# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1947_S269
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

PARISH EDUCATION 269

Sunday Schools.

Present Status. During the past three years the Sunday school
has enjoyed a steady and healthy growth. 199 new Sunday schools
were founded, our enrollment increased by 21,834, and our teach-
ing staff by more than 6,000. This represents an average annual
gain of about 66 Sunday schools, 7,000 pupils, and 2,000 teachers.
At present we have a total of 4,030 Sunday schools, with an en-
rollment of 289,306, and 35,569 teachers. This is the largest Sun-
day school enrollment in our history. Comparative data for the

past triennium:
Teachers Pupils from

1943 5,337 3,889 268,797 29,630 29,846
1944... 5,240 4,015 279,411 33,501 34,322
1945... 5,803 4,051 290,166 35,612 30,353

The Sunday School as an Educational Institution. The Sunday
school has become the most widespread educational agency in our
Church. It is reaching more children of our Church than any
other agency, and for that reason the spiritual life of the congre-
gation will be determined in no small measure by the quality of
instruction and the general standard of the Sunday school. If the
Sunday school is to function effectively as an educational institu-
tion, it must reach all the children of the congregation who are
old enough to profit by religious instruction, and the attendance
should approximate the enrollment. Irregular attendance is still
one of the chief hindrances to thoroughness of instruction. There-
fore, all Sunday schools should put forth special efforts to build
up their attendance. Poor church attendance on the part of Sun-
day school pupils is another serious problem. The Sunday
school is not the children’s church. Yet the large number of
children who seldom remain for the morning service seems to
indicate that the Sunday school is being regarded by many as a
substitute for the worship service. We cannot expect our chil-
dren to be faithful in attending church when they grow up, un-
less we help them to form the habit when they are young. Not-
withstanding the handicaps under which the Sunday school is
laboring, its instructional program is improving, and the standard
is being raised.

The Sunday School as a Mission Agency. Our fathers char-
acterized the Sunday school as primarily a missionary agency,
established for the purpose of ministering to the children of un-
churched parents. But it is doubtful whether we have become
sufficiently aware of the missionary possibilities of this institu-
tion. Many Sunday schools report no accessions from without. In
view of the emphasis placed on evangelism during the past few