3. =Practical Suggestions.= A few hints, some of them already given, may summarize the practical side of the subject:
(1) _Study the Field._ The Sunday school must live not in the past, but in the present, with a clear vision of the future. It must not only cherish a loving memory of its field as it has been, but understand thoroughly what it is, and what forces are shaping it for the future. The leaders in each Sunday school working for itself, or preferably those conducting the Sunday schools of a neighborhood working unitedly, should ascertain the nationality, religious condition, and church relations of every family in the district; and not only of every family, of every individual who may have a room in a boarding house. Each political organization knows the residence and party proclivities of every voter in the district; and the churches may learn from the politicians practical lessons upon the best methods of work.
(2) _Cultivate the Field._ Since the scholars must come to the school from the population around it, they should be sought, brought in, taught, and evangelized, with all the energy and wisdom which the church possesses. And not only the scholars, but also, in large degree, the teachers must be home-born and home-taught; therefore the Sunday school, to be successful, must train up workers from its own constituency.
(3) _Provide for all Elements._ By diligent and constant effort the school should be made representative of all ages, of all classes, of all sections, and as far as practicable of all races found in its community.
(4) _Adapt Methods._ If a former constituency has removed from the field, and a new population has surged in, the new element must be looked upon as the constituency of the school. Its needs must be recognized, however different they may be from the needs of the past; and plans must be formed to meet those needs, whatever transformation of the school the new plans may involve.
1. =Necessity.= The aspiration for advancement is natural and noble; and therefore every member of the Sunday school who is interested in its welfare, whether officer, teacher, or pupil, desires it to increase in membership, and to spread its benefits as widely as possible. But the recruiting of the Sunday school is not only desirable, but necessary. It is found that in every school there exists an outflow as well as an inflow of members. If in certain departments, as the Primary, new scholars are constantly enrolled, in other departments, as the older grades of the Intermediate and the Senior, there is as constant a dropping out of members from the school. It has been estimated that in most Sunday schools from twenty to twenty-five per cent of the membership changes annually, so that the average period of a teacher or scholar in the Sunday school is less than five years. There are some who remain longer, but others who are members for even a shorter time. Upon the average, every school is a new school once in four or five years. If one fifth of the school leaves every year, there must be an equal number enter it, to keep the school at its normal size. But any institution dependent upon the maintenance of a constituency, whether it be a periodical, a life-insurance association, or a Sunday school, begins to decline when its number remains stationary. The health and life of the school, therefore, require a constant renewal of its membership. The school must have new blood, or it will soon be impoverished and in time die.