RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Evening Star, Issue 20316, 26 October 1929, Page 23

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

[By Forward.]

“The aim of the Sunday school should be to reach both heart and head, thus firming the whole boyhood for Christ.” 1 HAVE WE A DEFINITE AIM? The- worker in the Sunday school will do well to ask himself, “What am I out for in this task that I have undertaken? n He should not rest until he has set before himself in clear vision the goal ho hopes to reach. In the Sunday school, as everywhere else,' work that is purposeless ends in weariness and distaste. It is the man who flings himself into the work because he knows that it will produce great and_ lasting results because he is conscious of a call, and is sure that if he sows someone will surely reap, that can “toil on, and in his toil rejoice.” He knows what be is out for, and is confident that he will attain. Starting with an idea that was philanthropic rather than definitely religious, the Sunday school has passed through successive stages until now its aim is exclusively to train children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. “Like all such institutions, it passes through the days of experiment; blunders were made, methods varied, ideals differed, but gradually the, spiritual dominated the secular, so that it is felt that the one aim and purpose of the Sunday school is to teach and train the childhood of_ the nation in the knowledge and obedience of Jesus Christ .and to lead them so that, with intelligent loyalty, they shall trust Him as their saviour, serve Him as their Master ,and love Him as their friend.—J W. Butcher. THE SUNDAY SCHOOL ANNIVERSARY. The anniversary in many New Zealand Sunday schools is a “ red-letter ” day. It is a day of rejoicing specially given up by the church to the Sunday school. It provides an opportunity for the congregation to definitely show appreciation and encouragement to the Sunday school by attendance and by liberality—for on this day most churches grant the day’s offerings to the school. Many of these anniversaries fall in the spring time, perhaps the most beautiful and appropriate time of the year for such services. Rightly used, the anniversary can be a beatitude to all concerned.

Perhaps as good a general plan as any is to make each of the three services especially appropriate for ono section of the school—say the juniors in the morning, the primaries in the afternoon, and the intermediates and Bible classes in the evening. The addresses and orders of service would bo specially planned with this in view, each section of the school taking definite and appropriate part by means of song, Scripture recitation, etc. Boys or girls may be appointed to receive the offerings and present them to the minister for dedication. A “ processional ” through the church to the allotted seats adds interest and dignity. In some schools a great deal of time is spent in practising special hymns which are never looked at after the anniversary. A lengthy period taken from the_ ordinary school work for this purpose is to be deprecated. Rightly used, and w;ith the co-operation of minister, congregation, staff, and children, the Sunday school anniversary may he such a time, of inspiration, happiness, and blessing as will leave a permanent mark for good upon all who take part. —“ Progress.” AN INSTALLATION SERVICE FOR S.S. WORKERS. One of the most effective ways of loading workers to sense the importance of the responsibility which they have undertaken is a public service of installation. When a teacher, after hearing an effective sermon on the importance of the teaching ministry of the church, stands before the _ congregation and promises to give faithful service to the children of the church in the name of her congregation, something happens to her which makes the task very different from what it had been when she first promised to take a class. When she hears the congregation with ono voice acclaim the importance of ■ the tusk which these workers have undertaken, and promise as parents and church members to do their utmost to uphold the hands of those who were to engage in the sacred task of teaching, she feels sweeping through her a new feeling of kinship with the entire congregation and with the eternal purposes of God.” THE PROMOTION SERVICE. The most effective form of promotion service is that in which the whole school takes part. In some cases the anniversary is made the occasion for this, and a promotion service forms the morning service for anniversary day. The departments of the school should bo separated as much as possible at the service. The 'exact form in which this can be done must depend upon local conditions, but at the least one or two,pews or rows of chairs should be left empty between the departments. The scholars to he promoted from each department should bo sitting together with that department, at a convenient spot for moving when the actual time of motion arrives. The keynote of the whole service will be naturally that of growth and marching onwards. A start may sometimes be made by welcoming new babies to the cradle roll, or fonr-year-old tinies from the cradle roll to actual membership in the begin ners’ department. The little beginners who are" to bo promoted to the primary make the next move. They are brought by the beginners’ leader to the front, and a few words of farewell are said to them, and they are formally handed over by the superintendent or minister to the primary leader, who welcomes them in tho name of that department, and conducts them to tho vacant pew or chairs, where the primary scholars receive them with a verse of welcome. This procedure is followed in each case as the children _ are promoted from primary to junior, from junior to intermediate, and- from intermediate to the junior Bible class. If at this same service some of tho senior scholars can he dedicated to the teach ing staff, and publicly leave their department to join the staff of the primary teachers, that makes a very fine climax to a promotion service. A more elaborate form of service is sometimes attempted. In this case each group of scholars to be promoted is brought by their old leader to the chan cel steps to receive a few -words of advice from the minister, who then hands them over to the leader of the new department to which they are going. In every case the whole department receiving the promoted scholars should stand as a sign of welcome. Prayer, either spoken or sung, naturally takes a prominent place, although it is not nectary that-a prayer should be introduced at each of the promotions. The leader bringing tho scholars to be promoted usually has their names written cut foi Landing over to the new departmental

leader, these names being read aloud when the promotion takes place. Needless to say, the success of a. promotion service depends upon the full and sympathetic co-operation of the minister, and on the careful planning of every item by all the leaders of the departments in committee. A promotion service, properly conducted, that does not mean too much publicity for the younger children, may be made a very effective red-letter day in both the life of the scholar and in the general department of tho school.