p. 61 | WHAT TO SECURE by W. E. Dawson

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 14, 1879

WHAT TO SECURE.

By W. E. Dawson

SECURE AN INCREASED ATTENDANCE AT YOUR SABBATH-SCHOOL.

“In union there is strength,” is a maxim that applies as well to the study of the Bible as to other matters. Thought kindles thought, and the interest of one awakens that of others. A large school, if properly conducted, is a strong school, and can carry into effect many plans, and supply itself with many helps, which would be unattainable to the school of small membership. The efficiency, then, of the entire school, depends in a great degree upon a large attendance. But the necessity of securing as large a membership as possible becomes still more apparent when we consider the school as composed of individuals, each one of whom may receive benefit from connection with the school, which can be derived by no other means.

The advantages of the Sabbath-school do not, like the free air, force themselves into every home whether welcome or not. The children must be brought to its light, or they will not be enlightened by its rays. You may have one of the best Sabbath-schools in the land, and the labors of its officers and teachers may be most efficient; yet if there are those who do not receive the benefit of these labors because no one has taken sufficient interest in their welfare to visit them and try to bring them within the sphere of its influence, your school is a failure in the very point where it might be most productive of good. Those who most need instruction in the word of God are usually the very ones who are indifferent to its importance.

Many families live at such a distance from the place of meeting that it is difficult for them to attend every Sabbath. Such need special encouragement. They should be made to feel not only that they need the Sabbath-school, but that the school needs them, and that their efforts to attend are appreciated.

W. E. Dawson.