# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1953_S196
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

196 ; PARISH EDUCATION

His Word is a blessing of His Spirit. The figure, however.
no cause for complacency. During the last five years pastoyy
the Missouri Synod have baptized annually some 60,000 to:
children. Accordingly, if we were working at 100-per-cen
tiveness, we could expect an increase in baptized membe
about 60,000 a year. This would markedly increase our St
school enrollment. New enlistments for Bible class or any-g
in the number of unchurched children we might bring int,
Sunday school would further increase our Sunday school enrg i

Gradually more and more Sunday schools are estah
a Nursery Roll for enrolling children from birth to age four. °
1,791 of the 4,498 Sunday schools reported having a Nurser
This was an increase of 267 over the previous year. The to
rollment of Nursery Rolls reached 70,000, a remarkable .g
But Synod could have at least four times as many infants regi
The value of the Nursery Roll lies not so much in the

and their parents by the Church. Contact and guidance .
vided by such materials as quarterly letters to parents,
folders, and Bible story leaflets for parents to teach in th
More and more three-year-olds are beginning to atte
day school in special Nursery classes, the enrollment
reached 20,000. The Board for Parish Education recogni
urgent need for a Nursery course correlated with the ‘
Christ” lessons and plans to prepare new Nursery class m
as soon as present production projects will allow the nece:
In the fall of 1951 an extensive revision of the Co:
Sunday School Lessons appeared as the “Life in Christ”
The former two-year course was simplified and extended ‘tgs
years on the upper levels. In the fall of 1953 the third of thay
year cycle of lessons will appear. Circulation figures indica’
use of the lessons outside the Missouri Synod. Suggestio:
the field are carefully weighed, and efforts are constantly
made to improve the materials.
Most Sunday schools still need more adequate facilitig
better use of teaching materials and expansion of enr
Graded opening procedures on at least two levels are con
as important as graded class teaching on the level of the:g
development. Some churches still fail to provide the. n
Bibles and tables for Bible-directed study by older childre
situation ought to be remedied at once if we are to do mo’
tell stories in our Sunday schools. ,
“Mission Story Talks for Children” are appearing in‘
mission magazine, the Mission Call, and colorful weekly ,