The Summer School—Why Is It Needed?
By E. A. Sutherland
“There is earnest work to be done for the children. Before the overflowing scourge shall come upon all the dwellers upon the earth the Lord calls upon all who are Israelites indeed to serve him. Gather your children into your own houses; gather them in from the classes who are voicing the words of Satan, who are disobeying the commandments of God. Get out of the cities as soon as possible. Establish church schools. Gather in your children, and give them the word of God as the foundation of all their education. Had the churches in different localities sought counsel of God they would not need to be thus addressed on this point.” If there is any one thing above another which the Lord is now striving to impress upon the hearts of parents, it is that they have a duty to perform in the matter of the education of their children. For years Seventh-day Adventists have quoted Joel 2:28: “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, . . . your young men shall see visions,” forgetting meanwhile that this promise is prefaced by the words, “it shall come to pass afterward.” The conditions which must exist before the young men and women are baptized with the Spirit are entirely overlooked. Children can not be entrusted with the Spirit of Prophecy until they are properly educated. At least we may say, This spirit will be given when they are educated as God says they should be. This is told in the seventeenth verse of the chapter before noticed, in the words, “Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them.” Children are the Lord’s heritage (Ps. 127 : 3), and they can be said to be under heathen rule only when they are in schools where the philosophy of the heathen is daily taught. Therefore we have the instruction, “Establish church schools. Gather in your children, and give them the word of God as the foundation of all their education.” That this should have been done years ago is evident from the words, “Had the churches in different localities sought counsel of God they would not need to be thus addressed on this point.” The summer school is for the training of teachers who will be able to make the word of God the foundation of all education. Success in the Christian school depends to a large degree upon the ability of the teacher and the attitude of the church toward Christian education. There is a work to be done in the churches. A move to start a school will serve to unify the members, and this will in turn assist in carrying on the school. Bear in mind that the young men and women who attend the summer school do so in order to return to the churches bearing the truth of Christian education. Remember the work, pray for it, and thus help it forward.