numbers, taken it into their heads to frequent the early morning prayers, which are held every morning at the cathedral, at seven o'clock. I believe there were near fifty this morning. They assemble at the house of one of the mistresses, and walk before her to church, two and two, in as much order as a company of soldiers. I am generally at church, and after service they all come round me to make their bow, and, if any animosities have arisen, to make their complaint. The great principle I inculcate is, to be kind and good-natured to each other; to be dutiful to their parents; not to offend God by cursing and swearing; and such little plain precepts as all may comprehend. As my profession is that of a printer, I have printed a little book, which I give amongst them; and some friends of mine, subscribers to the 'Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge/ sometimes make me a present of a parcel of Bibles, Testaments, etc., which I distribute as rewards to the deserving. The success that has attended this scheme has induced one or two of my friends to adopt the plan, and set up Sunday-schools in other' parts of the city ; and now a whole parish has taken up the object, so that I flatter myself in time the good effects will appear so conspicuous as to become generally adopted.

The number of children at present thus engaged on the Sabbath is between two and three hundred, and it is increasing every week, as the benefit is universally seen. I have endeavored to engage the clergy of my acquaintance that reside in their parishes. One has entered into the scheme with great fervor; and it was in order to incite others to follow the example that I inserted in my paper the paragraph which I suppose you saw copied into the London papers. I cannot express to you the pleasure I often receive in discovering genius and innate good dispositions among this little multitude. It is botanizing in human nature. I have often, too, the satisfaction of receiving thanks from parents for the reformation they perceive in their children. Often have I given them kind admonitions, which I always do in the mildest and gentlest manner. The going among them, doing them little kindnesses, distributing trifling rewards, and ingratiating myself with them, I hear, have given mean ascendency greater than I ever could have imagined \ for I am told by their mistresses that they are very much afraid of my displeasure. If you ever pass through Gloucester, I shall be happy to pay my respects to you, and to show you the effects of this effort at civilization. If the glory of God be promoted in any, even the smallest, degree, society must reap some benefit. If good seed be sown in the mind at an early period of human life, though it shows itself not again in many years, it may please God at some future period to cause it to spring up, and to bring forth a plenteous harvest.

" With regard to the rules adopted, I only require that they come to school on Sunday as clean as possible. Many were at first deterred because they wanted decent clothing, but I could not undertake to supply this defect. I argue, therefore, if you can loiter about without shoes and in a ragged coat, you may as well come to school, and learn what may tend to your good, in that garb. I reject none on that footing. All that I require are clean hands, clean face, and the hair combed ; if you have no clean shirt, come in that which you have on. The want of decent apparel, at first, kept great numbers at a distance; but they now begin to grow wiser, and all are pressing to learn. I have had the good luck to procure places for some that were deserving, which has been of great use. You will understand that these children are from six years old to twelve or fourteen. Boys and girls above this age, who have been totally undisciplined, are generally too refractory for this government. A reformation in society seems to me only practicable by establishing notices of duty and practical habits of order and decorum at an early age. But whither am I running? I am ashamed to see how much I have trespassed on your patience ; but I thought the most complete idea of Sunday-schools was to be conveyed to you by telling what first suggested the thought. The same sentiments would have arisen in your mind had they r^ave happened to have been called forth as they w T ere suggested to me.

"I have no doubt that you will find great improvement to be made on this plan. The minds of men have taken great hold on that prejudice, we are to do nothing on the Sabbath-day which may be deemed labor, and therefore we are to be excused from all application of mind as well as body. The rooting out this prejudice is the point I aim at as my favorite object.

"Our Saviour takes particular pains to manifest that whatever tended to promote the health and happiness of our fellow-creatures were sacrifices peculiarly acceptable on that day.

"I do not think I have written so long a letter for some years. But you will excuse me; my heart is warm in the cause.

" I think this is the kind of reformation most requisite in this kingdom. Let our patriots employ themselves in rescuing their countrymen from that despotism which tyrannical passions and vicious inclinations exercise over them, and they will find that true liberty and national welfare are more essentially promoted than by any reform in parliament.

"As often as I have attempted to conclude, some new idea has arisen. This is strange, as I am writing to a person whom I never have seen, and perhaps may never see ; but I have f^Jt that we think alike ; I shall therefore only add my ardent wishes that your views of promoting the happiness of society may be attended with every possible success, conscious that your own internal enjoyment will thereby be considerably advanced.

" I have the honor to be, sir, yours, etc.,

K. Kaikes."

This letter, through Colonel Townley's influence, was published in the Gentleman's Magazine, in 1784. The Sunday-school idea, thus becoming popularized, bore immediate and abundant fruit throughout Great Britain. Within a few months schools on the Gloucester plan sprung into existence all over the country. The Stockport school, organized in 1784, has since exceeded in numbers, and perfection of its establishment, any Sunday-school in the world.*

In four years from the organization of Raikes's schools, more than two hundred and fifty thousand children in England were enjoying the blessing of Sunday-school instruction. Bishop Asbury is credited with having propagated the Raikes system first in America, by organizing a school in the house of Thomas Crenshaw, Hanover county, Virginia, about the year 1785. A general interest was awakened in the beginning of the present century, astonishing progress being made during the years 1814, 1815, and 1816. "In 1817," according to Pardee, "Sunday-schools were organized in most of our flourishing Churches and Christian communities throughout this country."