RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Evening Star, Issue 23817, 22 February 1941, Page 20

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

I Ami .-ill I In; I'liniiiiij' somul was sweet, a Ami plain as plain could be; I ‘‘ Jesus, suiter little feet To eomo to Tlicc!” MATTER AND METHOD. Matter and method are two important considerations in Sunday school work. Mr A. ami Mr B. are most devoted teachers, yet both have thought i of giving up the Sunday school because of tho ill-success which attends their work. Each of these men has one estimable quality, which would seem to make him most valuable in tho Sunday school. Mr A. delights to talk of “ the things of tho Spirit,” and declines ever in his teaching to get away from “ the Book ”—yet he never has a class of hoys without it falling to pieces and disappearing within a few months, a tragedy winch greatly troubles him. ,Mi- 13. j ou tho other hand, rarely loses a hoy. Ho is a football enthusiast, and some of tho earnest, elderly people of his church report that on Sunday afterj noons little is talked about in that class but tbc games of Ihe previous day. Mr 13., too, is sometimes troubled, for though ho sees his boys so frequently during tho week and is so genuinely fond of them, yet not one of them has ever developed into a worker for school or church. There is no blinking the fact that, despite all their devotion and sincerity, both Mr A. and Mr 33. arc failures in the Sunday school. One loses tho boys completely; the other holds them, but to no purpose. Since these two types of difficulty arise in so many schools it is worth while determining just what is the cause. In a nutshell, I would say that Mr A. in his teaching stands exclusively for matter, and Air B. for method—each admirable, but each quite deadly of itself. Air A. does uot believe in week-night activities, unless they are prayer meetings or Bible study classes; he disapproves of any lesson outside the Bible, and declines to do anything an class hut take a Bible reading and then expound it, and if the Epistle to tho Romans has brought comfort to his own heart during the week, that will be the lesson for the boys on Sunday. He frowns on any hut extempore prayers by the superintendent, and the responsive reading of a prayer hymn seems almost sacrilegious. The jßlble, the whole Bible, and nothing hut tho Bible —thus might Air A.’s notion of Sunday school work be summarised. And he loses almost every hoy! That is what concentration on matter may do. Air B. is a good sport. His hoys hang about him both week-days and Sundays. Their behaviour is not good. None of them over stays on into the church, but they never stay away from Sunday school. Air B v knows how to

get tiieir interest and" keep it. He seems one of tlioin, and they treat him hist like a pal—ho might be just one nf themselves, for they call him “ Old Dick.” Is it significant that ho never attends a Communion service? Anyhow, none of his boys ever docs so either, and no one has ever persuaded one of them to take a class of youngsters or to do any job in church or school—other than arranging a fete or something of the kind. Mr B. has, the right appeal for boys; he is method personified—but it does not servo any useful purpose. It is when matter and method can be harmoniously combined that results come ; when a soul afire with the deepest truth and intent upon putting first things first can take into account the character and needs of the child, that Sunday school achievement follows. The Bible? Of course, but sport, too. Recreation? Certainly, but the truths of religion as well. And don’t let us prate about sport being “ the means to an end.” It is not. Sport is good for its own sake, and may help a youngster as truly as many a prayer meeting. But similarly don’t let us pretend that spiritual things are just for the elderly. They are not, A youngster can have as much real consciousness of God us his grandfather, even though all the epistles are so much Creek to him. If only Mr A and Mr B could he fused into one personality there would ho the perfect Sunday school teacher, for it is when matter and method are given equal place that young people arc not only held to the school, but inspired to give themselves in service to the Master. A THOUGHT FOR THE TEACHER. “ In the secret of Thy presence.” Hero is a strange and beautiful word ; hold. Thy glory fills the heavens, Earth is with Thy glory stored. That is part of the truth. Not an autumn leaf flutters to the ground withits witness of a presence and a purpose. Brother Lawrence first apprehended the presence as he watched the patience of a tree in winter—yet how easy to live in a world of wonder and miss the presence! How the “ strife of tongues ” can deafen our ears to the Voice, and the crowding mass of material things blind our. eyes (o the glory! The psalmist knew that. But he knew also ihat there is a little door through which ihe humble and believing may withdraw in a moment into the presence of the King! The three found that door in the furnace. David found it in the hour of battle. Christ found it in the wilderness. Before 1 go forth to the business of the day. let me seek to enter by that door. 11 We arc too busy not to pray.”