RELIGIOUS EDUCATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20708, 4 May 1929, Page 5

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION.

By Aiipure,

“The value of your teaching is not in the information you have put into the. mind, but- in the interest you have awakened.” TRAINING FOR WORSHIP AND WORSHIP ITSELF. The central thing in worship is coming to have a consciousness of God. One may think .about God, many tall; about God, yet not-really'worship. A person does not worship until God seems near—so. near that one can pray. His prayer may be uttered or it may bo expressed; butunless there is the spirit of prayer in the heart, the.moment of worship has not yet come. Now, ■ for tliis experience of worship, some form of preparation ■is needed. Every church school assembly, needs to know the outward, forms of worship. The members need to understand that , the bowed head, closed eyes, and silence helpthem to commune with God. Furthermore, if the Scripture is to have a place in. worship—and, of course, it should—its meaning needs to be explained. Words carelessly or unintclligently used do not lead people to worship. The same may be said of hymns. Before one can use a hymn In worship one needs to know its meaning. - The words of the hymn and the pictures it contains should be interpreted by the lender. Between training for worship and'worship itself there is a difference, .and in the Sunday School, this difference should be made very clear. If 10 minutes are used to explain worship and various parts: of worship, then, when the explanation is over, let the period of worship itself come. Or, if it is desirable to have the period of worship come first, have that, and then have the explanations -with regard to worship apply to the service of worship on the following Sunday. • OTAGO SCHOOL OF RELIGIOUS' EDUCATION. The-annual meeting of the students of the Otago School of Religious Education was held recently, when Miss Calder, the president, occupied the chair. The report for the year showed that quiet,, steady work had been accomplished, the part taken by the various students.in the series of after-Sunday School conferences bging. particularly noteworthy. The Diploma Students’ Club had also rendered useful service in attending to the school library, and in helping on the school work generally. The election of officers resulted as fol-lows:-—I’resident. Miss Anna Kirkwood; vice-president. Miss Hope Kane (reelected); secretary and treasurer, Miss A. Carr; convener,. Social Committee, Miss Jean Nelson; convener. Devotional Committee. .Miss A. Begg. Miss Kirkwood, in returning thanks for her election as president, referred to the fact- that she - had ‘ been connected with, the school executive since its inception, and she hoped that 'she would worthily fulfil her present- duties, witli satisfaction to her fellow-students and credit to herself. The school was doing a great work, and she felt that, with the loyal co-operation of ■ every student, it would increase its usefulness as the years went on. This year there are 40 students in the school, a noteworthy feature being the increase in the number of men attending. The Rev. Mr Ellies has continued his lectures on New Testament teaching and religion, while the-Rev, R. G. M'Dowail has dealt with the Old Testament. The departmental classes have neon story telling; cradle roll and. home department; and junior Bible Class, Misses Kane, Allen, and Nelson, all diploma students of the school being in charge of these, while Mr A'. T. M'Naughtou has been dealing- with the intermediate department. The class in pageantry has been thoroughly, enjoyed, and it is hoped next term to stage a pageant, as part of the practical work of tno class. The first term social was held in Stuart Hall last -Tuesday, when some 60 students and friends spent a very happy time together. Alisa Kirkwood, the student president, welcomed the guests, and said the object of the gathering was that they might meet, in a social way, the lecturers and members of the Advisory Board, as well as getting to know one another better.- : . ■ Competitions, games, and musical items made the time pass all t 66 quickly, the part song, given by the students of the Training Institute, being especially fine. After supper votes of thanks were passed to Miss E. M. Calder, who, in the absence of the social convener, had organised the function, and to the president, for her happy: directing of the programme, and a successful and friendly gathering was brought to a close by the singing of “Anld Lang Sync.” . PREPARING THE LESSON. (Some practical bints for inexperienced teachers who . have not (he advantage of a training class.) The teaching of the lcsson to our. ejass is for many of us a trial froin beginning, to end, and, now and again, we wonder if, after all our efforts, we have accomplished anything worth while* Many of ,us nave responded to the call to do something for Jesus and His children; Tie were given a Teacher’s Magazine and wore told we should find all the help we needed there. And yet, even after months, we have felt that Sunday after Sunday we were simply muddling through. We did not fiud the pleasure wo desired in the work; in our heart of hearts we wondered if wc were little better than failures. Tlie cause of that feeling is easily discovered. It is simply , that wc have hot had any vicar ideas as to how to set about our work; we have had,neither system nor aim, and without these we can never have any satisfaction. 1 Yet,' if we care to give a small portion qfkour time and thought, we can gain something of that efficiency we desire; Here are. a few suggestions which, will-be found helpful . 1. Along with your Bible and Teacher's Magazine, use a cheap note book, • We emphasise the note book; it is absolutely essential. 2. Read over the' portion of Scripture for. the lesson as early as possible in the .preceding week. Do the same with the notes in the magazine. The reason for that is that once you have set your riiind working on the lesson, it works qway evenwhen you are thinking of other things. Besides, if you know whflt the lesson is to be about. you will be able to see many an illustration in your reading,, even if that be only of the newspapers, and in your daily life. 3. Read over the portion and the notes on several days. Having done- that, which will- not take long, you will have sonic idea, of the great truth set forth for you to'teach. Wc call it the aim o! tiie lesson. Put that aim in words iat the top of your note bool;. Now, a word of warning has to be given here. It-is not necessary tiiat your aim should always be that of the notes, though you should not- depart from that without careful thought. But you have to remember that it is you who arc the teacher, and that if you are teaching a truth because you found it in print, and not because you can put your heart into it, your lesson suffers. 4. Jot down how you think the lesson will, go best. You will find much help in the magazine,.but yon must exercise your judgment. Remember that the notes are written to help teachers of'all kinds,of classes. Therefore, do not think that you have to use all the notes. Pick and choose as to what yon think will appeal to vom class, and writedown in order below your aim. 'Flint should bn begun fairly early in the week, hut yon should take 10 or 15 minutes each day to read over what you have written and to add anything else that suggests itself to you. By the end of the week you will often find that you have far more than you can use. 5. Now comes -the last bit.of preparation. Take a piece of paper tho size of a postcard. Read over the jottings you have made. -Try to see them all as falling into a number—say, six connected divisions. Search for a title for these divisions, something that will bring them up in your mind. Write down the titles on your piece of paper; rim over, them once or twice to make sure that you know what - they stand for, and your preparation is finished. Once more, do not hesitate to discard any material that does not fit in; you may be able to use it for another lesson.., If you are afraid, as you may be at first, to trust your memory, take the paper, with you to Sunday school —through time you will be able to leave it at home. This method of preparing the lesson is not good advice that has never been tried. The writer can speak of those who have put it to tlm test ami have found it makes all the difference both to their peace of mind and the interest of their class. Because you ‘know- what you are going to

do. and more especially because yon have made it your own. you speak, even as Jesus did'in the long ago, with authority, and your class recognises that. Little or no trouble about discipline arises, bccause yon are in the work. Teachers who use this system of preparation, never find the time too long; rather, it is often too short. You may think that it takes up a great deal of leisure, but though it may do so at the beginning, it should never‘involve more than two hours a week, and with practice it takes up comparatively little