A Brief History of The Sunday School of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Frederick, Maryland By Francis Reinberger

Preface This brief history is prepared to honor the founder of our Sunday Church School, the Reverend Doctor David Frederick Schaeffer, and to pay tribute to all the men and women who, with devotion and love, have served as the officers and teachers of the Sunday Church School. Obviously, no attempt is made here to be exhaustive; that task will await the future historian. The writer is pleased to acknowledge his indebtedness to the late Abdel Ross Wentz, the author of The Lutheran Church of Frederick Maryland, 1738 – 1938. Where possible, the records of the Mathenian Association (1820- 1837) and later the Sunday School were examined. Included here as an appendix is the address of the writer on the occasion of the 160th Anniversary celebration of the Sunday Church School, held on April 20, 1980. Any errors in the following belong solely to the writer, who welcomes any corrections.

1. A School is Born “At a meeting of Gentlemen favorable to the establishment of a Lutheran Sunday school in Fredericktown held on Saturday evening, September the sixteenth in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty…” So began the records of the Sunday School of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Frederick Maryland, one of the oldest institutions of this kind in Western Maryland, perhaps in the entire state.

This meeting of Christian “Gentlemen” – one wonders why ladies were not included—led to the formation of the Mathenian Association, a name testifying to the scholarship of the guiding spirit of the new institution, the Reverend David Frederick Schaeffer, the pioneering pastor of the Frederick Church.

The term “Mathenian” was taken from the Greed mathētēs, meaning “learner” or “pupil.” (A disciple of Jesus was a mathētēs.) The new school retained this name until 1837, when it was changed to the Evangelical Lutheran Sunday School Association of Frederick City.

This event took place just forty years after Robert Raikes had established the first Sunday School in Christian history in 1780 in the city of Gloucester, England. The purposes to be served by the Mathenian Association were very similar to those of Robert Raikes. Let its first constitution speak for itself:

“The object of this association shall be to instruct children to read, to improve their morals and contribute everything possible to make them useful members of society and the blessed children of our heavenly Father and to obtain in some degree the object in view particular attention shall be paid to religious instruction according to the holy scriptures and the catechism of the Lutheran Church.”

The school met in the beautiful gray limestone church of the Lutheran congregation, which had replaced the log church in 1762 on the spot where the present parsonage stands. The larger part of the old stone church still stands as the rear portion of the present church building, housing Trunk Memorial Hall and choir rooms. Each Sunday afternoon the session of the Mathenian Association “opened and closed with singing and prayer.”

The boys and girls of the congregation and community who were enrolled in the school were grouped into classes according to their ability to read and spell. These groups were broken down into sections of six, each with a teacher,

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who was appointed for a term of six weeks. Those students who could not read were taught the letters of the alphabet, then reading and spelling. Those who could read were expected to memorize portions of scripture, verses of hymns, and answers to the catechism of the Lutheran Church.

The schedule for the classes was laid out with definite order. After the opening of school with singing and prayer, the classes met with the teacher first hearing the memory work of the boys and girls. After this the students read one or two chapters of scripture which the teacher then explained to give moral and spiritual instruction.

The exercise of discipline in the school must have held a high priority. Teachers were instructed to keep strict order. Students were not permitted to leave their seats “more than once during school except in a case of great necessity.” If students broke this rule, they were not allowed to stand by the stove after recess in cold weather. An example of the regulations governing the Mathenian Association is the following, taken from the Record for September 8, 1821.

“The committee (i.e., the Committee on Superintendance) being desirous that the church and surrounding premises may not sustain any injury in consequence of the school being held therein have adopted the following regulations to be strictly and rigidly enforced…

The children shall on the opening of the church or as soon thereafter as they may attend take their respective seats and observe silence and order until taken charge of by the teacher.

It shall be the duty of the teachers to command the scholars of their respective sections not to injure the pews by scratching or soiling them in any manner, under the penalty of forfeiting one blue ticket.”

“What blue tickets?”, the reader will ask. For a long period of its history the Mathenian Association, later the Evangelical Lutheran Sunday School Association, used a system of rewards and punishments. According to its revised Constitution of 1837, the following schedule of rewards was practiced: one blue ticket for attendance; one blue ticket for good behavior; one blue ticket for memorizing a hymn or six verses from the Bible; two blue tickets for memorizing page of the Catechism. Six blue tickets could be exchanged for one red ticket. These could be used to “buy” books, Bibles, testaments, and hymn-books. It must have required quite a clerical system.

The government of the school was in charge of a “Committee of Superintendance” (sic!), consisting of the officers and six additional men. These persons managed the school in all respects. Taking turns they also served as the weekly moderators, opening and closing the school, maintaining its discipline, and overseeing its instruction. Even within this government strict discipline was exercised. On December 9, 1821, “Jacob Hart was fined twelve and a half cents for neglect of duty as moderator in August last.” Two years later the fine for a neglectful moderator was increased to twenty-five cents.

The progress of the school was steady and must have been gratifying. The first annual report, delivered in 1821, showed that during the first year twenty nine boys and twenty five girls had memorized 30,462 bible verses, hymn verses, and answers to the Catechism. Three years later 263 students were enrolled, who memorized 71,206 verses.

Around the same time as the establishment of the Mathenian Association in Frederick, the few Sunday Schools already in existence in the cities of the Easter seaboard—Boston, New York, Philadelphia,--acted to form the Philadelphia Sunday and Adult School Union. On March 24, 1821 the Lutheran School in Frederick applied for membership in the Union and was admitted. For many years thereafter, the local school secured its study materials, books, tracts Bibles, and hymnbooks from the Union. These items were shipped by boat from Philadelphia to Baltimore and hauled by wagon to Frederick.

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The success of the Lutheran School soon caused other churches in Frederick County to establish similar schools. Two years after its founding the German Reformed Church founded a Sunday School. By 1824 enough Sunday Schools operated in the County to ally the formation of the Frederick County Sunday School Union, which the Mathenian Association joined, leaving to lapse its membership in the Sunday School Union (the old Philadelphia Union).

With the passing of the years a wise policy was adopted by the Committee on Superintendance to assure the school of a supply of teachers. Urged on by the growth of the school and the limitations of space, the Committee determined that when girls reached twelve years of age, and boys fourteen years, and had attained proficiency in the subject matter, they were “dismissed as scholars and reserved as teachers.” Thus, by 1828 nearly the whole of the teaching force of the Mathenian Association had been students in the school.

The leadership of the Association never stopped seeking ways to increase the benefits of the school. In 1826 it established a Library Association “in order to secure to the rising generation of this city the blessing derived from the perusal of good and valuable books…” Each year certain monies were appropriated for the purchase of additional volumes, while a special committee was given the responsibility for making a careful selection of the titles to be added to the growing collection.

Not all was joy in the progress of the school. In that day of less developed medical and sanitary methods there were occasional outbreaks of disease. Inevitably death entered the circle of the Mathenian Association. It happened first less than a year after the school opened. A lovely, bright young girl was taken mortally ill. Parents, Pastor, and physicians had to look on helplessly while the fever drained away her life. After her death, the entire Sunday School moved in sad procession from the old stone church to accompany their young friend to her resting-place in the churchyard.

Thus the beginning years passed, and all were gratified by the achievements of the Sunday School. Dr. George Diehl, a later pastor of Evangelical Lutheran Church, summarized the feelings of all in an address at the fiftieth anniversary of the Sunday School in 1870: “They believe that much good has been accomplished. The teachers have in the main been faithful, and the scholars diligent. The friends of religion have good reason to rejoice in the results of their labors.” And so the school passed to the second phase of its life.

2. Expansion and Growth The first stage in the pilgrimage of the Sunday School of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Frederick ended abruptly in May 1837, with the unhappy death of Pastor David Frederick Schaeffer, the founder of the school.

In the latter years of his life Pastor Schaeffer had fallen victim to an unfortunate disease which too often strikes those who have given themselves tirelessly to their work over a period of time. He tried to resign his office, but his people, out of deep affection for him, refused to let him go. He became “a burnt out case”, emptied of all strength of body, will, and spirit. Three months after the passing of his beloved wife, he died at the age of fifty. Eventually his remains were interred in Frederick’s Mount Olivet Cemetery.

His works are solidly grounded in the Gospel of Christ, and they live after him to this day, giving honor and glory to his Lord and Saviour. He was the founder of a theological seminary, a synod of the Lutheran Church, and a national Lutheran body. He was the editor of the first Lutheran paper in the world in English. He was a true son of Luther. His faithfulness to that Reformation heritage is seen in the fact that Luther’s Small Catechism was a text, along with the Bible in his infant Sunday School.

Dr. George Diehl, Schaeffer’s successor as pastor of Evangelical Lutheran Church (1851-1887), was correct when, in his “Historical Discourse” delivered in 1870 at the fiftieth Anniversary of the Sunday School, he declared: “Not Raikes of England but Luther of Germany should be considered the founder of this institution. The great Reformer directed

3 pastors to gather the children of the church into a catechetical Sunday School and on the Lord’s day instill into their youthful minds the doctrines of the gospel.” This Dr. Schaeffer had done. Now he was gone, but his work lived after him.

Very soon a new pastor appeared on the scene, the Reverend Simon W. Harkey. At his suggestion significant changes were made in the life of the church and its school. Later in 1837 a new constitution was adopted for the school. Two major changes were made. For one, the name of the school was changed from the Mathenian Association to the Evangelical Lutheran Sunday School Association of Frederick City. The second major change was to substitute a Board of Managers to oversee the Sunday School for the former Committee on Superintendance. This Board of Managers continued to govern the school from 1837 until 1966 when the Sunday School came into the jurisdiction of the Church Council, directly answerable to the congregation.

The new constitution continued the use of the famous “blue tickets”. “Article XII – Rewards” set forth that children would receive one blue ticket for attendance, good behavior, the memorization of hymns, six Bible verses, two blue tickets for the memorization of a page of the Catechism. Six blue tickets could be exchanged for one red ticket. Boys and girls could exchange the red tickets for Bibles, hymnbooks, and other religious books.

Pastor Harkey possessed a strong interest in evangelism. This was demonstrated in a number of ways. In April, 1842, fourteen ladies were selected to evangelize the city, seeking new students for the Sunday School. Two were appointed to each ward of the city, and these went door-to-door to homes with children who attended no Sunday School. If it were found that children had no suitable clothing in which to come to school, the attempt was made to meet this need.

In the annual report of January, 1844, Pastor Harkey expressed concern over parents who lack interest in the religious instruction of their children. He strongly noted the decrease in attendance at Sunday School. During these years Pastor Harkey also led in the formation of a Nursery School for the youngest children, a Juvenile Temperance Society, and a Missionary Society, all integrated into the Sunday School.

Pastor Harkey was a man of zeal, with a spirit both evangelistic and missionary. So we ought not be surprised that, after giving thirteen years of dedicated service to the Frederick congregation, he left, in 1850, to continue his ministry in the Midwest, still a part of the American Frontier, where he helped establish a Lutheran College and several congregations.

His successor in Frederick was the Reverend George Diehl, who came in 1851 from Easton, Pennsylvania. His pastorate turned out to be the longest in the long life of Evangelical Lutheran Church – thirty six and on half years. It was also one of the most significant. It was obvious by this time that the congregation had outgrown “the old stone Church,” occupied since 1758. In October, 1853, accepting the recommendations of Pastor Diehl, the congregation authorized the building of a new church edifice. A Baltimore firm of architects, Niernsic and Neilson, was retained, and, after intensive study, the decision was made to adopt the Norman Gothic style of architecture for the new building.

The congregation approved the final design in June, 1854, and work began. The building committee of John Loats, John Hanshew, Michael Keefer, Lewis F. Coopersmith, and George Smith was instructed to keep the cost of the project under $14,000. As it turned out, the final cost, including furnishings, was $21,000. Today in 1980, the building is valued at one and three quarters million dollars.

During the eighteen months of construction the congregation worshipped in the Methodist and Reformed Churches, while the Sunday School met in the Masonic Hall. At last, on the second Sunday in December, 1855, the new “Temple with Twin Towers” on East Church Street was dedicated – Gloria Deo. All Frederick rejoiced over the addition of this jewel of beauty and dignity to the growing town.

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The building of the new Church meant a significant change for the Sunday School. Soon after the dedication extensive work was carried out on what remained of the “old Church,” which had been turned over to the use of the Sunday School. A second story was added by building a floor between the old balconies. When this work was completed the first floor was occupied by the Adult School, and the Infant School met in the new second floor. Shortly, however, even this additional space was not enough to accommodate the growing school. Thus, in 1867, it was decided to remove the west wall of the old church and build to the property line. In this way 1326 square feet of space were added to each floor.

The long pastorate of Dr. Diehl ended in 1887. The following year the Evangelical Lutheran congregation called as its pastor Dr. Luther Kuhlman. He was a splendid preacher, and both he and his wife, a former school teacher, were dedicated to the nurture of youth. Shortly after their arrival, Dr. Kuhlman agreed to be appointed superintendent of the Adult School while Mrs. Kuhlman became the superintendent of the Infant School. Under their leadership the Sunday School prospered, growing even larger in numbers and in quality until it became one of the largest and finest in the country.

Indeed, the Sunday School grew so remarkably under the Kuhlmans, that in a few years the Church Council was coerced virtually into considering the idea for the construction of a new building for the Sunday School. Two proposals were laid before “the fathers of the Church”: one was an addition to the existing church building; the other called for a separate structure facing on Second Street. The final choice was the Second Street plan of a York, Pennsylvania, architect, J.A. Dempwolf. The cornerstone for the new building was laid in June, 1890, and the new Sunday School Chapel was dedicated in September, 1891. It is interesting to note that in these closing decades of the twentieth century the property of Evangelical Lutheran Church consists of five buildings clustered around a lovely church garden, but the Sunday School building, now named the Schaeffer Center, for the founder of the Sunday School, remains the youngest of them all. The variety of architectural styles to be seen adds a special charm to the “campus.”

During the decades that followed the dedication of the new Sunday School chapel the growth of the school continued at a remarkable rate. Before too many years into the new century of the 1900’s, it became evident that more space would be needed. Thus, by the end of the first quarter of the twentieth century two additions had been made to the Sunday School Building. In 1912 a large room at the north end brought the building line to the sidewalk, and a wing was added to the east. Then in 1925 a wing was added to the west side. It should also be noted that shortly after the original construction, by a gift from Mr. G.A. Markell, a square tower was added to the west front. With these additions the spacious building attained the limits of its present appearance.

Through the 1930’s the life of the Sunday School was marked by continued growth, increased departmentalization, and the rising influence of the Lutheran tradition. Enrollment reached its peak in these years. In 1930 officers, teachers, and students numbered 1067. In 1932 the average attendance was 848. The Adult School and the Infant School of earlier years were divided into small age groupings: Beginners Department, Junior Department, etc., more closely corresponding to public school grading categories. At the same time the Sunday School became more “Lutheran.” All departments used Lutheran curricular materials. In 1932, during the pastorate of Dr. Amos John Traver, the name of the school was changed to the Sunday Church School, according to a recommendation of the United Lutheran Church in America.

3. Decline, But Still Confident One could only wish that the story of the Evangelical Lutheran Sunday Church School could have continued past the 1930’s to have been such a happy account of growth and progress. The writer of history, however, is compelled to write “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” The truth, therefore, is that the Lutheran Sunday Church School in Frederick reflected the social changes in the United States in 1940-1980.

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In 1938 the Evangelical Lutheran Church celebrated its two hundredth anniversary. It was a joyous occasion, led by the pastor, Dr. Amos John Traver, in which was marked the rich tradition of this great congregation. Especially noteworthy on this occasion was the publication of the history of The Lutheran Church of Frederick, Maryland, written by Dr. Abdel Ross Wentz, Professor of Church History at the Gettysburg Lutheran Theological Seminary.

Even amidst the joyousness of the celebration, the observer of the world scene had to be aware of the ominous gathering of the war-clouds overseas. Soon thereafter the lights went out in Europe as the thunder of World War II rumbled abroad. Then, Pearl Harbor. The conflict had laid hold of the United States. As during World War I, so the Sunday School was affected by this world conflagration. Its young men responded to the “Greetings” from the Commander-in-Chief, the President of the United States, and went to war.

The end of the war brought the beginning of an era of social change in the United States which has not yet come to an end. Nationwide there were the signs of a religious revival. Thousands of new congregations were established, spending billions of dollars in new church construction. Evangelistic movements were started, such as the crusade of Dr. Billy Graham. The role of laypeople in the Church was given enthusiastic emphasis. “Peace of Mind” and “Positive Thinking” were favorite theses in pulpit and religious books.

At the same time, however, the real climate of the times was the secularization of society, the clamoring and the grasping for the things of the world. There was the mass movement to the new suburbs with its barbeques and power mowers and “two cards in every garage.” The dream of every American to own a home was on the way to fulfilment, complete with mortgage and credit cards. Television, with its forest of antennae, was on its way to becoming the dominant force in the formation of the American mind and life-style. The use of leisure time became a popular preoccupation and bid business. Decisions of the Supreme Court opened the door to social movements, including the civil rights movement and prohibition of religion in any form in the public schools. The way was open for the “Me- Generation” to rise and flourish.

The veneer of religious revival was soon to wear away in the ‘60s. In the new decade varying factors induced a drastic falling away from the church. The fear for personal safety caused by increasing violence, American’s “Love for the automobile” and addiction to television, the growth of so-called “sexual freedom,” the consuming desire for the gratification of personal desires and appetites, the movements of social activism that became quasi-religious in effect: all these helped to fulfill the prediction of an earlier scholar of a “religionless Christianity.” “I can be a Christian without the Church,” was the theme.

The effect of all this upon the Sunday School was almost immediately apparent, and it continues without abatement. Parents saw less need for the religious training of their children, using the excuse, “My parents made me go to Sunday School; we’re going to let our children decide for themselves.” The result was typified by the statistics for the Sunday Schools of the Maryland Synod of the Lutheran Church in America. Between 1964 and 1978 the Sunday School enrollment declined from 48,000 to 18,000. A reversal of this trend does not appear on the horizon.

The Sunday School of Evangelical Lutheran Church followed this same downward curve. From an enrollment of nearly eleven hundred in 1938, the figure has fallen in forty years to less than half that number. The decline is most noticeable among youth and adults. Not only was the decline of the Sunday Church School reflected in enrollment and attendance, but also in the neglect of the “Old Sunday School Building” on Second Street. The floors had become splintered, the walls dull and shabby, the folding doors unworkable. It was obvious to all that something had to be done with it.

At first, opinion seemed to favor tearing down the building. Someone, however, suggested that this would be unfortunate. It is, after all, a fine example of late nineteenth century architecture and an important part of the visual

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history of Frederick. The decision, therefore, was made to renovate the building to make it useful not only for religious education, but also for programs of community service.

The architectural firm of C.F. Bowers was retained, and the general contractor was Floyd L. Culler, Inc. The work of renovation was completed in 1970 at a cost of approximately $300,000. When the new, old building was rededicated, it was renamed the Schaeffer Center for Education and Community Service. Thus the congregation honored the found of the Sunday School, Dr. David F. Schaeffer. True to its decision, in the ten years since its rededication, the congregation has sponsored in the Schaeffer Center varying programs designed for the community: a therapeutic kindergarten, a literacy program, 4-H Club training programs, Parent Effectiveness Training courses, special adult courses in religion and psychology, et.al. At the time of this writing the congregation is in the planning stage for the development of a Family Life Center, to offer programs of education, counseling, and recreation to the community. This will be housed in the Schaeffer Center.

At the 160th Anniversary of Evangelical Lutheran Sunday Church School, held on April 20, 1980, it was said that Dr. Schaeffer had a vital purpose in establishing the School in 1820: “to provide for the young people training for living through the teaching of reading, of improvement in morals and ethics, of a knowledge of the substance and message of the Holy Scriptures.” Certainly this goal is still to be achieved in the closing decades of the current century, especially in the latter two categories. Hence, the need for the Sunday Church School and its work still exist. This writer is confident that the eventual revival of the Sunday School will occur, when it is understood once again that men, women, children, and youth need to know God and to hold Him at the center of life. Gloria Deo.

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APPENDIX

“The Church and Education”

This is a day for remembrance and resolution, a look backward and a look forward. This is the purpose of every anniversary. This celebration is dedicated to the glory of God and to the honor of two men, Robert Raikes and David Frederick Schaeffer. While their names are not exactly household words, still their influence upon countless host of people has been profound.

It was in 1780 that Robert Raikes established the first Sunday School in the tenement district of the West-central English city of Gloucester. Forty years later, in 1820, the Reverend Mr. Schaeffer, pastor of Frederick’s Lutheran Church, gathered together a small group of laymen on Saturday evening in the old stone church, which is now Trunk Hall. The result of the discussion that evening was the establishment of the first Sunday School in the town of Frederick and one of the first in the state of Maryland.

In achieving these historical ‘firsts’, both men, I have no doubt, would have modestly stated that they were but carrying on a long tradition in the history of man. Raikes and Schaeffer had a common purpose: To provide for young people training for living through the teaching of reading, of improvement in morals and ethics, of a knowledge of the substance and message of the Holy Scriptures.

Yes, in the beginning our Sunday School taught boys and girls to read. You must remember that public school education for all children and youth did not develop until quite a few years after the work of our Sunday School was begun. It is interesting that our church once again, in working with the Literacy Council of Frederick County, is again teaching people to read.

Throughout the written history of mankind education has been delegated to the organized religions of man. This has been true especially with the Judeo-Christian religions. When Moses gave to Israel the Law of God, summarized in the Ten Commandments, he declared to the Hebrews, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words…shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children…”

From Judaism this obligation to give “training for living” passed quite naturally to the Christian Church, beginning with our Lord Jesus Himself. At the very beginning of his ministry Matthew tells us, “and when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preached in their cities.”

Following the example of our Lord, the Apostles continued to teach, and so has the Church through all its twenty centuries. Indeed, there were times during these 2000 years when the lamp of learning would have gone out in Europe had it not been for the priests of the Church. During the Dark Ages in 800 A.D., it was men like Alcuin, teacher of Charlemagne, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, who kept education alive. Somewhat later Irish priests, trained by St. Columba on the Scottish island of Iona, established the first schools in Europe.

The earliest universities in Europe were founded by the Church. The University of Cambridge, in England was founded in 1289 by monastic orders to train priests and teachers for the monasteries of the Church. In our own country the first colleges were church-related. The oldest, Harvard, was built to give training in Christian Living. Dickinson College, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, of which Mrs. Reinberger and I are alumni, the 11th oldest college in America and the oldest west of the Susquehanna River, was founded for the same purpose, and to train ministers for the Methodist Church.

Thus the Sunday School, including our own, is the continuation of a very long and important purpose for the Christian Church. The lives of most, if not all, of us have been touched by the Sunday School. In its classes we learned not only 8

the stories of the Bible, but also the principles for right living with God and man. These principles established the values which have motivated our lives. We learned, from the sacred writings of our Judeo-Christian faith, that love is better than hate, that truth is stronger than falsehood, that faith in God can create trust between human beings.

I shake my head perplexedly over the heated discussion and debate going on in education circles whether or not values should be taught in the public schools. I ask myself, has not the teaching of values been a purpose and a responsibility of education since the beginning of recorded time? I shall never forget the words of my great teacher, the internationally famed scholar, William Foxwell Albright of the Johns Hopkins University; he used to say to us students, “Gentlemen, be honest with yourselves and with the facts.” Is that not the teaching of values?

Or read the Dialogues of Plato, the great Greek philosopher and one of the greatest of teachers. His Dialogues are conversations with his students in his Academy in ancient Athens, and they are filled with his counsel on life’s values.

I do not exaggerate when I advance the claim that the greatness of western civilization has been built on the great Judeo-Christian values-beauty, truth, love, freedom, justice, and the others-which have been passed down from one generation to another, from one culture to another, from one nation to another by the teaching of home, church, school, and university.

The reverse of this claim is equally true: when these values of the Judeo-Christian faith are not taught, barbarism is the result. The Germany of the Nazi era is example enough that this can happen even in our own day. And do not delude yourselves into thinking that it cannot happen here, in our own country. Our nation may have the world’s highest standard of living, but that, in itself, cannot save us from barbaric behavior. What do you call the violence, the dishonesty, the sexual promiscuity, the irresponsible productions of television and motion picture, the absence of positive control in economics and government-what is all this if not the symptoms of encroaching barbarism?

To counter these tendencies in society requires nothing so much as the recovery of discipline. I would remind you that the words “education” and “discipline” are practically synonymous. They both meaning training, learning. We adults have no more important tasks than that of helping the young to grown toward maturity in adulthood, adults whose lives are directed by Christian values. Such an adult is a self-disciplined person. But self-discipline is not simply absorbed out of the air, it does not just happen. The disciplined child becomes the self-disciplined adult.

I might add that this is the cause of my personal disappointment when an adult church member refuses to teach in the Sunday Church School or other schools of the Church. What could the person possibly have to do that would be more important than the disciplined nurture of the young?

But even greater concern to me is the alarming decline of interest and involvement in the Sunday Church School on the part of the American People. In the late 1930’s the enrollment of our Sunday School was 1100; today it is half that. Nationwide figures are worse than that. Between 1964 and 1978 the enrollments of Lutheran Sunday Schools in the Maryland Synod dropped from 48,000 to 18,000. Many churches no longer have any adult religious education at all.

What does this decline mean? Does it mean that we have decided that spiritual growth is no longer important? If this is our decision, that we don’t need God anymore, it is very strange; at this very time, the professional philosophers-the men who give birth to the basic ideas that give shape to life and reality-having relegated God to the closest of forgotten history for the past hundred years, have not concluded that we must once again put God back into life, for without Him man has made a mess of the world.

If a child is to grow into a complete personality, he must grow not only physically, and emotionally, and intellectually, and socially, but also spiritually. This means that he must grow in the knowledge of God in Christ. His vision of his life’s

9 future and destiny must contain God, else his life in adulthood will have a blindspot that can drastically distort his view of life and the world.

The mission of the Sunday School in this place these one hundred and sixty years has been just this: To assist parents and pastors in helping children and adults in their growth toward total maturity and the perfecting of the eternal life. It is my wish and prayer that this anniversary shall serve as a stimulus toward new growth in our Sunday Church School and new vitality for the educational mission of the Church. May God help us attain these goals, and may He inspire all parents in the guidance of their children’s growth, that it may include the training of the Church. May God be praised in the life of each of us.

Francis Reinberger

Delivered at the 160th Anniversary Service, April 20, 1980

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