# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1947_S290
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

290 PARISH EDUCATION

for bringing the Word of God to children of unchurched parents
and for gaining such parents and their children for Christ. Lu-
therans should by all means avail themselves of the weekday pro-
gram wherever the public school authorities signify their willing-
ness to dismiss the pupils.

Church-Supported Religious Instruction in the Schools. — Re-
ligious instruction has been incorporated in the course of study
of the public school in scores of communities, especially in the
South. The program is entirely under the jurisdiction of the local
churches, the teachers being salaried and the study materials paid
for by the churches. Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and others are
granted the same privileges. Only those pupils are enrolled whose
parents desire religious instruction for their children. No em-
barrassment is created for pupils who continue their regular
studies while their fellow pupils attend the religious instruction
classes. Thus religious freedom is preserved for individuals of
every faith. There is likewise no expenditure of tax money for
the support of sectarian religion. The public school authorities
are simply extending to all churches without discrimination what
might be considered a special favor. And they do so in the in-
terest of the community. The State thereby acknowledges the
great influence the Church exerts in producing the type of charac-
ter that is so essential for the most effective functioning of civil
government. Lutherans need not hesitate to enter into an ar-
rangement of this kind, but they will have to avoid any practice
which would involve them in unionism.

Bible Reading Without Comment.— On the problem of Bible
reading without comment in the public schools, opinion is divided.
At the conventions of 1870 and 1871 our fathers took a stand in
favor of the practice. “It is to be regarded as a gracious providence
of God that the reading of the Bible in the public schools is still
permitted by law.” Again, “Where Lutherans can do so according
to the law, it is their duty to prevent the Bible from being banished
from the public schools.” (Theses XVI and XVII, Western Dis-
trict, 1871.) At the turn of the century there seems to have been
a shift toward the more rigid view that the practice of Bible read-
ing without comment should be frowned upon. Today some mem-
bers of Synod favor Bible reading while others oppose it, and still
others are either dubious about the practice, or take a neutral
stand. Of the three solutions (moral instruction, courses in re-
ligion, Bible reading) of the problem of secularization, we believe,
that Bible reading without comment is the safest solution, although,
like the others, it is only a partial solution. With respect to the
legal factor, the National Education Association says: “No State
constitution prohibits Bible reading in the public schools, and it is