# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S1050
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

852 ; PARISH EDUCATION

is‘ aware of the ‘tremendous responsibility of providing for sq: large #
a constituency of pupils and teachers study materials that. are.%
doctrinally sound and pedagogically effective. A Sunday School:
Curriculum Conference was held in February, 1949, for the purpose “#
of canvassing the best thinking relative to the course of ‘study for #
the Sunday school. While pastors and teachers are generally 4
appreciative of the present materials, the editors believe that x
a greater variety of materials is desirable and that efforts should :#
be made constantly to provide materials that are more closely
suited to the needs of the Church as these needs emerge.

A 500,000 Enrollment Anticipated. — Our Sunday school has
experienced a normal growth, as comparative data reveal. Never-
theless, a much larger enrollment is possible. We have, therefore,
proposed to our Sunday schools an immediate goal of 500,000, as
an incentive to the local Sunday school to take advantage of the
opportunities it has for increasing its enrollment. We can, under
God, attain the goal within two years if we proceed as follows:
(1) Through child accounting reach all children past three years
of age that ought to be in Sunday school and induce the parents
to enroll them; (2) build up the enrollment of existing Bible
classes and organize new Bible classes; (3) intensify the program
of evangelism and thus reach and win some of America’s un:
churched millions for Christ. If every Sunday school availed itself
of only one of these possibilities, our enrollment would increase
materially.

A Unified Program of Christian Education. — Building up
a large enrollment is not an end in itself. Simultaneously with the
expansion of the Sunday school there must be inner spiritual
growth. The Lutheran Church properly lays much emphasis on
confirmation instruction, but unfortunately confirmation has come
to be regarded as terminal. Parents think of it as graduation from
the formal instructional agencies of the Church. This erroneous
view must be corrected. Confirmation instruction is but the
foundation on which the newly confirmed and all communicant
members of the Church are to build. Most congregations con-
centrate on one age level, usually the elementary level, and
neglect other levels. If we are to have intelligent and well-indoc-
trinated members, we shall have to provide an instructional
program for children, for adolescents, for young people, and for >
adults. Since Sunday is the day that can be best utilized to this
end, we should make the most of it. The ideal to strive for should
be: “The whole Church at school; the whole Church at worship.”
The 1949 Educational Conference resolved: “That we make Synod
aware of the huge losses of youth to Bible study in the critical