ful intellectual reconstruction or to a
barren denial of all faith. There are churches of one type so devoted
to the entertainment of adults, to the ministry to the pride of the
flesh and the lust of things, that a child is likely to be trained to
pious pride and greed, or of another type, in which religion is a matter
of verbiage, tradition, and unethical subterfuge.

Parents must be true to their responsibilities. The family is the
child's first religious institution. Fathers and mothers are not only
the first and most potent quickeners and guides in the religious life,
but they are primarily responsible for the selection of all other
stimuli to that life. Under the drag of our own indifference we must not
withhold from the child the good he would get even from the church we do
not particularly enjoy; neither dare we, for fear of criticism or
ostracism, force the child under influences which, in the name of
religion, would chill and prevent his spiritual development, would
twist, dwarf, or distort it. Responsibility to the spiritual purpose of
the family is far higher than any responsibility to a church. The
churches are ordered for the souls of men.

What shall we do in the family when the sermon is always tediously dull?
Don't try to force children to go to sleep in church; they will never
get over the habit. Insist that there shall be a service suitable for
them parallel to the adult service of worship.[47] Next, try to
overcome the present popular obsession regarding the sermon. The church
is more than an oratory station. The sermon is only one incident. Many
criticisms of the sermon indicate that the critic measures the preacher
by ability to entertain, that he attends church to be entertained. If
that is essentially your attitude, you cannot complain if your children
are dissatisfied unless they too are entertained according to their
childish appetites. When the sermon is poor, put it where it belongs
proportionately and enlarge on the many good features of church
fellowship and service.

In a word, let the church be to the family that larger home where
families live together their life of fellowship and service in the
spirit and purpose of religion and where there is a natural place for
everyone.

I. References for Study

H.W. Hulbert, _The Church and Her Children_, chaps. i-v. Revell,
$1.00.

H.F. Cope, _Efficiency in the Sunday School_, chaps. xiv-xvi.
Doran, $1.00.