5 -. 11 , LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON, N. J. PRESENTED BY ZBd. of C (ov~l 5*i" l CTvVn BV 1471 .C663 1923 c.l Committee on the War and th Religious Outlook. The teaching work of the church \ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/teachingworkofch00cornm_0 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH THE COMMITTEE ON THE WAR AND THE RELIGIOUS OUTLOOK (Appointed by the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America) ASSOCIATION PRESS New York: 347 Madison Avenue 1923 Copyright, 1923, The International Committee of Young Men’s Christian Associations Printed in the United States of America EDITORIAL PREFACE “The Teaching Work of the Church” is the final volume in a series of five reports issued by the Committee on the War and the Religious Outlook, an interdenomina¬ tional group appointed in 1918, by the joint action of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America and the General War Time Commission of the Churches, “to consider the state of religion as revealed or affected by the war, with special reference to the duty and oppor¬ tunity of the Churches.” The task which the Committee at first set for itself did not include any special discussion of the educational work of the Church. At every turn, however, it has proved impossible to avoid it. The Committee’s first study, the inquiry into “Religion among American Men: As Revealed by a Study of Con¬ ditions in the Army,” based on the testimony of those who had been most intimately in touch with that great cross-section of American young manhood represented by our National Army, revealed beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Church, as a teacher, has seriously failed in developing even among its members a clear conception of the meaning of Christianity for human life. When, in “The Missionary Outlook in the Light of the War,” the Committee considered the Church’s missionary responsi¬ bility, the chief difficulty was found to be that those who comprise the average membership of the Church do not yet really understand the universal character of the Christian Gospel and its profound meaning for our inter- • • • in IV EDITORIAL PREFACE national life. To develop the needed consciousness of the unity of mankind and of a world-wide task was seen to require educational processes efficient enough to change the point of view of great masses of men. No less inevitable was the same conclusion when, in “The Church and Industrial Reconstruction,” our present economic and industrial life was examined in the light of the Christian ideal for society. To modify our existing social order—which accepts self-interest as the only mo¬ tive strong enough to afford a foundation for our indus¬ trial life, which takes ruthless competition as the principle of economic organization, which measures success by the accumulation of material wealth and the exercise of power over the lives of others—until we have a society in which human values have first consideration and every person¬ ality has opportunity for full development, in which brotherhood is the fundamental relationship of men, and love the controlling motive, in which service to the common good is the test of all success, this, again, is a prodigious task which can be achieved only by thorough and persistent educational effort. Even when studying the organization of the Church itself, in “Christian Unity: Its Principles and Possibili¬ ties,” the educational issue was inescapable. Convinced that the Churches cannot hope to lead warring nations or conflicting classes into fraternal cooperation unless they themselves, which proclaim the gospel of unity, can em¬ body it in their own relationships to each other, the Committee nevertheless found that this requires the train¬ ing of Church members in new habits of thought, an enlarged understanding of their underlying unity of spirit and purpose, and a deepening appreciation of what the unity of the Church could mean in achieving the unity of mankind. The more the Committee have considered any EDITORIAL PREFACE v of these problems, the more compellingly have they been led to study the educational work of the Church. Hence the present volume, appearing two years after the other four reports. The scope and character of this volume are the result of many group conferences. The cooperation of several persons was then secured in making the first draft of the manuscript. Chapters I and II were drafted by Professor Luther A. Weigle, of Yale Divinity School; Chapters III, IV, VII, and IX by Rev. Benjamin S. Winchester, of the International Sunday School Lesson Committee; Chapters V and XII by Professor William Adams Brown, of the Union Theological Seminary; Chapter VI by Rev. Samuel McCrea Cavert, of the Federal Council of the Churches; Chapter VIII by Rev. Erwin L. Shaver of the Congre¬ gational Education Society; Chapters X and XI by Dr. Robert L. Kelly, of the Council of Church Boards of Education. The Conference on Correlation of Programs of Re¬ ligious Education, held at Forest Hills, L. I., in the spring of 1923, has given most valuable counsel and criticism. To nearly a score of leaders in religious education, who have read the manuscript, the Committee is indebted for helpful suggestions. In order to secure unity in structure, development, and style, the Secretary of the Committee has been given full responsibility for revision and editing. Samuel McCrea Cavert, Secretary. October 1, 1923. VI EDITORIAL PREFACE Committee on the War and the Religious Outlook Mrs. Fred S. Bennett Professor William Adams Brown Miss Mabel Cratty Mr. George W. Coleman Pres. W. H. P. Faunce Prof. Harry Emerson Fosdick Rev. Charles W. Gilkey Mr. Frederick Harris Prof. W. E. Hocking Rev. Samuel G. Inman Prof. Charles M. Jacobs Pres. Henry Churchill King Bishop Walter R. Lambuth (deceased) Bishop Francis J. McConnell Rev. Charles S. Macfarland Pres. William Douglas Mac¬ kenzie Dean Shailer Mathews Dr. John R. Mott Rev. Frank Mason North Dr. E. C. Richardson Very Rev. Howard C. Robbins Right Rev. Logan H. Roots Dr. Robert E. Speer Rev. Anson Phelps Stokes Rev. James I. Vance Prof. Henry B. Washburn President Mary E. Woolley Prof. Henry B. Wright Chairman —William Adams Brown Secretary —Samuel McCrea Cavert CONTENTS Editorial Preface . iii PART I Why the Church Must Be a Teacher CHAPTER PAGE I The Secularization of Public Education . 3 1. The Development of Public Education in America . 4 2. The Elimination of Religion from Public Edu¬ cation . 8 3. The Danger of the Present Educational Situ¬ ation . 20 4. The Necessity for a New Conscience on the Church’s Educational Responsibility. 28 II The Educational Function of the Church . 38 1. The Whole Work of the Church as an Educa¬ tional Enterprise . 38 2. The Church’s Educational Work in the Stricter Sense . 43 PART II How the Church Should Teach III Teaching the Christian Religion to the Child. .. 63 1. Infancy and Upward . 64 2. Earlier Childhood . 7 1 3. Later Childhood . 76 IV Teaching the Christian Religion to Youth . 89 1. Early Adolescence . 90 2. Later Adolescence . 98 V Teaching the Christian Religion to the Modern Man . 108 1. The Social Environment of the Modern Man 108 2. Consequences for the Educational Task of the Church . 117 • • Vll Vlll CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE VI Christianizing Public Opinion . 124 1. The Wider Teaching Mission of the Church.. 126 2. How the Church Can Influence Public Opinion 132 3. Beginning to Deal with the Problem. 138 PART III How the Church Should Organize Its Teaching VII The Teaching Agencies of the Local Church : A Critique . 145 1. Agencies Directly Connected with the Church 147 2. Agencies Related to the Church. 170 3. Other Community Agencies . 173 VIII The New Movement for Week-Day Religious Edu¬ cation . 176 1. Causes of the Week-Day Movement . 177 2. Present Status of Week-day Schools . 179 3. The Week-day School Evaluated . 190 4. The Future of the Movement. 192 IX Securing a Unified Educational Program for the Church . 196 1. The Need for a Unified Program in the Local Church . 196 2. The Need for a Unified Program in the Com¬ munity* . 199 3. The Need for Cooperation among the National Agencies . 205 PART IV The Church Training for Christian Leadership X Religious Education in the College . 231 1. The College Background Favorable to Reli¬ gious Training . 232 2. The Teaching of the Bible in the Curriculum 242 3. Religious Education in the Curriculum . 247 CONTENTS Lx CHAPTER PAGE XI Religious Education in the Tax-Supported Insti¬ tution . 250 1. The Interest of the State University in Re¬ ligion . 251 2. Types of Religious Work in State Institutions 254 3. Suggestions for the Future. 267 XII Education for the Christian Ministry. 271 1. The Present Agencies of Theological Educa¬ tion . 271 2. Conditions Affecting Present-Day Theological Education . 275 3. How the Seminaries Are Facing the Situation 280 4. Desiderata for the Future . 284 Classified Bibliography . 297 Index . 305 PART I WHY THE CHURCH MUST BE A TEACHER CHAPTER I THE SECULARIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCA¬ TION The responsibility for the training of the young rests chiefly upon three great institutions of human society— the family, the Church, and the State. Just what share each of these institutions shall have and what shall be their precise relation are questions to which we have no final answer. The answer depends, in part, upon ethi¬ cal, political, and religious principles concerning which there may be honest differences of conviction, and in part upon the changing conditions of practical life which bring about, from time to time, readjustments in theory and practice. Historically, such shifts in the balance of responsibility have taken place as are thus to be expected. Roughly speaking, the major responsibility for the education of children rested in ancient times upon the family, and in the Middle Ages upon the Church, while the trend of modern times has been to lay increasing responsi¬ bility upon the State. There stands to the credit of the United States the conception and development of a system of free tax- supported schools, non-sectarian and publicly controlled, to promote the common welfare and to serve as the instrument of democracy. We have now become so accustomed to the idea of free public education that we accept it as a matter of course and are apt to forget that it became established as the educational policy of America 3 4 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH only after a long and, at times, hard struggle. “Ex¬ cepting the battle for the abolition of slavery,” says the most competent historian in this field, “perhaps no ques¬ tion has ever been before the American people which caused so much feeling or aroused such bitter antag- onism. ,, 1 i. Development of Public Education in America In the early colonies there were three different atti¬ tudes toward education, which later served to shape the educational development of the several States and to determine the character of the struggle which finally issued in the establishment of our present policy. In the southern colonies generally, education was viewed as primarily the private concern of parents. They hired private tutors for their children or paid for their tuition in private schools. Neither Church nor State felt any definite obligation with respect to education, other than as a charitable provision for the children of the poor. In the middle colonies education was conceived to be chiefly the function of the Church, as illustrated on the Protes¬ tant side by Pennsylvania, on the Roman Catholic side by Maryland. Schools were established by the Churches, sometimes with subsidies by the State, and all State in¬ terference with the Church control of education was resented. In the New England colonies, except Rhode Island, education was regarded as the business of the community. The public-school policy was adopted and the State by law compelled the towns to maintain schools, and parents to send their children to them. Of these three attitudes, that which was characteristic of New England finally won out, though the victory of the prin- X E. P. Cubberley, “Public Education in the United States,” p. 119, New York, 1919. SECULARIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 5 ciple of free public education was not assured until the middle of the nineteenth century. In the fulfilment of this policy, there has gradually been developed in America a great national system of public education. Over 20,000,000 children are enrolled in our elementary public schools, which are maintained by taxa¬ tion at a cost, before the war, of more than $30 for each pupil, 50 per cent, more than England’s pre-war expendi¬ ture for elementary education, and nearly twice that of Germany. Secondary public schools have multiplied and grown astonishingly during the past 50 years. In 1870 there were about 500 free public high schools in this country; now there are more than 16,000, with an en¬ rollment of 2,000,000 pupils, 30 per cent, of all the boys and girls of high-school age in the country. The relative number of those attending private secondary schools has been steadily decreasing. In 1890, 32 per cent, of the pupils attending secondary schools were in private insti¬ tutions; now only 8.8 per cent. The estimated cost per pupil for the whole country, in 1918, was $84.59. The principle of free public education has been ex¬ tended in this country even to institutions of higher edu¬ cation. In most States a State university is maintained at public expense, free of tuition charges to the children of citizens of that commonwealth; in some States there are other tax-supported institutions of college grade, notably colleges of agriculture and colleges for the train¬ ing of teachers. About 40 per cent, of the college and university students of the country are enrolled in these public institutions. The cost, in 1918, was $505 per student. This system of public schools and colleges constitutes as a whole a great and daring experiment in public edu¬ cation. The fact is, as Professor C. H. Judd declares, “that we are trying to give everybody in this country at public expense a higher education than he could get anywhere else in the world.” 6 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH The schools of today touch children’s lives and influ¬ ence their development at many more points than the schools of fifty years ago. The curriculum of public edu¬ cation has been greatly enriched. The growth of knowl¬ edge and the application of science to the various fields of human industry; the development of invention, manufac¬ ture, and commerce; the social and economic changes involved in the industrial revolution and in the massing of population in cities; and the correlative changes in home life, have opened to the schools new avenues of service and thrown upon them new duties. In the elementary and secondary public schools of to¬ day children learn not only “the three R’s,” the languages, and the traditional subjects of literature, history, and geography, but the physical and biological sciences and their applications; cooking, sewing, and household econ¬ omy; carpentering and cabinet-making; metal working, forging, and the use and care of machinery; gardening, agriculture, dairying, and stock-raising; stenography, type¬ writing, bookkeeping, and the economics of business; journalism and printing; drawing, painting, modeling, and decorating; music, dancing, dramatic expression, and public speaking; gymnastics, athletics, physical educa¬ tion, personal hygiene, and the principles of public health. The fact is that under present conditions of life we must rely upon the schools, very largely, not only to impart to children the new knowledge and power with which the progress of science, invention, and discovery is so richly endowing our time, but to afford to them much of the sense-experience, motor training, moral disci¬ pline, and the educative opportunities to handle and make things, to work and to play, to bear responsibilities and to share in group activities, which under simpler social conditions were afforded to children by the contacts of everyday life in the home and in the community. Perhaps no better formula could be found to express this widening of the functions and enrichment of the SECULARIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 7 curriculum of our schools than is embodied in the state¬ ment that the schools of today constitute a fairly faithful transcript or reproduction, on a small scale, of life itself . The schools are no longer mere instruments of drill in the clerical arts or transmitters of a conventional heritage of book-knowledge; they constitute rather the fundamental means whereby society as a whole undertakes to repro¬ duce itself and to shape its own progress. Education, the wisest of men have long said, is not a mere preparation for life; it is life itself. The schools of today have largely caught that vision, and are seeking to realize it in their work. The field of their activity is as broad as life. Theoretically, no human interest or occupation lies with¬ out their purview. Practically, their failure to take ac¬ count of any such interest or occupation is presumptive evidence of its lack of worth or importance. No one has done more to interpret the educational significance of the changed conditions of modern life, and to work out the functions of the school in view of these conditions, than John Dewey. For him, education faces toward the future rather than toward the past. It is the process whereby society reproduces its own life, perpetu¬ ates its interests and ideals, shapes its future, and ensures its progress. The end of education is not merely knowl¬ edge or power, but social efficiency, which includes, in a democratic society, the development of initiative, responsi¬ bility, and good-will. Such social efficiency can be acquired only by actual participation in the life and activ¬ ities of a democratic society. It is the business of the school, therefore, to foster such a society and to induce such participation on the part of children. The school should thus be a miniature world of real experiences, real opportunities, real interests, and real social relations. It must, of course, be a world simplified and suited to the active powers of children; it must be a world, moreover, widened, balanced, purified, and rightly proportioned as compared with the particular section of the grown-up 8 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH world that lies immediately without its bounds; it is a world, again, which contains a teacher who is at once leader, inspirer, interpreter, and friend. But it is a real world which reflects the fundamental, truer interests and values of the world without. Within this school-world children learn by working rather than merely by listening or reading; develop originality, initiative, responsibility, and self-control by engaging in projects which call forth these qualities; and fit themselves for life by living and working together in cooperative, mutually helpful rela¬ tions. This picture is, of course, idealized and perhaps does not describe the average school of our acquaintance, but it does represent the clearly conceived goal now held by the forward-looking leaders who are turning their attention to our educational system. 2. The Elimination of Religion from Public Education In one respect, however, neither the actual public schools of America nor the schools of Professor Deweys educational theory are true to the life which they seek to transcribe or to the society which it is their function to reproduce.—They omit religion. With the exception of the reading of a few verses from the Bible and the recital of the Lord’s Prayer in the schools of some States and communities, the teaching of religion has disappeared from the public schools of this country. Why this strange omission ? we may well imagine some visitor from Mars inquiring. Religion is still a fundamental interest of men; churches are to be found throughout the length and breadth of the land; God is worshiped among us, and missionaries of Christ go forth to other lands. Why should the schools, which are meant to epitomize life at its best, ignore man’s devotion to the Highest? It would seem impossible, were it not true. The reasons for the almost complete elimination of SECULARIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 9 religious teaching and religious worship from the public schools are to be found in considerations that reach far back into our history. In the early history of this country, especially during the colonial period, the aims of educa¬ tion were conceived generally in religious terms, and the curriculum of the schools was largely religious in char¬ acter. This was quite as true of New England, with its public-school policy, as of those colonies w r here the schools were parochial. A pamphlet entitled “New England’s First Fruits,” published in London in 1643, states the motive which led the Puritans immediately to the estab¬ lishment of schools and a college: “After God had car¬ ried us safe to New England and we had builded our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God’s worship, and settled the civil government, one of the next things we longed for and looked after was to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity, dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches when our present ministers shall lie in the dust.” “The first schools in America,” says Cubberley, “were clearly the fruits of the Protestant Revolt in Europe. . . . Under the older religious theory of collective judgment and collective responsibility for salvation—that is, the judgment of the Church rather than that of individuals—* it was not important that more than a few be educated. Under the new theory of individual responsibility promul¬ gated by the Protestants the education of all became a vital necessity. . . . The Reformation movement gave a new motive for the education of children not intended for the service of the State or the Church, and the develop¬ ment of elementary vernacular schools was the result.” 2 That the aim of education was conceived in religious terms, in the early history of America, can be shown abundantly by citations from the legislation of the period. The Massachusetts Law of 1647, which ordered the towns * Cubberley, op. cit., pp. 9-11. 10 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH to establish schools, and the Connecticut Law of 1650, set forth in a preamble that it is “one chief project of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures ... by persuading them from the use of tongues so that the true sense and meaning of the original might be clouded with false glosses of saint- seeming deceivers.” The New Haven Code of 1655 set as a minimum educational standard that children “attain at least so much as to be able duly to read the Scriptures and other good and profitable printed books in the English tongue . . . and in some competent measure to under¬ stand the main grounds and principles of the Christian religion necessary to salvation.” The rules of the school at Dorchester (1645), which may be taken as typical, required the scholars to attend Church and to report to the teacher each week concerning the text and content of the previous Sunday’s sermon; and required the teacher to catechize the scholars in the principles of the Christian religion and “to commend his scholars and his labors amongst them unto God by prayer morning and evening, taking care that his scholars do reverently attend during the same.” Harvard College was founded (1636) that the churches might be protected from “an illiterate min¬ istry”; Yale (1701), to fit youth “for public employment both in Church and civil State.” King’s College (1754), now Columbia University, declared in an advertisement in New York papers, announcing its opening, that “the chief thing that is arrived at in this College is, to teach and engage the children to know God in Jesus Christ, to love and serve Him in all Sobriety, Godliness, and Rich¬ ness of life, with a pure Heart and a Willing Mind, and to train them up in all Virtuous Habits, and all such useful Knowledge as may render them creditable to their Fam¬ ilies and Friends, Ornaments to their country, and useful to the Public Weal in their Generation.” 3 In the Ordi- • E. P. Cubberley, op. cit. SECULARIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION n nance of 1787 establishing the great Northwest Territory, Congress provided that, “religion, morality, and knowl¬ edge being necessary to good government and the happi¬ ness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged” in the States to be formed from that territory; and some of these States yet retain the provision, with this very wording in their constitutions. In consonance with the religious character of their aim, the curriculum of early public schools contained much religious material. In most of these schools the catechism was taught. Some Churches in New England ordered catechisms to be written for the instruction of their chil¬ dren, which were used in the town schools. In time the Westminster Assembly’s Shorter Catechism took the place of most of these local manuals of religious instruction. The New England Primer, which was for nearly a cen¬ tury and a half the chief school book of America, attain¬ ing a sale of at least 3,000,000 copies, was almost wholly composed of religious material, part of which was gradu¬ ally replaced, in later editions, by secular material. After the Primer, the Psalter, the Testament, and the whole Bible constituted the reading books of the schools. Gradually, however, the emphasis in public education has shifted from religious to civic, social, and industrial aims; and the development of the public school system has involved the almost complete elimination from these schools of religious worship and religious teaching. “The secularization of American education,” this has come to be called. The phrase must be taken objectively; it does not mean that there has been a purposed movement to render the schools godless, or that the American people have become indifferent or hostile to religion. Strange as it may seem, this secularization has been incidental rather than purposed, a sort of by-product of the slow, combined logic of principles, events, and human nature in the years since the colonies united themselves into a nation. As 12 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH S. W. Brown writes, after an exhaustive study of the subject: “Differences of religious belief and a sound regard on the part of the State for individual freedom in religious matters . . . rather than hostility to religion as such, lie at the bottom of the movement toward the secular school.” 4 And Cubberley adds: “The secularization of education with us must not be regarded either as a de¬ liberate or a wanton violation of the rights of the Church, but rather as an unavoidable incident connected with the coming to self-consciousness and self-government of a great people.” 5 6 Five factors chiefly have combined to bring about this secularization. Two of these factors are principles funda¬ mental to American life, never, we may hope, to be sur¬ rendered : (a) The principle of religious freedom. (b) The principle of public education for citizenship in a democracy. The other three factors are matters of fact, trends of circumstance and event: (c) The religious heterogeneity of the population. (d) Movements toward the centralization and stand¬ ardization of education. (e) The growth of knowledge and the development of the sciences and arts. We must briefly consider the influence of each of these factors. (i) The Principle of Religious Freedom. —We may be amused at the seeming inconsistency with which the early settlers of New England who came to America for the sake of freedom to worship and to serve God as conscience bade them, penalized with various disabilities 4 S. W. Brown, “The Secularization of American Education,” P- 3- 6 E. P. Cubberley, op. cit., p. 173. SECULARIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 13 any who came to dwell among them who did not share their religious convictions—“Quakers, Ranters, Anabap¬ tists, Church of England men, and the like.” But this was simply because they were so concerned to maintain the integrity of their own little groups and to preserve for themselves the freedom which they had so hardly won. They were entirely willing that the folk who dif¬ fered from them should be free to believe and worship as they chose, provided they did it somewhere else, and did not disrupt by their presence the unity of the theo¬ cratic fellowship which the settlers had established. Such isolation of little theocratic communities could not, of course, endure. When finally the thirteen colonies came together to form the United States of America, seven of them held the Anglican faith as their established religion, three Congregationalism, and three had refused to declare preference for any form of faith. The problem was settled by the Constitutional Convention in accord¬ ance with the principle of religious freedom. Provisions were inserted in the Constitution which guarantee the free exercise of their religious faith to all, and forbid the establishment by Congress of any State religion, or the requirement of any religious test or oath as a prerequisite for holding any office under the control of the United States Government. That solution of the problem, and the principle of religious freedom which underlies it, we may well hope, America will never surrender. Religion must not be made a matter of majority vote; the rights of the minority, even of the individual, in matters of conscience and religious faith, must be preserved. The bearing of this principle upon the life of the public schools is obvious. The State must not, through its schools, force upon the children of any citizen doctrines and practices which are not in accord with his religious beliefs and his desire concerning the religious education of his children. 14 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH “The far-reaching importance for our future national life of these sane provisions (of the Constitution), and especially their importance for the future of public edu¬ cation, can hardly be over-estimated. This action led to the early abandonment of State religions, religious tests, and public taxation for religion in the old States, and to the prohibition of these in the new. It also laid the foun¬ dations upon which our systems of free, common, public, tax-supported, non-sectarian schools have since been built up. How we ever could have erected a common public school system on a religious basis, with the many religious sects among us, it is impossible to conceive. Instead, we should have had a series of feeble, jealous, antagonistic, and utterly inefficient Church school systems, confined chiefly to elementary education, and each largely intent on teaching its peculiar Church doctrines and struggling for an increasing share of public funds.’’ 6 (2) The Principle of Public Education for Citizen¬ ship in a Democracy .—In theocratic New England the fact that the care of the schools was assigned to the civil organization rather than to the ecclesiastical seems to have been a matter of expediency, merely due to the measure of taxation involved and the need for a certain amount of compulsion, with annexed penalties for failure to comply with the law. With the adoption of the national Con¬ stitution, however, establishing this country as a republic and extending the right of suffrage to male citizens gen¬ erally, instead of to the propertied class only, a new motive appeared for universal education and a new rea¬ son why education should be in the hands of the State. The welfare of a republic, as of no other form of govern¬ ment, is dependent upon the education of its citizens. As a measure of simple self-preservation a republican State must maintain schools. “Promote then,” said Washing¬ ton in his Farewell Address, “as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowl¬ edge. In proportion as the structure of a government 6 Cubberley, op. cit., pp. 55, 56. SECULARIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 15 gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.” Here, then, is a motive for public education indigenous to the life of the State itself. It is easy to- understand how, in the struggle which followed to establish systems of free public schools, a struggle which continued through¬ out more than the first half-century of our national ex¬ istence, this political motive came wholly to overshadow the religious motive. It was as a means to the welfare of democracy in the field of politics, rather than as the instrument of democracy in religion, that public pro¬ vision for education was urged. An interesting illustra¬ tion of this transfer of emphasis is furnished by the successive constitutions of the State of Mississippi. The first Constitution, adopted in 1817, contained the follow¬ ing section, the wording of which was modeled upon that of the national Ordinance of 1787 establishing the Northwest Territory: “Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government, the preservation of liberty, and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of educa¬ tion shall forever be encouraged in this State.” This section was left standing in the revision of this Constitution which was made in 1832; but the Constitu¬ tion adopted in 1868 contains a wholly new section which omits the religious note: “As the stability of a republican form of government depends mainly upon the intelligence and virtue of the people, it shall be the duty of the legislature to encourage, by all suitable means, the promotion of intellectual, scien¬ tific, moral, and agricultural improvement, by establishing a uniform system of free public schools.” Minnesota’s Constitution (1857) went even further, in that it removed all reference to morality, though one may question whether those who framed the instrument had any particular point in mind in making the omission: 16 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH “The stability of a republican form of government de¬ pending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it shall be the duty of the legislature to establish a general and uniform system of public schools.” The principle that a democratic State must perpetuate itself and ensure its progress by providing for the educa¬ tion of its own citizens is a second principle which, we may well hope and believe, America will never surrender. As stated in the earlier years of our national history, this principle was made to refer merely to the perpetuation of our political institutions, just as there are some today who seem to think that “Americanization” consists in in¬ structing a foreign-born candidate for citizenship in the details of our political machinery. But we see now that the principle includes the whole range of life. It is the business of the American States, through their public schools, to perpetuate and to further the ideals of Amer¬ ican life. The political relations of life cannot be sun¬ dered from its economic, industrial, social, and moral relations. Nothing short of such a comprehensive aim and function as Professor Dewey attributes to the schools can fulfil the principle and accomplish the ends of public education for citizenship in a democracy such as ours. But are the public schools of America fully perpetuat¬ ing America’s ideals when they ignore or slight religion ? 7 7 A remarkable illustration of the present-day interest even of public officials in more effective religious education is found in the recent action of the Legislature of South Dakota, quoted in The Congregationalist, March 8, 1923. It declares that “the strength and efficiency of any republic, a government by the people, depends upon the best development of those people, which experience has demonstrated, and history shows, cannot be with¬ out religion.” The resolution then urges the homes and the churches of the State “to intensify their work [of religious education] and to extend it to every child,” and concludes by urging “that the [public] schools promptly reform their methods so that the rudimentary studies, as well as the sciences, be taught only as subordinate to righteousness,” in the recognition “that all learning is but the handmaiden of eternal goodness.” SECULARIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 17 As a matter of fact, the principle of public education for citizenship in democratic America would lead straight toward the inclusion of religious elements in the program and curriculum of the schools were it not for the warring views of the religious sects themselves. Neither the prin¬ ciple of religious freedom nor the principle of public education for democratic citizenship would have brought about the present secularization of American education were it not for a third factor, the religious heterogeneity of the population of this country. (3) The Religious Heterogeneity of the Population. —The fact of the religious heterogeneity of America is so notorious, and the influence so obvious, as to need but little discussion. So long as the people of a community remain fairly homogeneous, it is natural that their com¬ mon religious faith should be taught in their schools. The Westminster Catechism could be taught in the public schools of a New England town in the eighteenth century because everybody in the town believed the doctrines of that Catechism. But it would be hard now to find any town in New England, the inhabitants of which would readily agree on a common body of religious doctrine, or even of religious practice, to be taught in their schools. The public schools of this country have been at the mercy of minorities. When a group or individual has chosen to object, on what are averred to be conscientious grounds, to any religious feature of the program or curriculum of the schools, that feature has usually been dropped, and' nothing else of a religious sort has taken its place. The result is our present situation, with the public schools almost completely stripped of religious elements. This has been done in the name of religion. It is the work of religious people—or, at least, of religious parti¬ sans. Avowed infidels or secularists have had little to do with it. Foreign immigration was a large factor in bring¬ ing it about, and the Roman Catholic Church is responsible 18 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH for much of it. But the process had begun long before the flood of immigration set in or the Catholic Church in this country was strong enough to raise much protest. The secularization of the schools of Connecticut, for ex¬ ample, was begun as a result of the conflicts of Congre- gationalists, Separatists, Episcopalians, Baptists, and Methodists, before the Catholic immigration had reached a point where that Church was a force to be reckoned with. The breach between Catholic and Protestant, how¬ ever, has had much more to do with the secularization of the public schools than the quarrels or the divisiveness of the Protestant denominations. This is especially true with respect to the use of the Bible in the schools, against which the Catholics have consistently protested on the ground that the Bible, as read by Protestants, is a sec¬ tarian book; that reading the Bible, together with the recital of the Lord’s Prayer, constitutes a type of worship not in accord with their practice and belief, which their children ought not to be compelled to attend; and that’ the practice of excusing their children while the rest of the school engages in such worship, places these children at a disadvantage as compared with Protestant children, causes them inconvenience, and throws them open to the contempt of their fellows. (4) Movements toward the Centralization and Standardization of Education .—In various ways the unit of school administration has widened from the single dis¬ trict to the town, the county, or the State. It has thus become necessary to take into consideration the rights, practices, opinions, and desires of larger bodies of people. These movements toward centralization have, on the whole, done much to raise the standards of the schools; and there is more yet to Be accomplished along these lines. Yet they have undoubtedly contributed to the secularizing of the schools. Whereas the single district may be com- SECULARIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 19 paratively homogeneous, the larger unit is heterogeneous. If left to itself, the single district might well have its school teach the common religious beliefs of its citizens; but when that district becomes part of a county or State organization which sets certain standards, without includ¬ ing such religious instruction, the tendency is to neglect or minimize it. Most States, moreover, have laws for¬ bidding the appropriation of public school funds to schools in which sectarian teaching is permitted or sec¬ tarian textbooks used. It should perhaps be added that no State has a law forbidding the use of the Bible in its schools, although the Superior Court of California has recently declared the King James’ Version of the Bible a sectarian book. A number of States, on the contrary, have laws specifically requiring or permitting the Bible to be read in the schools, forbidding its exclusion from them, or stating that it shall not be deemed a sectarian book. (5) The Growth of Knowledge and the Development of the Sciences and Arts .—The expanding of the curric¬ ulum of our schools has helped to crowd religion out. One who studies the early American schools cannot rid himself of the impression of how poor was their equip¬ ment ; how meager was their curriculum; how few books the children had; and, in short, how amazingly little people knew about the world in which they were living, in the days before trains, steamships, machinery, and the science and invention of the nineteenth century. Children in the schools read much in the Psalter, Testament, and Bible, partly because other books were scarce; and the catechism occupied the place it did in the curriculum partly because there was no other body of knowledge robust enough to displace it. To realize how changed the situation now is, one has but to turn to the early part of this chapter, where were listed some of the great variety of subjects which are 20 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH taught in the public schools of today; or remind himself of some of the things that he would like to know, books that he would like to read and subjects that he would like to take up, but does not for lack of time. The world is rich in knowledge and power—so rich that it is in danger of over-reaching itself and forgetting what are the real values of life. And the curricula of our schools are over¬ crowded with new subjects and new materials, so that teachers are hard pressed to find time for them all. Un¬ doubtedly, this influx of new knowledge has had much to do, at least since the middle of the nineteenth century, with the dropping out of religion and religious material from the schools. This has not necessarily involved any despite of religion; it has taken place simply because room had to be given to the new interests which the years have kept bringing in such abundance, and because it was felt that we could rely for the teaching of religion upon the influences and precepts of home and Church and Sunday School. 3. The Danger of the Present Educational Situation Even if the Churches of America could over-night acquire a new conscience with respect to their educational responsibility, an adequate corps of competent teachers, and a completely elaborated curriculum for the teaching of religion; and if they could at the same time mirac¬ ulously get into touch with the millions of children and young people whom they are at present failing to reach, the problem of religious education in this country would not be solved. The truth is that the secularization of public education in America has issued in a situation fraught with danger . The situation is such as to imperil, in time, the future of religion among our people, and, with religion, the future of the nation itself. “The future of the nation itself,’’ we have said, for SECULARIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 21 religion is indispensable to the highest social welfare. We have been often told that the one essential qualifica¬ tion for democracy is widespread intelligence. But this is a deceptive and dangerous half-truth. Men have not only to think clearly but to act rightly. Any successful functioning of a democratic society requires on the part of the rank and file not only the capacity but also the dis¬ position to act for the common good. Qualifications for good citizenship must include intelligence and character. The development of right motives is an irreducible element in any complete education. And for the development of motives we must look to religion, the most powerful moral dynamic in the world. Without it we cannot hope to undergird modern life with the most compelling ideals and motives. And in the present situation in our system of public education the future of religion is in danger. This is for two reasons. First, because children will inevitably sense the discrepancy between the elaborate provision which we make, through the public schools, for their edu¬ cation in everything else than religion, and the poverty of the provision which we make for their education in religion. Something of this discrepancy will remain, however generously Churches may endow and equip their own schools, which they may provide for the teaching of religion to their children. The Churches can never com¬ pete with the State with respect either to the portion of the children’s time which they can command or to the money which they can invest in education. Religion, if it has no place in the program of the public schools, will always wear to children somewhat of the air of an extra or an afterthought. Will not our children, if this situation continues, come to regard religion as not very important after all, since it is the one thing which we seem not to value enough to give it a place in the very elaborate provision which we make through the public schools for their education? 22 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH Or they may regard it as important, but as something that cannot be taught, bearing no relation to the affairs of this present life or to the intelligence which has been given us for dealing with them. Or they may regard it as wholly a matter of individual taste or preference—a sort of fad or frill, a bit of the embroidery of life, belonging to the realm of personal satisfaction rather than that of truth, where one may believe anything he chooses, and is as much at liberty to accept, reject, or even invent doc¬ trines as he is free to like or dislike a yellow landscape of Turner. Which of these conclusions would be worst it is hard to say. But will not some such inference be in¬ evitable in the minds of children who face the discrepancy between the public school system and the educational efforts of the Churches? A second reason why the present situation is fraught with peril is because a system of public education that gives no place to religion is not in reality neutral, but exerts an influence, unintentional though it may be, against religion. For the principle of religious freedom embodied in the Constitution of this country, and for the separation of Church and State which it guarantees, we are rightly grateful. But surely the separation of Church and State must not be so construed as to render the State a fosterer of non-religion or atheism. Yet that is pre¬ cisely what is in danger of being done. A strict neutrality on the part of the State with respect to religion is im¬ possible in the exercise of its educational function. For the State not to include in its educational program a definite recognition of the place and value of religion in human life is to convey to children, with all of the prestige and authority of the schools maintained by the State, the suggestion that religion has no real place and value. We may resist the negative power of that suggestion by the positively religious influences of home and Church. But why should the State make it so difficult? Is it possible for home and Church to win out finally in such a conflict SECULARIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 23 of educational influences ? And why need there be this conflict ? As the public schools enlarge their scope, the negative suggestion involved in their omission of religion becomes stronger. When the public schools concerned themselves with but a fraction of life, as they did fifty years ago— when they did little more than drill children in the three R’s and transmit to them a meager, conventional heritage of book-knowledge—when much, often the larger part, of education was gotten outside of the schools, it was of little consequence that the interests of religion were not pro¬ vided for in their program. But now, when the schools are taking on the dimensions of life itself, it is of vital importance that the transcript and epitome of life which they furnish shall be true, rightly proportioned, and in¬ clusive of all its fundamental values and interests. The omission of religion from the public schools of today conveys a condemnatory suggestion to the minds of chil¬ dren that was quite impossible a generation ago. Its omission from the “schools of tomorrow,” to use the phrase which Professor Dewey has chosen as title of one of his books, will be yet worse. It may not be necessary, and is perhaps unwise, for the State to include the actual teaching of religion in the curriculum of the public schools. It is necessary, how¬ ever, for the State, in its educational program and policy, to afford religion such a recognition as will offset the condemnatory suggestion of the present situation, and help children to appreciate the place of religion in human life. Just what form that recognition should take is not yet clear. In many quarters the experiment is being tried of granting credit on the records of the public schools for religious education conducted in a responsible way out¬ side their bounds. Elsewhere the public schools are granting a portion of time to the Churches for the teach¬ ing of religion. At a later point we shall discuss these and similar experiments. Here we are concerned simply 24 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH with the principle of the State’s recognition of religion through its schools, not with the form which that recog¬ nition may take. The fact is that we need to face, in a more thorough¬ going fashion than has yet been done in this country, the question of the relation of religion to public education. Two principles have been established which touch bed¬ rock—the principle of religious freedom and the prin¬ ciple of public education for citizenship in a democracy. These principles must stand; they are at the foundation of the structure of liberty. But we have - followed the obvious, easy line of least resistance in the process which has led to the present secularization of our schools. It is doubtful whether the principles just named demand or imply the degree and type of secularization which has been brought about. The question must be raised as to just how far this secularization necessarily follows from the principles to which we are committed, and how far, on the other hand, it is to be attributed to factual and adventitious elements of circumstance. We have too easily acquiesced in the dogma that, in view of the separation of Church and State, the public schools can have nothing to do with religion. It is time to stop and determine what the principle of the separation of Church and State in¬ volves, and what it does not involve, with respect to the education of children, which is so obviously a function of both. Two considerations give ground for hope that a way out of the present dangerous situation is possible without compromise of either principle. One is the fact that the secularization of public education in this country has been incidental rather than purposed. The other is the fact that it is the Churches themselves, or members of the Churches, who have been chiefly responsible for it. Even the religious heterogeneity of our population does not necessitate the present degree of exclusion of religion from public education. It is because we have held our SECULARIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 25 different religious views and practices in so jealous, divisive, and partisan a fashion that the State has been obliged to withdraw religion from the curriculum and program of its schools. It is significant that while religion is often ignored in the constitutional and legislative pro¬ visions of the several States concerning public education, it is almost never forbidden or declared against, although laws against sectarianism in the schools abound. Can the Churches of America become less sectarian and more religious in their attitude toward the education of their children? If they can, the greater obstacle to a proper recognition of religion by the public schools will be removed. No less urgent than the call to Christian unity that comes from the mission field or the realm of a disordered international life, is the call of the present edu¬ cational situation in America. If our children and our children’s children are to give to religion its rightful place in life and education, the Churches must come together in mutual understanding and must cooperate, more largely and more responsibly than they have hitherto done, in a common educational policy. Only thus can they compete with the public school for the attention, interest, and respect of children. Only thus can they rise above the necessity of competition and make it possible for the public school to cooperate with them instead of ignoring them. The way out of the present situation lies with the Churches. It is because we have here not the State and the Church, nor even the State and a group of cooperat¬ ing Churches, but rather the State and half a hundred disagreeing Churches, without a common educational purpose or policy, and most of them without a well- defined educational policy of their own, that it has been necessary for the State, in the fulfilment of its educational function, to pass the Churches by. Let that situation cease, let the Churches agree on an educational policy with respect both to their own teaching work and to the 26 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH sort of recognition they desire that religion be afforded by and in the public schools, let them do their share of the work of education in a way that merits recognition, and a fit measure of recognition is made possible and will almost certainly follow. In saying this we have in mind primarily the Protestant Churches of this country. But an understanding as to the relation of religion to public education must also be reached with the Jewish and Roman Catholic Churches. This should not be difficult in the case of the Jews, whose religion is primarily ethical, who possess a great religious heritage to which we all lay claim, and who believe in the principle of public education for citizenship in a democ¬ racy. It will be difficult, doubtless, in the case of the Roman Catholic Church, which does not believe in the principle of public education. Let us be clear as to the cause of the difficulties which have stood, and are likely to stand, in the way of attempts to come to an understanding with the Catholic Church. It is not simply because the Catholic view of religion and of the Church is different from the Protestant, or because Catholics persist in regarding theirs as the only holy and apostolic Church and others as rebellious sects. It is, more than this, because the Catholic Church does not be¬ lieve in the principle of public education which has become established in the life of America. The State, according to its belief, has no primary right or function as an educator of children; that right and function belong to the parent, and rest ultimately upon the Church. Edu¬ cation as a whole is a unitary process, they hold, which must include religion at every point; and the State is not competent to teach religion. The State may therefore levy and collect taxes for the support of schools, and may set standards which it requires schools to maintain in certain subjects; but it is the business of the Church to carry on, through schools of the Church, the education of childhood and youth. A system of Church schools, sub- SECULARIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 27 sidized by the State, is the policy which this Church aims to realize in America. Its authorities object to what they deem to be the injustice of the present situation, in that Catholics are taxed to support the public schools, to which they do not send their children, while the State refuses to return to them any share of these taxes for the support of their Church schools, for the maintenance of which they are, in effect, taxed again. That America should surrender the principle of public education for citizenship in a democracy is unthinkable. Yet that is what accession to the Catholic proposal for a division of the public funds would involve. This demand on the part of the Catholic Church was faced in many sections of the country in the middle of the nineteenth century, with the final result that almost all of the States passed constitutional provisions forbidding the appropria¬ tion of any public funds for the support of sectarian schools. The only hope of securing public subsidies for parochial schools lies in gaining a sufficient majority to repeal these constitutional provisions. It is hard for Catholic and Protestant to understand each other at this point. To the Protestant, the Cath¬ olic principle of subsidies for parochial education would involve the break-up of the American public school sys¬ tem, since the privilege granted to the Catholics must in equity be granted to other Churches, and possibly, indeed, to other groups, such as political parties and trade unions. The Catholic Church cannot be the one exception. The Catholic, on the other hand, claims to be no enemy of the public schools, which he is content that non-Catholics should keep, and he can see no reason why his Church should not be the only exception, since, in his view, it is the one true Church and no other group holds to just its theory of education. Yet mutual understanding is possible. Catholics are serving on many public-school boards and are teaching in many public schools, to the satisfaction of citizens gen- 28 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH erally, of whatever creed. And in a number of the cities and towns where experiments in week-day religious edu¬ cation are being conducted, in cooperation with the public schools, the Catholic and Protestant Churches have joined in the agreement which made the experiment possible. Catholic and Protestant alike desire the religious educa¬ tion of their children. They differ in that the Catholic holds that the whole of education, to be religiously motived, must be in the hands of the Church, whereas the Protestant believes that the Church can so cooperate with the public school as to make religion effective in educa¬ tion, even though the whole process be not under the Church’s control. The Catholic has fairly well established the proof of his theory: it does succeed in training good Catholics. It remains for the Protestant to prove that his theory will work; for it has not really been tried, in thoroughgoing fashion, under the conditions of modern life. If the Protestant Churches will try it and succeed, it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that the Catholic Church in this country may modify its policy of reliance upon parochial education and move in the direction of a larger dependence upon the public schools, with correlated religious education in Church schools. 4. The Necessity for a New Conscience on the Church’s Educational Responsibility The secularization of the public school in America has thus thrown an unprecedented responsibility for religious education upon the Church. That the Church has not yet fulfilled this responsibility all would agree. The Churches of the nineteenth century rendered splendid and sacri¬ ficial service to higher education by the establishment and maintenance of academies and colleges; but they failed, as a rule, to conceive in educational terms their relation to the religious nurture of children, or to realize fully the SECULARIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 29 educational task which was being thrown upon them by the increasing secularization of the public schools. In the nineteenth century catechetical instruction de¬ clined even in the Churches; and these depended generally, save in the more liturgical communions, upon successive waves of spiritual revival for the conversion and enlist¬ ment even of the children of their own members. Most Churches had no definite, well-planned policy for the religious education of children; or, what amounts to the same thing, their policy was one of opportunism. They surrendered the religious education of the children to various voluntary associations and agencies which sprang up, in more or less loose connection with the Churches, to meet different specific needs. The most important and' widely effective of these voluntary agencies was the Sunday School, which has been for more than a century the institution upon which the Churches have relied. The initiation and wide adoption of the International Uniform Sunday School Lesson system in 1872 was a great step forward. These lessons were “uniform’' in two senses: first, in that practically all the schools of all save two or three communions united in adopting this system of lessons; second, in that there was but one lesson provided for all the pupils in the school, of what¬ ever age and grade. In the first sense of the term, the uniformity of the Sunday school lessons has constituted one of the most widespread and significant instances, in the history of Protestantism, of cooperation between the denominations. In the second sense of the term, the uni¬ formity of the lessons seems to have been a necessary step in the development of the Sunday School, and did much to establish its place as the foremost agency of Bible study. This uniformity, however, has increasingly become a limitation, standing in the way of the fuller development and larger usefulness of the Sunday school as an institu¬ tion of religious education. The Uniform lesson system 30 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH is not pupil-centered; it fails to make provision for the successive stages in the child’s moral and religious devel¬ opment, and affords no special guidance or nurture in those periods which are generally recognized as of critical importance. It contains within itself no principle of pro¬ gression, for the same lesson is taught to old and young, and the pupil, caught in an endlessly repetitious cycle, is not able to feel himself advancing from grade to grade. For this reason it does not permit of any real correlation or connection with the rest of the pupil’s education in public school and college. Since it must provide a series of lesson topics which can be used by everyone in the school, the Lesson Committee is restricted in its choice to materials which lie in general at about the level of the comprehension of pupils from ten to fifteen years of age. Lessons so chosen are often unsuited, necessarily, to the understanding and religious needs of little children in the primary grades; and are inadequate to the intellectual, moral, and religious needs of the more mature young people and adults. The Uniform lesson system, moreover, is weak at just the point which has sometimes mistakenly been cited as one of its elements of strength; it does not afford to pupils a proper acquaintance with the Bible and knowledge of its content. This is in part due to the policy of publishing the text of the lessons, together with comments upon them, in paper-bound quarterlies which in too many schools take the place entirely of the Bible. For a time this policy of the publishers even operated to determine the length of the passages chosen as material for lessons; and it yet causes the Committee, when it chooses a lesson too long to be published in this way, to make a further selection of a brief passage to be printed. But the great source of weakness lies deeper, in a limitation inherent in the prin¬ ciple of lesson uniformity and inescapable as long as that principle is adhered to. The attempt to choose passages from the Bible which can serve as a common body of SECULARIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 31 lesson material for all in the school, from oldest to young¬ est, results necessarily in an over-emphasis of the narrative portions of the Bible, especially those shorter passages describing incidents which lend themselves readily to the drawing of distinct moral inferences, to the relative neglect of the Psalms, the writings of the great Prophets, the Wisdom literature, and the Epistles. Yet the portions of the Bible thus slighted are, with the exception of the Gospels, the highest in religious value. The tendency of the Uniform lessons, in view of these limitations, is to afford to pupils but a fragmentary knowledge of the his¬ tory of the Hebrew people and the early Church, and to give them almost no conception of the richness of the literature contained in the Bible and of the sweep and perspective of God’s progressive revelation of Himself in this literature and in the life which it records. In the ungraded character of their curriculum, resulting from the application of the principle of uniformity, lay the fundamental weakness of the Sunday Schools of the later nineteenth century. Other elements of weakness, in large part consequences of this primary educational defect, must also be recognized. (a) The small amount of time given to actual teach¬ ing in the classes, averaging not more than half an hour a week, often less. (b) Lack of training on the part of the teachers, and a too great reliance by Sunday School leaders generally, upon “institute” and “convention” methods as a substitute for more definite training. (c) The fact that their program was too exclusively one of instruction, not affording sufficient opportunity for the expression of the truths taught or for learning through doing. The result was that there sprang up within the churches a number of other organizations for the train¬ ing of children and young people in wholesome social living and in the attitudes, habits, and group activities associated with various forms of Christian service. In 32 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH many churches these organizations—such as mission bands, boys’ brigades, Christian Endeavor Societies, Scout troops, King’s Daughters—operate more or less inde¬ pendently, without relation to the Sunday School, and with policies and programs determined by their district, state, and national affiliations rather than by their place within the local Church’s educational system. There is duplication, overlapping, and competition on the one hand, and, on the other, failure to provide fully for all ages and sexes. There is always educational inefficiency involved in a situation which leaves instruction and activity sun¬ dered—the Sunday School with a program of instruction unapplied in the group life of its pupils, and the other organizations with programs of activity unrelated to the instruction which their members are receiving week after week in the Sunday School. (d) These Sunday Schools too often lacked organic connection with the Church. They were conducted by voluntary associations of teachers, and maintained by their own “collections.” The Church gave to such a school a home and the sanction of its name, but undertook no financial responsibility for its maintenance and no direct supervision of its teaching or determination of its policies, relying simply upon the fact that the greater number of its officers and teachers were, as individuals, members of the Church, to insure the general sympathy of the school with the Church’s belief and practical pro¬ gram. While it may be granted that this loose association of a Sunday School with a Church in many cases worked well, it is in principle unsound. And too often it did not work well. Some Sunday Schools failed to beget within their pupils a true sense of their relation to the Church, to inculcate loyalty to the Church, and to lead to active Church membership and to growth in grace within the Church. And many Churches failed to assume their full responsibility for what ought to be the school of the Church, maintained by the Church as a part of its con- SECULARIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 33 tribution to the education of children. Even to-day, some of the great denominations which are splendidly organized for the conduct of home and foreign missions and for the maintenance or partial support of colleges and theological seminaries, fail to assume anything like the same degree of responsibility for their Sunday Schools or even to express a like degree of interest in their work. These elements of weakness are no longer characteristic of the more progressive of the Sunday Schools of to-day. The past quarter-century has witnessed a great movement among the Protestant Churches of America toward clearer aims, better methods, and the assumption of more definite responsibility in the field of religious education. There has been a gradual development of the movement for graded lessons since the late eighties till in 1908 the In¬ ternational Sunday School Lesson Committee began to issue a graded series. In 1914 the Committee was re¬ organized to include official representatives of all the denominations which use its lesson courses. It also de¬ cided to issue, in place of the old type of uniform lesson, what it called an Improved Uniform Lesson, which under¬ took to introduce the principle of the adaptation of lesson material to the needs of pupils of various ages, while still adhering in a general way to the principle of uniformity. In 1920 the Committee decided to move as rapidly as possible towards the issuance of graded lessons only. Be¬ ginning with 1924, it is putting this policy into effect by substituting for the Uniform Lesson, for children under twelve years, graded lessons of two types—graded by years and by three-year age-groups. The organization of the Religious Education Associa¬ tion in 1903, “to inspire the educational forces of our country with the religious ideal, to inspire the religious forces of our country with the educational ideal, and to keep before the public mind the ideal of religious educa¬ tion and the sense of its need and value”; the organiza- 34 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH tion in 1910 of the Sunday School Council of Evangelical Denominations, an indication of the more definite accept¬ ance by the denominations themselves of responsibility for educational work; the beginning of the Council of Church Boards of Education in 1912 as an agency for cooperative effort in behalf of Christian colleges and the religious welfare of college and university students, mark impor¬ tant steps in the development of educational progress. In 1920 a reorganization was begun of the International Sunday School Association, the older body, and the Sun¬ day School Council of Evangelical Denominations, which has now culminated in their merger in the International Sunday School Council of Religious Education and larger cooperation of the agencies of the Churches in their educational task. These dates and items represent but a few outstanding factors in a movement greater far than any single organ¬ ization or group of organizations. The fact is that we have begun to experience a genuine educational revival in the Churches. Thousands of Sunday Schools the country over have been graded, have broadened their vision and enriched their curricula. In some communities week-day schools of religion have been established, either by single Churches or by the cooperative effort of the Protestant Churches. Problems of curriculum, methods, and organization are being studied in an experimental, scientific way. New buildings are being erected for their schools by the more progressive Churches, designed with a view to their educational utility and furnished with adequate material equipment. Classes for the training of teachers are now frequent and community training schools are increasing. Thousands of teachers and prospective teachers of religion gather for one to three weeks of training in summer schools conducted by several denom¬ inations and by other organizations. Not a few Churches are employing paid teachers of religion and directors of religious education. Attention is at last being given SECULARIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 35 to working out a basis of correlation between religious and public education. Courses in religious education have been organized and professorships of religious education established in colleges and theological seminaries, so that young men who are now entering the Christian ministry are being trained not simply to preach and to care for a parish but to direct the educational work of a Church. Yet the Church has still a long way to go. We are still inexcusably far from making any adequate provision for the religious education of our children. The thought and energy of the Church are still centered chiefly around the appeal to adults. It has not “set the child in the midst.” It has not come to a realization of its appalling loss of opportunity and waste of resources by not directing its best attention to the years before life has become “set” in fixed habits and customs and ideas. Religious education by most Churches is still regarded as a sort of appendage to their main business. The average church often in¬ cludes in its budget no item for religious education; the Sunday School is left to support itself out of the children’s pennies. The average church building has been erected without thought of adequate facilities for any real educa¬ tional work. Consecration and piety are frequently re¬ garded as the only essential qualifications for teaching. In the words of an educator who has devoted most of his life to the public school and is now giving his efforts to religious education : “A Church organized for educational purposes is the exception. The evidences of this are found in the meager program, lack of trained teachers, and the absence of any semblance of supervision.” 8 Even if all the Sunday Schools were thoroughly de¬ veloped as educational institutions, they would be reaching only a fraction of the children and youth of our country. The Committee on Education of the International Sunday- *J. E. Stout, “Organization and Administration of Religious Education,” New York, 1922, pp. 277-278. 36 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH School Council of Religious Education is responsible for the statement that probably 27,000,000 persons in America, under 25 years of age, belonging to what would normally be the Protestant group, are not in any Sunday School or cradle roll department, or in touch with any organized religious instruction; that perhaps two out of every three nominally Protestant children under 25 years of age receive no formal religious education; that of the whole population under 25, including Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish constituencies, hardly more than three out of ten are enrolled for any kind of religious instruction; that on the average Sunday school, meeting only an hour or less a week and possessing altogether insufficient equipment and resources, has been thrown a burden which it has been utterly impossible for it to carry. It need not surprise us, therefore, that it was the well- nigh unanimous testimony of those who were closely in touch with religious work in the Army that these men, who were simply our ordinary youth under particularly revealing circumstances, displayed an astonishing lack of comprehension as to what the Christian religion is. On no point did those who assisted in making the inquiry into the Army, with a view to gaining fresh insights into the nature of “religion among American men,” find so little dissenting opinion as this—that the young men who have been, nominally at least, under the Church’s teaching generally have most hazy and inadequate ideas about Christianity and its meaning for human life. So the report frankly declares: “If there is any one point upon which chaplains agree it is in regard to the widespread ignorance as to the meaning of Christianity and Church membership. . . . We might well hope that in a ‘Christian’ country men generally, even those without any allegiance to Christ and His Church, would know what Christianity is. Chaplains say that they do not know. And they go beyond that and say that men nominally within the Church, men who have been to Christian schools, are in much the same condi- SECULARIZATION OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 37 tion. . . . The Church as a teacher has failed to instruct its own membership and present its Gospel to the men just outside its doors. If we learn our lesson the result will be a vastly greater emphasis on our teaching function.” 9 Evidence could be multiplied to show that the other educational forces of the Church do not make up the deficiency of the Sunday School. The influence of the home, most important of all as a teacher of religion, has been seriously undermined by conditions of our modern life. The pulpit, as a teaching agency, has been fatally weak, confining itself far too much to the role of exhorter and neglecting the Apostle’s insistent injunction that the minister must be “apt to teach.” Mission study groups, young people’s societies, Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian Associations, Scout troops—these and other influences contribute important educational results, but the very fact that they are all fragmentary and dis¬ jointed efforts, instead of parts of a unified and a con¬ sciously rounded program of education for the Church as a whole, shows how far it has to go before it can claim to have made earnest with its inescapable duty as a teacher of the Christian religion. 9 “Religion among American Men.” Association Press, 1920, pp. 14, 131. CHAPTER II THE EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH In a general but vital and fundamental sense the whole life of the Christian Church is an educational enterprise, and its entire work is that of teaching. This appears in the fact that the Church as a whole bears all the typical characteristics of any educational enterprise. The marks of an educational enterprise are: (a) that it concerns itself with growing, developing per¬ sons ; (b) that it seeks to engage these persons definitely in some form of study or purposeful activity; (c) that its primary interest, in so doing, is the development of the persons themselves, rather than the objective results of their activity; (d) that it seeks to communicate to them, while they in turn seek to profit by, the riper ex¬ perience of others; (e) that the whole process has its face set toward the future, aiming to promote their de¬ velopment, and to help them gain new knowledge, added power, and richer character; (f) that the whole process, again, is socially motived, both in that it implies some sort of fellowship, and in that its goal is the betterment, not merely of individuals, but of human society. All of these marks are characteristic of the Christian Church. i. The Whole Work of the Church as an Educa¬ tional Enterprise Like other educational enterprises the primary interest and ultimate concern of the Church is with persons, not things. However mature the persons may be who are 38 EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH 39 associated in its fellowship or come within the range of its influence, the Church’s attitude toward them is in certain respects like that which the world in general as¬ sumes toward those who are immature, being more inter¬ ested in the development of the persons themselves than in the cold appraisal of the objective results of their activity. The Church sees in them the promise and potency of eternal life, discerns qualities and powers hardly touched by the surface details with which men are so prone to busy themselves, and undertakes to call forth these powers and to educate for time and for eternity the children of God. Its aim for them is fundamentally ed¬ ucational, “that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” Toward this goal of a more abundant life schools of various sorts take their pupils part of the way. The Church, convinced that no one reaches that goal with¬ out God, seeks to promote the moral and spiritual growth of individuals by bringing them into fellowship with God through Christ. This emphasis on the concern of the Church for persons does not mean that the Church is not interested in ex¬ ternal conditions or objective results. It aims at nothing less than the regeneration of the whole of life, in all of its social, economic, industrial, and political relations. There is no interest so specialized, no activity so “secu¬ lar,” as to fall wholly without its purview. But the Church values objective results in terms of their effects upon and within persons; and it believes that the only way to secure sound and lasting objective results is through the education and upbuilding of the persons involved. In this the Church follows its Master. Jesus was a Teacher, though He kept no school and did not use the formal methods of the professional teachers of His day. In the fundamental, vital sense of the term with which we are here concerned, Jesus’ aim and method were educational. He sought to establish the Kingdom of God in the hearts and lives of men. He deliberately rejected 40 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH the political methods that were open to Him; He under¬ took His work by the more inward, leaven-like method of the moral and spiritual education of persons. A mistaken antithesis has sometimes been drawn be¬ tween evangelistic and educational ways of conceiving the function of the Church. Those who believe in religious education have been accused of ignoring the grace of God and of imagining that morality and religion may be educed from man himself or grown within him by processes of skilful cultivation, without need of the regenerating Spirit of God. Those, on the other hand, who have usurped to themselves the name of evangelists, have at times spoken as though the message of salvation were preeminently contained in Jesus’ comparison of the Spirit to the wind, which “bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth”; and they have relied upon spasmodic revivals of religion to the neglect of the more sober, constant, and constructive methods of educa¬ tional evangelism. Less than a hundred years ago, debate was still waging in New England as to whether there really are or can be any means of grace. It cannot be urged too strongly that the antithesis thus set up is mistaken and untrue. A scheme of Christian education that should fail to take account of man’s de¬ pendence upon the Spirit of God would contradict the very Gospel which it undertakes to teach. “By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” But the Spirit of God is not arbitrary; His grace does not baffle expectation. It is, in fact, a species of atheism—unintended yet practical atheism— to deny God’s presence and power in the natural laws which He has ordained and to fail to recognize in these laws the accustomed means and channels of His will. Not evangelism or education, then, is the alternative before the Church; its work is that of evangelism through education. The relation is organic; these terms express EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH 41 different aspects merely of the one great purpose and work for which the Church exists. We may speak with equal propriety of educational evangelism or of evangel¬ istic education. Writing for public-school teachers on ‘‘Education for Character,” Professor F. C. Sharp has insisted that the aim of moral education is the development of persons who (1) know what is right, and are able to discover the right even in new and complex situations; (2) appreciate, love, and desire the right; (3) do what is right, because they have acquired the necessary energy, skill, and self- control to make their knowledge and desire pass into action. Religious education includes all that moral edu¬ cation involves, plus the recognition of the presence and power of God. The term plus, in this connection, may be misleading. It expresses the truth that the religious education which is the aim of the Christian Church is not something less, but more, than moral education. It becomes misleading if it conveys the impression that this more is a matter of simple addition, and that religious education differs from moral education only in the sense that God is one more person to be taken into account and that eternity is an infinite extension of time. The Christian ethics is indis¬ solubly bound up with the Christian metaphysics; or better, in Christianity ethics and metaphysics are organically in¬ terdependent. Christianity is a way of life which is grounded in a way of conceiving the universe—Jesus’ way of life, rooted in Jesus’ way of conceiving God and the world. The recognition of the presence and power of God in the world of nature and in the life of men makes a difference at every point. Nothing is quite the same as it would be without Him. The Christian religion in¬ fuses a new motive and spirit into the whole of moral education. It introduces a new perspective and range into the materials of knowledge and moral judgment; its appeal to the powers of appreciation, affection, and desire 42 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH is incomparably stronger, richer, and deeper; and it assures to him who is striving for self-control and moral strength the backing of the universe; it renders available and effective the power and grace of God. The Church’s teaching work, when religious education is thus conceived, is no simple task, no single specialized department among others in a complex program of activi¬ ties. It is rather coextensive with the Church’s life and fellowship. It is itself the whole complex program. So the Church’s educational purpose cannot be accom¬ plished by short cuts—by the study of the facts of Biblical history, by the memorization of texts, by a term of indoc¬ trination in a pastor’s class, or by other schemes for imparting religious information. All of these may be good in their place; but they are only parts, and cannot constitute the whole. Religious education means growth in Christian living through guided experience therein. It means the development of Christian attitudes, Christian purposes, Christian standards of conduct, Christian con¬ victions, a Christian way of life in each succeeding stage of the enlarging experience of childhood, youth, and maturity. The fulfilment of the Church’s educational purpose requires nothing less than continuous fellowship in the whole of its life and work. The converse of this is that all of the Church’s life and work, as a whole and in its various parts, may prop¬ erly be tested and evaluated in the light of its teaching purpose. Does this or that item of its program contribute as it should to the realization of that aim ? Is the preach¬ ing from its pulpit, for example, a disconnected string of oratorical efforts upon passing topics of the day or such as builds people up in the knowledge and love of God? Does its public worship bring the congregation into the presence of God, and open their minds and hearts to His love and truth? Does it give them a clearer vision of what the Kingdom of God means for our industrial EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH 43 and social and international life and send them out with a new determination to work for it ? Do people come to this particular Church to learn, to serve, and to grow, or to be coddled in spirit and confirmed in their prejudices? Is its evangelism of the spasmodic, crowd-psychology type, or constant, sustained, and constructive? Does it merely “give to missions/’ or is it really interested in extending its fellowship, in intelligent and sympathetic fashion, to its brothers in foreign lands? Does its philanthropy involve paternalism or fellowship? Is its social service institutional only or personal? Or, to judge the Church as a whole, is the fellowship ex¬ perienced within the Church a positive Christian influence? The experience of unselfish living in a Christian atmo¬ sphere as a member of a Christian social group, is, in the last analysis, the one great Christian educator. To teach brotherhood, unselfishness, democracy in text-books and classrooms will be of no avail if the fellowship of the Church is unbrotherly, selfish, undemocratic, indis¬ tinguishable from the life of the world. For then the most powerful educational influence has not been Chris¬ tian at all. These and their like are educational questions. They are the sort that present themselves when the life of the Church is tested by the marks of an educational enter¬ prise, in the light of its ultimate concern with the develop¬ ment of persons into that fulness of life and character which is open to them as children of God and learners of Jesus Christ. 2. The Church’s Educational Work in the Stricter Sense In a more specific sense, we may understand by the teaching work of the Church those particular aspects of its life and work which are more immediately and directly educational in purpose and method. 44 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH The various phases of the life and service of the Church differ, naturally, in the immediacy with which they bear upon the educational purpose that gives final meaning and value to the whole, and in the relative directness with which they make conscious use of the methods of teach¬ ing. All contribute ultimately to the one great educational end toward which the Church labors—the regeneration and reconstruction of human society. Yet, thinking in terms of proximate purposes and immediate methods, we speak of various activities of the Church as evangelistic, missionary, philanthropic, social, rather than as phases of its teaching work. What, then, in the more immediate and specific sense, do we conceive to be the teaching work of the Church? The answer, even when the question is thus restricted, is not simple, but includes at least the following elements, which, though not separable “departments” of work, de¬ serve separate attention and are all indispensable parts of the Church’s educational program: (a) The training of children and youth in the Chris¬ tian way of life. (b) The fostering of the moral and spiritual growth of those who have passed beyond the status of childhood; and the lifting of the Christian life above the level of habit and custom to that of intelligence, through the interpretation of Christian experience in terms of its fundamental ideas, motives, and beliefs. (c) The creating of an intelligent and Christian public opinion, through productive research into the application of Christianity to contemporary social problems, and the dissemination of the results of this research both through the Church’s own agencies and through other agencies which are constantly shaping the attitudes and points of view of society. (d) The fitting of young people, through institutions of higher education, for service to the Church and to EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH 45 society in places of initiative, responsibility, and leadership. I. The Moral and Religious Education of Children. —The education of children depends primarily upon their fellowship with older folk in various social groupa, as these are concerned with the common human interests and occupations. Education began in the family and the tribe as a matter simply of care for dependent and rela¬ tively helpless, yet growing and maturing, offspring. Its methods were those of direct personal association in the affairs of the group, involving imitation on the part of the younger, and simple communication on the part of the older. The development of what we call civilization has been marked in general by an increasing dependence upon schools as the instruments of education. As the experience of the race accumulates, knowledge grows, the arts and sciences expand, occupations diversify and become specialized, and life as a whole becomes more complex, its deeper meanings no longer upon the surface of the daily round of behavior, the education of the child becomes a task too great for the unaided parents. It requires more time than they can give and more technical ability than they possess. So schools are necessary; and education becomes, in part, the business of especially trained teachers, who bring children into an especially arranged institutional environment and furnish them with material that has been carefully selected and graded with a view to its educative value. In part, we have said; and in part only. The parents can never wholly abdicate their educational function; and every social group with which a child comes into contact has something to do, however indirectly, with his education. The moral and religious aspects of education, particularly, while properly a direct concern of the school, will always depend largely upon the personal associations and contacts of the pupils’ life. The primary principle, then, underlying the Chris- 46 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH tian education of children, which is the most obvious aspect of the teaching work of the Church, is that of their fellowship with older folk in social groups which are whole-heartedly and genuinely Christian in spirit and life. Of these groups, by far the most important is the family. Horace Bushnell found in what he called the organic unity of the family the natural basis for his prin¬ ciple of Christian nurture: “That the child is to grow up a Christian, and never know himself as being otherwise.” Dr. Edward Lyttelton, writing more recently from the standpoint of long experience as the headmaster of a great English public school, describes the life of the fam¬ ily in the home as “The Corner-stone of Education,” and records his conviction that the great moral and spiritual alternative is decided for most boys in the course of their first eight years of life as children in the home with their parents. The conversions which take place in the teens or later, he believes, are to be accounted for chiefly as the coming to full fruit and to clear consciousness of the influences of these early years. One can conceive no better training-place for character than the home in which dwells the Christian family, a little group of old and young, mature and immature, bound together by ties of mutual affection, placing personal values first, constrained by the manifold contacts of their common life to have regard each for the other, always giving and receiving service, with opportunities for helpfulness, unselfishness, and even self-sacrifice, so constant as to make these a matter of course, and in all this manifesting the love, joy, and peace which are the fruits of the Spirit of God. In such a home the instruction of the children in religion is natural and easy, for it is but an explanation of the motives which underlie the daily life in which they share. So the first item in the Christian education of children is the Christian education of parents. A reviewer of Dr. Lyttelton's book complained that its program for the training of children is impossible, in that it demands EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH 47 nothing less than the conversion of the parents to single- minded, whole-hearted Christian living. But why should we expect anything else? At the foundation of the Church’s teaching work lies the Church’s effort to stim¬ ulate, guide, and sustain a Christian family life in the homes of the community. The Church helps in the Christian education of chil¬ dren, further, by all that it does to determine the char¬ acter of the community in which they are brought up, and the spirit of the wider fellowships into which they enter as they grow older. There are no better practical tests of a community than those suggested by the ques¬ tion : “Is it a good place in which to bring up children ?” The answer to that question depends very largely upon the degree to which the churches of the community are serving, in leaven-like fashion, to inspire and regenerate the whole of its life. From this point of view the whole of the Church’s life and work is again seen to be of the utmost educational value and significance. That there should be no saloons, brothels, or gambling-halls; that motion-picture shows should be decent and dance-halls respectable; that housing should be adequate and sanita¬ tion good; that workmen should receive just wages; that there should be a weekly day of rest and worship for all; that government should be honest and business be carried on in equity; that differing racial groups should receive fair and friendly treatment; that there should be equal opportunity for all to develop their personalities to the full—all these are matters that are properly objects of the Church’s concern and that indirectly, yet vitally, affect the moral and spiritual development of every child. The Church educates children, again, by associating them with one another and with their parents and other older folk in its own fellowship and service. The Church is a larger family—the family of God the Father. As such, it is not an organization of grown-ups merely or of saints made perfect. “The promise,” according to a 48 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH text of Scripture which Horace Bushnell loved to quote, “is to you and to your children.” It is of the utmost importance, educationally, that children be afforded a place in the Church’s fellowship comparable to the place that they occupy in the family group. They should be made to feel that they are the Church’s children, and that it is their Church. They should take part in its services of worship, and should share, in the measure of their understanding and ability, in its active enterprises of good-will. Thus they will be trained, by fellowship with their elders, in the habits and attitudes which are characteristically Christian; they will grow up feeling themselves within the Church rather than outside of it ,* they will find in it the natural home of their spirit and in due time they will desire to take upon themselves the vows of discipleship and to assume the full responsibilities which are laid upon its members. Let it not be concluded, from this emphasis upon fel¬ lowship as primary and fundamental, that instruction has no place, and that the education of children in religion is a matter of simple contagion or training in habit and attitude alone. Instruction is a means whereby experi¬ ences are shared and interpreted, and the more experi¬ enced are able to give help to the less experienced, and to transmit to them the accumulated heritage of the race’s wisdom. As in education generally, so also in moral and religious education, instruction is indispensable. The point that needs emphasis is that instruction which is rooted and grounded in fellowship is vital and meaningful , while instruction without fellowship lacks motive and content. Instruction in morals and religion means most when it appears as communication motived by the exigencies, opportunities, and enterprises of fellowship in the life of the home, the community, and the Church. The instruc¬ tion then serves to explain the motives which are actually at work in the life the child is sharing, and to impart information needed in its enterprises. EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH 49 Yet, just as the community can no longer leave the education of children wholly to their association with their parents in the affairs of everyday life, the Church cannot depend wholly, for the moral and religious educa¬ tion of children, upon the degree of training and instruc¬ tion which is incidental to their fellowship with older folk in such ways as we have mentioned. The Church, like the community, must maintain a school. And the Church school must take as its work that part of the education of children which the public school can not so well accom¬ plish, their education in morals and religion. The reasons why the Church must maintain a school are similar to the reasons for the establishment and growth of schools generally. There is much to learn, in religion as in other things, and ever more as experience widens and deepens. There is the same necessity for gradation of materials as in education generally, that they may be adapted to the pupil’s needs and abilities, and may lead him on, in sound progression of development, to the ordered knowledge of human life and destiny, the right affections and motives, and the standards of conduct, which are religion’s goal. This gradation implies the establishment of special environments controlled by edu¬ cative purposes, and the service of teachers who under¬ stand children and know how to guide their development. So education in religion, too, passes in part—but in part only—beyond the range of the average parent’s time and ability; and it becomes the duty of the Church to main¬ tain schools for the teaching of religion which are as competent in their own field as we expect the public schools to be in the fields which belong to them. The need for such schools has been met in America for the last hundred years, in so far as it has been met at all, by the Sunday Schools. We have now come to realize, and none of us more clearly than the Sunday School leaders themselves, that the work of the Sunday School must be greatly widened and the school itself transformed So THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH if it is to be an adequate school of the Church under the conditions of the twentieth century. Fortunately, that is just what has been taking place for the past dozen years or more. We are now in the midst of a great movement which is gradually transforming the Sunday Schools and also extending their influence and service into week-day hours. There is good reason to hope that the Church may now make of them effective instruments of moral and religious education. 2. Fostering Adult Growth in Christian Experience .— The mind of man, happily, is not as limited in capacity for growth as his body. Full physical stature is generally reached by the end of the teens; the mind may keep on growing and expanding as long as the passing years bring increase of experience. This is not to deny that individuals differ in native ca¬ pacity and that their endowments set certain limits within which the development of each will move. There is a large measure of truth, moreover, in William James’ assertion that character is set in most of us before thirty, and that we have at that age already acquired most of the new ideas that we shall ever possess. Yet it was this same William James who called the attention of psychologists to the higher levels of latent energy which remain untapped by most men and are reached by others but rarely; and he was himself an outstanding example of a mind that never ceased growing and never lost its eagerness to receive and power to appraise new experi¬ ences and ideas. A year or more before his death he reported that he found faith in immortality growing more dear to him because he felt that he was “just getting fit to live.” So the educational responsibility of the Church does not end with the passing of childhood and the coming of maturity. As long as it remains possible for an indi¬ vidual to go further in that integrated growth of intel- EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH 51 ligence, feeling, and will which constitutes the develop¬ ment of character, the Church must seek to stimulate and guide that growth. Through special classes for adults, through preaching and worship, through the various con¬ tacts of the pastoral relation, and through the forms of active service in which it enlists them, the Church un¬ dertakes the further training of these folk, their upbuild¬ ing in character, and the cultivation of their latent moral and spiritual powers. That Church is a failure which is simply an association of the contented, who gather at stated times for the mere repetition in sermon, ritual, or experience-meeting of matters long since familiar. The ideas of discovery, of learning, of growth in knowl¬ edge and power are fundamental in the Christian con¬ ception of life. When a Church’s members cease to learn and to grow, it is in danger of losing the Holy Spirit, who came to teach us all things. In danger of losing the Holy Spirit, we repeat. For what we have referred to, on the human side, as the growth and development of character, is to be described, on the divine side, as the work of the regenerating, en¬ lightening, and sanctifying Spirit of God. The correlate of man’s discovery is God’s revelation; the correlate of learning, God’s teaching; the correlate of human growth, God’s nurturing care. The work of the Spirit in a human life is not an episode merely, resulting in a finished, static product; it is rather a constant dynamic, inspiring, strengthening, and teaching throughout the whole of life. Character is not bestowed all at once, as a possession thereafter to be retained intact and just kept polished; God makes it possible, rather, for His children to gain character increasingly through service in continued fel¬ lowship with one another and Him. This fellowship, this grace, the Church undertakes to mediate and foster. Such developing Christian character is not a matter of habit and custom merely. It is motivated by intelligible convictions concerning God, man, and the universe. The 52 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH growth of a Christian is thus in part intellectual, and the Christian Church has always rightly considered instruction in doctrine to be a vital and fundamental part of its teaching work. There have been many times, indeed, when a wrong emphasis has been laid upon this aspect of the Church’s teaching, times when moral and religious education has been conceived in narrow intellectualistic terms as little more than instruction in the Bible, creeds, or ritual forms, when assent to some particular formulation of doctrine was made a prior condition of admission to fellowship and led to the neglect of the weightier matters of love, justice, and mercy. It would be an equally great mistake, however, to draw such opposite conclusions as that doctrine is profitless; that religion does not lend itself to intellectual formulation; that faith is independent of reason; that it does not really matter what one believes, provided he lives a good life. The error of intellectualism in religion lies not so much in over-concern with doctrine as in failure to grasp and maintain the true relation of doctrine to life and experi¬ ence. Jesus put it rightly: “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God.” The natural order, psychologically and pedagogically, is not that true belief comes first and right living is then simply an application or expression of that belief. The fact is rather that we first live and act, then understand. Christian doctrine is an interpretation of Christian ex¬ perience. Insight and conviction are more the fruit than the pre-condition of right life and action. This is the truth involved in Anselm’s principle that faith is prior to knowledge. Religious education begins not with indoctrination but with the experience of fellowship in Christian purposes and activities. Doctrines follow as an explanation of life’s purposes and motives and an interpretation of its realities and values. The Church would be untrue to its teaching mission, EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH 53 however, were it to fail to interpret the experience it mediates. If the Christian life he left dependent upon habit, custom, and the contagion of fellowship merely, it will not only fail to realize the richer and more mean¬ ingful Christian experience which is open to an intelligent faith, hut it is left in jeopardy of passing circumstance. It can be placed upon a sound and permanent basis only when the individual intelligently grasps its fundamental ideas and principles. Only a reasonable faith can in the long run be depended upon to endure, amid the changing conditions and increasing complexities of life. Even Roman Catholicism, with its large degree of re¬ liance upon habit, fellowship, and sacramental grace, and with its appeal to a type of faith which seems to Protes¬ tants to be relatively unintelligent, takes the utmost pains to inculcate the dogmas which form the intellectual sub¬ stratum of its system of life and belief, and to interpret the experience of its devotees in terms of these dogmas. Protestantism, with its freedom of individual judgment, needs even more to care for the intellectual aspects of moral and religious education, that its followers may be fit to stand on their own feet before God and man, know¬ ing what they believe and why. 3. Creating Christian Public Opinion. —The task of bringing individuals into conscious and intelligent Chris¬ tian discipleship, of developing Christian personalities, is always the basic part of the Church’s teaching work. But the development of a Christian personality takes place always in a social environment. Persons exist and have meaning only in social relationships. There is no such thing as a person dwelling in a social vacuum. To grow morally and spiritually means to enter into fuller fellowship with others, and to realize increasingly in one’s relations with them the divine ideal revealed to us by Jesus Christ. There is no fellowship with God the Father that does not in itself involve living with His children in 54 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH the spirit of love, which is of the very nature of God. “He that loveth not knoweth not God.” This means that it is a vital and direct concern of the Church that all the social conditions and arrangements in which men live should be such as to develop the spirit of love and goodwill, and so minister to moral and spiritual growth. All the relations of men to each other in indus¬ try and business; all the contacts between the races; all civic and political affairs; all relations between nations as organized groups—all these, as well as the life of the home and one’s circle of friends, are, in the Christian’s faith, to be organized according to the mind of Christ. For all this social environment is having a constant effect, for good or ill, upon the very development of personality itself. That this is so has long been recognized in the Church’s foreign missionary work, where we long ago discovered that if we are to succeed in building Christian character we must break down prevalent unchristian social practices, such as polygamy or the opium traffic, and must develop an economic basis for the support of Christian standards of living. It must be equally recognized in all the teaching work of the Church at home that wholesome social conditions minister to character, and that unwhole¬ some conditions are an inevitable handicap. The fact is that the social environment is itself a powerful, though indirect, educator, and is all the while re-enforcing or thwarting the efforts which the Church is making to train Christian personality. All this inherited social structure, our economic and industrial and political arrangements, are determined and supported by that complex thing which we call public opinion—the general point of view and attitude of the social group as a whole. If, then, we are to have a Chris¬ tian social life we must have a Christian public opinion. To secure this is probably the most difficult phase of the Church’s teaching work in the present day. EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH 55 Involved in this task is the necessity of making a concerted impact on the public mind. For public opinion is not changed simply by winning individuals separately one by one to a new point of view. Public opinion is, in considerable degree, an organic thing—a group product which would not exist except for the interrelations of in¬ dividuals in their group life. It is something more than the mere sum of individual purposes and attitudes. By their interplay types of feeling and thought are developed which the individual alone would never create. To influence public opinion, therefore, there must be a great movement of thought and feeling which can affect the mass of the people at the same time, and so be strong enough to sweep away the inertia of inherited arrange¬ ments, and set the community to rebuilding along better lines. In order to achieve such a concerted impact, it becomes necessary for the Church to lay hold for Christianity of great popular agencies like the daily press through which public opinion is constantly being molded and sustained. The need for this is clearer still when one realizes that there are millions of men who are not now coming, and so far as we can see are not likely to come, under the immediate influence of the Church’s regular agencies for teaching the individual—the Sunday School, the week¬ day school, the pulpit, the Christian college, or other media of direct religious instruction. If we are to reach them at all, we must do so indirectly through such an instrument as the daily press, which, consciously or unconsciously, is influencing all the people all the time. And to apply Christianity to social problems of the present day demands, as an essential prerequisite, patient and skillful research. For although the Christian princi¬ ples themselves are clear and simple, the application of them to many of the social and international questions of our time is extraordinarily difficult. The average Chris¬ tian simply does not know enough about the economic 56 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH structure of society or about the relations of nations to each other in the modern world to be able to decide, in many concrete cases of industrial controversy or national policy, what will work most effectively toward the Chris¬ tian goal. The spirit of goodwill, though absolutely basic and fundamental, is by itself not sufficient. There must be also a clear understanding of how that goodwill can be so applied practically as to secure the ends which Chris¬ tians seek. To provide agencies of study and research, which will examine with thoroughness and skill the difficult questions of the application of Christianity to all phases of our con¬ temporary social life, in order that there may be a grow¬ ing understanding of what Christianity involves for human living together, is an indispensable, and too much neg¬ lected, part of the teaching program fo the Church. 4. Training for Leadership .—The maintenance of in¬ stitutions of higher education, for the sake of training men and women for places of leadership in service to the Church and society, is a part of the Church’s teaching responsibility without which none of its other work can be permanently maintained. Unless there are those who are qualified to fill places of initiative and guidance, we cannot hope for any large achievement. What the Church is to be will depend chiefly on its leadership. Both its own self-perpetuation and its service to the community call not simply for the religious education of the children and the members of the Church but also for the dis¬ tinctive training required by those who are to carry on the ministry of teaching the rank and file. That the Church was interested in higher education in America long before the State is a clear fact of history. The colleges arose chiefly from the concern of the Church for an educated ministry. With the development, how¬ ever, of the nation along industrial and commercial lines, and with the multiplying realms of professional EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH 57 service, the college gradually departed from this early tradition. When the State itself assumed a responsibility for higher education, it frankly omitted religion from the curriculum—as it was omitted from the public school. The most that the State university has felt itself called upon to do, under the principle of the separation of Church and State, has been to give courses in the Bible as literature and in religious developments as history— not courses definitely designed to teach religion itself. The Church has met the situation in some measure through voluntary agencies like the Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian Associations, and more re¬ cently by “university pastors” and occasional foundations for definite instruction in religion, cooperating with the university, but it is admitted without argument that the university today is contributing to our religious life only a meager body of leadership. Yet such surveys as have been made indicate that today more students of the leading denominations go to State institutions than to church colleges. A Church would be fatally weak in its teaching program if it left these students without positive religious teaching just at the very period when their new knowledge of science is sharply testing their old religious conceptions. Now, if ever, they need educational influences which will help them to interpret the world of their enlarging knowledge in religious terms. Through the work of the local Church in the university town, through voluntary courses of study outside the curriculum, through supplementary instruc¬ tion in cooperating schools of religion or Church founda¬ tions, or through other means, the Church must find the way of giving advanced teaching in the Christian religion to this great body of students who are to occupy places of leadership in the world’s life. In the institutions under the Church’s own control there has been the opportunity, of course, for the Church to direct its attention definitely to a type of training which 58 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH would both raise up well-equipped leaders for the min¬ istry, religious education, and missionary service, and which would also send out all its graduates with a re¬ ligious training that would fit them, as laymen, to render intelligent service to the Kingdom of God. That this is the distinctive function of the so-called “denominational college ,, is clear. If it has no special mission for re¬ ligious teaching different from that of the State-con- trolled institution, it is difficult to see why it should com tinue to exist. In many institutions this function has been creditably fulfilled and from them have come the great majority of the Church’s leaders. This central purpose of the Christian college, however, is not always so apparent. It frequently does not succeed much better than the tax-supported institutions in making religion a great and integral part of the educational program. The general atmosphere may be favorable to religion but there is crying need for more systematic training for Christian leadership. The curriculum often differs very little from that of the liberal arts college in the State university, the teaching of religion being given a relatively subordinate place; courses in Bible, in Church history, in Christian ethics, in religious education, in missions, being too few in number and too poorly provided for. More conscious effort is also necessary to provide an interpretation of the curriculum as a whole—its science, philosophy, and literature—which will develop a Christian conception of the world and of human destiny. The work of the theological seminary, as the profes¬ sional training school where the Church’s leaders receive their specialized preparation for life service, is obviously the crown of the Church’s teaching. That this institu¬ tion should really train men for the practical carrying on of the Church’s mission to our community life, and should not be satisfied simply to give formal academic instruction in certain traditional departments of knowl¬ edge, is of crucial importance. Unless there come from EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH 59 the seminaries an adequate body of men fully qualified to assume places of successful leadership we cannot hope that any part of the Church’s educational responsibility will be properly discharged. The whole program of the Church stands or falls with its work in the theological seminary. The teaching work of the Church as we have thus analyzed it—the Christian nurture of children and youth, the fostering of the moral and spiritual growth of those who have passed beyond childhood, the interpretation in intellectual terms of our common Christian experience, the building up of a Christian public opinion concerning our social organization, and the preparation of those who are to serve as the needed leaders in all the Church’s work—is an indispensable condition of the perpetuation and enrichment of the Church’s own life. It is more. It is an essential part, the essential part, of the Church’s service to the world. PART II HOW THE CHURCH SHOULD TEACH CHAPTER III TEACHING THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO THE CHILD The failure to plan our teaching with constant refer¬ ence to the present needs of the person taught has been one of the most fatal weaknesses in the Church’s educa¬ tional work. Just what the development of the individual at a given period requires in the way of religious train¬ ing, just what purposes we desire to achieve at each period, just what will be needed then to secure his ad¬ vance to the next stage and just how this is to be pro¬ vided—these questions the Church at large has not seri¬ ously enough considered. We have been thinking so much of the subject matter that we have not thought of the person for whose sake all our teaching is carried on. We are discovering now that the first requisite for teaching is to understand that life means growth, de¬ velopment, adaptation, and that we must, accordingly, keep in constant and vital contact with the actual facts of child experience. The Church cannot ignore the time element and expect immediately results not yet attain¬ able. On the other hand, it must not lag behind the child’s enlarging life and leave him without the assist¬ ance needed as a new stage comes. It must patiently interpret and reinterpret Christian faith and Christian standards of conduct in terms of present need. It must provide the individual with the means for a Christian interpretation of his changing experience, with the spirit¬ ual resources for living now in accordance with the Christian ideals, with incentives for making a Christian response to new situations as they come. 63 64 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH This fundamental principle of making the child, rather than the Biblical material, the center of interest and building up the program of religious education on the basis of his developing activities and needs, has all too long been ignored. The continuing use of a Uniform Sunday School Lesson System, providing the same sub¬ ject matter for children, youth, and adults, is only one of many illustrations of the need for serious study at this point. An understanding of the development of the pupil’s distinctive experiences, interests, and capacities is of such central importance in any effective teaching and is still so little appreciated in many quarters in the Church that we shall undertake to sketch briefly the progress of the individual’s life from childhood to maturity, dis¬ covering the determining factors and the significant fea¬ tures at each new stage of his continuous experience. Upon the basis of these we may undertake to analyze the problem for the teacher at this period, to define more specifically the aim in teaching; and, in accordance with the aim which we set for ourselves at successive stages, to suggest the content and method which are essential for its realization. I. Infancy and Upward (a) The First Three Years; Pre-school Period .—A moment’s reflection will convince one of the immense significance of early infancy. During these first years are acquired the most essential kinds of skill. One learns to walk and to talk and to accommodate himself to a mode of life and conduct. The amount of muscular coordina¬ tion and control involved in these accomplishments and the number of adjustments required in the nerve centers is simply enormous. Less obvious, but not less important and fundamental, are the attitudes and habits which are being formed at this time. It is not too much to say that TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO CHILD 65 the whole “set” of character or disposition may be very largely determined by the treatment and teaching of these years. The Church, however, does not come into direct con¬ tact with lives at this stage. What it does for these ages must be done largely through the home itself, through the parents and older brothers and sisters, by making its in¬ fluence felt indirectly through loftier ideals for the family and through more wholesome home surroundings. What, precisely, should the Church seek to accomplish for little children during these earliest years? To develop a family atmosphere which will lead them to think of God as really and constantly present in their home surroundings; to assume toward Him a natural and responsive attitude, and toward others an attitude consistent with this thought of God. How shall we make God real to little children? Jesus taught men to call God “Father,” and this is at once the name and the relationship most appropriate for childhood and most fitting for home experience. But if the word “Father” is to have meaning, as applied to God, it must first have a similar—even if a lesser—meaning, as applied to an earthly parent. If the little child is to gain any conception of God as a real Being, possessing attributes such as the Christian associates with the name of God, he must first experience in his own parents and in the atmosphere of his own home such qualities as justice, tenderness, strength, fidelity, and High purpose. This, of course, involves on the part of the parents a vital con¬ sciousness of God. The home atmosphere must be per¬ vaded by the divine Presence; all the familiar and inti¬ mate home relationships must be tender; the attitudes of good-will and cooperation, habitual, not only toward other members of the household but towards domestic helpers, neighbors, tradesmen, and all others with whom the fam- ily comes in contact. 66 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH The means by which personal communion with God is recognized and maintained will be as much a part of the family program as are those acts which have as their purpose the cultivation of friendly relations with people. Whether a time is regularly set apart for family worship, or the hour at rising or at bedtime is utilized for prayer and story, or other methods followed, Christian parents will find some way of revealing to their children their own sense of dependence upon God, their need of guid¬ ance by His Spirit, and their purpose to do His will. The control which God is to exercise over the lives of men should also be exemplified by the kind of control which parents exercise over their children. If a little child is to think of God as a God of justice he must learn what justice is through his experience of home discipline. It goes without saying that such laws as are laid down should be inflexible and their penalties inevitable—as is the case with the so-called laws of nature. But for this very reason they must be clearly laws which apply equally to all, and are obviously for the good of all; not arbitrary, tyrannical, nor capricious. Much has been said and writ¬ ten of the physiological importance of early training in habits of eating, sleeping, playing, and exercise. It is of no less significance for morals and for religion that regu¬ larity in the daily routine of living should be insisted upon, and it can be developed in the child only as it is a part of the family regimen. It appears, then, that the task of the Church, so far as these littlest people are concerned, consists in training parents to exemplify toward their children the traits of a divine parenthood, to maintain in the home an atmosphere that is thoroughly Christian and a spirit that is mutually helpful and cooperative. It is impossible to overempha¬ size the importance of this task. In a very real sense it is fundamental to all subsequent Christian teaching. Indeed, the whole message of Christianity may be TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO CHILD 67 summed up in terms of home experience, and its mis¬ sionary purpose may be said to contemplate simply the indefinite extension of the home circle to include all man¬ kind and the assumption toward all men of those atti¬ tudes which are first learned amid home relationships. God as our Father, the whole world as his family, all men our brothers—such is the teaching of Jesus. Unless, however, one has first an experience of such attitudes and relationships in his own home life, he will not readily comprehend the wider implications of the Christian mes¬ sage. Here lies a wide field of service, as yet scarcely touched by the Church. The Church must come to realize that most young people who become parents today have had scarcely any previous instruction as to the meaning of parenthood and have little or no realization of the tre¬ mendous responsibilities involved in the bearing and rearing of children. It is difficult to provide any adequate preparation for these duties in advance. But from the time when young parents are first confronted by the prob¬ lem of home-making, there ought to be no cessation in the Church’s program of home education in religion. This program should include direct instruction to the parents themselves as to how they may deepen their own religious life. There should be instruction regarding Christian ideals for the family, the interpretation of home life and experience, the ways of creating and deepening the religious atmosphere of the home, the conduct of home worship, the meeting of problems of discipline. Scripture selections for personal reading are needed, pray¬ ers for personal and family use, stories and prayers for children’s use, suggestions as to the aims and opportuni¬ ties for home instruction in religion. At present, com¬ paratively little that is offered for home use has been prepared with the thought of securing, through the par¬ ents, the systematic and orderly development of a Chris- 68 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH tian consciousness and of Christian attitudes and habits in the children. 1 (b) The Kindergarten Period; Ages 4 and 5.—Prior to the age of 5, often by the fourth year, churches are able to secure the attendance of children at Sunday School and thus directly supplement, or in some instances cor¬ rect, what they may gain through parental and home in¬ fluence. Where this is the case, the Church should regard this beginners’ section of its school as an extension of the home, a place where a group of people are learning to live together in the Christian way. The teaching should consist of stories, simple scenes, in which are reflected the experiences of home and its surroundings. Through its familiar imagery the story makes its appeal to the child’s interest, he feels himself at home in its atmosphere, identifies himself with its characters, and unconsciously assumes the attitudes which the story suggests. Thus the meaning of present experience is interpreted to him and at the same time a basis is laid for future conduct. What is needed at this time is a vivid picturing of a fezv fundamental relationships: the relationship of parent to child and of child to parent; the relationship of God, as parent, to His children, and of children to God; the relationship of children in the home to each other and to the world of nature about them. A few stories, care¬ fully chosen and assimilated will be more effective than a larger number hurriedly passed over. The important thing is the thoroughness with which a relationship is apprehended or an attitude confirmed by conscious choice and frequent practice. To outline the materials which should be used in *As an example of material prepared with this aim in view, see Danielson, “Object Lessons for the Cradle Roll”; and Rankin, “Letters to Parents,” to be used in connection with “A Course for Beginners in Religious Education.” TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO CHILD 69 carrying out this purpose is beyond the scope of the present study. A few concrete illustrations must serve as typical examples. What can picture more beautifully the relation of par¬ ent to child and child to parent than the story of the baby Moses? Here is represented tender mother-care, pro¬ viding protection for the helpless and trustful little one in the face of danger. Other aspects of the parental rela¬ tion may be set forth through stories showing mother-love supplying food and clothing or showing the care that mother-birds and other animals bestow upon their young. In a similar manner may be exemplified the relation of God to His children; His provision for our needs through the gifts of grain and fruit. This teaching is particularly appropriate during the autumn months when it serves to give a religious interpretation to the experience of the harvest time. The Thanksgiving festival suggests the appropriate response to God’s goodness, with its emphasis upon the thought of gratitude and its suggestion of shar¬ ing as the proper expression of gratitude. The spring¬ time, with its awakening life, its gardens, birds, and flow¬ ers, finds a natural connection with the Easter story. God is back of all life, in the sunshine and the rain, the grow¬ ing grass and trees and flowers, and in His great work of quickening the world into newness of life we may all help Him by helping His creatures to live more abundantly. The stories of the Christ-child, together with the Christ¬ mas atmosphere, emphasize the thought of kindness and love, of family devotion, and generous giving. Around the stories of the boyhood of Jesus cluster many sugges¬ tions of thoughtful and obedient conduct and happy home relations. The beautiful picture of Jesus blessing the children suggests His love for them and in turn awakens in them a love for Him and a sense of intimate relation¬ ship, as between the members of God’s family. The stories of His kind acts and constant helpfulness become standards of conduct for all God’s children. 70 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH Stories of children in other homes, in Japan, India, Italy, or Africa, are full of novelty and interest, and pre¬ pare the way for the larger conception of the family of God. These, too, are seen as our brothers with whom we are to share the gifts of our Heavenly Father. Interspersed among these great lessons, as occasion may require, should be stories setting forth the attitudes and qualities indispensable in the children of God’s family: His children must learn to tell the truth, to control their tempers, to be brave—not timid—to take care of them¬ selves, to play happily together, to be loyal to home and faithful to home duties. So far as practicable the stories may be selected from the Bible. It should be kept in mind, however, that com¬ paratively few of the Bible stories deal specifically with the problems of the little child’s home life. They need to be supplemented by other stories, such as stories of animal life, imaginative stories in which the forces of nature are impersonated, and stories of every-day life in the home. The lessons may be put into practice immediately in the class session, in which for teaching purposes the mem¬ bers of the class are still “at home.” The teacher should be a “motherly” person. The atmosphere of the room, its furnishings, its discipline, its relationships, should be those of a Christian home. The pictures, hung low, should be simple scenes portraying a bit of nature or family life. Songs, games, prayers, conversation—all pervaded by the same spirit of kindliness and good-will—serve to deepen the impression made by the story. Letters to parents, leaflets containing stories for home reading, and picture- books which the children make for father and mother, brother or sister, or neighbor, are convenient ways for giving concrete expression to kindly thought and feeling. By such means much can be done, even for children of parents who are careless or indifferent toward their responsibilities as religious teachers, to awaken a con- TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO CHILD 71 sciousness of God, to correct false notions of God, and to provide means for the normal and natural expression of religious feeling. It is clear, however, that the Church can never hope, nor should parents expect, to supply through the Sunday School an influence potent enough to counteract the constant, daily impact of parental ex¬ ample and home surroundings. At best, it can only sup¬ plement and enhance their effect; it can never be a substitute for what parents, and only parents, can do. 2. Earlier Childhood: Ages 6-8 The first radical adjustment, in the lives of most chil¬ dren, is that which is made necessary by going to school. It is an epoch-making experience and automatically gives rise to some serious problems. However much the authorities may strive to model the school upon the pat¬ tern of the home, it is inevitable that the pupil must find himself in an environment that is strange. He must adjust himself to a considerable number of children, who are themselves in new surroundings, seeking each his own satisfaction, yet all obliged to conform to certain regula¬ tions that are new, and to yield allegiance to an unaccus¬ tomed authority. New people, new scenes, new duties, a new routine with new interests, and all presided over by a new person in control—these are sufficient to create for the child a new world in which he must find his place and which he must somehow harmonize with his home-world. How will this sudden impulsion into a new world affect the child’s religious faith and his behavior ? He is brought face to face with a problem. Not that he realizes it as such, much less that he is able to make any attempt at analyzing it. But in a more or less vague way he is conscious of it and feels in consequence a certain sense of mental strain. This strain is due to uncertainty, in view of the sudden expansion of environment. How far are the experiences acquired in the old environment of 72 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH the home valid, as assumptions, in the new environment of the school? Father and mother have been left behind. The teacher stands in the place of parent. Is God also left behind? There may be little in the school program to suggest His presence. Little is said about Him. There is seldom any attempt to interpret child experience in terms of God. There is little in the conduct of fellow schoolmates, impelled as they all are by self-interest, to suggest that they are children of God. There is similar uncertainty regarding the standards of behavior which the child had learned to recognize in the home. How far are these applicable to the new relation¬ ships of school? Conflict of purposes arises, as between the pupils, or between the pupils and the teacher. It may even be that the standards of the school seem inconsistent with those of the child’s own home. How are these con¬ flicting experiences to be reconciled, how are these two diverse worlds to be unified, so that the child may feel that they are but differing aspects of one harmonious, self-consistent world, in which the same standards of behavior are to be everywhere observed? The aim of the Church during the earlier period of childhood — until, say, about 8 years of age—is to help the child to strengthen and confirm the religious ideas, attitudes, and forms of conduct he had begun to hold and to practice in his earlier life in the home and to carry these over into the new world of his school experience. More specifically, to deepen his sense of relationship with God as a loving Father and present Companion, with whom he holds a natural intercourse; to stimulate the feeling of reverence, affection, and trust; to cultivate the spirit of loyal cooperation with parent, and now also with teacher; to strengthen attitudes of good-will and helpfulness toward members of the family, and now likewise toward schoolmates; to develop a sense of responsibility for one’s share in the daily routine and burden of the family, and also for one’s share in school enterprises and in those of TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO CHILD 73 the community at large which have for their purpose the meeting of human need. The teaching at this time will be closely akin to that of the previous period in that it will make use of story material in which are pictured the relationships of the child—to God, to parent, to brother and sifter, and neighbor—but the scope of these relationships will include a wider company of people. The basis of selection of material will be the particular problems which the child is now facing. The stories chosen may be grouped so as to set forth, in their sequence, a particular relation¬ ship in various aspects and under differing conditions. Or they may embody problems suggesting alternatives of conduct and requiring reflection before a course of action is decided upon; or they may be grouped about an outstanding experience, such as the celebration of a festival season like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter, so as to bring out its religious meaning and suggest an appropriate attitude or act. The stories may now have more of movement and dynamic quality than those used in the earlier period, which needed to be simple, scenic, and static. How, for example, shall we help the child to< expand his notion of God, so that he may still think of God as present in this new school-world, caring for him and sur¬ rounding him with His protection? How shall we sug¬ gest to him that reverence, trust, gratitude, and obedience are still right attitudes toward God? Have we stories anywhere which picture the expansion of the idea of God as a spiritual discovery? The story of Jacob’s dream at Bethel is in certain respects an almost exact counterpart of the little child’s experience. In his loneliness and fear he imagines that he has gone beyond the reach of all-protecting care. In his troubled sleep he has a dream and on awaking makes a surprising discovery: “Surely God is in this place and I knew it not!” Joyfully and reverently he proceeds on 74 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH his way, confident now that in this world of his new experience God is present as really as before. A similar thought is presented in the story of Elisha, who, in time of danger, revealed to his frightened servant the unseen hosts whom God had sent to protect them. God’s pro¬ viding care for His wandering people is set forth in the stories of the manna, the quails, the water gushing forth from the rock. Jacob, Elisha, Moses, David, not only discovered God as a present helper; they trusted Him in each new situation and went confidently forward without fear. Again, there are stories picturing the care of a parent under unusual conditions, such as absence from home. Hagar is the embodiment of maternal care and affection, reenforced by divine help. The story of His mother’s anxiety for the boy Jesus, left behind in the temple, is a beautiful example of parental solicitude. The mother of the boy Samuel made him a visit each year at the sanctuary where he was receiving his training, bringing with her a little robe which her loving hands had made. On the other hand, we have, in such stories as those of Joseph and Jesus, typical instances of filial devotion. . Then there are the relationships between the children themselves. We wish to develop the spirit of kindness, the habit of helpfulness and generous sharing, respect for the rights of others, cooperation in play and in work, not only toward those in their own homes but toward school¬ mates and playmates. For this the little child needs models, or standards of conduct, in vivid story form. Abraham’s generous treatment of Lot in offering him the first choice of the land, Rebekah’s courtesy to the tired servant, the thoughtfulness of the little Hebrew maid for her sick master, the hospitality of the widow who shared her meal with the prophet, or the one who built an extra room for the prophet in her house—all these and many others are instances of the spirit of brotherhood in its wider application, The attitude of Jesus is always that TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO CHILD 75 of the ideal Son and Brother, and His sense of kinship is not confined to those who are within His family circle: “Whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.” So we find in the Gospels examples of His constant help¬ fulness, like the feeding of the five thousand (in which a little boy participated by sharing his lunch) ; or the quieting of the storm, or the story-telling by the lakeside, or the welcoming of little children—instances which bring Him very near to the experiences of childhood and sug¬ gest a great variety of ways of being kind. Little children everywhere—Italian children, Polish children, French, Belgian, and American children, little boys and girls whose skins are yellow, brown, or black and whose tongues speak strange languages—should be brought within the circle of acquaintanceship or friendly interest and, so far as possible, in such a way as to stimu¬ late the impulse to share with them all the good gifts of God which we enjoy. The place where this teaching is given will resemble both home and school. In atmosphere and program there will be much that is familiar and homelike. The teacher will be approachable, sympathetic, motherly. God will still be “Father,” His presence will be taken for granted, prayers will be offered, and songs will be sung. There will also be some resemblance to school surroundings, with a program a little more formal than at home. As in school, so here there will be other children of about the same age. There will be pictures and blackboards and tables and low chairs, things to make together and things to discuss. The purpose of lesson material is to set before the child a picture of an ideal bit of experience which is on the plan of his own present problems. Through listen¬ ing to a story, by imagination the pupil seems to see himself in surroundings which offer a kind of parallel to his own experience. This picture of an ideal situa- 76 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH tion suggests to him his own conduct under like circum¬ stances. In order that the picture may be associated in his mind and memory with muscular and mental effort, there should also be provided, where possible, an oppor¬ tunity for the child actually to put into practice of his own choice the forms of conduct he has seen pictured. Much time will be given, therefore, to thinking out to¬ gether ways of meeting a difficulty, or arriving at a decision that would be pleasing to God. There will be group games, group songs, and especially group enter¬ prises, in which religious thought and feeling find ex¬ pression. The great days in the Christian year, Christ¬ mas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and patriotic holidays, will be utilized as opportunities for arousing religious feeling, or for turning such feeling already aroused into forms of appropriate and helpful activity. Occasions for wider helpfulness which are constantly arising, such as the need for famine relief, the support of a children’s hos¬ pital or a kindergarten, the provision of an outing in the country for orphans, the sending of flowers to the sick, the pure-milk-for-babies campaign, will readily enlist the sympathetic cooperation of children of this age and have direct educational value. 3. Later Childhood: Ages 9 to ii The line between earlier and later childhood is an imaginary line, not sharply marked in the child’s con¬ sciousness as is the experience of the first day at school. Nevertheless, at about the end of the eighth, or early in the ninth, year close observers will discern that a change is gradually taking place. For three years the child has been going to school. His physical surroundings and his mental horizon have been extended. Geography has now opened to him the door to an environment wider than home and school. Arithmetic has given the sense of num¬ bers and standards of measurement. Reading has put at TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO CHILD 77 his disposal the thoughts of others. A vast new world is inviting exploration. With this new realm of potentially thrilling experience inviting him, with an accession of physical vigor and recently acquired knowledge, the child is urged forward with irresistible impulse to enter, examine, collect, and experiment. The world which attracts most strongly is the world beyond home and school—the world to be roamed through on expeditions of adventure, or lived through in the stories of great exploits, or investigated in close study at first hand, or manipulated in original experi¬ ment. Lacking, at first, the necessary standards of meas¬ urement or any adequate sense of value, the first impulse is to gather up and appropriate as his own everything that comes in his way, without trying to arrange or classify. It is a time of acquisition, of restless activity, of insatiable hunger for experience. This new world is a social world. The boy or girl does not wander through it alone, but in the company of other boys or girls. Together they put their questions to nature or investigate the habits of wild animals and birds. It is a world of play, in which they feel a delicious sense of freedom; a world that is immediately interesting and worth while, experience of which is an end in itself to be enjoyed for its own sake. While engaged in acquiring mastery of their physical surroundings, in amassing knowledge of things in relation to each other and them¬ selves, they are also stimulating and vying with each other in feats of strength, agility, and skill. There is satisfaction not only in accomplishment and mastery, but also in the approval expressed by one’s peers. On the other hand, the achievement of one member of the group becomes a standard for the others to imitate, a goal for their attainment. This natural social group constitutes a society in miniature, a place to try out, to dramatize, the customs and experiences of real life. Their world is also a world of conflict. Each member 78 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCEI of the group is impelled by the same instinctive curiosity, the same hunger for experience, the same desire to pos¬ sess. The result, of course, is interference, aggression, fighting. The stronger takes delight in exercising his strength upon the weaker, in teasing a defenseless animal or a younger child. The one who is conscious of his power tramples upon the rights of an inferior and be¬ comes a bully. To an adult, or outsider, there is some¬ thing ruthless, cruel, savage, about this world of later childhood. It is, however, a stage in the process of finding one’s place in the world and of learning to live with others. The task of the educator is to transform these instinctive tendencies into useful impulses—to awaken sympathy, to develop respect for the rights of others, to arouse a spirit of chivalry, to cultivate a sense of group loyalty and responsibility, to direct the fighting impulse toward things worth fighting for, such as pertain to the common welfare rather than to individual advantage. The chief objective of the Church during these years is the training of boys and girls to achievement through self-discipline and through cooperative effort . The great end to be gained now is the power of self-control—the control of the body, its impulses, appetites, movements; the control of the mind, its thoughts, desires, instincts, passions, and its choices in the presence of differing values. And in order that attention may not be required for repeated adjustment to the same kinds of problems it is important that the main lines of activity, the more important attitudes, become early and permanently estab¬ lished as habits. The one great outstanding need of the boys and girls during this period is the need for some clue, some stand¬ ard, some principle that will enable them to evaluate this mass of facts and experiences that has been suddenly spread out before them. What does it all mean? How are all these things related to each other and to them¬ selves ? How can one ever hope to bring all this com- TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO CHILD 79 plexity under control? They need an interpretation of this new addition to their world, not in the form of an abstract or philosophical statement, but in terms of pur¬ pose and motive to action. As an essential prerequisite to any other service it may perform, the Church must undertake, as a task of first importance, still further to expand the idea of God and to deepen the boys’ and girls’ consciousness of God. God will still be their “Father,” but He will be also Worker and Creator—the great, wise, powerful Cause, back of His world, and its Lawgiver—yet not in any sense an abstraction, but a personal Friend and Companion, a Guide and Helper. This consciousness of God the Church will develop not so much by talking about it as by assuming as a fact, in the background of all its guid¬ ance of childhood, His presence and interest. All this world is regarded as God’s world; all men are His chil¬ dren, meant to live happily together; all the laws of nature are His laws, and observance of them will assure our welfare. This world as He planned it is orderly and happy. Where it fails of being such, the failure is due to our lack of knowledge of His way, or our unwilling¬ ness to accept it for ourselves. The Church will undertake to reveal the laws of God for human life by setting before the boys and girls the dramatic stories of persons who, through heroic endeavor, were learning to live masterfully as individuals, and hap¬ pily together in glad conformity to God’s laws—persons who were masterful and happy because they were men of faith, obedient and law-abiding, or weak and unhappy failures when lacking in faith and disobedient to God’s laws. This will not be, strictly speaking, a course of study in the biographies of religious men. It will rather be a sharing of human experience, a living through to¬ gether of the exploits of great men meeting strange ad¬ ventures, overcoming unexpected dangers, fighting doughty opponents, doing the ordinary, prosaic duty of 8 o THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH life in a noble, cheerful way, and through it all keeping an intimate and friendly relation to God. Thus the Church provides for the boys and girls models for their admiration and imitation. “The right in the early years is what one’s models endorse; the wrong is what they condemn.” But they should be presented in such a way as to stimulate, not stifle, individual activity and mental effort. Imitation “should involve conscious choice of models, should involve analysis of the method of gaining results comparable with the model’s in order that attain¬ ment may more nearly measure up with ideals. This use of imitation involves judgment and choice, construc¬ tive imagination, and independent work.” 2 The Old Testament is rich in stories suited to the needs of this period. Its very first chapters present, in a dramatic and impressive manner, a picture of the cre¬ ative activity of God and the process by which chaos was reduced to order. In the second story of creation the world is pictured as a garden, interesting, beautiful, at¬ tractive, in which God has placed us for our happiness and in the care of which He expects our help. A friendly world, a powerful but kindly God, a pleasant compan¬ ionship—such is the teaching of the first two chapters of Genesis. The third chapter emphasizes the duty of self-control—more specifically, the control of appetite—a particularly difficult thing for boys and girls at this age. It pictures a personal relationship to God, a knowledge of His will, a possibility of choice, a conflict between opposing forces, the loss of happiness through disobedi¬ ence to God. In the story of Cain and Abel the duty of respect for the rights of others, the duty of appreciation, is contrasted with the dangers of jealousy and hatred. The disaster of the Flood and the deliverance of Noah broaden the conception of the tendency toward 2 See Norsworthy and Whitley, “The Psychology of Child¬ hood,” pp. 73, 74. O’Shea, “Social Development and Education,” p. 78. TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO CHILD 81 selfish and wilful conduct and reveal its consequences. Poetic passages which give utterance to these same truths form a fitting vehicle for expressing the sentiments naturally aroused by such stories. The 19th Psalm, or passages from the 24th, the 33d, the 77th, the 147th, and the 148th, may be committed to memory and used in connection with worship. Hymns, like ‘‘Lord of all being, throned afar, Thy glory flames from sun and star/’ or “My God, I thank thee, who hast made The earth so bright,” voice the feelings of reverence, appreciation, and grati¬ tude which appropriately arise in connection with the thought of God in nature. Nature walks, bird walks, “astronomy parties,” garden clubs, all help to deepen the sense of comradeship with nature and of communion and cooperation with the God of nature. The patriarchs lived and moved in an atmosphere peculiarly congenial to boys and girls at this period. The nomadic wanderings, the picturesque personalities, their simple faith, their achievements and their shortcomings, the practical problems of conduct in primitive social rela¬ tionships —all these are faithfully set forth in a series of dramatic episodes closely analagous in many respects to the experience of boys and girls. They will appreciate and enjoy the romance of Abraham’s departure from home in response to the Divine command, his long journey in search of a better country, his solemn act of worship as he comes to a stopping-place. They will feel a certain sympathy with him in his relation to his immediate patriarchal group. It is noteworthy that the question of the moral basis of relationship between groups is raised three times in Genesis (12:9 to 13:1; 20; 26:1-14) in practically the same form. How far is one under obliga¬ tion to speak the truth? Is not falsehood permissible in time of danger and as a means of avoiding unpleasant 82 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH experiences? Must one tell the truth outside of his im¬ mediate social circle? Such is the problem embodied in these episodes, a problem that is real and vital to boys and girls. They may indeed be truthful to their own associates, but to the members of another gang, to the school teacher, to the policeman, or even to their parents, they may have little hesitation in telling a falsehood, if unpleasant consequences are likely to follow the telling of the truth. The controversy between the herdsmen of Abraham and those of Lot is a good illustration of the relation¬ ship between rival groups, or factions of the same group. Shall they fight it out, or find a just basis of agreement? In Abraham’s magnanimous treatment of Lot is provided an intelligible standard of action. In Abraham’s rescue of Lot from the three kings there is recognition not only of social responsibility but of the obligation to fight against a social wrong. The same thought is presented again, with added religious emphasis, in Abraham’s rescue of Lot from Sodom. Jacob and Esau are examples, respectively, of self- seeking shrewdness and deceit pitted against uncontrolled appetite. Esau’s loss of “birthright,” Jacob’s flight from home, the long journey to Llaran and extended period of service with Laban, his dread of meeting Esau, his struggle with the unknown opponent, all suggest that deceit and trickery, in the long run, do not pay. In the series of episodes in the narrative of Joseph, on the other hand, his transparent candor, his loyalty to his ideals of honor and purity, his fearless effort to be true to his God, his sense of justice and fair-dealing, his forgiveness of his brothers and his affection for his father, find abundant sanction in the success with which his efforts were rewarded. Such stories as these ought not merely to be told, but read, learned, and dramatized by all our boys and girls. They need to be supplemented by stories of other TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO CHILD 83 pioneers who went forth upon adventures of faith and in the consciousness of a divine mission: the Pilgrim Fath¬ ers, braving the storms of a wintry sea that they might be free to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience; men like Livingstone, meeting countless dangers and overcoming almost incredible difficulties as he explored the trackless jungles of Africa. As they share the emotions of such heroes, they may find fitting expression for them in hymns like Leonard Bacon’s: “O God, beneath thy guiding hand, Our exiled fathers crossed the sea.” While in Genesis the stories reflect chiefly the rela¬ tions between individuals within the family group and only occasionally reveal consciousness of other groups, in Exodus we are at once confronted by problems which arise in connection with the wider relations of men: the relation of servant to master, of workman to overseer, of subject to ruler. Here we have a series of episodes in which is being fought out the battle for freedom, the struggle of a group of people against oppressive masters. Moreover, we see in the stories of the Exodus a social group in process of formation. At first unorganized, it proceeds to organize itself under the leadership of Moses, it gradually achieves a kind of group solidarity, it learns how to secure its own elemental necessities— food, shelter, land—and to defend itself against its enemies, it makes for itself laws to govern its intra¬ group relationships; and throughout this process the reader is reminded of the great leader’s consciousness of his own inadequacy, his dependence upon God, his constant attempt to act in accordance with God’s will for his people, and his effort also to impress upon the impa¬ tient group their own dependence upon God. All this is closely similar to what takes place in the lives of boys and girls during later childhood and makes the stories of the Exodus peculiarly valuable for this period. Not that they 84 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH “recapitulate” the history of the human race, but rather that each individual must learn how to live peace¬ ably and happily with others, must learn how to limit himself, adapt himself, control himself, and he does this at first on a small scale, in a group spontaneously formed of those of his own age and sex and condition. This group too must have a chance to acquire a group consciousness, it must have group leadership, it must de¬ velop group loyalty, it must work out some basis for an orderly group life, it must learn to maintain itself as a group against disintegrating forces. In the quest of ex¬ perience and freedom the lesson must be learned—just as it was in the discipline of the wilderness—that there can be no freedom, no experience that is satisfying, except in accordance with law. After becoming familiar with these experiences of Moses and his people, the whole mat¬ ter may be summed up in the form of general statements, as in the Ten Commandments, or the more specific com¬ mands, in Leviticus 19, covering theft, false testimony, gossip mongering, lying, respect for parents, elders and those in authority, tale-bearing, harboring resentment, seeking revenge, and the like. In the book of Judges we are brought more completely to consider the relationships of groups to each other. We have the picture of group solidarity in the effort to pos¬ sess the land, group loyalty for a definite end for group advantage. This in itself is a distinct achievement, in¬ volving the subordination of individual interests to the welfare of the larger whole. The stories of Deborah, Gideon, Jepthah, Samson, and others bring out different aspects of this problem and provide material for fruitful group discussion. Through it all, the boys and girls should not miss the lesson of the book as a whole: social order is dependent upon religious faith, trust, and accept¬ ance of God’s laws; the lack of these leads to social anarchy, chaos, and suffering. Specific lessons readily suggest themselves in other Old Testament stories. TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO CHILD 85 David’s battle with Goliath is a classic illustration of moral and physical courage; Nathan’s rebuke in the para¬ ble of the pet lamb is a forceful repudiation of the theory that might makes right; the exploits of Elijah illustrate both moral courage and the effect of physical weariness; Naaman and Gehazi reveal the meanness of a covetous spirit; Daniel emphasizes the importance of self-control in appetite and the glory of a courageous devotion to high ideals. There is, of course, much in the Old Testament ma¬ terial that is below the standards of a Christian civiliza¬ tion. Not infrequently acts which we should now char¬ acterize as unjustifiable, or even brutal and savage in their cruelty, pass without condemnation. Such acts need not be defended. They represent a stage of social progress. To boys and girls these may not seem so incongruous as they do to adults, for they themselves are not yet far beyond a similar stage of development. Let them discuss together these questions of right and wrong. But the time must come when they will need to be brought face to face with higher standards in the life of Jesus. There need not be any attempt, however, at this period to teach the “Life of Christ” as such, still less a philosophy of His life. The first disciples thought of Jesus as a man who was ever conscious of the presence of God. To Him, this was always God’s world. His care was over the smallest of His creatures, and His highest joy was found in giving Himself untiringly to working with God by helping the people about Him. The earliest Gospel, Mark, is a collection of stories setting forth the activities of Jesus in these ways; the Gospel of Matthew contains in addition a summary of Jesus’ sayings as principles of life; the Gospel of Luke emphasizes still further His tenderness, sympathy, and kindness in relieving human need. It is not until we get to the Fourth Gospel that an attempt is tnade to account for Jesus. The teaching of the Church for these years of later childhood should 86 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH follow mainly the concrete story method of Mark and Luke, showing Jesus always as the man of noble and generous action meeting day by day the problems of life in the midst of our ordinary relationships, but in a new and better way. There may be included also such por¬ tions of Matthew as complete the picture, supply his rules of conduct, and reveal the attitude of trust and the spirit of good-will as the heart of Jesus’ way of life. The deeds of other great and good men should be por¬ trayed, men who followed Jesus immediately or subse¬ quently: stories of the early Christian group and its communal life, Ananias, Stephen, Peter, and Paul; stories of helpfulness, stories of controversy and struggle, stories of faith and achievement. With these may be studied pas¬ sages in the letters of Paul regarding the importance of physical self-discipline and the control of appetite and passion, the evils of quarreling, jealousy, ill temper, slan¬ der, gossip, and sexual vice and urging that the body be kept fit for the indwelling of the Spirit of God; passages regarding control of the thoughts; and passages in which the various relationships within the family and the com¬ munity are set forth in their Christian aspects. This list may be supplemented indefinitely by stories of men and women who have lived in the spirit of Jesus and who have made contribution to the welfare of mankind. Colonel Waring who cleaned up Cuba; Clara Barton, the founder of the Red Cross in America; physicians like Dr. Lozier who gave their lives in the effort to eradicate yellow fever; missionaries like Paton of the New Hebrides or Jackson in Alaska or Judson in Burma or Grenfell in Labrador—here are stories full of adventure, romance, and Christian heroism. The whole course of study may be summed up by a perusal, and perhaps memorization, of portions of the “picture-gallery” in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, while admiration for these heroes may be expressed through such hymns as TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO CHILD 87 “The Son of God goes forth to war— Who follows in his train ?” Out of all this study there should gradually emerge a body of laws, standards, rules of life, representing the requirements to which everyone who loves God will make his conduct conform—a set of rules not unlike those expressed in the Boy Scout oath, but more fully elabo¬ rated and going rather more into detail. They will be honest, they will tell the truth, they will respect the rights of others, they will be alert to do a good turn, they will be fair in play, faithful in doing their duty, industrious, respectful to elders, obedient to those in authority, chival¬ rous toward the weak, and kind to all. Every boy and girl should acquire such a definite body of rules as a permanent possession. But they do not acquire these by a mere act of memorization. The best laws are those which each individual formulates for himself, tests in his own experience, and adopts as his own free act of choice. Whatever of value there may be in suggesting a classic phrasing of such rules of conduct, the memoriza¬ tion of these should come after, rather than before, dis¬ cussion and explanation. Otherwise they have little more value than to acquaint him with a vocabulary, lacking in vital content. Place must be provided, therefore, for discussion of alternatives, weighing of motives, passing judgment, making choices; for dramatizations, which will help them to feel more keenly the emotions accompany¬ ing such conduct; for group enterprises of their own in which the standards that they have seen in others acquire reality in their own lives. In every possible way the material of instruction should become a vital part of every-day experience. The teaching program fails that does not provide opportunity for giving expression in actual living to the feelings and attitudes which are embodied in the characters studied. Service activities should be a vital part of the 88 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH religious education of boys and girls; missions and social service will not then be regarded as accomplishments grafted upon the Christian life, but the life itself coming to normal expression. Training in worship needs to be made natural, vital, spontaneous, and pervasive; prayer and song and communion with God are not occasional pietistic performances but belong to the very essence of Christian consciousness. The child, no doubt, needs to become familiar with prayers and hymns and other forms of words which religiously minded persons have found a satisfying means of cultivating a sense of companion¬ ship with God; but he needs also practice in phrasing his own sense of dependence and need and grateful appreciation. The task of the Church for this age, in a word, is to present to the boys and girls pictures or models of con¬ duct, and to make these pictures really live by interpreting the episodes and exploits in terms of their own present experience. The great majority of children drop out of day school at the end of this period. The Church must face the fact that many are also likely soon to pass beyond the reach of its teaching agencies. Whatever it has taught, or failed to teach, by the twelfth or thirteenth year must serve, for many, as their equipment for life. Even for those who remain within the sphere of the Church’s influence, the teaching of these early years will become the foundation upon which must be built the later struc¬ ture of Christian character. From every point of view, therefore, it is of the utmost importance that the teach¬ ing of the Church during this elementary period, and particularly during these active, restless years of later childhood, be thorough, systematic, practical, vivid, and vital. CHAPTER IV TEACHING THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO YOUTH At about 12 years of age every young person crosses an imaginary line which separates childhood from youth. It may not be possible in any individual instance to designate the exact date, and we must guard against emphasizing the stages of development so much as to obscure the fact of continuity of experience, but it is certain that a transition takes place which is attended by radical changes in consciousness and fraught with the utmost significance for education and religion. Most, if not all, of the characteristic problems of adolescent years find their primary cause in physical changes. With the rapid increase in stature the young person gains literally a new “point of view.” Instead of “looking up” to his elders he now finds himself on a level with them and “looks them in the eye.” This naturally gives rise to a new feeling of independence, of equality, freedom, and no doubt goes far to explain the young person’s resentment at the restraints imposed by adult authorit)" and insistence upon being treated as a reason¬ ing being. Again, growth and development of bones and muscles, proceeding at different rates of speed, give rise to a physical uneasiness and to awkwardness in move¬ ment. This awkwardness, which is frequently the occa¬ sion of rebuke, ridicule, and misunderstanding on the part of parents, creates a feeling of shyness, sensitiveness, self-consciousness. Not infrequently there develops a sense of isolation from adult society and at the same time a reluctance to associate with younger boys and girls whose ways have been outgrown. Hence arise among 89 90 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH young people the spontaneously formed groups or “gangs” of their own “set”—composed of their peers, sympathetic spirits who are facing similar problems and who are intensely loyal to each other. Other physical changes have to do with the ripening of the organs of sex and attending this development are strange new in¬ stincts, whose significance is but imperfectly realized by youth, but whose presence begins to be evidenced by a new attraction of each sex toward the other. Here, then, is our young person, overgrown, awkward, independent, possibly defiant of authority, restless, sensi¬ tive, inconsistent, critical, elusive, clannish, sentimental, irresponsible, self-conscious; yet loyal, eager, enthusiastic, ready to cooperate and even to be self-sacrificing within the limits of his self-chosen social group; desiring free¬ dom but shirking duty—a difficult, lovable, tantalizing, and exasperating age. i. Early Adolescence: Ages 12 to 16 The years immediately preceding adolescence were years of acquisition. The boy or girl was engaged in collecting facts and material things, information, experi¬ ences—everything that could be appropriated—and with¬ out much thought as to their relative values or much attempt at arrangement and classification. The time has now come to assort this mass of detail, to find a clue to its organization, to employ critical comparison, to set standards of value, to find an ideal toward which to grow and to which to commit one’s life. A new con¬ sciousness of self is now arising and one is searching for the stuff out of which a self is to be made. If the Church has properly performed its teaching work up to this point we may assume a religious equip¬ ment at entrance upon adolescence somewhat as follows: a consciousness of God as Father, Helper ever-present, Worker, Creator, and Lawgiver; an attitude toward God TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO YOUTH 91 of trust, affection, gratitude, and loyal cooperation with His purposes; a conception of the world as God’s world, of nature as the expression of His wisdom, power, and love; of human society as the family of God, in which each member is responsible for respecting the rights of others and for cooperation with all for the common wel¬ fare; a wide acquaintance with persons, historical and contemporaneous, the story of whose lives is the story of achievement made possible by faith in God and con¬ formity to His laws; a knowledge of Jesus as the one who embodies most perfectly and expresses most fully this spirit of comradeship with God and harmony with His will; habits of private and group worship, in ways that are the natural expression of child aspiration; and habits of fair play, honesty, and truthfulness on the play¬ ground; of helpfulness, self-control, and conformity to God’s rules of life in general, coupled with a knowledge of simply formulated statements of such laws or rules as are fundamental to happy life together. Assuming all this, what further is needed to equip the adolescent for exploring this new world of self and meeting his new problems ? It should be the aim of the Church at this period to introduce young people as widely as possible to the lives of great men and women —ancient Hebrews, early Chris¬ tians, saints, apostles, missionaries, and those who in all ages have followed high ideals and served their fellow- men. This study will not concern itself now so much with deeds as with motives, not so much with exploits as with loyalties. These lives will be presented in such a manner as to raise in each instance the kinds of prob¬ lems youth must grapple with, and the members of the group will be encouraged to enter sympathetically, but also critically, into a discussion of the possible courses of action, the motives which finally led to decision, and the comparative values of results attained. The range of problems thus exemplified in concrete 92 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH characters will be as wide as possible. Problems con¬ cerning the physical life will be presented in lives that regarded the body as sacred, to be kept pure as the instru¬ ment of the spirit of God. There will be a study of lives in their relation to other lives as members of families, social groups, the community, the nation, and the world. The object will be to discover the attitudes and motives which should govern human relationships, and especially to widen sympathy and to extend the area within which loyalty to one’s fellowmen is operative. Through all these lives will run, as a golden thread, the religious motive, the consciousness of God as present Friend, Com¬ panion, Guide. Through contact with such lives youth will be gather¬ ing and sifting the material out of which an Ideal, a Self, is made and gradually, by processes of elimination, criti¬ cism, and synthesis, will be arriving at a standard of conduct embodied in an ideal personality. Whatever finally receives recognition as Ideal will command thence¬ forth the loyal devotion of youth. It is this free com¬ mitment of the self to the Ideal which is the climax toward which all educational processes converge. For such study it is not so necessary that many lives be studied as that certain typical, idealistic personalities be studied intensively. The material should show these in the act of facing crises or issues, they should reveal deliberation and suspended judgment in the presence of these issues and, if possible, the motives that led to de¬ cisions. As the study progresses, there should be dis¬ closed, from these successive grapplings with problems, certain underlying life purposes, or ideals, in accordance with which decisions were consistently made. Finally, there should be some clue as to the attitude of the person himself toward his own ideals, decisions, and acts; did he find them, on the whole, satisfying and, if so, on what ground? Or was he laying up for himself all the time a harvest of barren regrets? TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO YOUTH 93 The life of Moses, for example, may be made the basis for such study. With many of the incidents in his life the pupils are already familiar, but not with his inner struggles and purposes. These are revealed as one tries to put to himself the problem which confronted Moses and to live through with him the experiences he encoun¬ tered in attempting step by step to work out its solution. What, in fact, was the problem of Moses? Nothing less than the deliverance of his people and the training of them to live together in a safe and well-ordered society. The background of Egyptian life, the opportunities at the court of Pharaoh, the obligation of Moses to Pharaoh’s daughter for his bringing up and education —all these should be weighed over against the priva¬ tions and the ignominy which were the lot of his people. The scene in the desert at the burning bush exhibits Moses in the act of making his decision. Other factors are mentioned—his lack of certain desir¬ able talents, his uncertainty as to the response to his lead¬ ership, his shrinking from the magnitude of the task. With this as a clue to interpretation the whole career of Moses may be studied. How far was his conduct con¬ sistently controlled by this great initial purpose? Was his faith justified? How were his native deficiencies supplemented? Did his faith in God or his devotion to his people ever falter? How far did he succeed and wherein did he fail and why? By making this project of Moses their own, boys and girls will find that their own problems are being raised and that light is being thrown upon them. In connection with this study there may be made a comparative study of a life like Booker Washington’s, in many ways similar to that of Moses. What were the points of similarity or difference? What obstacles did he encounter and wherein did he succeed? What part did faith in God, in his cause, and in his fellowmen play in his career? What were the elements of strength and 94 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH of weakness in his character? What satisfactions came to him? The group needs opportunity also to formulate similar ideals on the basis of their own experience and to put ideals to the test. Where can young people today devote their energies on behalf of an oppressed or struggling group? Let the class search for and discover some such enterprise to which they will lend their aid. They may choose to support a colored boy or girl in the attempt to get an education, or help to finance a kindergarten in a needy district of the city, or take some share in the struggle against the evils of child labor, or even determine that they will champion the rights of boys and girls of their own acquaintance who suffer social ostracism and ridicule—Jews, Italians, Mexicans, Chinese, Negroes. Another life that is rich in material for such intensive study is that of David—fascinating from the standpoint of his, physical courage and resourcefulness, his spirit of honor and fair-play, his modesty, his reverence for sacred things, his loyalty as a friend, his affection as a parent, his justice and magnanimity as a ruler. Why should he have been chosen for his high position? How did he conduct himself during the difficult period of Saul’s later years? What was the secret of his power over his companions? How and why did he practice self- restraint? How did he bear suspense and face danger and meet disappointment and endure success ? What were his most serious limitations and weaknesses? What were the dominant purposes of his career? What were the significant choices which he made, and under what cir¬ cumstances? In what sense was David a religious man? Were the members of his race justified in looking back upon him as the ideal king? With this study as a background, comparative studies may be made of other kings of Israel. What problems had they to face? By what ideals were they guided? What qualities in the life of each one were outstanding? TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO YOUTH 95 With these, too, may be compared other historic charac¬ ters, like George Washington or Abraham Lincoln or Theodore Roosevelt. In what respects were these men, living at critical periods in history, like David? What made them attractive to their fellowmen? What was the secret of their power of leadership? Were they religious men and, if so, what part did their faith play in their ca¬ reers ? How far are such ideals practicable in the lives of young people ? In gangs of boys, what is it that boys ad¬ mire in the leader of the gang? Would David make a good leader today? What problems must be faced in every such group? Are the best leaders religious? How do they show it? What is the effect on the life of the group? If conditions in the gang are unsatisfactory how far is this fact to be accounted for by the qualities, or lack of them, in the leader? What can be done about it? Another type of character is represented in Ruth, whose story is full of charm. Her loyalty and devo¬ tion, her simple faith, her unwavering purpose, give to her character a rare winsomeness. How are these ex¬ pressed in her conduct? How does Ruth compare with her sister, Orpah, on the one hand, or with Naomi, on the other, as a type of womanhood? Were her ideals justified in the outcome? Elijah is a rugged character, attractive for his lonely grandeur and moral strength. What was the secret of his strength? What is the explanation of his loneliness? How explain his discouragement just at the moment of his greatest triumph? Was something lacking in his idealism? or in his religion? or was this reaction simply due to physical weariness? If so, what relation has one’s physical condition to his decisions and achievements? Where are the danger points in life? Isaiah and Jeremiah may be studied as examples of the great patriot and statesman. At what crisis did they respond to the call for leadership and how did the call come ? How did they find out what to do ? What diffi- 96 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH culties had they to contend against? What qualities of courage, judgment, decision, were required? What ideals did they hold up before their people? With what re¬ sults ? The supreme object of study during this period will be the life of Jesus, approached now especially from the inner side. What were the motives of Jesus? What problems confronted Him? Upon what principles did He make decisions? What was the controlling purpose of His life? In several ways the Gospel of Luke has a special appeal for young people. He professes to have sifted the existing traditions concerning Jesus and to have preserved an authentic and orderly record. He was a person full of human sympathy, as is evident from the character of the incidents selected and the manner of describing them. He narrates Jesus’ birth and infancy in such a way as to reveal the poetic feeling and religious fervor pervading them. He preserves the only references to the childhood of Jesus and especially the narrative of the visit to the temple and the questioning of the learned scholars—a curiosity regarding the deep problems of life quite intelligible to those who are themselves just at the threshold of intellectual and religious awakening. When Jesus, as a young man entering upon His career, passes through the deep spiritual struggle in the wilder¬ ness, what motives were contending for mastery? How would one state them so as to be intelligible now? How was the struggle finally decided? How did He discover a life-program? Of what significance was His visit just then to His home town? What did He try to tell His fellow townsmen that day in the synagogue? With what result? Was Jesus discouraged? So one may follow on through His life, pausing at each critical point to see how Jesus weighed the various factors in His problem, and then decided. Why, for example, did He choose disciples? Why did He spend the night in prayer before choosing? Why did He talk in parables? What was TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO YOUTH 97 He trying to accomplish at Caesarea Philippi by His ques¬ tioning of His disciples? In what ways did He resemble Elijah, or John the Baptist, or one of the prophets? When the time drew near for the final chapter in His career, what must have been the feelings of Jesus as He thought of all He had wished to achieve, but now saw to be impossible? Did He have the same sense of sor¬ row, of disappointment, of bitterness and despair which any youth with high purposes and hopes would feel under like circumstances, misunderstood, opposed, hated, per¬ secuted by the very persons He had hoped to help, His whole career ruined almost at its beginning? How could Jesus, under the weight of this burden, keep continually helpful and courageous? How could He keep on telling the story of God’s love; the story of the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son; the story of the Good Samaritan; the story of the Pharisee and publican; the story of the importunate widow? Did His own faith never waver, even in that moment on the Cross when all had forsaken Him and He cried, “My God, my God, why has Thou forsaken me?” Was the life of Jesus a success or a failure? What did He wish to accomplish? What did He, in fact, ac¬ complish by His life and death? It will be the endeavor of the teacher so to present the supreme example of a perfect life that youth will actually enter into Jesus’ experience—His hopes, His struggles, His disappointments, His sufferings, His triumphs. The character of Jesus, by sheer force of its intrinsic beauty, should captivate the imagination of the pupils and become the incarnation of all youth’s hopes and longings. The ideals embodied in that life should, become so clear that they may win spontaneous accept¬ ance and that this acceptance may find expression in an act of commitment of the self to Jesus, as Friend, Ex¬ ample, Saviour, and Lord. This, indeed, is the very climax of the Church’s teaching process. 98 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH Against this picture of the life of Jesus it will be pos¬ sible to study intensively and comparatively the careers of others who have lived according to Jesus’ way: lives of apostles, Peter, John, Paul; lives of early leaders in the church, Origen, Polycarp, St. Augustine; lives of reformers, Luther, Zwingli, Huss, Savonarola, Calvin, John Robinson; lives of modern heroes of the faith, mis¬ sionaries, ministers, physicians, teachers, Christian busi¬ ness men, explorers. Through all this study the en¬ deavor will be to lead youth into the consideration of the deeper problems of these lives, to discover motives, to appraise values, to weigh decisions. These, in turn, will be tested in discussion again and again, and applied to problems of the group itself as met with day by day. The teaching will be made vivid by pictures and maps and dramatization and analysis of situations. As the study progresses, the young people will be encouraged to think of themselves as forming a circle of disciples, and to express the spirit of the Master in acts of service, as troops of Scouts, Campfire, or other organization. They will seek out community needs and will undertake in practical ways to aid the needy and remove causes of suffering. In their common worship they may use devotional passages they have come upon in their study of the words of Jesus; or learn and repeat such choice selec¬ tions as Paul’s poem on love in the letter to the Corinth¬ ians. Such hymns as Matheson’s “O Love that wilt not let me go,” “O Jesus, thou art standing,” “I heard the voice of Jesus say,” ‘'Just as I am” (Youth’s version) and Whittier’s “We may not climb the heavenly steeps” will fittingly express their religious feeling. 2. Later Adolescence: 17TH Year to Maturity About 90 per cent of our young people end their school days before arriving at high school, and of those who TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO YOUTH 99 enter high school only about 15 out of every 100 remain to complete the course. This means that another great change occurs in the experience of the majority of young people at about the time of the 15th or 16th year. Here¬ tofore they have lived at home, sheltered by parental care or guided by teachers interested in their personal welfare. Now they must fare forth into the world of industry to find their own place in that world. Hitherto they have been wholly, or in large part, dependent upon their par¬ ents for shelter, food, and clothing. Now they must begin to assume responsibility for self-support. Many will actually leave home and friends and the familiar scenes of the community in which they have been reared and must learn to live among strangers and to face new temptations and dangers. Even though they remain at home, they will find that the shop, the office, or the store, with their strict regulations and unrelaxing discipline, constitute a very different kind of world from the home, the school, or the social group to which they have been accustomed. 1 This period is in many respects the most critical of all. The sudden rush of responsibility, the sharp con¬ trast between the vision of life just gained and the hum¬ drum routine of the daily occupation, the discrepancy between the ideal to which one has just committed him¬ self and the petty annoyances and often unworthy motives of the practical world, the thrill and excitement of pleas¬ ure and adventure alternating with the depression of fatigue, the loneliness and discouragement which are in¬ separable from the task of learning new duties in a strange environment, the incitement to new and doubtful pleasures by companions whose standards are question- *The present chapter has to do primarily with the rank and file of young people. Later chapters will consider the problem of the education of young people who are in institutions of higher learning and who are of special importance because of their potential leadership and influence. 100 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH able—all these combine and conspire to produce the im¬ pression that life now in this new world of work is a different thing from what one has known before, that it is based upon different principles, subject to different laws, conformed to different standards and ideals. All this tends to create in the individual a divided con¬ sciousness. If he still clings to his earlier ideals and strives to maintain his faith in God, he will very likely be led to feel that the field of their operation is limited— they have little or nothing to do with the daily business of life. Here the Sermon on the Mount will not seem to apply: Sunday and weekday, the sacred and the secular, have little in common. There may be many such distinct and unrelated worlds, each with its own regulative cus¬ toms, its own code of ethics: the world of business, the world of politics, the world of the social pleasure-groups —the club, the lodge, the amusement-hall—and the world one still calls home. Not only is there a tendency to divide up one’s present life into separate, unrelated worlds but also to think of these as the most real, because the most immediate and challenging, and, by contrast, to regard the past as out- of-date and without significance. Cut off from home, cut off from one’s past, living intensely in the vivid and changeful present, it is not strange that this period of youth should be often characterized as reckless, incon¬ sistent, impulsive, and irresponsible. Clearly, the business of the Church at this time is to seek to bring about in the young person unity of con¬ sciousness. The ideal to which youth has committed him¬ self in the earlier period must now be interpreted in terms of the new surroundings and faith must be put frankly to the test in solving the new problems. It will be found, of course, that many aspects of the new life are out of harmony with the ideal. These instances of disharmony are opportunities for the Church, through its sympathetic teaching, to enlist youth in some form of TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO YOUTH ioi Christian enterprise looking toward the changing of so¬ ciety and its institutions into forms that are more Chris¬ tian. The first approach to this task may be an attempt to develop a Christian attitude toward the world in general—an attitude of service rather than of self-seeking. From this point of view, vocation is an opportunity not merely for personal advantage or advancement, but for making a personal contribution to the common welfare. This opens the way for vocational guidance, for placing at the disposal of youth the Christian experience of the Church, helping them to avoid on the one hand the tragedy of the “blind alley” and on the other hand to choose the vocation for which they are best fitted by native talent and education and the one which offers the largest field both for useful service and reasonable return in legitimate satisfactions. The Church needs to help also in the solving of prob¬ lems which arise in connection with this transition to a life of industry. There is need for a Christian motive; there is also need for wisdom in meeting the unexpected strains of a new position. The uses of time and of money, the relation of recreation to health and happiness, the choice of companions, the establishment of proper attitudes towards employers, fellow-workers, the opposite sex, the community at large, the State, the world, these are now vital questions. Many of these problems will best be met by an objective study of society, its structure and its institutions, as they arise out of the very variety of standards which are current in every community. The method of study may be partly historical, for it will be a great help to find that there is a direct causal con¬ nection between the world as we know it, its institutions and its social habits, and the world of yesterday. Many of these institutions and habits are the outcome of a long social evolution. If we would know whither society is tending we must know whence it has come. Old Testa¬ ment history presents a picture of social development 102 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH from very primitive beginnings to a highly complex state, and a development in which the religious motive was strong. The history of New Testament times and of the Christian Church reveals the conflict of selfish with un¬ selfish motive and the progress of civilization toward the Christian ideal for society. Properly taught, these sub¬ jects may be tremendously helpful to the young person, enabling him to understand that many of the defects of society are due to the influence of unchristian motives and the blind conflict of selfish interests which the Chris¬ tian religion and the Christian Church are striving to supersede. At the same time, history offers ground for confidence in the possibility of resistance and struggle against obstacles which seem, at first thought, insur¬ mountable. But the teaching of history for this end must be no mere recital or memorization of facts. It must be, from first to last, an interpretation of life and of the working of the religious motive in society. One may take, for example, the earlier period of He¬ brew history prior to the establishment of the monarchy under King David. What were the characteristic fea¬ tures of social life in the comparatively primitive stage represented in the book of Judges, or more dimly pic¬ tured in Genesis and Exodus? Here we have a nomadic clan, with its family interpretation of everything per¬ taining to social relations—a relatively simple form of social organization, yet possessing in embryo many of the structures necessary for a more complex social order. Let the various aspects of such a simple brotherhood be discussed in all their bearings until young people come to feel that they understand not only what the conditions were but why they were. In process of time, the Hebrew nation came into existence. What were the forces that brought about this change from a nomadic clan-society to a settled agricultural, village-and-peasant society? What changes had to take place during the transition? What was the effect upon the rights of the individual, TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO YOUTH 103 upon his economic welfare, upon the methods of admin¬ istering justice and upon the standards of justice, upon the idea of God and the methods of worship, upon the attitude toward responsibility and duty, upon the conception of the meaning of life, upon the willingness to cooperate? Here are problems of fundamental importance, involving questions of value and standards of life, questions of faith and morals, temptations and choice, that are closely akin to those which young people themselves must meet in their transition from a family atmosphere to the life of the work-a-day world and the more complex social relationships. In such an approach to history there is splendid oppor¬ tunity for study of the place and influence of the prophet, as a preacher of righteousness, as a stimulator of con¬ science, as a leader of men, and as a statesman. Where did he get his message? How did he endeavor to win attention for it? Why did he take the positions he as¬ sumed, often in opposition to the will of the authorities? What values did he seek to conserve? Are the prophets to be classed as “conservatives” or “radicals,” as “reac¬ tionaries” or “progressives” or “insurgents”? To what motives did they appeal? What were their more impor¬ tant teachings? And what permanent results followed their activity? In a similar way the thinkers of Israel may be studied, the “wise men,” the “sages,” as they grappled with the broader philosophical or theological problems of their time. There was, for instance, the problem of God’s re¬ lation to His world. For such study compare the ancient mythology of Babylonia with the accounts of Creation in Genesis, and with nature passages in the Psalms. What does life mean, is life worth living? This problem is discussed in Ecclesiastes. The book of Job presents a compendium of rival theories as to the meaning of suffer¬ ing. The book of Jonah may form the basis for an appeal 104 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH to the conscience for a wider sense of responsibility to all mankind. Again, take the development of the priestly function and office in Israel. From one point of view, this may seem highly formal, mechanical, dead, uninteresting. From another point of view, it reveals the struggle for communion with God, through symbol and sacrifice, through worship and song. What a variety of moods is reflected in the Hebrew hymn book, and what a rich ex¬ pression of religious emotion. One cannot study this literature, from the formal, legal phraseology of Leviticus to the highly symbolic language of Ezekiel, without feeling stirred to appreciation of the religious passion of the Hebrew race and their determined struggle to interpret the whole of life in religious terms. On the other hand, one cannot make this study, even in a superficial way, without realizing how constant and how deadly is the tendency for what was once vital and vivid experience to degenerate into mechanical and formal repetition. Turning to the New Testament, we find Jesus first making His public appearance as an adherent of John the Baptist, the advocate of a new order, “the Kingdom of God/' to which Jesus committed Himself. While He gave Himself freely to the relief of those who were suffering from the injustices, maladies, and sins inherent in the old order, His real contribution was in teaching and illustrat¬ ing the great principles upon which the new order must rest. He must correct current misconceptions, disclose larger ideals, awaken men’s minds to new and more permanent satisfactions; in other words, interpret the new order—so far as possible—in terms of current thinking. What was the Kingdom of God like? How’ could one get into it? Why did it seem so slow of realization? What was to be its destiny? How were its laws to be related to present accepted rules of living? What was Jesus’ relation to the Kingdom ? Who should be greatest in the Kingdom? These and similar questions filled the minds TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO YOUTH 105 of men in His day. The Gospels reveal to us the manner in which Jesus made answer not in words only but in the more convincing witness of His life, so that through Him we learn what love is, what service involves, what sacrifice means, what God Himself is like. As a result of such intensive study of the Gospels— including now the Gospel of John which attempts to give us a philosophy of Jesus—the Church may reasonably expect that young people will follow His example and commit their lives to the Kingdom of God, as a Cause demanding their loyal devotion and life-service. The life and letters of Paul tell the story of one who thus committed himself to the Cause of Christ and gave his life to organizing his followers into a company, “Church,” or social group to promote that Cause through¬ out the world. The necessity for organization, the re¬ quirements for membership, the qualifications and duties of officers, the severe standards and tests of character, the questions as to the mutual relationships of members within the group, and between these members and others in the same community, the responsibility for those far away and for the world in general; personal problems—what attitude to assume toward prevalent customs, what stand¬ ards of family and business life to maintain, how to meet trial, persecution, suffering, death, how to meet tempta¬ tion, how to keep joyous and buoyant under the strain of hope deferred—these and many other personal and social problems are illuminated in the literature of the apostolic age. A study of such problems will correct many a false notion regarding the nature and purpose of the Church and lay the basis for a Christian philosophy of life. Not all social problems were solved in the apostolic age. Under the stimulus of the new teaching vast social changes began to take place; the Romanization of the Church, the stifling of its very life under the machinery of organiza¬ tion, the bursting of its bonds as a result of the liberalizing influence of learning, the new spirit which came in at the TO6 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH Reformation, the migration of Pilgrim, Puritan, and Huguenot, the building of a new nation, a democracy, the American commonwealth. From such study we may learn, better than from any other sources, the real meaning of democracy. What is the source and character of American ideals ? What does democracy mean in America? Is it, on the whole, the Christian conception of society? The meaning of these principles must be worked out by the young people themselves, in the light of their own experience. They will be aided in this by their religious teachers, but the assistance given will be in the line of suggestion and leadership rather than by dogmatic or even systematic indoctrination. The aim will be, of course, to help them acquire a system of Christian doc¬ trine, a working philosophy of life, but the method will be that of the laboratory, an inductive study of society itself by investigation, survey, and discussion of findings. Such surveys will include a study of the institutions common to every community—homes, shops, stores, schools, libraries, places of amusement, churches. It will be a critical study, endeavoring to face frankly conditions which are not consistent with the Christian standard. But it will be also a constructive study seeking to discover means and methods whereby the defects in present society may be corrected. As young people work together, in close touch with Christian ideals on the one hand and with actual social conditions on the other, convictions will be forming con¬ cerning the desirable standards of a Christian society—• convictions concerning family life, concerning business and commercial relationships, concerning community edu¬ cation and cooperation, concerning the Church and its mission. As they work together, experimentally, they will be gaining the best possible introduction not only to society but to the Church itself. As they study the history of social progress they will be discovering various TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO YOUTH 107 movements or causes with some one or more of which they may identify themselves. In other words, the ideal, which in the earlier period assumed form a$ a possible personal self, has now been more widely interpreted in terms of a personal relation of the self to society. The climax of the Church’s teaching work at this stage will be the presentation of a picture of ideal society and social relationships against this background of personal and race experience and philosophy of life. What is the basis of such a society? What institutions are funda¬ mental to its welfare? At what points does society, as we know it, fall short of the ideal? By what means and methods can it be brought closer to the ideal? How widely does one’s social responsibility extend? And how may those who are actuated by Christian motives be brought into most effective cooperation ? This, of course, is simply to say that the great, all-comprehending enter¬ prise of the Church is the Kingdom of God, and that its all-inclusive problem is to bring to men a vision of the Kingdom and to arouse in them a purpose to strive co¬ operatively for its realization. CHAPTER V TEACHING THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO THE MODERN MAN Throughout our study of childhood and youth we have been insisting that education must be vitally related to the environment—physical, mental, and social—in which the lives of the scholars are lived. To the educa¬ tion of the adult, now to be considered, the same principle applies. We have to take into account the present- day influences, growing out of the state of society as a whole, in which modern men and women are placed and do their work. These influences, all too often over¬ looked, deeply concern the Christian Church, both because they directly affect those who are under its influence and also because they create new groups to whom it has a responsibility and whom it cannot really help except as it enters into the world in which they are living and under¬ stands the forces which have shaped their attitudes and thought. In the present chapter we shall take for granted many generally accepted phases of the work of the Church in fostering the moral and spiritual growth of adults and direct our attention to more neglected considerations. i. The Social Environment of the Modern Man Among the forces which have a determinative effect on modern life we may mention four as of special importance for our present purpose: (a) the development of science and invention, with the resulting mastery of nature; (b) the growth of economic and social interdependence; (c) the quest of moral and political democracy; (d) the divisive influence of race and nationality. 108 TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO MAN 109 (a) The Development of Science and the Mastery of Nature .—In a previous chapter we have had occasion to consider some of the indirect effects of the scientific movement upon religion, in the creation of a secular system of education from which the teaching of religion is wholly or in part banished. But there are other and more direct ways in which science affects the environment of the Church’s teaching. In three ways in particular this influence appears : in creating a new attitude of mind toward authority in all its forms, both religious and secu¬ lar; in bringing into existence a new body of knowledge which at some points renders necessary a readjustment of the Church’s teaching; and in changing the physical en¬ vironment of men by putting into their hands greatly enlarged powers over nature. More important than any changes in specific beliefs is the change brought about by modern science in men’s attitude of mind. For the older attitude of unquestioning belief it has substituted the critical spirit. It is true that there are multitudes of men who have not yet felt this change to any appreciable extent. It is further true that not a few who have experienced it in the rest of their intellectual life, have yet managed to retain unimpaired their old attitude of unquestioning submission in matters of religion. Nevertheless, for very large numbers of persons both in the Church and outside, what we call the scientific spirit has become their familiar mental habit. They have become accustomed to asking for the reasons for their beliefs. They are distrustful of all external authority, however ancient and responsible, and they see no reason why in the case of religion, the most important of all human interests, they should depart from a method which has so clearly proved its usefulness in other realms of knowledge. Anyone who plans an educational program for the Church must take account of this situation. Those who are influenced by the scientific spirit must be approached no THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH by methods different from those which were efficacious with people who lived before the era of modern science. Modern science has not only created a new attitude of mind but has also brought into existence a body of knowl¬ edge which was not available when the older textbooks of religion were written. In the case of the physical sciences, the existence of this body of knowledge is gen¬ erally recognized. No one who visits the American Museum of Natural History, and sees the record of life as it is retold for him in the story of the species that pre¬ ceded man, can approach the study of the Bible with the presuppositions of the commentators who lived before Darwin was born or the theory of evolution had become familiar to every schoolboy. In other fields also far- reaching changes have taken place. In all the studies that are concerned with man’s spiritual history there has been notable activity. The history of religion has been re¬ studied in the light of archaeology and ethnology, and new material made accessible which older commentators did not possess. The Bible has been subjected to intense and critical study, with the result that most scholars believe that it has had a longer history and a more composite authorship than our fathers supposed. The history of the Christian Church and of its institutions has been rewrit¬ ten. Other faiths have been made familiar to us by the science of comparative religion. New sciences, like the psychology of religion, have been born and have devel¬ oped a vigorous life, and multitudes of people who have never thought of reading a theological treatise have found inspiration and stimulus in such a book as William James’ “Varieties of Religious Experience.” It is not a question whether we approve or disapprove these developments. The fact is that they have occurred and that we must shape our educational program accordingly. The most revolutionary of all the changes brought about by modern science is in the external environment in which the people who are to be taught are living. Science has TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO MAN m so marvelously increased our powers over nature that one man can do with steam and electricity what a thousand men together could not have done a century ago. As a result vast changes have taken place in the habits of men and in their mental horizon. Space has been annihilated. Knowledge, or what passes as such, is made common property by the daily press. Great industries have arisen, made possible by the factory system with its large-scale production. Wealth has been multiplied and widely dis¬ tributed, but, side by side with this increase in general comfort, great fortunes have been accumulated in the hands of a little group of men, whose power to affect the destiny of their fellows has been enormously increased. Witnessing these amazing transformations, men have come to think of science as a sort of modern wizard, mak¬ ing all things possible, and the moral limitations of power, pure and simple, have been for the time obscured. These limitations the war has set in clearer light. Viewing the results of the application of scientific methods to warfare we see that science as such is merely neutral. By enlarg¬ ing our knowledge it has increased our power, but whether that power is to be used for good or ill, for the destruction or for the advancement of mankind, remains yet to be decided and is an inescapable problem for religion. (b) Growth of Economic and Social Interdependence. —A second factor of which the modern Christian educa¬ tor must take account is a result of the transformation thus briefly described, namely, the almost incredible growth of social and economic interdependence. This is a fact which is forced upon us by the most familiar happenings of every day, but to whose moral and spiritual significance we have not yet given the thought it deserves. The most impressive illustration of this interdependence is the modern industrial system. This has bound the’ peoples of the world together in an intricate mechanism of commerce, every dislocation of which produces disturbing 112 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH effects in the most unexpected quarters. A hundred years ago, indeed much later than this, it was possible for a family living on the soil in almost every country to be, for all practical purposes, economically independent. Now economic independence is a wholly impossible thing. The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the houses we live in, are provided for us by others, and those who thus cooperate in our support live literally at the ends of the earth. With the growth of modern industry specialization in labor goes on with ever-increasing intensity, and with specialization a corresponding increase in insecurity of employment. When each man is able to do only a single thing, and that as part of a large machine which he neither owns nor controls, he is helpless when for any reason the machine stops and no longer demands his services. He can no longer stay where he is and support himself by doing something else. If he is to find work he must go where work is, and this produces a constant shifting of population which breaks up home life and has all manner of other unfortunate spiritual consequences. The most serious of these for our present purpose is the change of spiritual attitude on the part of large masses of the people. Instead of feeling their responsibility to the place where they live or to the community as a whole, they acquire a spiritual aloofness which corresponds to their physical detachment. Their allegiance is not pri¬ marily to their own country or state, but to their fellow- workmen with whom they share their daily toil and in cooperation with whom alone they see any possibility of social betterment. So a class consciousness arises which sets labor against capital and often limits the application of the Christian principle of universal brotherhood to those of one’s own class. And this class consciousness is by no means confined to those who are in the ranks of labor. Employers generally act as a group in regarding the present system of control of industry as the only right one and in resenting any attempt on the part of the wage TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO MAN 113 earners to limit the employer’s control of his business as he alone sees fit. To modern capitalism, labor is a com¬ modity like coal or iron, to be bought in the cheapest market and discarded when its usefulness is exhausted. So men who are charitable and considerate to individuals in need become callous to the sufferings of men in the mass and regard any effort to change the present industrial system as an attack upon fundamental rights to be opposed to the uttermost. The effect of this attitude on the part of employers and workers and the public is to carry the war-spirit into industry. Competition up to the limits set by law is regarded as the normal law of business life, and any in¬ sistence that industry make earnest with the Christian ideals of cooperation and service is regarded as mixing two things that have to be kept apart. This state of things affects the Christian educator vitally. It makes it difficult for him to reach the ranks of organized labor directly, at least that part of it which has become class conscious, because they tend to think of the Church as a part of the existing order, defending things as they are. Even more serious is the fact that the atmosphere of strife creates a spiritual attitude which makes it more difficult everywhere to secure the acceptance of the Christian message, and, even when that message is ac¬ cepted, faces us with problems of practical application hard to solve but impossible to ignore. (c) The Quest of Moral and Political Democracy .— A third factor in the life of our time, of which the Chris¬ tian educator must take account, is the increasing number of men and women in all walks of life who insist on their right to be consulted as to the conditions of their own lives. We speak of our age as a democratic age, and by this we ordinarily refer to the political changes which are taking place in the forms of the world’s government—the growing increase in the power of the people over their rep- 114 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH resentatives, the passing of monarchies, the birth of new democracies, the trying of new and radical experiments in government. But the phenomenon in question is much more widespread than this. It meets us wherever men have to live and work together, in industry and in educa¬ tion, for example, quite as much as in politics. Every¬ where we find an increasing demand for freedom, side by side with an increased need for centralized and effective government. And this affects not only the conduct of men, but more and more their spiritual attitude. A fa¬ miliar illustration meets us in the world of industry. In the contest between capital and labor the real issue is rarely simply a matter of hours or of wages, but rather of the method by which the industry shall be controlled. The workers are insistent that they shall have a share in the management as well as in the rewards of industry, and the increasing recognition of the reasonableness of this desire is an impressive evidence of the extent to which the democratic spirit is making its presence felt. What is true in industry is true also in education. Here, too, the present tendency is to replace the older autocratic and dogmatic methods of instruction with a method in which the pupil is made responsible in part for his own educational development. The elective sys¬ tem, the wide use of the laboratory, and the emphasis on the project method are only a few among many indica¬ tions of this changed point of view. In considering the significance of this new democratic emphasis for religious education it is important to remember that we are not dealing simply with an educational problem as such, but with the application to religion and education of a human problem of far-reaching significance. The quest of political and moral democracy is not a phenomenon confined to Europe and America alone. It is world wide, meeting us as impressively in China and India as in countries nearer home. All over the world we find individuals and whole nations asserting their right TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO MAN 115 to self-determination and self-control. And here we meet another disturbing fact that sets a grave problem for the teacher of religion, the deep-rooted rivalry between aspir¬ ing groups separated by differences of race and of nationality. (d) The Factors of Race and of Nationality .—In the problem of the relation of the white people and the Ameri¬ can Negro we see an outstanding example of the difficul¬ ties raised by racial differences. Here is a group of nearly ten million people who in the eyes of the law are entitled to all the rights and privileges of American citi¬ zenship, yet who for all practical purposes are separated from their fellow Americans of white skin by an impass¬ able gulf. They may not inter-marry with them; in many parts of the country they may not travel with them; and what is still more significant, they may not study with them; they may not even worship with them. They have their own industries, their own schools, their own churches. Yet to our Christian faith they are our brother-men for whom Christ died, and with us heirs of the Kingdom of God. Among the persons to be included in the Church’s program of religious education are these ten million potential Christians, and among the subjects to be taught to black and white alike are the Christian principles which should determine the relation between the two races. Another factor which intensifies the problem of race is the difference in language. Among the immigrants who for the last generation have been pouring into this country are multitudes who do not speak English and who even after years of residence here still retain the tongue of the lands which gave them birth. The last figures of the United States’ census report the fact that about eleven million Christians in this country belong to Churches which conduct their services in whole or in part in languages other than English. Still further difficulties are ii 6 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH introduced in the case of those who come to us from countries which may have political differences with the United States, and who still retain their affection for the land of their birth. Illustrations in the public eye today are the Japanese on the west coast and the Mexicans pour¬ ing over the’southern boundary into Texas and the neigh¬ boring states. All these factors of alien race, alien speech, and conflicting loyalties present a set of almost over¬ whelming problems in carrying out what is at once an educational and a missionary enterprise for the Church in America. When we pass from our own country altogether and begin to study the wider field of world politics, we find race rivalry everywhere on the horizon. The contention between Japan and China, between Korea and Japan, be¬ tween Greeks and Turks, Turks and Armenians, Magyars and Czechoslovaks, Germans and Poles—these are but a few of a multitude of illustrations which might be given. Rivalries of race are complicated by the further fact of nationality. Intense loyalty to the national group, sus¬ picion and distrust of other nations, economic rivalries to secure access to natural resources and markets, all the familiar aspects of modern international life which found their culmination in the slaughter of ten million young men in a single war, followed by conditions of peace that seem to be rapidly breeding future wars, give us a world in which the Christian ideal of the unity of mankind, which underlies the whole foreign missionary program of the Church, seems only hollow mockery. To work for the Christian ideal for society with any hope of success we must understand the obstacles to which it is exposed. Included, therefore, in any adequate pro¬ gram of Christian education for modern men and women must be a study of the present-day facts of class, race, and nationality, the meaning of Christianity for these great phases of our social life and the ways in which Christian influences can be effectively brought to bear upon them. TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO MAN n7 2. Consequences for the Educational Task of the Church In the present attitude of suspicion and fear between class and class, nation and nation, race and race, with the substitution of lesser loyalties for the Kingdom of God, there is no hope for modern civilization. To persuade men that there is a better way of life and to create in them the will to follow it, is the task of Christian education. What is needed to hold the world together is religion, not some vague religion of aspiration and good-will born yesterday and untested by experience, but one which is rooted in deep-seated convictions concerning the nature of God and His plan for the universe. Without such a unifying faith in a beneficent Purpose for the world, it is hopeless to expect the social salvation for which we long. This unifying faith comes to us through Jesus Christ. Here is the one possible integrating force for modern democracy. It is the responsibility of the Church to show convincingly that this is so. In order to accom¬ plish this she must, in the first place, interpret to her own people the meaning of the Gospel for the perplexing situa¬ tions in the modern world in which they live, and, in the second place, present the Gospel to those now outside the Church’s influence in such a compelling fashion as to win them to allegiance to Christ and His way of life. (a) The Church as Interpreter of the Gospel to the Growing Christian .—In order that the Church may be able to interpret the meaning of the Gospel to her own people so that they shall be able to play their part worthily as Christians in the concrete situations which they daily face, it is necessary for us to take account of two different groups of problems, independent but closely related. There are, first, the problems which are concerned with the fundamental convictions in which the Christian ethical ideal is rooted, and, secondly, those which have to do with ii8 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH the application of the ethical ideal of Christianity to baffling conditions of modern life. Even in the comparatively simple task of holding up the fundamental Christian convictions the environment in which his teaching must be done sets the Christian teacher peculiar problems. He must interpret the nature of Chris¬ tian faith to men who have been brought under the influ¬ ence of the scientific spirit, and this influence acts differ¬ ently in the case of different men. On the one hand, we find men to whom the acceptance both of the methods and of the results of modern scientific thinking has become a matter of course. They accept reason as the natural method of arriving at the truth, and growth as the normal law of life. They find difficulty with the entire conception of miracle and the supernatural, and question whether it is any longer possible for them honestly to accept the creeds which were written by men who did not share this larger knowledge. On the other hand, we find men to whom the whole scientific attitude is disturbing. Brought up to identify religion with simple and unquestioning belief, they regard the attitude of many modern men to the Bible as dangerous, not to say irreligious. They are convinced that to retain the hold of the Gospel upon the allegiance of men all attempts to modernize its form must be resisted. To each of these kinds of men the Christian teacher has a duty. It is that of interpreting them to one another. To the man who accepts the scientific view of the world it is the teacher’s office to show that this view leaves un¬ touched all the deeper issues with which religion is con¬ cerned. As science itself lives by faith and has reared its majestic structure by unquestioning trust in the consist¬ ency of nature and the meaningfulness of life, so in the deeper questions where the methods of science break down, it is reasonable still to follow the same guide, and in the mysterious power whose processes science studies to discern the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO MAN 119 Jesus Christ. For those, on the other hand, who find the scientific attitude disturbing, the modern Christian teacher also has a task. He must remind them of the many changes which have taken place in the view of the world since Jesus lived, and of the fact that His Gospel has survived them all. He must point out the limitations of science, which deals with methods and causes rather than with ultimate realities, and show how in its own way it brings confirmation of Christian truth. He must show that in the Christian experience we have a ground for faith which science cannot shake and that in this experience we have a point of contact with men whose theoretical opinions may be very different from our own. Thus on both sides it is the Christian teacher’s privilege to act as a reconciler. He reminds both liberal and con¬ servative that what they hold in common is far more than that in which they differ, and that in spite of all the changes in our changeful world the purpose of God for mankind, His revelation in Christ, the presence of His spirit, the power of the Cross, the possibility of salva¬ tion from sin, the coming of the Kingdom of Love in human society, the hope of immortality, are still unchang¬ ing realities. In the insistent demands of Christian service he helps them to discover a unity of spirit and purpose in which all lesser differences can be reconciled. Still more difficult is the Christian teacher’s second problem—the application of the ethical ideal, to which all Christians are alike committed, to various phases of our modern life. What follows, for the Christian view of man and of his duty, from the complex situations with which the modern world confronts us? How far is the Chris¬ tian committed by his faith in Christ to a particular kind of social order and what is his responsibility for realizing that ideal in detail ? In particular, how far is it necessary, or legitimate, for the Church to express a definite judg¬ ment in matters in controversy in the field of economics or politics? What does faith in Christ require pf the 120 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH individual Christian in his personal capacity as employer or employe, officeholder or voter, investor or consumer, patriot or citizen of the world? These are questions which earnest Christians are asking themselves every day. What attitude is the Church to take toward them in her official teaching? In other volumes of this series we have attempted to study some of these problems of application. Especially worthy of note for the Christian teacher, in view of the importance and difficulty of the subject discussed, is the volume on “The Church and Industrial Reconstruction.” In this volume certain general principles have been laid down which apply in other fields than that of industry and which it may be worth while for us here briefly to recall. In the first place, it is maintained that the Church cannot but be concerned with industrial and economic questions because they bear directly upon those human values with which the Gospel has to do. Such principles as the value of every personality for God, the brotherhood of man, and the duty of service are of the very essence of the Gospel of Christ and cannot be ignored in any aspect of life by the Church which professes to speak in His name. In the second place, the attempt is made to distinguish between those Christian duties which all men of good-will must recognize as soon as they know the facts, and that disputed territory of theory in which men equally honest and sin¬ cere may differ. While it is the duty of each individual to follow his conscience wherever it may carry him, it is clear that the Church, as a corporate teaching body, must center her instruction around matters on which there is a fair agreement among thoughtful Christians as to what Christianity requires. At the same time the Church must also be the free home of prophets who live ahead of their age and lead the people on to insights and duties hitherto unrecognized. In the third place, the effort is made in this study to give concrete illustrations of the application of the prin- TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO MAN 121 ciples laid down in order that the modes of action recom¬ mended may be such as have already proved practicable by use. Finally, the distinction is made between the Christian ideal for society and the Christian way of realizing that ideal. It is pointed out that the presence of men in society who do not hold the Christian faith or accept the Christian ideal often makes it necessary for the Christian in his capacity as citizen or man of business to choose the better of two possible alternatives, even if neither completely realizes the Christian ideal. And it is insisted that such action, however legitimate as a tem¬ porary expedient, must always be recognized for what it is, as a step toward the Christian goal, never as that goal itself, and that as long as society remains the imperfect and incomplete thing it is today, it must be the duty of the Church to point out its inadequacy and to insist that only through the complete acceptance of the Christian law of faith and love can the ideal be realized. (b) The Church as Interpreter of the Gospel to the Man Outside .—Thus far we have been considering chiefly the Church’s responsibility for those who are already under its influence. But there is another aspect of its work which we cannot ignore, and that is its duty to interpret the Christian Gospel to those individuals or groups who do not accept it. This is a problem not only of reaching the persons who are wholly outside the Church but also of reaching with the influence of the Gospel those who already accept it so far as their own personal lives are concerned but who do not yet see its meaning for the relations of men in organized social groups. Millions of men who acknowledge the claim of the Gospel in certain realms of life do not yet think of it as having any practical bearing upon the principles which should control an in¬ dustrial corporation, a chamber of commerce, a trade union, or a government. Many a man who is a Christian in his family life follows a very different way of life as 122 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH director in a steel corporation, organizer of a textile- workers’ union, political party leader, or prime minister of a state. We can get light on this most difficult of all the Church’s present problems by considering the situation on the foreign field. Here the primary work of the Christian teacher is with persons who have grown up in non- Christian surroundings and who approach the problems of life without sharing the Christian presuppositions. Much of his time is taken up in finding points of contact with their life for his own distinctive message, and in finding words and ideas which will convey his meaning to their minds. An eminent Chinese missionary spent most of his life in making a dictionary of Chinese philosophical terms because he was persuaded that without the aid of the most exact phraseology it would be impossible for the Christian teacher to convey the Christian beliefs about God and Jesus Christ to educated Chinese in such a way that they would be fairly understood. Much the same situation meets us at home in the case of multitudes of people who, so far as their appreciation of Christian principles is concerned, are practically “heathen.” The task of the Christian educator is to find out who these people are, to gain a point of contact with them, and to discover the language through which the message of the Gospel may be conveyed to their minds. This problem concerns, in part, those who are already in other educational institutions, the public schools and the universities, where we face the fact of a secularized education and the problem it presents. But we are here thinking primarily of groups which are not so easily ac¬ cessible through the Church’s more ordinary channels, such groups as the labor unions, the radical organizations in our society, the chambers of commerce, manufacturers’ associations, and other organs of business, and the vari¬ ous philanthropic and charitable associations. These, with the press which they use and largely control, are the TEACHING CHRISTIAN RELIGION TO MAN 123 organs through which public opinion is formed and with which, therefore, those must concern themselves who be¬ lieve that the Church has a gospel for society and com¬ mands forces which should be mobilized for the welfare of the race. The reason why the Church’s educational program should take account of these groups is the fact that they are becoming, in an ever-increasing degree, educational agencies. Partly unconsciously, partly of set purpose, they are forming the attitudes and beliefs of men and shaping their activities. In the case of the labor move¬ ment, this is definitely and deliberately the case. How far this is true of employers’ associations and other organs of the business world it is not so easy to say; but cer¬ tainly it is a fact that, whether consciously or uncon¬ sciously, in these organizations and others like them we have agencies which are carrying on an educational work, in the wider sense of the term, and which, therefore, we cannot ignore. We must include in our educational pro¬ gram some provision for interpreting to organized groups outside the Church the meaning of Christianity for their life. To this subject we shall turn in the following chapter. CHAPTER VI CHRISTIANIZING PUBLIC OPINION Thus far in our study we have been thinking of the Church as the teacher of the individual. Men and women, children and youth, who are in some way associated with the Church so that its influence can be brought directly to bear upon their lives, have been regarded as the objects of its educational effort. Some form of a definite teacher- pupil relationship has been constantly in our minds. But there are millions of men who will never sit in our pews, whose children will never attend our Sunday Schools, with whom no formal relationship of teacher- pupil is possible. They do not care to be taught about Christianity; either they do not understand it or are indifferent to it. What is the Church, as a teacher, to do for them? Approximately 60 per cent, of our population are not members of any Church, Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish. Probably less than 25 per cent, of the people of an average community attend church or Sunday School on a given Sunday. If they will not come to us to be consciously taught, we must in some way go to them. Somehow we must get the Christian ideals into media that do reach them—those media which, like the daily press, for example, are unconsciously teaching all the people all the while—so that indirectly, if not directly, they may be learning what Christianity means for the world. Even in the case of those whom we are already reaching through our direct teaching, we need always to remember that there are other “educational” influences, more vague but no less powerful, constantly at work upon them. All the social environment in which the individual lives is, 124 CHRISTIANIZING PUBLIC OPINION 125 for good or ill, having its potent effect in making him what he is to become. It so conditions his living and so affects the development of his character that in order to make our Christian teaching effective we must give a Christian direction to these forces which determine our national attitudes, our economic assumptions, our social standards, all the controlling ideas of modern civilization. A Church which should think only of the individual and give no direct attention to the social environment would be like a physician who should try to bring a tubercular convalescent to sturdy health without choosing for him a climate conducive to that end. These accepted customs, these prevailing attitudes, these general standards of thought and conduct, these current social viewpoints, we call public opinion. This it is which largely determines the character of our community life and our social organization, and so is a mighty educational force, either supporting or blocking the efforts which the Church is making in behalf of individuals. In order to train a single individual to be Christian we need to Chris¬ tianize public opinion. There is no factor that counts for more in shaping his decisions. It is hardly too much to say that public opinion is the most powerful “educator” in our modern world. The task of Christian education, then, is not simply one of converting more individuals; it is more even than a more effective teaching of individuals as to what it means to be a Christian. It cannot stop short of a definite un¬ dertaking to Christianize the public opinion which is responsible for the social structure in which the individual has his being, and which always makes it either easier or harder for the individual to be a Christian in the daily relationships of life. How often this public opinion is molded by selfish forces for selfish ends we know all too well. The practical question for the Church is, are we to allow public opinion to be an opposing influence or are we 126 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH to capture it for Christianity and make it a great evan¬ gelistic and educational force? i. The Wider Teaching Mission of the Church This public opinion is not simply the sum of the opinions of individuals. To some extent at least it is an organic thing—a group attitude which would not exist except for the relationship of individuals to each other and their reactions upon each other in unconscious ways. For society itself is not made up of independent individ¬ uals, and nothing more. A social group is not merely the totality of its separate members. When they become associated with one another in a common life, a plus element has entered in. By virtue of their interplay with one another they become other than they would ever be as unrelated units. There results a social conscience and a social will which are something more than a mathematical addition of individual consciences and wills. If anyone questions this, let him recall how war¬ time propaganda developed a social atmosphere which swept hosts of individuals into making decisions that apart from the group-spirit they would never have made. Or let him think of a crowd to whom the suggestion of lynching a black man has been made. The members do as a collective body what not one of them would ever do on his own independent initiative. What happens in an intense degree in war-time or in the action of the mob is, in considerable measure, happening all the time. Men in groups are not the same men that they would be as sepa¬ rate individuals. Through their relationships with one another they develop types of activity and of thought which gradually become standards for the group and are transmitted from one generation to another. It is difficult to exaggerate the extent of the influence of society in standardizing the activities and the beliefs of its members. In the first place, the life of everyone CHRISTIANIZING PUBLIC OPINION 127 is conditioned by the kind of civilization into which he is born. In the second place, he is dependent, at every turn thereafter, on what his fellows have done and are doing now. The very language which he uses is a social institution that he himself did not create. Hosts of his presuppositions and habits and modes of action come to him as a part of his social heritage rather than as the result of any reasoning process of his own. What the individual himself achieves and what he receives from the social medium in which he moves are so interwoven that it is quite impossible to extricate the one from the other. Society, in a word, makes its members quite as much as they make society. While we are trying to edu¬ cate the individual to the Christian way of living, existing social and economic arrangements which give the rewards to those who selfishly compete for private advantage are subtly and powerfully educating him in an unchristian attitude toward life. To teach the Fatherhood of God and the oneness of the human family by text book and by word of mouth, while unbrotherly inequalities of oppor¬ tunity are teaching the opposite, will be to sow good seed on stony ground. To proclaim the motive of service in Sunday School and pulpit will not carry us far if the industrial world, in which men spend the greater part of their waking hours, is organized around the idea that the way to succeed is to grab as much as you can for your¬ self. No one can be wholly a Christian so long as he is bound up with an unchristian, or partly Christianized, social order. The realization of this truth in earlier centuries drove the most devoted spirits into monasteries in order that there, apart from opposing influences, they might live under conditions that required no compromise with an unchristian world. The day of the monastery has gone, but the conditions against which it was a protest remain and must be dealt with by the Church in some positive way. For Christian discipleship can never be merely a 128 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH matter between an isolated individual soul and God. The individual exists and has meaning only in society. The minister who at an ecclesiastical gathering protested that he wanted “the Church to keep entirely away from politi¬ cal issues, away from industrial questions, away from international problems, and to confine itself to teaching the Kingdom of God,” was proceeding on the utterly false assumption that the Kingdom of God can consist of souls dwelling in a social vacuum. Here, to take a concrete example, is a conscientious employer who earnestly desires to organize his whole business establishment around what he sees to be the principles of Jesus. He does not want to treat labor as a “commodity,” to be bought at the lowest possible figure, like coal or cotton. He has come to see labor as human personalities, meant for all the fulness of life which he enjoys. He does not want his industry to have as its organizing principle a ruthless competition in profit¬ taking. He wants it really to be an expression of brother¬ hood. But when he attempts to put his principles into practise he finds that what he himself can do, in shorten¬ ing hours, increasing wages, or preventing unemployment, is limited by the competitive system of which he is in spite of himself a part. Many things, of course, he can do independently, but other things he can do only if they are practised more widely throughout the industry as a whole; else he will too greatly imperil his own continuance in business and so stand in the very way of the service which a successful and socially operated industry can render. He finds, in other words, that he cannot be a Christian in business, in the full sense, until business itself is organized on Christian standards. Of every one of us it is true that we cannot be absolutely Christian in our living so long as we are members of a social order not yet built on a Christian basis. If I invest my modest savings in industrial stocks, my generous dividends may be meaning to those who actually produce CHRISTIANIZING PUBLIC OPINION 129 them less than a decent wage. In this way I contribute to their poverty, for which I thought they were them¬ selves solely responsible. Indeed, for the citizen the choice is not often the wholly Christian versus the un¬ christian course. When competitive armaments have culminated in war the only possibility is to choose the less unchristian alternative—either fight reluctantly for the less guilty side or withhold support from both alike, re¬ gardless of the balance of right and wrong. Even if one tries to choose the latter path, he cannot entirely do so, for simply to pay taxes or till the soil is to contribute to the nation’s success in arms. From such situations there is, individually, no escape. The one way out is to arouse a social conscience and a public sentiment that will break through the inertia of inherited arrangements and set to rebuilding our social organization along better lines. The Church, then, in addition to working for indi¬ viduals, one by one, must find ways of Christianizing public opinion concerning many generally accepted cus¬ toms and conventions of the people as a whole. While never abating for a moment its energy in laying the in¬ dispensable foundation of Christian hearts and wills in those whom it can directly reach in its own schools and congregations, it must, at the same time, be holding the Christian ideal before the social group as a whole. We must do not only what social workers call “case work”— that is, deal with instances of individual need—but also “mass work.” We must educate the general public to the necessity of changing the conditions out of which wrong attitudes and wrong actions naturally spring. 1 In the problem of health, for example, who today fails to recognize the importance not only of curing individual patients but also of eradicating the causes of disease that *For the fuller development of the comparison see F. E. John¬ son’s “The Social Gospel and Personal Religion.” Association Press, 1922. 130 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH lurk in impure milk, lack of sunshine, or undrained swamps ? In a notable achievement in which the Church played #ie most important part—the prohibition of the liquor traffic—we have an illuminating example in the moral and religious realm of what we may call “mass work” in contrast with “case work.” The old method of working for temperance was to instruct the individual as to the evils of strong drink and induce him to sign a pledge. Yet at the very time when we were trying to make the man temperate we were leaving him unnecessarily ex¬ posed to the attack of a saloon on every corner. Today we undertake not only to teach the individual the value of abstinence but also to secure a social environment in which it will be reasonably normal for him to abstain. We found, to repeat a suggestive epigram, that it is neces¬ sary not only to keep the man away from the liquor but to keep the liquor away from the man. The method of approach illustrated by the legal prohi¬ bition of the liquor traffic could be paralleled in many other social fields. How was duelling abolished? Not by converting duellers one by one, but by a great awaken¬ ing of the social conscience. Was slavery abolished simply by persuading slave owners to free their slaves? No; it was necessary to bring about a different form of economic organization. Turn now to existing phases of social evil —lynching, for example, participated in often by “Chris¬ tian” people. Shall we get rid of it by converting indi¬ vidual lynchers? Must we not rather organize public opinion against it so strongly that lynching will no longer be tolerated by a community? Or child labor? Can we hope to eliminate it solely by winning employers one by one to fuller discipleship to Christ? Must we not also pass laws which will make the exploitation of children for private profit more difficult and which will ensure that the employer who does not want to make money at the ex- CHRISTIANIZING PUBLIC OPINION 131 pense of little children will not be forced into unequal competition with the ruthless and unscrupulous? We have referred to legislation as the means through which the aroused public mind may make itself effective. This is, no doubt, the most obvious way, but it is by no means the only one. Quite apart from the question of legal enactments there is also the possibility of crystalliz¬ ing public opinion into ideas and ideals which gain such power as to become a part of the generally accepted social code. When a social atmosphere is created so that masses of men think the same thing at the same time—an educa¬ tional result which the Government achieved in a remark¬ able degree in war time—the effects of social inheritance are often materially modified. The necessity for the creation of public opinion for the outlawing of war will serve as an illustration of what we mean when we are speaking of this wider educational responsibility of the Church. After the Sunday School has done all that the most exacting educator could expect of it in training its children in the Christian way of life, after the Christian college has performed its task of en¬ larging the social outlook of the Christian youth who come to its halls, even after the agencies of missionary education have developed an international mind and a desire for world service, there is still left a tremendous task for Christian education if war is actually to be abol¬ ished. The facts concerning the staggering cost of arma¬ ment, the inevitable consequences of suspicion, distrust, and ill-will which "preparedness” produces, the subtle connection between war and the economic exploitation of backward people, the need for building up the interna¬ tional agencies and institutions that will serve as a substi¬ tute method of obtaining security and justice—all these and other factors must be brought home to the citizens as a whole. The general ideal of brotherhood taught in Sunday School and pulpit must be analyzed in its application to concrete and specific issues and actually 132 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH brought to bear upon them. What does brotherhood demand in our relations with Europe? Or in our treat¬ ment of the Japanese in California in view of complex economic and social considerations involved? Or in our relations with Haiti? Or in the contacts of the white and the Negro races ? To secure a Christian solution of such questions as these requires us to come to grips with the great organs by which contemporary public opinion is formed. For it is a question of having not only Chris¬ tian motives but also a clear discernment as to what those motives require in a given situation, and practical wisdom as to how our good-will may be made effective in stirring the social group, in its corporate capacity, to' appropriate action. The Churches, in a word, must “go into the business of creating an effective public conscience regarding all rela¬ tions of individuals, classes, nations, and races. The cry of the world is for the Christian Churches to go into this business at once. If the world is to be saved for Chris¬ tianity, the Churches must soon become more effectively organized for the guidance and control of public opinion. Only thus can a Christian environment be created for the nurture of Christian character.” 2 2. How the Church Can Influence Public Opinion At the present time whole groups are touched by our teaching agencies only in a pitifully fragmentary way. There is, to take but a single illustration, the great move¬ ment of organized labor, coming rapidly to self-conscious¬ ness and destined to play a large part in whatever social changes may take place, yet, generally speaking, indif¬ ferent to the Church. There are, on the other hand, the a C. A. Ellwood, “The Reconstruction of Religion,” Macmillan, 1922. The closing chapter should be read entire in connection with this discussion of the relation of the Church to Public Opinion. 1 ^ CHRISTIANIZING PUBLIC OPINION 133 great organizations of capital. How are we to reach these groups, now largely unreached so far as group-action is concerned? Only by influencing somehow the factors which are now molding their attitude on public questions. What are these factors? First of all, as we have al¬ ready intimated, the public press. Here is a powerful, almost incredibly powerful, agency which is shaping the social outlook of the vast majority of men. Only one person out of four may go to Church on Sunday, but all four read the newspaper almost every day. According to the “World Almanac” for 1923 the daily circulation of American newspapers in the large cities alone is over 33,000,000. This includes only dailies and only papers printed in English. Weekly and monthly papers and periodicals have a total circulation of 200,000,000 per issue. These printed pages are, for good or ill, a tre¬ mendous educational force. It is hardly too much to say that the sympathies and prejudices of most men are affected by the press more than by any other single factor. Every day it is teaching the whole nation! Yet how far does the point of view of the Christian Church find expression therein? On the day when the writer was outlining this chapter he scrutinized, as an experiment, the pages of one of the outstanding news¬ papers in America. Out of 84 columns, exclusive of ad¬ vertising, only a little over a single column had to do with the Church or with religion. When another great daily some months ago published a complete list of its staff, occupying no less than four columns, it appeared that while there were men assigned to cover politics, sports, literature, drama, finance, military affairs, science, fashions, the courts, and almost every conceivable human interest, not a single man was assigned to religion and the Churches. Either their work was not presented at all, or else it was handled not by one especially trained but by some casual reporter. So far as this mighty agency of 134 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH public opinion is concerned, the influence of the Church is all but negligible. The reasons are not far to seek. One reason—a com¬ mendable one—is the reluctance of the Church to use the methods of the “press agent” and the propagandist. But there are less creditable reasons. It must be confessed that such meager efforts as the Churches have made to secure a hearing in the daily press have been too centered about such purely private and selfish matters as filling their pews or advertising conventional “activities.” Too little attention has been devoted to interpreting to the out¬ side public what Christianity really means as a way of life in the modern world. The chief reason, however, for our ill success with the press lies in the fact that the Church has failed to realize how great a missionary opportunity is here presented and to devise the means by which it can avail itself of it. We have not thought of the press as a great agency of evangelism and religious education. Another far-reaching influence in molding the opinion of the rank and file whom the Church is not teaching di¬ rectly through pulpit, Sunday School or Christian Asso¬ ciation is the recreational life of the community. A single phase will suggest the immensity of the problem—the mo¬ tion picture house. That practically the whole civilized world goes to the movies and that children and young people—those in the most formative period of life—attend with regularity is a fact of tremendous consequence. Careful investigations in several cities have shown that about nine-tenths of the boys and girls of school age go to the movies. Statistics of attendance at theaters in the United States, given out by the motion picture indus¬ try, indicate that in every ten-day period the attendance is almost as great as the total population. Here, then, is an agency which reaches vastly more people than the Church and even in the case of those reached by the Church generally has them for more hours per week and CHRISTIANIZING PUBLIC OPINION 135 brings to their minds and hearts the more vivid appeal of the eye. Why should the Church not utilize this unique oppor¬ tunity of interpreting the meaning of Christianity and the work of the Church to groups that we now are quite failing to touch ? Yet how seldom does the screen depict any of the great social and humanitarian achieve¬ ments which Christianity has inspired! When has the noble life-work of Grenfell among the fisher folk of Labrador been shown? Or the redemption of the New Hebrides by John G. Paton? Or the work of Hampton or Tuskegee Institutes in helping a race up from slavery? Surely here are great themes, the human interest of which is apparent as soon as they are suggested. The setting and dramatic value of any one of these, and hosts of others, would satisfy Rex Beach himself. And their message could inspire multitudes, who hardly ever hear of missionary effort, with something of the Chris¬ tian motive of service to mankind. Yet the film is not so used. In the earlier centuries the Church was the foster mother of the drama, the mystery play being its direct creation. Why is there now no contact between the Church and the widespread form of drama repre¬ sented by the screen? Largely, no doubt because of the short-sighted policies of motion picture producers. But that is hardly the whole story. What have the agencies V of the Churches done to secure points of contacts with the producers of pictures, to present to them the possi¬ bilities of making great contributions to social welfare through this educational medium which reaches the mind of millions who do not darken the doors of the Church? ,/ • • • • • • 1 ' ^ ^ Under our present disjointed denominationalism it is very difficult to devise means of securing adequate contacts with powerful agencies like the press, or the motion-picture industry. First, because a single denomi¬ nation usually does not have the resources to maintain an agency of interpretation sufficiently expert to com- • 136 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH mand the attention of as highly organized concerns as the great newspaper offices; secondly, and more important, because the voice of many Churches does not appear to he the voice of the Church at all. At best it seems only the opinion of a certain party or special group within the Church and so does not have the weight or significance to give it journalistic value or to impress the public with the fact that the Christian conception of life and duty is a mighty force in society. As things are now it is a “Presbyterian” missionary effort, a “Methodist” Con¬ ference, or a “Baptist” educational movement that is re¬ ported in the press, and as a result the fundamental char¬ acter of Christianity, as a distinctive way of life, set over against much of the life of the world, is not presented in any convincing way. If the Church is to succeed in using such educational agencies as these for the forming of public opinion along Christian lines, some way must be found of bringing the combined impact of the whole Church to bear upon the public mind. Christians will have to find a common voice that will really be regarded as expressing the thought of the Church. For practical purposes there is now no such thing as “the Church,” a single organization which can give united expression to the sentiment and judgment of the followers of Christ. There are rather Churches* separated units, most of the time going their way with¬ out much relation to each other, and as a result the moral leadership which the one Church of Christ might exer¬ cise is weakened and dissipated. So the question of Christian education, in this wider sense, is simply insep¬ arable from the question of Christian unity. The “unhappy divisions of Christendom” are not simply a sentimental concern; they touch, and touch vitally, the power of the Church to hold the Christian ideal before the world. When it is a question of reaching the powerful agencies and movements outside the Churches, there are many tasks which we cannot do at all unless we can do CHRISTIANIZING PUBLIC OPINION 137 them together. In war time this was conspicuously true. Then contacts of the Church with the Government itself, with governmental agencies, and with great social organi¬ zations like the Red Cross were a necessity. Yet forces so united as these governmental and semi-governmental agencies would not, could not be expected, to maintain contact with scores of denominations separately; nor could any single denomination, apart from the others, make a strong enough appeal to these agencies to claim their serious attention. Consequently the denominations found it necessary to function together, at least in certain tasks, through the cooperative agency known as the Gen¬ eral War-Time Commission of the Churches, created by the Federal Council. But what was obviously true then is as true now in the case of our relations with great social forces like the daily press, the motion picture industry, the labor movement, or chambers of commerce. To reach them in any effective way with positive Christian influ¬ ences, it is imperative to find methods by which the Church can come with the sum total of its strength. Any lack of unity weakens not only the Church’s efficiency but also its moral authority in presenting the Christian ideal to the world. Some means we must have of putting behind the Christian message the consolidated power which comes from singleness of aim and united expression. The trouble today in the approach of the churches to the pub¬ lic, it has been well said, is that “each Church is like a musician in possession of a distinctive instrument. The instrument may be excellent, and the musician may be playing it well, but the effect is not orchestral. At best it suggests just the tuning up.” 3 But even if we can secure a common voice, have we a common mind ? To have an instrument of united expres¬ sion would be of little consequence if we have nothing 1 Francis J. McConnell, “Public Opinion and Theology,” Abing¬ don Press, 1920, p. 194- 138 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH on which we agree sufficiently to be able to speak. 4 To such general principles as brotherhood and love, all Chris¬ tians, of course, give assent. But when we try to apply these principles to any of the concrete moral issues on which the world needs guidance from the Church, how much consensus of judgment do we find? Often even the facts, on which judgment must be based, are not known. Take our present industrial situation. We all want a more brotherly social life, but what do we know about the actual facts of our present world—about the extent and causes of unemployment, about the inadequacy of income of the rank and file of wage-earners, about the good and ill of labor-unions, about the efifects of economic competition, and a host of other questions ? A few people know the facts. A few see clearly the issues at stake. But till Christians in general share this knowledge and this insight the needed unity will be unattainable. Ob¬ viously we must have not only an organ of collective utterance but also an organ of collective thinking. We need the most patient analysis and study of the social issues that confront the Church, so thorough that it will, first of all, win the assent of the Church as a whole, and, as a consequence, be able to command the attention and the solid respect of the outside world. 3. Beginning to Deal with the Problem Such facts as these give significance to a body like the Committee on the War and the Religious Outlook, con¬ stituted before the close of the war by the Federal Coun¬ cil of the Churches and the General War-Time Commis¬ sion. For the distinctive thing about it was simply this, that its one purpose was collective thinking. The representatives of the various denominations that com- 4 Cf. William Adams Brown, “The Church in America,” Chap¬ ter XVI, Macmillan, 1922. CHRISTIANIZING PUBLIC OPINION 139 prised it set for themselves no other task than to study —and to study together —some of the more difficult prob¬ lems confronting the Church. Their work showed clearly that “the final result of working things out together is more than the sum of what the same individuals could reach working alone.” But the kind of group thinking which it applied for a time to a few problems needs to be carried on continuously and in relation to other great social issues—our international and our interracial re¬ lations, for example—on which Christian public opinion must be formed. A distinguished British economist, com¬ menting on the work of the Committee on the War and the Religious Outlook, went to the heart of the matter when he declared that a permanent “thinking depart¬ ment” of the Churches is a necessity if it is to grip the public mind effectively. His words are worth quoting at length: “One lays down even so admirable a document as this report [on “The Church and Industrial Reconstruction”] with some uncertainty as to what its effect will be. And that feeling is partly the result, perhaps, of uncertainty as to the ways in which the Christian Churches can, in fact, help to realize the kind of principles for which they stand. There are several ways in which a Church acts upon the social mind of a community. It is a teach¬ ing body. It occupies a status of public influence and weight, and by conferences and manifestoes can help to mold public opinion. In both capacities it can con¬ tribute a stream of thought and inspiration, the effect of which may be slow, but can hardly help, in the long run, to be considerable. It would be more considerable if the Churches were better equipped for their task. The situa¬ tion is possibly not the same in America as in England. But in the latter country any observer must be impressed by the disability under which the Church of England labors in coping with questions which concern, or ought to concern, the Christian conscience, through its mere lack of any permanent machinery for grappling with them. What it needs is a ‘thinking department/ a staff of offi¬ cers whose duty it is to collect and systematize informa- 140 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH tion and to supply the leaders of the Church with the knowledge needed if they are to speak with effect. At present it appoints committees when occasion arises. But improvised opinions are rarely effective. If it is to speak with any authority on international or economic ques¬ tions, it must create an organ to accumulate, sift, and criticize the material necessary to the formation of a reasoned judgment.’ 5 6 Certainly we shall never succeed in making the Church a great power in the formation of public opinion until we have set ourselves more seriously to the task of thoroughly understanding contemporary social conditions and social forces. We rightly emphasize the indispensa¬ bleness of good-will, but good-will alone is not enough. We must have the intelligence to make it effective in dealing with the concrete problems of actual life. The Christian Gospel, the solvent of the world's ills, must be guided by accurate knowledge of society. In a growing alliance between Christianity and social science is our hope of social salvation. Significant beginnings have been made by the Churches in recent years in studying concrete situations, in crys¬ tallizing their own point of view and in holding it before the wider public. The vigorous campaign among the Churches for reduction of armament, under the leadership of the Federal Council of the Churches and the World Alliance for International Friendship, and the continuing efforts to mobilize the religious forces of the country to work with sustained vigor for building up other agencies than war for the settlement of international disputes, are cases in point. Beginning with the observance of a Sun¬ day in June, 1921, as “Disarmament Day” the program included the preparation of material for pastors on the present armament situation in the light of Christian prin¬ ciples, the concentrating of the attention of the Churches •R. H. Tawney, “The Church and Industry,” New Republic, April 27, 1921. CHRISTIANIZING PUBLIC OPINION 141 on the issues throughout the Disarmament Conference, with a persistent campaign of education in both the daily and the religious press as to the concern of the Churches in the movement. Such work as this, aiming to arouse well-informed public opinion along Christian lines, is as directly a responsibility of Christian education as the maintenance of Sunday Schools. Indeed, whatever we teach formally in our schools about Christian living de¬ pends for its effectiveness upon a social environment that looks in the same direction. The effect of the so-called “Social Ideals of the Churches,” adopted by the Federal Council of the Churches in 1908 and endorsed by most of the larger denominations, and of the investigation of the steel strike of 1919 by the Interchurch World Movement are re¬ markable examples of the value of concerted efforts to understand modern industry and to hold the Christian ideal before it. While the report on the steel strike was for a time the target of severe attack and its con¬ clusions were regarded as impracticable, later events have been a striking tribute to its power in shaping public opinion. Two years after its publication the Steel Cor¬ poration had announced the abolition of the seven-day week and the twenty-four hour shift, which the Inter¬ church Report had called for. A year later, as the result of the increasing tide of public opinion, in the creation of which the research and educational work of the Fed¬ eral Council of the Churches played no inconsiderable part, the United States Steel Corporation announced a beginning in the elimination of the twelve-hour day. Of especial significance is it that provision is now being made for continuous rather than occasional efforts by the Churches really to understand industrial and social con¬ ditions and so to be able to hold forth the Christian ideal effectively. The Federal Council’s Commission on the Church and Social Service has initiated a research depart¬ ment which, among other important functions, is issuing 142 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH a weekly information service to the religious press and to interested Christians, presenting carefully prepared in¬ formation on social questions as they affect the ideal for which the Churches stand. Such efforts on the part of the Churches merit much fuller support and recognition than they have yet received. They have thus far been seriously hampered by lack of funds. The support of such an enterprise ought to be recognized for what it really is—a great and vital educa¬ tional responsibility of the Church. In some form or other it must be extended to every area of the world’s life and work. To carry on a patient, thorough study of the relation of the Church to the throbbing social issues of the day and to provide for the effective united utter¬ ance of the common mind thus reached should be an indispensable part of the program of any Church that would fashion the organization of society along Christian lines. In the last analysis the most powerful educational in¬ fluence which the Church can exercise for shaping a * Christian public opinion is its own life. Not what the Church says but what it is and does will finally determine its effect upon the individual and upon society. The Word must become flesh and dwell among us if men are to behold its glory. The great educational mission of the Church lies in its being, in its own corporate character, the kind of brotherhood which it proclaims as the social ideal. Through its own life, as an organized social group trying to live on the plane of the teachings qf Jesus, it must bear witness to society of the power of Christianity to establish new relationships among men, relationships based on love and transcending all barriers of nation, race, and class. PART III HOW THE CHURCH SHOULD ORGANIZE ITS TEACHING ... CHAPTER VII THE TEACHING AGENCIES OF THE LOCAL CHURCH: A CRITIQUE One cannot rightly approach a study of the organiza¬ tions through which the Church’s educational purpose is to be achieved without bearing in mind that no special “agencies” ever exhaust the field. The whole Church and every phase of its life need to be conceived in edu¬ cational terms. Worship is, or should be, of the highest educational importance and value. It is consciously directing the minds and emotions of the people toward certain ends. The symbolism of architecture, the forms of worship, the structure of the ritual, the selections of Scripture, the character of the prayers, the type of music, the selection of the hymns, all these are based upon more or less definite religious presuppositions, arouse characteristic religious emotions and seek to secure appropriate attitudes and modes of conduct. Their combined and cumulative effect is to mold the life of the individual into harmony with that of the religious group with which he regularly wor¬ ships. The fact that the teaching value of these influences is often lost sight of, and that those affected by them are unconscious of being molded, does not make them any less significant. The pulpit , as an educational factor, deserves far more attention than it usually receives. Preaching is, or should be, teaching. In most of our churches the sermon is in¬ tended to have a teaching value of a more or less definite kind. Altogether too much of the preaching of today, 145 146 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH however—and of the services of worship also—leaves the impression that their teaching value is very imperfectly understood. The sermon fails to make contact with the life and thinking of the hearer, or it deals too exclusively in vague generalities, or it lacks suggestiveness, or its structure is diffuse and scattering, or it leaves the hearer in doubt as to just what he is expected to do. In other words, the preacher is not educational in method. Often he is only hortatory. Moreover, the pulpit frequently lacks cumulative power; there is no strong thread binding together the sermons and the services of succeeding Sun¬ days in one progressive unity. It is not necessary to advertise a plan of continuity, nor is it necessary to sac¬ rifice timeliness to such a plan, but the preacher who is also a teacher will realize that there is a certain con¬ secutiveness in human experience and that the inspiration and stimulus of preaching must somehow become an organic part of the onflowing life of the community if it is to affect it profoundly and permanently. But however much may be achieved by other influences, the Church that really believes in education will maintain a school. As well expect children to be trained for citizen¬ ship in the state without the provision of the public school as to expect them to be trained for Christian living and service without institutions that are specifically educa¬ tional in method. Those activities which have to do more distinctly and systematically with teaching are provided, in our Protestant churches, by means of specialized agencies, most of which are to be found in connection with nearly every local church. The most common, of course, are the Sunday School, the Young People’s Society, the Mis¬ sion Study Group, the Daily Vacation Bible School, the Week Day School of Religious Education, the Pastor’s Communicants’ Class, the organized adult class, and the Teacher’s Training Class. These and other special agencies we shall examine in this chapter. TEACHING AGENCIES OF LOCAL CHURCH 147 1. Agencies Directly Connected with the Church 1. The Sunday School .—The oldest specialized teach¬ ing agency of the Church, and the broadest in scope, whether in respect to ages served, material used in in¬ struction, or teaching methods employed, is the Sunday School. Yet the Sunday School itself is of comparatively recent origin. Originally planned as a missionary or philanthropic agency, seeking to preoccupy the time and thought of idle, ignorant, or vicious youth, its scope and purpose have so expanded in recent years that it now seeks to minister to all ages and in its objectives includes evangelism, biblical instruction, instruction in missions, training in worship, in social service, in benevolent giv¬ ing, in the duties of Church membership and leadership within the Church, and in habits of right conduct. Many of the best Sunday Schools now have elaborate curricula, and in some instances also extensive programs for en¬ listing activity and expressing Christian purpose in wor¬ ship and service. It has been, and is, more than any other agency, the Church’s channel of religious education. Until recently there was little recognition of the differing capacities and needs of the different ages, such as we have considered in previous chapters. There was almost no provision for the teaching of missions or of the history and work of the Church or for training in worship. There was only the scantiest attention to self-expression and service. A meager, ill-adapted me¬ chanical system of ‘‘uniform lessons” was the entire program. When at last the demand for graded lessons and modern educational methods could no longer be with¬ stood, the new system was obliged to win its way against prejudice and compress itself into the brief time on Sun¬ day which custom had decreed was sufficient. Teachers who knew only the stereotyped plan of verse exposition, fastened on them by long experience with uniform lessons, made frequent failure of graded lesson teaching, which 148 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH assumed an entirely different aim, approach, and method. Superintendents, accustomed only to mass management, drill methods, and “inspirational” talks, found themselves helpless when confronted with a situation which involved careful adjustment of all the processes of teaching and administration to the requirements of graded groups. The leaders of training classes for teachers declared it was “impossible” longer to maintain the teachers’ meet¬ ing. Buildings containing only one or two or three large rooms, in which whole departments were accustomed to meet, did not lend themselves to the quiet intensive teach¬ ing of carefully graded classes. It is not surprising, there¬ fore, that thousands of schools are still relatively un¬ touched by the newer developments. ■ -«i When one looks back over our forty years of rela¬ tively barren teaching during which the “uniform” habit was fastened upon the churches of practically every com¬ munity, and when one realizes that the churches believed for more than a generation that this was all that is neces¬ sary for the religious development of youth, he begins to understand why it is that the cross-section of young manhood brought together by the selective draft could be so pitifully ignorant and undeveloped in their religious life. 1 A new era has now begun in which a really educational procedure is becoming established. Yet our prevailing assumption is that the entire program is still to be carried out in a single hour on Sunday, when practically the whole constituency is assembled at once. This custom makes the largest possible demand upon the church in respect to equipment and teaching force, for it is obvious that a smaller number of rooms and a smaller number of teachers would suffice, provided classes were permitted to meet at different times and thus make use of the same rooms and equipment, and provided the same teacher could be induced to teach several different class-groups 1 See p. 36. TEACHING AGENCIES OF LOCAL CHURCH 149 successively. Moreover, the attempt to telescope the whole teaching of the church into the same hour on Sunday, aside from many other obvious difficulties, creates an im¬ possible situation for the pupil. This condition may be indicated graphically somewhat as follows: The Sunday School Session Opening period: 15-20 min. Lesson period: 30-35 min. Closing period: 5-10 min. Into this period are thrown such acts of worship as the school provides, interspersed with drill in singing, or in memory work, words of exhortation, member¬ ship contests, notices, missionary talks, the taking of an offering, and other items. The program is generally in charge of the superintendent, who is bom¬ barded with requests from vari¬ ous quarters. The “lesson” is itself a com¬ posite product. The outline of the course is determined by the interdenominational lesson com¬ mittee; the form of presentation is provided in helps prepared by denominational editors and pub¬ lishers ; the methods of teach¬ ing and organization are sug¬ gested. by denominational and interdenominational secretaries and field workers, all working more or less independently and not always in harmony. In the closing period acts of worship compete for attention with statistical and business de¬ tails. Seldom is any unity of theme attempted in the period devoted to worship; still less any correlation of the wor¬ ship with the work of the lesson period. Indeed, the worship itself is too often undifferentiated from the rest of the session. The work of the lesson period suffers from lack of any effective supervision locally, as well as from the confusion caused by suggestions which come 150 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH from various outside sources unrelated to each other and sometimes inconsistent with each other. From the point of view of the pupil, the hour devoted to his religious in¬ struction is too often an hour filled with a mass of un¬ related, unorganized details and it is small wonder that his religious ideas are vague and confused. The marvel is that, under the conditions which have obtained in most Sunday Schools, anything positive and constructive is actually carried over into his daily life and behavior. The new influences that are now being felt in the de¬ velopment of the Sunday-School movement have been suggested in an earlier chapter or will be considered on later pages. (2) The Young People's Society .—The movement com¬ monly known as the Young People’s Movement began to spread among the Churches during the early eighties. 2 Three characteristic features are found in most local groups; training in worship and in the ability to speak upon religious themes, especially regarding aspects of personal religious experience; training in methods of or¬ ganization and business-like procedure; and training in the planning of social gatherings and in the promotion of good fellowship. As originally conceived, the Young Peo¬ ple’s Society was purely a local agency, a feature of the life of the local Church, and its activities were planned by local leaders. As the movement spread, these indi¬ vidual societies united to form local unions, these later combining into state and national organizations. Gradu¬ ally, and quite naturally, leadership became centralized and programs for local use were prepared and issued from the national office. 2 The first Christian Endeavor Society was organized by the Rev. Frances E. Clark in the Williston Congregational Church, Portland, Maine, in February, 1881. The Epworth League (Methodist) grew out of the Oxford Leagues organized by Bishop Vincent and indorsed by the General Conference in 1888. The Baptist Young People’s Union was started in Kansas in 1887. TEACHING AGENCIES OF LOCAL CHURCH 151 It was also only natural that many who had found help in the organization, or who had themselves proved helpful to it, should continue as loyal supporters of the local society and participants in its activities after they had passed quite beyond the limits of the age-period for which these activities were originally intended. Thus, while these activities were designed to train young peo¬ ple for Church membership and responsibility, the leaders have met a very practical difficulty in accomplishing the feat known to educators as “transfer of training”; that is to say, it does not follow that because a young person is active and proficient in the work of a Young People’s Society he will be loyal and proficient and active in the work of the Church in other directions. Indeed, not¬ withstanding the motto, “For Christ and the Church,” it has not infrequently happened that young people have resented appeals for loyalty to the general services of the Church and pastors have felt that the Young People’s Society had come to be a kind of rival of the Church of which theoretically it is a part. On the other hand, it was natural that far-seeing lead¬ ers should have an eye to the perpetuation of the society by the enlisting of new recruits. To this end societies have been organized of groups just younger, known as Intermediate and Junior Societies, respectively, a part of whose purpose is to serve as “feeders” for the Senior Societies. The program for these younger groups also is provided from the central office and does not differ radically from the program for the senior group, except that the younger groups are generally held under closer supervision by some adult person. Thus the methods pri¬ marily intended for a particular age-group are often per¬ petuated after the time for that kind of training has passed, or, on the other hand, are projected downward to younger groups too immature to profit by them. Under the stimulus of recent educational movements, an expansion of program has taken place both in the 152 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH Young People’s Societies and in the Sunday School. The latter agency has recognized the necessity of sup¬ plying opportunity for social expression and group ac¬ tivity, in close connection with the regular Sunday School teaching. A new emphasis is also being placed upon training in worship in the Sunday School and programs of worship are being prepared with more care. In many Sunday Schools the young people’s classes are organized and are devoting themselves to various forms of social service or to missionary undertakings in connection with their class work. At the same time, Young People’s So¬ cieties, particularly in certain denominations, have em¬ barked upon more extensive programs of Bible study, Church history, community study, or mission study. The result of such expansion, under separate leadership, has been to create a feeling of rivalry between sister agencies in the local Church and to stimulate competition between them for membership among the same young people. The state of tension thus created has sometimes become acute, with respect both to the local groups and to the more distant and widely separated state or national leaders. Some of the tendencies noted are inherent in most or¬ ganizations—such as the tendency to magnify the im¬ portance of the organization out of proportion to the interests of the persons whose needs it is intended to serve, and the tendency to become mechanical in the use of stereotyped methods. Some are the result of a growing sense of responsibility for providing religious instruction and training—such as the tendency toward overlapping of activities and programs and toward rivalry between sister organizations. Nevertheless, it is now recognized that the situation is unfortunate, from the point of view of the young person who is being taught and trained, and makes for confusion. For “it is not sufficient that all the young people of the parish should have opportunities for instruction, worship, expression, and recreation. One should have the feeling that they are being offered as TEACHING AGENCIES OF LOCAL CHURCH 153 elements in a single program conducted by a single agency. There should be a natural relation between the service undertaken and the content of the instructional courses; and if this relationship is to seem vital, both must ema¬ nate from the same source. Neither should the devotional life be a thing apart. People are never merely ‘conse¬ crated’; they are consecrated to a cause, or a person, or not at all. The more the devotional agency is divorced from the agencies of activity and of instruction, the greater will be the tendency to produce an unreal and abnormal type of experience, in which young people seek to ‘testify’ according to stereotyped forms, and to ‘recon¬ secrate’ themselves in various vague ways. When the agency that directs the devotional life is the same that directs the social, expressional, and instructional activi¬ ties, there will be much growing out of these other in¬ terests about which to testify, consecration will become more genuine and sane, and the inter-relationship between these religious needs of youth will appear more clearly.” 8 Various efforts have been made to secure a closer co¬ ordination between the programs of Sunday School and Young People’s Society. These may be reduced to fous principal types, presented in an ascending scale: * * 4 “(a) The most common position—though universally opposed by religious educators—is that which permits and sanctions absolute unrelatedness of organizations, without any consciousness of unity in aim, without any singleness of plan, without regard to neglected areas, with¬ out concern for overlapping. “(b) A second attitude marks a slight advancement; a difference in function among the various agencies is quite clearly recognized, even though no provision is made for 8 Blashfield, “Young People and Church School,” Religious Education, April, 1920, p. 95 - 4 Lobingier, “Work with Young People,” Religious Education, June, 1920, p. ISS- 154 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH coordination in the matter of organization. According to this plan it is assumed that the Sunday-School class is for instruction; the Young People’s Society for expres¬ sion; both for worship; another club perhaps for recrea¬ tion, etc. The first difficulty with such a ‘general under¬ standing’ is that it cannot but prove ineffective because of the lack of a unifying agency that will see each part of the plan in relation to the whole, and proceed to fill the gaps in the plan as a whole. Another difficulty with such a plan is that it is based upon a false psy¬ chology and teaches a wrong view of the educational process; it makes for disunity in the educative task. It sees no interrelation between instruction and expression, or between worship and activity. It believes in both doing and learning, but it does not consider that one learns by doing, and proceeds to do more efficiently as a result of the learning. It believes in both the devotional life and the expressional life, but it fails to develop the de¬ votional life from the directed activities and experiences that the Church has offered. The wall of partition set up between different organizations with a more or less insistent emphasis upon distinctiveness of function is scarcely consistent with our modern unitary view of life. “(c) A third attitude toward the question of correla¬ tion is that which may be called the ‘Council’ or ‘Federa¬ tion’ plan, advocated as a means of bringing together the various organizations of the local Church to work as a unit, while still preserving the integrity of each partici¬ pating group. The Council, in each local Church, is com¬ posed of one or two representatives from each organized group of young people, together with the pastor and one or two others as members ex officio. It reviews the programs of each constituent group, thus promoting mu¬ tual understanding. It aims also at coordinated activity, including a unified plan for social entertainments, a more inclusive instructional program, and a wider enlistment in various forms of expressional activity. Competition is TEACHING AGENCIES OF LOCAL CHURCH 155 diminished, overlapping of function is reduced, and the number of neglected young people is lessened. “(d) Still others who advocate the correlation of young people’s work are urging the establishment of a Young People’s Department of the Church, that, being more than a federation of groups, shall be a single group completely unified in its organization, with such opportunities pro¬ vided as young people of the later adolescent years need, in instruction, worship, expression, and recreation. In some instances the department meets for hours Sun¬ day morning, 30 minutes being devoted to worship, 30 minutes to instruction, and 30 minutes to an expressional session conserving the values of the former Young Peo¬ ple’s Society meeting. In other instances the Young People’s Department meets in the morning for instruction, and in the evening for expression, with elements of wor¬ ship in each of the sessions ; recreational activities are conducted during the week and social service activities are also undertaken. There is but one Young People’s Department or organization of the Church, however, with a united constituency and a single group of officers, con¬ ducting its well-rounded program. It is erroneous to assume that when an adjustment such as this is made, one group is perpetuating itself while all others are being merged into it. Rather is it true that all the agencies are being unified into the Young People’s Department of the Church, organized for a complete program of religious education.” 3. Groups for Missionary Education .—Closely inter¬ woven with the history of the Young People’s Society is the history of the Young People’s Missionary Move¬ ment. From its beginnings in the Student Volunteer Movement, which sought to enlist young people for serv¬ ice in foreign lands, there has grown a program of mis¬ sionary education which is now a recognized phase of the Church’s teaching work for all ages in nearly all Protes- 156 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH tant Churches and comprehends within its scope the win¬ ning of recruits for service both at home and abroad and the consecration of money and other resources as well as the dedication of life. Special courses of study dealing with the peoples, religions, and problems of vari¬ ous lands have been prepared and teachers have been trained in summer conferences for the organization and conduct of mission study classes in the local churches. Most of the denominational missionary societies now have educational secretaries who are charged with the responsi¬ bility of stimulating the local church. They cooperate ef¬ fectively in the Missionary Education Movement. The work of the women’s missionary societies has long included important educational activities both for women and young people. It would be difficult to estimate ade¬ quately the influence which has been exerted upon the life of the Churches through all these agencies. Thoughtful observers feel, however, that the time has come for a readjustment of the plans by which it is hoped to provide every young person with a reasonable ac¬ quaintance with the peoples of the earth and their needs, as well as with an adequate motive for enlistment in the missionary enterprise. Great changes have been taking place whereby peoples have been brought into closer and closer contact. The very persistence of civilization is now seen to be threatened unless the principles of Jesus can become dominant in the institutions, the national life, and the international relationships of people everywhere, as well as in their individual thinking and conduct. So the missionary task of the Church looms larger than at any previous moment. Indeed, it may be said to be but an¬ other name to designate its entire constructive activity. It is not too much to say that any person today who lacks an interest in his fellowmen of whatever race or color or speech, who does not feel a thrill of sympathy with their need whether it be in Russia, Armenia, China, Africa, or the islands of the sea, and an impulse to share TEACHING AGENCIES OF LOCAL CHURCH 157 with all men everywhere the blessings that have come to the more favored, can hardly claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ. The conviction that missions is only another name for Christianity in action and that all the teaching of the Church must look toward the development of the mission¬ ary spirit is no longer confined to the official secretaries of missionary boards. Moreover, the newer education emphasizes the fact that there is no real teaching that stops short of expression in conduct and action. There¬ fore all the teaching of the Church must be missionary, in the sense that it is to develop motive and sympathy and find its outlet in service. In the development of the Sunday School there has been a growing effort in re¬ cent years to provide opportunity for such expression in close connection with the regular courses of instruction. But just at the moment when there is coming to be an enlarging conviction of the necessity of including mis¬ sionary instruction as an integral part of the Church’s teaching, and when there exist in greater abundance than ever before the materials for study and probably more persons than ever before trained for the conduct of mission study classes, at this moment of opportunity the teaching of missions is in serious danger of going by default through sheer lack of correlation of effort on the part of the various teaching agencies of the Church. Let us consider some of the factors in the situation. (a) The missionary agencies are handicapped, in the first instance, by the fact that they must compete with other agencies, already in the field, for a share of the child’s time and attention. Even if they attempt to work through the Sunday School and the Young People’s Society, so far as the gathering of the study group is concerned, the mission study class and its course of study are apt to be regarded as an ‘‘extra,” for which young people, unless already vitally interested, have scant time. (b) The course of mission study is uncorrelated, either 158 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH with the course of Sunday-School instruction, or with the program of the Young People’s Society. In the case of the former, as we have seen, the effect of introducing special missionary topics from time to time is merely to add to the mental confusion caused in the mind of the pupil as a result of overcrowding a brief weekly session with a variety of unrelated information. In the case of the Young People’s Society, mission study suffers, along with the rest of religious education, from the uncertainty and competition which too frequently result from the lack of correlation between the programs of this agency and those of the organized Sunday-School class. And in either case there is failure, on the one hand, to develop sys¬ tematically a motive for the forms of expression sug¬ gested in the mission-study class; or else there is failure to connect the form of expression with the motives and enthusiasms which may be aroused in the teaching of the Sunday-School class. (c) Missionary education, as yet, is largely ungraded and consequently lacking in any principle of progression. It is true that there are children’s books and young peo¬ ple’s books and books for adults. But the publication scheme has been a “uniform” scheme, centering the at¬ tention of the whole Church and all ages upon a particu¬ lar field or phase of work each year, regardless of the fact that this may not be the best method of developing through a series of years an intelligent interest in and responsibility for the people of all countries. Today, indeed, forward steps are beginning to be taken. Espe¬ cially deserving of notice is the recent adoption of the policy by the Joint Committee on Home Missionary Literature (representing the Council of Women for Home Missions and the Missionary Education Movement) of preparing the material for juniors in a three-year cycle. This is based upon a consideration of the interests and needs of the pupil rather than upon the maintenance of a uniform theme for the year. But there has been, as TEACHING AGENCIES OF LOCAL CHURCH 159 yet, no adequate study of the natural approach of child¬ hood and youth to the missionary enterprise, no adequate research as to how one may best be introduced to these wider and widening relationships, no sufficient formulation of the method by which sympathies may be progressively broadened, no complete system of training suggested whereby the child, boy and girl, youth and adult, may be brought into intelligent and increasing participation in various forms of altruistic and vicarious service. Mis¬ sionary education needs to be incorporated into the gen¬ eral program, if for no other reason than that it is needed at every point in that program and not merely as an addi¬ tional phase of education. What applies to missionary education is equally true of training for social service, for there is - no essential difference between missions, broadly conceived, and Chris¬ tian social service rightly understood. The aim of each is to change not only lives but the conditions of living, and each presupposes the Christian motive, sympathy, good-will, the willingness to sacrifice self in order to serve others. The distinction here, like the distinction between home and foreign missions, is artificial and chiefly a mat¬ ter of administrative convenience. 4. The Pastor's Communicants' Class .—The Episcopa¬ lian and Lutheran Churches, and a few others, have the custom of confirming children who have reached the age of twelve years or so, and of holding catechetical classes in preparation for confirmation. The practice of organiz¬ ing communicants , classes has become much more com¬ mon in recent years among other religious bodies also. There is no question but that the Church should seize upon the special opportunity offered by the spiritual awakening which naturally occurs in the early years of adolescence to present to the boys and girls the claims of Jesus Christ and of His Church upon their loyalty. The failure to do this has undoubtedly lost to the Church 160 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH the devotion and service of thousands who might easily have been enlisted in its enterprises, and the loss has by no means been reclaimed by subsequent campaigns of adult evangelism. As a rule, however, pastor’s classes fall far short of rendering their best service. There are still, it appears, instances where the discredited method of rote-memoriza¬ tion is followed, after the manner of the old-fashioned catechisms, a series of theological questions being pro¬ pounded whose more or less abstract answers are to be committed to memory. Little is to be said, of course, in defense of such a plan, for however successful the leader may be in exercising the memories of the pupils, this suc¬ cess does not indicate in any degree the measure of con¬ viction or purpose in the mind of the pupil. Even where the leader follows the better method of informal discussion, his outline is still too generally a survival of the old habit of abstract theologizing. One of the most recent outlines sent out from the evangelistic committee of a denomination that prides itself upon its interest and achievement in education contains the fol¬ lowing topics: I. Being a Christian. II. The Bible. III. Prayer. IV. The Kingdom. V. The Christian Church. VI. Church Organization. VII. Why Join the Church? Now these are all subjects concerning which the mature Christian ought to have clear-cut convictions, but they cannot all be brought profitably to the attention of young people between the ages of 12 and 15. They should be distributed over a wider range of years. For example, the boy or girl of 13 or 14 will be deeply in¬ terested in the personal aspects of the Christian life. The object of the class for these ages should be, therefore, to make clear, through informal discussion, the character of Jesus, as the Ideal Person; His consciousness of God, His intimate fellowship with God in prayer, His consistent and unswerving purpose to do God’s will, His life of self-sacrifice, His sympathy with suffering humanity, TEACHING AGENCIES OF LOCAL CHURCH 161 His perfect obedience, His courage, His patience, His spiritual majesty, His winsomeness, and His wis¬ dom. And the result to be aimed at should be the awakening of admiration for Him and the commitment of the self to Him as Ideal and Savior. If the Bible is touched upon in this connection it should be as the utterances of the great souls with whom Jesus was in spiritual fellowship, and as containing the story of Jesus Himself and His teachings. If the Church is in¬ cluded in the discussion it should be to develop in the pupils a sense of comradeship with the community group composed of those who love Jesus Christ and are striving to learn and to do the will of God as He has taught. This is certainly not the time to discuss abstract doctrines or the mechanical aspects of Church organization. It is not until mid-adolescence is reached, and passed, that there begins to be a taste for the more philosophical or “doctrinal” teaching—say at about 16 to 18 years of age. Perhaps it is later still before there is a desire to know how things are done, that is, to become acquainted with the theory of organization. Then is the time for the discussion of the structure of the Bible and its in¬ fluence, the theory of prayer, the nature of faith and salvation, the meaning of the Kingdom of God, the Chris¬ tian Church and its organization for community and world service. It is not necessary, of course, to hold back young people from joining the Church until all this ground has been covered. It is natural and right for them to seek, and be admitted to, membership at the time of their awak¬ ening loyalty to Jesus. The difficulty rather lies in the fact that we have conceived of this process of pastoral training too exclusively in terms of the Church organiza¬ tion and too little in terms of the pupil's developing in¬ terests and needs. Consequently we have attempted to crowd into a very brief space what should be spread over a longer period of development. It is neither pos¬ sible nor necessary to provide a young person all at once 162 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH with a complete equipment for Church membership; it should be provided as needed, a certain portion as he joins the Church, interpreting to him the meaning of Christian loyalty, and another portion when he needs to have a Christian philosophy of life for meeting his new vocational responsibilities, and another portion when he begins to be more active in the Church organization so that he may understand how to make his activity count. 5 Clearly there ought to be closer correlation between the training in the pastor’s class and the work of the Sunday School and Young People’s Society and mission study class. The discussion of the meaning of personal loyalty to Jesus should come in as close relationship as possible to the course of intensive study of the life of Jesus in the Sunday School. The theological discussion should have as its background the study of the teaching of Jesus and Paul, and would be even more effective if the teach¬ ing of the prophets and the story of the development of Christian thinking in some of the historic creeds could be added. The discussion of the Kingdom of God, of Christian democracy, of the Christian church and its or¬ ganization, should be in connection with a more extended study of Christian vocation, missions, and social service. The pastor should seek, in the communicants’ class, not to introduce into the lives of his young people something different and unrelated to the rest of their religious train¬ ing, but rather to bring to culmination in their experience the ideals and impulses and enthusiasms which are engen¬ dered through the teaching of the Church’s whole cur¬ riculum. He must know, therefore, what they are being taught, and when these various courses are being studied, that he may, at the opportune moment, perform his own most delicate but essential part in bringing all the rest of the teaching to its full fruition. 8 Cf. Chapter IV. TEACHING AGENCIES OF LOCAL CHURCH 163 5. The Daily Vacation Bible School .—The need for an increased amount of time for religious education has led to a rapid development, during the last few years, of two movements, one for the use of a part of the sum¬ mer vacation, the other for claiming certain week-day hours regularly for religious teaching. With the latter we shall deal at some length in the following chapter. The character and methods of daily vacation Bible schools have varied widely and the aim has often not been clear or definite. In a great number the term “Bible school” has been rather misleading. They have not aimed principally to teach the Bible or religion, although devo¬ tional exercises and Bible stories have had a minor place; their purpose has Been chiefly to gather idle or neglected children into the Churches and to keep them busy or amused in a wholesome way in a wholesome environment. Others have developed an interesting program of handi¬ craft of various kinds. A growing number have been working out a schedule in which a fair share of the time is given to definite religious teaching, along with the recreational features, and it is reasonable to assume that the development of the schools will be in this direction. One of the most significant features of the vacation school is that it has made an appeal to, and reached, children not now being reached by the Sunday School or other established agencies. The vacation school, however, has not yet really found its place in relation to the other agencies. With the rapid increase in number and value of the week-day schools, it is highly important that the vacation school should now be developed as a part of an all-the-year program of week-day religious education, and that the whole week¬ day movement (as we shall see later) should be correlated with the Sunday School and the other educational activi¬ ties in a complete and unified program. 164 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH 6 . The Adult Class and Forum .—The children and youth, although they must always fill the central place in the educational outlook of the Church and are always its supreme opportunity, are not the only ones for whom the Church has a teaching responsibility. There are still the great rank and file of the Church’s membership, the men and women who, though they have reached adult life, ought to be growing constantly in an understanding of the meaning of the Christian religion and in the practice of the Christian way of living. They set before the Church an educational task too often neglected save for the work which the pulpit may do in one hour a week. The adult class, meeting either Sunday morning in con¬ nection with the Sunday School (in which it had its origin) or on a week-day evening, lends itself to a great variety of important educational uses. A few Churches are making effective use of this method; many more have hardly begun to experiment with it, still less to exhaust its possibilities. A unique service can be rendered by an adult class in bringing parents together to study the question of religion in the home, especially the training of their chil¬ dren in the religious life. If the home really has the central place which we have assigned it in the whole task of Christian education, nothing can be more important for the Church than to assist parents in providing for definite religious education within the family. And, however it be accomplished, there should be abundant opportunity for parents to be brought to understand the responsibility of parenthood and to meet it intelligently. This will in¬ clude familiarity with the fundamental facts of physical, mental, and moral development, with the problems of child life, with the religious crises and the best methods of meeting them, with problems of discipline, with lists of books for children’s reading, and methods of vocational guidance. The Church may help also to bring parents into frequent contact with teachers in the public schools, with TEACHING AGENCIES OF LOCAL CHURCH 165 librarians and playground directors, as well as with Sun¬ day-School teachers and leaders of children’s and young people’s organizations. The adult class furnishes an invaluable opportunity for helping people to come to clear and intelligent un¬ derstanding of the central truths of Christianity. The underlying convictions which have grown out of Chris¬ tian experience and have found expression in the doctrines of the Church—faith in God, His revelation in Christ, His presence in the world, the meaning of the Cross, the possibility of salvation from sin, the ideal of the Kingdom of God, the hope of eternal life—all these need to be interpreted so that men shall have a valid intellectual formulation of their religious experience. The Bible as the book in which this experience and these convictions find their clearest and most illuminating expression needs to be explored year after year by those whose religious life is to continue to grow in strength and power. It is of fundamental importance to teach also the his¬ tory of the Church as the institution in which the Christian experience finds corporate expression. At this point Protestantism has been seriously defective. In its reaction against the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church, it has conceived deep-seated suspicion of institutional religion. Although certain branches of the Church, whose attitude toward Rome in the Reformation was more conservative, have retained a strong churchly feeling, for the majority of Protestants this is not the case. The significance of Christian institutions has not been adequately appre¬ hended. Thus it has come about that in planning its curriculum Protestant religious instruction has paid scant attention to what God has been doing, through the Church, since the year 100 A.D. The Bible and the Bible alone has been the text-book of Protestants, with the result that generation after generation have grown up in almost complete ignorance of the history of the Church and the forms in which Christianity finds organized expression in 166 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH the world today. This ignorance cannot be allowed to continue. No one can understand anything aright unless he understands its history. And to expect men to be in¬ telligent Christians and good churchmen when they know nothing of the past from which they have come or of the present life and work of the Church would be as reason¬ able as to expect men to be good citizens who know nothing of American history and have never studied the development of our own institutions. A good point of departure for such a study is the his¬ tory of missions, for missions furnish at once one of the most interesting and one of the most instructive manifes¬ tations of contemporary Christianity. In foreign missions we see the Christian Church making earnest with the ideal of world-wide evangelization, facing the divisive influences of race, of class, of nationality, and grappling with them in original and courageous ways. In home missions we find the same difficulties facing us in even more personal and embarrassing fashion. The study of modern Chris¬ tian missions in America will dispel the complacency of many a conventional Christian and make him realize that there are no more difficult fields in the world than Ameri¬ can cities like New York and Chicago, where all the races of the world meet and where the problems of industrial strife, race rivalry, and national ambition confront us in their most extreme and perplexing forms. Of especial importance is a fuller understanding of Christian teaching in relation to the great social issues of the present day. The pulpit, allowing no opportunity for the give-and-take of discussion, has serious limitations as an agency for interpreting the meaning of Christianity for such mooted questions as face us in our industrial, social, and international life. The fundamental Christian principles must, of course, be interpreted from the pulpit but their more detailed application to concrete problems requires such an opportunity as the adult class affords TEACHING AGENCIES OF LOCAL CHURCH 167 for discussion with those who are having practical ex¬ perience with these problems in their daily life. Such a class may sometimes profitably adopt a “seminar method” and make first-hand inquiries about the pressing problems of the community in which they live—juvenile delinquency, the public dance hall, the influence of the motion-picture theater, the housing situation, industrial conditions. Or a series of addresses by men who are ac¬ tively engaged in work for social welfare, followed by opportunity for questions and discussion, may bring the group face to face with questions of their community life and lead to new insights into social duty. An enlargement of the influence of the adult class in dealing with social questions in the light of Christianity may be found in the open forum, now beginning to find a place in the program of the Church. More than the pulpit, even more than the adult class, it affords an opportunity for hearing the various sides of a question, and of se¬ curing the alert participation of a large body of people. The very essence of the forum idea is open-minded search for truth, free from preconceived ideas or any imposition of authority. The number of Churches using this method of teaching, it must be confessed, is still very few, but enough has been done to demonstrate its value. It often plays the unique role of reaching many who do not attend the regular services of the Church and are quite uninterested in the ordinary Bible class. 7. Training Classes for Teachers and Leaders. —Hap¬ pily it is beginning to be recognized that the teaching of a Sunday-School class involves something more than a desire to serve and an interest in children. It is a task requiring technical training, accurate knowledge, and a high degree of skill. Churches generally are attempting to provide training classes for the development of suc¬ cessful teachers and a considerable number of text-books have been written, dealing with the various phases of the 168 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH teacher’s work. Much of this lies beyond the resources of the average local Church, so earnest effort is being made to supplement these resources through community co¬ operation, denominational supervision, and summer schools. The community training schools now being held under some form of cooperation among the religious agencies of a city are a great advance upon what pre¬ vailed even a few years ago. Some of the denominational summer schools are giving especial attention to religious education. The conferences of the Missionary Education Movement, other summer conferences and the Schools of Missions are training leaders for mission study groups in local churches. This is all excellent, so far as it goes, but the method of recruiting teachers is still more or less haphazard and there is almost no provision for relating text-book study to practice*. teaching. The result of this is largely to di¬ vorce theory from practice in the application of princi¬ ples ; in many instances the teacher follows along in the old grooves, uninfluenced by his study in the training class. The church has still to learn how to incorporate laboratory methods in its training classes. As well expect to make a chemist by reading a text-book on chemistry, or an engi¬ neer by reading a text-book on physics and mathematics, as to make a teacher simply by studying a teacher-train¬ ing text-book. The same may be said, in some measure, of the training for other forms of service. It is customary to have train¬ ing classes for the teaching of missions, and it is held, in theory at least, that the leaders of Scout and Campfire groups, and of boys’ and girls’ clubs, need special prepa¬ ration. But the local Church is seldom able really to pro¬ vide it. The method generally followed is to place the responsibility for leadership in the hands of some young man or young woman, who is full of enthusiasm and who is clever at suggesting “stunts” but who knows nothing of the theory of education, nothing of what is being con- TEACHING AGENCIES OF LOCAL CHURCH 169 temporaneously given to the same boys and girls in Sun¬ day School, and who knows practically nothing of the teaching value of the activities in which the group engages. One gains, no doubt, a certain facility in this hand-to- hand contact with young lives and an earnest-minded young person often is able to inspire the boys and girls to better living, but lack of experienced and mature over¬ sight is responsible for many failures and mistakes. If the training of Sunday-School teachers suffers from the absence of laboratory practice and the divorce of theory from experience, the training of group leadership—if such it may be called—suffers from the lack of text-book study and the divorce of practice from theory. The Church itself should be a great training school, developing men and women by means of the responsibili¬ ties it lays upon them. But the Church is hardly conscious of its teaching opportunity at this point and, lacking such consciousness, it permits the great mass of its membership to remain untrained. A few offices, such as those of deacon, trustee, clerk, treasurer, or Sunday-School super¬ intendent, are conferred, as honors, upon men and women who are known to be generally capable and trustworthy. But how often is any attempt made to train people for these positions, or any opportunity offered for learning the technique of such offices? In most cases it is rather the rule to retain in office indefinitely one who has shown himself efficient and reliable. There is almost no provi¬ sion for acquainting the membership at large with the experience of office-holding, or even of preparing those who are to hold office by a preliminary term of proba¬ tionary training. Moreover, in most instances, these and the other officers of the Church are apt to interpret their offices as tasks laid upon them to perform rather than as opportunities for leadership through which they shall train the membership of the Church as a whole. Only in com¬ paratively rare cases does the Church as a whole conceive of itself as an agency for mobilizing and utilizing the 170 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH entire membership in helpful community and world serv¬ ice. Even in such a matter as the leadership of the singing in the services of worship, many Churches still spend extravagant sums to hire professional quartets to sing to them instead of appropriating a much more mod¬ erate amount for developing the musical abilities of their own young people for a service which might be far more varied and inspiring than any quartet can render. II. Agencies Related to the Church In addition to the teaching agencies over which the local Church itself has direct control there are other important and far-reaching agencies in the community engaged in work which is educational and fundamentally, even when not avowedly, religious. Of these the Church which is thinking of its teaching work in terms of the whole com¬ munity and of the whole life of the individual must take careful account. I. The Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Association .—Of these agencies those most closely affiliated with the Churches are the Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian Associations. Through their boys’ and girls’ departments these organizations seek to provide special opportunities for young people from twelve years of age and upward. While much of their work is social in nature, it is all pervaded by a strong religious purpose and includes both instructional and ex- pressional aspects of the teaching process. The Y.M.C.A. Program of Training for Christian Citizenship consists of two sections, one for boys of 12 to 14 years of age, the other for boys 15 to 17 years old. Its aim is four-fold, to develop the boy physically, intel¬ lectually, religiously, and socially, and the program is closely linked up with all the normal interests of a boy’s TEACHING AGENCIES OF LOCAL CHURCH 171 life—such as nature, home, school, Church. 6 In various ways and by a somewhat elaborate system of credits, the program is intended to stimulate and motivate worth¬ while activities and preoccupy the boy’s life with interests that are inspiring and absorbing. By methods somewhat similar, but rather less elaborate, the Girl Reserves Pro¬ gram of the Y.W.C.A. seeks to develop an appreciation of all that goes into the making of wholesome woman¬ hood. Here also the program provides for two distinct age-groups: the girls who are still in the school grades, 12 to 15 years of age, and those of high-school age, whether attending school or engaged as working girls. Both these agencies may be regarded as somewhat highly specialized educational instrumentalities, exercising an important and, in the aggregate, extensive influence upon the life of youth. They regard themselves as func¬ tioning in a special field for all the churches. Their policies and programs are not under the control of the Churches and it is not easy to determine just to what extent their work duplicates, competes with, or supple¬ ments that of the churches. Undoubtedly, by reason of an equipment and leadership which are often superior to those which the average Church is able to supply, they succeed in attracting a considerable number of those whom the Churches have failed to reach. In some cases, no doubt, and for a similar reason, boys and girls are drawn to the Christian Associations whom the Churches might have continued to serve. And it is confessedly not easy for the Associations to lead their young people into active membership and service in the regular activities of the Church. The most serious obstacle to effective cooperation be¬ tween the local Churches and the Christian Association lies in the fact that the programs of the Associations, like those of other agencies, prepared outside of the com- ® In Canada the Christian Citizenship Training Program has been made a joint program of the Churches and the Y. M. C. A. 172 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH munity, at the state or national offices, are too rigidly standardized to be easily adapted to local conditions or the teaching programs of the local Churches. If some way could be devised whereby the teaching work and activities of the Associations could be in charge of a local board made up of representatives of the local Churches, who are in close touch with the teaching work of the Churches for these ages and for both sexes, such a board, studying the community problem as a whole, ought to be able to work out a joint cooperative program in which Churches and Associations working intelligently together would be able to accomplish the utmost for the boys and girls. 2. Scout and Camp Fire Organizations .—Another group of agencies, somewhat less closely affiliated with the Churches and less distinctly religious, are the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Campfire Girls. Perhaps it is more accurate to speak of these as movements rather than as organizations, since they have no local habitat, as is the case with the Christian Associations, but make use of the facilities of the local church or other organization. In this respect they lend themselves more readily to in¬ corporation as a part of the teaching equipment of the local Church. At the same time they are also often utilized as a feature of the Roman Catholic Church, the Jewish Synagogue, a public school, or a playground as¬ sociation. The Boy Scouts aim to develop character and train for citizenship and service. The girls’ activities center about three main interests—home, health, and citizenship. None of these three organizations thinks of its program as a substitute for the Church’s program of religious edu¬ cation, but believes that it is a valuable supplement by providing recreational, expressional, and social activities. There is, of course, no reason why any local Church which can provide the requisite leadership may not have TEACHING AGENCIES OF LOCAL CHURCH 173 these organizations as a part of its teaching machinery. The chief difficulty here, as in the other instances, lies in the present lack of correlation between the Scout and Campfire programs and the curriculum of instruction in the Church itself. III. Other Community Agencies 1. The Public Library .—Much further removed from present contacts with the Churches, but needing to be taken into account in forming the whole program of reli¬ gious education, are various community agencies, such as the library and the recreational facilities. In the library we have an institution which, while avowedly public and secular, is potentially of great value as an adjunct of the Church school. Library boards are generally willing to supply good books for which there is any considerable demand. And young folks between the ages of 9 or 10 and 14 or 15 spend, in many instances, nearly one-fourth of their spare time reading. Why should not the Churches unitedly take advantage of this opportunity and either adopt available lists or work out for themselves graded lists of books, classified according to age and subject, which would parallel the curriculum of religious instruc¬ tion and furnish experience of moral adventure, heroism, biography, travel, devotion, and self-sacrifice? By stimu¬ lating young people to make use of this literature, the teaching of the Sunday School and other agencies could be strongly reenforced. 2. The Playground .—On the side of activity and ex¬ pression, a similar correlation may be made with the playground authorities. If the teacher in the Church school knows what plays and games occupy the leisure of the pupils, and knows also the character-making values of these plays, here will be a bond of connection between lessons and life that is most valuable. Clean sport, fair play, self-sacrifice, obedience to rules, team-cooperation, 174 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH skill, initiative, a sense of honor, chivalry, generous ap¬ preciation of an opponent—these and many other qualities —find expression and development in the spontaneous life of the playground. The problems of the playground may well form a basis of class discussions. On the other hand, many lessons taught in the Church school find ready illus¬ tration in the play-life of the pupil. Every teacher should have a classified list of plays and games, adapted to the different age-periods, and whenever possible teachers should also participate with their pupils in their play. 3. Moving Pictures .—While educators are not in entire agreement as to the educational value of the motion picture, the general impression is that it is an agency of potentially great importance. Two questions affecting the Church’s teaching confront us—the undesirable character of many films shown in the theaters, and the educa¬ tional possibility of using films in the Church’s own pro¬ gram. Into the first perplexing problem we cannot enter here. As to the second, experience has shown that it is possible for the Churches to make good use of carefully chosen films, but the available films for this purpose, it must be confessed, are still few. As particularly suited to Church use may be mentioned, in addition to subjects from the Bible, films which illustrate the processes of nature, personal and public hygiene, common industries and vocations, travel, historical and biographical episodes. In any such program, it need hardly be said, the aim is not to furnish “bait” for the Churches but to use the appeal to the eye as a part of an educational enterprise. 4. The Public School System .—That the American people intend to keep distinct and separate the State and the Church, and consequently the public school and the Church school, may be accepted as settled. It is the fixed policy of the State to send all the children to school. It should be equally the policy of the Churches to see that all children, except of those parents who positively forbid TEACHING AGENCIES OF LOCAL CHURCH 175 it, receive education in religion. This is being more and more strongly urged upon the Churches by educators in the public schools themselves. In a growing number of communities helpful adjustments have been made to facilitate the formation of week-day classes in religion. Again, in states like North Dakota and Colorado, the public schools have arranged to give credit for the teaching of high school pupils by the Churches whenever that teaching shall attain a specified standard. But there is need for much closer contact than that which exists in these exceptional communities. Sunday- School teachers need to know more intimately the moral and intellectual problems of boys and girls at school. They need to follow more closely the trend of the curriculum and the current methods of instruction. The teaching of Biblical geography, for example, should come at about the same time in Sunday Schools as similar teaching in the day school. Not a little historical and biographical and scientific material which has grown familiar through the day-school studies may well be utilized again in the Church school, from a somewhat different angle, as ma¬ terial for religious teaching. Problems of conduct which arise on the play-ground and in the school-room may be formulated and discussed in the session of the Sunday School. Bonds of association could thus be interwoven between the experiences of the Church school and those of the day school, interpreting the life of the day school in the light of the Christian religion and vitalizing the teaching of the Church school. The reference to the relation of the Church to the public school system introduces us to the rising movement for week-day religious education. This movement is still so much in the experimental stage, and is of such vital importance, that we shall consider it more fully in the following chapter. CHAPTER VIII THE NEW MOVEMENT FOR WEEK-DAY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION If one were to make the statement that it is only re¬ cently that religious education has been thought of as an activity of the week-day, he would no doubt be challenged immediately by a number of organizations. For there have been, from the first years of the Christian era, classes and schools for religious instruction which met at other times than on Sunday. Even if one were to say that the movement for week-day religious education is new to modern times, the statement would be disputed. The advocates of parochial schools, pastors in charge of cate¬ chetical classes, leaders of various organizations such as the Y.M.C.A. and the Scouts, and many others would answer rightly that the idea is by no means a new discovery. But from another angle we may say that the movement which we have in mind is a new one. The impetus given to religious education during the week has come from none of these sources to any large extent. By week-day schools of religion we now mean the recent type of school which definitely seeks to set up a program of religious education as a part of the child's week-day school life. There is, in the minds of those responsible for this new agency, the aim of completing the training of every child by giving him, in a truly educational way, his religious heritage. Thus we find a type of school which is of com¬ paratively recent growth and quite different from any that have hitherto been established. The date of the beginnings of this movement is some¬ what difficult to determine. The Jewish and Lutheran 176 WEEK-DAY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 177 schools, as well as the Roman Catholic, go back some time. Among the Protestant schools those founded in Gary, Indiana, in the spring of 1914, represent the first definite attempt to think of week-day religious education as an integral part of the child’s school program. At first the movement grew slowly. In 1920 there began a very rapid extension of the idea, reports in a recent Survey 1 indicat¬ ing that in that year 77 schools were established. In the following year 131 others followed, and during the first two months of 1922, 25 more were reported. Precise figures for today are not available, but it is conservatively estimated that by this time there are probably 1,000 week¬ day schools of religion in existence in the United States. It is thus evident that the recent growth of the movement has been vigorous. This growth further distinguishes the type of religious education above defined from other efforts at religious development outside of Sunday. It also makes it imperative that we consider seriously the causes of the movement and its meaning with reference to the future of the educational work of the Church. 1. Causes of the Week-Day Movement While a number of specific reasons might be given for the development of the movement for week-day religious education, all of them may be comprehended in two gen¬ eral statements. First, there has been deep concern because of the fruit, or lack of fruit, of recent religious effort and a con¬ viction that we must have more religious education. We seem to be facing a more difficult situation in moral and 1 Made early in 1922, by Erwin L. Shaver, for the Religious Education Association and the Committee on Social and Re¬ ligious Surveys. The Report is published in Religious Educa¬ tion for April, 1922. The full report of the Conference of the Religious Education Association at which the subject was dis¬ cussed is presented in “Week-Day Religious Education,” edited by H. F. Cope (Doran, 1922). i;8 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH religious teaching than any which has presented itself for some years. The present wave of immorality, if such we may call it; social ills, such as race prejudice and war, crying aloud for some real cure; the condition of spiritual illiteracy of a people who know not their own beliefs or ethical standards; the increasingly difficult position of the Church with reference to society at large—all these are impelling reasons why more strenuous efforts to teach morality and religion are called for. Should we doubt this condition we have but to note the multiplicity of agencies aiming to do this very thing. Within the Church we have had a gradual accumulation of educational organ¬ izations, such as we have considered in the previous chap¬ ter. The foreign missionary enterprise and the home missionary program also are demanding more work along educational lines. Even outside the Church there are many agencies being established to develop the religious and moral life of the child. The child, as a result, is being pulled and hauled this way and that so strenuously that one wonders that he knows which way to turn. And now another bidder for his attention has come upon the scene. This movement for week-day religious instruction is additional evidence of the feeling that we must have more religious education . A second reason which lies back of the week-day move¬ ment, and one which is perhaps more peculiar to it than to any other phase of the demand for religious education, is the new tendency to apply educational principles more thoroughly and strictly to religious development. While the application of this new point of view has been slowly creeping into the Sunday School, and is the compelling force behind a number of other religious-educational insti¬ tutions, it has not yet come into its own. There has been a demand for a real school with religious ideals. Ever since Church and State have been wisely separated, some efforts have been put forth to teach religion in the schools. But we have already seen that these efforts have proved WEEK-DAY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 179 wholly inadequate. The movement which we are consid¬ ering is the latest answer to the call for a truly educa¬ tional program applied to religious growth. The week¬ day school of religion is avowedly educational in method. Its aims, its methods of organization, and its methods of teaching are all based upon the claim that it is a school and seeks to be classed as such. The relationship which this newcomer bears to the Sunday School on the one hand and to the public school on the other is of especial significance. Some of these new schools are viewed by their promoters as extensions of the Church’s educational work into the week, reaching out for and cooperating with the public school. Others think of their week-day school of religion as rather the reaching out of the public school toward the Church; that is, the classes in religion are regarded as supplementary to the public-school course of study and are expressions of the friendship which the public school bears to the Church. Since religion cannot be taught in the public school, the week-day schools thus partake of the nature of parallel training schools of Christian citizenship. In a few cases the religious training during the week is a sort of independent piece of work linking the two educa¬ tional institutions, Church and State, but free from the restrictions incident to both. But in and through all the purposes back of the venture is the deep-seated conviction that religious development must come through a thorough application of educational methods to the field of religion. 2 . Present Status of Week-Day Schools We cannot here go extensively into the details of the work of the week-day schools, but we may hope to present sufficient facts to be able to understand their place in the 4 modern program of religious education, to judge their value and to offer suggestions for future guidance. i8o THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH (a) The Aims of Week-day Schools .—One cannot estimate fairly the work of such schools unless he goes into the motives which prompt their establishment. These motives differ. The most prominent aim in the minds of those responsible has been suggested above, the desire to meet a condition of great spiritual illiteracy. In a few cases Churches seem to conceive of the founding of a week-day school chiefly as a further buttressing of their ecclesiastical stronghold; lest their Church be lost in the social changes taking place, a week-day school is added ta the teaching agencies of the Church already existing. With many leaders there is a feeling that the Sunday School, as an educational institution, is inadequate or has largely failed. The aim, in their case, is the creation of a real teaching institution. Some of the Churches hope thereby to educate their own children religiously; others conceive the mission of the week-day school to be the reaching of those who are not touched by religious influences. This difference in aim, as well as the differences noted above, makes it evident that there is by no means a clear conception of precisely what the week-day schools are to do, other than, in general, to extend religious* education. While some may be clear as to the aim of their particular school, the range of aims is so wide and so often contradictory as to render any one inclusive state¬ ment of aims impossible. As to what these schools are to aim to teach, there is considerable diversity of opinion. Some limit their work to the teaching of the Bible; others include courses in social service and missions; some provide for a period o£ worship; a considerable number arrange for some kind of expressional work. These aims are, of course, all re¬ garded as but proximate and means to the ultimate goal of a fuller development of the religious life. (b) Types of Schools .—In the main, most of the exist¬ ing schools belong to one of three types, classified on the WEEK-DAY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 181 basis of the management of the school. The first type, known as the denominational, or individual Church, school, includes those which are governed by the local Church and have no connection with any other school in the community. Such schools maintain this independent position in some cases because of denominational loyalty; in others, because no other school exists with which to cooperate. Some such schools are forward- looking as to aims and methods; others are exceedingly conservative. A school of this type works at a disadvan¬ tage as to cost of operation and the employment of skilled supervisors, but being more easily able to coordinate the week-day with the Sunday School it can offer a more unified program of religious education for the children whom it reaches. A second type of school, the denominational-cooper - ating type, differs from the first largely in the fact that it cooperates with other schools to promote the general in¬ terests of all. Each school is independent in matters per¬ taining to its own government and teaching, but such questions as the securing of public-school time or granting of credits, advertising the movement, and the like, are given into the hands of a committee representing the different interests involved. In this respect this type of school has advantages over the first type; otherwise there is little difference. A third type, distinct from those described above, is commonly known as the community school. A more accurate name is the neighborhood (or city ) system of schools, for these schools, though less sectarian and more widely democratic than the others, are not representative of the entire community, which includes Roman Catholics and Jews. The governing board is made up of repre¬ sentatives from the several Churches. The course of study is uniform for all the denominations joining in the system; other matters also are handled without regard to denominational lines. This type of school quite fre- 182 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH quently thinks of its task as training for Christian citi¬ zenship. It is usually in a position to make a strong impression upon the public. The Survey reported 44 of these systems existing early in 1922, maintaining 169 sepa¬ rate schools. In the matter of government the school at Malden, Massachusetts, is quite different from any of those in¬ cluded in the above type-classifications. It is supported and maintained by the interested Protestant community but apart from any Church control. The schools at Evanston, Illinois, began in a similar way but the trial ended by providing a closer relationship to the Churches. In general, one may say that there is no one type of week-day school as yet which seems suited to all situations and that further experimentation needs to be carried on before final judgment can be passed. (c) The Organization and Administration of Schools. —Most of the existing schools are supported by the local Church budgets, a considerable number by sub¬ scriptions taken in the community. In some cases a school or system of schools is maintained by pro-rata assessment of expenses among the several Churches co¬ operating. Occasionally more than one means of de¬ fraying the cost of the school is used. While there are a number of schools which are maintained with prac¬ tically no expense, the larger number need money to do the work they have undertaken. On the average the existing schools are run for about $200 a year. The Sur¬ vey reports 89 schools costing over this amount, one school expending $2,500 a year. On a basis of cost per pupil the amount ranges from nothing in many schools to amounts as high as $17 a year. The median cost is about $1 annually for each pupil. Most of this money is expended for workers’ salaries, some for office expense, and some for text-books and materials. Supervisors’ salaries, on a yearly basis, range WEEK-DAY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 183 from $36 to $3,600, the median being $222. It must be borne in mind, however, that in many cases this amount includes payment for other services within the church. Where teachers are paid, we have a range of salaries from $68 to $2,500 a year, with a median salary of $600. Most frequently teachers are paid for part time at an hourly rate of $1.25 (median). From these figures one gets some idea of the extent to which the churches recog¬ nize professional service in religious education. The buildings used for week-day instruction in most cases are Churches. Some schools utilize the parish house of the Church; some have their classes meet in rooms of the public school. In a small proportion of cases such buildings as the Y.M.C.A. or a settlement house are used. The Latter Day Saints provide special buildings for their schools, as is the case in one of the schools of the Gary system. The rooms as a whole are lacking either in the school-room atmosphere, on the one hand, or the environment conducive to worship on the other, for where one of these features is good, the other is almost always lacking. Most of the schools for week-day instruction in religion have wisely avoided the use of public-school buildings, lest such a practise be misunderstood and open the way for opposition. The equipment of these buildings and class-rooms varies considerably. A few schools use pews or benches and find artificial light a necessity. Most of them provide better seating facilities, more like the public school, by using chairs or school seats. Work tables or school desks are also provided in most class-rooms. Maps and blackboards are supplied to a reasonable extent. When it comes to library equipment the reports indicate less generous provision. Only a few schools furnish the pupils with a reference library; more have a teachers ? library. Pianos are quite frequently found and occa¬ sionally equipment for handwork. As compared with the public school equipment, that which is used in the 184 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH week-day schools of religion is rather meager and poor, but as compared with that of the Sunday School some advance has been made. Facts as to the organization for instruction are indica¬ tive of the present status of the movement. A few schools are organized for carrying on two grades (years) of work only; about as many provide for a full thirteen grades, including a kindergarten and four years of high school. Between these two extremes the remaining schools are grouped, the median number of grades or years of work offered being seven. This does not mean, however, that these grades always meet as separate classes. Fre¬ quently several meet as one class, the most usual arrange¬ ment being two grades to each class. Perhaps two-thirds of the schools hold their classes during public school hours. The pupils in that case are excused from a study period, a play period, an auditorium period, or from recitation in some elective subject. Where this is not done the religious instruction is given after school or at some other convenient time outside school hours. Most of the classes vary in length from a half hour to an hour, although a few schools hold sessions of an hour and a half. In most of the schools one recitation a week is the rule; a number have their pupils meet twice a week. On the average the pupils receive about one hour a week of religious training. The number of pupils receiving week-day instruction last year was approximately 50,000, with the enrolment of girls slightly higher than that of boys. The smallest school reported has 4 scholars; the largest 519. The median number of pupils in a single school is 106. The heaviest enrolment is found in grades four to six. When but a few grades are provided, it is generally these that compose the school. The percentage of attendance centers about 91. Various reasons seem to account for the attendance of scholars upon this new type of school. In some cases it is due to the fact that it is a new thing; WEEK-DAY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 185 in others a craving for something to do is the power of attraction. The school by its very nature is selective, only the more serious-minded coming to week-day classes. The week-day classes reporting in the Survey were em¬ ploying 888 teachers, all but 30 of them being part-time workers. Over 60 per cent, of the total give their serv¬ ices without pay. In some schools pastors and educa¬ tional directors are doing all or part of the teaching. About half of the number have had a college or normal school training. The remainder have had training of a high-school grade or less. When it comes to educational experience, about the same proportion exists. One-half have taught in some kind of a public school. The other half are limited in teaching experience to Sunday School or special work. Practically all the week-day schools have someone act¬ ing as a supervisor of the work being done. Often the teacher acts as supervisor also; sometimes the pastor or educational director supervises. Over 20 per cent, of these supervisors are full-time workers, indicating a growing tendency toward a professionalizing of the week¬ day work. Almost all of these supervisors have had either a college or normal-school education. Slightly less than half have studied in a theological seminary. Only a little over a third, however, have studied in the field of religious education, to say nothing of taking an ade¬ quate professional course in that subject. Two-thirds of the supervisors have had experience in public education. (d) The Course of Study .—In the courses of study used in the week-day schools there is also considerable variety. In a number the Bible is the only text used. In some schools, particularly in those emphasizing denomi¬ national loyalty, courses prepared with their own needs in mind are offered. Several denominations are using courses which seek to unify the work of Sunday and week day. The majority of schools, however, are using 186 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH non-denominational courses, such as the University of Chicago, Scribner’s or the Abingdon series. Generally speaking, the course material is less distinctly denomina¬ tional than that taught in the Sunday School. In a few places special courses of an eclectic nature have been prepared as most suitable for local conditions. In the week-day school, as in the Sunday School, the “knowledge” view of the curriculum still seems to be predominant. A course of study is looked upon as so many ideas and facts which are to be made the possession of the pupil. It is apparently assumed that the goal of religious training will be attained if only the child mas¬ ters the facts. The texts are studied and recited upon; the truths, often in catechetical or Biblical verse form, are memorized. The courses for the most part differ little from each other except as to externals. Some are more attractively bound; others are more interestingly arranged or written; a few contain extra-Biblical stories as well as Biblical. The aim seems to be to make the truth more attractive. While much of the material is a vast improve¬ ment over the older Sunday-School lessons, in most cases the viewpoint of the curriculum is essentially the same. There is not very much attention paid to worship as a part of the religious experience. Some leaders feel that this should be left for the Sunday session. Many con¬ ceive of intellectual instruction as the main task. There is a tendency to include some kinds of activity, such as hand¬ work, dramatization, or Christian service activities, as a means of “expressing the idea” which has been learned. In general, there is considerable diversity of opinion as to what ought to be taught. The fact that many schools are not satisfied with any available course of study, to¬ gether with the use of eclectic courses, gives evidence of an increasing feeling that a course of religious training is something more than a set of texts to be learned. Many leaders are asking for something different, but their wants are not yet satisfied. WEEK-DAY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 187 (e) The Method of Teaching .—Probably most of the teachers are hardly conscious of using any specific method of teaching. Nevertheless, in mode of approach and types of procedure, a number of ways of seeking to develop the religious life of children are found. In a considerable number of schools the methods used are still centered about the drill process. The aim is to get the pupils to repeat certain truths which they have memo¬ rized. In some schools the Church catechism is used, with interpretation added. In others the memory work takes the form of Bible verses and the teaching consists in hearing the verses repeated. In addition pupils are drilled on the books of the Bible, the location of places, or stories of Biblical heroes. Another general type is that in which the teacher is the actor and the pupils are passive spectators. The lecture or persuasive sermon is used as the means of in¬ fluencing a change of life in the scholar. This method in its purity is not common, but it permeates much of the other kinds of teaching, often overshadowing more educational efforts at developing religious life. The teacher conceives it her task to say what ought to be said, and as long as the pupils are passively interested and do not run away, she is hopeful of results. A third method provides for more participation by the scholars. Sometimes this activity takes the form of a live discussion; at other times it is exceedingly difficult to get the pupils to say anything. Discussion of intellectual problems of various kinds and from vari¬ ous sources often comprises the activity. Some teachers are not satisfied with a method which limits activity to verbal discussion. They consider their teaching com¬ plete only when the class-room work includes physical and social elements. We have two kinds of this latter activity, depending upon the viewpoint of the teacher. The line of demarcation is quite distinct. In the large majority of cases the pupil’s activity is planned for by 188 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH the teacher in order to make the lesson more vivid. The scholars make models, color pictures, play the story. A few teachers, happily, consider that all activities engaged in by their pupils may be religious experiences and work for intelligent Christian purposing and self-directed execu¬ tion of Christian projects. They conceive their task as teachers to be the friendly guidance of their pupils in the selection, planning, and carrying out of those enter¬ prises which mark the life of a true Christian. (f) Relation to Other Educational Agencies. —A dis¬ cussion of the present status of the week-day movement would be incomplete without some mention of the rela¬ tion which it bears to other agencies working with child life. While we might desire that some form of coopera¬ tion be had with the home , it must be said that thus far very little has been done in this direction. There is nothing to do but to express a hope that these two agencies may be able to get together in the formulation of a more definite policy of mutual helpfulness. As to such organizations as the Y. M. C. A. and the Scouts, the same must also be said. Each is working along its own lines and the week-day school does not relate its work to their activities. When we turn to the public school a different situation is presented. The week-day school of religion is a defi¬ nite attempt to correlate the child’s week-day educational program, fitting religious education and public education together. The granting of time by the public school is one aspect of this relationship. Another is the giving of public-school credit by some of the school boards and principals. In the high school this credit takes the form of allowing the pupil to substitute the course in the school of religion for one of the elective subjects. In the grades it is classed as a supplementary study, but one which is not required for promotion to another grade. The pupils are excused at the parents’ request from free periods WEEK-DAY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 189 or elective subjects to attend the classes in religion. Most of the public schools exercise some kind of supervision with respect to the work of the week-day classes in re¬ ligion. The most usual form is that of keeping a record of attendance. Although many principals reserve the right to check up upon the conduct or work of pupils, very few exercise the privilege. They would like to keep the work of the two schools distinct as far as possible, without being unfair to the school of religion. While the public-school officials expect the teachers of religion to possess high qualifications, little is done to enforce the maintenance of such a standard. The unofficial rela¬ tions between the officers and teachers of the public-school system and the workers in the week-day schools are most kindly. The former are generally glad to assist in the promotion of schools of religion. In a few instances the public-school teacher uses the material of the lesson in religion as a basis of theme work, which suggests an attempt at unifying the educational experience of the child. Further than these external relationships the correlation of these two educational agencies has not gone. Since the week-day school is a religious institution, we are interested also in the relationship which exists be¬ tween it and the Church. Most of the schools are closely connected with the Church in government and aim. Three- fourths of the children attending them belong to some Sunday School. In spite of these facts there is very little correlation. Only a few Churches have a unified educational program with the week-day school as an in¬ tegral part of it. The higher educational standard aimed at, the separate governing body, the employment of the professional teacher of religion, and other factors, make for separation. The pupil feels this and it causes a fur¬ ther split in his educational consciousness. Some endeavors at a division of lesson material have been made, for the sake of unity, but it is doubtful if this method is ade- 190 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH quate. There is need for serious study at this point. The way out seems to be along the line of closer atten¬ tion to the process by which a child develops religiously. 3. The Week-Day School Evaluated On the three most important aspects of the week-day movement—the aims, the curriculum, and the teaching process—we need to evaluate, so far as possible, the present development. (a) Aims of the Week-Day School. —The existing dis¬ agreement among leaders in the week-day schools as to their aims results in confusion and lack of definiteness in all phases of the work. The only point at which the promoters seem to be agreed is in promoting religious education, but they have left the definition of religion out of account. When religion was defined simply in terms of creed, one had only to state that he aimed to get the child to believe his way. Now that large numbers in all our Churches are thinking of religion in larger terms, we are facing a more difficult situation. The time has come to restate our aims in religious education. In place of purely intellectual instruction we must substi¬ tute the development of adequate living: life must re¬ place knowledge; character must be our goal rather than mere belief. It is to this conviction that the week-day movement is leading us. We must satisfactorily define our destination before we can move forward zvith vigor and success. (b) The Week-Day School Curriculum. —The “knowl¬ edge view” of the course of study has been foremost in the minds of those who build the courses for week-day schools, as is true of most of the other institutions for religious education. A great sign of hope, however, is the awakening consciousness of the inadequacy of a course WEEK-DAY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 191 based upon such a view. We are coming to see that it fails to take into account the fact that life is more than knowledge, that growth, religiously as well as in other respects, is dependent upon action and feeling as well as thinking. The knowledge view also fails to recognize the unity of the growth-process. There can be no transfer of ideas into action unless those ideas have previously been associated with that action. If the aim of our relig¬ ious training is Christian living, that training must be based upon living itself. What we need is not merely a series of lessons hut a course of experiences in Christum living, of such a nature that each experience leads to a desire to live the Christian life in a still larger circle. In such a program of activity all values, including the Biblical, are conserved and enriched. The nearest ap¬ proaches to it at the present moment are probably the Canadian Standard Efficiency Program and the Y.M.C.A. Christian Citizenship Training Program. To introduce such programs, however, without understanding their purposes and methods would be futile. (c) The Process of Teaching. —As might be expected from the above tendencies, the teaching process in the week-day school is in need of vital transformation. The imparting-of-knowledge method, dependent upon force and stern authority in the days of our forefathers, and carried on from that time to the present by “sugar- coating” devices, must give way to a method of directing social activity. In such direction provision must be made for self-initiative, democratic cooperation, and discrimina¬ tive thinking on the part of boys and girls. It is this view which is prevailing in our better public schools. Public-school leaders, who are acquainted with this ap¬ proach to the teaching process, are anxious that the leaders in the schools of religion follow the same method. Helping children to engage in Christian enterprises which they choose for themselves and assisting them so to judge the experience which they have had that they are led on i 9 2 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH to further and larger enterprises—this is the place of the teacher of religion. It is thus seen that there is an insistent demand for changes which are almost revolutionary in our entire process of religious education. The week-day movement, which is developing with such promise of success, has probably done more than any other institution to make us conscious of a need for change. We are faced with a dilemma. We find the causes of the week-day movement in two great demands, the demand for more religious education on the one hand, and the insistence upon the application of educational principles on the other. To plant more and more institutions of religious education, > r -*: as fast as we can, but at the sacrifice of educational prin¬ ciples, will not carry us far ahead. If, on the other hand, we stress modern methods of education, which is the avowed purpose of the week-day movement, any sacrifice in the numbers of schools will be more than compensated for by the new quality of work. 4. The Future of the Movement A new movement in the field of religious education is before us, calling for assistance. To find a constructive path of advance will have value not only in the case of the week-day school, but for all religious education as well. In the light of our study the following suggestions for the future would seem to be important. (a) There Must Be an Increased Educational Em¬ phasis. —Regardless of the number of schools founded, there should be a searching examination of educational theory and practice as it is to be found in the best centers of education. The principles and practices thus discovered should be applied earnestly to the field of religious educa¬ tion in general and the new week-day school in particular. Even if it means that we found few new schools, we WEEK-DAY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 193 must follow this policy. Widespread establishment of organizations which are called schools of religion but which fail when measured by educational standards, in¬ vites ridicule of the Church’s work on the part of edu¬ cators and, on our own part, dismay. Delaying for a time our interest in numbers of schools, we must con¬ centrate upon the educational emphasis in religion. We need to restate our aims; the course of study must be reorganized upon a better basis; the teaching process must be approached from the daily lives of boys and girls. If religion is of equal value with the development of skill of hand and keenness of thinking, surely it is justified in asking that the best educational methods be applied to its development. Our choice of educational standards is a measure of the value we place upon our religion. (b) This Means That Experimentation Will Have to Be Carried On .—If we are convinced that radical changes are needed, new methods should be tried out. Many agencies, including the educational boards of the Churches, will have to set going experiments based upon modern educational theory. It may be that a consider¬ able period of time will have to elapse before we have a full program and a method worthy of recommending to the Churches. We want the best and that means trial and error and renewed search. If the Government, in its agricultural and war departments, can set aside large sums of money and designate trained men to discover new ways and means of farming and carrying on war, why should not the Christian Church adopt the principle of experimentation and set aside schools of religion as experimental centers, with adequate equipment, and allow them freedom to discover the best ways of Christian education ? In the case of the week-day school we are face to face with a real opportunity. It is new; its leaders are open- 194 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH minded; it is unencumbered with traditions as to curri¬ culum and use of time. Before it becomes crystallized in ways that are out of date educationally, shall we not pause and view the possibilities before us ? Let us open the way for these schools to be set up as experimental centers for evolving the best methods of religious edu¬ cation. (c) An Adequate Leadership Must Be Trained. —All this makes necessary the training of efficient leaders. We have the beginnings of a professional leadership in a small number of supervisors and teachers in the week¬ day movement who are giving their entire time to the work. The number, however, is quite insufficient to meet the demands with which we are confronted. Serious and definite efforts must be made to supply trained workers for the new type of religious education. Our colleges and seminaries must be equipped with departments of religious education competent to furnish them. The work of training leaders cannot be turned over to any member of the faculty who happens to take an interest. Nor can the Church leave the entire responsibility to the colleges and seminaries and simply ask them to turn out leaders. There must be a definite understanding that such leaders are wanted and the young men and women who are called to the teaching profession in the service of the Church must be assured a place worthy of their preparation. (d) The Entire Religious-Educational Program Must Be Correlated. —The existence of the week-day school and the Sunday School side by side compels us to face squarely the matter of correlation. In place of division of interests and competition of programs, we must unify the agencies that seek to help the boys and girls in their growth toward maturity. It is not enough that the week¬ day movement and the Sunday School be fitted together. That is essential but will not solve the real problem. Our WEEK-DAY RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 195 trouble is not at this point alone. All the other agencies —young people’s society, mission study groups, Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A., Scouts, and various organizations that make contributions to a full program of religious edu¬ cation—are usually unrelated and often rival claim¬ ants for the same children’s time. We need to face our educational task as a whole and cease wasting our energy in petty competition among various agencies. This question of securing a unified program is so important that we shall study it fully in the following chapter. If the week-day school, as we have described it, is seen not to be such a remarkable thing as it was sup¬ posed to be, there is no reason for discouragement. That we do not continually congratulate ourselves upon our great accomplishments is no indication of retrogression. The greatest danger is that we should become easily satisfied. The week-day movement is not a failure; it is a success. It has done some things which, to be sure, it did not intend to do, but it has revealed to us our position. It has shown us that we need more, or rather, better, education in religion. It has called to our attention the fact that the child’s religious development is a matter for the week-day as well as for Sunday. It has caused us to question and restate our aims. It has given us a new vision of the curriculum and of the teaching process. It has summoned us to unify our many-sided program of religious education. These are unlooked-for contribu¬ tions, but they are blessings in disguise. CHAPTER IX SECURING A UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL PRO¬ GRAM FOR THE CHURCH The present organization of the local Church for its teaching work, as reviewed in the two preceding chapters, reveals a wealth of existing agencies and a large amount of educational effort. The impression made upon us, however, is one of confusion and inefficiency. Instead of an educational program as a whole, consciously prepared from the standpoint of ministering to the full develop¬ ment of the individual who is the object of all our teach¬ ing, we have a series of partial programs, often competing with each other for the time of the same individuals, each seeking to secure attention practically regardless of the contributions made by others. The sum of the matter is that we have been trying to meet our responsibility for religious education by increas¬ ing the number of agencies rather than by planning care¬ fully for a single rounded and comprehensive program designed to secure the full development of the person taught. It is inconceivable that we should continue to be satisfied with a method under which each organization presses its own special program and it is no one’s re¬ sponsibility to consider what program will best serve the whole development of the whole man. i. The Need for a Unified Program in the Local Church What is urgently needed in the local Church is a cen¬ tral body which shall be responsible for its whole teaching work, whose business it shall be to study its whole educa- 196 UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 197 tional problem and plan comprehensively for it. Only in this way can the many unrelated agencies—Sunday School, mission study class, young people’s society, week¬ day school, Daily Vacation Bible School, and the other organizations—be related to each other in such a way as to secure an effective educational plan. Such a committee on religious education (or whatever it may be called) will study carefully the local situation and discover the number of children, youth, and adults for whose teaching it is properly responsible. It will outline in detail the material and the methods necessary in order to supply what these persons ought to have at every stage of their development. It will appraise sym¬ pathetically the resources available in each existing agency and suggest modifications and adjustments which any of these should make either in program or method in order to fit in more helpfully with the work of the others. It will give due consideration to the influences which oper¬ ate helpfully upon them from other sources, such as the home, the library, the public school, the community center. It will develop plans for the selection and training of teachers and leaders in the various activities of the Church and the community. It will undertake to secure adequate rooms and equipment for all the teaching work of the Church and arrange a schedule for the various agencies, in order that these may be used to the best advantage. It will make an annual estimate of the cost of the entire edocational program, to be raised as a part of the Church’s regular budget for current expenses. Such an educational plan means the development of what may rightly be called the “Church School—not as an additional agency or a new name for an old agency, but as the correlation of all the many phases of the teach¬ ing work of the Church. It implies that the Church, as such—not simply certain organizations or agencies—feels its corporate responsibility for exercising the teaching function and proposes to take it seriously. 198 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH A carefully formulated program of teaching such as this requires skilled supervision. A Church school, properly conducted, with all its departments harmoniously adjusted and in working order, will need a trained superintendent and a staff of assistants, their number depending upon the size and resources of the Church. In some instances this responsibility may devolve upon the pastor, if he has the requisite training; in the larger Churches, upon a director of religious education. In any case, the task is a technical one, calling for a high degree of knowledge, experience, and skill. The director of religious education is more than a business executive; he is an educator, familiar with the religious problems of childhood and youth; a tactful manager, knowing how to secure team work between pupils and teachers as well as between the leaders of the different organizations which make up the school as a whole; and an interpreter, making clear to leaders the values which lie in their respective tasks, and to parents and to the community the needs which must be served. What has been said regarding the need of organizing the work of the many diverse educational factors into one closely articulated program for the whole Church is as yet mainly a counsel of perfection. Few, if any. Churches can claim that this ideal has yet been achieved. But the trend of progress is all in this direction. Many Churches have a committee on religious education charged with oversight of all the teaching work, though it has not always won for itself sufficient prestige to be able to deal vigorously and constructively with local agencies. In some cases it is composed of the executives of the Sunday School, Young People’s Society, Missionary Committee, and similar organizations and finds itself hampered by the disposition of each of these officials to regard himself as the representative and champion of the interests of his particular organization rather than as an advocate of the best possible system of teaching and training for the youth of that locality, by whatever agency. Sometimes UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 199 the Sunday School regards itself as the logical common denominator, inasmuch as its classes touch all ages, and feels that the Young People’s Society and the Missionary Committee should come in as subordinate parts of its own organization. In other localities where an enthusiasm has been created for week-day religious education the energies flow out in this direction, without any special regard for what the Sunday School is now doing or any effort to relate the week-day school to the existing curricula of the Sunday School and other agencies. Seldom do we find a Church which has both the ability and the courage and also the resources to enable it to grapple afresh with its teaching problem and organize itself effectively into a unified agency for accomplishing its whole teaching task. It is not altogether surprising that this should be the case. It is only very recently that there has been any real comprehension of the complexity and delicacy and difficulty of the Church’s teaching task. Now, however, the time has come when the situation must be faced and dealt with positively. We must have a program that thinks first and only of the individual to he taught and thinks of him as a whole . He will never he properly served hy any combination of unrelated agencies, each of which is planning for only a segment of the indi¬ vidual's life, without regard to a general plan for the development of his life as a unified whole . 2. The Need for a Unified Program for the Com¬ munity as a Whole To get a unified program of religious education for the parish is not enough. Outside the parish are other parishes; outside all of the parishes, as now conceived, are hosts of children, young people, and adults for whom the Church is responsible. The responsibility of the Church as a whole is coterminous with the community. In the development of an adequate educational system 200 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH for the whole community the Church is now hampered at various points. We may summarize the situation as fol¬ lows : (a) It is hampered, in its attempt to provide for all the youth of the community or neighborhood, from the fact that it must share with many other Churches a gen¬ eral responsibility for community welfare. In early New England the Church was definitely regarded as existing for the whole community and the community was gen¬ erally called upon, through taxation, for its support. But with the free development of independent Churches and denominations parish lines have become obliterated, so that several Churches of different denominations, with buildings situated in close proximity to each other, are drawing their membership from the same geographical area. The result of this tendency has been to weaken a sense of responsibility for any definite area or any defined group outside its own present membership. Very often a Church does not know what its own constituency is or should be, as distinguished from the constituencies of other Churches. This uncertainty of community re¬ lationship has often been disastrous, leading to the over¬ looking of considerable areas of the population, especially those who are most in need of being served. A Roman Catholic Church considers itself responsible for a defi¬ nite area or parish and can lay its hands upon children of Catholic parentage anywhere in that community. A Protestant Church generally cannot, nor will it be pos¬ sible for the independent Protestant organizations to deal similarly with Protestant children except as the move¬ ment for cooperation or union proceeds much further than it has gone at present. Having no common community plan and relying upon haphazard contacts or upon competitive “contests” as a means of recruiting Sunday-School membership, the Churches find themselves confronted at present with the UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 201 fact that in the United States and Canada there are but some 20,000,000 persons (of all ages) enrolled in Protest¬ ant Sunday Schools; while in Continental United States, exclusive of Canada, there are over 27,000,000 children and youth (under 25 years of age) nominally Protestant who are not enrolled in any Sunday School. Of those t who are enrolled, half the pupils attend less than half the time. It needs no argument to show that the Protestant Churches are far from fulfilling their responsibility to the community as a whole. (b) The local Church is hampered, in its attempt to provide a complete program of religious education, from the fact that it is not directly related to the other agencies in the community which exercise a religious influence. The home, the playground, the public school, the public library, the public press, are all potential factors in re¬ ligious education, and over these the local Church has 1 no control. Besides these there are other agencies which aim more positively to exercise a religious influence and which may stand either as competitors or as allies of the local Church in its teaching work; such agencies, for example, as the young Men’s and Young Women’s Chris¬ tian Associations or the local Boy Scout executive. Over their activities neither the individual Church nor all the local Churches together have authority. Even the local Sunday School Association usually does not look to the local Churches for direction. Yet the children and youth of the local Church are getting something from one or all of these community agencies. It is by no means an easy problem for the local Church to determine in the case of each individual, or group of individuals, just what they are already receiving from other agencies and what it should itself supply. (c) The Church is hampered, in its attempt to provide a program suited to community needs, by the fact that existing programs are prepared outside of the community, by denominational or interdenominational agencies which 202 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH are working with the nation or the denomination in mind, rather than the local community and the individual in the local community. The result is that most of the pro¬ grams which are sent to the local Church are so general in nature, so stiff with standardization, as to be adapted to no particular community. They are like composite photographs, looking like everybody in general and no¬ body in particular. The local Sunday School Associations, although de¬ signed to provide for united effort among the Sunday Schools of a community, have generally been weak in community consciousness and weakly related to the Churches of the community. Too seldom have they been locally controlled, studying local conditions and adapting material and methods to local needs, and too often they have been directed from without, by State or National Association, and used merely as a promoting agency for a standardized program. The local Young People’s Unions have fallen into the same weakness. Their com¬ munity programs, instead of being the result of com¬ munity study and so consciously adapted to their own needs, have usually been taken over ready-made in some standardized form offered to the local union to be pro¬ moted through its subsidiaries, regardless of the other agencies operating on the same group of young people. The local Y.M.C.A. and, to a considerable extent, the Y.W.C.A. also tend to look to outside, or overhead officials, for direction and attempt to promote for local use their more or less rigidly standardized programs, without full regard for what the Churches are doing or what most needs doing in the particular city. Scouts and Campfire organizations lend themselves readily to use by the local Church but do not offer programs which are very easily adaptable. Excellent as they are in purpose and in general plan they are so specific in detail that it is by no means always easy to make them an integral part of a larger program. UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 203 (d) The Church is hampered, in its attempt to corre¬ late these programs of the various organizations and agencies into one closely articulated teaching program, by the fact that the makers of the programs, which come from outside sources, have not taken the trouble to get together and correlate their own work. If only the pro¬ gram-making agencies would take the necessary time in conference and joint planning to see just where and how the program of each can best be made to fit into the pro¬ gram of the others, and would then build together a com¬ mon program for the local community and the local Church, the problem would be tremendously simplified. With the existing division of responsibility there is bound to be neglect of certain areas and individuals, espe¬ cially of the most needy, and overlapping and friction with respect to those who are naturally regarded as the most desirable subjects. Even those who come under the Church's teaching influence are bound to be imperfectly served, as we have seen, for the reason that no one agency, and no mere combination of uncoordinated agencies, is in a position to plan for the whole life of a pupil. The individual is acted upon by a number of more or less unrelated agencies, each planning its own independent program. The result is that certain areas of the pupil’s life are cared for—over-cared for, one may say—by teaching influences which do not properly supplement each other, not infrequently duplicating effort for both teacher and taught, while certain other areas are rela¬ tively neglected. We have therefore in the community as a whole a situation not unlike that in the local Church, only on a larger scale. The problem is rendered still more diffi¬ cult because of the fact that not only is the educational task divided up between uncorrelated and autonomous agencies, each regarding itself as responsible to an outside authority, but also because of the further complicating fact that the Churches which have to deal with these 204 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH agencies are wholly independent and unrelated, with no machinery for systematic coordination of effort. The Protestant Churches, as Churches, must get to¬ gether for community work. This, indeed, is now taking place in a growing number of communities through federations or councils of Churches. In such a council there should be one department concerned with the whole teaching task of the Churches. All the agencies for re¬ ligious education, including the many Churches and their organizations, together with the other institutions of religious influence outside the Churches themselves, need to be brought under some form of unified oversight. Such a department of religious education should be competent to deal with every phase of the teaching pro¬ cess, and should be able to plan a community program to meet community needs, based on a survey of the com¬ munity—the population and its varied needs and the resources and available agencies with which to meet those needs. The department of religious education should be competent to suggest how best the Sunday School, the Young People’s Societies, the Christian Associations, and the other local agencies may best cooperate in serving the entire community and all ages in a carefully corre¬ lated program. It should determine what portion of the teaching task should be accomplished through week-day schools of religion or vacation schools. It should outline a curriculum for the training of teachers and leaders of clubs for all these agencies, and suggest what portion of this training can best be given by local Churches and what should be provided cooperatively in a Community Training School. For the effective working out of such a plan, at least in large communities, there will doubt¬ less need to be a Community Director of Religious Educa¬ tion, and some system of supervision which shall be re¬ lated not only to the Sunday Schools but likewise to all other agencies. It will be no easy undertaking to work out a plan UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 205 which will deal comprehensively yet effectively with the needs of the community as a whole and, at the same time, leave to each Church and organization the freedom it may demand as an independent and autonomous body, but those Churches which place the welfare of the com¬ munity above denominational or organizational advantage will find that the problem is not impossible of solution. 3. The Need for Cooperation Among the National Agencies What the local Churches and the local community can do in developing a unified and comprehensive educational program will inevitably be seriously affected by the poli¬ cies of the national organizations. These organizations, denominational, inter-denominational or non-denomina- tional as the case may be, exercise a profound influence upon the local situation because of their vigorous promo¬ tion of educational programs through their community agencies. The existence, side by side, of these many or¬ ganizations without any clear understanding as to the field to be covered by each, results in a complicated situa¬ tion which we must examine carefully and frankly. (a) The Denominational Organization of the Church's Teaching Work .—Most of the Protestant denominations have their own national societies or boards for dealing with educational interests and some of them have several distinct and independent agencies to care for particular phases of the educational enterprise. Most of the Sunday- School Boards now comprise several departments; a pub¬ lishing, or business department, an editorial department, and an educational department. Theoretically these de¬ partments are in close cooperative relationship; in practice, however, it is often difficult to secure the degree of co¬ operation that is ideally desirable, owing to the difference in the policies of the several departments. There is a great temptation for the publishing interests 206 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH to adopt commercial standards, especially when the publi¬ cation of books as well as of lesson material is a part of their task. In theory, a Sunday-School Board exists for service, not for profit, and the task of the publishing house is to provide educational material for the denomi¬ nation at the lowest possible cost. But, as a matter of fact, publishing houses have not infrequently regarded themselves as business corporations in competition with commercial publishing houses. Some denominations have even encouraged these organizations to adopt such a policy by appropriating the profits accruing from the sale of Sunday-School material to benevolent purposes, thus at one stroke discouraging the development of a better type of Sunday-School literature if it seemed unlikely to yield an immediate profit. To overcome this danger of the ex¬ ploitation of the Sunday-Schools by the spirit of commer¬ cialism, denominations should definitely locate the major responsibility for Sunday-School curricula and standards and methods in a national board of education, and should hold the editorial and publishing departments responsible for creating and circulating the requisite material prac¬ tically at cost. Not only is the division of responsibility as between educational, editorial, and publishing departments dis¬ astrous ; it is almost equally disastrous to perpetuate sepa¬ rate agencies in the denomination for dealing with differ¬ ent aspects of the teaching work of the local Church. All the phases of the denomination’s work in religious education need to be brought as speedily as possible under the direction of a national board of education. What good reason can be given for lodging the agency which is to promote the organization of Sunday Schools within a Home Missionary Society? The entire educational effi¬ ciency of a Sunday School may be determined by its loca¬ tion and by the original impetus imparted to it by the method of its organization. Why should there be a wholly separate agency for dealing with young people’s UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 207 work, either through Christian Endeavor Societies, Epworth Leagues, Young People’s Unions, or other organ¬ izations? Such a procedure makes difficult, if not almost impossible, the correlation of their programs of study and activities with the Sunday-School curriculum designed for young people of the same ages. So also with mission study. The insistence of Home and Foreign Boards, both the general and the Women’s Boards, that curriculum material for education in mis¬ sions must be entirely in the hands of their own educa¬ tional secretaries and that the promotion of mission- study classes, training schools, and plans for training in benevolence must also be under their own exclusive con¬ trol shows a singular lack of confidence between the missionary agencies and the regular educational agencies of the Church. The reasons why the situation has been thus are easy to understand; but it ought to be recog¬ nized clearly that a continuance of the policy of separate production and promotion means that the missionary material, however excellent in quality, fails to reach more than a comparatively small percentage of the number who ought to profit by its use. Education in missions and benevolence should be thor¬ oughly integrated with the rest of the educational pro¬ gram, not urged upon the Churches as an extra-curriculum feature which only the exceptionally devoted will adopt. The Churches must have the assistance of the missionary secretaries, of course, in supplying material for mission¬ ary education, if for no other reason than that the Mis¬ sion Boards are the only agencies that are in a position to procure the best material; but the attempt of Boards to control the preparation, promotion, and use of this material is ill-advised and shortsighted. One result of doing so is to keep missionary education practically di¬ vorced from the main educational program of the Church. All these specialized phases of the denomina¬ tion’s teaching work should be under the direction of its 208 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH national board of education, which, of course, should cooperate closely with all the agencies carrying on the missionary work of the Church. The work of the College Boards also needs to be in¬ tegrated, as in most denominations is not now the case, with the work of an inclusive board of religious education. Here, as well as in other fields, peculiar problems must of course be dealt with, and a special department of the general board may be necessary. But these specialized problems cannot be solved in the best manner except in the light of the whole teaching enterprise. The providing of college courses in religion, for example, stands in a certain necessary relation to entrance requirements. But these ought not to be fixed by college authorities or by the college boards of Churches acting independently; such requirements should be viewed also in their relation to the curriculum of the Church school. Or, assuming that the denominational college is to serve the Church as a training school for teachers and leaders, the courses neces¬ sary for their training ought not to be decided upon by College Boards alone; surely those who are in more im¬ mediate touch with the needs of Church schools have a contribution to make. Again, the religious welfare of college students as a community group is made all the more difficult by the isolation of the student group from the local Churches and by the attitude of indifference to student interests and needs on the part of many Churches in college towns. The solution of this problem will often require radical modification of policies on the part of college authorities, many of whom discourage the student body from mingling in community activities, and no less radical readjustments of program on the part of local Churches. For such readjustments the College Boards need the assistance of other denominational agencies which are in close touch with the local Churches, especially of those which have to do with their teaching program. UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 209 The organization of all the teaching activities of the denomination under the direction of a national board is one of the most urgent needs of the present moment. It is unreasonable and futile to expect the local Church to effect the unification of its teaching activities so long as the national denominational agencies to which it looks for stimulation and guidance continue separate, unrelated, and often competitive and even contradictory programs and policies. 1 Under present conditions the educational enterprise even tends to defeat itself, for the greater the demand for expansion of the teaching program the greater the expansion of all programs and the more intense the competition between them. (b) The Interdenominational and Non-denominational Organisations .—The situation in the local Church and community is made still more complex by the existence of national organizations which are either interdenomina¬ tional—in the sense of being created by and responsible to the official denominational agencies of religious educa¬ tion—or non-denominational and wholly independent. Thus in the Sunday-School field and attempting to provide for all age-groups, there are, in chronological order, the American Sunday School Union, the International Sunday School Association, 2 the International Sunday School Les¬ son Committee, the Sunday School Council 2 and the World’s Sunday School Association. Operative upon spe¬ cial age-groups, or dealing with specialized phases of re¬ ligious education, are the Young Men’s and Young 1 The Protestant Episcopal Church has probably made the best provision on a national scale for the merging of all its teaching activities, Biblical instruction, catechetical instruction, worship, service, missionary education, elementary education, secondary schools, colleges, and theological seminaries, and teacher training in a General Board of Religious Education. The Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. is now taking a similar though not as comprehensive step. ‘Recently merged. 2io THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH WometTs Christian Associations, the Missionary Educa¬ tion Movement and other agencies of missionary educa¬ tion, the organizations included in the Interdenomina¬ tional Young People’s Commission, the Boy and Girl Scout organizations, and the Campfire Girls. A third type, devoted to the training or recruiting of leadership, is represented by the Council of Church Boards of Edu¬ cation, the Student Volunteer Movement, the Board of Missionary Preparation, the Conference of Theological Seminaries. The Religious Education Association is a professional organization, non-denominational and non- administrative, devoted primarily to research. In order to appreciate the effect of these many unrelated agencies upon the teaching work of the Church it will be necessary to consider each one briefly. A. Organizations in the Field of the Sunday School The American Sunday School Union .—The oldest ex¬ isting Sunday-School agency in America is primarily a home missionary agency, conceiving its function to be the organization and maintenance of undenominational, or “union,” Sunday Schools in communities which would otherwise have none. Its greatest service has been as a pioneer promotional agency among the newer communities of the West and Southwest. As such it has been instru¬ mental in organizing a very large number of Sunday Schools. It maintains a publishing plant to provide lesson material of an inexpensive and undenominational char¬ acter for its mission schools. It has an ample endowment which is supplemented by gifts from the Churches and from individuals, and from the sale of its periodicals. While not failing to appreciate the great and honorable service which has been rendered by this agency in the past, we have to recall that the situation in the Churches is not the same as it was a generation ago. Most of the denomi- UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 211 nations now have “Extension Departments’" in their Sunday-School boards, whose duty it is to provide Sunday School facilities in needy communities. In those com¬ munities where denominations are already located there is at least the possibility of overlapping and waste and friction between the policies and programs of the Ameri¬ can Sunday School Union and those of these denomina¬ tions which may be operating in the same field. In those communities where none of the denominations are repre¬ sented, it may be said that they ought, either individually or unitedly, to be as enterprising as the American Sunday School Union. Furthermore, it may be accepted as a gen¬ eral principle that every local Sunday School should be related locally to some Church or group of Churches, and it ought to be easier to establish such relationship through agencies controlled by the Churches than through an agency over which the Churches exercise no direct control. It would seem in every way desirable to effect some man¬ ner of union between this historic agency and the extension department of the International Sunday School Council of Religious Education whereby all possible competition may be eliminated and increased effectiveness achieved. The International Sunday School Association, though not under the control of the churches as denominations, for 50 years determined the content and sequence of curriculum material, the organization, methods, standards, and type of leadership of the great majority of Sunday Schools in the United States and Canada. Its system of or¬ ganization has been most comprehensive and complete, ex¬ tending from the local community, up through the County, Provincial, or State Associations, to the National and In¬ ternational Convention and Executive Committee. While it has not attempted to publish lesson material, it has pro¬ vided outlines which have lent themselves to tremendously profitable exploitation by the publishing houses of the various denominations. So strong has been its hold upon the local community and the Sunday School in the local 2i2 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH Church that only in exceptional cases, until quite recently, did these show a disposition to question its methods, its plans or its leadership. But its strength has been also its greatest weakness. The prolonged advocacy of uniform lessons, the passion for quantity production, the over¬ emphasis upon evangelism to the neglect of other aspects of education, the production and promotion of rigid, standardized programs and methods, stood in the way of educational advance. The demand for higher standards led to a rapid development of denominational organization and vigorous assertion of denominational responsibility. The recent development of the Association and its merger with the agency representing the denominational boards will be described on a later page. The International Sunday School Lesson Committee, originally the creation of the International Sunday School Association, and formed for the purpose of providing the outline for Uniform Lessons, practically controlled the curriculum of religious education in the majority of Sun¬ day Schools of the Protestant evangelical denominations for 40 years. During that period it limited the material to such as could be used by all ages simultaneously. Not only was there no serious recognition of the differing capacities and needs of different ages and groups; there was no provision for the teaching of missions, Church history, or worship, except as ten or fifteen minutes were set aside for reading the lesson material for the day, and for singing and prayer at the option of the superintendent. There was no real place for activity as a factor in educa¬ tion, no plan or program of training in service and self- expression. Happily a new day has been dawning in the preparation of lesson material, even though the principle of graded lessons cannot yet be said to be fully established. It is not strange that graded lessons, which have enjoyed hardly a decade of trial, have not yet completely made their way against a system which for four times that UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 213 period depended upon stereotyped methods very different from those upon which graded instruction is based. The movement for graded lesson material carried with it also a demand for better methods of organization and supervision and for more expert teachers. These urgent needs found early recognition in the denominational Sunday-School Boards and soon occasioned the organiza¬ tion of new “educational departments,” which set them¬ selves to the task of formulating Sunday-School aims and standards, outlining courses for teacher-training, organiz¬ ing training classes and institutes and summer schools. Under the stimulus of this new activity within the de¬ nominations, the International Association also soon under¬ took to promote similar undertakings within the local and State associations, with the result that the two types of leadership soon found themselves in serious competition with frequent occasions for friction. At this juncture the denominational boards united to form the Sunday School Council of Evangelical Denominations, with four depart¬ ments, or sections: the Editorial, the Educational, the Ex¬ tension (which two were later united into one), and the Publishers’. The Council soon asserted as its prerogative the right of fixing standards, providing training courses, granting credit, and determining methods, leaving to the International Association the task of promoting organiza¬ tion, methods, and standards as determined by the de¬ nominational boards. It was inevitable that some closer relationship should be established between these three great national agencies with interdenominational functions. It was a cause for no little satisfaction when adjustments were made whereby the International Lesson Committee became a joint creation of the International Association, the Sunday School Council and the denominations acting directly through the Sunday-School Boards. The effect was ap¬ parent in the new policies adopted by the International Lesson Committee, whereby it has now been determined 214 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH to abandon, as soon as possible, the issuance of outlines for uniform lessons, replacing these with lessons graded for successive age-groups. The yearly graded lessons are still to be maintained and in addition the Committee is to undertake the preparation of a complete curriculum, in which will be indicated appropriate and correlated activi¬ ties for expression and training and correlated devotional or worship material. So far as the Sunday School is con¬ cerned, the program-making agencies are now unified. It is a further cause for great satisfaction that adjust¬ ments have been made whereby the Sunday School Coun¬ cil and the International Sunday School Association have completed a process of unification through their merger in the new body known as the International Sunday School Council of Religious Education. The plan of re¬ organization preserves, it is believed, the desirable features of both these organizations, bringing together into one body, under its several departments, editors, publishers, extension and educational promoters. In the new organ¬ ization there is recognition of a two-fold relationship and responsibility, to the denominational boards as their official agent of cooperation, and to the community organizations made up of local Sunday Schools. The International Sun¬ day School Lesson Committee is now an organic part of the International Sunday School Council. The World's Sunday School Association was originally formed as the counterpart of the International Sunday School Association for the promotion of Sunday-school work throughout the rest of the world. While the uni¬ form lesson system was dominant the methods of organi¬ zation and promotion in both bodies were similar. With the rise of the Sunday School Council, however, and the awakening of a sense of denominational responsibility to serve the children of foreign lands, and with the confu¬ sion occasioned in mission fields by the discontinuance of cooperation between the British and American sections of the Lesson Committee and consequent competition UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 2iS between two sets of uniform lessons, some readjustments in the method of organization of the World’s Sunday School Association were found to be necessary. At pres¬ ent it is under the management of a Board of Directors made up of representatives both of the denominational Mission Boards and of the Sunday School Boards. The adjustments already made among these various agencies represent an important stage in the process of development, not the final outcome. There is widespread demand for a more comprehensive program for the teach¬ ing work of the Church. The Sunday-School agencies have to remember that it does not lie within their province to plan the whole program of the Church’s teaching work. Powerful as they are, they cannot exercise control over other teaching agencies which are also recognized by the Churches as their own creation; nor over other interde¬ nominational or undenominational agencies, which, though not controlled by the Churches directly, still operate effectively upon certain special groups of chil¬ dren or young people. In other words, the movement toward coordination of organizations and correlation of programs must go still further. Before we can hope to have a situation that is at all ideal, all the agencies which have to do with the outlining of curricula, the preparation of lesson material, the suggesting of activities of service or worship, the development of a missionary spirit, the training in benevolence, the promotion of methods of teaching, the organization of schools—Sunday Schools, week-day schools, community schools, institutes, summer schools— the determining of aims and standards, the development of plans for supervision, the serving of special groups, must be brought into a close and vital unity—a unity that is not dominated by any one educational agency but rests on thorough understanding and mutual appre¬ ciation. Just as the teaching agencies of single denomi¬ nations need to he united under one Board of Education, 216 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH so the teaching agencies of the Churches acting coopera¬ tively need to be brought together into an Educational Council of the Churches, in which all the varied educa¬ tional functions shall receive due recognition. Moreover, the curriculum-making agencies, at least, need to be located in close physical proximity. For ex¬ ample, the International Sunday School Lesson Commit¬ tee, the Missionary Education Movement, the Program Committee of the Young People’s Commission, the text¬ book and lesson-making agencies of the Christian Asso¬ ciations, and possibly others, should all be located in the same building, or at least have convenient and systematic provision for constant conference. B. Organizations Doing a Specialized Work The Missionary Education Movement, now under the general guidance of the educational departments of the denominational mission boards, has done much to bring the Churches to a realization of the place of missionary education in the teaching program and to provide stimu¬ lating information regarding the missionary enterprise. On the whole, it has conceived of the missionary enterprise broadly, assuming that the Church is interested in all that pertains to the social as well as the individual welfare of all men everywhere. It has also conceived of the educa¬ tional enterprise in similar fashion and its summer con¬ ferences for the training of teachers and leaders have been characterized by a high degree of educational insight. The Movement has made a distinct contribution to the new educational movement not only through its text-books but through its utilization of the dramatic method, through pageantry, hymns, prayers, and programs of activity and benevolence. The movement for efficient missionary education has been seriously hampered by the division of the missionary forces themselves into Foreign Boards and Home Boards, UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 217 and these, again, into agencies which represent the work of the Church as a whole and agencies representing the work of women. The important work of the women’s boards has found separate centers in the Council of Women for Home Missions and the Central Committee on the United Study of Foreign Missions. While these divisions of the missionary enterprise are wholly artificial and of value for administrative con¬ venience only, it has nevertheless been found necessary to recognize each of these agencies in the pro¬ gram of publication, the usual method having been to publish each year a series of books representing each of these aspects of the missionary undertaking. 3 In the pro¬ motion of mission study classes, moreover, even within the same denomination, there is not infrequently found a curious spirit of competition between home and foreign missionary agencies, or between the general boards and the women’s boards. It has been customary for each agency to promote its own type of study among the Churches more or less independently. An even more serious difficulty has been the separation of the program of missionary education from the general teaching program of the Church as operative in the Sun¬ day School. The result is that both phases of education are one-sided, or else overlapping and duplicating. Either the Sunday-School lessons develop interest and motive but fail to provide a program of expressional activity, while the mission study classes emphasize participation in mis¬ sionary enterprises before the missionary motive has been sufficiently developed; or else each must attempt to pro¬ vide both programs, distinct and separate from each other. *The Council of Women for Home Missions and the Mis¬ sionary Education Movement now cooperate in the production of a single program of publication for education in home missions. The Missionary Education Movement and the Central Committee on the United Study of Foreign Missions also join in the publica¬ tion of certain books. 218 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH As a matter of fact, missionary education has, relatively, suffered neglect, notwithstanding the tremendous expendi¬ ture of effort in the preparation of text-books and the promotion of classes . 4 Two contrasted ideals of missionary education con¬ tribute to the continued separation. According to one, missionary education is a phase of propaganda for the purpose of securing the resources needed for carrying on the missionary enterprise. The impulse toward missionary education undoubtedly took its origin in the fact that ad¬ ministrative officers began to realize that such a program was necessary to the maintenance of the missionary enter¬ prise. According to the other ideal, the development and expression of the missionary motive is an integral part of all religious education, without which the Church’s teach¬ ing work cannot be Christian in the truest sense. Doubt¬ less all would agree that the second of these statements is the correct conception, but as it works out in practice missionary boards have sometimes been slow to admit that they are responsible for any aspects of missionary education which do not seem likely to yield imme¬ diate results in increased contributions or in additions to the number of recruits, while at the same time they have been loath to relinquish control of missionary education and to provide for its incorporation in the Church’s larger teaching program lest the missionary note should not re¬ ceive the proper emphasis. The time should soon come when the teaching and program-making agencies of the mission boards will participate in a larger Educational Council of the Churches, making their contribution to a rounded program at each stage of its development and gladly making such adjustments in the prevailing methods of missionary education as are clearly shown to be wise. The Interdenominational Young People’s Commission, formed but a few years ago, is composed of representa- 4 Cf. pp. 155-157. UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 219 tives of denominationally controlled young people’s agencies, such as the Epworth League and the Baptist Young People’s Union, and also representatives of de¬ nominational boards or committees having in charge young people’s work, and in addition representatives of the Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor, which is not under denominational control. As has been already pointed out, there are often serious conditions of over¬ lapping, competition, and friction in the local community and the local Church between the Young People’s socie¬ ties, the organized classes of the Sunday School, and the classes for missionary education, all largely recruited from the same age-group. 5 The local Church is, however, almost powerless to bring these agencies into real co¬ operation and unity so long as the State and National organizations of these respective bodies maintain their wholly separate existence. Clearly, there is great need that this national organization should also find a place in an Educational Council of the Churches, and coordinate its program with the larger teaching program of the Churches. The work of the Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W.C.A., while generally regarded both by them and by the community at large as being a form of interdenominational activity and supported by “Church people,” is for the most part carried on in other buildings apart from Church property and is under the direction of an administrative force over which the Churches, as such, have no control. Moreover, the young people who attend the clubs and classes of the Christian Associations, whether connected with Churches or not, usually attend not as members of Churches or of Sunday Schools, but as members of the Association; thus the benefits they receive are not usually associated in their minds with the institution which inspired its leadership and whose members provide the resources for its mainte- 6 Cf. pp. 149 - 155 - 220 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH nance. At the same time both of the Associations are highly specialized agencies of religious education, with carefully adapted programs of instruction and expression based upon long and intimate study of the needs of the various age-groups and social-groups which make up the local constituency. 6 It would be more than gratuitous to criticize these or¬ ganizations for doing, on the whole, very effectively a work which the local Churches, acting individually, could hardly hope to accomplish. Nor is it by any means certain that the Church organizations, as at present constituted, could, of their own initiative, provide for such cooperative work a direction that would be as enterprising and vigorous as the Associations seem to be able to secure from the com¬ munity at large. ‘Many of the Association leaders them¬ selves, however, agree that it is very desirable that the teaching work of the Associations should be brought into much closer relation to the teaching work of the Churches. If the Churches are to depend upon the Associations for providing opportunities for club work, recreation, and ex- pressional activity, then the teachers of classes in the Churches and the leaders of boys’ and girls’ activities should together formulate a common program. And this cooperative work in the local community will be greatly facilitated if the national organizations of the Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. can be so related to an Educational Council of the Churches that the educational leaders of the de¬ nominations and the corresponding officials in the Asso¬ ciations can not only be cognizant of each other’s plans but cooperate in building a common program for boys and girls and young people. Scout and Campfire Organizations are still further re¬ moved from the immediate field of the Church’s teaching activity, so far as their control is concerned, being wholly independent of the Churches and not restricted to use by e Cf. pp. 168-170. UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 221 avowedly religious agencies. On the other hand, they come even closer to the life of the Churches, in that they meet in Church buildings and become a part of the Church’s teaching program when organized under Church auspices. Their programs, however, do not become an integral part of the Church’s program, save as they are embodied by the Church in its general scheme. There is no provision at present, though there might well be, for actually correlating the teaching of the Church with Scout or Campfire activities. Such correlation might be worked out so that these activities would become a vital part of the Church’s program if representatives of these organiza¬ tions at their national headquarters were to sit as con¬ sultative members of the Educational Council of the Churches, the need for which we now see at every turn. C. Organizations for the Training and Recruiting of Leadership The Council of Church Boards of Education, composed of the official representatives of the denominational Boards which are responsible for the work of the de¬ nominational schools and colleges and religious work at State Universities, 7 at first thought may seem to be quite apart from the teaching work of the Church in the ordi¬ nary parish. But, as has been already pointed out, the work of the Church Boards of Education needs the co¬ operation both of the Sunday School Boards and the local Churches in college communities. Requirements for college entrance in such subjects as Bible study must take account of the Churches’ general program of Bible study; courses of study for college students may well be provided, in part at least, by local Churches, whose programs must be adjusted for this purpose; college courses in Bible, in psychology, in education, and in history, designed to aid 7 The teaching work of the Church in college and university is discussed in subsequent chapters. 222 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH in the development of leadership for the Churches’ teach¬ ing work, need to be constructed in full knowledge of the demands to be made upon such leadership. It is important, therefore, that the Council of Church Boards and the agencies having to do with religious education in the local parish be related to each other in a general Educa¬ tional Council of the Churches in much the same way that the College Board of a single denomination needs to be related to its Board of Religious Education. Among the agencies carrying on religious work on the campus there are serious problems of relationship to be considered. 8 The religious education of college students has been largely delegated in many institutions to volun¬ tary student organizations which are under the lead¬ ership of the Student Department of the Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian Associations. These or¬ ganizations have prepared a great variety of courses of Bible study and mission study designed especially for student groups. It is now coming to be recognized that, however well these courses may be adapted to meet the special needs of college students, the manner of their pro¬ motion often makes it difficult to attach the student closely to the local Church. It is urgently necessary for the Council of Church Boards, which is under the control of the Churches, and the Christian Associations, which are autonomous, to plan together the construction and pro¬ motion of a common program and the development of the fullest student loyalty to the Church and its enterprises, without making it necessary for students to choose be¬ tween this larger loyalty and the more immediate but lesser loyalties. There are several other organizations, national in scope, of an undenominational character, which are concerned with more specialized phases of recruiting or training for religious leadership. Of these, the Student Volunteer 8 This subject will be more fully considered in the two follow¬ ing chapters. UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 223 Movement and the Committee on Missionary Preparation are particularly concerned with the enlistment and pro¬ fessional training of those who are to devote their lives to missionary service. The Conference of Theological Seminaries, the Association of Biblical Instructors in Col¬ leges and Universities, and the Conference of Church Workers in Universities represent important aspects of specialized work which have a very immediate bearing upon the teaching work which the Churches carry on at home. In any comprehensive Educational Council of the Churches these organizations which are interested in the training of leaders should find representation, in order that they may be brought into the closest possible contact with the work for which they are training the leaders. D. Organizations for Study and Research Probably the Religious Education Association has done more than any other single influence to awaken the Churches to a sense of their responsibility for providing more efficient teaching in religion and to stimulate all agen¬ cies to adopt larger aims, higher standards, and better methods. It includes within its scope the whole field of re¬ ligion on the one hand, and of education on the other. This fact alone has been tremendously fruitful in expanding the popular conception of religious education. But a few years ago nearly every Christian educator was inclined to think of his own field as the only one in which religious teaching had attained a respectable standing; the work of the Sunday School, or of the Y.M.C.A., or of the mission study class, was hardly deserving of notice. Today there are many more who are able to speak intelligently and ap¬ preciatively of the work of all agencies. This change has come about very largely because the representatives of these various agencies and aspects of religious education have learned to know and to respect each other in the conventions and interim work of the Religious Education 224 THE teaching work of the church Association. In addition to affording a meeting ground for all types of teachers, and a place of conference and investigation, this organization is unique in that it is open to Roman Catholic and Jew, as well as Protestant. This, of itself, is important. It insures that problems of relig¬ ious education shall be presented, studied, and discussed in an atmosphere free from bigotry and prejudice. In any Educational Council of the (Protestant) Churches, the Religious Education Association ought to have representation at least as an advisory body so that its facilities for research and for wider discussion may be more fully utilized by the Churches. If some way could be found for bringing the office of the Religious Education Association and the central offices of the needed Edu¬ cational Council of the Churches into close physical proximity, without impairing in any way the freedom of the Association to shape its own policies and to cultivate its relationships with other religious and educational bodies, it would be a most advantageous arrangement. The relation of such a Council of Educational Agencies to the Churches themselves would need to be considered. It might be an organization wholly separate or it might be related in some informal way to the Federal Council of the Churches, made up of official representatives of most of the Protestant denominations. In support of the latter alternative it may well be urged both that the closest re¬ lation possible with the Churches as a whole is to be desired and that the Federal Council is itself coming to be an important research and educational agency for deal¬ ing especially with the great task of Christianizing public opinion on social and international questions. 9 In any case, an urgent need, however it may be met, is correlation. There is a great wealth of organizations, dealing with various phases of the Church’s teaching 9 Cf. Chap. VI, where we have discussed the work of the Federal Council in social research and education. UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 225 work. Each of them covers a vital part of the field. None of them covers it all. Under the existing disjointed arrangement each makes its program in ignorance of, or indifference to, what is being planned by other agencies. What is insistently called for is some unifying agency— a central council—in which each organization will have its proper place, in which none will be expected to give up its essential contribution, but in which all will meet regularly and sympathetically around a common table, in order to approach the educational task as a whole and to formulate policies which will help the agencies in the local community to develop what can be truly called a community system of religious education. At a conference of about sixty representatives of the various educational agencies, meeting at Garden City, L. I., in May, 1921, under the auspices of the Federal Council of the Churches, the situation was faced and it was unanimously agreed that the time had come to move in this direction. This conference summarized the situa¬ tion as follows: “We register the conviction that some more inclusive coordination is essential to the complete fulfilment of our whole educational task. We feel an imperative need for some continuous provision for conference on the part of all the agencies carrying on the many-sided work of Chris¬ tian education. Such problems as those which we have considered in this Conference are not the concern of one agency alone, or even of a group of agencies covering less than the whole field; they can be solved adequately only as the various agencies make their plans in full knowledge and understanding of what is being planned by others. To awaken the public conscience to the need for Christian education; to secure a system of Christian education that shall include the whole community; to reach the groups outside the Churches now untouched by any of our agencies; to relate the work of the Sunday School, of the agencies for missionary education, of the Young People’s Societies, of the Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian Associations, of the Boy Scouts and other or- 226 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH ganizations in the local community more closely to one another; to adjust the Church’s educational work to that of the public school; to study religious education scien¬ tifically and to make the best use of modern research in general education; to organize more effectively the re¬ ligious influences in the institutions of higher learning that are not supported by the churches; to correlate the Church’s agencies for religious education in the parish with her agencies for religious education in her schools and colleges—these and other problems all demand the united consideration of all the agents of Christian educa¬ tion if the most effective program is to be achieved.” At a subsequent conference held at Forest Hills, L. I., May 2-4, 1923, attended by a larger and more representa¬ tive group of leaders in all the various educational agencies that we have considered in this chapter, a further step was taken, which, it is hoped, will result in the establishment of a simple and informal “council on correlation,” bringing together for frequent conference and common planning official representatives of all the bodies that prepare curricula of religious education. The findings of this remarkable conference, dealing with the principles in accordance with which programs of relig¬ ious education should be prepared and correlated and promoted, are as follows: “1. The child in the local group is the basis of correla¬ tion of program material. “2. Local initiative and experimentation in program making are to be encouraged and stimulated, even in the less resourceful communities, rather than the adoption of prescribed programs of activities. “3. In order to make available a variety of source ma¬ terial in a form usable by local communities, and in order to give them stimulus, help, and guidance, typical pro¬ grams should be developed nationally. Such programs should grow out of local experimentation, and every effort should be made to prevent them from becoming fixed and static. UNIFIED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM 222 “4. National organizations have important functions to perform in encouraging experimentation, comparing the results from various communities, serving as a clearing¬ house for successful methods, developing and training leaders, and especially in sensing problems or plans that might be typical of any large grouping in American or world society, so that there may be the outlook of the larger groupings as well as of the local community. “5. In view of the larger value which comes from the development of plans locally, and in view of the fact that no one type of program can meet the needs of every com¬ munity or group, programs should be presented by the national organizations in such form as will make possible individual selection and adaptation and stimulate initiative and resourcefulness. Community groups should work out plans locally, using national programs as source material in meeting different kinds of situations. “6. As an immediate step in facilitating this procedure, the common as well as the distinctive material of the dif¬ ferent programs now existing should be codified and cross- referenced so as to make it more available for use in the development of self-directed activities. “7. We note with appreciation the fact that the Com¬ mittee on International Curriculum of the International Lesson Committee plans to have integrally related to its work on a Church School Curriculum all the elements in¬ volved in the entire program of religious education. “8. We recommend that each of the general agencies concerned in religious education be asked to name two rep¬ resentatives to a Council on Correlation, which would serve as a clearing-house of problems and plans of mutual concern. We recommend that this Council be convened at an early date by the Committee which called this Confer¬ ence. “While this Council will form its own organization and determine its own functions, we recommend 228 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH “(a) That it give attention to the codifying and cross- referencing of present program material; “(b) That it consider the possibility of further coopera¬ tion on the part of all agencies concerned in the prepara¬ tion of program material.” PART IM THE CHURCH TRAINING FOR CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CHAPTER X RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE COLLEGE While the control of elementary and secondary edu¬ cation has almost entirely passed into the hands of the State, in higher education the Church still has large num¬ bers of institutions that are directly under its influence. Colleges and universities and professional schools sup¬ ported by the State have rapidly increased but the insti¬ tutions which are supported by the Church, or which are more or less definitely associated with it, continue to play an important part in higher education. How is the Church dealing with the task of religious training in its own institutions ? It is not too much to say that the Church in America has no adequate system of religious education for col¬ lege or university students. There are individuals and institutions here and there that are eagerly engaged in pioneer work, but, for the present, we must speak of religious education for college students as chiefly in the making. Very few have visualized the total task of re¬ ligious education in the college or seriously attempted its accomplishment. The number of persons, however, who are concerned that this phase of our educational work be developed in a manner worthy of its importance is now rapidly multiplying. They recognize the suicidal neglect of the Church in this particular. There has been much discussion in recent years of the necessity of pre¬ serving this crowning phase of education, which, in ways that cannot be duplicated in this age, once characterized American higher education. 2 31 232 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH i. The College Background Favorable to Religious Training There are certain latent materials in the field of higher education which, when exposed to view, are recognized as being of great value and affording the presuppositions of a high achievement in religious education. These ma¬ terials lie close to the foundations of our colleges and have often been covered up by the more recent accumula¬ tions. To recognize them is of first importance. (a) The first of these encouraging facts is that higher education in the United States sprang largely from the religious impulse. More than five hundred American universities and col¬ leges could be named which were founded in response to the religio-educational impulse and recognize some kind of affiliation with the churches. These relationships are of many types and vary from the independent institution whose Church associations are historical only, to the in¬ stitution whose trustees are appointed and whose property is owned by the Church. Most of the institutions fall in classes of affiliation between these extremes. 1 Nearly all of the Colonial colleges were primarily institutions of re¬ ligious education under Church direction. Not only so, but they were interested specifically in one phase of religious education, the training of men for the Christian ministry. President Thomas Clap of Yale, in a pamphlet 1 The Protestant institutions that recognize Church relation¬ ships other than historical are: Baptist Northern, 29; Baptist Southern, 45; Brethren, 8; Christian, 7; Congregational, 24; Disciples, 19; Friends, 10; Lutheran, 35; Methodist Episcopal, 44; Methodist Episcopal South, 58; Presbyterian U. S., 29; Pres¬ byterian U. S. A., 52; Reformed U. S., 7; United Brethren, 7; United Presbyterian, 5; others, 37. Total, 416. There are sev¬ eral other institutions which call themselves “Independent,” most of which were founded under Church influences. There are 92 tax-supported colleges and universities. These numbers vary slightly, of course, from year to year. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE COLLEGE 233 published in 1754, declared that “Colleges are Societies of Ministers, for training up Persons for the work of the Ministry”; and he added, speaking of Yale College, “The great design of founding this School was to Educate Min¬ isters in our own Way.” 2 With such a “Mother of Colleges” as Yale and others like her, even though in later years the conception of the primary task of the college has been greatly modified, it would have been strange if succeeding institutions had not felt strongly the religious impulse. In the founding of many of the tax-supported institu¬ tions also (which we are to consider in the following chapter) representatives of the Churches took a prominent and sometimes a determining part, and even today some of the leading State universities are presided over by min¬ isters of the Gospel. In many cases the State university presidents are recognized leaders within the Churches of their choice. Most of these presidents have been and still are graduates of colleges founded by the Churches. There is, therefore, a general presumption in the historic and administrative relationship even of our tax-supported in¬ stitutions of higher learning in favor of a system of religious education. Such a system is coming more and more to be demanded by the constituencies of a majority of all types of institutions. If properly organized and maintained, it can contribute to the development of the religious life of the nation and to the welfare of the Churches without being under unwholesome ecclesiastical domination. Such a system need be in no sense subversive of the well-recognized principle of the separation of Church and State. It is entirely in accord with the genius of American education, which recognizes religion, morality, and knowledge as necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind. It is unnecessary to tarry long upon the causes of the * Quoted by Chancellor E. E. Brown in “The Origin of Ameri¬ can State Universities.” 234 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH decisive departure of American higher education from the motives which at first impelled it. Some of those causes have been pointed out in the first chapter under the gen¬ eral discussion of the secularization of American education. Much of what is said there concerning the development of the lower schools in separation from religion applies to the institutions of higher learning also. There are two funda¬ mental facts which should be kept in mind in an attempt to understand this development in our colleges and universities. The first fact is the social and economic transformations which have occurred in this country since Colonial days. The amassing of wealth, the development of industry, the influx of unassimilated foreigners—all of these processes being accentuated and complicated by the applications of science and invention—produced a social and economic situation strangely different from that in which most of our earlier colleges were founded and made far more complex and extensive demands upon our educational institutions. The other fact was the inability or failure of the Churches generally to maintain aggressively the educa¬ tional point of view. In many cases they antagonized the incipient sciences and registered protests against the free¬ dom of inquiry for which the sciences stood. In the heat of debate, of course, the scientific temper was not always scientific. For whatever reasons, the Churches did not provide enough prophetic or educational talent to interpret to their constituencies the relation of the rapidly changing world to the verities of religion. Many Churches became paralyzed as to their educational arm. In these Churches education, technically defined, largely ceased to function. The colleges tended toward the freedom of the scientific spirit. The control by the Churches was lost or weakened. When some of the Churches awoke to the changed situ¬ ation they discovered that their educational work, to use the words of a well-known bishop, was “without form RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE COLLEGE 235 and void, and darkness was upon the whole face of it.” The present rising tide of interest in education in the Church and the spirit of cooperation with educational leaders, 3 as well as the less dogmatic attitude both of science and religion, mark the dawning of a new day in educational work under church auspices. (b) In most of our institutions the large majority of the faculty are members or adherents of the Protestant Churches. This statement applies generally to all types of institu¬ tions : denominational, independent, tax-supported. In the denominational colleges the faculty members are usually chosen with reference to their favorable attitude toward religion, as well as with reference to their scholarship and personality. The administration deliberately provides for the powerful pedagogy of example. These faculty mem¬ bers identify themselves more or less actively with the Church of their choice, often they are officials or active workers in the Church, Their lives are not bisected into an educational part and a religious part; their lives as a whole are under the observation of the students. In vary¬ ing degrees of effectiveness, they are professors at one and the same time of education and religion. No one thinks of its being necessary to discriminate between the (c) The vast majority of the students in American colleges and universities claim membership in , or affiliation with, the Churches. The preponderance on the campuses of students of Protestant Church connections is very striking. Not only * A notable illustration of the development of this closer rela¬ tionship is found in the recently organized Congregational Foun¬ dation for Education, whose Directors are chosen by the National Council of the Congregational Churches. Other illustrations are afforded in the recent educational “forward movements” of sev¬ eral of the denominations. 236 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH in the denominational colleges is the proportion of Church adherents very high, frequently reaching well over 95 per cent, of the students enrolled, but in many of the State and independent universities, where information of this kind is secured from year to year, the figures are scarcely less remarkable. Individual State institutions report as high as 96 per cent, of their students as claiming a Church affiliation. It is no unusual thing for a State university to report 70 per cent, or 80 per cent, of the students as Church adherents. 4 Statistics have been secured in several States which show that while the Protestant population of the State is as low as 37 per cent, of the total population, no less than 75 per cent, of the college and university students come from this part of the population. It is from the homes of Church members, very largely, that students go to college. To say the least, the great mass of the college students of America are pre-disposed toward re¬ ligion and the Church as its official symbol. (d) The structure and organization of most college communities is favorable to religious education. The college community is made up of selected members. The students are usually admitted on the basis of character as well as intellectual attainments. They are at the period of youthful aspiration and hope, the stuff that religion builds on. They are generally seeking the means of life, not immediately the means of a living. They are in the epochal process of orientation. They are searching for guiding life principles. There is the same essential ideal¬ ism and altruism also among the teachers. These men and women have spent years in preparation for a life- work whose attitude is that of giving rather than receiv¬ ing, of ministering rather than being ministered unto. It is not quite modern to say with the former president of Yale that a college is a “Society of Ministers,” but the 4 It is impossible to discriminate accurately in these reports between Church membership and Church preference. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE COLLEGE 237 great teachers of a college, by virtue of their qualities and their dominant purpose, are God’s men and women, inspir¬ ing students to join them in the search for the true, the beautiful, and the good. In the words of President Had¬ ley, “Teaching is not instruction but revelation—prophet and interpreter and pioneer do much more than record their experiences; they enlighten the world by their ex¬ ample.” The ordinary college is not sordid, it is not commercialized, it is not materialistic. Many college com¬ munities are centers of spiritual life. In many denomina¬ tional colleges, and in some of the State institutions, the currents of wholesome spiritual life are quite as strong as in the best Church congregations. The religious influences which are operative in at least some of the best Church colleges it may be worth while briefly to summarize. At the morning meal in the common dining-room there is still, in several of the smaller col¬ leges, a brief Bible reading and prayer, taking the place of the family devotions to which, it must be confessed, most children of Church members are strangers in the home. There is very commonly a daily chapel service which faculty and students attend, conducted in a devo¬ tional spirit, with Bible reading and prayer and usually a short talk on some topic of religious, ethical, social, or international import. This successive commitment of the several members of the faculty, who take turns in leading the chapel services, to the essentials of religion would be striking if it were not taken for granted by the college community. The college has the habit of worshiping to¬ gether, of thinking together the same thoughts, often of committing itself to ideals and programs of the highest significance. A powerful and wholesome unity is de¬ veloped. The best loyalties—such loyalties as “stand at the very heart of morality and religion”—are developed to the institutions of organized society, the home, the college, the Church, the State. In not a few colleges there are two or three prayer meetings during the week, attended 238 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH and participated in by groups of students and some faculty member. There is a Student Volunteer Band and numerous Bible study and mission study classes, as well as discussion groups and courses in fundamentals participated in by students and faculty. 5 Each Sunday the students in general attend Church, either in a separate college service or in the local Churches, and many of them lead or par¬ ticipate in some form of Sunday School or other “deputa¬ tion” work. Not infrequently there is a “Quiet Hour” in connection with one or more dormitories when students, by common consent and the force of college tradition, at least remain in their rooms and become somewhat acquainted with themselves. Some form of evangelistic appeal and of appeal for Christian life work is made to the students. Often there is a college pastor who devotes his entire time to pastoral work among the members of the college. Usually there is a Department of Biblical Literature in which regular instruction in religion is given. In an increasing number of colleges the Depart¬ ment of Biblical Literature is being succeeded by a De¬ partment of Religious Education, with fair equipment and personnel, and sometimes with sufficient prestige to draw most of the students for a part of their college course. It may be that the influences of religious education of most far-reaching import in these colleges are to be found in the class rooms of the faculty taken as a whole. All of the students are studying English and American litera¬ ture. Much of this literature has both the form and substance of the best religious, ethical, and social teaching, and the expert Christian teacher in this department has at hand dynamic subject-matter for religious education which some have learned to use in skilful fashion. Prac¬ tically all of the students are studying also ancient and modem history and the related subjects of economics, sociology, and political science. These subjects are con- 8 The work of the voluntary student organizations is discussed more fully in the following chapter. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE COLLEGE 239 stantly offering occasions for Christian interpretation.* The claim is not made that a Christian science of eco¬ nomics, sociology, and political science has been elab¬ orated ; only that genuinely Christian men can in these de¬ partments interpret the faith that rules their lives. Some colleges have professors of philosophy who give religion its rightful place in the system of universal thought. Courses in international relations are beginning to be introduced and studied from the standpoint of Christian idealism. The presence of foreign students in large numbers, often coming from the mission schools of their home countries, accentuates this idealistic attitude and interpretation. In many of these institutions there are professors with rare talents for dealing with the problems of young people to whom the students naturally gravitate and whom they make Father Confessor of a Protestant sort. In these intimate relationships some of the most far-reaching de¬ cisions are made affecting both the spiritual life and the life service of the students. This type of educational influence is not formal but it approximates very closely indeed the favorite method of the Great Teacher. In a less effectual way, because more official and formal and sometimes with the covert threat of legalistic penalty, the faculty and student advisory systems assist students in making important choices. A series of orientation lec¬ tures sometimes helps to clarify the minds of entering students and the work of an understanding freshman dean or director of studies is of incalculable value. In a few institutions a joint committee of faculty and students has recently attempted to coordinate these various courses and instrumentalities in order that their impact on the college community may be more fruitful and that with a a An association Secretary at one of the great mid-western State universities, at the request of the president of the university, recently listed the courses in that institution of which the claim was made that they ‘‘have a bearing on religious work.” There are 105 courses in the list. 240 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH fuller knowledge of the available implements of religious education, greater effectiveness may be secured. Such institutions as have been described do not over¬ emphasize moralizing or preaching. They see to it that among the winds that blow about and upon the college campus is the wind of religion. The student hears the voice of it. He may not know whence it cometh or whither it goeth. He may hear it on the athletic field, or in the biological laboratory, or in the philosophy library. It sur¬ prises him not more to hear it in these places than from the desk of the preacher or the Bible teacher. Every¬ where during his college course he finds a new unfolding of his universe, of nature and of human nature around him, and the laws by which they operate; and he finds the leaven of religion within the processes that yield him his enlarging knowledge. Danger is minimized that he will form the habit of making obsolete approaches to truth. He will not be aware of the alleged chasm between evolu¬ tion and revelation. He will have heard of it as a bit of history, but he will have his faith grounded in a unitary, not a bisected world. He has brought his religious im¬ pulses to college; the college has provided a rich environ¬ ment which has allowed them healthful development. It cannot be said with mathematical precision how many colleges are able to command even inadequately all the influences and instrumentalities which we have been de¬ scribing above. Almost every denomination has a few colleges of which this is an approximately true picture. The positive Christian quality of their graduates is a matter of common knowledge. In the atmosphere of one such college, for a term of years, about one-sixth of the entire active force of one of the great national missionary boards has been trained. The number of men entering the Christian ministry on full-time Christian service for the past twenty-one years averages 13.7 per cent, of the men graduates from the college. Undoubtedly this is an extreme case. There are some others like it in the magni- RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE COLLEGE 241 tude of their contribution to Christian service; there are many like it in lesser degree. From such colleges, however imperfectly the religious work has been carried on, have come the majority of the leaders, ministerial and lay, men and women, of the Protestant Churches. It must be admitted that there are numerous colleges, even among those associated with the Churches, that repre¬ sent the opposite extreme in their attitude toward con¬ structive religious culture. The administration selects teachers who are distinguished in the field of scholarship but without especial reference to personal qualifications, and particularly to religious faith and life. It is absorbed largely, it may be, in the scramble for needed funds. It may sacrifice more important interests to athletic success. It may be paralyzed, as it approaches its religious responsi¬ bilities, with the complex elements of the student body; with the respectability and wealth and conventionality which the students directly or indirectly represent; with the presence of the liberal and the conservative, the irre¬ ligious and unconcerned; with the fear that with greater encouragement to the religious elements of the con¬ stituency a morbid religious atmosphere might be de¬ veloped or religion become perfunctory and deadening. Such a college may conceive of religion chiefly as welfare work or social service. It may turn over the whole re¬ sponsibility for religious training to the Christian Asso¬ ciations and other voluntary agencies. It may assume that the religious needs of students may be met by bring¬ ing to the college a series of distinguished preachers who necessarily work without an intimate knowledge of their task. In any event, it is certain the administration does not select the faculty and organize the religious per¬ sonnel and agencies with the idea of surrounding the students with a distinctive and consistently religious at¬ mosphere. The college does not have a corporate relig¬ ious temper, much less make a definite religious appeal. Faculty members chosen in conformity with a negative 242 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH or halting estimate of the meaning of religion in the edu¬ cational process are likely to consider their responsibilities to the institution fully met when the academic work of their several departments has been done. With such an administrative philosophy and faculty attitude, it is most natural that students should become absorbed in social, athletic, fraternity, and club expressions of college life to the practical exclusion of the religious. That this has happened in numerous colleges throughout the country must be admitted. It must also be admitted that while there is much in the structure and organization of all of our higher institutions of learning that is favorable to religious education, there are few if any that would claim they have attained a satisfactory realization of their possi¬ bilities. Many would be inclined, while admitting their own shortcomings, to criticize adversely, on the one hand, the lack of religious training of students before they reach college age, and, on the other hand, the failure of the graduate schools to foster the religious element in the specialized training that follows the undergraduate course. 7 Undoubtedly there is much at both extremes of this problem, as well as in the middle, for which the Church must share responsibility. 2. The Teaching of the Bible in the College Curriculum The curriculum of the Church college has usually shown less evidence of a constructive effort to train for * Christian leadership than is found in the more in¬ formal influences. Too often it has followed the fashion set by the curriculum of the independent or the ’The Educational Relations Division of the National Research Council recently made public the distribution of graduate fel¬ lowships and scholarships in twelve leading American uni¬ versities during the past five years. These twelve universities reported 3,377 fellowships of which only two have definite re¬ ligious implications—those in “History of Religions’' at the University of Pennsylvania. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE COLLEGE 243 State institution. The teaching of the Bible and of sub¬ jects definitely connected with the Christian religion have too seldom been given the commanding place they deserve. Nor has there always been sufficient attention to pre¬ senting a Christian interpretation of philosophy, ethics, the social sciences, and other subjects of the regular curriculum. So far as instruction in the Bible is concerned, one may now speak with increasing assurance. The Bible is being well taught in a considerable number of institutions. The custom of “farming out” Bible teaching among the pro¬ fessors has been replaced, to a large extent, by the or¬ ganization and equipment of a department, or at least a chair, of Biblical Literature and History, with especially trained instructors. 8 The multiplication of these Biblical departments has been one of the striking developments of recent educational history. A generation ago there were no such departments. The Bible has become a col¬ lege study in American colleges since the beginning of the twentieth century. The total number of such chairs or departments in American colleges and universities is now over 300 and their number and quality are steadily increasing. The number of trained instructors is estimated at 600. The serious attempt to standardize such departments has at least begun. The Commission of the Religious Education Association which has had this task in hand made their first report in 1916. At that time but 31 departments had been discovered throughout the country entitled to be in Class “A,” made up of those whose quality of instruction was considered as ranking with that of the departments of Literature and History. The requirements for a Class “A” department were very modest indeed. The college should have at least one well-trained instructor who was 'The Bible teachers have a national association with a mid- western branch and the guild consciousness is being developed among them. 244 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH giving his entire time to teaching. The president of the college, the pastor, the Y.M.C.A. or Y.W.C.A. secre¬ tary, could not be the head of this department, nor the chaplain unless he were of professorial rank. Fundamental courses of but one hour per week were eliminated from consideration. The department was required to offer at least 18 semester hours of work. Reasonable library equipment was demanded and an annual budget sufficient to keep the department on a parity with the other depart¬ ments of the institution. Measured by these standards, the Class “A” departments had increased from 31 in 1916 to 88 in 1921. Other classes of departments designated as “B,” “C” and “D” have been enumerated to the total of some 220, and there is an encouraging movement of these departments from year to year to the higher classes. It must be confessed that there are numerous motives for the extension of this work. They range all the way from an effort at scientific interpretation of Biblical litera- ature and history to the defense and buttressing of the particular brand of faith to which the people who support the college subscribe. Sometimes the purpose is to pre¬ pare students for the theological seminary; sometimes the devotional purpose is paramount in the mind of the teacher. The usual purpose, there is evidence to believe, is the Christian motivation of the lives of the students. The teaching manifestly may be valued as good, bad, and in¬ different, depending not only on the dominating motive, but upon the scholarship and skill of the teacher. It should be said that among these teachers is an increasing number of Biblical scholars and educators of the first rank. As a rule, however, the Biblical department does not now rank among the leading departments either from the standpoint of the number of courses offered or the num¬ ber of students enrolled. In some of the large women’s colleges Biblical studies do take a prominent place. In the Disciples’ colleges also, to take an extreme case, Biblical work takes a commanding place in the curriculum. There RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE COLLEGE 245 is a well-marked tendency among them, as they attain higher educational standards, to reduce the amount of Biblical work offered. This is not a reflection on the better colleges but an indication that much of the work offered in the weaker schools is not of college grade. Speaking gen¬ erally for all the detached colleges of the country, Biblical work of high grade is gaining ground. The statement is entirely justified not only that English language and literature is thoroughly established as the master subject of the American college of liberal arts, but that the English Bible is more and more coming to be recognized in our colleges as the crown of English literature. The complaint is sometimes made that the modern col¬ lege teacher of the Bible “upsets” his students; that his teaching tends to unsettle the faith of their childhood. One of the most experienced and most successful Bible teachers of our country, Professor Irving F. Wood of Smith College, answers this complaint by the remark. “That depends very largely on what the faith of their childhood was,” and he gives the assurance that now “less and less often is the teacher of the Bible obliged to see the pitiful sight of the slow rebuilding of a wrecked childhood faith.” 8 9 Along with the development of the departments of Bible is going a new attention to the interrelation of the Bible courses with those in ancient languages, philosophy, ethics, psychology, education, economics, the social sciences, and history. This interrelation is scarcely less important than the Bible teaching itself. Several significant experiments are now being made by well-known institutions of the independent type to help the student in coordinating his otherwise fragmentary knowledge, and in some of these attention is given to religious values. At Columbia all freshmen are required 8 “Biblical Teaching in School and College,” Sneath’s “Modern Christian Callings,” Macmillan Company, New York. 246 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH to take a course in contemporary civilization, a part of which consists in a setting forth of the fundamentals of religious faith and practice. At Harvard all candidates for the A.B. degree who have majored in English litera¬ ture, modern languages or the classics have set for them a three-hour examination in the Bible, which is a part of the general examination now required at that institution of most of its seniors. It is worthy of note that as the standards of Biblical instructors and instruction advance, Biblical work gains in educational prestige. For some years a number of the lead¬ ing colleges and universities have announced certain elec¬ tives in Bible for entrance to college. These announce¬ ments have usually been based on the recommendations of special conferences or committees made up of educators. The most recent recommendation of this kind and the one which has received the widest recognition is the prelim¬ inary report of the Commission on the Definition of a Unit of Bible Study for Secondary Schools, with special refer¬ ences to college entrance. This Commission was appointed by the Council of Church Boards of Education at the request of practically all of the national agencies and several of the local agencies interested in religious educa¬ tion. Not only did the Commission have widely repre¬ sentative authority, but the Commission itself was widely representative of American Biblical scholarship and educa¬ tional administration, and the Definition has been ap¬ proved, directly or by implication, by no less than 300 col¬ leges and universities. 10 It is manifest that as the schools lay more secure foundations for Biblical culture, the col¬ leges will be able greatly to improve the effectiveness of their work. 10 The Definition has been approved unanimously by the two leading college standardizing agencies of the country—the Asso¬ ciation of Colleges and Secondary Schools of the Southern States, and the North Central Association of Colleges and Sec¬ ondary Schools. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE COLLEGE 247 3. Religious Education in the College Curriculum A more recent development is the multiplication of courses or departments of Religious Education. This work is usually being carried on in conjunction with that in Biblical literature and history, or with that of the De¬ partment of Education, with which it is in purpose and method, perhaps, more closely related. Since no steps have been taken by any agency as yet to evaluate this growing movement, it is not possible even to give the number of such departments or chairs. There are certainly several scores of them and they enroll in the aggregate several thousand students. The Board of Education of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, is authority for the statement that there is not a single college in that denomi¬ nation that does not offer a course in religious education, and that most of them have well-manned departments. In view of the pioneer nature of this work and its great importance, a Commission representing the Religious Edu¬ cation Association, the Council of Church Boards of Education, the International Sunday School Association, 11 and the Sunday School Council of Evangelical Denomina¬ tions, has been working for several years upon the defini¬ tion of an undergraduate major in religious education. The final report of this Commission has not been made, but there is general agreement that 30 semester hours in this department should be outlined as a minimum, and that the required courses should be: Bible. 6 semester hours The Christian Religion . 3 Educational Psychology. 3 Introduction to the Study of Religious Education . 3 Teaching the Christian Religion, with observation and practise .4 11 Now merged with the Sunday School Council. 248 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH A complete curriculum would, of course, provide also for courses in Church history, Christian missions, and other kindred subjects. A significant part of the report of the Commission, as thus far made, raises the question, “Who should teach these subjects ?” and the answer indicates the trend of edu¬ cational aspiration in this field: “The treatment of religious education should not be less serious, thorough, and technical than the treatment that 'general’ education receives. In both fields technically equipped specialists are required as teachers. A tempta¬ tion will arise to entrust some or all of the subjects that have been named to the ‘handy man’ of the faculty; or to append them as secondary duties to the schedules of teachers whose training and first interests lie elsewhere; or to appoint someone as teacher on the ground of avail¬ ability and cheapness; or to group existing courses that deal with the Bible, religion, and education, and call them ‘religious education.’ Administrators should clearly un¬ derstand that what is required is not a new name for an old thing, nor merely new permutations and combinations of courses and students. Our recommendation concerns a new branch of study with specific aims and subject matter of its own, together with a new approach to certain older subjects. Effective education in this field cannot begin too soon, for the need is tragically imperative; yet it would be less evil to wait indefinitely for proper con¬ ditions of income, teaching staff, and library, than to substitute anything whatever for high-grade teaching.” This general survey of developments now taking place in the colleges is full of hope, but it represents only a beginning in meeting the responsibility confronting the Church. The colleges founded by the Church and drawing support from it have a distinctive function that the tax- supported State university does not have. Their purpose is to train for Christian leadership. Included in this general task are three clear responsibilities: (i) to give RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE COLLEGE 249 to all the students an intelligent appreciation of the Christian religion; (2) to provide the special training needed to equip many men to serve as well-trained lay workers in their local churches; (3) to lay the best pos¬ sible foundation for the smaller group who are to enter the ministry or other forms of Christian service as a profession. If the Christian college is not fulfilling this three-fold function it has lost its raison d'etre, and is only competing with the State institutions in providing a secular type of education which the State institution can usually better provide. If the curriculum of the Christian college is not to provide positively for the teaching of religion its spe¬ cial crown and glory is gone. A general “Christian atmos¬ phere/’ fundamentally important as it is, will not make up for this lack. Indeed, the spirit and atmosphere of the college will be deeply affected by the emphasis which is given, or is not given, to religion in the curriculum. For what is taught in the class-room is an unmistakable indication of what the college regards as of real importance. The Christian college will not be fulfilling its mission until religion is treated as one of the most important fields of knowledge in the curriculum, as well provided for as the departments of science or history, and claiming a fair share of the thought and attention of all the students. Indeed, even this is not enough. The function of the Christian college ought to be to give a Christian interpre¬ tation of all truth. The teaching of biology, psychology, economics, history, ethics, philosophy, and literature in a Christian college must be related vitally and organically to the Christian conception of God and His purpose for the world. CHAPTER XI RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN THE TAX- SUPPORTED INSTITUTION The tax-supported institutions it is necessary to treat, in part at least, as a separate class, because of certain legal disqualifications, real or hypothetical, growing out of the principle of the separation of Church and State. 1 State universities are usually understood to be legally disqualified from teaching religion. The more accurate statement would be that they are disqualified from pro¬ moting sectarianism. There is a popular misconception that such institutions are to be described as “godless.” There have been numerous and conflicting decisions and opinions on the part of the legal authorities, such as that the Bible is a sectarian book or that a teacher of religion will necessarily have a sectarian bias, so that the total effect has been to make the official teaching of religion by State universities a difficult, if not a dangerous, matter. Not all of the impotence of the State and municipal institutions in matters religious is due to the provisions of the law, the decisions of the courts, or the opinions of the legal and educational authorities. The Churches must bear their share of the blame for a situation confessedly by no means ideal. In the succinct words of President Vinson of the University of Texas: “The separatist ten¬ dencies of our Protestantism are an added difficulty in the interpretation and practical application of a law which 1 In a more comprehensive study of higher education it would be important to give a separate treatment also to the independent institution—like Yale, Harvard, or Columbia—which is under the control of neither Church nor State, 250 THE TAX-SUPPORTED INSTITUTION 25 i was never designed as a means of placing education and religion under irreconcilable categories and of making our culture a purely intellectual process.” i. The Interest of State Universities in Religion In considering the influences affecting the work of Christian education in these institutions it is important to understand clearly the favorable attitude of most of the executive officers. Over and over again the presidents of Michigan, Ohio State, Ohio University, Miami, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Iowa, Arkansas, California, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Cornell, Penn State, South Carolina, Uni¬ versity of Pennsylvania, Missouri, Montana State College, Oregon Agricultural College, Idaho, Utah, Texas, Wash¬ ington, and Wisconsin, and no doubt others, have publicly and privately emphasized the recognition of religion as an essential in educational effort. These executives are posi¬ tive forces in developing the religious consciousness and instilling religious sanctions. President Kinley of the University of Illinois has recently voiced this favorable attitude in the declaration, “There is no complete educa¬ tion without religion.” If the attitude of the presidents generally were otherwise, the problems of religious edu¬ cation in state institutions would be difficult indeed. This interest of the executives in the religious phase of education is confirmed by the type of men selected for faculty positions. Out of 2,832 faculty members in 33 State universities recently reporting on their religious affiliations, 70 per cent, expressed denominational prefer¬ ence (mostly Protestant) and of the 30 per cent, express¬ ing no denominational preference, many are known to be religiously inclined. It is true that the percentage showing no preference is twice as great as among the students. It is even true that many college and university professors, within and without the State institutions, seem to show 252 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH little but contempt for the Church. At the same time, many of the Churches in the college and university com¬ munities are supported almost entirely by the professors. They are Church officials, teach Bible classes, and attend Church services quite as regularly as any other class of men in the community. In a majority of the State col¬ leges and universities a greater or less amount of subject matter for religious education is found in the various de¬ partmental announcements and is made dynamic by Chris¬ tian professors. In some of them an undercurrent of re¬ ligious conviction is a characteristic phase of the corporate character. In many instances faculty members in State institutions are doing much the same type of religious work as that done by similar men in the denominational colleges; indeed, in its freedom from sectarian bias it is often com¬ parable with the educational work on the foreign field. Not a few State universities go further than might be expected in distinctively encouraging the religious life. This is particularly true of the Southern State universities, which employ and pay the salaries, in full or in part, of secretaries of the Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W.C.A. At the University of Oklahoma, the Kansas State Agricultural College, and Pennsylvania State College courses in re¬ ligious education have recently been established in con¬ junction with the Department of Education. The Uni¬ versity of South Carolina has compulsory Church and chapel attendance, and a chair of English Bible covering four years. The attitude of the administration of many State univer¬ sities is indicated by such catalogue announcements as follow, which are selected almost at random: “Morning services are held daily, except Sunday, in the Main Building, with addresses by clergymen, resident and visiting, and by members of the faculty. “The Association of Religious Teachers, an organization in which the various religious bodies cooperate, offers a number of courses to the students of the university. This THE TAX-SUPPORTED INSTITUTION 253 work, carried on with good sense, vigor, and friendly co¬ operation, supplies well the religious element in education that the American State university by reason of its con¬ nection with the State cannot itself attempt. “The university, although it has no official connection with any particular denominational body, endeavors to develop an earnest appreciation of ethical and social obliga¬ tions, and to encourage participation in religious activities. “While the University cannot exercise any official super¬ vision over the religious life and education of the students, it does, however, offer in the departments of history, philosophy, and literature, many courses in which the principles of morals and religion are discussed and the life teachings of the great religious teachers are considered and the history of great religious and ethical movements is traced. “The various religious agencies found within the uni¬ versity community supplement in an unofficial way the work of the university in fulfilling the aim of all true education to prepare students for leadership in the affairs of human life. “Religious exercises, consisting of Scripture readings, singing, and prayer, are held frequently in the university assembly. At these exercises a special lecture or address is given by some noted speaker. Although attendance is voluntary, the purpose of cultivating the moral, religious, and social spirit of the university is heartily recognized;” In certain institutions, like the University of Michigan, more than 30 courses are offered in the university classes in the history, literature, and application of religion. In most of the State universities, all-university religious con¬ vocations are held at different times during the year. To address these great gatherings religious and social leaders of national and international distinction are secured. While in many instances these convocations are financed by the religious forces about the campus, in others the university itself carries a substantial proportion of the expenses. Numerous tax-supported institutions have also led in hold¬ ing State-wide conferences of rural and other Church workers, and have thereby contributed no small part in 254 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH stimulating the religious life within their own communities and throughout the State. What may be called the fundamentally religious side of the State university’s task was expressed at a recent annual meeting of the National Association of State Universities by President Birge of the University of Wisconsin in eloquent words: “Of old, democracy was hindered of its fruits and cheated of its life by social rigidity, and against this situ¬ ation the university protested. Today democracy is in danger of loss as the sense of common interests and a common life becomes weakened. At such a time can the university render a higher service to democracy than to preserve and strengthen those spiritual ideals common to us and to our fathers, shared by our nation with sister nations all over the world, honored and revered through¬ out all ages, and a part of our common inheritance from the past?” The university authorities all recognize, however, that the chief work of religious education must be done by the churches, and that to be most effective it should be carried on ordinarily by cooperative effort. Within the past decade much progress has been made in this cooperative work, as the following sketch will show. 2. Types of Religious Work in State Institutions 2 In some State institutions, as well as some municipal and independent universities, there are to be found no paid workers devoting their entire time to the religious life of the students. In the case of the municipal institutions, approximately 90 per cent, of the students are from the city in which the institution is located. The local Churches would seem to have here both a serious re- 3 For a fuller discussion, see “Christian Education,” Vol. IV, No. 9, June, 1921. Published by the Council of Church Boards of Education, 111 Fifth Avenue, New York. THE TAX-SUPPORTED INSTITUTION 255 sponsibility and a remarkable opportunity for cooperative work. Some form of religious education is operative in no fewer than 83 tax-supported institutions, although the work could not be considered adequate in any of them. It is not possible within the space allotted for this discus¬ sion to indicate all the different types of effort. Many of these—to be true to the facts, it must be admitted most of them—are in the experimental stage. But they are carried on by devoted and courageous men and women and they are meeting with success. Especially important is it to study the efforts to secure a unified program, for, as already suggested, one of the greatest obstacles to the development of religious education in the tax-supported institution is a sectarian emphasis. Typical experiments can at least be pointed out. A. The Approach Through Student Organizations 1. The Christian Associations . 3 —There can be no adequate exposition of the religious education of college and university students without fuller discussion than is here possible of the work of the Student Departments of the Young Men’s and the Young Women’s Christian Asso¬ ciations, and such related agencies as the Student Volun¬ teer Movement for Foreign Missions. These agencies are operating in some form in most of the institutions of higher learning in the country, including normal schools and professional schools of college rank. In some fields the Young Men’s Associations and the Young Women’s Associations, with the affiliated organiza¬ tions, are working practically alone so far as any national Christian agencies are concerned. This is true in so im¬ portant an institution as the University of Minnesota. In almost all institutions the Associations were the first 3 The work here described refers, of course, to the denomina¬ tional and independent institutions as well as to those that are tax supported. 256 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH agencies to enter these fields and the Churches owe them a great debt of gratitude. The voluntary study work of the Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W.C.A. consists chiefly of Bible study classes, world fellowship or mission study classes, and discussion groups on Christian fundamentals—all of which are too well known and appreciated to require special comment. Both Associations conduct social study classes, which are continued during the summer through such groups as the social service group in New York City, and Christian industrial research groups in different cities. The Y.W.C.A. organizes student-industrial groups, which in¬ clude study classes and mutual undertakings of students and industrial women, as well as study groups of students in three large cities. The Y.M.C.A. promotes also nor¬ mal training classes for all the courses of study recom¬ mended. The Associations are rendering a further valu¬ able educational service in the production of popular and useful text-books, in conducting public religious meetings and conferences, and in deputation work. For many years the Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W.C.A. have both made a very large contribution to the religious life of student groups throughout the nation through the summer Student Conferences, now numbering seven for men and ten for women, and enrolling thousands of picked student religious leaders. Within the past few years a plan has been put into operation in several of the conferences, both men’s and women’s, for relating the Churches more directly to the summer conferences. This plan provides for a continuous and systematic representa¬ tion of the Boards of the various Churches, and its suc¬ cess registers a most satisfactory effort at cooperation be¬ tween the Churches and the Associations. While the con¬ ferences remain, as formerly, Association conferences from the legal standpoint, in practice they approximate Christian student conferences under the auspices of the Associations and the Churches. THE TAX-SUPPORTED INSTITUTION 257 2. Affiliated Organisations .—The Student Volunteer Movement, composed of students expecting to become for¬ eign missionaries, undertakes to develop among college and university students a study of foreign missions and a better understanding of missionary problems and to secure new recruits for missionary service. More than 9,000 members of the Movement have actually sailed for as¬ signed work in foreign fields during the past quarter of a century. The Committee on Missionary Preparation, working under the authority of the Foreign Missions Conference, makes two significant contributions to mis¬ sionary training, first, through advising undergraduates who are studying for missionary service as to the best courses to pursue; secondly, by giving guidance to mis¬ sionaries on furlough in selecting the institutions and the lines of study which will best equip them for the peculiar needs which their experience on the foreign field has made apparent. Both Associations have Committees on Friendly Rela¬ tions Among Foreign Students which work in close co¬ operation. The Young Women’s Committee deals directly with 2,000 women students from other lands who are enrolled in higher institutions of learning. The field of the Young Men’s Committee is the 8,000 or more foreign young men who have come to our American colleges and universities. A staff of American and of foreign secretaries is maintained who travel extensively among the universities in the interest of foreign students, promoting clubs, Bible classes, discussion groups, Chris¬ tian hospitality, and summer conferences. A few of the larger cities or universities have special secretaries giving all of their time to foreign students. The general aims of the work are, first, the development of understanding and good-will between foreign students and the American public; and, second, the development of the student Christian program. Both of these objects take on urgent importance in view of the careers to which many of these 258 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH students will return. The effort is made to reveal to these transient students the best products of our civiliza¬ tion, while enabling them to understand that the unlovely things represent the areas unconquered by Christianity. The Student Fellowship for Christian Life Service, recently organized, has as its fundamental purpose “to unite those students committed to Christian life service in prayer, study, and vigorous effort to make America Christian for the friendly service of the world.” Any student who is enlisted for full-time Christian service, even though he does not yet know whether he will serve at home or abroad, may become a member. A representa¬ tive of the Fellowship is expected to be present at each Student Conference. B. The Pastoral Approach i. The University Pastor .—Approximately 200 uni¬ versity pastors are now employed by the Churches on full or part time. Generally they are related closely to one or more of the Churches in the adjacent community and seek especially to keep the students in vital contact with the organized religious life of the Church. The develop¬ ment of the university pastor marks a distinct advance in the sense of responsibility of the Churches for the life of the students. A Conference of Church Workers in Uni¬ versities has been formed for mutual helpfulness. At the University of Illinois the Baptist students have been organized into a regular Church, the direction of which is entirely in the hands of the students. The only responsibilities assumed by the professors are those of teaching in the classes of the Bible School. Students bring their letters from their home Churches and take membership in this Church as they would in any other Church of the community, and are dismissed by letter at the close of their student career. The Church has a splendid building and a regular pastor whose salary is THE TAX-SUPPORTED INSTITUTION 259 paid by the Baptist Board of Education and the Illinois Baptist State Convention. By this method of organiza¬ tion the students are receiving a thorough training in all the responsibilities of Church management. In institutions that do not have sufficient students to warrant a university pastor there is now an increasing number of denominational clubs or associations. The student clubs formed among the Episcopal and the Luth¬ eran students are exceptionally successful. They are engaged in strengthening Church ties and providing train¬ ing in some forms of Church work. Such agencies, as well as the work of the university pastor, emphasize the fact that the most healthy religious life for students is ordinarily that which centers around the activities of a normal Church. 2. The Inter church University Pastor .—In a number of smaller fields interchurch pastors are employed. At Ohio University four denominations join in supporting a university pastor who acts as associate pastor to all of the Churches cooperating in the plan. He also directs the work of the Christian Association. For such an arrangement a definite plan has been agreed upon which provides for each Church an official board and a com¬ mittee on Student Relations and a Student Council. For the broader cooperative effort there is an interchurch committee, composed of one man and one woman from each Church, which serves in an advisory and executive capacity for the religious activities of the entire university. At the Michigan Agricultural College four denomina¬ tions unitedly support a Church worker who acts under a plan of closest affiliation with the pastor of the local community Church. The Church work here is very suc¬ cessful and much overtaxes the available headquarters. Arrangements are being made for the calling of a women’s worker who will be closely associated with the interdenominational university pastor and with the local community Church. Numerous other plans are in oper- 260 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH ation similar to those at Ohio University and Michigan Agricultural College, and the number of such arrange¬ ments will undoubtedly be greatly multiplied. 3. Unified Organization of Paid Church Workers .— Another notable experiment is the interdenominational organization of Church workers such as is found in the united Christian work at Cornell University. It has a coordinating executive who has about him a staff of sev¬ eral denominational representatives, each of whom is a specialist in some particular field—such as Bible study, missionary education, or pastoral contacts. There is a unified salary budget, to which contributions are made both from local sources and from the national boards. The approach to the students, while thus effectively divided into its functional phases, includes also denom¬ inational care. 4. Unified Organization of Mens and Women's Work and of Church and Association Workers. —At the University of Pennsylvania there is an organization simi¬ lar to the one described at Cornell, except that it includes the women’s work as well as the men’s. Secretaries for specialized work as well as denominational workers are included in one single incorporated organization, known as the Christian Association of the University of Penn¬ sylvania, the men’s department of which is affiliated with the Student Y.M.C.A. The university pastors are rated also as Association secretaries. There is a unified budget which is distributed between the different depart¬ ments of the Association’s work, with a central treasury and centralized financial responsibility. Similar plans with slight modifications are operating elsewhere, for ex¬ ample, in the University of Michigan. 5. Partially Coordinated Work of Seminaries and Church and Association Workers. —Another very prom¬ ising type of development is found at Berkeley, the seat of the University of California. Within the university community are three theological seminaries: the Pacific 1 THE TAX-SUPPORTED INSTITUTION 261 School of Religion “for students of all denominations”; the Berkeley Baptist Divinity School; and the Pacific Unitarian School for Ministers. In addition to these, the San Francisco Theological Seminary (Presbyterian) has an extension department at Berkeley in the West¬ minster School for Christian Social Service, presided over by the Presbyterian university pastor. There are 11 churches located near the campus, and well-equipped Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A., with all the usual lines of activity. In cooperation with these agencies the Episcopal Church is establishing a university pastor, who will represent the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, located in San Francisco. The Baptist and Methodists also have student pastors. These Christian forces usually work in informal but in very real co¬ operation. There is an extensive interchange of courses and of library facilities among the seminaries. They combine to procure special lecturers. Students in all these Church schools may register also in the university (al¬ though credit is not granted automatically by the uni¬ versity for work done in the seminaries). Credentials of students from seminaries may be offered through the Board of Admissions for recognition by the university. The head of the Department of Education in the uni¬ versity is a well-known expert in religious education, and very much interested in the promotion of Christian culture, as are the president of the university and many of the leading professors, although there is no formal connection between any of these agencies and the uni¬ versity itself. C. The Educational Approach 1. Foundations at Universities At a number of institutions educational foundations have been established by the Churches, providing regular instruction in religion, generally with credit allowed by 262 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH the university. The Methodists have the Wesley Foun¬ dations, the Presbyterians the Westminster Foundations, the Baptists the Francis Wayland Foundations, and the Disciples no fewer than nine agencies usually known as the Bible Colleges or Chairs. The Wesley Foundations at Illinois, Wisconsin, and North Dakota, and the Dis¬ ciples’ Bible College at Missouri, School of Religion at Indiana, and Bible Chairs at Kansas and Texas Uni¬ versities, have attained a considerable degree of success in their effort to approach the university membership from the educational as well as the pastoral angle. The instruction consists of such courses as New Testament History, Old Testament History, History of Religion, The Bible—Its Ideals and Institutions, Biblical Literature, Social Religion, Religious Education, Science and Re¬ ligion, the Teachings of Jesus, and other subjects in the general field of religion. Statements in the Methodist Episcopal Church press indicate that twice as many missionaries are now going to the field in one year from the institutions in which Wesley Foundations exist as went from them during thirty years before the Foundations were organized. That is to say, 60 to I is the ratio of progress already attained in this particular direction, due in part at least to this youthful and very slightly subsidized undertaking. The University Secretary of the Disciples’ Board of Edu¬ cation recently reported that “the assets of the four Bible Chairs of the Disciples at the Universities of Virginia, Michigan, Kansas, and Texas, and the four institutions affiliated with the Board of Education, the Bible College of Missouri, California School of Christianity, Illinois Disciples Foundation, and Indiana School of Religion, and the independent institution, Eugene Bible University, aggregate a total of $2,000,000 accumulated for use in these nine State university centers.” At Ohio State and at Wisconsin the Baptists have organized Francis Wayland Foundations, inaugurated in THE TAX-SUPPORTED INSTITUTION 263 accord with the laws of their respective States for the holding of property. The trustees of the Foundations are representative Baptists from the Churches in the localities, and the Baptist State Conventions of their respective States and the Northern Baptist Convention. At Ohio State the Foundation is now engaged in securing a half block of property directly opposite the campus upon which are to be erected Church buildings and dormi¬ tories for social and educational purposes. Acting upon the direction of the Synod of Ohio, the Presbyterian Committee on the Church’s Work in Uni¬ versities has taken out incorporation papers for the West¬ minster Foundation of Ohio. The corporation exists for the purpose of holding, managing, buying and selling all the property, both real and personal, of the Presbyterian Synod of Ohio for work among students. The work of Wesley College at the University of North Dakota may be cited as a unique experiment in this field. This institution has been in operation for more than 15 years as a duly recognized institution of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The original formal agree¬ ment between the president of the University and the president of Wesley College as to its scope and function has not been modified during that time and there has never been friction or complaint from either side. Wesley College has its own plant and campus and the disciplinary oversight of its students on its own grounds. The build¬ ings now consist of a dormitory for men and one for women, and a building that serves as an administration and music hall. It has a faculty of 15 and fully 375 students elect some of its courses. It provides, in effect, a department of religious education and a department of music for the University. Students may take degrees from both institutions. The college offers, in the Bible, two hours each in “The Life of Jesus,” “The Teachings of Jesus,” “Social Ideals of the Prophets,” and “Social Teachings of Jesus and His Followers”; in history, two 264 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH hours each in “History of the Hebrews” and “Outlines of Church History”; two hours each in “Principles of Religious Education,” “Teaching the Christian Religion,” “Organization and Administration of Religious Educa¬ tion”; in the church and world agriculture, two hours each in “The Church and Agriculture,” and “The Church and Agriculture Abroad”; and in extension service (without credit) a “Rural Pastors 5 Clinic” and “Com¬ munity Surveys. 55 Probably the furthest developed of any of the educa¬ tional approaches of the Disciples at State universities is the Bible College of Missouri, opened in 1898, adjacent to the campus of the University of Missouri. It has a good college building and an endowment for three pro¬ fessors. For the past few years the Presbyterians have been supporting a Presbyterian representative in the faculty, and the institution has extended an invitation to other religious bodies to join in its faculty, directorate, and support. Two other denominations are working out plans for cooperation. The institution has confined itself almost entirely to the work of Biblical and religious teaching. It has a credit relation with the university. Its enrolment has often gone beyond 200 per year. It includes in its classes a number of students preparing for the ministry and mission field, and gives them what might be called a pre-seminary course. The school has defi¬ nitely followed the program of attempting to combine the ofifering of undergraduate courses to regular university students, and at the same time to meet the needs of ministerial and missionary students. Its professors have rendered much service as religious counselors to the uni¬ versity students, as teachers of voluntary classes and participants in the regular work of the local churches. 2. The Cooperating School of Religion The Cooperating School of Religion, maintained by a group of denominations jointly, is still more of an ideal THE TAX-SUPPORTED INSTITUTION 265 than a fact, although nine cooperative schools are now being developed in close relation to the State Universities of Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. Thus far the courses have been offered simply for undergraduates. In five of these schools of religion, between 6 and 40 semester hours are already recognized by the State University as a basis for credit towards graduation. At the University of Texas six men, well equipped for Biblical instruction, have organized an Association of Religious Teachers for credits under specific rules laid down by the University authorities, for the purpose of furnishing some systematic Biblical and religious instruc¬ tion to the students. There is an increasing conviction that the problem of religious education in universities will not adequately be met until the denominations unite in providing a school which shall rank in educational efficiency and prestige with the Schools of Education, Medicine, Law, and Engineering, and shall be the center for all the formal and academic, as well as the informal and personal, re¬ ligious interests and activities of the university. After many years of administrative experience, the late Presi¬ dent Charles R. Van Hise observed: “I am unhesitatingly of the opinion that the movement for the School of Religion under the combined auspices of the various churches is far more important for the State of Wis¬ consin, the university, and the student body, than indi¬ vidual chapels or additional dormitory space. ... A School of Religion established by the cooperation of the various denominations would meet the needs for instruc¬ tion along religious lines for all students who are inter¬ ested in such instruction:” The same view has been expressed with equal emphasis by President Van Hise’s successor, President E. A. Birge, who recently wrote: “I believe that the religious bodies ought to unite in giving courses, if they are to be credited for work at the uni- 266 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH versity. The single denominations are hardly likely to have funds enough to secure high-grade men and there will always be the possibility of denominational contro¬ versies which would prejudice the general situation.” The opinion here expressed by these seasoned university executives is held by an increasing number of educational and religious leaders. It must be said, however, that there is the disposition on the part of numerous ecclesiastical authorities to estab¬ lish courses in connection with the universities under strictly denominational control. During the post-war period these denominational agencies have made more progress in the United States than the cooperative ones. This undoubtedly retards the recognition of religious work by the universities and raises numerous complicated educa¬ tional problems. At the University of Toronto, and particularly at McGill University, Montreal, the cooper¬ ative work of the theological colleges has attained most satisfactory results. 4 One of the most striking results has been the discovery that seven-eighths of the courses offered by the different denominational colleges can be offered on a cooperative basis without injustice to denom¬ inational points of view. Those who see the tremendous potentialities of the quarter of a million choice young men and women in our state and municipal universities and colleges, and who see how indispensable is a united approach to any adequate solution of the problem of their religious education, will watch eagerly for further signs of progress. From this brief survey it will be noted that it is only the informal and pastoral functions of religious education which are in operation, for the most part, at present in our tax-supported universities. The types of work car¬ ried on in connection with most of the plans outlined above have to do with that great mass of extra-curriculum 4 See “Christian Education,” Vol. V., No. io, July, 1922, for fuller exposition of the Canadian plan. THE TAX-SUPPORTED INSTITUTION 267 work summed up under the ambiguous phrase “student activities.” Only in the foundations and Bible chairs is formal instruction attempted of a type comparable with that done in other university fields. What has been done is at least an indication of the general direction in which we must move in providing for a program of religious education in the State university. On the whole the tax-supported institutions must be listed among those having, in the large, the Christian spirit. They afford an opportunity to the Christian forces to carry on unsectarian, broad, and thorough programs of religious education. Religion can count the State uni¬ versity as an ally, in spirit if not in form. 3. Suggestions for the Future The effort has been made in this chapter and the pre¬ ceding one to state in some detail the factors from which a science of religious education for college and university students may be constructed. It is evident that there is a wealth of material for such a science. The impulses, instincts, and habits; the personnel—administrative, teaching, and student; the academic structure, the organization, and the rich content of subject matter, are there; even the motives and methods are generally favor¬ able, though not always defined with clearness. A few of the instruments of religious education have become appreciably effective. There are small groups of special¬ ized workers. But what has been done is a mere beginning. For the consummation of this task the most important thing is a deeper recognition that an institution of higher learning cannot become an ideal instrument for religious education unless there is a will to make it such, in the minds of those responsible for its policy and program. It is fundamental that the faculty, whether in denom¬ inational college or State university, be chosen with 268 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH reference to this desired end. This does not mean that the corporation shall attempt to “put something over” at whatever cost. It means that religious education must be treated with respect. It means that the promotion of religion must be recognized as essential to the highest promotion of the true, the beautiful, and the good, in the life of the individual and the race. Still more is needed than a favorable disposition on the part of the authorities if religion is to receive its true place in higher education. There are certain processes which demand fuller development. (a) A beginning only has been made in the matter of necessary definitions. A preliminary definition of a unit of Bible study for secondary schools, with a view to credit for admission to college, has gained wide acceptance. There is a working definition of a college department of Biblical literature and history. A representative group is at work on a definition of a college course in religious education. These are but illustrations of what is re¬ quired within the broad expanse of the curriculum. Not only must units and courses and departments and schools, which are concerned immediately and formally with the task of religious education, be clearly defined, but per¬ sistent effort must be made to place a vital interpretation upon the more remote factors of the curriculum. The religious implications of literature, history, art, phi¬ losophy; of the social, mathematical, physical, and biolog¬ ical sciences; of the vocational subjects and of “student activities” and the forms of college government and disci¬ pline as well, must be studied and their values for re¬ ligious education clearly understood. The process of definition must extend also into the area of ideas and ideals—to motives and ends, methods and means, con¬ cerning which at present there is much confusion. (b) There should be a thoroughgoing revaluation of the means of religious education in the college and uni¬ versity. The daily chapel, the sermon, pastoral care, the THE TAX-SUPPORTED INSTITUTION 269 “series of meetings/’ the prayer meeting, the varied ac¬ tivities of the volunteer agencies, are all traditional ex¬ pressions of the attempt to serve the religious needs of students and faculty. To what extent do these and others like them actually function in religious education? (c) The more recently devised means of religious edu¬ cation need also to be given the most serious study: 1. The Biblical Department is now coming to be clearly recognized. But the teaching of the Bible may or may not be religious education. Religion is not merely a sub¬ ject of study. If the teacher of the Bible is both a scholar and a teacher of religion, he will teach with the spirit that makes men religious as well as with the understand¬ ing that makes men scholars. One who is to teach re¬ ligion must be compounded of the right proportions of scholarship and sympathy. 2. A few colleges have departments of religious edu¬ cation well equipped and well manned. When these de¬ partments are adequately developed they will be able to serve two important functions. They will, in the first place, make a valuable contribution on the cultural side to the religious development of students; in the second place, they will lay the foundations for a professional training which will meet to some extent the greatest need of religious education today—the need of qualified teachers of religion, in addition to the preaching min¬ istry. Religious education will advance slowly until the colleges can pour forth into the schools of the local Churches a stream of teachers, administrators, and super¬ visors as well equipped for their task as those who now go into the work of the public schools. 3. A number of institutions are giving orientation courses in which the effort is made to assist the student in finding his place in the midst of his enlarging life. It is important that the leaders of these courses be not blind leading the blind. At their best estate the courses deal with what may be called the fundamentals of human 270 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH living in their individual and social implications, a mean¬ ing being given to social broad enough to lead to divine as well as human relationships. 4. One of the most recent specialists in the field of re¬ ligious education is the university pastor. While no sys¬ tem has been devised as yet to give these men formal training for their specialized tasks, they are increasing in efficiency as well as numbers. Their teaching function has not yet been highly developed. While having fairly well defined denominational responsibilities, it is im¬ portant that they work out interdenominational arrange¬ ments by which rivalries and duplications may be avoided and a united religious appeal made to the university. 5. At a number of the universities there are founda¬ tions, Bible chairs, or schools of religion which are ap¬ proaching the problems of religious education from the educational rather than the pastoral point of view. The tendency thus far has been for these agencies to attempt primarily to meet denominational needs. The University School of Religion is scarcely a fact as yet. It will be¬ come a fact as the processes of religious education extend and ecclesiastical leaders come to understand that a de¬ nominational approach cannot provide an effective instru¬ ment of education in the university. Finally, and of great importance, there can he no con¬ sistent system of religious education until there is a dis¬ position to coordinate as well as develop agencies. All agencies must be cemented in the spirit of unselfish co¬ operation into a united organism guided by a common purpose. This applies not only to the work of the various denominations in their relation to each other but quite as strongly to the relation of the Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W.C.A. to the Churches. It will be only when the day of full cooperation comes that religion will occupy a command¬ ing place in higher education. CHAPTER XII EDUCATION FOR THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY The central place in the Church’s educational system is held by the theological seminary. The character of the training given here conditions success or failure all along the line. What the Church is to become will depend largely upon its ministry, and what its ministry is to be will be determined largely by the kind of preparation received. The tone of the Church at large will not rise far above the tone of the individual minister, who as leader of worship, teacher, pastor, administrator of parish activities, director of social work, and interpreter of the meaning of Christianity for our contemporary social life, is the mainspring of the Christian movement. The re¬ cruiting and training of the ministry becomes therefore an issue of paramount importance for the entire Church. i. The Present Agencies of Theological Education This fact has been fully appreciated by the Churches of America. From the first they have realized the im¬ portance of an educated ministry and taken steps to pro¬ vide it. The chief motive which led to the founding of our colleges and universities, as was pointed out in an earlier chapter, was the desire to furnish facilities for the education of a competent ministry. When theological instruction became separated from the college and uni¬ versity—in part as a result of the natural tendency to specialization, in larger part as a result of the growing secularization of all public education—it was supplied in 271 272 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH special professional schools, sometimes affiliated with the university, more often entirely independent. To the ex¬ tent of this concern for the education of the ministry the number of theological schools and the funds invested in them bear convincing witness. Today in the United States, according to a survey now being completed by the Committee on Social and Religious Surveys and the Council of Church Boards of Education, there are 131 Protestant seminaries, including those of all types. 1 Nine are theological departments in colleges or universities. Certainly we are not lacking in facilities for theological education. To study the work of these institutions in detail does not lie within the plan of the present report. Such a study is being made in the survey referred to and concrete illus¬ trations of the work done by different types of institu¬ tions are there given. We must confine ourselves here to certain general considerations which bear on the prob¬ lem of theological education as a whole. The seminaries differ so widely both in their ideals and in their methods that generalizations are difficult, if not impossible. Yet, viewing the situation as a whole, one may say that in their history they have clearly reflected the qualities which have characterized the religious life of America. The conception of Christianity inculcated has been the generally prevalent one and the existing denominational situation has been taken for granted. The prime responsibility of the seminary has been regarded as the training of men for the ministry of its own de¬ nomination. The curriculum has been simple and has varied little in the different schools. It has consisted of a knowledge of the languages of the Bible, exegesis, Church history, systematic theology, and practical the¬ ology. The prevailing beliefs in the denomination to 1 This figure does not include seminaries exclusively for Negroes. Concerning these also a survey is now being made. EDUCATION FOR CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 273 which the seminary belonged have been accepted with little question. When attention has been given to the teaching of other Churches it has been chiefly to point out errors and to illustrate by contrast with the more adequate theology of the teacher’s own denomination. 2 Of the more than one hundred and thirty Protestant seminaries, the great majority are still under denomina¬ tional control. The method of their control varies widely in the different denominations, and even in different in¬ stitutions in the same denomination. In some cases con¬ trol remains in the hands of the ecclesiastical authorities, and the character of the teaching is required to conform closely to the official standards of the church. In other cases, even when the theoretical right of the ecclesiastical authorities to determine the character of the teaching is insisted upon, in practice the entire control of the school is committed to the boards of trustees of the several in¬ stitutions, which usually means that the instruction is determined by the judgment of the faculty and the pre¬ vailing opinion of that section of the Church in which the graduates are expected to work. In general it may be said that in the seminaries, as in the colleges and universities, the tendency has been to weaken denominational control and to give greater inde¬ pendence to the local authorities. This is true even of institutions of conservative character which pride them¬ selves upon their denominational orthodoxy. Besides the seminaries under denominational control are those, relatively few in number, which are completely independent, and which have definitely adopted the ideal of undenominational, or better interdenominational, as distinct from denominational theological education. These institutions are of two kinds. The first are the theological faculties of a few of the great universities, which treat 2 One of the merits of Dr. Charles Hodge’s “Systematic The¬ ology” was that it gave a full account of the positions held by churches and schools different from that of the author. 274 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH religion as a subject of scientific research, like other sub¬ jects, prepare for the ministry as a profession as they prepare for law and medicine, are governed by the corpo¬ ration of the university and give degrees in theology on conditions exactly parallel to those which govern the giv¬ ing of degrees in other subjects. The others are autono¬ mous institutions owing their origin to private benevo¬ lence, and governed wholly by their own self-perpetuating Boards of Trustees. 3 In both kinds of institutions pro¬ vision is made for post-graduate instruction in theology and graduates of other seminaries are welcomed. This is also increasingly the case in the better denominational institutions. In practice it is not always easy to draw the line be¬ tween a denominational seminary and one that is unde¬ nominational or interdenominational in the latter sense. The increasing tendency toward freedom from ecclesiasti¬ cal control means that many even of the institutions in which there is a definite official connection with the de¬ nomination may, for all practical intents and purposes, be regarded as virtually independent. Besides the differences which result from denomina¬ tional history and traditions, there are differences which reflect differing theological attitudes and sympathies. These differences not only divide schools within the same denomination; they form points of contact between schools of different denominations. Each large denomination has its more liberal and its more conservative schools with the various shadings within each. In each case the sym¬ pathy that grows out of similar temperament and outlook reaches beyond denominational lines. 8 In the theological colleges connected with McGill and Toronto Universities, Canada, Union Theological Seminary in New York, for instance, we find an example of interdenominational control in the stricter sense, the several interested denominations having approved a plan by which much of the instruction is given in common. EDUCATION FOR CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 275 Nevertheless, in spite of differences, denominational and theological, there are certain general factors which influence theological education as a whole. These factors we shall now briefly consider. We shall take up suc¬ cessively (1) the conditions affecting present-day theo¬ logical education; (2) the way in which the seminaries are meeting these conditions, and (3) certain desiderata for the future. 2. Conditions Affecting Present-day Theological Education We have seen that in the past the prevailing temper of American theological education has been conservative. It has reflected and indeed stereotyped conditions in the denominations. The horizon in the different schools has been limited, the temper one of satisfaction with things as they are. Recently, however, certain new conditions have made themselves felt which have acted as a ferment in the theological world. These conditions are partly internal, the result of changing educational ideals, partly external, the effect of changes in the environment in which the minister must do his work. The change in educational ideal shows itself in an in¬ creasing emphasis upon the practical aspect of education, as a task affecting the whole man—will and emotion as well as intellect—with a corresponding emphasis upon practice and experiment. It is true that the prime motive for theological educa¬ tion in the past was practical. The pragmatism of Wil¬ liam James was anticipated in the theology of more than one of the Puritans who insisted that every doctrine of the theological system must be brought to the test of life. Nevertheless it cannot be denied that in fact this intimate • contact has not been maintained. Doctrine has been di¬ vorced from the experience which it is designed to direct and interpret and conceived as a series of abstract propo¬ sitions to be received on authority whether they could be 276 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH verified in experience or not. This tendency has been reenforced by the disposition of Protestant theologians to confine God's work of revelation to the past. It is true that the standards of all the Churches emphasize God's presence in the world today and insist that the Bible be¬ comes revealing to the individual only when interpreted by the present Spirit. The fact remains that the Bible has been isolated from life and regarded as a law book to be received on authority irrespective of its verification in experience. Attention has been concentrated upon God’s dealings with the Prophets and the Apostles, or at most with the Fathers and with the Reformers. We have not made the present Church the subject of our study or had open ears to hear what God might be saying to us through His prophets of today. This excessive preoccupation with the past runs counter to present tendencies in education. We study the past that we may be fitted to live in the present and the future. But for this we must know the present as well as the past, and above all we must know ourselves as agents through which the lessons of the past are brought to bear on the present for the sake of the future. But the only way we can learn to know ourselves is to watch ourselves at work. Modern education therefore emphasizes the importance of practice as the test of theory, of experience as the key to knowledge, of whole values of life as a corrective of partial or inadequate conceptions. The seminaries in common with all other educational institu¬ tions are feeling the effects of this new spirit, and are modifying their practise in ways presently to be described. This new educational outlook is itself an effect of that far-reaching intellectual movement which we call modern science—a movement which has revolutionized our view of the physical universe, put into our hands undreamed¬ of powers over nature, and left no phase of our intel¬ lectual life untouched. The man who has felt the influ¬ ence of the scientific spirit thinks of the world as a whole, EDUCATION FOR CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 277 of life in all its phases as developing according to law, and believes that the way to understand any part of it is by an impartial study of all the relevant facts in an atti¬ tude of faith. This new attitude has important conse¬ quence for theological study. For one thing it tends to break down the unquestioning acceptance of authority which was the atmosphere in which the older theological education took place; it sub¬ stitutes a critical and inquiring spirit for the old attitude of simple trust. This spirit is not confined to those who accept the conclusions of modern criticism. It is felt equally by those who reject these conclusions. The con¬ ditions to which they must address themselves are altered. The attitude of the men to whom their preaching is ad¬ dressed has changed. They ask a reason for what they were formerly expected to take on trust, a reason which shall be consistent with their beliefs in other departments of knowledge. The apologetic of the seminary must recognize this new attitude and be able to meet it. A second effect of the scientific movement is a great increase in specialization. As the field of our knowledge expands, the capacity of the individual to master it diminishes. If he is to have first-hand knowledge of anything, he must concentrate. So knowledge is broken up into compartments and the scholar chooses to which he will devote himself. The historian studies a period; the critic confines himself to a single problem. The com¬ prehensive view which the theory of science requires proves impracticable in fact and the narrowness of tradi¬ tional orthodoxy is succeeded by the narrowness of un¬ imaginative specialization. The old theology may have been inadequate in its philosophy. It was at least phi¬ losophy. The new science is in danger of dispensing with philosophy altogether. Paralleling these changes in mental attitude—in part their consequence, in part their cause—are changes in the environment in which the student must work. These 278 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH changes have been often described and we need not repeat the description here. They consist in a growing com¬ plexity in the conditions of life, a growing interde¬ pendence of individuals and of peoples, and at the same time an intensification of racial and class divisions, a growing sense of insecurity due to the rapid changes in economic conditions and the resulting instability in the status of the individual. These changes together consti¬ tute what is often called the Social Problem, and the attempt to bring the Spirit of Christ to bear upon them is known as the Social Gospel. These changes affect the life and work of the Church in important and perplexing ways and make correspond¬ ing demands upon those who are responsible for training the ministry. In the country we see a steady weakening of the churches through the diversion of the people to centers of urban industry. In the cities we find the massing of exceptional populations often of alien race and foreign speech with needs and problems of their own. As a result, we find an increasing number of rural churches which cannot afford to support a fully trained minister, side by side with an increasing demand from the cities for men who are specially trained to deal with the new problems which are arising. These conditions at home are paralleled by changes in the foreign field. Here, too, the demands made upon the missionary are increasing, while the difficulties which he faces grow pari passu. There is a growing demand for specially trained men and women to meet the new tasks, educational, economic, social, which the needs of the time are forcing upon the churches, and many foreign mis¬ sionaries welcome the opportunity their furlough presents to carry their study further than was possible under the simple curriculum of the older seminary. The difficulty of those who are responsible for the policy of our seminaries is further enhanced by the grow- EDUCATION FOR CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 279 ing impatience of a considerable number of people in the churches with the slow methods which have been charac¬ teristic of our theological education in the past. It is not only that there are not enough fully trained ministers for the existing churches. The charge is made that the training given by the seminaries, conservative and liberal alike, is not practical. It fails to fit men for the work they have to do. The demand is for a shorter and more effective training, a training that will substitute practical acquaintance with the Bible for critical theories about it and use the time given to studying the Church in the past for teaching ministers how to preach the Gospel to the men of today. Bible institutes like those at Chicago and Los Angeles attract great numbers of students, and offer their graduates to the churches as substitutes for the ministers trained by the seminaries. With this dissatis¬ faction with the older seminaries goes often a theological conservatism which rejects criticism in all its forms and often—though by no means always—finds the key of Biblical interpretation in a premillenarian view of prophecy and a revived anticipation of the speedy visible advent of Christ. It is against the background of such facts that we must define the present task of theological education. Be¬ sides providing the requisite supply of ministers for the normal congregations, the seminaries are called upon to do four things: 1. To make provision for a differentiated ministry to meet the new needs of different types of communities, such as our immigrant and industrial centers. 2. To provide the best possible training for men who cannot afford time for the full theological course. 3. To provide facilities for supplementing the inade¬ quate training of men now in the ministry. 4. To train specialists who can deal adequately with the complex problems before the modem church. 280 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH 3. How the Seminaries Are Facing the Situation What, then, are the seminaries doing to meet these new demands ? It is obvious that no single answer will fit all the facts. All that can be done is to call attention to certain significant changes and tendencies. One result has been to strengthen those seminaries which are located in or near great cities at the expense of those which are located in smaller communities. In the cities all the problems of our modern life come to a head. They are laboratories in which lawyers and doctors are trained for their professions; it is natural to conclude that they will prove equally adapted for the training of the ministry. Accordingly we see an increasing number of seminaries seeking sites in or near great cities and using the facilities which the city offers the individual through its churches and benevolent institutions for the practical training of their students. A second result has been to increase the number of seminaries which desire university connection. With the increasing demand upon the seminary for instruction in new subjects, it is impossible to meet the need from the resources of the institution itself. It is natural, therefore, to seek affiliation with the university which, from its ampler resources, can supplement the lack of the theologi¬ cal school. In some cases (as at Harvard and in the Canadian universities) groups of seminaries cooperate with one another in a single comprehensive scheme of theological education under the direction of the university and for its degrees. This tendency to concentrate in great centers and adopt university methods is, however, not universal. Some seminaries prefer the quiet which a less crowded life makes possible, and regard the greater leisure and con¬ sequently greater concentration as advantages which more than outweigh the disadvantages of their isolation. In some cases, we find seminaries (e.g. Bangor and Colgate) definitely concentrating upon the task of pre- EDUCATION FOR CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 281 paring the man who cannot afford the time for a B. A. degree, providing a joint course in theology and the arts (as at Colgate and the Union Theological College at Chicago) or in theology alone (as at Bangor) which can be taken by men of high school grade. In view of the facts to which attention has already been called, this deliberate attempt to meet the needs of men without col¬ lege training is to be commended and it would be well if other institutions should follow the same example where the needs of their constituency seem to require it. With these various changes in aim and in relationship go corresponding changes in method such as the introduc¬ tion of new subjects into the curriculum, the provision of specialized training, the freer use of the principle of electives, and the use of practice or‘field work as part of the curriculum. One of the most obvious results of the new demands made upon the seminaries has been the addition to the older curriculum of a number of new subjects. Thus Christian ethics has been separated from systematic the¬ ology and made a department of its own. In not a few seminaries it is given its rightful place as dealing with the whole problem of bringing Christian motives and ideals to bear upon all our contemporary industrial, social, politi¬ cal, and international life. A group of new studies have differentiated themselves from the older apologetics. Among these comparative religion and the psychology of religion are the most important. The former supplements the detailed study of Christianity by an inquiry into the other great historic religions which are its rivals. The latter attempts to lay a foundation for the study of the Christian experience in an analysis of the psychological processes which characterize the religious life in general. 4 4 Besides these new studies the older subjects of the curriculum are developing new aspects with a literature and interest of their own. Besides the exegesis of the Biblical books, we have Biblical Introduction, Biblical History, and Biblical Theology; in addition to Church History, the History of Doctrine and Symbolics. 282 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH Especially characteristic of the day is the introduction of new subjects dealing with the Church at work. Re¬ ligious education is gaining a significant place in the cur¬ riculum. Courses on this subject are designed not only to give the minister acquaintance with modern educational theory and practise, but to furnish him with technical in¬ formation as to the methods and organization of the Church’s educational agencies in such a way as to fit him for practical leadership in this most important and responsible part of the Church’s work. Foreign missions have been made a subject of intensive study, and students while still in the seminary receive instruction in the ways in which through the rising Churches in other lands a Christian civilization can be built up throughout the world. In some seminaries similar detailed instruction is given in the more technical problems of home missions, such as immigrant groups, industrial centers, and the country church. The relation of the church to all the forces of social betterment in the community is also studied. A result of this multiplication of studies is such a crowding of the curriculum that it is impossible for any student to cover all the subjects offered in the time at his disposal. Recourse is necessary to the principle of elec¬ tives and the student finds himself obliged to choose be¬ tween a multitude of conflicting courses. Under the pressure of new subjects the temptation is offered either to curtail the time given to the older studies or to omit some of them altogether. The pressure is particularly severe in the linguistic group which used to form the basis of the required curriculum. Many seminaries no longer require Hebrew of their students and in not a few cases Greek also has become an elective. With increase in the number of electives we find an increased tendency to specialization. Specialization has long been applied to the more technical and academic studies of the curriculum. It is now making itself felt on the practical side. The differentiation of the task is EDUCATION FOR CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 283 met by differentiated courses. Besides the group of studies which fit men for the ordinary pastorate, provision is made for those looking forward to the foreign field, to social and philanthropic work, and to religious education in the technical sense. This provision, to be sure, has not gone far and is not without its dangers, but it is at least a serious attempt to face the real conditions which the modern minister must meet. In this connection men¬ tion should be made of the summer schools which are being held for home mission workers and others engaged in special forms of work, in which technical problems are discussed with a fulness not possible in the seminary. Of special significance for the training of the ministry is the attempt now being made to correlate the theoretical work in the classroom with the practical work done by the students in churches, Sunday School, and social agencies. In a few seminaries this work is carefully supervised and credit is given for it in the curriculum. Tht student is required to discuss his work with his instructor and through group discussion of problems and methods ac¬ quires a more intelligent understanding of his objective and the way to be taken to reach it in the midst of the conditions confronting him in the community. Such are some of the methods which have been taken by some of the seminaries to meet the new demands which are being made upon them. It goes without saying that they are being used in very different degrees and that in many seminaries the old curriculum is still maintained practically unchanged. Nevertheless it can be said with¬ out fear of contradiction that a new spirit is abroad in theological education—a spirit which is full of promise for the future. One indication of this new spirit is the growing sym¬ pathy between theological teachers of different denomina¬ tions and schools of thought. We have spoken of the disposition of the seminaries to broaden their horizon and to think of the church as including other denomina- 284 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH tions than their own. This disposition appears in the willingness to receive students of different denominations and to provide instruction suited to their needs. In many of the larger seminaries students of different denomina¬ tions are studying side by side. This is true not only of university departments and independent seminaries but of not a few which are under denominational control. More significant still is the inclusion of representatives of different communions in the same faculty—a practice which has proved entirely practicable and successful. Outward and visible expression of the growing spirit of unity was furnished by the formation in 1918 of the Conference of Theological Seminaries—a gathering of teachers of different theological schools which meets every two years. At the first meeting held at Harvard at the invitation of President Lowell, more than fifty in¬ stitutions were represented. Subsequent meetings with wide representation have been held at Princeton and Toronto. In this Conference teachers of different de¬ nominations widely separated in theological and ecclesi¬ astical faith gather for friendly discussion of their com¬ mon problems. A continuation committee meets in the interim and other committees are conducting investigations which will be for the mutual advantage of all concerned. Thus for the first time the theological teachers of the country have formed an organization for common ex¬ pression through which they can not only exchange opinion but address themselves in an effective way to those larger problems and tasks which concern them all alike. What some of these are it remains to inquire. 4. Desiderata for the Future One of the chief difficulties in the existing situation in theological education, as in the entire field of religious education, is that we are all so busy trying to do our own particular part of the work that we have little time EDUCATION FOR CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 285 and leisure to consider that work in its larger setting as part of the educational task of the Church as a whole. Again and again in the course of this report we have been reminded of our need of a unified program. We need such a program in the local church. We need it in each denomination. We need it in the Church as a whole. Only in the light of such a comprehensive program can the task of training the Church’s ministry be seen in its true perspective. In what follows we shall try first to define this task in its main outlines; secondly, to suggest certain things which can and should be done by those who are engaged in theological education, and, thirdly, to point out certain things for which the cooperation of others through the university and the Church is necessary. And first of the task. Primary among our desiderata is a clearer definition of our objective. If we are to teach successfully we must know whom and for what. Here differentiation is needed. Provision must be made for the needs of at least five kinds of students. First, the minister who is looking forward to the service of the normal church and who must remain in the future, as in the past, the central object of seminary training. Secondly, the man who cannot afford time or money for a full college and seminary course but who will be needed in increasing numbers for various phases of church work as assistant and lay worker. Thirdly, the man looking forward to a specialized task for which technical training is needed (e.g. the foreign field, some form of home service such as immigrant or country church work, social or philanthropic work, Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. work, religious education, etc.). Fourthly, the man preparing for teaching or research in the different branches of theological education. Fifthly, the man in the ministry who needs to supple¬ ment his earlier education and to be kept in touch with 286 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH new developments in the field of Christian thought and work. These men have some needs which can be met in com¬ mon, others for which special provision must be made through differentiated training. We have seen that the beginning of such differentiation is already taking place. We need to consider whether it does not need to be car¬ ried further, and if so, how far this can be done. At least three kinds of institutions seem clearly needed: (a) The ordinary seminary whose primary function it is to train ministers for service in the pastorate. (b) The seminary of university grade which adds to its normal course post-graduate training in the various specialized forms of work. (c) The training school for men without college train¬ ing who are fitting themselves for work in which technical linguistic and historical training is not essential. The three types of training need not, of course, be provided in separate institutions. Two or more may be combined in a single institution, but it is important to recognize clearly the distinct needs for which provision must be made. One of the primary needs of the situation is an exami¬ nation of our existing institutions, in the light of these different needs, with a view to a clearer differentiation of their function, the removal of needless competition or duplication, and the provision of such additional institu¬ tional facilities as seem required. In other words, what is needed is not only specialization within theological in¬ stitutions but specialization among them. Is there any valid reason why one hundred and thirty-odd seminaries should all undertake to cover the whole range of training for all the various types of ministry? To do so would obviously make for inefficiency. The great majority of our schools have nothing like the resources necessary to provide thorough training for all phases of the many- EDUCATION FOR CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 287 sided work. Why should they try to do so ? In university education the method of differentiation has proved both practicable and advantageous. While there are a few in¬ stitutions with resources great enough to offer competent instruction in almost every field of modern knowledge, the large majority make their distinctive contribution by offering, in addition to the few subjects basic to all educa¬ tion, special facilities for training in certain fields, engi¬ neering—electrical, mechanical, civil, mining—or agricul¬ ture, or business, or the fine arts, or some of the many other fields. Why should not our theological seminaries, to some extent at least, do likewise? To bring about an agreement which would make this practicable is con¬ fessedly difficult, in the existing denominational situa¬ tion, but first steps at least can be taken in this direction. Here is an institution, for example, located in a great metropolis, offering every conceivable type of urban insti¬ tutional work. Here is another situated in a small town, presenting unique facilities for dealing at first hand with the rural church. Why should both schools undertake to devote equal energy to the problems of both the rural and of the city ministry? Here is another institution, which, by virtue of its location near foreign mission headquarters and a great university which provides courses on the history, literature, and language of Oriental lands, has unusual opportunities as a school for foreign service for prospective missionaries or missionaries on furlough. There is no need for many such institutions; there is a tremendous need for a few of the highest grade. Why not concentrate effort and money in providing the best possible training in the institutions that are best equipped to furnish it? The adoption of a definite policy of specialization would make it possible to deal effectively with the problem of men who are entering the ministry without a thorough preparation. From such evidence as is available, it is probably not beyond the facts to say that not half of the 288 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH present ministry have had both a full college and seminary course. Large numbers have had neither. These men, as we have seen, have generally had a brief period of training in one of the ‘‘Bible Institutes,” originally de¬ signed for the training of lay workers but now sending many of their men into the ministry. Their teachers are often strongly prejudiced both against the modern view of the Bible and the emphasis on the social applica¬ tion of the Gospel. In not a few cases they attack the progressive institutions with higher intellectual standards as enemies of the faith. The only way to offset these influences is for the seminaries themselves to make pro¬ vision for the training of the men who are going to enter the ministry without the normal period of prepara¬ tion. Deeply as we deplore the cutting short of the full college course as a prerequisite to theological training, we have to face the fact that so long as this is being done the path of wisdom is to provide opportunities for such men to get the broadest and most effective training pos¬ sible instead of leaving them no other alternative than to go to the “Bible Institutes.” There are two possible ways in which this problem could be solved. Some of our existing seminaries could be equipped with facilities for carrying on this task on a larger scale and could concentrate upon it, or new institu¬ tions could be established for the purpose. The latter would be possible on an adequate scale only if a part of the funds now directed to the higher education of the ministry were diverted to this purpose and the gap filled by the consolidation of existing institutions. But if our seminaries are to justify the large sums spent upon them, something of the sort must be done. Such institutions might well provide specialized training for lay workers, a field of which the Bible Institutes with a few exceptions (e.g. the deaconesses’ schools and a few other institutions of similar character) now have a practical monopoly. Certainly our present provision for the training of lay EDUCATION FOR CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 289 workers is all but negligible in comparison with the great¬ ness of the opportunity. Special provision needs to be made also by some of the seminaries, in accordance with some plan agreed upon by all, for furnishing opportunity for continued serious study and intellectual stimulus for men already in the ministry. After a few years in the active ministry men come to see the problems on which they need further help and guidance for the sake of their practical work as they may not have seen them before. The summer schools now being held by a few of the seminaries are a valuable step in the direction of meeting this need. But they are quite inadequate. The present offerings reach only a compara¬ tively small number and often leave untouched those who most need the stimulus which such study gives. Such schools need to be distributed in the different sections of the country according to a systematic plan. Indeed to deal with the situation on an adequate scale, it will prob¬ ably be necessary for the educational and missionary authorities of the several denominations to cooperate with the seminaries in some nation-wide plan of extension work which will make available to all definite facilities for con¬ tinued help and guidance. 5 Within each of the seminaries, likewise, as well as in their relations to one another, there is need for dealing with ministerial education as a unified whole. Today, when a new need must be met, the natural way to meet it is to provide a new course or courses. This is good so far as it goes, but it does not meet the real difficulty, and this for two reasons. In the first place, the multiplication of courses tends either to make men superficial or one-sided. Either they 8 The Board of Home Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church has been developing a plan of cooperation with some of the Methodist seminaries in holding summer schools, but this is only a small beginning of what needs to be done in each demoni- nation or preferably by the denominations cooperatively. 290 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH add the new to the old, and do the old less thoroughly; or they omit some part of the old to make room for the new. Every teacher who has followed with open eyes the educational development of the last generation realizes this difficulty. He finds himself between Scylla and Cha- rybdis and is often at a loss to decide which danger is the most to be deprecated. Whatever form of ministry a man is looking forward to, there are certain basic sub¬ jects he needs to know. Tie must know his Bible, the religion it portrays, the Gospel it proclaims, the work that Christ’s Spirit has done and is doing in the world and the institution through which that Spirit functions. To be ignorant of any of these or to know them superficially is to invite disaster. But to gain such knowledge, and do the new things men are asked to do, seems impossible. New courses will not help us, or only in smallest measure. What is needed is a new orientation of the entire course: the teaching of the old subjects, exegesis, history, theology, and the like, in the light of the new tasks and problems the student is going out to face. Such a new orientation cannot be brought about by any mere external modification of the curriculum. It requires a new point of view on the part of the faculty as a whole. Each man must conceive his own work in the light of the present needs of his students. Each must see the special thing he is doing as a part of the larger whole. Instead of thinking of religious education simply as a new depart¬ ment added to others, each faculty should constitute itself a department of religious education for the purpose of studying together conditions in the present Church, and ways of meeting them, and shaping their instruction of the student accordingly. Such a changed viewpoint would affect theological teaching in two ways. In the first place, it would give greater reality to the study of the Bible and Church his¬ tory because they would be studied in the light of present- EDUCATION FOR CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 291 day problems and needs. In the second place, it would give greater breadth and balance to the teaching of the¬ ology because it would require sympathetic treatment of the beliefs and practices of other branches of the church than the student’s own and especially of those cooperative movements through which the unity of Christian faith and life is finding expression in the world today. This does not mean that the languages and the other traditional subjects of theological study will not retain their place in the curriculum. What we are urging is that they should be regarded as means and not as ends. We need to rethink the whole problem of education for the ministry and see that its character is determined not by inherited traditions but by the direct inquiry as to how we can best train men for the practical task of apply¬ ing Christianity to our complex and many-sided life. We are urging that teachers and scholars alike should do their work in the light of the task which they are to accomplish in the world, that they should come to understand what the Christian life means in the actual world of today, and they should be given a better idea of the use that is to be made of the different kinds of knowledge they are gain¬ ing. We must, in a word, regard the seminary as first of all a training- school. It is not primarily a place for mak¬ ing technical experts in Biblical languages and literature, history, or philosophy, though the seminary that is worthy of its task will do this also, but for fitting men to go out into the midst of modern social life as pastors, preachers, teachers, organizers, for the sake of building the Kingdom of God on the earth. What if, to take a single example, we should approach the question of education for the ministry from the stand¬ point of winning the polyglot industrial population of our great cities to the Christian Church? Do we seriously think that we would require the study of Hebrew as a necessary qualification—to the exclusion of lines of study that would help the student to understand the daily life of 292 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH these foreign-born people and to approach them on the side of their conscious needs ? Does it not seem reasonable that some of our prospective ministers should devote to the learning of the Italian tongue the time they would otherwise spend in learning Hebrew? Or suppose we should direct the research, to which our theological institutions are now rightly giving new em¬ phasis, not only to finding out what happened two or three thousand years ago in Palestine but to what is happening today in social and international realms on which we must bring the teaching of our Lord to bear? Especially important, in the light of the unique im¬ portance which we have attached in this study to the teaching function of the Church, is a more serious atten¬ tion to the training of the men in the seminaries for a truly educational ministry. To do this will mean at least two things. The first is to provide for all students the basic courses essential for an understanding of what is involved in the task of educating people in religion. We shall never have a teaching Church until we have a gen¬ eration of ministers who are qualified to give leadership to their parishes in religious education, at least to the extent of really knowing how to set to work to develop an educa¬ tional program. Happily, as we have seen, the seminaries are beginning to increase both the quantity and quality of instruction in this subject, although most of them still have a long way to go. The second task is to give to certain men a genuinely professional training in religious education so that these may be thoroughly equipped for the more specialized tasks in the educational field, as directors of religious education in local parishes, as of¬ ficials in the many agencies of religious education, denom¬ inational and interdenominational, as teachers of religious education in colleges and seminaries. This will require in some schools, at least, fully manned departments of re¬ ligious education, including provision for graduate work EDUCATION FOR CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 293 and research, second to no other department in the seminary. Such a readjustment of viewpoint and method as we have been suggesting will not be easy, for it will involve leaving a field where literature is abundant and precedents are many for one in which there is as yet little consensus of opinion and methods need to be worked out experi¬ mentally, as we grow better acquainted with the task. But this is not a reason for shirking the attempt or turn¬ ing it over to others less equipped with historic knowledge and perspective, but for attacking it with all possible courage and thoroughness. As a result of the new emphasis on scientific and scholarly study in the seminary we now have a wealth of useful monographs in various fields of religious knowl¬ edge. But these volumes have been written almost ex¬ clusively on the familiar subjects of the older curriculum —the criticism and interpretation of the Bible, Church history, theology and the like. Has not the time come to give similar attention to the practical problems before the Church today as they meet us on the foreign field, in the rural community, in our civic life, in the industrial areas of our great cities, in the places where race and race or nation and nation meet so sharply side by side as to challenge the Church whether it can make its Gospel of brotherhood a present reality. To whom should we look for help in our efforts to solve these problems if not to the teachers in our theological seminaries ? Who should take the lead in organizing the research that is necessary for our guidance, if not they? What work could they do which would do more to give reality and interest to their own teaching? But for this there must be cooperation on a far wider scale than we have had in the past: cooperation between the faculties of different theological institutions; coopera¬ tion between teachers of theology as a class with teachers 294 THE TEACHING WORK OF THE CHURCH in other institutions; cooperation, finally, with the leaders of the Churches. Cooperation between the faculties of different institu¬ tions is needed not only for the more intelligent distribu¬ tion of work between the different institutions, but for the study of common needs, the provision of needed tools, and above all the exchange of experience. Such coopera¬ tion should take place not only between teachers of dif¬ ferent denominations but, what is even more important, between teachers of different theological convictions and sympathies. What is needed is not the surrender of con¬ viction but intelligent understanding of the convictions of those who differ, in order that in spite of differences, a common platform may be found on which men may stand to proclaim the Christian Gospel and bring it to bear on every phase of human life. Cooperation is needed with the faculties of our univer¬ sities and colleges partly for the purpose of securing better preparation for theological students in the things they need to know; partly for securing the interest of the col¬ leges in furnishing the necessary religious teaching for students who are not looking forward to the ministry, but who as laymen and laywomen should be active workers in the Christian Church; but above all, for a common approach to those intellectual problems which lie on the border-land between the seminary and the university and which neither can solve successfully without the help of the other. We have in mind the whole realm of applied Christianity—the field in which psychology, sociology, and economics must supply data, without which the Christian minister cannot intelligently discharge his responsibility to society. There are Christian men in the faculties of our universities who have much to teach us in this field, if only we can define our problem in such a way as to secure their most effective cooperation. Finally, cooperation is needed with the leaders of the Churches from which our students come and which they EDUCATION FOR CHRISTIAN MINISTRY 295 are designed to serve. We need such cooperation to secure the most effective use of our existing educational facilities. We need it to secure such new facilities as our new definition of the task may require. We need it to increase the number of men now in the ministry who de¬ sire to continue their theological studies after graduation and to secure conditions such as to make those studies possible. Above all, we need it to unify the thinking of the Church in the central problems which concern us all alike. Only when those who are leading the practical work of the Church see eye to eye with those who are training its teachers, can we hope to have the conditions we desire in the Church. Only when our seminaries do their work with a vivid consciousness of conditions in the Church and in the world in which the Church is set, can they turn out the kind of ministers we need. We end where we began—on the unity of the Church’s educational task. No part of it can be isolated from the others. The higher we climb in the educational scale, the more clearly we see the interdependence of each part of the Church’s teaching work with all the others. The call of the hour is for a more adequate and a more unified educational program for the Church as a whole. CLASSIFIED BIBLIOGRAPHY The following suggestions of literature dealing with the field covered in this volume make no pretense of being exhaustive. They aim only to indicate some of the more useful sources for further study of the various subjects. Part I. Athearn, W. S., Religious Education and Ameri¬ can Democracy. Boston, 1917. Betts, G. H., The New Program of Religious Edu¬ cation, New York, 1921. Bower, W. C., The Educational Task of the Local Church, St. Louis, 1921. Brown, A. A., A Plistory of Religious Education in Recent Times, New York, 1923. Brown, S. W., The Secularization of American Education, Columbia University, New York, 1912. Burns, J. A., The Growth and Development of the Catholic School System in the United States, New York, 1912. Burns, J. A., Catholic Education, New York, 1917. Bushnell, Horace, Christian Nurture. Revised edi¬ tion, New York, 1917. Coe, G. A., A Social Theory of Religious Educa¬ tion, New York, 1917. Cope, H. F., Religious Education in the Church, New York, 1918. Cope, H. F., Education for Democracy, New York, 1920. Cubberley, E. P., Public Education in the United States, Boston, 1919. Dewey, J., Democracy and Education, New York, 1916. Dewey, J. and E., Schools of Tomorrow, New York, 1916. 297 298 CLASSIFIED BIBLIOGRAPHY McGiffert, A. C., A Teaching Church, Religious Education, Feb. 1921. Religion Among American Men. Committee on the War and the Religious Outlook, Chapter VIII, New York, 1920. Winchester, B. S., Religious Education in a Democracy, New York, 1917. Part II. (a) On Principles Underlying the Curriculum (See also references under Part I) Betts, G. H., How to Teach Religion, New York, 1919. Bobbitt, J. F., The Curriculum, New York, 1918. Bower, W. C., A Suggestive Approach to the Re¬ construction of the Curriculum of the School of Religion, Religious Education XII; 231. Charters, W. W., Curriculum Construction, New York. Coe, G. A., Opposing Theories of the Curriculum, Religious Education, April, 1922. Meriam, J. L., Child Life and the Curriculum, New York, 1921. Miller, I. E., Education for the Needs of Life, New York, 1919. Sharp, F. C., Education for Character, Indianap¬ olis, 1917. (b) On Special Methods and Problems (See also references under Part III a) Galloway, T. W., The Use of Motives in Teaching Morals and Religion, Boston, 1917. Hartshorne, H., Worship in the Sunday School, New York, 1913. Kilpatrick, W. H., The Project Method. New York, 1918. McMurry, C. A., Teaching by Projects. New York, 1920. Meredith, W. V., Pageantry and Dramatics in Religious Education, New York, 1921. CLASSIFIED BIBLIOGRAPHY 299 Richardson, N. E., The Church at Play, New York, 1922. Stevenson, J. A., The Project Method of Teaching, New York, 1921. Weigle, L. A., and Tweedy, H. H., Training the Devotional Life, New York, 1917. (c) On the Various Age Groups Betts, Anna F., The Mother-Teacher of Religion, New York, 1922. Cope, H. F., Religious Education in the Family, Chicago, 1915. Hartshorne, H., Childhood and Character, Boston, 1919 - King, I., The Psychology of Childhood, Chicago, 1920. Kirkpatrick, E. A., The Individual in the Making, Boston, 1911. Lynch, Ella F., Bookless Lessons for the Teacher Mother, New York, 1922. Mumford, E. E. R., The Dawn of Religion in the Mind of a Child, New York, 1915. Norsworthy and Whitley, Psychology of Child¬ hood, New York, 1921. St. John, E. P., Child Nature and Child Nurture, Boston, 1911. Weigle, L. A., The Training of Children in the Christian Family, Boston, 1922. Forbush, W. B., The Boy Problem, Boston, 1907. Moxcey, Mary E., Girlhood and Character, New York, 1916. King, I., The High School Age, Indianapolis, 1914. Shaver, E. L., Teaching Adolescents in the Church School, New York, 1923. Thompson, James V., Handbooks for Workers with Young People, New York, 1922. (d) On the Education of Public Opinion Batten, S. Z., The Church as the Maker of Con¬ science, Amer. Jour, of Soc,, Vol. VII: 611. Brown, W. A., The Church in America, New York, 1922, pp. 295-302. 300 CLASSIFIED BIBLIOGRAPHY Ellwood, C. A., The Reconstruction of Religion, New York, 1922. Especially Chap. XI. Lippman, W., Public Opinion, New York, 1922. Lowell, A. L., Public Opinion in War and Peace, Cambridge, Mass., 1923. McConnell, F. J., The Preacher and the People, New York, 1922. Public Opinion and the Steel Strike. By the Com¬ mission on Inquiry of the Interchurch World Movement, New York, 1921. Rauschenbusch, Christianizing the Social Order, New York, 1912. Ross, E. A., Social Psychology, New York, 1908. The Church and Industrial Reconstruction, By the Committee on the War and the Religious Out¬ look, Chapter VIII, New York, 1920. Part III. (a) On Organization and Methods of Religious Education (See also references under Part II b) Athearn, W. S., The Church School, Boston, 1914. Beard, Frederica, Graded Missionary Education in the Church School, Philadelphia, 1917. Cope, H. F., Organizing the Church School, New York, 1923. The School in the Modern Church, New York, 1919. The Week Day Church School, New York, 1921. Diffendorfer, R. E., Missionary Education in Home and School, New York, 1917. Gage, A. H., How to Conduct a Church Vacation School, Philadelphia, 1921. Hutchins, W. N., Graded Social Service for the Sunday School, Chicago, 1914. Lobingier, J. L., World Friendship through the Church School, Chicago, 1923. Meyer, H. H., The Graded Sunday School in Prin¬ ciple and Practice, New York, 1910. Rice, E. W., The Sunday School Movement and the American Sunday School Union, Philadel¬ phia, 1917. CLASSIFIED BIBLIOGRAPHY 301 Richardson and Loomis, The Boy Scout Move¬ ment Applied by the Church, New York, 1915. Sampey, J. R., The International Lesson System, New York, 1911. Squires, W. A., The Week Day Church School, Philadelphia, 1921. Stafford, H. S., The Vacation Religious Day School, New York, 1920. Stout, J. E., The Organization and Administration of Religious Education, New York, 1922. Stout and Thompson, The Daily Vacation Church School, New York, 1923. Week Day Religious Education: A Survey and Discussion of Activities and Problems, Edited by H. F. Cope, New York, 1922. See also the various series of Graded Lesson Texts for the Sunday School, courses of study for week day and daily vacation Bible schools and teacher training courses. See also the manuals for the Citizenship Train¬ ing Program (Y. M. C. A.) the Girl Reserves (Y. W. C. A.) Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, Woodcraft League, etc. (b) On the Coordination of Programs. Athearn, W. S., Religious Education and American Democracy, Chapter III, Boston, 1917. Blashfield, H. W., Young People and the Church School, Religious Education, April, 1920. Bower, W. C., The Educational Task of the Local Church, Chapter III, St. Louis, 1921. Coe, G. A., A General View of the Movement for Correlating Religious Education with Public Instruction, Religious Education XI, 109. Community Programs for Cooperating Churches, R. B. Guild, Editor, Chapter V, New York, 1920. Cope, H. F., The School in the Modern Church, Chapters IV, VIII, XII, New York, 1919. Lobingier, J. L., What Shall We Do With the Young People in Religious Education, June, 1920. What Provision Should Be Made for the Better Coordination of Agencies. A series of articles 302 CLASSIFIED BIBLIOGRAPHY by S. M. Cavert, Mabel Head, R. L. Kelly, and F. M. Sheldon, Religious Education, June, 1923 - Winchester, B. S., Correlation of the Week Day Curriculum and the Sunday School Curriculum, Religious Education, Oct., 1922. Wood, C. A., School and College Credit for Out¬ side Bible Study, Yonkers, 1917. Part IV. (a) On the College and University Athearn, W. S., Religious Education and Ameri¬ can Democracy, Chapters V and VI, Boston, 1917 - Beam, L., The College and the Theological Sem¬ inary Association of American Colleges Bulletin, Vol. IX, pp. 244-263. Braden, S. R., Cooperative Biblical Teaching for Credit at the University of Missouri, Christian Education, Vol. VI; 481. Brown, A. A., A History of Religious Education in Recent Times, Chapter IX, New York, 192 Brown, B. W., A Statistical Survey of Illinois Col¬ leges, The American College Bulletin, March, I9U- Brown, W. A., The Responsibility of the Univer¬ sity for the Teaching of Religion, Yale Divinity Quarterly, June, 1920. The Church in America, New York, 1922, pp- 308-317. Burton, E. D., Religious Education in the Colleges, Association of American Colleges Bulletin, Vol. IX, pp. 223-229. Chapin, C. B., Should the Bible be a Required or an Elective Study in Our Colleges, Christian Education, VI: 93. Coe, G. A., Policies for College Instruction in Re¬ ligious Education, Religious Education, June, 1920. Foster, O. D., Schools of Religion at State Uni¬ versities, Christian Education, Vol. V: 183. CLASSIFIED BIBLIOGRAPHY 303 Foster, O. D., Canadian Theological Colleges and American Schools of Religion, Christian Edu¬ cation, Vol. V; 281. Some Glimpses of Trans-Mississippi Uni¬ versities, VI, 489. Humphreys, W. R., The University of Michigan Courses in Biblical Literature, Christian Educa¬ tion, VI; 109. Kelly, R. L., The Place and Function of the Chris¬ tian College, Christian Education, Vol. V; 177. The Field and Future of the Christian Col¬ lege, Christian Education, Vol. VI; 297. The Relation of Biblical Departments to the Curricula of Liberal Colleges, Christian Education, Vol. VI; 205. Lampe, M. W., University Policy of the Presbyte¬ rian Church, U. S. A.; Christian Education, Vol. V; 236. Micou, P., The Church’s Inquiry into Student Re¬ ligious Life, Church Missions House, New York, T 9 2 3- Munro, H. C., Religious Education at State Uni¬ versities, Christian Education, Vol. VI; 471. Report of Commission on Religious Education in Colleges, Religious Education, Dec., 1921. Sweets, H. H., The Religious Culture of the Stu¬ dents in Our Colleges, Christian Education, Vol. VI; 288. Wild, L. H., The Status of Religious Education in Our Colleges, Christian Education, Vol. VI; 75- Standardization of Biblical Departments in Colleges, Religious Education, Vol. XII; 139- (b) On the Theological Seminary Brown, W. A., The Church in America, Part V, New York, 1922. Theological Education, Monroe’s Cyclopedia of Education, Vol. V, New York, 1914. Education for Christian Service, by Members of the Faculty of the Divinity School of Yale Uni¬ versity, New Haven, 1922. 304 CLASSIFIED BIBLIOGRAPHY Mathews, S., Vocational Efficiency and the Theo¬ logical Curriculum, American Journal of Theol- ogy, April, 1912. McGiffert, A. C., Theological Education, American Journal of Theology, Jan., 1911. Mackenzie, W. D., Standardization of Theological Education, Religious Education, Aug., 1911. Robins, H. B., Reorganization of the Theological Seminary in the Light of the Needs of Today, Religious Education, Feb., 1920. Theological Education in America, A Survey of Protestant Theological Seminaries in the United States and Canada (In Press), George H. Doran Co., New York. The Seminary and the Seminary Man, A series of papers in Christian Education, October, 1923. Year books of the various denominations and cata¬ logues of the different seminaries. INDEX Activity as an element in teaching, 31-32, 100-101, 186 Adolescence, religious educa¬ tion during early, 89-98 Adolescence, religious educa¬ tion during late, 98-107 Adult education in religion, 44, 50-53, 108-123, 164-167 Agencies of religious education, I 4 S-I 7 S American Sunday School Union, 209, 210-212 Association of Biblical in¬ structions, 223, 243 Bangor Theological Seminary, 280 Baptist work in universities, 258, 262-263 Baptist Young People’s Union, 149, 219 Bible in religious education. (See also Old Testament, Jesus, etc.) 30-31, 64 Bible Institutes, 279, 287-288 Bible study in colleges, 221, 268 Biblical Teaching in Colleges, 238, 242-246, 252, 269 Birge, E. A., quoted, 254, 265 Blashfield, H. W., quoted, 153 Boards, denominational, 205- 209, 221 Boy Scouts. (See Scout or¬ ganizations) Brown, E. E., quoted, 233 Brown, S. W., quoted, 12 Brown, W. A., referred to, vii, 138 Bushnell, Horace, quoted, 46 California, Court Decision on Bible, 19 California, University of, 266 Campfire Girls, 168, 172-173, 202, 210, 220-221 Canada, Christian Citizenship program in, 171 Catechetical instruction, 29, 158-159 Cavert, S. M., vii Central Committee on United Study of Foreign Mis¬ sions, 217 Centralization, its effect on edu¬ cational programs, 12, 18-19 Childhood, Characteristics of, . 7i, 76-78 Children, religious education of, 44 - 50 ,_ 71-88 Christian Citizenship Training Program. (See Y. M. C. A.) Christian Endeavor Society, 32, 149, 207, 219 Christianity, 117, 119, et pas¬ sim Church, the; its responsibility for education, 3, 25-29, 32, 37 , 49 . its educational function, 38-59 Church history; teaching of, 105-106, 165-166 Church membership, 106-107, 124, 161-162 Citizenship, education for, 12, 14-17 Colgate Theological Seminary, 280 College Boards of denomina¬ tions, 208, 221 Colleges, Christian, 56 religious education in, 231- 249 Columbia University, 10, 245, 250 Committee on Friendly Rela¬ tions with Foreign Stu¬ dents, 257 Committee on Missionary Preparation, 223, 257 305 306 INDEX Committee on Social and Re¬ ligious Survey, 177, 272 Committee on the War and the Religious Outlook, 36-37, 339 Communicants’ class, 158-162 Community life, educational bearing of, 47, 167 Community program of reli¬ gious education, 199-205 Constitutions of States, provi¬ sions on education, 15, 16 Constitution of U. S., pro¬ visions on education, 13, 22 Conference of Church Work¬ ers in Universities, 223 Conference of Theological Seminaries, 210, 223, 284 Congregational Foundation for Education, 235 Conversion, 46 Cooperation of Churches needed, 24-25, 135-137, 200- 201, 204, 264-266, 285, 294- 295 Coordination of programs of religious education, 32, 35, 37, 152-155, 162, 163, 175, 194-195,. 1967228, 294-295 Cornell University, 260 Council of Church Boards of Education, 34, 210, 221- 222, 246, 247, 272 Council of Women for Home Missions, 158, 217 Council on Correlation of Pro¬ grams, 216, 218, 219, 220, 221, 223, 224, 227-228 Cubberley, E. P., quoted, 4, 9, 10, 12, 14 Curriculum, modern expansion of, 6 modern theory of, 7, 23, 31, 190-191 college, 242-249 theological, 281-283 Daily Vacation Bible Schools, 163, et passim Democracy, education in, 14-17, 21, 113-117 Denominational boards of edu¬ cation, 205-209, 211, 213 Denominationalism, effect on religious education, 18, 24- 25, 135-137 Dewey, John, 7-8, 16, 23 Directors of religious educa¬ tion, 34, 198, 204 Disciples’ Colleges, 244-245, 262-264 Doctrine, place of, in educa¬ tion, 44, 51-53, 275-276 Doing, learning by, 7-8, 77-78, 100-101, 154, 159, 187-188, 191-192 Economic conditions as affect¬ ing religious education, 111-113, 119-121, 139-141 Educational function of church, 38-59; see also Church Ellwood, C. A., quoted, 132 Environment; see Social en¬ vironment Epworth League, 149, 207, 219 Evangelism, relation of educa¬ tion to, 40-41 Evanston, Ill., Week-Day Schools, 182 Experimentation, need for, 193- 194, 202 Family, education through the, 3, 4 , 44-47, 65-68, 164-165 worship, 66 Federal Council of the Church¬ es, 137, 138, 140, ML 224, 225 Fellowship as the basis of re¬ ligious education, 42-43, 47- 48, 51, 52, 142 Foreign missions. (See also missionary education) 122, 257, 278 Forest Hills conference, 226- 228 Forums, 167 Foundations for religious edu¬ cation at universities, 261- 264, 270 Garden City Conference of Educational Agencies, 225- 226G Gary, Ind., Week-Day Schools, 177, 183 INDEX General War-Time Commission of the Churches, 137-138 Girl Reserves; see Young Wo¬ men’s Christian Associa¬ tion Girl Scouts; see Scout organi¬ zations God, making Him real to chil¬ dren, 65-75, 79-8i Graded lesson materials, 33, 49, 147-148, 213 Growth, 44, 50-53, 63-64 Harvard College, 10, 246, 250 Higher education, 5, 44, 56-59 Holy Spirit, 40, 51 Home, educational function of, 44-47, 65-68, 164-165 Illinois, University of, 258, 262 Immigration, effect on religious education, 17-18 Industrial conditions affecting religious education, m-113, 114, 119-121, 128-131, 139- 141 Infancy, religious education in, 64-71 Instruction, its place in educa¬ tion, 48-49 Interchurch investigation of steel strike, 141 Interdenominational agencies, 209-223 Interdenominational Young People’s Commission, 210, 216, 218-219 International life, Christianiz¬ ing, 1 16, 129, 131-132, 140- 141 International Sunday School Association, 34, 209, 211- 212, 213, 214, 247 International Sunday School Council of Religious Edu¬ cation, 34, 36, 211, 214 International Sunday School Lesson Committee, 29-30, 33, 209, 212-214, 216, 227 James, William, referred to, 50, no, 275 307 Jesus as teacher, 39-40, 85-86 life of, as taught to children and youth, 69, 74-75, 96-97, 104-105 Johnson, F. E., 129 Judd, C. H., quoted, 5 Kansas Agricultural College, 252 Kansas, University of, 262 Kelly, R. L., vii Kindergarten period, religious education in, 68-71 Kinley, Pres., quoted, 251 Leadership, training for, 44, 56- 59 , 193-194 Legislation, educational signifi¬ cance of, 130-131 Library, public, 173 Lobingier, J. L., quoted, 153 Lyttleton, Edward, referred to, 46 Malden, Mass., Week-day School, 182 McConnell, Francis J., quoted, 137 McGill,. University, 266, 274 Methodist Episcopal Church work in universities, 262- 264 Methodist Episcopal Church South, 247 Michigan Agricultural College, . 259 Michigan, University of, 253 Middle Colonies, education in, 4 Ministry, education for the, 271-295 Minnesota, University of, 255 Mission boards of denomina¬ tions, 215, 216-217 Missionary education, 32, 37, 71, 155 - 159 , 162, 166, 198-199, 207-208, 248 Missionary Education Move¬ ment, 156, 158, 168, 210, 216-218 Missions, educational concep¬ tion of, 43 Moral education, 41 Motion pictures, educational signficance of, 134-135, *74 INDEX 308 Nationality as affecting reli¬ gious education, 115-116 Negro in America, 116 New England, education in, 4- 5, 9-10, 12-14, 17, 200 Newspaper as former of public opinion, 55, 122, 133-136 New Testament, educational value of (See also Bible, Jesus, etc.), 104-107 North Dakota, University of, 262 Ohio University, 259, 263 Oklahoma, University of, 252 Old Testament, educational value of, 73-74, 80-85, 93- 96, 103-104 Organization of religious edu¬ cation, 145-175, 196-228 Parents, as religious teachers, 45-48, 65-68, 164-165 Pennsylvania State College, 252 Pennsylvania, University of, 260 Playground, 173-174 Practical work, emphasis on in theological seminaries, 290- 293 Preaching, educational func¬ tion of, 42, 145-146 Presbyterian Board of Educa¬ tion, 209 Press, daily, as molder of pub- lic. opinion, 55, 122, 133-136 Prohibition, educational signifi¬ cance of, 130 Protestant attitude toward edu¬ cation, 9-11, 26-28, 33 Protestant Episcopal Board of education, 209 Public opinion, creation of, 44, 53-55, 124-142 Public Schools in America, 3- 28, 174 - 175 , 178-179, 188- 189 Race as affecting religious education, 115 Religion, place of, in educa¬ tion, 8-28 Religious education; defined, 41-42 Religious education, as duty of the Church, 28-37 as distinguished from moral education, 41-42 its functions, 44-58 in college and university, 231- 270 in theological seminary, 281- 292 Religious Education Associa¬ tion, 33, 177, 210, 223-224, 243, 247 Religious freedom; its effect on education policy, 12-14, 22, 27 Research as a duty of Church, 44, 56, 138-142, 292 Roman Catholic educational policy, 4, 17-18, 26-28 Rural Church, problems of, 278 Schools of Religion at univer¬ sities, 264-267, 270 Science, its effect on religious teaching, 12, 19-20, 109- iii, 118-119, 276-277 Scout organizations, 32, 37, 168, 172-173, 201, 202, 210, 220- 221 Sectarianism, 18, 24-25 Secularization of education, 3- 28 Sharp, F. C., quoted, 41 Shaver, E. L., vii, 177 Social environment as a factor in education, 108-123, 124- 131, 277-278 Social ideals of the Churches, M 1 Social relations, the Church’s teaching about, 81-84, 101- 102, 105-107, 166-167 Social service, education in, 159, 166-167 South Carolina, University of, 252 South Dakota, interest in re¬ ligious education, 16 Southern Colonies, education in, 4 Specialization in theological education, 277, 286-287 INDEX State, the responsibility of, for education, 3, 14-17, 21 separation of church and, 57, 233, 250 _ State universities; see Univer¬ sity Story telling to children, 68-71, 73 - 76 , 79-85 Stout, J. E., quoted, 35 Student Fellowship for Chris¬ tian Life Service, 258 Student Volunteer Movement, 155, 210, 222, 256, 257 Summer institutes of religious education, 34 Sunday-School as an agency of religious education, 29-37, 49-50, 147-150, 152-153, 157 - 158, 162, 163, 164, 167-169, 178-179, 180, 198-199, 200- 201 Sunday - School Associations, 201-202, 211 Sunday-School Boards (de¬ nominational), 204-209, 211, 213, 215 Sunday-School Council of Evangelical Denominations, 34, 209, 213-214, 247 Tawney, R. H., quoted, 139-140 Teacher training classes, 34, 167-170, 204 Teaching methods, 187-188, et passim Teaching process, 191-192, et passim Texas, University of, 262, 265 Theological seminary, 58-59, 271-295 Toronto University, 266, 274 Unified program, need for; see coordination Uniform Sunday-School les- . sons, 29-33, 64, 147-148, 212 Union Theological College at Chicago, 280 309 Union Theological Seminary, .274 Unity, Christian, 24-25, 135-137 Unity in educational program; see Coordination University pastor, 258-260, 270 University, religious education in, 56, 58, 221, 233, 250, 271 Vacation Bible Schools, 163 Van Hise, C. R., quoted, 265 Vinson, Pres., quoted, 250 Vocation, religious view of, 101 Wayland foundations, 263 Week-day religious education, . 34 , 163, 174 - 175 , 176-195 Weigle, L. A., vii Wesley foundations, 262-264 Westminster foundation, 263 Winchester, B. S., vii Wisconsin, University of, 262 Wood, I. F., quoted, 245 World Alliance for Interna¬ tional Friendship, 140 World’s Sunday School Asso¬ ciation, 209, 214-215 Worship, educational signifi¬ cance of, 42, 145 in the family, 66 Yale University, 10, 232, 250 Young Men’s Christian Asso¬ ciation, 37, 57, 170-172, 201, 202, 216, 219-220, 222, 255- 256, 270 Young Women’s Christian As¬ sociation, 37, 57, 170-172, 201, 202, 216, 219-220, 222, 255-256, 270 Young people’s societies, 32, 37, 149 - 155 , 157-158, 162, 198- 199, 201, 207, 218-219 Youth, characteristics of, 89- 90, 99-100 religious education of, 44-50, 89-107