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I hive entitied m, sermon today Conpistian aducition: Life Blood

of the Faith’ ) when we consider all that is involved that's quite a

3

——

stitemert to ke. | It is to say tnat the ver} exiStencs of Turtetianit,

woponds on training und edueation;)it's to say that without training--

or witham&k& poor sducntion Ghristianity will eeise tO exist; for an
organism doesn't live long without its life blood.

Probably no other zspect of the life of the contemporury Christian

Shurch nas undergone such close serutiny and radical change as the

aspect of teaching. | at present the sattus of Christian Education is

in constant flux, | Everyone has an opinion; ministers, professors,
——

theologians, denominational excutives--all are concerned because of a

ee

common conviction that if there is a soft underbelly of the modern faith

it is its practice of Education.

Anyone who is at all familiar with the struc ture of the United

Presbyterian Church knows that Christian Education is taken as seriously
as we know how. \ one of the five ma Jor Boards of our denomination, at the

National level, is the Board of ¢, a. \ This Bd . organizes and employs

—_—_—,

curriculum writers, artists, theologians, field personnel and operates

its own publishing house--Westminster Press. \ In the Synod of INdiana

three full-time field personnei are retained tio Supervise C. Ed. within

pred

re

the synod. \ the C, &. Commt. of Presbytery is one of the most erucial; ai

inevitably takes the longest amount of time to give ts report at meetings

TT

of the Presvytery.\ In the local Church C, a. is the sole responsiblity

of the Session and is to be given top prionity. | The changing significance

of the field is illustrated by the fact that churches large enough to

warrant the hiring of a seeond full time staff member, more and moe are

lgncring the asst. pator emphasis and hiring a full time DCE: 3 person

who is a specialist in the field and who usually owns the graduate MA.

ey

In our church the leadership of the C.E. program has traditionally

—————t

fallen on the Church School supe. Very recently we have formed a Session

Comt. of Ch, EG., chaired by an elder swith the thought that we want it

—_—_ d

known that responsibility for this job is not so@ely the superintendents,

or the teachers but the congregations,

We employ, and did employ even before the changeover, the UPC

school curriculum, [ t's title is significant (christian F ith and Life;

giclee

a program for church and Hone. ) But before we think abut it I want

to call your attention to samples of the curriculum we have placed on the
a eeniime |

table for your personal and inspection.

W. feel that the Christian F ith & LIfe curriculum is the best
offered by any denomination. | It is a total program; that is it begins
CN ieee cane eet

with our smallest youngsters, under three years of age and continues to tl

adult level. | It realizes, as many curricula, do not, that levels of com-

prehension vary greatly among children of diffierent ages. |x realizes

that you cannot explain the curcifixion of J.G., in the same trmms
Se enlaces }

to gr. Hi's and first graders. | It goes further; it assumes that threre
; a
are some aspects of the Faith that are yncomprehnsible to small chidren.

mele VI
jfinin the omelfixien ta a good Giteoteewewn | A few day s ago I joined

wet o ee
my children in the tv room; wren they were watching a story abat sheep.
| aT

oe

There was a famine and graphie pictues of starving, dying sheep

flashed on the sereen .| Needless to say this upset mq daughter to no end;

and the rest of the evening I found myself the target of an infinite
LSS

amount ques tion s (why did the lambs die daddy/?) why were they ee | How ¢

oe.

they die '-and so on.) Now perhaps some will disagree--but I don't think

my daughter is capable of comprehending the mystery of death, I dont

make a point of avoiding the subject; I answer her questins as frankly as

know how by drawing analogies she can understand. \ speaking out of purely

personal opinion--I don't want my daughter tobe told that Jeus died--

Bi
pg
like sheep .\ I don't want her told, quik yet, that she is saved by
penis rd

his blood; and that furthere more he wasn't dead very long, but rose

from the grave.

—

And so the curriculum deals with concepts the very young can handle

They know what love is; they've had first-hand experience with love since

they were born. | They are cultivating an every increasing knowledgeof

the world; trees, grass, sand, clouds bldkets, shoes. \ the curriclum

— es — a

therefore, uses whtsy the chidl knows; and ties love to God, and the thing:

the child can touen and feel and see to Gods love.\ My daughter doesn't

ees Ce God Wide he 44
know about the incgrnation, or attonement--but she knows that he loves

ne

he and that at meal time we tell him thank you for what he has given us.

The curriculum tools are here for you to see and I hope you will

take time sfter the service to look them over.

———
ee

is mot #fo you know i'm a dissatisfied young man; and one of the

areas in the church about which I am least satisfied is c.za. In fact, at

times, I am inclined to agree with Rv. H G0 Leinberger an official of

the UCC, when he said the greatest enemy ol the contemporary Christian

Faith is not Communism, or Seclarism, or Nationalism, or Athesism but the

Sunday School.\ I've already warned the teacher of the adit class that I
EE

was going to say that--and I know she will \isten to the reaminder of what

have to say. \ I hope the rest of you will indulge in some careful thought
coca,

too; for all of us have fond memories oi SS. We all can remember pleasant

ee
experiences--in fact the SS,like ice cream conés and the NY Yankees is
4 a —— yi

firmly bedded in Americana; and to oppose it ig to be practically

BObSERNX subversive,

In the Sth chapt. of Deut. we near: ("ana these words which I command

you this day shall be upon your heart; and you/shall teach them diligently
your children, nd shall talk of them when you sit in your ouse, and

when you walk by theway, and when you lie down and when you rise up.' .

a

Herein is the secret of the existence of Jdaism; "you Shall teach them

diligently to your chilaren.") Hundreds of relligons have been born and

have flourished and have slowly died away. \ Bit the faith of Israel,
— = —_———

beginning at the dwwn of recorded history and extedding across 33
ieee)

thousand years, into the present, has continued to retain its /

virttity.\\ sudaism has faced and been conquered by Egyptians, Assyratans
—_—_— «reared

Babylonians, Persians, Romans, and Germans and still it Lises. \ the

——

answer is found in two places; in the psychology of personality developme

and in this small verse--and it is the same answer .\ Personality pshcho.
amma ene
informs us that the mot powerful force in an @merging person--i§ the fami

Imprinted indelibely in a young mind are habits, ideas, likes, dislikes,

prejudices and beliefs of a femity. \ ois modern truth has been knowsn
peri

and used for centureies by Jddaism; its best illustration is the Jewish

family at worship, perforing ancient acts of liturgy around the family

fable--with the fatal -as teacer and priest.

The \meriean Sunday School, on the other hand, has created a mentali:
that denies this profound truth.
The Sunday School came about as a necessity: it filled a serious need

in frontier communities where public education was not yet established:

it was born in an era that saw religion pushed out of public education.

The history of the American S.S. Movement is fascinating to read.) Shortly
eee a

after its inception it beBan to move away from the mainstream of the chure

Sunday schols banded together in Unions: and became the sole means <immm of

religious expression for both young and o14.\s.s. Leaders stood in defiance

a,

tin of the church: and at times even refused emem to allow clergymen to

have anything to do with the operation of the schaois.\ Time is forcing me

to geaeralize: but it can be said that the independent S.S. mogement

built up around it a 8.8. mentality: A mentality that wrenched Christian

Education away from thw church: and worse yet away from the femity. \at

present we live in the backwash of that unfortubate movement: S.S, is stil

for womenr and children: for many S.S. is a substitute for the church: and
es

sh

most serious of all - sending the kids off tu on Sunday morning has

replaced any serious atempt to come to grips with Chritinity as a living

faith that has its beginning in the root of civilization- in the family.

The united Presbyterian CMurch is trying to drastically reform a

whole nentality.\we begin by calling our SS for ehureh anc

hone. hod yet the battle must be fought against impossible oaas.\ the lesson

a

books here displayed are written for parents and teachers: the whole prograr

= ae

depend on parents spending time with theese children going over the home

naveria1 | put our e8perience has been that when we buy the material and

deliver it to the door and explain how it is to be used it sta@ll ends up

ino]

— ee eee

in the waste g8gZ% basket. \rot long ago one of our teachers asked a little g:

if her mother read the paper that is senf home every other or Hook, on telling
f — Bias Ong

reply was:{"No, she just throws it in~tie—waebe-beelest . / We have had such

—

an absolute lack of even minimal concern that we stopped sending the lesson

books home, rather than waste your money.

Our record in adult educatim is not much better. \our recent discussion

group brought out six people: and at the final session there were two.| Now

I'm grateful for the opportunity to talk with one person about Christianity:
|

I'm grateful to those six for giving their time: my ego is not damaged when

programs rain | put I wonder -if out of 116 people, only six wish to learn

od

more about their faith,

I firmly believe that until we put Christian Education back where it ot

longs - in the tamily:\antil1 we allow our teachers the minimum luxury of

———

knowing they are working with and not against parents:\until we rid ourselve
eS ee

a ey Speers,

of the absurd notion that Christian Education is) for the young and stops at
i: i ai aera:

18:\uneia we, the congregation of this church, come to grips with the trutt

that Chrsitian Education is the task of every Christiab and the ery E08

blood of the church: we might as well take this table full of materials out

and burn it: or more —— and economically not buy it in the first place

The problem within the church is matched by an even gmmter one int the cultu
oe

We know that Christianity is best taught and passed along within the family.
And at ther same time we have to acknowledge the vast and rapid chabge of s:
the family has undergone in the past 100° years,

James Smart, a leading Christian Educator, has said that the traditiona
que by OK,

functions of the American family hage been ®peeled away, like layers from an

te

fpr its separate inhabitants | The family leaves in the morning, each going

his separate way, eats the evening meal tog&ther , again disperses in
ae eealiet oan

different directions and retirns only to retire for the night | at very best

a

it& sits down together betore the television set: which is essentially
—— —— ie

no differnt from spending the evening in a movie theater. \this is’ not to

eee ad

call the situation good or bad: it is just a statement of fact.- A fact

Se

ee |
of contemporary life that we must consider Weg opn't expect families to be

something modern life makes it impossible for them to be \ We have to work
ed ese

kké@ with what we are given.\And so we must gry to recreate certain aspects

a
nner

of fami;y .life th#t elude us. \to be a fathily today takes an effort: it no

logér is part and parcel of the American way of ue | sna to do an effective

job of Christian nuture takes alot of effort.

What responsibility do parents have for the Christian nuture of their
eeeiememneme

dniieveni’ x what degree are parents responsible for the ultimate spiritual
. a LT

stance of their oF teortnat A passage from Cleridge points the nay: (read
the passage. “ae

Soemwhere along the line we have been victimgzed by the notion that

children should discover and chooee their own reli ion} that we should not
SS

enforce our be 1iۤ upon them.\In certain circles this is a sign of true
i)

liberality and up -to -datedness . \ynat it really is, however, is a parent

tacitly admitting ("Christianity isn't all that important to me: certaimly

6 See

not imgortant enought to see that my children become cheistians.\ ut it

is a rare father who does not see that his child believes in Democrarcy

— ee

4nd not communism: \1t is a rare parent who relegates brushing teeth to the
SY

child's discretion:\it is a rare parent who allows his child freedom of
certian perianal
choice when the school bus pulls up to the corner: in fact, it is a rare

parent who dosen't foist his polttics, tatse in food, cars, and whole

wtyle of life on his children: \and yet I have found it to be a rare

parent who feels at all responsible for his child?s relg@ious nuture:

Gnterestea? ves: but ees the responsibility for getkkng it Baek dome? —

—— ee

that belongs to someone else.

fiday is Christian Education Sunday: but Christian Edua&ion is a day

by day task. |rt happens here in the church, only when it is an ongoing
process in the Some et us not fall victim to the assumtion that the S.S.
teacher c@mm do the job alone: that when we promised to bring our children

and
up in the nuture or admonition of the Lord, or as a Congregtion promised

to be ( tne ehild's sponsor to the end that he might confess Jesus Christ

as his Lord and Savior" \hat menat leaving the job to a teacher, one hour

a week. \ Let us not fall vietim to the assumtion that Christian Education

is for the young and doesn't concernus us Mmmm after we have reached the

oe

age of adulthood.

e
ff Let us see Christian Education as the very Life Blood of the Chrostiav

Faith: Let is join hands and teach our children - and teach each other.