But while many will admit that this law of development applies in the mechanical world, they hold that there is something mystic about teaching for which only a pedagogical birthright is a solution. The fallacy of such a contention seems too evident to call for argument. At least the only sensibly hopeful view to take in such a Church as ours, in which so many members must perforce be called to be teachers, is that power in teaching can be developed as it can in any other field of endeavor. The other bit of warning applies to the kind of teacher who is unalterably committed to a single method, not only as the best method, but the only one worth following. Method depends so essentially on the personality of the teacher, on the nature of the pupils taught, and on the subject matter to be presented, that it is a very dangerous thing to say that, in spite of circumstances, one method is invariably the best method. Let us, then, turn to the different methods and consider their relative values. Five possibilities immediately suggest themselves: 1. The story method. 2. The "reading 'round" method. 3. The special topic method. 4. The lecture method. 5. The discussion method, built up through questions and answers. 1. _The Story Method._ The story is the method for childhood. "All the world loves a story." Children certainly are a part of that world. How they thrill in response to the appeal of a good story. Their little souls fairly seem to open to receive it. What an opportunity--what a sacred trust--is the teacher's as he undertakes to satisfy that soul hunger! The subject, the story, has been so fully gone into by Brother Driggs in his book, _The Art of Teaching_, that we need not attempt to discuss it fully here. Then, too, so many other excellent books have been written on the art of the story that the teacher need only be referred to them. Suffice it here to make two observations in passing. The best stories for purposes of religious instruction should possess four essential characteristics: Point--Brevity--Message--Adaptation to the experience of pupils. And, of course, this message should be a truth appropriate to the occasion--a message heightened by the spirit of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The second observation has to do with the telling of the story. Naturally it should be well told. But the story hour should not be one of mere telling. The child, in addition to listening to the story, should be given opportunity to express its reaction to the story told--should be directed in discovering the avenue through which it will carry into action the emotion aroused by the story.