The class hour is the teacher’s great opportunity.  His final measure as a teacher is taken as he stands before his class in the recitation.  Here he succeeds or fails.  In fact, here the whole system of religious education succeeds or fails.  For it is in this hour, where the teacher meets his pupils face to face and mind to mind, that all else culminates.  It is for this hour that the Sunday school is organized, the classrooms provided, and the lesson material prepared.  It is in this hour that the teacher succeeds in kindling the interest, stirring the thought and feeling, and grounding the loyalty of his class.  Or, failing in this, it is in the recitation hour that the teacher leaves the spiritual life of the child untouched by his contact with the Sunday school and so defeats its whole intent and purpose.

The teacher of religion should therefore ask himself:  “What is my craftsmanship in instruction?  Do I know how to present this material so that it will take hold upon my class?  Do I know the technique of the recitation hour, and the principles of good teaching?  Have I read what the scholars have written and what the experience of others has to teach me.  Have I definitely planned and sought for skill?  Is my work in the classroom the best that I can make it?”

The teacher must continuously be a student.—­The successful teacher of religion must, therefore, be a student.  He must continually grow in knowledge and in teaching power.  There is no possibility of becoming “prepared” through the reading of certain books and the pursuit of certain courses of study and then having this preparation serve without further growth.  The famous Dr. Arnold, an insatiable student until the day of his death, when asked why he found it necessary to prepare for each day’s lessons, said he preferred that his pupils “should drink from a running stream rather than from a stagnant pool.”  This, then, should be the teacher’s standard:  A broad background of general preparation, constant reading and study in the field of religion and religious teaching, special preparation for each lesson taught.

The churches of each community should unite in providing a school for teacher training.  Where the community training school cannot be organized, individual churches should organize training classes for their teachers.  Such schools and classes have been provided in hundreds of places, and the movement is rapidly spreading.  Wherever such opportunities are available the best church school teachers are flocking to the classes and giving the time and effort necessary to prepare for better service.

Even where no organized training classes are at present available, the earnest teacher can gain much help from following an organized course of reading in such lines as those just given.  Excellent texts are available in most of these fields.