prefer to call the Workers' Meeting, because it should be as helpful
to the officers as to the teachers. It is impossible to overestimate
the value of a properly conducted Workers' Meeting, and yet it is
difficult to maintain one. A Sunday-school without a Workers' Meeting
is a collection of classes, and not a school at all, strictly
speaking. A helpful Workers' Meeting maintained regularly every week
guarantees a good Sunday-school. It is a thermometer accurately
indicating the true condition of the school. To the tired worker it is
a refreshing port-of-call between the two continents of Sunday; to the
discouraged, it is a heart stimulant; to the over-busy, it is a
storehouse filled with what they need, and ready for their use. To all
who are willing to pay the price of the best work, it is a necessity.
#82. Leadership.#--The superintendent should preside. It is his
meeting. The program should be in his hands, and of his making. He
should not teach the lesson unless he is the best qualified person to
do it. He should have a special message for the workers at each
meeting, bearing upon some phase of the work.
#83. Equipment.#--All who attend should have their own Bibles. Tablets
and pencils should either be brought from home or be furnished by the
school. There should be a good blackboard at hand, also the necessary
maps and charts for lesson study. A teachers' library is very
important, and the librarian should be present, so that the workers
may take home the books if they desire. Models of the tabernacle with
its furniture, the temple, an Oriental house, etc., will be helpful.
Leaflets on various phases of the work, for distribution, may
profitably be used from time to time.
#84. Who Should Attend.#--Certainly the pastor. The teachers are his
best helpers; the Sunday-school is the whitest part of his great
field. He cannot afford not to be in vital touch with the workers of
the Sunday-school. He may or may not be the best person to teach the
lesson. All the officers of the school should be there, for the
details of their official duties will be discussed from time to time.
Of course the teachers will be there, and the substitute teachers who
are to act on the following Sunday. It would be well also for the
prospective teachers or the members of the training class to be
present, if possible. Some schools require the attendance of the
teachers upon this meeting.
#85.# #The purpose of the meeting# is to study the school, to plan for
the school work, to create Sunday-school enthusiasm; to disseminate
Sunday-school intelligence; to maintain a vital relation to the great
Sunday-school movements of the day; to show how to teach the lesson
for the following Sunday. It is to help, instruct, encourage, and
equip the officers and teachers at every point, and in every way.
#86. Time and Place.#--If possible, devote an evening to it, late in
the week and at the church. Settle upon one night and stick to it.
Those who are absent will always know exactly when and where the next
meeting will be held. No more important meeting is ever held at the
church than this, and it ought to have the right of way one night in
the week. It is a short-sighted policy on the part of any church to
deny this.
#87. Methods of Lesson Work.#--The Workers' Meeting is not a Bible
class. To conduct it as one will usually kill it. A good Workers'
Meeting presupposes previous preparation of the lesson on the part of
the teachers. They do not come there to study the lesson. Other things
being equal, that Workers' Meeting is the best which, under wise
leadership, has the largest number of participants. It should be
conducted on the catechetical rather than the lecture plan. The method
of presenting the lesson should have more consideration than the
subject-matter. The "Angle Method" of conducting the lesson periods of
a Workers' Meeting is very popular, and is explained by the following,
which may be printed on cards, and handed a week in advance to ten
persons, each of whom is asked to be prepared on a given "Angle."
#Angle No. 1--Approach.#
Give subject of last lesson, brief intervening history, time,
place, and circumstances leading to this lesson.
Let the lesson text be read at this point.
#Angle No. 2--The Lesson Story.#
Give the lesson story in your own words.
#Angle No. 3--Analysis.#
Give one or more simple working outlines for studying and
teaching this lesson. Use the blackboard if convenient.
#Angle No. 4--Biography.#
Give the names of persons, classes, and nations mentioned or
referred to in the lesson.
#Angle No. 5--Orientalisms.#
Give any Oriental customs or manners peculiar to this lesson.
#Angle No. 6--Central Truth.#
Give the central truth of the lesson and your reason for its
choice.
#Angle No. 7--First Step.#
Give a good way to introduce this lesson so as to secure
attention from the start.
#Angle No. 8--Primary.#
Give the features of this lesson which are best adapted to
small children.
#Angle No. 9--Illustrations.#
Give a few incidents or facts that will serve as
illustrations.
#Angle No. 10--Practical Lessons.#
Give the most practical lessons in personally applying the
truths of this lesson.
The leader should be prepared on all the "Angles," so that he can take
the place of any one who is absent.
#88. Program.#--Begin with a bright, earnest, tender devotional
service of ten minutes, remembering in prayer any who may be sick, and
special cases of interest mentioned by those present. Then devote
fifteen or twenty minutes, according to the need, to some feature of
the school work previously decided upon. It may be a discussion of
finances, led by the treasurer, or of the records, led by the
secretary, or of grading, led by the superintendent of classification,
or a consideration of a given department, led by the superintendent of
that department. Follow this with thirty or thirty-five minutes in the
consideration of the lesson. Then devote about ten minutes to messages
or suggestions from the pastor or superintendent, or both, closing
with a five-minute service of prayer and song. The service can be
made to come within an hour, by shortening some of the items named
above. At the close of the Workers' Meeting, spend a few minutes in
social intercourse. A Workers' Meeting conducted after this manner
will be a veritable dynamo of power for the Sunday-school, and none
who can attend will willingly remain away.
Test Questions
1. State some of the gains in having a Workers' Meeting.
2. Who should lead that meeting?
3. What equipment is needed for it?
4. Who should attend it?
5. Describe the "Angle Method" of lesson study at the Workers'
Meeting.
6. Outline a suggested program for such a meeting.
Lesson 8
Sunday-school Finance
#89. Christian giving is Christian worship.# No test of Christian
character is so accurate or severe as the motive and method of giving.
Giving is a Christian grace, and the Sunday-school is the best place
to cultivate it. The Sunday-school should be the "West Point" of the
church, in this as in other things. Since the Sunday-school is a
church service, the church is evidently responsible for its
maintenance and support. It does not follow, however, that the church
should pour into the Sunday-school all the money it needs, nor that
the Sunday-school should give away all the money it raises.
#90. The Financial Board.#--There is in many a church, and should be
in every one, a board having the special care of the finances of the
Sunday-school. This board should be composed of certain officials in
both the church and the Sunday-school, so that their action may be
wise and intelligent. Certainly the pastor, superintendent, church
treasurer, and school treasurer should be members of this board. They
should be empowered to carry out the financial policy of the school,
direct in all matters of financial detail, audit all bills, and see
that these are promptly paid, so the good credit of the school may be
maintained.
#91. The Budget.#--At the beginning of each year a carefully prepared
budget should be presented by the Financial Board, indicating how much
money the school will be asked to raise, and what proportion of it
should be used for benevolences, church support, school expenses, etc.
A liberal allowance should be made for unexpected expenditures that
cannot be foreseen. The budget should be printed, so that each member
may have a copy. If satisfactory, the budget may be accepted by the
school, by vote, as an indication of its loyalty to the board and to
the church.
#92. Right Motives in Giving.#--All giving should be "as unto the
Lord." The scholars should be taught that we are all stewards, and
that everything we have belongs to God. Sunday-schools properly
imbued with right motives in giving to-day mean churches aflame with
financial and spiritual power to-morrow. When the motive is right,
giving is a means of Christian growth. Love is the only worthy motive;
giving is the test of love. You can give without loving, but you
cannot love without giving; God _so loved_ the World that he _gave_
his only son. Without love, there is no joy in giving. Without joy in
giving, we cannot please him; "God loveth a cheerful giver." No deeper
joy ever comes to the Christian heart than the joy of right giving.
Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Every
Sunday-school should be taught this truth, and taught why it is truth.
#93. Right Methods in Giving.#--Every member of the school should be
asked to contribute a certain amount regularly each Sunday, making up
the same in cases of absence. This amount should be decided upon by
the scholar in conference with his parents or the teacher, unless the
scholar earns his own money. Avoid spasmodic efforts in raising money.
In the end, the effect on the school is not good, and the results are
not satisfactory. Every member should be urged to give something, no
matter how small. The sum given should be in proportion to the ability
to give, and not gauged by what others do. One of the safest
foundations that can be laid for the development of Christian
character and a happy life is to fix in youth the habit of regular,
systematic, intelligent giving. Small, dated envelopes for each
scholar, one for each Sunday, stating the purpose for which the money
is used, generally insure larger offerings and greater satisfaction to
the givers. Do not gather the offering during the singing or during
any other feature of the service. Dignify it by giving it a place and
time. Offer a prayer over it before passing it to the treasury.
#94. How to Use the Money.#--The larger share of the money contributed
by a Sunday-school ought, if possible, to be devoted to missionary
work and benevolences. A certain proportion of the money should be
passed over to the church treasury, so that every member of the school
may know that he is helping to support the church, and feel that the
church's pastor is his pastor. A certain portion of the money should
be used for the expenses of the school. This will teach economy and
independence. The proper division of these funds will not be the same
in all cases, but should be determined by the Financial Board, in view
of the local conditions and needs.
#95. Records and Reports.#--No account should be kept of the money
given by any member, but only of the fact of giving. Thus may be
avoided the appeal to the pride of the well-to-do, and the envy of the
very poor. The report for each Sunday should show how many givers and
how many omitters there are in each department or class and in the
whole school. Mentioning the departments or classes having no omitters
will stimulate other departments and classes to seek that distinction.
A blackboard properly ruled so that nothing need be done but put in
the figures, can be made to show this in a manner that will not be
forgotten, and it will be a good object-lesson to the whole school.
Frequent reports should be made to the entire school as to the use
that is made of the money. Printed statements should be issued, if
possible, with full, detailed report of all funds received and
expended, which the scholars may take home to their parents. The more
thoroughly the school and the home are kept informed as to these
financial operations, the more generous and intelligent will be the
giving.
Test Questions
1. How should the Financial Board be made up, and what are its duties?
2. What is the true motive for giving?
3. Name some right methods in giving.
4. What use should be made of Sunday-school contributions?
5. What facts should the Treasurer's weekly report include?
Lesson 9
The Sunday-school and Missions
#96.# "It is the whole business of the church, and it is the business
of the whole church, to carry the whole Gospel to the whole world as
speedily as possible." Missionary work is not _one_ of the features of
church activity; it is _the_ one all-important work of every church,
every Sunday-school, every Christian. Without intelligent missionary
interest there can be little spiritual power. Every Sunday-school
should be, in fact, a missionary organization, and set itself to
definite, far-reaching missionary tasks.
#97. Missionary Secretary.#--Every Sunday-school should have a
Missionary Secretary. He should be deeply interested in missions, and
as thoroughly informed as possible. He should bring to the school from
time to time the latest missionary intelligence, especially from those
fields in which the denomination, the church, and the school are most
interested. He will select the missionary books for the scholars' and
the teachers' library. He should co-operate with the other officers
and teachers in creating and maintaining a missionary atmosphere in
the school.
#98. Missionary Committee.#--If the school is large, a Missionary
Committee will be useful. It should be under the general direction of
the Missionary Secretary, and should consist of one person from each
department of the school. This will insure that all departments are
brought into vital touch with the missionary activities of the school.
Such a committee will be most helpful in arranging missionary
programs, selecting members for the mission study classes, planning
the entire missionary instruction of the school, and attending to the
proper distribution of missionary periodicals and literature. This
committee may also assist in securing a missionary training of the
teachers in the teacher-training classes.
#99. Missionary Libraries.#--Some of the choice, bright, interesting
missionary books which are now very abundant should be in every
Sunday-school library. If selections are properly made, the books will
be sought for and eagerly read by the boys and girls. There should
also be in the teachers' library some special missionary books dealing
with methods (see Appendix), and the teachers should be urged to read
them.
#100. Missionary Equipment.#--Splendid missionary maps, charts,
pictures, and curios are now abundant and inexpensive. They may be
secured from denominational publishing houses. Every school should
have a supply, and they should be in the care of the Missionary
Secretary. Large charts and maps may be made by the scholars under the
direction of the Missionary Committee. Secure, if possible, a
missionary map of the world, and a map showing the missionary
activities of the denomination. Charts showing the relative strength
and growth of the Christian religion as compared with other religions
in all parts of the world are effective. A cabinet of missionary
curios is most desirable.
#101. Mission Study Class.#--There should be at least one mission
study class in every school. It is usually possible. Such classes need
not continue all the year. Ten meetings of one hour each, for ten
successive weeks, will enable any class that applies itself to the
work to complete one of the elementary text-books relating to
missions. The meetings should be held on a week-night, and they should
not be obliged to divide the evening with any other meeting. The
available time in the Sunday-school session is not long enough unless
double the number of lessons are used, and this is not always
practicable. The class should be composed only of those young people
who are deeply interested, or want to become interested, in missions.
Five to ten members are enough for a good class. The leader should be
an enthusiast who is not afraid to work. Such a class maintained for a
few years will create a missionary interest in any school that will
reveal itself in larger offerings, and probably in volunteers for the
missionary field.
#102. Missionary Room.#--If there is an available room in the church,
it would be well to set it apart as the Missionary Room. Here will be
found the missionary library, periodicals, maps, charts, and curios,
properly displayed and cared for. It may be a class-room, if no other
room is to be had. The Missionary Secretary will have a table or desk
here, and it will serve as his office. It will furnish a good place
for the mission study class, and will be the center of all the
missionary activities of the school.
#103. Missionary Sunday.#--Missionary instruction should be given in
connection with every lesson that will permit of it. Once a month,
however, there should be special missionary exercises, whether the
particular lesson lends itself to missionary treatment or not. Five or
ten minutes' time during the opening or closing exercises can be
profitably arranged for by the Missionary Secretary with appropriate
music, missionary selections, recent items from the field, map drill,
and display of charts and curios. Or, some of the elementary outlines
of missionary study now available may be taught from the platform or
taken up in the classes.
#104. Missionary Concerts.#--A properly arranged missionary concert is
interesting and instructive. Usually it is best to confine each
concert to a given missionary field. Display a map of the field. Have
participants dressed to represent the natives. Appropriate music,
recitations, facts from the field, and a short missionary address by
the pastor or by a returned missionary will make an excellent program.
Secure from your denominational publishing house leaflets giving facts
about the field under consideration, and distribute them to the
audience. Once a quarter is none too often for a missionary concert.
#105. Denominational Boards.#--Every Sunday-school should contribute
regularly and generously to its own denominational benevolences.
Contribute to one benevolence at a time, and let this one be
definitely explained, so that the giving may be intelligent. Every
school ought to be familiar with the great missionary movements of the
world, and especially of its own denomination.
#106. Specific Objects.#--More interest can be created and more money
raised for a specific than for a general object, and done more
quickly. Denominational boards, recognizing this, have provided to
meet it by enabling churches, schools, and individuals to contribute
to a specific purpose, under the general direction of a given board.
Shares to the extent of the donor's contribution are assigned in a
particular station, the donor thus having a share in the entire work
of the station. This is known as the "Station Plan" of giving.
#107. Reflex Influence.#--No church, school, nor Christian can honor
the Master by endeavoring to carry out his last command without
receiving a great blessing. The power and effectiveness of a local
school in its own work are usually in proportion to its interest in
the world-wide Kingdom. If it will "make a little cake" for others
first, it will have all it needs at home. This rule is without
exception.
Test Questions
1. Repeat the quoted sentence at the beginning of paragraph 96.
2. What are the duties of the missionary secretary?
3. Of the missionary committee?
4. What missionary equipment is desirable?
5. State how a mission-study class may be conducted.
6. What plan may well be used for a Missionary Sunday?
7. For a Missionary concert?
8. What is usually the measure of the power of the local school?
Lesson 10
Organized Adult Classes
#108.# Organized classes have existed in small numbers here and there
for many years; not until recently, however, has the attention of the
Sunday-school world been especially attracted to them. When once their
value became recognized the idea spread rapidly, and the organized
adult class is now one of the most prominent features of Sunday-school
work almost everywhere.
#109. Organization.#--Elaborate organization will not be needed,
except in very large classes. It is best to organize men's classes and
women's classes separately. Call together by announcement and
invitation those who are interested in forming a class, for
conference. Furnish them with the leaflets on organized classes
furnished by the denomination or by the International Sunday School
Association. Explain the method and purpose of class organization.
Endeavor to secure a definite number of charter members to begin with.
Adopt the suggested International constitution, or some other if
better suited to the needs of the class; or appoint a committee to
draft the sort of a constitution desired. Secure the International
Certificate of Recognition, which should be framed and hung upon the
walls of the class-room. It will be well to make the organization
conform to the standard set up by the International Sunday School
Association, and outlined in their leaflets.
#110. Purpose.#--The real purpose of class organization is to make the
class more effective in those things for which a Sunday-school class
exists. Genuine, faithful Bible study for the purpose of leading men
and women to Christ, developing Christian character, training for
service, securing their membership in the church, and setting them to
work, is the business of the class. Everything else must contribute to
this. With this as the goal, any wisely conducted class will succeed;
but if anything else overshadows this, true success is impossible.
Thoroughly organized classes will solve the problem of holding men
and women in the Sunday-school, and are doing it continually.
#111. Officers and Their Duties.#--Elect a president, vice-president,
secretary, and treasurer, whose duties will be those usually performed
by such officers. The president will preside, not only at all class
meetings, but at the regular Sunday session of the class as well. The
most important officer to choose is the teacher. Select the very best
teacher obtainable, and one, if possible, who is well known and liked
by the class. The teacher and president should be ex-officio members
of all committees. Other officers may be chosen as they are needed.
#112. Committees.#--Appoint but few committees to start with, and
others as the need arises.
The Executive Committee may consist of the general officers of the
class and the chairmen of the various standing committees.
The Membership Committee will seek to secure new members, look up the
absentees, and visit the sick. As the class grows in size, part of
this work may be assigned to special committees.
The Devotional Committee will have in charge the devotional services
of the class on Sundays and at other meetings.
The Social Committee will welcome and introduce new members and
visitors; it will also seek to cultivate the social side of the class,
providing such gatherings and entertainments as may be approved.
The growing needs of the class will suggest special committees from
time to time.