# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S241
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

| 272

PARISH EDUCATION

fore, likely to be considerably more than 300 a year. Nor will this .

be a temporary demand: All indications are that the school system
will rather grow than decline, even if the recent high birth Tate
were to level off. In any case, teacher production should Sreatly
‘increase, and this is not possible to the required extent with the
present facilities of River Forest and Seward.

The Fifty-Per-Cent-Enrollment Goal
The Board for Parish Education, as well as the District Boards,
are making supreme efforts to reach by 1972 the fifty-per-~cent-
school-enrollment goal set by Synod in 1947. Since this will mean
an expansion in relation to the growth of Synod, it calls for a growth
of our present school system to twice its size and for many more
than 300 new teachers each year up to 1972.

Non-Lutheran Children in School

During the year 1948, children heretofore unchurched and
from non-Synodical Conference churches accounted for 18.9 per
cent of the enrollment, while the same two classes of children in
our Sunday schools made up 17.2 per cent of the Sunday school
enrollment. At that, large numbers of children: were turned away
from the schools for lack of facilities, and the growing waiting
lists of numerous schools are a matter of grave concern. If we
were to open the school doors wide to non-Lutheran children and
establish more schools in our mission stations, the above-men-
tioned percentage would rise considerably.

New Teaching Materials for Schools

The production of teaching materials for schools during the
past triennium is indicated below.

Concordia Primary Religion Series (Grades 1—3): A Child’s
Garden of Bible Stories, by Arthur W. Gross, 1948; A Child’s
Garden of Song, by Theodore G. Stelzer, 1949; Workbook in
Primary Religion, Old Testament, Grade 1, by Dorothy Bangert,
1950; Workbook in Primary Religion, Old Testament, Grades 2

‘and 3, by Verona Bloedel, 1950; Teacher’s Manual, by Frank H.
Colba and Wm. A. Kramer, 1950. Two workbooks on the New
Testament, to be published in 1951, will complete the series.

The Lutheran One-Teacher School, edited by Wm. A. Kramer,
1949, deals with administration and instruction.

The Church Through the Ages, by S. J. Roth and Wm. A.
Kramer, 1949. A complete Church History textbook for Grades 6—8.

Treasury of Christian Literature, by Wm. A. Kramer and
Alfred Schmieding, 1949. Reader for Grades 7 and 8.

‘278

PARISH EDUCATION

aggaReligion in Lutheran Schools, edited by Wm. A. Kramer, 1949,
yt of.a Workshop in Religious Education (1949). Deals with
ie ives, content, use of the Bible, and methods.
suebeading Children into the Bible; edited by Allan Hart Jahs-
mann,. 1950. A result of the Workshop in Religious Education
(1949), intended for parents, pastors, and teachers.

‘School Reference Catalog, prepared annually, containing
recommendations of textbooks and materials for Lutheran schools.

Catechism Filmstrips on “The Ten Commandments” and “The
Apostles’ Creed” have been completed by the Committee on
Visualizing Luther’s Catechism. The plan is to cover the entire

Concordia Treble Series. Selections for children’s choirs for
the church year and special occasions. Upwards of 30 numbers
have so far been published. ,

Miscellaneous. Work is presently being done in science, Chris-
tian citizenship, the primary social studies, and on a manual for
Lutheran kindergartens.

In the production of all its materials the Board for Parish
Education seeks the advice of the teachers’ colleges and super-
intendents as well as of pastors and teachers in the field. In plan-
ning materials for instruction in Religion also the help of the pro-
fessors of Religious Education at the seminaries is sought.

Sunday Schools

Sunday School Growth. — Three years ago we reported the
largest enrollment in our history. The past triennium has witnessed
further growth. 147 new Sunday schools were established, our
enrollment increased by 52,000, and our staff of teachers and
officers by 10,000. The average annual gain was 50 Sunday schools,
17,000 pupils, and 3,300 teachers. At present we have a total of
4,237 Sunday schools, 361,947 pupils, and 46,130 teachers and officers.
The number of unchurched children enrolled in our Sunday schools
has also increased. Our enrollment has increased by 92,000 over
a period of ten years. For this steady growth we have reason to
thank God. Comparative data for the triennium:

Pupils
i
146 4.796 4,090 309,571 36,480 40,650
1947 __ 4876 4,156 334,783 42,613 42,141
148 a’74g 4,237 361,947 46,140 46,087

Sunday School Literature. — Since the fall of 1948 our editor
and assistant editor of Sunday school materials have made special
Studies toward a revision of our Sunday school lessons. The Board