Monday, June 26, 2023

Gordon Clark: REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON CHRISTIAN EDUCATION, 1943 (OPC Minutes)

Members of the Committee on Christian Education, Class of 1943:

Ministers: Calvin K. Cummings, Burton L. Goddard, Robert E. Nicholas
Elders: Gordon H. Clark, Evan Runner

1943. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. Minutes of the Tenth General Assembly. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church. June 1-4. Pgs. 35-40.

THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 
OF THE ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 
FOR THE YEAR ENDING MARCH 31, 1943 

The Assembly’s Committee on Christian Education has held five regularly called meetings during the year and has endeavored to fulfill the instructions given it by the Ninth General Assembly. The Committee has changed its fiscal year to end with March 31, hence the report here covered is for a ten and one-half month period. 

It is with profound gratitude to God for His blessings that we review the work accomplished during the year. Although the task of Christian Education yet before our Church is tremendous, progress has been made, and we are happy to report that greater interest in Christian Education has been shown in the church during the past year than in any other. 

GENERAL SECRETARY 

At the previous Assembly the Committee was authorized to employ the full time services of a General Secretary. We rejoice that one so able as the Rev. Floyd E. Hamilton was found available to fill this office. The Committee’s offer of $2,400 per year salary was accepted by Mr. Hamilton and he began work under the Committee on February 1, 1943, for a term of one year. In the period covered by this report Mr. Hamilton acquainted himself with the work and goals of the Committee, carried on extensive correspondence in the interests of the Committee, moved his family from California to the Philadelphia area and established an office for the Committee in the Schaff building in Philadelphia. In connection with his work he visited several churches both enroute from California and after his arrival in the East. The Committee met with Mr. Hamilton in an all-day meeting and mapped out a program of work for the future. 

FINANCES 

We are happy to report a substantial gain in contributions from churches and individuals during the year. More than twice as much was contributed to the Committee by churches during the ten-and-one-half-month period than was contributed the previous twelve months. Quite a number of individuals contributed to further the tract evangelization carried on by the Committee. Because of the increase in these contributions the Committee was able to make plans for the printing of tracts on a larger scale. 

While the operating costs were much greater this past period because of the employment of a General Secretary, it is the judgment of the Committee that the generous response of churches and individuals indicates a desire from the denomination for a more vigorous prosecution of the work of Christian Education. However, the Committee feels that the churches are not yet assuming their full responsibility for the task of Christian Education. We feel that we shall not be on a truly sound basis until the churches themselves shoulder most of the operating costs of the Committee and send contributions regularly during the year to meet its budget. 

COVENANT CHILD TRAINING 

To increase interest in Christian Day Schools and to provide help for the better training of our covenant children in the home a new sub-committee was formed and called the Covenant Child Training committee. One tract on Christian Schools has been issued and is available for free distribution; an article was contributed to the Presbyterian Guardian; and a selection of books on Christian Day Schools has been purchased to be placed in the Committee’s Philadelphia office. This sub-committee is studying methods of stimulating a keener consciousness of responsibility for the education of our covenant children in the home and in Christian Day Schools. It also seeks to promote interest in catechetical instructions in the churches. 

PUBLICATIONS AND PROPAGANDA 

1. Articles contributed. 

Members of the committee have contributed articles on various phases of Christian Education to the Presbyterian Guardian. Such articles have appeared during the year and one issue of the Guardian was devoted to Christian Education. 

2. Summer Bible School Materials. 

More than thirty churches last summer used the mimeographed materials prepared by Dr. Lawrence Gilmore. During the winter months Dr. Gilmore has been preparing materials for 2,000 prospective students in Summer Bible Schools this year. A teacher’s manual was prepared and was well received by those who used it. 

3. Young People’s Lessons. 

Weekly lessons for young people’s groups have been provided by the Committee with the assistance of the Rev. Richard W. Gray. About thirty-five groups are now using them. An effort is being made to enhance the attractiveness of these lessons and to reach a wider number of our young people. The Committee has also been studying the advisability of preparing lessons for younger groups. 

4. Sunday School Helps. 

The Committee has been seeking to secure lessons and make available lessons that are both Reformed and pedagogically more acceptable. Efforts to enlist the cooperation of publishers outside our church in publishing a special issue of their lessons edited by your Committee have failed. Consequently the Committee has inaugurated a long range program of preparing departmentally graded lessons of our own for the entire Sunday School. It may take some time to provide such materials. 

In order to offer immediate help to our churches the Committee is offering supplementary materials to the lessons published by the Christian Reformed Church. There will be three mimeographed sheets for each lesson. One page will be in outline form for the children of the Beginners’ and Primary departments to color. Another page is being prepared for the pupils of the Junior and Intermediate departments consisting of questions and fill-in-blanks. The third page will be designed for the Junior and Intermediate teachers, suggesting supplementary helps and linking the lessons directly to our subordinate standards wherever possible. The Committee is arranging to present to the churches its own materials for the Beginners and Primary departments beginning with October. 

5. Tracts. 

During the year 1942-1943 the following tracts were printed: 

The Tracts for Today Series: 
Communicant Church Membership 2,000 copies. 
The Separated Life, 1,500 copies. 
Why the Orthodox Presbyterian Church?  1,000 copies (4th edition)
The Sovereignty of God, 5,000 copies. 
The Reformed Faith in the Modem World, 10,000 copies. 
Is the Bible Right About Jesus? 5,000 copies

Shorter Tracts.
The O. P. C. in Action, 10,000 copies. 
Do We Need the Bible? 1,500 copies
Awake Thou That Sleepest, 15,000 copies. 
The Grace of God, 15,000 copies. 
Foreknowledge, 5,000 copies. 
Christ Crucified, 5,000 copies. 
The Rich Young Ruler, 25,000 copies. 
God and the War, 25,000 copies. 
Are You a Catholic? 5,000 copies
My Church, 3,000 copies. 
The Precious Blood of Christ, 5,000 copies. 
Ecclesiastical Doors, 5,000 copies. 
Life's Greatest Question, 25,000 copies. 
What About the Bible? 25,000 copies. 
Death in the Market Place, 5,000 copies. 
A Pastoral Letter, 3,000 copies. 

The following tracts were distributed during the year 1942-1943.

The Presbyterian Theological Seminary - Seniors. 
The Auburn Heresy 
The O.P.C. in Action 
The Rich Young Ruler 

Princeton Theological Seminary 
Middlers, The Auburn Betrayal. 
Juniors, Why the O.P.C.? 
Seniors, and Graduates, The Auburn Heresy. 
To all: The O.P.C. in Action, The Rich Young Ruler. 

San Francisco Theological Seminary. 
Middlers, The Auburn Betrayal. 
Seniors, The Auburn Heresy. 
To both, The O.P.C. in Action, The Rich Young Ruler. 

Omaha Theological Seminary - Seniors. 
The Auburn Heresy, The O.P.C, in Action, The Rich Young Ruler. 

Louisville Seminary, same as to Princeton. 

Western Theological Seminary, same as to Princeton. 

Wheaton College - Seniors. 
The Covenant of Grace 
The O.P.C. in Action 
God and the War 
What About the Bible? 
The Rich Young Ruler 
The Grace of God 
Arminianism in the Pilgrimage of a Soul 

The entire ministry of the Christian Reformed Church. 
Why the O.P.C.? 
The Auburn Heresy 
The O.P.C. in Action 

Select ministers of the Southern Presbyterian Church. 
The Sovereignty of God 
The Auburn Heresy 
The O.P.C. in Action 

Union Theological Seminary 
Is the Bible Right About Jesus? 
The Rich Young Ruler 
The O.P.C. in Action 

INCORPORATION 

Pursuant to its instructions the Committee has secured counsel and instructed it to proceed with the incorporation of the Committee. (The incorporation has now been completed.) 

AUDITOR'S REPORT 

The Committee secured the help of Messrs. Matthew McCroddan and J. Enoch Faw in auditing the treasurer’s books. Their report is in the form of a supplement to this report. 

ELECTIONS 

The terms of office of the following members of the class of 1943 expire at this Assembly: Ministers Cummings, Goddard, Nicholas; Elders Gordon H. Clark, Ph.D., Evan Runner. The Committee wishes to call to the attention of the Assembly that the Rev. William T. Strong of the class of 1945 is stationed in Alaska as a Navy Chaplain and hence probably will not be able to serve as an active member of the Committee for the duration of the war. 

RECOMMENDATIONS 

The committee on Christian Education respectfully proposes: 

1. That the Assembly earnestly recommend to the churches the use of the Sunday School materials prepared by the Committee when such materials are available. 
2. That the Assembly earnestly recommend that the Presbtyeries encourage within their borders the formation of Christian School Societies. 
3. That the Assembly earnestly recommend that churches and church organizations support the Guardian as a means of Christian Education and promote its wider circulation where possible. 
4. That the Assembly earnestly recommend that churches and church organizations contribute as they are able to the support of Westminster Theological Seminary. 
5. That the Assembly earnestly recommend that ministers and elders use the Westminster Theological Journal as a means of Christian Education. 
6. That the Assembly approve the Committee’s plan to ask the churches to support its work to the extent of at least ten per cent. of their benevolent budgets, with a goal of two cents per week per communicant member. 
7. That the Assembly approve the following budget for the ensuing year: 

Young People’s Lessons (self sustaining)                      $150 
Summer Bible School Materials (self sustaining)            300 
Tracts (New and Reprints) (partly self sustaining)       2,500 
Tracts (Capital investment)                                       2,500 
Secretarial help 1,200 Salary of General Secretary     2,400 
Traveling Expenses of General Secretary                      525 
Office Expenses (including rent)                                  240 
Advertising                                                                 160 
Free Tract Distribution                                                300 
Contribution to the Presbyterian Guardian                   120 
Sunday School Lessons (partly self sustaining)              500 
Postage and Miscellaneous                                          400 
Total                                                                       $11,295 

The Treasurer’s Report as audited by Mr. Matthew McCroddan is as follows: 

Balance on Hand, May 15, 1942                                           $61.50 
RECEIPTS from May 15, 1942 to April 25, 1943 
Church Contributions                                     $1,197.75 
Individual Contributions                                  3,409.85 
Sale of Literature                                                 940.62   5,548.23 

Total of Receipts and Previous Balance                             $5,609.73 

DISBURSEMENTS from May 15, 1942 to April 25, 1943 
Tract Printings                                                        $751.05 
Young People’s Lessons                                            124.31
Secretarial Help                                                      334.00 
Office Furniture                                                      230.28
Contribution to Presbyterian Guardian                      20.00
Tract Advertising                                                     36.40
Bank Service Charges                                               14.70
Summer Bible School Materials                                222.26
Traveling Expense of Committee Members                37.85
Printing Stationery, Cards, Etc.                               101.73
Literature Purchased                                               40.92
Incorporation Fee                                                    75.00
Postage, Mailing, Etc.                                             276.85 
Petty Cash Account                                                  67.00
Philadelphia Mailing Permit                                      10.00
Rent for Committee Meeting and Office                    17.25
Telephone Service, Etc.                                           14.16
General Secretary’s Salary                                      580.00
Moving and Traveling Expenses of 
General Secretary                                                   410.41
Miscellaneous                                                          27.61   $3,391.78

Balance on April 25, 1943                                                    $2,217.95
Check Drawn to Provident Trust Co., 
Philadelphia                                                                       $2,217.95

(Signed) CHARLES A. FREYTAG, Treasurer 

June 1, 1943 Per M. McCroddan 

We have examined the records of Mr. Charles A. Freytag, Treasurer and find that his Annual Report, for the period ending April 15, 1943, as stated above, to be a true and correct statement of the financial transactions of the Committee for that period.

MATTHEW McCRODDAN, Auditor 

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