II
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
The general characteristics of the Sunday school, as they have gradually developed during its long history, must be considered in any plan for organizing and conducting an individual school. The institution should be studied both ideally and practically: practically, to ascertain what the Sunday school has been and is now; yet ideally, with a view to developing its highest efficiency and largest usefulness. Such a plan for the specific Sunday school may be called its constitution. It is desirable to have the constitution in written or printed form, but it is not necessary. There is no more complete system than the government of Great Britain, yet it has no written constitution; and Mr. James Bryce has shown us in America that the instrument known as the Constitution of the United States by no means represents our own actual method of government. In every nation there is an unwritten law, wrought out of a people's consciousness, which is more imperative and enduring than any parchment scroll or printed form.
The general principles to be maintained in establishing and developing a Sunday school are the following:
1. Aim. The primary aims of the Sunday school are religious instruction, character-development, and effective service. It is not to teach history, nor science, nor sociology, but religion; and not merely to impart a knowledge of religion to the intellect of its pupils, but, infinitely more important, to make religion an effective force in the life of the individual scholar. As a Christian institution, in the definition given by one of its greatest leaders,[2] "The Sunday school is a department of the Church of Christ, in which the word of Christ is taught, for the purpose of bringing souls to Christ, and of building up souls in Christ." If it be in connection with a Jewish synagogue or temple—as are some of the best Sunday schools or Sabbath schools in our land—it is for the purpose of instruction in the faith of the ancient fathers, and of making their teachings live again in the men and women of to-day. A true religious education, such as the Sunday school seeks to give, will include three aims: (1) knowledge, (2) character, (3) service. There must be an intellectual grasping of the truth; a character built on the truth, out of faith in God, and the life of God inspiring the human soul; and service for God and humanity. The Sunday school seeks to develop not only saints in fellowship with God, but workers for God, who shall strive to realize on earth the kingdom of God, not seeking to be ministered unto but to minister. There have been centuries in the past when the Christian ideal was the cloistered saint, living apart in communion with God. But that was a pitiably incomplete conception of the perfect man. In our age we have the larger ideal of saintliness with service; and to promote this should be the aim of every Sunday school.
2. Method. To attain its aim the Sunday school employs the teaching method. The Sunday school is not, as some weak-minded people have called it, "the nursery of the church." Nor is it, as it has been named, "the Bible service"; for, although it holds a service, it is more than a service. It is not—or should not be—a gathering of groups, large or small, where silent hearers listen to sermonettes by little preachers, miscalled teachers. It holds a service imbued with the spirit of worship, yet worship is not its central purpose. It should have music, but it is not primarily a service of song. It should be pervaded by an atmosphere of happiness, but mere enjoyment is not its object. The Sunday school is a school: and the very word shows that its aim is instruction and character formation, and its method is that of teaching. For the work of a Sunday school the essentials are three:
(1) There must be the living teacher who is fitted to inspire, to instruct, and to guide. His part is not merely to pour knowledge into his pupils, but to awaken thought, to guide the search for truth, to call forth expression in character and in action.[3]