THE SUNDAY SCHOOL

(The first part of this story about the Monthalia Methodist Sunday School was prepared and given as a talk during the usual Sunday School time March 7, 1976 on the day of celebration of the 90th anniversary of the organization of Monthalia Church by Walter A. Raeke who was a diligent worker in the Sunday School as well as other areas of the church.)

The Sunday School movement is a movement that started much later than when John Wesley started the Methodist Church in 1739. The Sunday School movement dates back to 1780 when a consecrated layman named Robert Raiekes in Gloucester, England observed that many boys and girls in his city were roaming the streets on Sunday mornings because there was no place for them to go. He decided to do something about it, so he invited the boys and girls to a little local church where he gave them religious instruction and told them stories from the Bible. Soon the attendance grew and he organized the first Sunday School in the year 1780. Soon this worthy movement spread to other cities and in a short time of 6 years the total Sunday School membership was a quarter million boys and girls, and thus it spread to Europe and the United States and to other parts of the world. Today the Sunday School is active in nearly all the Christian church denominations. In 1960 the Sunday School membership in the world was estimated at 60,000,000 with 45,000,000 members in the U.S.A.

Here in our Monthalia congregation the Sunday School was officially organized on February 10, 1889 with the late Ernest Nagel as superintendent. The name of the Sunday School, according to the old records was Salem. This may require a word of explanation. The word "Salem" is the abbreviation of Jerusalem. The word "Jerusalem" means a place for quiet and rest. I have an idea that is what our pioneer fathers thought, the Sunday School should be for our children, and thus that name.

In the beginning the Sunday School was indeed small. It was most interesting for me to read the minutes of their official meetings, especially before the turn of the century. Fortunately I am able to read German script, and I was amazed at their parliamentary and democratic procedures in their business meetings. By the turn of the century more and more families settled in the community, and the Sunday School began to grow in numbers. In the year 1906 I became a member of our Sunday School with the late R.H. Henkel as my first teacher. According to the records the Sunday School membership grew larger through the years. In the year 1913 this present sanctuary was completed and once again we had more "Lebens raum" (Life room). We had all the classes in this building, with each teacher trying to out-talk the others.

In the year 1933 the Parish Hall was completed, which once more gave needed breathing room for the many classes. Along that time our peak enrollment was reached of over 312. From that time a gradual decline in membership was experienced by way of families moving away and young people seeking employment in other places. This decline was slow but steady until today we are down to a total Sunday School membership of 111. In spite of the smaller membership, the Sunday School is still a vital and vibrant organization in our congregation.

During the 87 years of the official organization of our Sunday School, some 20 or more dedicated and consecrated men served as local superintendents. In 1928 it became my obligation to conduct our Sunday School for the first time completely in the English language. The language was a serious problem in our Sunday School for many years. During the first World War our county officials were asking us to have all our activities in English, when many of our people could neither speak nor understand the language. Our preachers were asked to preach in English, but they could not speak it. To satisfy those demanding this we made some classes in English whenever we could find a teacher who could speak English. For some 20 years we had a mixture of German and English classes in our Sunday School. Finally the language problem resolved itself after many years, and we got away from the German. In spite of all this interference we went into the year 1934 with a membership in the Sunday School of 310 members.

Many changes were made in our Sunday School during the past 70 years that I can remember. For instance I can remember when I was a boy we were all given a ticket with a German Bible verse on it every Sunday morning. During the week we had to memorize it and the following Sunday morning we had to recite it before the whole assembly. That continued for a time, and then to save time each class recited a Bible verse in unison from each class up to the age of confirmation. In the year 1933 when we moved some of our smaller classes into the Sunday School annex this custom was gradually abandoned.

You might wonder what our Sunday School did for entertainment. I'll tell you.We had one whole day each year for a Sunday School picnic. This day was looked forward to for months. It was a day that was enjoyed by young and old alike. On that day we went to some shady place in the woods or at the river for a great day of fun. We went there at around 10 A.M. At 11 o'clock we had a program, usually of a humorous nature, which was always enjoyed. At noon we spread our lunches under a shade tree. Usually two or three families went together, and the food was always delicious. After lunch we were given 4 round tickets with a big 5 printed on them that meant we could go to the stand and buy drinks. Usually our parents would give us four or five more nickels, and that was about all we could hold for one afternoon. A little while before sundown we started back home. We could hardly wait until we got home to satisfy our thirst for cool water after all the sweets we had during the day. Unfortunately, after all our homes were equipped with refrigerators with ice cream and soda water in them, the Sunday School picnic was abandoned, and has passed from the scene. Today it is only a memory.

There is another form of entertainment the Sunday School has provided for during the years, and that is of a more religious nature. I'm thinking of all the pageants, cantatas and programs that have been staged during the last 50 or 60 years under the leadership of the Sunday School. For many, many years each Christmas a pageant or cantata or program of some kind was given by the Sunday School. Also many Easter pageants or cantatas were presented, and a few Thanksgiving programs. I refuse to believe that all this effort was in vain. I challenge anyone to show me a congregation of our size with as much musical talent as we have developed here. Many young people have gone out from this Sunday School to other places to use their musical talents for God's glory and honor, and we still have enough musical talent here to supply all our needs.

During all these 90 years, dedicated teachers have planted in the lives of our children and young people the need for clean, Christian living. Even the older people must be getting an inspiration out of each Sunday School lesson, otherwise they would not go to Sunday School until up into old age. I think that should be a challenge to all teachers to give of their best each Sunday morning.

During recent years, many new and liberal suggestions have been offered to us by way of literature and other helps, but our Sunday School has always leaned toward the conservative side, and it seems it has worked well for us, for nearly our entire church membership goes to Sunday School every Sunday morning. I think that not all congregations can make that claim for themselves.

On this 90th anniversary as we look forward to the final decade of the first 100 years of our Sunday School in this congregation, I hope that we can go forward with new hope and enthusiasm in the work of our Sunday School. Today there is perhaps a greater need and urgency for the work of the Sunday School than ever before. We are surrounded with sin and evil from all sides, with the breakdown of the Christian home of our day and time, and with our children and young people plagued with all kinds of strange philosophies and influences day after day. If our Sunday School does not provide that Christian atmosphere, then pray tell me where our children will learn it. We need to provide an atmosphere of clean Christian living for our children.

I want to close with a little story that impressed me when I read it. The story says that a gardener (or he might have been a Sunday school teacher) walked down a country road and there beside the road he saw a briar bush growing between the weeds. He went to the briar bush, took his spade and began to dig it up. All the while the briar bush said how silly it was to take it away from where it was happy and content. But the gardener took the briar bush home and planted it in his beautiful rose garden. Again the briar bush said what a mistake it was to plant it alongside the beautiful roses. Then the gardener took his knife and trimmed the briar down to the stem, made a slit in the stem and in the wound grafted a twig from his beautiful red rose and wrapped it very carefully. When the season for roses came along, the gardener went to his rose garden, and there he found the old briar bush blooming with beautiful red roses.

For those of us who are teachers and workers in the Sunday School it is a wonderful thought that the time and effort we have put into the children and young people will enable them some day in the garden of life to bloom as beautiful red roses to the honor and glory of our Lord and our God.

(For this 100th anniversary brochure Walter Raeke's son, James Walter, has written a conclusion to the inspirational remarks given by his father ten years prior to our centennial celebration. Since it was due to the immense interest James had for the reinstatement of our Sunday School picnic, after he returned to live in our area, it is very appropriate that he wrote the story which follows.)

During the last decade of the 100 year history of the Monthalia Methodist Church, the Sunday School remained a vibrant organization.

Nostalgia for the past seems important to many people in this fast-paced modern age. So it must be with our Sunday School, for in 1980 the outdoor Sunday School picnic was re-established. Under the direction of the All Saints Sunday School class, the re-enactment of this picnic was seen as a one time nostalgic return to past happy experiences. Great effort was made to insure that many of the features of earlier picnics were included; that is, lunch on the ground, refreshment stand, program, fish pond for the youngsters, volley ball and horseshoe pitching and even tokens for each child under 12. As in previous picnics, the tokens were good for ice cream and soft drinks from the refreshment stand. Even the same location, the Bahlmann Cottonwood Creek area was chosen for this re-enactment. This beautiful location had been the scene of wonderfully happy picnics in the past.

The date of the picnic which was the fourth Sunday in May, was well publicized and on the appointed day a large crowd appeared. Regular church services were conducted under the green canopy formed by the many majestic trees. After the service, lunch was the first order of business with family groups setting up folding tables and chairs or spreading a cover on the ground as in days past. At the appointed time of 2 P.M. everyone gathered to enjoy a program which has always been a "crowd pleaser" because of the variety of entertainment it provided. Some of the program numbers included a "Gong Show", monologues, quartets, duets, "Cottonwood Creek Follies", "Happy Harpers―French Harpers, that is―from Brushy Creek", and even some visitors doing their "thing". One of the most interesting performances was a woman-less wedding. We also had several schooldays skits which brought back memories to those present.

After the program, the afternoon was spent visiting with friends and relatives or taking part in many of the other planned activities. The refreshment stand was visited since many of those present could think of nothing better than a "Big Red" ice cream soda!

For the first time in about 28 years a Sunday School picnic was staged as a nostalgic trip into the past and was judged to be very enjoyable. In fact, what was to have been a one-time event has again become an annual affair for our Sunday School.

In 1948, the first Vacation Bible School for the children was held in our church, under the instigation of Rev. E.W. Dechert, our pastor at the time. With Estelle Froehner as director of the First Vacation Bible School and the able teaching of various women and men in the Bible classes and arts and crafts, the children were busily engaged in learning about Jesus. This work was done from year to year until the years came when we had too few children to carry on. However, through the efforts of people who went around in the community and brought non-church children along with children of our church, Vacation Bible School was once again held. Members of the Sunday School have been instrumental in reviving and revitalizing Vacation Bible School. Members of the young married group have shown real initiative and commitment and have been rewarded with very successful week long sessions. From 30-50 children have attended these training sessions each summer during the past several years. This church has always been fortunate in having dedicated people step forward when leadership and service is required.

With the Sunday School as sponsor, programs centering on some phase of the birth of the Christ Child were of great importance at some time during the Christmas season. In early days, people came to be together as families for the 25th of December. In the evening of that date entire families came to Monthalia Church to witness a program which had been planned and practiced with various plays or services consisting of stories, poems and songs telling of the true meaning of Christmas. Cantatas played an important part in the portrayal of Christ's birth as various volunteer choirs practiced for months to learn the songs for rendition. The Sunday School still sponsors the Christmas program with a tradition of having Christmas bags of fruit, candies, chewing gum, Cracker Jack popcorn, etc. for the children of the Sunday School from Cradle Roll through age 12 as well as visitors in that age range, a tradition which Walter Raeke failed to mention, but which is still being done. In later days these programs were held on appropriate Sunday Evenings before Christmas.

One other thing that has not been mentioned heretofore is the tradition of having a Christmas tree in our sanctuary. In earlier years, there was always a tree with the usual decorations lighted with burning candles. Several men would assume the responsibility of taking care of the candles so that when they would burn down to where there was danger of fire beginning on the tree, they would use paddles with long handles on them to snuff out the candles. Later on brightly colored electric lights were used until the first Chrismon tree was put into the sanctuary in 1967 and only the tiny white lights have been used since then. Many people have come to view the huge live tree that has graced our church with its many symbols of the life of Christ that are handmade by women who love the Lord.

As we celebrate our 100th anniversary, many changes over the years are apparent. Perhaps the most worrisome change over the last fifty years has been the steady decline in the number of people on the Sunday School roll. However, what has been lost in quantity has been made up in quality. Because of this, we end the first 100 years with great joy and look forward to the years ahead with great anticipation and trust in the continuing grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.