Across the Prairie in a Motor Caravan: A 3,000 Mile Tour by Two Englishwomen on Behalf of Religious EducationHasell, Frances Hatton Eva
Religion
Across the Prairie in a Motor Caravan: A 3,000 Mile Tour by Two Englishwomen on Behalf of Religious Education
Hasell, Frances Hatton Eva
Missions -- Canada
An interesting example of the practical application of these principles
was afforded by a visit to what we should call in England an "upper
class" Sunday School. I had already met the superintendent, Miss Warren,
and she had explained one most interesting feature of her
system--namely, that each month she held a staff meeting of parents and
teachers to discuss the lesson, the children, and the school. In each
department of the school there was a superintendent; a grade leader who
ensured a continual supply of teachers (absentees having to send in
their names to her beforehand); a teacher and an assistant teacher for
each class, the latter being there to learn her art; and a pupil teacher
to hear the memory work. Some of the teachers received a salary, and all
the children paid a small entrance fee. These fees, however, did not
suffice for expenses, owing to the very good apparatus in use, but the
deficit was made up by the church.
A conspicuous feature of the school was a large diagram which hung near
the superintendent's table. It consisted of five rings: the small
central circle represented "Parish and Home," the next ring "Community,"
the next "Diocese," the next "Nation," and the outer ring "The World."
At the end of the session an appeal was made by the secretary each
Sunday for one of the above "fields of service," which took the form of
a stirring address on the need for supporting the work. The secretaries
were always some of the elder pupils, and their appeals were remarkably
well expressed for such young persons. After the address the secretaries
of each class were asked to vote a sum of money for the cause, which
they did after discussion with their class-mates. The school had a
choir of girls led by a talented musician, and they all united to teach
the children hymns.
Miss Warren took me to see Dr. Gardner, and, considering the excellence
of the system at which the American religious educationist aims, it was
encouraging to find him taking great interest in the proposed caravan
tour. He even went so far as to ask for details of the plan, and to
request that an account might be sent to him for publication. On the
appearance of this article he appealed for volunteers and money in order
to start a similar campaign on the plains of the U.S.A., where no
religious instruction was at present provided for the children.
After ten days in New York, we went on to stay with friends in Toronto.
Here we took the opportunity of inquiring into the methods of, and
opportunities for, religious education in Canada. We were greatly helped
in this by an introduction to the Rev. Dr. Hiltz, General Secretary of
the General Board of Religious Education for the Church of England in
the Dominion of Canada. The following is a summary of the information
given by him or gleaned from other sources.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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