# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S1053
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

PARISH EDUCATION 355

even though it suffered from the agitation that was lately raised
against schools of its kind.

Statistics on these agencies for the past triennium show the

Vacation Bible Schools

Children of
Schools Pupils Non-Members .
969 45,287 14,426:
1,225 71,852 25,897
1,697 97, 272 32,957
Weekday (Released-Time) Classes
Congregations Children of
Participating Puplis : Non-Members
382 14,747 4,922
371 14,234 5,204
682 17,548 5,646
Saturday Schools
Children of
Schools Pupils Non-Members
654 12,857 1,203
559 10,443 1,498
780 15,803 1,641

The Saturday. Schools, Weekday Schools, and Vacation Bible
Schools, besides giving instruction to children who are already
E members of the Church, were instrumental in bringing many hun-
E dreds of boys and girls and men and women to the Savior. Their
f potentialities, however, both for Christian growth and for mission
= work have by no means been exhausted. For this reason, and in
view of the fact that 70 per cent of our children are entirely
5 dependent on our part-time agencies for religious instruction, the
. expansion and efficient use of them must be matters of our earnest
concern and prayerful consideration.

: The Board for Parish Education is happy to announce that the
‘three series of Vacation Bible School lesson materials which it
‘planned for use several years ago are now complete.

Confirmation Instruction

; The Superintendents’ Conference and the Educational Confer-
sence of the Board for Parish Education have explored the problem
of confirmation instruction and have recommended that: a manual
ton confirmation instruction be produced to give assistance in this
i, important field. It appears that the conditions which were revealed
5 in the study of confirmation practices made some years ago under
E the supervision of Vice-President Harms still obtain in our Church.
; There is a great variety in the standards set for confirmation
,.instruction, as to the length of time required, the number of class
,.hours a year, the age for confirmation, and the requirements: set