SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS AND TEACHING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8583, 3 June 1891, Page 6

SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS AND TEACHING.

* • .-; At a meeting of those interested >in the Sunday-school work connected with the Free Union Church, the above subject was considered. In an opening address ; , the ( acting-superintendant gave a short sketch > of the : formation of.the movement, and of ibs growth until reaching its present mag■f : nitude. ;i He said the question they had now to-consider was : Are the Sunday-schools] :■■;'■■■■:■ accomplishing the object for ."which they■ : 'exist! After ■ careful study he ■ had deter-1 i; mined in his own mind that to a large extent,, the answer muse be a negative one. The affections of the elder; scholars are not retained, their services are lost to ;■■ the s school, and too often ' they are " heard of no] ■ ;; more. If those present wished to '■ satisfy r ■'■■> themselves upon the point, let them look : round our stress,. see the hundreds of e young people, living to all appearance with'; out a thought of eternity, and then ask, i how many of these have received : a re- ■■■.■■:■: ligious training? and they would find : that a large proportion had been: Sun-; day scholars. Teachers having long years 1 of experience lament that but few of the children become members of the churches after arriving at the age of 16 or 17. Many about this time would be found entering , into some employment, shortly they would < be missed from the classes, and it was apparent thai; the new influences under which they lived were having their effect, - and" almost before the teachers were aware,; the scholars were lost to the school and, in many cases, to Christian influences. ,'■ It was, of course, impossible to fix the number of those who became .Christians, but you could approximate them by the number joining the churches.. From the twenty- i fifth annual report of the Auckland Sunday- > k ' school Union it would be found- out of - 12,515 scholars upon the books of the schools r connected with that Association 119 had become church members during theyear, to; accomplish the necessary work 1325' persons j had been employed ;as te&chers or officers, in'addition to the auxiliary aid rendered hy; ministers and parents.,-:. It did seem that' the results seen are not sufficient for the work entailed. • We can, however, obtain statistical returns of some of the number , who get into ' serious.trouble. The Governor of. the Leeds Gaol , stated, "-He had examined, into the cases of 299 prisoners then within the walls, , and had found that 196 had been Sunday , scholars for a perion of three years and upwards," while the Rev.: CJementson, cbaplain of the Dorchester gaol, found that more than twothirds of those coming before him in one year had enjoyed the ad- ' vantage of instruction in Sabbath schools. "■ 1n..". voices froixt'the Prisons," Mr. Smithies ¥; States that from returns furnished by the chaplains of the principal prisons of England, Scotland, and Wales, it appears that out of 10,361 inmates' of those prisons, not - fewer than 6572 had received instruction in Sabbath schools, while Mr. William Logan, when visiting the v female department of Inverness gaol, met 11 ; prisoners, and of the nine who could read, seven were old Sunday scholars, and what was more appalling, the whole of ; them were abandoned women. The speaker . said he , thought enough had been said to convince those present that hL; conviction was correct, and they could understand how deeply the heart of a teacher would be pained at arriving at such a conclusion. In his opinion, an inquiry into the ■■-. cause of this comparative failure was needed. Teachers should honestly face the question, and after arriving at an opinion the removal of whatever hinders or embarrasses th good work should be determined upon.. The system, although defective in some particulars, was good, the real cause was, he : considered in the teachers themselves. :' In the Auckland, district there were 12515 children attending ' Sabbath schools, and how mighty an influence this gave the teachers over the future population ! They have the means of instilling into the children lesions of virtue at the mont critical period of their existence. : This being the case, did not their responsibility correspond with their opportunities ? The speaker ■feared that many of the teachers did not fully realise; the importance of tho work they are engaged in, and, in consequence, the preparation of the ; lessons was done in "^w™* , ! V» ab even they did not fully understand their own purposes; ho knew m view, and finished the.lesson without summing up the arguments and a«tro n * appeal At the close of tho address it wal .m£jS»* P ° ne; dißCUßsion u,,t "