EXPERIENCES WHICH LEAVE LASTING IMPRESSIONS.
By M. Bessie De Graw
A LARGE circle of young people gathered on the grass on the bluff overlooking the St. Joseph River, one Sabbath afternoon. They were overshadowed by the boughs of the oaks which fringed the bank, and before them spread the tents of the summer school. It was a most informal meeting, but one which made a deep impression on my mind. There was spirit in the singing, for it came from the heart; and the talks were heart-to-heart talks. Several who had taught church schools were asked to relate their experience. If there is any one thing which seems to develop character in young people, it is the church-school work. I am constantly surprised by these young men and women. And so I was on this occasion. Sister Worthen told us of her school life in South Lancaster; of her first attempt to teach while still a student, for she acted as tutor to some young women who could not be accommodated in regular classes; of her first church school and its growth. In 1899 she was called South to teach; and her life at Hildebran, N. C., and in the mountain homes near there, made the Southern work dear to her heart. She was not teaching for money, for her tuition for two or three months amounted to only fifteen dollars. “But,” she said, “I always had a home, and I would love to labor always for those dear children.” Another teacher told of her life among the fishermen on an island off the coast of Maine. She was the only one in all that great State who was teaching a Christian school. Do you wonder that the very simplicity of her narrative touched hearts, and made us long to reach the young people in all our States who are needed, O so sadly needed! as teachers for our own children? I sometimes wonder, as these calls appeal so strongly to human hearts, how the heart of God must ache when all His sympathies are drawn out by the needs of thousands of children. Last Sabbath the hour for the Sabbath-school was devoted to a discussion of the needs of the Sabbath-schools of our land. The Sabbath-school is the nursery of the Church. How is it, then, that so many escape from the fold in passing from the nursery to the Church? If the Sabbath-school trained as it might, would it ever be necessary to hold revival meetings for the youth in our midst? Would they not be church-members, active Christians, without having a series of meetings held for their conversion? Are the Sabbath-schools educating the children in the principles of truth? Serious questions these, but questions which every church-school teacher must face. Again: If the Sabbath-schools were true to the principles of Christian education, would there be a single church which would not demand a day school for its children? There was but one answer. The plans proposed by the General Conference for uniting the Sabbath-school and the church-school work were reviewed. A most important step was taken in this direction by the Lake Union Conference at its last meeting at Berrien Springs. I refer to the election of Prof. H. R. Salisbury to the position of superintendent of Sabbath-schools and church schools for this district, thus uniting the work under one head. This had led to the conclusion that the superintendents of all our Sabbath-schools should be men or women who are teachers true to the principles of Christian education,—persons who can conduct a school composed of the Sabbath-school teachers, in which instruction will be given in real Bible study; in methods of teaching children and youth; in nature study, and other subjects which every one who deals with children must understand. Can you imagine the results in a Sabbath-school where such a plan is followed? Suppose one State should adopt this plan in all its schools, how would the churches in that State compare with the churches in other States, at the close of the first year? What would it do for the children? Let some State try this, and it will forthwith become the center from which the workers will be drawn for the field at large. This is one thing for which you may look. The work for the children and youth is onward, and God is helping. As the simplest proof of the need of such reform, let me tell you that at the close of the hour, a mother from one of our neighboring city churches who, with her three children, is spending a few weeks on the grounds, stepped forward and said: “I had intended to send my children to the public school this winter, but I cannot do it. They shall go to a church school. I see that God wants the little ones.” These are a few things which live in my memory.