XVI
SUNDAY SCHOOL
1.
Despite the vast amount of activity that all devout Mormons undertake in the course of their church work, they still have time for a fully developed Sunday school that compares favorably with that of the churches that place primary emphasis upon the Sunday school.
Like most other Christian organizations, Mormons generally credit Robert Raikes of Gloucester, England, as being the father of the modern Sunday school, although they recognize the fact that several isolated and unrelated Sunday schools were in operation in America before Raikes established his famous Sooty Alley School in 1780.
The Latter-day Saints had rudimentary Sunday schools in both Kirtland, Ohio, and Nauvoo, Ill., before they went west. The first regular Mormon Sunday school in the Rocky Mountain area began December 9, 1849 in the home of Elder Richard Ballantyne at First West and Third South streets in Salt Lake City. The school was given a permanent home in 1850 in the Fourteenth Ward Meeting House, a few blocks away from the place where it began. Sunday schools spread from one ward to another throughout the church of the pioneers. The school units steadily grew in number until in 1943, the last year for which figures have been published, there were nearly 2500 Sunday schools of the Mormon church all over the world.
Many leaders have contributed to the evolution of the Mormon Sunday school. Outstanding among these in the earlier years was George Q. Cannon. While serving a mission for the church in England he made a detailed study of the Sunday school plan in effect there and came home in 1866 to revitalize Latter-day Saint Sunday schools. It was mainly through his efforts that they were combined into a unified church-wide system with a standard progressive program.
The general superintendency of the Deseret Sunday School Union has been a training ground for two presidents of the church, and for one counselor in the church presidency as well. The presidents were Lorenzo Snow and Joseph F. Smith and the counselor, David O. McKay. George Q. Cannon himself, who was general superintendent for more than thirty-three years, 1867 to 1901, became one of the twelve apostles. Other general superintendents have been George D. Pyper and Milton Bennion. The latter is the incumbent.
The Mormons do not patronize any of the commercial firms that make a business of providing Sunday school literature of a mass-production pattern for several protestant churches. The Mormons take quite seriously the responsibility for training of their young, and detail the best-trained brains available in the educational field to the task of writing, editing and publishing this literature under their own complete management.
Guiding the Sunday school system is the general superintendency, in which the top man, as usual in Mormon organizations, is assisted by two counselors. Under this group is the general board, which is composed of members who are responsible for committees in charge of the various Sunday school departments. This superintendency and board are under the direct supervision of the presidency of the church.
The stake Sunday school superintendency and board are set up by the presidency of the stake preisthood. Besides the superintendency, the stake board consists of the following named officers: secretary, chorister, organist, librarian, enlistment worker; supervisor of the department of Teacher Training, Gospel Doctrine, The Gospel Message, Genealogical Training, Advanced Seniors, Seniors, Advanced Juniors, Juniors, Second Intermediates, First Intermediates, Primary, Kindergarten and Nursery Class.
All the advancements of pedagogical science possible have been called upon in the systematization of the Mormon Sunday school methods of instruction, placing these far in advance of those of almost any other church. Although the average Mormon Sunday school superintendent, naturally, believes that he has difficulty in finding enough well qualified teachers, he would rapidly change his mind if he had only one look at the inner workings of the average non-Mormon Sunday school! As a matter of fact, the high average level of education among Mormons, and Mormon women particularly in this case, provides the Latter-day Saint Sunday schools with a greater reserve of qualified teaching power than that of any other Sunday school I have ever seen anywhere. (And these have been many, in nearly every state of the United States.)
The Sunday school handbook is a modern educator's dream come true. It delineates the specific boundaries of each official's work and sets out clearly the objectives to be sought for each group of students at every level throughout the organization.
The general objectives sought by each Sunday school department are listed as follows:
1. Courses of study for children nine years of age and younger, aim to promote the development of primary concepts of the Kingdom of God, personal qualities and habits which the individual must possess, and the preparation which each must make to be worthy of membership in the kingdom.
2. Study for children ten and eleven years of age pays special attention to preparing these for active responsibility as members of the church.
3. From twelve to eighteen years of age, the individual is led to explore the church and the principles of the gospel with a view toward deepening his understanding of them and of his discovering their application to his life and his responsibility in the church.
4. The genealogical training course seeks to develop interests and skills necessary to do accurate and efficient temple work and genealogical research.
5. The course in The Gospel Message, mostly for young adults, has three main objectives: (a) to lead members of the class to a deep intellectual conviction culminating in a testimony of the gospel; (b) to develop a desire to share the blessings of the gospel with others; (c) to acquaint the individual with efficient methods of doing missionary work.
6. The Gospel Doctrine course emphasizes special opportunities and responsibilities which are open to adults to apply the gospel principles to the betterment of home and community conditions and to the salvation of the living and the dead.
Like most other Christian organizations, Mormons generally credit Robert Raikes of Gloucester, England, as being the father of the modern Sunday school, although they recognize the fact that several isolated and unrelated Sunday schools were in operation in America before Raikes established his famous Sooty Alley School in 1780.
The Latter-day Saints had rudimentary Sunday schools in both Kirtland, Ohio, and Nauvoo, Ill., before they went west. The first regular Mormon Sunday school in the Rocky Mountain area began December 9, 1849 in the home of Elder Richard Ballantyne at First West and Third South streets in Salt Lake City. The school was given a permanent home in 1850 in the Fourteenth Ward Meeting House, a few blocks away from the place where it began. Sunday schools spread from one ward to another throughout the church of the pioneers. The school units steadily grew in number until in 1943, the last year for which figures have been published, there were nearly 2500 Sunday schools of the Mormon church all over the world.
Many leaders have contributed to the evolution of the Mormon Sunday school. Outstanding among these in the earlier years was George Q. Cannon. While serving a mission for the church in England he made a detailed study of the Sunday school plan in effect there and came home in 1866 to revitalize Latter-day Saint Sunday schools. It was mainly through his efforts that they were combined into a unified church-wide system with a standard progressive program.
The general superintendency of the Deseret Sunday School Union has been a training ground for two presidents of the church, and for one counselor in the church presidency as well. The presidents were Lorenzo Snow and Joseph F. Smith and the counselor, David O. McKay. George Q. Cannon himself, who was general superintendent for more than thirty-three years, 1867 to 1901, became one of the twelve apostles. Other general superintendents have been George D. Pyper and Milton Bennion. The latter is the incumbent.
The Mormons do not patronize any of the commercial firms that make a business of providing Sunday school literature of a mass-production pattern for several protestant churches. The Mormons take quite seriously the responsibility for training of their young, and detail the best-trained brains available in the educational field to the task of writing, editing and publishing this literature under their own complete management.
Guiding the Sunday school system is the general superintendency, in which the top man, as usual in Mormon organizations, is assisted by two counselors. Under this group is the general board, which is composed of members who are responsible for committees in charge of the various Sunday school departments. This superintendency and board are under the direct supervision of the presidency of the church.
The stake Sunday school superintendency and board are set up by the presidency of the stake preisthood. Besides the superintendency, the stake board consists of the following named officers: secretary, chorister, organist, librarian, enlistment worker; supervisor of the department of Teacher Training, Gospel Doctrine, The Gospel Message, Genealogical Training, Advanced Seniors, Seniors, Advanced Juniors, Juniors, Second Intermediates, First Intermediates, Primary, Kindergarten and Nursery Class.
All the advancements of pedagogical science possible have been called upon in the systematization of the Mormon Sunday school methods of instruction, placing these far in advance of those of almost any other church. Although the average Mormon Sunday school superintendent, naturally, believes that he has difficulty in finding enough well qualified teachers, he would rapidly change his mind if he had only one look at the inner workings of the average non-Mormon Sunday school! As a matter of fact, the high average level of education among Mormons, and Mormon women particularly in this case, provides the Latter-day Saint Sunday schools with a greater reserve of qualified teaching power than that of any other Sunday school I have ever seen anywhere. (And these have been many, in nearly every state of the United States.)
The Sunday school handbook is a modern educator's dream come true. It delineates the specific boundaries of each official's work and sets out clearly the objectives to be sought for each group of students at every level throughout the organization.
The general objectives sought by each Sunday school department are listed as follows:
1. Courses of study for children nine years of age and younger, aim to promote the development of primary concepts of the Kingdom of God, personal qualities and habits which the individual must possess, and the preparation which each must make to be worthy of membership in the kingdom.
2. Study for children ten and eleven years of age pays special attention to preparing these for active responsibility as members of the church.
3. From twelve to eighteen years of age, the individual is led to explore the church and the principles of the gospel with a view toward deepening his understanding of them and of his discovering their application to his life and his responsibility in the church.
4. The genealogical training course seeks to develop interests and skills necessary to do accurate and efficient temple work and genealogical research.
5. The course in The Gospel Message, mostly for young adults, has three main objectives: (a) to lead members of the class to a deep intellectual conviction culminating in a testimony of the gospel; (b) to develop a desire to share the blessings of the gospel with others; (c) to acquaint the individual with efficient methods of doing missionary work.
6. The Gospel Doctrine course emphasizes special opportunities and responsibilities which are open to adults to apply the gospel principles to the betterment of home and community conditions and to the salvation of the living and the dead.
2.
A distinctive feature of the Mormon Sunday school is the two-and-one-half minute talk.
Two of these talks are given every Sunday by young people, some of them very young, before the entire body of the Sunday school. The value of these talks as a tremendous force in the training of young Mormons in public speaking can be seen when it is realized that every Sunday school provides the opportunity for 100 young people to make such talks in the course of a year. That multiplied by the number of Sunday schools equals 250,000 young people who have a chance to try their luck at expressing themselves before a big audience at least once a year. A quarter of a million fuure preachers of the gospel!
Two main benefits are sought for the students in these talks. (1) The experience gained in actual delivery before a live audience. (2) The valuable training possible during conscientious preparation of speeches.
Teachers are instructed to be always seeking opportunity for their students to develop worthy classroom recitations or reports on assignments into acceptable two-and-one-half minute talks. When pupils show special interest or enthusiasm in any of their lessons, their teachers, by giving extra assignments and assistance, help to develop talks of outstanding merit to be delivered before the main assembly.
Pupils have ample opportunity to try out their speeches before the appreciative and critical audience of their own classes. This helps them to iron out rough spots in the talks and gives them the courage necessary to face the larger assembly. In these preliminary deliveries, the speakers also receive helpful suggestions from their teachers and fellow-pupils. Further, the speaker is encouraged to deliver his talk before parents and other members of his family at home, to seek their help in his preparation. When a Sunday school student's time to give a school-wide talk arrives, it is an occasion of pride and rejoicing in his family.
Students receive training in finding and using appropriate concrete illustrations. They learn elementary principles of good speech delivery, use of the right tone of voice, speed of utterance, enunciation, pronunciation, posture and expression.
Whatever his age and interests, the pupil is encouraged to express himself in language and ideas that are natural to him. By strictly adhering to this principle, Mormon Sunday school teachers have established a long tradition of public speaking in which children of tender years make talks before big audiences with more calm confidence and effectiveness of delivery than is possible for most adults outside the Mormon church.
Every three months, the superintendency of the Sunday school makes a schedule of two-and-one-half minute talk assignments, showing which departments are responsible for the talks each Sunday for the ensuing three-month period. These assignments are made to children from the First Intermediate to the Genealogical Training departments, inclusively.
The teachers, and members of the superintendency closely cooperate to see that no opportunity for the delivery of one of these talks is lost, and that a steady following of this program is maintained to improve the quality of speaking and expression on the part of L.D.S. Sunday school members.
Two of these talks are given every Sunday by young people, some of them very young, before the entire body of the Sunday school. The value of these talks as a tremendous force in the training of young Mormons in public speaking can be seen when it is realized that every Sunday school provides the opportunity for 100 young people to make such talks in the course of a year. That multiplied by the number of Sunday schools equals 250,000 young people who have a chance to try their luck at expressing themselves before a big audience at least once a year. A quarter of a million fuure preachers of the gospel!
Two main benefits are sought for the students in these talks. (1) The experience gained in actual delivery before a live audience. (2) The valuable training possible during conscientious preparation of speeches.
Teachers are instructed to be always seeking opportunity for their students to develop worthy classroom recitations or reports on assignments into acceptable two-and-one-half minute talks. When pupils show special interest or enthusiasm in any of their lessons, their teachers, by giving extra assignments and assistance, help to develop talks of outstanding merit to be delivered before the main assembly.
Pupils have ample opportunity to try out their speeches before the appreciative and critical audience of their own classes. This helps them to iron out rough spots in the talks and gives them the courage necessary to face the larger assembly. In these preliminary deliveries, the speakers also receive helpful suggestions from their teachers and fellow-pupils. Further, the speaker is encouraged to deliver his talk before parents and other members of his family at home, to seek their help in his preparation. When a Sunday school student's time to give a school-wide talk arrives, it is an occasion of pride and rejoicing in his family.
Students receive training in finding and using appropriate concrete illustrations. They learn elementary principles of good speech delivery, use of the right tone of voice, speed of utterance, enunciation, pronunciation, posture and expression.
Whatever his age and interests, the pupil is encouraged to express himself in language and ideas that are natural to him. By strictly adhering to this principle, Mormon Sunday school teachers have established a long tradition of public speaking in which children of tender years make talks before big audiences with more calm confidence and effectiveness of delivery than is possible for most adults outside the Mormon church.
Every three months, the superintendency of the Sunday school makes a schedule of two-and-one-half minute talk assignments, showing which departments are responsible for the talks each Sunday for the ensuing three-month period. These assignments are made to children from the First Intermediate to the Genealogical Training departments, inclusively.
The teachers, and members of the superintendency closely cooperate to see that no opportunity for the delivery of one of these talks is lost, and that a steady following of this program is maintained to improve the quality of speaking and expression on the part of L.D.S. Sunday school members.
3.
The Mormon Sunday school is designed to accomodate all age groups from four years to the grave. Mothers of very young children who must either bring their babies or stay at home, are encouraged to bring their young ones to the nursery class.
Membership in the church is not a prerequisite to taking part in the activities of Sunday school, and Latter-day Saints encourage the attendance of all residents of the community who might possibly be interested.
The successful operation of a Sunday school requires fewer members of the priesthood than does a ward or a branch of the church, but at the same time, it provides an opportunity for teaching a fairly complete picture of Mormonism. For these reasons, the Sunday school is the ideal organization with which to begin the activiites of the Mormon church in a community where it is new. Mission presidents make frequent use of the Sunday school in this capacity. Successful operation of a Sunday school in a non-Mormon community over a period of time usually trains the minimum number of leaders necessary for operation of a formally organized branch of the church which, in the course of progress, grows into a regular ecclesiastical ward.
The Sunday school is not to be confused with the Mutual Improvement Associations, which are discussed in another part of this book. To the Mormons, Sunday school literally is a school that is held on Sunday. It occupies an hour and one-half on Sunday morning. It begins with opening exercises for the entire assembly, divides into classes, and then reassembles for a group benediction.
Added to priesthood meetings, which precede it, and sacramental meetings which follow it, Sunday school is a sort of final lagniappe, thrown in for good measure, that keeps steady Mormons in the midst of such a whirl of assemblies and obligations on Sundays that they literally have no time to get into mischief.
Next: Primary
Membership in the church is not a prerequisite to taking part in the activities of Sunday school, and Latter-day Saints encourage the attendance of all residents of the community who might possibly be interested.
The successful operation of a Sunday school requires fewer members of the priesthood than does a ward or a branch of the church, but at the same time, it provides an opportunity for teaching a fairly complete picture of Mormonism. For these reasons, the Sunday school is the ideal organization with which to begin the activiites of the Mormon church in a community where it is new. Mission presidents make frequent use of the Sunday school in this capacity. Successful operation of a Sunday school in a non-Mormon community over a period of time usually trains the minimum number of leaders necessary for operation of a formally organized branch of the church which, in the course of progress, grows into a regular ecclesiastical ward.
The Sunday school is not to be confused with the Mutual Improvement Associations, which are discussed in another part of this book. To the Mormons, Sunday school literally is a school that is held on Sunday. It occupies an hour and one-half on Sunday morning. It begins with opening exercises for the entire assembly, divides into classes, and then reassembles for a group benediction.
Added to priesthood meetings, which precede it, and sacramental meetings which follow it, Sunday school is a sort of final lagniappe, thrown in for good measure, that keeps steady Mormons in the midst of such a whirl of assemblies and obligations on Sundays that they literally have no time to get into mischief.
Next: Primary
