_I. The place of the Sunday-school._
1. The Sunday-school is one of the means employed by the Church of
Christ for bringing men under the influence of the Gospel. It is not
designed to fill the place of any of the other accepted agencies of the
church.
2. The Sunday-school does not, and should not accomplish the work
belonging to the pulpit and the pastor, nor does it subserve the
purpose of the church meeting for prayer and interchange of Christian
experience.
3. The Sunday-school can in no sense do the work of the Christian home.
It is an agency differing from all other agencies of the church, and is
made necessary by the nature and extent of the body of truth accepted
by the church, so necessary that without it the church would be to a
certain extent crippled.
4. It is a school, _organized and officered as such_; occupying a well
defined place in the religious system of the church, having a specific
purpose, and entitled to certain prerogatives.
5. As a school, its constituency is a body of teachers and pupils,
associated together voluntarily, but not without responsibility and
accountability.
6. The Sunday-school in its theoretic constitution is the parallel of
the secular school.
(_a_) As the latter derives its life from the community, so the
Sunday-school derives its life from _the religious community, the
church_.
(_b_) As the community delegates the power of control over the secular
school to a representative body which exercises supreme authority over
its affairs, so the church entrusts the management of the Sunday-school
to her representative executive body, by whatever name known.
(_c_) As the representative body controlling the secular school places
the oversight of the system and its details of management in the hands
of a general executive officer, or superintendent, so the governing
power of the church entrusts the management of the Sunday-school to one
of similar name—a superintendent.
(_d_) As the secular school is within and subordinate to the
community, and alongside of the home as its aid and supplement, so the
Sunday-school is within and subordinate to the church, and beside the
Christian home as its supplement.
Let us gather up these propositions concerning the Sunday-school into a
general definition.
_Definition._
The Sunday-school is a department of the church of Christ, in which the
word of Christ is taught for the purpose of bringing souls to Christ
and building up souls in Christ.
As suggested by this definition, we make the following propositions:
(1) The Sunday-school is a _school_.
(2) The Sunday-school is not a substitute for the church.
(3) The Sunday-school is not a substitute for the prayer meeting.
(4) The Sunday-school is not a substitute for home training.
(5) The Sunday-school is _in_ the church as an integral part.
(6) The Sunday-school is subordinate to the church.
(7) The Sunday-school is an aid to the Christian home.
_II. The Purpose of the Sunday-school._
1. The chief purpose of the Sunday-school is the _spiritual education_
of the soul. By education we do not mean the mere putting in possession
of knowledge. There have been learned men who were not educated men;
men of wide knowledge, but with the power of _self-control_ and
_self-use_ undeveloped. By education we mean leading the soul out
of its natural condition, into a condition where it can do what God
meant it to do, and be what God meant it to be. Spiritual education
will therefore be the development of a soul by nature averse to divine
control, into a condition of oneness with the divine will, such as
is made possible by the at-one-ment of Jesus Christ. This process
involves, (1) conversion, and (2) upbuilding in Christ, and would
produce, if unhindered, a character that would reach toward the measure
of the fulness of Christ.
But many souls in the church have never reached farther than the first
or preparatory step in spiritual education—the step which we call
conversion. Hence,
2. A second purpose of the Sunday-school is upbuilding in Christ, and
this is possible only through searching study of the Word of God.
As the astronomer must know all the intricacies of his science, and
be able with the telescope to read the heavens as an open book, and
scan their farthest depths, so the Christian must know the hidden
mysteries and deep things of God as revealed in the Bible, which is
both text-book and telescope to the soul.
3. A third purpose of the Sunday-school is the development of the
teaching power in the church. “Go teach,” in the Revised version
becomes “Go disciple.” Sunday-school teaching therefore becomes
_disciple-making_. In this respect its aim is the same as that of
the church. To accomplish it by preaching, the church provides years
of careful training for her ministers in special schools. As careful
training is needed by the Sunday-school teacher, and the school itself
is the only means by which the end can be secured.
_III. The Prerogatives of the Sunday-school._
The Sunday-school exists within the church and because of the church.
Yet though a part of the church, it maintains a separate organic
life. As a member of the body it has certain _rights_ which we call
Prerogatives. We name the most important.
1. _Care._—As no member of the body can be neglected without physical
loss, so if any part of the body of Christ be left without watchful
care, spiritual loss must ensue. The Sunday-school has a _right to
the care_ of the church, exercised (_a_) officially by the governing
body, that no want may be left unsupplied, and (_b_) individually that
sympathy, help, prayer and interest may never be lacking, and that
ample provision may be made for the efficient working of the school.
2. _Support._—The Sunday-school has a right to the pecuniary support
of the church. It never should be crippled by lack of means to carry
out its plans. The school should not be expected to provide for its own
necessary expenses. The voluntary contributions of the school should
never be applied to the support of the school as such. Systematic
giving should be taught, and should include all the benevolent
operations of the church, even to the extent of contributing toward the
general church expenses, but that the school should use its funds for
defraying its own expenses is clearly an evil.
(3) _Recognition._—The school has a right to be recognized as an
established agency of the church. This recognition should include (1)
regular notice from the pulpit of the time and place of holding its
sessions; (2) the same prominence to the annual meeting for the choice
of officers that is given to the same meetings of the church, and (3)
its importance as a church agency should be recognized by giving to the
school official recognition in the governing body of the church.
(4) _Pastoral Supervision._—The school has a right to the watchful
oversight and regular presence of the pastor. It is not necessary that
he should superintend the school—it is better not. It is not necessary
that he should be burdened with its cares. But it is essential (1)
that he use it as a field of pastoral labor; (2) that he give to it
the encouragement of his commendation; (3) that he extend to it the
sympathy of his presence; (4) that he know as to the character of the
work being done within it.
(5) _Coöperation._—The Sunday-school has a right to the hearty
coöperation of the whole church, so that (1) there may be no lack of
teachers to do the work of the school, and (2) that the work of the
teacher may be understood and appreciated in the Christian family,
which is the church unit; and (3) that teacher and parent may work in
perfect harmony.
This is not intended as an exhaustive treatment of this subject. It
presents in outline some salient points concerning the Sunday-school,
and leaves the student to continue by himself the line of thought
suggested, and to this end reference is made to “Hart’s Thoughts on
Sunday-schools,” “Pardee’s Sunday-school Index,” and the “Chautauqua
Normal Guide,” by J. H. Vincent, D.D., 1880.