BIBLIOGRAPHY ON THROUGH-THE-WEEK ACTIVITIES
Adams.—Harper's Outdoor Book for Boys ($1.75).
Alexander.—Opportunity for Extension of Boys' Work to a Summer Camp Headquarters (American Youth, June, 1911), (.20).
—Using Nature's Equipment—God's Out-of-Doors (American Youth, August, 1911). Single copies out of print, but bound volume for 1911 may be obtained for $1.50.
Baker.—Indoor Games and Socials for Boys (.75).
Bond.—Scientific American Boy at School ($2.00).
Boys' Handbook. (Boy Scouts of America) (.30).
Brunner.—Tracks and Tracking (.70).
Burr.—Around the Fire (.75).
Camp.—Fishing Kits and Equipment ($1.00).
Chesley.—Social Activities for Men and Boys ($1.00).
Clarke.—Astronomy from a Dipper (.60).
Corsan.—At Home in the Water (.75).
Cullens.—Reaching Boys in Small Groups Without Equipment. (American Youth, February, 1911.) (.20).
Dana.—How to Know the Wild Flowers ($2.00).
Ditmars.—The Reptile Book ($4.00).
Fowler.—Starting in Life ($1.50).
Gibson.—Camping for Boys ($1.00).
Hasluck.—Bent Iron Work (.50).
—Clay Modeling (.50).
—Photography (.50).
—Taxidermy (.50).
Job.—How to Study Birds ($1.50).
Kenealy.—Boat Sailing ($1.00).
Lynch.—American Red Cross First Aid ($1.00).
Parsons.—How to Know the Ferns ($1.50).
Pyle.—Story of King Arthur and His Knights ($2.00).
Reed.—Bird Guide. In 2 volumes. (Vol I, $1.00, Vol. II,.75).
Scout Master's Handbook (.60).
Seton.—Book of Woodcraft ($1.75).
----Forester's Manual ($1.00).
Seven Hundred Things a Bright Boy Can Make ($1.00).
Warman.—Physical Training Simplified (.10).
White.—How to Make Baskets ($1.00).
XI
THE BOYS' DEPARTMENT IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL[6]
The Boys' Department in the Sunday school is the grouping together of organized classes for the sake of unity and team work among the adolescent boys. Investigation proves that boys work together best when separated from men, women and girls. The Boys' Department contemplates a change from the usual organization in the Sunday school, in that the classes of boys between twelve and twenty years of age shall meet as a separate department of the school and have their own closing and opening services, and the natural activities that would spring from a separate departmental life. The underlying idea of the Boys' Department is to make the boys feel that they are a real part of the Sunday school, with a real purpose and actual activities. Where it has been tried, not only has the attendance been increased, but the enrollment in the department has been doubled and trebled. The department also presents an opportunity of interesting boys in all forms of church life through the committee work which the department inaugurates. The criticism that the Boys' Department may become a junior church is not borne out by the experience of the men who have tried it. On the other hand, the testimony is that the Boys' Department has increased the attendance at the morning and evening services of the church, and has created a general interest and enthusiasm for the entire church life. The Boys' Department is not urged on any basis of sex segregation, although a good many educators are urging the segregation of the sexes in public education. The underlying idea of the Department is to group the boys together for team work and cooperation, with a clear understanding of the gang principle which clamors for a club or organization that satisfies the social and fraternal need. In fact, it is the neglect of the latter by the Sunday school that has brought the countless boys' organizations into existence, and the well-conducted Boys' Department, composed of well-organized, self-governing Bible classes, will mean much to the general church life, as well as to the simplifying of the present complicated scheme of work with boys. Nearly all of these auxiliary boy organizations have had their birth in the Sunday school, through the attempt to meet the boy need, which the Sunday school hitherto has not seen its way clear to do.
When departmental organization, however, is mentioned, the genius of the individual leader and teacher must come into play. The form of organization that may be successful with one leader may be a failure with another. This chance does not lie or inhere in the organization, but in the leader; for the gifts, talents, equipment and adaptability of leaders vary just as much in Sunday school organization as in the so-called secular forms of activity. The best form of organization, then, as well as the most successful form for the local school, is the "kind that works."
Three Proved Forms of Departmental Organization
Successful organization is the result of experiment. None but the result of experiment has a right to be exploited. Sunday school teen age workers have tried, proved and found satisfactory to their own liking, by its results, the following three kinds of teen age organization for the local school:
Intermediate and Senior Departments
The first of these is known as the Intermediate and Senior Departmental organization. Its characteristic is the dividing of the teen age into two groups—Intermediate, 13 to 16 years, and Senior, 17 to 20 years. In some schools these departments meet separately for Sunday school work. Wherever this is done there should be at least a superintendent and secretary for each. While the general principles of the work are the same, the problems and details of the classes are sometimes different. The department superintendent should have special charge of his department and be responsible for building it up; also for department teachers' meetings, and should be personally acquainted with every scholar. The department secretary should keep an alphabetical and birthday card index of scholars; send welcome letters to new scholars; provide the superintendent with a list of new scholars, that they may be properly presented to the department; send lists of absentees to teachers; keep a record of correlated work accomplished by scholars, quarterly lesson examinations, etc.
Teen Age Department
In some schools the custom is to combine the Intermediate and Senior Departments into one and to regard the years, 13 to 20, as a series of eight grades. Several large schools are enthusiastic about this plan, and as the worship requirements are much the same in the teen years the Opening and Closing Services are acceptable to all grades. This arrangement also is adaptable to limited equipment, and affords a certain amount of hero-worship to the younger boy on account of the older boy being present. It also offers the older boy a field of service through helpfulness to the younger members of the department. In some schools this adaptation is known as the High School Department.
Boys' Departments
During the last few years separate Boys' Departments have come into favor with some Sunday school workers. These departments should not be attempted, however, until every class is organized (see chapter on The Organized Sunday school Bible Class), and there is efficient leadership to guide them. A premature start may be ineffective and prejudice parents and boys.
The Departmental Committees
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee has direct oversight of the general affairs of the department and acts officially between sessions on matters needing prompt attention. It is made up of the officers, general superintendent of the school, the pastor of the church, and the president and teacher of each class.
Inter-Class Committee
The Inter-Class Committee has the direction and supervision, through sub-committees, of all the activities of the department, such as:
Committee on Sunday school Life
This Committee has a twofold function, the planning of the department program for general school festivals and matters of general school business. The diagram shows the activities of this committee.
COMMITTEE ON SUNDAY SCHOOL LIFE
Committee on Church Life
The Church Life Committee also has a double task. Its activities along the lines of church life are as follows:
WORSHIP MEMBERSHIP AND BENEVOLENCES
Committee on Inter-Church Life
The Inter-church Life Committee, through its representatives on the Inter-Sunday school Councils and Committees, cares for its part of the common teen age Sunday school life of the community. In this way the Sunday school is made to loom large as the teen age organization in the town or city. Some of its activities would be:
THE TEEN AGE BOYS' DEPARTMENT
|(Every class organized)
|
ORGANIZATION
|
-------------------+-------+------------
| | |
OFFICERS | COMMITTEES
| | |
Church Board[a] | -------+---------+----------+-------
Sunday School Board[a] | | | | | |
Sunday School Superintendent[a] | Executive | Sunday School Life | Church
| | Inter-Class Inter-Church Life
Superintendent[b] | | Life
Assistant Superintendent[b] | ------+----- -----+--------
Treasurer[b] | | | | |
Advisory Superintendent[c] | Feast General Worship General
| Days Interest Church
| Life
DEPARTMENT ACTIVITY
|
-------------------------+----------------------
| |
SUNDAY SESSIONS MASS WEEK MEETINGS
| (Occasional when there is a motive)
Opening Service
Class Hour
Department Affairs
Closing Services
[a] Supervisory [b] Older Boy [c] Adult
Prepared by John L. Alexander, Superintendent Secondary Division International Sunday School Association
POINTS OF CAUTION!
The promoters of a Boys' Department in the Sunday school should not be too hasty in pushing the organization. There are certain facts to be kept in mind in effecting a workable, durable department.
1. The Boys' Department is merely one of the departments of the school, and nothing must be done that will cripple or weaken the remainder of the school. Where possible it is best to promote separate departments for teen age boys and girls at the same time. This will reduce opposition and achieve efficiency.
2. There is no use in trying to organize a Boys' Department, where there is no adequate meeting place. The value of a Boys' Department lies almost entirely in the unity produced by the worship of the opening and closing services and the discussion of departmental common affairs.
3. The Department cannot take the place of the Organized Class. Where it does, it is temporary, hurrah-in-character, inefficient and harmful. The Sunday school is educational in purpose. The Boys' Department must be likewise.
4. Nothing should be advocated or promoted in the Boys' Department that is not in accord with the Sunday school and Denominational policy. The Boys' Department is part of the Church.
Class Organization
The classes of the teen years should all be organized before any scheme for department organization is put in use. The Organized Class is based on the so-called "gang instinct," and is the unit of all organization.
Departmental Progressive Steps
The steps in organizing a Teen Age Boys' or Secondary Division Department should be:
1. Appointment of Teen Age Superintendent.
2. Every class organized according to Denominational and International Standard.
3. Two-session-a-week classes—Sunday and week-day.
4. Trained teachers.
5. Departmental organization.
Departmental Equipment
Separate Rooms
There should be separate assembly rooms or divisions for these departments where they meet apart from each other. There should also be separate rooms or screened-off places for the classes to meet.
Equipment
The outfit for the department and classes should include Bibles, tables, blackboards, charts, pictures, maps—including maps for mission study, also relief maps, mission curios, etc.
Promotions
Much should be made of promotions to and from the grades within the department. A certificate or diploma recognizing regular work should be granted on Promotion Day. Special work done is recognized by placing a seal upon the certificate. Promotion exercises should include some statement of the work accomplished.
Sunday School Spirit
In order to maintain a genuine spirit of Sunday school unity it is desirable to have the whole school meet together from time to time for the common tie and uplift of worship in the mass. The exercises of festival occasions also help to bring this about, and the common gatherings, regular or special, of the school, tend to magnify the united leadership of officers and teachers. These should never interfere with the work of instruction, the main objective of the school, but should supplement it. Departments should be made to feel their partnership in the Sunday school enterprise, and this may be brought about by the reading of the departmental and school minutes in each department. Continued emphasis should be placed on the oneness of the school—"All one body, we." Thus we may hope for Christian comradeship and loyalty.
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON BOYS' DEPARTMENT
Boys' Work Message.—(Men and Religion Movement) ($1.00).
Cope.—Efficiency in the Sunday School ($1.00).
Huse.—Boys' Department in Springvale, Maine (American Youth, February, 1911) (.20).
Stanley.—The Boys' Department in the Sunday School (American Youth, April, 1911) (.20).
Waite.—Boys' Department of the Sunday School (Free leaflet).
XII
INTER-SUNDAY SCHOOL EFFORT FOR BOYS
This volume so far has discussed nothing save the work among teen age boys in the local Sunday school, in Organized Class or Boys' Department. This is as it should be, "beginning at Jerusalem" and taking care first of the local school. To magnify the church and church school, however, in the eye of the boy and to make it his central interest or the center of his interests, it is necessary to view Sunday school effort in a larger way than the work of the local school. The Sunday school must become city-wide in its scope and effort. Common town-wide activity, such as outings, athletics, camps, entertainments, lectures, campaigns, etc., must be promoted jointly. Not only this, but the Christian boys of the community must be taught the democracy of Christianity and be led to work together in Christian service for each other and with each other for all the boys of the city. Something of this has been attempted in some places, but always under adult rule. Adult supervision—not rule—is always necessary. Thus city camps and Sunday school athletic leagues have flourished as adult effort for boys. That which is contemplated in the following two chapters is distinctly work by boys for boys in the Sunday school field. The need of adult help to organize and set things going is recognized as necessary, good and the proper thing. The value of the work will consist in the enlistment of the boys themselves and the participation in and direction of the proposed work by the boys. Boys are not as exclusive, limited or provincial as adults. Their interests are wider than the local church. The task is to couple those interests with the local church as the center of greater community-wide activity, and to direct them to effective service.
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON INTER-SUNDAY SCHOOL OR CHURCH WORK
Barbour (Editor).—Making Religion Efficient (Boys' Work Chapter) ($1.00). This volume also contains the Men and Religion Charts.
Boys' Work Message (Men and Religion Movement) ($1.00).
XIII
THE OLDER BOYS' CONFERENCE OR CONGRESS[8]
This is one of the best forms of Inter-Sunday school work for boys. If it is rightly handled, it will add much to the Christian enthusiasm of the older boys of the Sunday schools.
It is to be noticed, however, that it is an Older Boys' Conference. This means that the ages are to be confined to the stretch between fifteen and twenty years. Do not spoil your effort by "running in" boys under fifteen. Of course the younger boy is important, but the type of work accomplished in these conferences is beyond him and his presence will nearly neutralize your effort.
The aim of the conference should be, not merely to put new Christian enthusiasm into the older fellow, but to get him to talk over the problems of the Sunday school from his own point of view. Hundreds of these conferences have been held throughout the Continent, and scores of boys have been led into Christian service thereby. The discussion at these conferences is also most intelligent, being often above the grade of adult groups. The boy gets to know the Sunday school by talking about it, sees its problems, his own needs and the way to meet them. He likewise gets a new idea of his obligations.
It is to be noticed again that it is an Older Boys' Conference. This means that the boys themselves should direct the work of the Conference as much as possible, and that the Conference should be officered by boys. I have no sympathy with the men who cannot trust boys to do this work. It is largely due to a fear that the boy will grow conceited because of his new-found opportunity. It is due more, however, to the fear that the boy will act unwisely from an adult viewpoint. Both of these fears come from adult conceit and the inability to trust the boy. Such men should leave boys and boys' work severely alone.
It is to be noticed for the third time that it is an Older Boys' Conference. This means that the large part of the program and all the discussion should be by the boys themselves. No man should take part in the discussion save the man who leads it, and the future may also provide a boy for the leadership of the discussion. The writer in over a hundred conferences would allow no man to take part, as the aim of the conference was to make it a boys' conference. If men may dominate and intimidate the boy, better settle the matter in an adult group.
The officers of the Older Boys' Conference should be President, Vice-President (who in most cases should be Toast-Master at the Conference Banquet) and Secretary. There should also be a committee of three boys appointed by the President (who may be helped to this end) to report at the banquet session on the papers and discussions. In this way the summary of the conference is as the boy sees it. This is the aim of the conference.
Two ways are open for the election of the officers: by a Nominating Committee and in open conference from the floor. If a Nominating Committee is the method, no man should be present to suggest or dictate. The committee should, however, have the right to consult whomever they please, in order to get the information they may wish. The writer prefers the Open Conference Nominations from the floor. In over two hundred conferences he has never yet been disappointed in the choice of the boys.
The program should be distinctly a Sunday school one. The conference is in the interests of the Sunday school. Keep it to the purpose intended. Hundreds of good causes might be discussed, but the objective of the conference would be missed. Below are three different length programs used at different places. They may prove suggestive to those intending to conduct such meetings.
A. Afternoon and Evening Conference (One Day).
PROGRAM
TORONTO
BOYS' WORK CONFERENCE
December 31, 1912
Conference Theme:—Training and Service
St. James' Square Presbyterian Church, Gerrard St., between Yonge and Church Sts.
B. Saturday and Sunday Conferences (One and a Half Days).
PROGRAM
WICHITA OLDER BOYS' CONFERENCE
MEN AND RELIGION FORWARD MOVEMENT
Saturday, February 10