Article August 21, 1915 Issue

Teaching in the Sunday School

REV. JAMES J. ROME

Teaching a class in Sunday school is not a task to be considered lightly. The old idea of taking a class of children to teach from a sense of duty, and spending an hour with the pupils each Sunday morning, possibly with the feeling of having done something meritorious, and calling that Sunday school work, is a great mistake. Such a notion must give place to something more practical and genuine. Sunday school work is a vital and important part of the church work, and not a mere auxiliary.

The Sunday school teacher may well ponder the responsibility of undertaking the task and carefully examine himself as to his fitness, for much will be demanded of him. He needs to be possessed of keen discernment, clear perception, spirituality of thought, patience and earnestness in pursuing the work. Above all, perhaps, he needs that humility which enables him to see his own personal inability to do anything, and on the other hand to know the great possibilities of our work when divine Mind is reflected through His idea. Thus the teacher may be emboldened to take hold of the work and do it rightly, not in his own strength, but by the support and power of divine intelligence.

In dealing with the members of a Sunday school class much charity and consideration is needed, since there are peculiar conditions to be dealt with. It is always a pleasure and a satisfaction to teach those who have come to the class thirsting for the truth and eager to drink it in, but unfortunately this does not characterize the attitude of all. There may be many who have been impelled to come for very different reasons. Some may attend from a sense of duty, some from the pleasure of association, and some even in unwilling compliance with a parental requirement. The teacher then may have the task endeavoring scientifically to stimulate his pupils with a desire to learn, as well as of teaching them what to learn and how to learn it.

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