FRANCIS EVANS MATTHIAS HETHERINGTON ARCHITECTURAL &OOKS 46 KEARNY STREET x SAN FRANCISCO. CAL. \ LIBRARY THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA From the Library of Lutah Maria Riggs, F.A.I. A. Given in her Memory by Joseph E. Knowles, Jr. PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION EDITED BY THEODORE G. SOARES THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING AND ITS EQUIPMENT THE UNIVKR8ITY OP CHICAGO PKE8S CHICAGO, ILLINOIS THE BAKER & TAYLOR COMPANY THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON AND EDINBUE8H THE MAKUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA TOnO, OSAKA, KYOTO, fVXUOKA, SINDAl THE MISSION BOOK COMPANY THE /SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING AND ITS EQUIPMENT/ By HERBERT FRANCIS EVANS Professor of Religious Education, Grinne/i\ College THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS .'I COPYRIGHT 1914 By THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO All Rights Reserved Published November 1914 Second Impression May 1916 Third Impression September 1919 Composed and Printed By The University of Chicago Press Chicago. Illinois. U.S.A. GENERAL PREFACE The progress in religious education in the last few years has been highly encouraging. The subject has attained something of a status as a scientific study, and significant investigative and experimen- tal work has been done. More than that, trained men and women in increasing numbers have been devoting themselves to the endeavor to work out in churches and Sunday schools the practical prob- lems of organization and method. It would seem that the time has come to pre- sent to the large body of workers in the field of religious education some of the results of the studies and practice of those who have attained a measure of educational success. With this end in view the present series of books on "Principles and Methods of Religious Education" has been undertaken. It is intended that these books, while thoroughly scientific in character, shall be at the same time popular in presentation, so that they may be avail- able to Sunday-school and church workers every- where. The endeavor is definitely made to take into account the small school with meager equip- ment, as well as to hold before the larger schools the ideals of equipment and training. viii GENERAL PREFACE The series is planned to meet as far as possible all the problems that arise in the conduct of the educa- tional work of the church. While the Sunday school, therefore, is considered as the basal organi- zation for this purpose, the wider educational work of the pastor himself and that of the various other church organizations receive due consideration as parts of a unified system of education in morals and religion. THE EDITOR FOREWORD The dominant purpose of this little book is a practical one. One of the great wastes in modern church life is in the construction of the working plants. The rapid adoption of the graded lessons has made an added problem in church construction. This book seeks to accomplish two results: first, to outline, so far as it is possible at the present time, the ideal Sunday-school building; and secondly, to present some of the best recent plans which point toward the degree of efficiency desired in the church school building. The author wishes to express his obligations to the architects whose names appear beneath the cuts which illustrate the book. Their co-operation makes possible the later chapters. These men will be found reliable and efficient in their pro- fession. The author expresses his appreciation also to Rev. J. W. F. Davies, of Winnetka, Illinois, Rev. Herbert W. Gates, of Rochester, New York, and Rev. Albert W. Palmer, of Oakland, California, who furnished several cuts. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES i II. THE AKRON PLAN 5 III. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE EXTERIOR . 14 IV. SUNDAY-SCHOOL WORSHIP AND GENERAL ASSEMBLY 20 V. MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE DEPARTMENTS 24 VI. THE CLASSROOM ^THE NEW UNIT OF CON- STRUCTION 35 VII. THE CHURCH-HOUSE AND COMMUNITY SERV- ICE 41 VIII. THE VILLAGE AND COUNTRY SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING 51 IX. THE SUBURBAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING 61 X. THE CITY SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING ... 69 XI. THE CITY SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO COMMUNITY SERV- ICE 86 XII. REMODELING OLD CHURCH BUILDINGS . . 104 XIII. SUGGESTIONS FOR THE BUILDING COMMITTEE 109 ILLUSTRATIONS AND PLANS FIGURE PAGE 1. THE ORIGINAL AKRON PLAN. MAIN FLOOR . 7 2. THE ORIGINAL AKRON PLAN. BALCONY FLOOR 7 3. SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH, ST. Louis, Mo. . . 17 4. WINNETKA (ILL.) CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH . 18 5. LONG BEACH (CAL.) METHODIST CHURCH. PRI- MARY DEPARTMENT 28 6. PLYMOUTH CHURCH, MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. JUNIOR ROOM 30 7. PLYMOUTH CENTER, OAKLAND, CAL. BASEMENT 46 8. PLYMOUTH CENTER, OAKLAND, CAL. MAIN FLOOR 47 9. PLYMOUTH CENTER, OAKLAND, CAL. SECOND FLOOR 48 10. WESTERN (NEB.) BAPTIST CHURCH .... 53 11. TEMPLE CHURCH, MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. GROUND FLOOR 55 12. CANADIAN COMMISSION PLAN. LONGITUDINAL SECTION 57 13. CANADIAN COMMISSION PLAN. GROUND FLOOR 58 14. CANADIAN COMMISSION PLAN. MAIN FLOOR . 59 15. FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, OAK PARK, ILL. GROUND FLOOR 62 1 6. FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH-HOUSE, OAK PARK, ILL 63 17. WINNETKA (ILL.) COMMUNITY HOUSE. FIRST FLOOR 66 xiv ILLUSTRATIONS AND PLANS FIGURE PAGE 1 8. WINNETKA (ILL.) COMMUNITY HOUSE. SECOND FLOOR 67 19. SOUTH BEND (!ND.) METHODIST CHURCH. FIRST FLOOR 71 20. SOUTH BEND (!ND.) METHODIST CHURCH. SECOND FLOOR 72 21. NORFOLK (VA.) CHRISTIAN CHURCH. FIRST FLOOR 73 22. NORFOLK (VA.) CHRISTIAN CHURCH. MEZZANINE FLOOR 74 23. KRAMER PLAN "B." FIRST FLOOR .... 76 24. KRAMER PLAN "B." SECOND FLOOR . , . . 77 25. KRAMER PLAN "B." THIRD FLOOR .... 78 26. JEFFERSON STREET (BUFFALO, N.Y.) CHURCH OF CHRIST. BASEMENT 79 27. JEFFERSON STREET (BUFFALO, N.Y.) CHURCH OF CHRIST. MAIN FLOOR 80 28. JEFFERSON STREET (BUFFALO, N.Y.) CHURCH OF CHRIST. SECOND FLOOR 81 29. SAN DIEGO (CAL.) BAPTIST CHURCH. BASEMENT 82 30. SAN DIEGO (CAL.) BAPTIST CHURCH. MAIN FLOOR *. 83 31. SAN DIEGO (CAL.) BAPTIST CHURCH. SECOND FLOOR 84 32. CANADIAN COMMISSION PLAN. LONGITUDINAL SECTION 88 33. CANADIAN COMMISSION PLAN. BASEMENT . . 89 34. CANADIAN COMMISSION PLAN. MAIN FLOOR . 90 35. CANADIAN COMMISSION PLAN. SECOND FLOOR . 91 36. BRICK CHURCH INSTITUTE, ROCHESTER, N.Y. BASEMENT 93 ILLUSTRATIONS AND PLANS xv FIGURE PAGE 37. BRICK CHURCH INSTITUTE, ROCHESTER, N.Y. FIRST FLOOR 94 38. BRICK CHURCH INSTITUTE, ROCHESTER, N,Y. SECOND FLOOR 95 39. ST. PAUL'S METHODIST CHURCH, CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA. BASEMENT 100 40. ST. PAUL'S METHODIST CHURCH, CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA. MAIN FLOOR 101 41. ST. PAUL'S METHODIST CHURCH, CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA. SECOND FLOOR 102 42. KRAMER BASEMENT PLAN 105 CHAPTER I FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES The guiding principle in this discussion of the Sunday-school building will be efficiency. The religious-educational and social needs, especially of the young people of the community, will be regarded as primary. The child is in the midst, not only in the conduct of the worship and the determination of the curriculum of the Sunday school, but also in the construction of the building for his use. This position does not need defense in enlightened circles today. We are beginning to build churches with the fact in view that the child is present in life. The type of future members in our churches is being determined everywhere in the Sunday schools of today. Let us build so that in the highest degree the facilities are available for the highest efficiency in the realization of our great purpose. The leisure hours of our young people are potent for good or evil. The church touches the lives of its young people at too few points. The need of direction of young people's leisure time is recog- nized and the new architecture is responsive to the need. 2 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING The Sunday school is regarded as an integral part of the church's activity its most important service to the community. If this is recognized there will be no objection to the larger amount asked for the provision of adequate buildings and necessary equipment. The test of efficiency does not deny the value of the traditional in architecture. Indeed, properly considered, the beautiful in exterior or interior aids in the high endeavors of teacher or superintendent. These pages, however, will not discuss the tradi- tional forms of church architecture. The under- lying purpose is practical, and such matters are left to the architect who breathes the poetry and imagination of past architectural forms. We turn now to the principles which shall actuate the author in his discussion of the interior of the Sunday-school building. Here the principle of efficiency will have full sway. The following principles will be kept in mind throughout the discussion of the problems involved in an effective housing of the church's educational and social activity: (a) The importance of beautiful and harmonious arrangement is recognized. The spirit of worship is encouraged by an environment of beauty and harmony. This will lead, for example, to a recommendation to use the church auditorium for the worship period in the Sunday school. (b) Although the teaching function of the church FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES 3 is regarded as of primary importance in this book, the building must be adaptable to other needs of the church as represented by organizations and activities other than those of the Sunday school. Any other attitude than this would be selfish and contrary to the spirit which should dominate the construction of a church building, (c) The needs of each department will be determined by investi- gation and the building will be constructed in such a manner as to respond effectively to these depart- mental requirements. For convenience the terms adopted by the International Sunday School Association will be used. Those schools which use different departmental divisions will find it possible to make the adjustments without serious difficulty. (d) Provision for the individual class will be re- garded as of primary importance. An entire chapter will discuss this important matter, (e) The efficient building will be related vitally, not only to the religious educational needs of the members of the Sunday school, but also to their physical and social life. (/) Facilities for worship will be planned for the whole school, divided into the units demanded by the best results of psy- chological study, (g) The recognized principles of sanitation and hygiene will be regarded as necessary to any correct construction. Religious education is dependent upon good air and light in the accomplishment of its high task, (ti) Before 4 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING proceeding to the determination of the ideal building, we shall profit by the experience of the past. The next chapter will discuss the domi- nant type of architecture of the last quarter of a century. CHAPTER II THE AKRON PLAN The modern Sunday-school movement started less than a century and a half ago. For over a half-century it was of doubtful respectability. Not until some of the church's far-seeing leaders approved the plan of Sunday schools for religious instruction was the school welcomed into the churches of the land. These early church build- ings were of the one-room type with straight pews. Some of the larger buildings had a basement room or two. In the sparsely settled regions of the West, private houses and public-school buildings were used commonly for Sunday-school purposes. The genius of the Sunday school makes it possible to do its important work with little or no facilities or special equipment. The influence of person- alities on fire with the ideals of Jesus Christ is not prevented from doing its work by the absence of special buildings. We need at the very outset of our discussion to recognize that ideal buildings and equipment do not make a successful Sunday school. The essential element is the consecrated, intelli- gent teacher. But given a corps of teachers of this type, a good building and equipment greatly multiply efficiency. 6 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING With the advance of population and material weal tli, and the increase in popularity of the Sunday-school idea, the need of better facilities became pressing. ADOPTION OF THE AKRON PLAN The story of the inception of the Akron plan has been related fully in another volume. 1 Lewis Miller, a lay Sunday-school worker of Akron, Ohio, created the idea which is now known as the "Akron plan." Bishop John H. Vincent defined an ideal Sunday-school room in the following sentence: "Provide for togetherness and separateness; have a room in which the whole school can be brought together in a moment for simultaneous exercises, and with a minimum of movement be divided into classes for uninterrupted classwork." With this definition in mind Mr. Miller, in consultation with Mr. Snyder, a local architect, and Mr. Blythe, a Cleveland architect, prepared the plans for the First Methodist Sunday School of Akron, Ohio. This building was constructed in 1867 and soon became the center of interest for Sunday-school workers and building committees from all over the continent, and indeed from all over the world. The original plan, now familiar to all because of its fre- quent duplication, is reproduced in Figs, i and 2. 'Lawrance, Housing the Sunday School. THE AKRON PLAN By permission of G. W. Kramer, Architect, New York City FIG. i. The Original Akron Plan. Main Floor By permission of G. W. Kramer, Architect, New York City FIG. 2. The Original Akron Plan. Balcony Floor 8 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING It has been stated that three-fourths of the churches during the last fifty years, making special provision for their Sunday schools, have used the Akron plan in some form. The essential features of the original plan were a semicircular auditorium with a balcony; the space under the balcony was divided into classrooms, the front of each being open so that all could see the superintendent's platform; a similar series of classrooms in the balcony provided further facilities for privacy. A row of seats made it possible for all in the balcony to see the superintendent also. A fountain and flowers occupied the center space, which was lighted by clerestory windows. The side walls of these odd-shaped classrooms were plastered and the front was closed by glass doors. Certain obvious advantages were realized at once by this plan. The classes heretofore had not been separated sat- isfactorily in the one- and two-room church build- ings. With the Akron plan many classrooms were made available and much privacy was afforded. The building must have seemed a wonderful advance and quite ideal to the Sunday-school workers of the seventies. The Uniform Lessons were inaugurated in 1872 and soon the Akron plan showed its adaptability to this system of lessons. All the school studied the same lesson and worship for all was conducted by one man. Perhaps it would be more accurate THE AKRON PLAN 9 to say that " opening and closing exercises" were conducted by the superintendent, who was the all- important individual. Most of our Sunday schools fail to use effectively the time for worship. Plenty of noise and "enthusiasm" led by a popular busi- ness man is mistaken often for successful worship in the Sunday school. The Akron plan lent itself to the "togetherness" idea of Bishop Vincent. One of the features of the Uniform Lesson system in later years has been the superintendent's five- minute review of the Uniform Lesson at the close of the class-study. This was facilitated by the Akron plan. For forty years most of the churches have used some form of the Akron plan in their provision for Sunday-school instruction. The plan was varied in many ways, such as the development of a more satisfactory balcony seating arrange- ment, the introduction of more effective means of shutting out sound, the squaring of the classrooms, and the seating of the center space on the main floor. But the essential idea of "togetherness" has reigned supreme. FAULTS OF THE AKRON PLAN With wide experience in the use of buildings of this type difficulties arose. Discriminating Sunday-school workers discovered that these diffi- culties were largely due to the way in which the building was constructed. The many partitions io THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING of the Akron plan created problems of discipline that interfered seriously in the efficient conduct of worship. Thoughtful workers realize that wor- ship is one of the great opportunities of the Sunday-school hour. Any lack of efficiency here must be studied carefully and removed. The worship of God is a social act and needs to be con- ducted in a spirit of fellowship. The numerous plastered walls of the Akron plan broke the Sunday- school congregation into segments and prevented the helpful worship possible in the open room of churchly architecture. Architects attempted to obviate this difficulty by providing balcony seats from which a portion, at least, of the Sunday school could be seen; but this was not wholly satisfactory. One of the best known of our Sunday schools has not for years allowed classes to go to the balcony, except for the class hour. This, no doubt, is but one instance which might be multiplied by hundreds. We are still controlled largely in our Sunday schools by the "togetherness" idea. The Akron plan will be considered of great advantage as long as the superintendent is regarded as the most important personage in the school. Just as long as he is considered the most efficient individual to conduct worship for all, just as long as the super- intendent's review of the lesson is considered as superior to the specialized summaries of the indi- THE AKRON PLAN n vidual teachers, the Akron plan will lend itself to the "togetherness" idea. As better methods of instructing young children came into our Sunday schools the teachers of Beginners and Primary departments began to demand entire separation. This has been realized only gradually and with great reluctance on the part of the Sunday-school world. But the inevit- able has come to pass and reflects itself in separate rooms for the two lower departments. George W. Kramer, a New York architect, apparently saw the trend of Sunday-school development and as far back as 1893 prepared a model building which was exhibited at the World's Fair that year. This building provided separate rooms for all depart- ments, still retaining, however, the possibility of "togetherness." Nor was the method by which " separateness " was gained altogether satisfactory. Reference has already been made to the demands of the Primary teachers. The requirements of pedagogy call for frequent change of program with the little children. The use of music could not but disturb the rest of the school. The strangely shaped classrooms required for the focus of all upon the superin- tendent were not satisfactory. Frequently they were poorly lighted, and almost always, especially in the smaller churches, the ventilation was seri- ously defective. So often is this the case that 12 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING very frequently the curtains or doors of the Akron- plan classrooms are left open during the class hour. Poor air and light will defeat the best efforts of an efficient teacher. The elimination of disturbing noises was not completely successful, because of the flimsy partitions and temporary provision for the front closing so frequently used. THE AKRON PLAN AND GRADED LESSONS In 1908 the International Sunday School Asso- ciation in convention at Louisville, Kentucky, authorized the preparation of graded lesson out- lines. The graded lessons for the lower depart- ments had been in use for several years. The architectural situation soon became acute. Within five years 35,000 schools adopted the graded lessons. These schools felt the pressure of inade- quate building facilities. The Akron plan was found to be unsuited to the new lessons. This was foreseen by the more intelligent of the advocates of the Akron plan. The graded lessons require several Separate departmental assemblies as well as separation by grades or classes within depart- ments. Each grade in a fully graded school uses different lesson material. The review by the superintendent is no longer possible. The super- intendent of a school of 1,000 members told the author that he was going to resign, for there was nothing worth while for him to do, now that the THEAKRONPLAN 13 lesson did not require review at the close of the hour! With the new graded lessons a general assembly is only occasional, except in the smaller schools. Stress is laid upon a carefully conducted departmental assembly, and especially upon the work of the pupils in the individual classes. The new unit is the classroom. The new person of importance is the teacher. There has been much activity among architects since 1909, seeking to produce a building which shall be satisfactory with the new graded lessons. Much progress has been made. This volume will show plans of some of the newer types and will indicate the line of progress. But before consid- ering the plans in detail it will be advisable to determine the lines which an ideal Sunday-school building will follow. This we shall do in the following five chapters. CHAPTER III THE IMPORTANCE OF THE EXTERIOR THE IDEAL SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING It will, of course, be impossible to present in the following chapters the plans for a building which will satisfy every need of every Sunday school, regardless of situation and size. However, there are certain fundamental features which should be present in the ideal building for the modern graded Sunday school. Indeed, those churches which still prefer to use the Uniform Lessons will find here helpful suggestions in planning their new buildings. The question is asked in every case, Will this fea- ture make the building more efficient in carrying out the ultimate purpose of the Sunday school as the educational arm of the church? The author has in mind the average school rather than the very large or the very small school. Practically every suggestion will be found adaptable in some measure to every school. The reader will find hi the suc- ceeding chapters the principles and illustrations by which he may work out the solution of his individual problems. EXTERIOR ARCHITECTURE The purpose for which the Sunday school exists can best be served by a substantial, dignified, and 14 IMPORTANCE OF THE EXTERIOR 15 beautiful exterior. If beautiful architecture can be justified at all, it must be used in the buildings which house the religious educational facilities for our growing young people. The church building should incorporate in itself, in a sense, some of the great thoughts for which religion stands. It is a reflection of the value which its builders place upon God and his worship. Therefore it should be durable in construction, with simple exterior plan and notable absence of flimsy ornament. That construction material which is genuine, rather than that which is veneer or showy in character, is to be preferred. The lines of the building should suggest strength and repose, dignity and reverence. Thus the uncon- scious impression of the building in which the Sunday-school interests of the church are housed will serve that for which the Sunday school exists. It will take a courageous committee to withstand the temptation to make a large, showy exterior. The ministry of art in giving refine- ment and proportion to our church buildings is an undoubted influence for religious education. While these considerations are usually given due attention in our larger and more pretentious buildings, they are often forgotten in our humbler churches, which, nevertheless, are planned to perform the same function in the lives of our people. 16 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING Attention should be called also to the necessity of surrounding our churches with artistic and well- kept grounds. Many otherwise beautiful buildings give a poor impression because of the wrong treat- merit of the grounds. The buildings are often- times placed too near the street, or face the street in a wrong direction. The vertical surface of the side of the building should be blended with the horizontal surface of the ground by judicious plant- ing of shrubbery or vines. The landscape gardener often can render great service to the committee just completing a new church and Sunday-school building. Too much attention cannot be given to the impression made upon boys and girls by the buildings and grounds with which is associated their religious education. The buildings of the Second Baptist Church, St. Louis, Missouri (Fig. 3), illustrate in a marked degree the use of the splendid Lombardy Gothic architecture. The left-hand building is used for church worship and the right-hand building for educational and social purposes. The space be- tween is a sunken garden. Above the rear loggia rises the noble campanile. Thus the church in its architecture declares to the world its faith in the importance both of worship and the educational and social work of the church. An excellent example of a good exterior for a church seeking to serve the community at large is IMPORTANCE OF THE EXTERIOR 17 i8 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING 9 I I IMPORTANCE OF THE EXTERIOR IQ shown in Fig. 4. This church is located in a subur- ban district where the cost of the land is not so serious a factor as in a large city. The plans of the community house of the Winnetka (111.) Congre- gational Church are shown in Figs. 17, 18. The notable absence of ihe showy, the noble tower entrance, the blending of lawn and shrubbery with the rough stone of the walls, all contribute to a harmonious whole which must have a refining influence upon the hundreds who come and go every week. It is not necessary to expend a large amount of money to gain a building the exterior of which is satisfying. Often a large amount of money fails to gam the very elements which are here regarded as essential. It is more a matter of good taste and artistic judgment than the expenditure of money. If the architect employed is an artist he will breathe into the church, whether large or small, an atmosphere of reverence and worship. CHAPTER IV SUNDAY-SCHOOL WORSHIP AND GENERAL ASSEMBLY The worship of the pupils of our Sunday schools should be graded as well as the curriculum mate- rial. This is made necessary, not by any passing fad, but by the newly discovered growing child, who determines for us the proper equipment for his education. It is not possible to conduct properly in one session the worship of pupils vary- ing in age from four years to full maturity. When the appeal is effective for one age, other groups are listless or inattentive. Thus the problem of cor- rectly grading Sunday-school worship becomes a vital one to the persons seeking to house the Sun- day school effectively. An understanding of its function in directing the worship of children and youth will urge careful attention to that portion of the Sunday-school activity which takes one-half of the pupil's time in the Sunday-school session. Psychology, then, demands that the Sunday-school worship shall be graded and conducted in several groups. When the school is large the problem is not so difficult. The Beginners will have a separate room with musical instrument. So also will the 20 SUNDAY-SCHOOL WORSHIP 21 Primary children, aged six to eight. Some schools find it possible to conduct worship in an "Ele- mentary Division," constituting Grades i to 4 or 5 (Fig. 6). The Juniors in a large school will wor- ship in their own room, effectually shut away from outside disturbances. This department should be cared for generously in every way, for the church's recruits are largely prepared for the new loyalty in this period. Worship, then, should be directed carefully for the Junior group. The Intermediate and Senior departments will worship together most frequently. It is true that a demand for sex sepa- ration in the "teen-age" periods calls for two groups for worship. Where this seems to be wise, separate rooms will be required. Later plans will show how this is possible. The great majority of schools, no doubt, will continue for some time the worship of ages thirteen to twenty of both sexes in one group. Separate assemblies of boys or girls after class work can be planned easily. Adult worship comes normally at the church hour. No special provision is needed for men and women in most schools. Either they will worship with the upper departments of the school, or, meeting a half-hour later than the rest of the school, they will go into the regular morning service for their worship. When the school is smaller, combinations will be necessary and desirable in worship. The Beginners 22 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING and Primary departments will unite for worship, and the remainder of the school will worship to- gether. Such a plan will be shown later (Fig. 10). But what provision will be made in the ideal building for general assembly of the whole school ? There are the special days with large attendance and many visitors Rally Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas, Easter, Memorial Day, Grad- uation, etc. The whole school will meet in general assembly only occasionally, not over seven or eight times a year. A large auditorium should not be built to be used on so few occasions. Where shall these sessions be held? The obvious answer is, In the church auditorium. Some may object at once. The church proper should not be used for children's exercises lest reverence be destroyed. One of the important duties of the church school is to develop a sense of reverence in the growing child. Surely no place could be found more calculated to arouse reverence than the church auditorium. It is true that the use of the church auditorium might change the type of worship and general assembly. That might not be a serious result. We suspect that the unwillingness to allow the use of the church auditorium for Sunday-school purposes, in many cases, arises from a knowledge of the type of worship often conducted in our Sunday schools. In the larger churches there will be a demand for a general assembly room for entertainments SUNDAY-SCHOOL WORSHIP 23 and social purposes. Such a room should then be provided in the ideal plan. Often it will be the gymnasium where facilities are afforded for physi- cal recreation (Figs. 8, 13, 39 will illustrate this suggestion). The worship facilities of departmental groups will be discussed more fully in the next chapter. This chapter has sought to make clear the fact that the worship of a modern Sunday school will be conducted in from three to five groups, according to the size of the school. The secondary audi- torium for Sunday-school assembly has been dis- couraged, for the space is needed for classrooms, as chap, vi will make clear. Where the Sunday school is large, a secondary auditorium, also fitted to serve the church for social and gymnastic pur- poses, is recommended. The plans shown later will illustrate the possibilities in this direction. CHAPTER V MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE DEPARTMENTS Departmental needs will be discussed under the following heads: Beginners, Primary, Junior, Intermediate, Senior, Adult. Access to any 'of these departments must be direct from halls and not through other departments. The classroom facilities for each department will be discussed in detail in the following section. It is clear that absolutely separate rooms must be provided for the first three departments. The method of combining these departments into a large assembly room by the use of temporary parti- tions of any kind must be abandoned, and perfect freedom from disturbance by those near by must be accorded each of these departments. Each of these three departments ministers to a distinct epoch in the life of the child or youth. If a given department does not do its full work, all later departments will suffer in their efficiency; or, stated in more serious language, the religious life of the boys and girls in the departments not properly provided for will suffer beyond recovery. BEGINNERS DEPARTMENT No movement in modern education has better vindicated its right to be than the Kindergarten. 24 NEEDS OF DEPARTMENTS 25 The religious significance of the work for the smaller children is well recognized by educators. The Beginners Department in the Sunday school, then, should have every facility for its work. It would be foolish policy indeed to limit the efficiency of the educational work at its very foundation. How permanent can we expect the superstructure to be that is placed upon an inadequate foundation? The social experience of the children of the Begin- ners' age is limited very largely to the home. The room used for their religious education should there- fore partake as largely as possible of ideal, home- like conditions. The ideal Beginners' room will be flooded with sunshine and cheeriness and pro- vided with ample fresh air. The young child in a new environment will be fearful if the place is gloomy. The department will be on the ground floor with the fewest possible steps. Even two or three steps should be eliminated, when direct outside entrance is possible, by the use of a rubber- covered gentle incline. The ceiling of the ideal department for Beginners will be low and studded. Care will be taken that the room is not unduly large. The department needs little more room than for the circle of chairs and the kindergarten tables. The visitors should have an inconspicuous place at the backs of the children; possibly, if the school is large and visitors are present often, in an alcove built a step above the room. The pictures 26 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING used to decorate this room should be hung low, near to the line of vision of the children; a burlap dado is useful on which to fasten lesson pictures close to their eyes. The room will be more homelike if the floor is covered with a rug. If bare floors are used, the legs of the little chairs should be provided with rubber tips. The black- board is desirable, either built into place or movable. The children can do their work best seated on small chairs at standard kindergarten tables. Thoughtfulness for the teachers dictates ample locker and cabinet space, so that all lesson material may be stored in order and be found quickly when needed. The lack of this simple requirement often has interfered with efficient work. The ideal calls for a cloakroom; a closet with low toilet for children; and a screen near the entrance of the room to prevent undue disturbance from those entering during the exercises. Screens will also be found valuable for the separation of the two years of the Be- ginners, and of classes seated close to each other. In the larger school a folding door, or other device, may be helpful during the. class hour for the separation of the two years of Beginners' work. Other suggestions for this department may be found in the examination of modern kindergarten departments in our better public schools. NEEDS OF DEPARTMENTS 27 PRIMARY DEPARTMENT This department should have a room entirely its own, entirely separated from other departments by permanent walls. It should have access to the rest of the school by means of halls, not by means of doors entering directly into other departments. Where the Primary and Beginners departments are located in close contiguity, a cloakroom may, with advantage, be placed between the two rooms. The Mothers' room, to which reference is made later, may be located with convenient access to these departments. The Primary Department room should be large enough to permit of division into three rooms by means of accordion doors or other device. This will permit each grade to have a room by itself for the class hour. Should this not be practicable, a compromise may be made by having two smaller classrooms opening from the main Primary room. All that has been said in the paragraph on the Beginners Department concern- ing sunshine, height of ceiling, placing of pictures, tables, and chairs is applicable here. The tables should be of a height that will enable the pupils to work with comfort. The chairs should enable the children to sit with their feet easily reaching the floor. Fig. 5 gives the floor plan of the Long Beach (California) Methodist Primary Depart- ment which has many admirable features. Note the provision for children's toilet, visitors, separate 28 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING Q NEEDS OF DEPARTMENTS 29 classrooms, and soft, overhead light. The Plym- outh Church, Minneapolis, has a department for Grades i to 4 (Fig. 6) which is thus described by the superintendent of the school in Religious Edu- cation (August, 1910): The Junior Department includes the Kindergarten class and the first four grades, and for this section of the school the Junior or Children's room was designed. Accessible through a large double door, it is a room 30X34 feet in size. In one corner is a door which leads to a safe iron fire escape. The room is lighted by eight Gothic windows. The wood- work is a soft brown-toned oak, the walls painted in flat color to harmonize with the panelings. A good yellow- brown carpet covers the floor; simple net curtains soften the light which comes through the many diamond panes of clear glass. The room is furnished with 120 specially designed little Gothic chairs in the same soft brown color. A unique feature of this room is the generous use of the best art in its decoration. A beautiful fireplace is centrally located. On the wainscoting of three sides of the room are installed forty-four brown carbon prints of the life of Jesus. Opening from this room are enough classrooms to allow each grade to withdraw to its own room, leaving the larger room for the Beginners' circle. JUNIOR DEPARTMENT Some of the most important work in the Sunday school is done during the four years of this depart- ment. More study may be expected and more 30 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING Shepley, Rulcn & Coolidge, Architects, Boston, Mass. FIG. 6. Plymouth Church, Minneapolis, Minn. Junior Room NEEDS OF DEPARTMENTS 31 information is absorbed by the pupils during this period than in any other to which the Sunday school ministers. A separate depart- mental room is absolutely essential in which worship can be conducted without disturbing other departments or being disturbed by them. The same suggestions made earlier concerning cloakrooms may be used in this case to insure soundproof partitions. The room should be capable of division into four separate grade rooms by removable partitions. Experts vary as to the separation of the sexes for class work in this department. The writer regards the separation of boys and girls as desirable at this age. In such case the provision of four additional classrooms opening from this departmental room would be ideal. Where the divisions are made as first suggested, screens may separate the classes in the same room. These classes will be seated at table? about 3X7 feet in size, the teacher seated at the middle of one side of the table. Where pro- vision is made for a geography room it should be located in convenient relation to the higher grades of the Junior Department. See a later paragraph for a description of this room. Blackboards should be available for each class in this department, and maps for the upper classes, depending on the grade in which they take up geography in the public schools. 32 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING The Junior Department is a busy workroom, having no special provision for visitors. This department needs every facility for worship and for grade instruction, and in the larger schools for separation into individual classes not exceeding ten pupils in number. INTERMEDIATE DEPARTMENT The architectural requirements for the Inter- mediate and Senior departments vary with the size of the school. With the average school these departments will probably meet together for wor- ship, also including adult members of the school. In this case there will be required a room of ade- quate size for the assembly with a sufficient num- ber of adjacent classrooms of varying size. The assembly room may also be divided into several temporary classrooms. Not every grade of the International system will be represented always in these departments. It will be better to group a larger number with a fine teacher than to break up these departments into numerous small classes which will lack the essential quality of enthusiasm. There is developing a considerable sentiment for Boys' and Girls' departments from the Inter- mediate age on. Where this is desired, adequate architectural provision can be made in a manner similar to that recommended for the Junior Depart- NEEDS OF DEPARTMENTS 33 ment. Illustrations of such a division will be shown later (see Figs. 19, 20, 35). In the larger schools the Boys' and Girls' departments will be found of considerable advantage, especially if pro- vision is made for regular worship together. The larger school will make provision for separate assembly for the Intermediate and Senior depart- ments. The assembly room of the Intermediate Department when provided could be divided into two rooms, one for each sex, for departmental meetings. Close to this assembly room the class- rooms should be located. The use of the church auditorium for the wor- ship of the Intermediate, Senior, and Adult depart- ments is recommended where the school is not too large. This would give a beautiful, churchly room for the worship of these groups and would obviate the necessity of building a second auditorium for this special purpose. A later section will indicate more in detail the character of the classrooms. SENIOR DEPARTMENT The needs of this department have been covered practically in the foregoing section. The unit is the classroom of the type suggested in the dis- cussion of that important subject. The classes will tend to become larger in size in this depart- ment, hence larger classrooms for organized classes will be required. 34 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING ADULT DEPARTMENT The worship provision for the members of this department should be either in the united session of the upper departments referred to in foregoing sections or in the regular service of worship of the church, which is the logical time for adult members of the school. In that case adult classes will meet in their own classrooms a half-hour later than the rest of the school if the session precedes the morning worship of the church. Large, cheerful rooms, comfortably seated, provided with built-in black- boards and a nest of maps of biblical lands, will provide adequate accommodation for adult classes. These rooms may be thrown together by means of folding doors and thus make the large church parlor for general social occasions. CHAPTER VI THE CLASSROOM THE NEW UNIT OF CONSTRUCTION The classroom is the unit of architecture for the graded lessons. The teacher is the important personage whose class of whatever age must be given adequate provision . In general an ideal class- room may be described as a rectangular, plastered room, with outdoor light and good air. This room will have entrance by but one door to a hall, and will not be connected with a neighboring classroom, except by this hall. Wall space will be sufficient for all equipment, including maps and blackboard necessary for the conduct of the class. A cabinet will be in place in which the class sup- plies can be kept. The floor space will be sufficient for a large table about which the class will sit, or in the case of high-school pupils desk chairs may be substituted. Upon the walls will be hung beauti- ful art reproductions suitable to the age using the room and appropriate to the lesson material studied. Clearly this is an ideal situation which in many cases must be approximated rather than fully realized. But it is well to recognize the ideal; often it will be found quite possible of realization. 35 36 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING CLASSROOMS BY DEPARTMENTS In the Beginners and Primary departments separate rooms for a portion of the membership are desirable in some degree, but not so essential - as hi later years. Screens, curtains, and folding doors will frequently afford such a degree of privacy and freedom from disturbance as will give efficient service. The larger the departments the more provision should be made for some additional classrooms for these departments, but in the average school such provisions as are suggested in the previous section may be regarded as adequate. The Junior Department, however, presents a different problem. Discipline must take a different form. Outside interruptions must be shut out in every way possible. The author regards separate classrooms as pedagogically valu- able for this department, or for the upper classes in it. At least screens or curtains should be employed. If these Junior classes can be shut away from outside noises and sights, efficiency will be greatly increased. A much larger number may be handled in a class when a quiet room is provided. The classrooms for the Junior Department should have large tables of proper height, comfortable chairs, blackboard, suitable pictures, and, in the upper grades, maps of Palestine. THE CLASSROOM 37 It is in the Intermediate Department that the classroom is of the utmost importance. Answer- ing to the general requirements of the ideal class- room it may also become the clubroom for the social life of the class during the week. Its decoration may be made a matter of class interest under the direction of the teacher. Knowing that 60 per cent of all the pupils who leave the Sunday school do so during the ages which this department includes, what should we not do to make the church life of these unstable youths of the utmost attractiveness ? All that has been said concerning the class- room requirements of the Intermediate is true also of the Senior Department. These young people will very soon be active in many of the church organizations. Let them have every encourage- ment. The church should be the most attractive place in the community life to them. Churches which desire to improve present buildings by providing better classroom facilities will find suggestions in chap, xii, "Remodeling Old Church Buildings." A word may be added about different methods of making classrooms. Curtains are better than nothing, but should not be planned in a new build- ing. In one of the recent notable Sunday-school buildings from the standpoint of expenditure, a sum of $1,200 was expended for curtains and brass 38 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING rods to make sixteen classrooms! A few hundred dollars more would have given a much superior form of separation of classes. Screens are good to separate classes from passing people, but arc not efficient in shutting out noises. Accordion doors, when tightly fitted, or flexible doors similar to a roll-top desk are good. Architects are using a door consisting of a frame covered with heavy canvas on either side and inclosing an air space. This door or partition is said to be very effective. The architect should be consulted about these details. Nothing, however, will take the place of the plastered wall and the closely fitted door. SPECIAL ROOMS There are a number of special rooms, several of which should have place in every progressive Sunday-school building. The director or superin- tendent should have an office conveniently situated with reference to the activities of the school and easily accessible to the public on week days, espe- cially when the director is a salaried official and keeps regular hours. The teachers should have a room to which they may come at any time for study. It should have facilities for keeping books; should have a comfortable table, and good light for reading. It should be large enough for the weekly or monthly meetings of the teachers. It might profitably be en suite with the museum, missionary, THE CLASSROOM 39 and exhibit room, and the geography room to which reference is now made. The museum, missionary, and exhibit room serves a threefold purpose, for within its walls should be brought together every object that will help to illuminate the Bible, which is essentially an oriental book, objects which will help the pupils of the school to under- stand the activities of missionaries, and lastly an exhibit of the work of the pupils of the various grades. The knowledge that their work, if of sufficiently good quality, may be exhibited will be a legitimate incentive to many. The geography room is in line with the tendency in our best schools toward departmental methods in teaching a difficult subject. This room will be equipped generously with the best maps, topographical maps, globe, sand-trays, work-table, etc., and will be in charge of an expert teacher in geography. Classes of various grades, especially those of the late Junior and early Intermediate ages, will receive in this room the special geographical instruction which will enable them to pursue their regular courses intelligently. The secretary and librarian should have good rooms with convenient facilities and ample cabinet space for supplies. In the largest schools all of the extra supply equipment may well be kept behind a counter, which will enable the secretary and librarian to meet all needs in an orderly manner. The Mothers' room, 40 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING situated close to the Beginners and Primary depart- ments, has been found to serve a good purpose. This room can be made of additional value by equipping it as a classroom in child life for the mothers who wish to be near their children. CHAPTER VII THE CHURCH-HOUSE AND COMMUNITY SERVICE One of the most serious problems of modern life is the proper use of leisure time. Many of the evils of city life are caused by misdirected activities of the hours when labor or school does not keep young people occupied. Boys and girls and young people are on the streets and become patrons of commercialized amusements, most of which are superficial and give distorted views of life. The motion-picture show, as now conducted, is frequently positively harmful and imparts conceptions of life at serious variance with those ideals for which the church stands. The stress and struggle for physical stability in young people requires abundant expression of the play impulse. In our modern life there is scant opportunity for this expression. The national game is splendid for the players, but the effect is not permanently good for the thousands of young people who crowd the bleachers. The influence of the amusement parks in our large cities is almost uniformly harmful. The student of conditions discovers a generation of young people who are giving their leisure time to a search 41 42 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING for pleasure which often proves to be pleasure of an unwholesome type. This search takes them far from the church, the doors of which are fre- quently closed during six days of the week. There is developing rapidly in our churches a desire to serve the community at the point of need, whatever that may be. Developing the kingdom of God on earth is becoming a dominant motive rather than the preparation of people for life in another world. In the new social era upon which we are just entering, some organization should become the educative influence toward higher civic ideals. Why should not the church accomplish this task for the community ? Who shall provide a center for social and recreational activity ? Why not open the church buildings and put them to use seven days in the week instead of only occasionally, as in so many cases now ? The great play impulse deeply implanted in human nature should not be wholly commercialized. The aesthetic nature of man should not be turned over entirely to grand opera. This chapter is concerned with the architectural needs of the church which is seeking the largest possible service to the community of which it is a part. Obviously these needs will vary widely and the demands upon some churches will be much greater than upon others. As long as boys and girls need recreation and social life the church is COMMUNITY SERVICE 43 charged with the duty of either supplying the opportunities or being sure that other community agencies provide wholesome recreation. There should not be serious duplication of agencies. If a Y.M.C.A. provides ample opportunity for physi- cal exercise and play it would be better for the church to support the agency already established. It will be better to censor strictly the motion pictures of a dozen theaters, if the proprietors will submit to a censorship, than to provide the pictures for a comparatively small number in the church- house. A large social hall and gymnasium combined will be found of great service to the community. Here entertainments and musical occasions can serve the community at large. The play instinct of young people can find full opportunity for expression. This room should have a high ceiling and should usually have a gallery for spectators. The room should not be stocked with a full assort- ment of apparatus. This is expensive and unneces- sary. Better results may be obtained with games which excite the interest of the boys and girls. The room should be as large as possible in floor space, up to 50X80 feet in size. A stage at one end will give opportunity for amateur dramatics. At the other end a fireproof motion-picture operating-room can be constructed. Folding chairs should be provided for audience purposes. Special 44 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING attention should be paid to exits from this large general room. They should be ample in size, not less than two in number, preferably four if it is a full-size room, and stairs should be as few as pos- sible. Single steps in halls are an abomination and should be avoided absolutely. Inclines are prefer- able, especially when large numbers of people use the halls for entrance and exit purposes. Where the opportunity for exercise is afforded it is essential that lockers and shower baths be provided also. And in this day of the "boy problem" we must not forget to provide for the girls also. The church-house seeking the largest service to the community will provide, in addition to enter- tainment and gymnasium features such as have been outlined above, rooms for reading and games, in case such service is not rendered adequately by the community library or other agency. It cannot be concluded that this service is unnecessary because there is a public library or a Y.M.C.A. a mile or two away. Perhaps a branch ought to be located in the church, which many public libraries are very willing to permit. The direc- tion of children and youth in their reading is one of the most potent, and as yet neglected, oppor- tunities for character development. Rooms should be provided for the club life of the boys and girls. The clubs under skilled direction are powerful COMMUNITY SERVICE 45 factors in the creation of high ideals. These same rooms are, of course, available as classrooms for the Sunday school. Attractive parlors for social life, with convenient kitchen arrangements near by, are also valuable for the largest com- munity service. Special community needs often make it advisable to have provision for billiards and bowling in the community building. Pro- vision for bowling should be in the basement and should be so located that the noise will not disturb other activities. Let those who would criticize sharply the provision for billiards and bowling in the church-house ask the question of themselves, Are buildings more "sacred" than boys? There are scores of church buildings today which approximate the service to the community described above. Plans of the Winnetka (Illinois) Congregational Church and the St. Paul's Meth- odist Episcopal Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, shown in later chapters, are especially good illus- trations. Note the plans offered in all of the later chapters. There are shown here (Figs. 7, 8, 9) the three floors of Plymouth Center Building, Oakland, California. In a very few years this church has multiplied its membership fivefold and crowded its two buildings by rendering the type of service indicated above. The plans largely explain themselves. In the basement there is provision for bowling, a men's league room, several clubrooms Men's League Room mn C/ufr Room C/ub Room 1 Courtesy of Rev. A. W. Palmer, Oakland, Col. FIG. 7. Plymouth Center, Oakland, Cal. Basement f"~ &y >s and atrte Tfo Orrt . on 0/JCf Sc/?o0/ ffo0/rr. Room Courtesy of Rev. A. W Palmer, Oakland, Cat. FIG. 8. Plymouth Center, Oakland, Cal. Main Floor Soc/o/ fta// of Gymnasium C/0SS C/oss Courtesy of Rev. A. W. Palmer, Oakland, Col. FIG. 9. Plymouth Center, Oakland, Cal. Second Floor COMMUNITY SERVICE 40 for boys, ajid showers and dressing-rooms. The first floor provides a boys' and girls' game-room, a reading-room, and accommodations for pool tables. The use of this building is scheduled so that girls and young women are in exclusive possession at stated periods. A large gymnasium and Sunday-school room occupies most of the first floor. Alcove classrooms are provided by large doors which swing out from the side walls. During the week these make a wainscoting for the gym- nasium. This is not an ideal arrangement for classrooms, as an earlier chapter has indicated, but at least eye-disturbances are avoided. This room, 55X65 feet in size, has a 22-foot ceiling, thus making an ideal play gymnasium. The second- floor plan shows a gallery for spectators, classrooms, a study for the pastor, and a social hall with adja- cent kitchen. This plant is separate from the church building proper, and cost $25,000. The response of the community has been such that already it is overcrowded. While providing for the week-day activities of the church this building lends itself well to the Sunday-school class work. Every portion of the building is occupied with Sunday-school departments and classes. In a short time the Sunday school has grown to about six hundred members. The Junior Department occupies the gymnasium; the Girls' High-School Department, 50 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING the reading-room; the Boys' High-School Depart- ment, the men's league room and adjacent class- rooms; the Primary Department, the social hall. Our churches are increasingly providing for this larger service to the community. It will be well for all building committees to consider carefully the rich opportunities in this direction. CHAPTER VIII TEE VILLAGE AND COUNTRY SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING Much is being written on the rural problem at the present moment. There is not space here to discuss all of the problems which have been shown to be present in our village and rural situa- tion. When the investigations have been com- pleted it will be found, no doubt, that men and women, boys and girls are essentially the same, whether they live in the crowded city or in the small village or in the open country. Their desire to worship, their need of knowledge of the Bible, their need of social and recreational activity will be found to be similar to that of their city cousins. The country church will seek to develop its possi- bilities to supply that which the community needs for its larger life. At the present time the average village and country church building consists of one or two rooms. Chap, xii will suggest some ways by which these buildings may be improved. This chapter seeks to give some suggestions to the village or country church which is about to con- struct a new building. WESTERN (NEBRASKA) BAPTIST CHURCH The ideals suggested in the preceding chapters are not entirely impossible for the village or country 51 52 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING church. Not everything mentioned is required for the smaller group of people to which such a church ministers. Fig. 10 gives the floor plans of the Western (Nebraska) Baptist Church, altered by the courtesy of the architect to approximate the needs of the graded lessons. An examina- tion of this plan will show that separate depart- mental sessions will be possible for Beginners and Primary, Junior, Intermediate, Senior and Adult. For a school of approximately one hun- dred and fifty pupils separate classrooms will be provided for all of the classes of the Junior and Intermediate departments on the basis of com- bining two grades in one class in each case. This is more desirable than attempting a full- graded plan with only four or five at most in a class. The auditorium is lighted from above when classrooms at the sides are closed. The Primary Department would have an excellent room in the chapel. Senior and Adult classes could meet in the corners of the auditorium, which could be used for the worship service of the whole school from the Junior Department up. The chapel room would be found excellent for the social life. The number of classrooms could be doubled by building a second story of them on each side with stairways from the vesti- bules. A basement floor would give added facili- ties for social and recreational activities, adding THE VILLAGE BUILDING 53 54 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING however, considerably to the expense of the build- ing. This church can be built for a modest sum, varying with the material used and the place of construction. An inquiry to the architect will give the information desired. TEMPLE CHURCH, MINNEAPOLIS Fig. ii illustrates another type of medium-cost church which provides an equipment that will relate itself very well to the demands of the graded lessons and social work. Note on the ground floor the departmental rooms for the Primary and Junior departments. What is denominated " Sun- day School Room" in the plan serves for general assembly of the Intermediate, Senior, and Adult departments. Ten classrooms aid in providing quiet for the lesson hour. Glass doors in the class- rooms admit light to the assembly room. Curtains or flexible doors would divide the main room effectively at the line of posts. The gymnasium, on the floor above the "Junior Room," provides excellent floor space for play and entertainment. The main auditorium provides ideal assembly for worship should the ground floor be needed for additional classrooms or departmental space. In a building of this type, which, by the way, has a pleasing exterior, there is possible every provision for social life for young people. A gymnasium is planned at the rear of the auditorium floor above THE VILLAGE BUILDING 55 56 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING the "Junior Sunday School Room." The graded school will find reasonably adequate accommoda- tions and good opportunity for departmental organization and sessions, five rooms being avail- able for this purpose. This building is considerably more expensive to construct than the preceding, but is within the means of many churches in the country centers. CANADIAN COMMISSION PLAN Figs. 12, 13, 14 reproduce a plan offered in the "Report of the Commission on Religious Edu- cation" to the Canadian Presbyterian General Assembly. The plans are for a building to care for about one hundred pupils. The longitudinal section (Fig. 12) is suggestive in that it shows that the class or departmental rooms are entirely above ground. The Beginners, Primary, and Jun- ior rooms may be thrown together for worship. This room makes a desirable chapel for other church purposes. The Intermediate and Senior young people have two excellent departmental rooms which, by means of partitions, may be made into four good classrooms. The auditorium is available for worship, which in a small school will include all from the Junior age up. A recreation and social room of generous size and high ceiling provides admirable facilities for play and social life (Fig. 13). There is much that is valuable in PL, I .a a s o U 73 Y 58 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING SUNDAY ENJP-AWCE Sharp & Brown, Architects, Toronto, Canada FIG. 13. Canadian Commission Plan. Ground-Floor THE VILLAGE BUILDING 59 5/;ar/> & Brown, Architects, Toronto, Canada FIG. 14. Canadian Commission Plan. Main Floor 60 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING this plan. The author ventures the suggestion that with the use of the auditorium for worship, four plastered classrooms with separate entrances would add to classroom efficiency. CHAPTER IX THE SUBURBAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING The "suburban" church problem is recognized as a peculiar type. But when it is approached from the standpoint of community service it does not possess the hopelessness which seems to envelop the church of conventional type. It is possible to develop a community spirit in a suburban situa- tion which cannot be accomplished in a section of a large city. Hence a church which intelligently seeks to serve its community will get a response that will be gratifying. The nearness of the city demands that special attention in many cases be given to the problem of recreation and amusement. The near-by city makes it possible to bring fine talent for aesthetic development to the suburb. Lecturers on civic topics are readily obtainable. Indeed, the leaders hi the city often live in the suburbs. Opportunities for social service are abundant in the city so easily reached by conven- ient transportation. The problem of the suburban church is not insoluble. There are presented below the plans of buildings in two suburbs of Chicago which will prove suggestive and in many cases revolutionary. 61 62 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING OAK PARK CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH Figs. 15 and 16 This plan will illustrate two things: the response of this church to the Oak Park suburban situation Patlon, Holmes & Flinn, Architects, Chicago FIG. 15. First Congregational Church, Oak Park, 111. Ground-Floor THE SUBURBAN BUILDING 63 and also the possibilities of remodeling an old build- ing. The ground-floor plan shows the assembly room of the school for the Intermediate, Senior, and Adult classes. Each group of five classrooms is separable from the main assembly room by heavy curtains. This makes possible, for example, a Boys' and a Girls' department. The adult classes adjourn to the dining-room and parlor of the Pallon, Holmes & Flinn, Architects, Chicago FIG. 16. First Congregational Church-House, Oak Park, 111. "Church-House," as they call their newly con- structed addition to their main building. The dining-room may be divided by rolling partitions when necessary into four or six classrooms. The second floor provides a generous-sized pastor's study which is also used as a popular adult class- room. The Primary Department has a large, cheery room, and the Junior or Elementary 64 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING Department has a general assembly and adjacent classrooms. Contrary to general usage, the entire third floor is planned as a play gymnasium. At present it is unfinished, but is available for this purpose or for additional classrooms whenever needed. There is a large clubroom in the base- ment, the plan of which is not shown here. A large gymnasium under very competent manage- ment is open to the young people of the church in a near-by high-school building, hence that feature is not at present developed in the church. It will be seen that the "Church-House" lends itself admirably to social life, for the young people and for the entire parish. This plan will repay careful study, especially of its provisions for social life. WINNETKA (ILL.) CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH One of the most complete plants for a sub- urban church in the United States is that of the Winnetka Congregational Church (Figs. 4, 17, and 18). Ideally situated in natural woods, with grounds skilfully handled by the landscape gar- dener, the approach is all that could be desired. Winnetka is a suburb 17 miles from Chicago and has a population of about four thousand people. A few years ago the church was only a small wooden structure, unattractive in character. Under the skilled direction of a man with a vision, a stone church was constructed which everyone thought THE SUBURBAN BUILDING 65 would be adequate for a generation. The splendid graded school within two years overcrowded the new building and for a time was compelled to meet in two separate sessions. The people of Winnetka were pleased with the work of the church and responded generously to a second appeal, giving over a hundred thousand dollars in all for the church and "Community House." (The plans of the Community House only are shown here, Figs. 17 and 1 8.) Part of the work of the church school is done in the other portion of the church building, which is not shown here. An excellent room is available on the ground floor (Fig. 17) for the Primary Department. A modern kitchen supplies convenient service to any portion of the first floor. Fully appointed club- rooms are open for men all day and evening. The large gymnasium with high ceiling affords an ideal floor which is busy morning and afternoon all the week, with classes for men, women, boys, girls, and young people. A stage gives opportunity for amateur entertainments. This room is used two or three times a week for motion pictures. The seating capacity of seven hundred is frequently taxed by the people of Winnetka. Only the high- est grade of films, locally censored, is ever allowed. So successful is this feature of the work of Com- munity House that no commercial motion-picture theater has located in Winnetka. Community 66 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING House is a real center for the people of this little suburban city. The second-floor plan (Fig. 18) shows ten club- rooms which are occupied week-day afternoons Courtesy of Rev. J. W. F. Davies, Winnetka, III. FIG. 17. Winnetka (111.) Community House. First Floor and evenings by the boys and young men, and on scheduled occasions by the girls and young women. These rooms are used for class work on Sunday. THE SUBURBAN BUILDING 67 The basement plan, not shown here, has ample facilities for private shower baths and locker-room and additional play space that some day may be Courtesy of Rev. J. W. F. Dames, Winnetka, III. FIG. 18. Winnetka (111.) Community House. Second Floor used as bowling alleys. In the height of the winter season the weekly attendance at this busy com- munity center exceeds two thousand. Here is a church which believes in serving every need of the 68 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING community. Its buildings have become a center of local activity. The two ministers are busy men in the large service that they are rendering. The story of Winnetka Church is an inspiration to anyone who learns of its high degree of efficiency and its extended service in manifold ways to the entire community. CHAPTER X THE CITY SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING More large graded Sunday schools will be found in our cities, and the requirements will call gener- ally for larger and more complicated buildings. In this chapter plans will be shown that seek primarily efficiency for Sunday-school instruction. In the next chapter plans of buildings will be shown which also include facilities for community service. Probably no one building plan will be found suitable to the needs of any given com- munity. These plans reflect the efforts of building committees and architects to meet the peculiar needs of special communities. Their value to the reader lies in their suggestiveness. The ideal building in any community involves consultation with skilled architects. The individual needs will find expression in architectural forms, perhaps allied to some one of these plans, or possibly initiating a partially new type. The ten plans offered in these two chapters represent the very latest efforts of the best architects of this country. The careful study of these plans cannot fail to bring suggestions to the building committee. 6Q 70 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING SOUTH BEND (INDIANA) METHODIST CHURCH The plan of the South Bend Methodist Church (Figs. 19 and 20) has some suggestions for those who 'wish to have an auxiliary auditorium for the Sunday school, rather than to use the church auditorium. Note the effective separation of the Beginners and Primary departments from the main Sunday-school room. Provision is afforded for sex separation in both the Junior and the Inter- mediate departments. This school is planned for a worship assembly of all from the Junior age up- ward, Primary and Beginners departments meet- ing separately. The basement plan, not shown here, includes a large room for dining and enter- tainment purposes. SOME KRAMER PLANS Mr. George W. Kramer, of New York City, has perhaps planned more churches and Sunday- school buildings than any other living architect. His latest work is therefore worthy of careful con- sideration. Mr. Kramer has always been an enthusiastic supporter of the Akron plan and did much to develop it during the years of the Inter- national Uniform Lesson ascendance. He also shows in all of his work the thought of " together- ness" referred to in the paragraph on the Akron plan. By the courtesy of this busy man we are THE CITY BUILDING 72 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING THE CITY BUILDING 73 enabled to examine three of his latest plans, in all of which he had in mind the graded-lesson system. G. W. Kramer, Architect, New York FIG. 21. Norfolk (Va.) Christian Church. First Floor Plan "A" (Figs. 21, 22) is a complete Sunday- school building for the First Christian Church, Norfolk, Virginia, planned for 800 to 1,000 pupils. 74 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING The grade notations do not follow the Inter- national plan, which does not give a grade number to the Beginners. The departments are well MISSION CLASS. G. W. Kranxr, Architect, New York FIG. 22. Norfolk (Va.) Christian Church. Mezzanine Floor segregated, and provision is made for general assembly in what is now the auditorium of the church. Note the sex segregation in the Senior THE CITY BUILDING 75 Department classrooms which are installed under a deep balcony. Additional classrooms are pro- vided adjacent to the Primary Department which is on the second floor. The third-floor plan, not printed herewith, shows the deep gallery and two large rooms for classes or social life. Plan "B" (Figs. 23, 24, 25) was made by Mr. Kramer for the Methodist Episcopal Church South, of Conway, Arkansas, and is regarded by him as "one of the best types of arrangement for departmental schools." The plan combines all in two groups for worship, segregates the Beginners Department, arranges for assembly of Junior and Primary departments if desired, and provides for separation of both grades and sexes in the Intermediate and Senior departments. The diagonal lines between departments indicate sound- proof movable doors. The whole school can be thrown , together into two sections in a moment by raising these doors. The Akron plan is used to provide classrooms in some of the departments. In this plan entrance to all the classrooms is from an outer passage which is also' an insulation against outer noises and heat but at the same time provides ample light and ventilation. Note in all of Mr. Kramer's plans the adequate provision he makes for easy passage from department to department, and for convenient exits. 76 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING Plan "C" (Figs. 26, 27, 28) is the Jefferson Street Church of Christ, Buffalo, New York. The basement of this church provides large rooms G. W. Kramer, Architect, New York FIG. 23. Plan "B." First Floor for the Beginners and Primary- departments en suite, but separable when desired by rolling par- titions. A gymnasium with separate locker-rooms THE CITY BUILDING 77 for boys, men, and girls occupies a large portion of the space in this high, well-lighted basement. The parlors are available for classroom purposes. The main floor provides separate classrooms and G. W . Kramer, Architect, New York FIG. 24. Plan "B." Second Floor department rooms for Intermediate and Senior boys and girls. The Junior boys and girls occupy the floor space in the center, not an ideal arrange- ment for this important department. The second 78 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING floor provides excellent classrooms for organized classes. This plan will be attractive to those who wish to gather the entire school above the Primary Department into one worship session. PASSAGC. G. W. Kramer, Architect, New York FIG. 25. Plan "B." Third Floor SAN DIEGO (CALIFORNIA) BAPTIST CHURCH This new church (Figs. 29, 30, 31), recently completed at a cost of about one hundred thou- sand dollars, presents some helpful suggestions. Fig. 29 shows the basement floor, well lighted. The THE CITY BUILDING 79 G. W. Kramer, Architect, New York FIG. 26. Jefferson Street (Buffalo, N.Y.) Church of Christ 8o THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING MAIM FI.OCW Pi_/ i G. W. Kramer, Architect, New York FIG. 27. Jefierson Street (Buffalo. N.Y.) Church of Christ THE CITY BUILDING 81 SECOND n_oop PLAIM G. W. Kramer, Architect, New York City FIG. 28. Jefferson'street (Buffalo, N.Y.) Church of Christ 82 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING THE CITY BUILDING 84 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING THE CITY BUILDING 85 Beginners and Primary departments have large separate rooms which may be united by opening rolling partitions between. A near-by toilet is convenient to this department. Across a wide hall, that acts as an effective barrier to noise, is a roomy Junior Department. This is broken up into classrooms by large, heavy, movable, partition screens, planned with a broad footing especially for this purpose. The social hall and dining-room is planned for all social occasions. A fireproof motion-picture equipment is built into this room. A special feature, worthy of praise, is the " teachers' meeting-hall," adjacent to the kitchen. The supper hour is proving to be an excellent time for the teachers' meeting. On the main floor is the auditorium and the Intermediate and Senior departments. The latter is provided with class- rooms, both on the main floor and in the balcony. In addition there are several large rooms for organized classes and social life. The building is one of the best of the type that requires a com- bination auditorium for church and Sunday school. The next chapter will present other plans for city churches in which special provision is made for community service. CHAPTER XI THE CITY SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO. COMMUNITY SERVICE The object of the Sunday school is to aid the pupils to achieve a Christlike character which will relate itself to the well-being of the race. The modern city has multiplied the influences against the highest type of character to such a degree that the church must broaden her efforts to save boys and girls to the higher life. It is not sufficient to plant the Christ ideal at the psychological moment; it is necessary also to supply as far as possible the wholesome environment in which the Christ ideal may develop to its full normal maturity in a strong life characterized by self-control and achievement of the highest and the best the race knows. It is not enough to have an hour's ses- sion Sunday mornings, no matter how efficiently the instruction is given. The challenge that comes to our city Sunday schools today is a far larger one. Wherever there is a lack in the environ- ment of our youth it is the opportunity and duty of the agencies of religious education to see that the need is met. The leisure hours of boys and girls are most prolific for good or evil. Voluntary 86 THE CITY BUILDING 87 interests have largest play in these hours. The church which seeks to direct the leisure time of her youth is in line with the best thought for character development. The more the youth's interests are centered in the church building, the more cer- tainly may the youth be won for Christ and for life's highest ideals. The plans which follow emphasize in a special degree the conception of a church building put to the largest use in the great task of developing a kingdom of righteousness among our young people. CANADIAN COMMISSION PLAN The plans for this building (Figs. 32, 33, 34, 35) are for a school of a membership of two to five hundred pupils, exclusive of adults. The audi- torium of the church may be used for the worship of Intermediate, Senior, and Adult departments. Adult classes will remain in the auditorium for the study hour while the Intermediate and Senior classes retire to second-floor classrooms adjacent to the church gallery. In both of these depart- ments separate rooms are provided for girls and boys. Within each of these rooms provision is made for separation into class groups by means of rolling partitions. The inner classrooms have overhead light and ventilation. Young men and young women have excellent rooms provided for their class sessions and other activities. The THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING THE CITY BUILDING 8 9 CYMN SO MALL HQOM 5/ia>-/> & Brown, Architects, Toronto, Canada FIG. 33. Canadian Commission Plan. Basement 90 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING Sharp & Brown, Architects, Toronto, Canada FIG. 34. Canadian Commission Plan. Main Floor THE CITY BUILDING Sharp & Brown, Architects, Toronto, Canada FIG. 35. Canadian Commission Plan. Second Floor 92 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING ground-floor plan (Fig. 34) shows ample provision for Beginners and Primary departments, which may be thrown together on occasion. Separate class- rooms also are planned by means of curtains or rolling partitions. Across a corridor, which effect- ively breaks disturbance by sound, is a Junior Department. Separate assembly is possible, and usually is desirable. There is also easy access to the auditorium of the church. Each grade can be segregated for instruction by rolling partitions. Note the excellent provision for wraps on both floors, also the lavatories for both Primary and Junior children. The basement-floor plan (Fig. 33) shows a good assembly hall and gymnasium, 50X72 feet in size, with a 1 5-foot ceiling. Separate rooms are provided for club life for boys, men, and girls. Separate locker-rooms adjoin each of these club- rooms. A bowling alley and swimming tank com- plete the equipment of this well-planned floor for community service. ROCHESTER (NEW YORK) BRICK CHURCH INSTITUTE Figs. 36, 37, and 38 reproduce the floor plans of a building adapted to a specialized form of com- munity service which is greatly to be commended. The plans, as a whole, are those of a high-grade city Y.M.C.A. building. The basement (Fig. 36) contains a standard gymnasium, four bowling alleys, showers and plunge with lockers for men, THE CITY BUILDING 93 Courtesy of Rev Herbert W. Gates, Rochester, N.Y. FIG. 36. Brick Church Institute, Rochester, N.Y. Basement 94 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING Courtesy of Rev. Herbert W. Gates FIG. 37. Brick Church Institute, Rochester, N.Y. First Floor THE CITY BUILDING 95 Courtesy of Rev. Herbert W. Gates FIG. 38. Brick Church Institute, Rochester, N.Y. Second Floor g6 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING and separate playroom with lockers for boys. The first floor (Fig. 37) has a generous lobby, parlor, dining-room, and kitchen. These latter facilities are quite effective in work for young men. The second floor provides for the varied interests of work with and for young men and boys. The plan (Fig. 38) will explain itself. The entire third floor, not shown here, is a dormitory providing numerous bedrooms for young men. The adapta- bility of this building to the religious education of boys and young men will be apparent without detailed description. Assembly rooms and class- rooms are available for every need. Most of the Sunday school of this church is cared for in the church building adjacent. This plan is shown to illustrate a form of specialized community service of the highest value. Let any church ask itself whether the young men of the city need a home and a club under church influences. THE CLEVELAND PLAN A plan has been prepared by a firm of Cleveland architects which has many excellent features. We regret that suitable arrangements could not be made to exhibit it in this book. It will be described, however, and anyone with a good imagination can reproduce the plan with pencil and paper. The building is rectangular and provides one audito- rium for Sunday-school and church worship on the THE CITY BUILDING 97 ground floor. Provision is made for departments and classrooms at the rear of the pulpit platform. The Junior Department is on the ground floor and is divisible into eight classrooms by accordion doors. Each classroom has a separate entrance to the wide corridor. The auditorium-balcony plan provides for two departmental rooms for Senior and Adult classes, each of which may be divided into four classrooms with separate hall entrances. Two larger classrooms adjacent to the balcony of the church auditorium are provided. The basement has both a floor and a balcony plan. The floor plan shows a gymnasium and entertain- ment hall, with Beginners and Primary depart- ments opening from either side by accordion doors. At one end of the gymnasium is a platform and at the other are showers and lockers situated under a roomy balcony. A full-sized bowling alley, with seats for spectators, occupies the space under the tier of classrooms described above. The basement- balcony plan provides for an Intermediate Depart- ment above the bowling alley, separable into eight classrooms, each of which opens into a long corridor. The method of providing departmental rooms separable into classrooms by accordion doors has been in use for several years. The Long Beach (California) Methodist Episcopal Church, of which Norman F. Marsh, of Los Angeles, is the archi- tect, plans its Junior Department in precisely this gS THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING manner. The use of accordion doors for the separa- tion of classes cannot, however, be regarded as ideal, as our earlier discussion has pointed out. The ideal plan should show a larger number of plastered classrooms. This could be accomplished, with slight change in this plan, by making half of all classroom partitions permanent. Depart- mental assembly is secondary to classroom effi- ciency. Many would object to the placing of the Beginners and Primary departments in the basement, but this is a detail of arrangement easily changed by shifting adult or young people's classes to the less desirable rooms. The type of plan described above in which the church auditorium is used for Sunday-school worship is sure to be used largely in coming years. This will be illustrated in the next section by the plan which is, to the present time, nearest the ideal. THE CEDAR RAPIDS PLAN Several years ago St. Paul's Methodist Epis- copal Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, facing the necessity of a new building, made a special in- vestigation of church buildings available at that time, and conducted a wide correspondence with Sunday-school experts and architects. Many architects were invited to participate in the competition. Much detailed information obtained from many sources was sent to each contestant. THE CITY BUILDING 99 The competition was won by Mr. Louis H. Sulli- van, of Chicago, one of America's leading archi- tects. The building was not constructed by Mr. Sullivan, but the floor plans, substantially as pre- pared by him, were used by the church, the exterior being changed. This plan (Figs. 39, 40, 41) is presented last because it is regarded by many, including the author, as probably the most significant contri- bution to the architecture of the modern Sunday school made to the present time. It is worthy of the most careful study by any prospective church builders. It was born of a desire to make more adequate provision for the ages when youths most rapidly leave the church. With the exception of the Beginners and the Primary and perhaps the Junior departments, worship for all is planned in the church auditorium. Separate plastered class- rooms are provided for every class in the school except in the Junior Department, where removable partitions are used. The classrooms correspond to the ideal outlined in chap. vi. Unusually wide corridors provide for social life, and for the delay which may occur when the Sunday-school and church services approach one another. A beau- tiful chapel provides for devotional meetings and for departmental assembly. An assembly room with stage, in the basement, is available for entertainments. A gymnasium, with gallery for loo THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING tj i- u I I 8 I THE CITY BUILDING 101 102 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING THE CITY BUILDING 103 seventy-five spectators, provides for the play life of the youth. This plan promises to influence future Sunday-school construction in a marked degree. Its enthusiastic supporters call it the "Cedar Rapids plan," and predict that it will have the vogue in the next quarter-century which the Akron plan has enjoyed in the last twenty-five years. CHAPTER XII REMODELING OLD CHURCH BUILDINGS It frequently occurs in the history of a growing church that the Sunday school crowds its quarters. In some cases, especially in country and village churches, the building is little more than one large bare room. The building may be substantial in construction or the congregation may be unable to rebuild to satisfy the modern demands. What can be done? Obviously each problem of this type is individual, not permitting of a general answer. However, certain suggestions can be made which will help in making over the old struc- ture into something more modern. The study of the best plans, such as have appeared in this book, will indicate the type of building which is desirable. The competent church architect will be able to accomplish much more than perhaps seems possible. Does the old church have a high and dry basement? This may provide a quiet room for the Beginners and Primary departments by means of plastered partition walls, while six to a dozen classes may have good rooms by means of the temporary curtains on wires or brass rods, or the more permanent rolling partition (see Fig. 42). Where sufficient money is available for an addition 104 REMODELING OLD BUILDINGS 105 it is usually advisable to use the funds for the Sunday-school quarters, for the modern demands are relatively so complicated that it would be better to build a new Sunday-school building than to at- tempt to alter an old church building into Sunday- school quarters. There is often a lack of light G. W. Kramer, Architect, New York FlG. 42 in the old church building which will require window alterations. Usually more can be accom- plished by building the Sunday-school portion new. When this is the case, ideas and suggestions will come from the late plans offered herewith. For instance, note how effectively a modern building io6 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING can be realized by adopting the Cedar Rapids plan, using the old auditorium for worship and adding classroom facilities. The same principle can be adopted in a modi- fied form in the smallest church. The writer recently saw in California a church alteration costing about a thousand dollars which had trans- formed the Sunday school from a one-room organi- zation to a three-department school with three additional classrooms. This was accomplished by the simple expedient of an addition at the rear of the church, which provided separate rooms for the Primary and Junior departments, and the classrooms mentioned. The membership of the school was about a hundred, and graded work was being used in part. In a large city school, where the problem of classrooms had become acute, a neighboring flat building was rented; unex- pectedly efficient quarters for about twenty-five separate classrooms were thus added. A covered sidewalk to the church made the building a con- stituent part of the Sunday-school plant. It need never be considered impossible to improve greatly an old building. Even in the case of the single-room country church with no base- ment, it is possible by means of curtains to add greatly to the efficiency of the school; while one rolling partition will give a Primary Department which will enable the teachers to do infinitely REMODELING OLD BUILDINGS 107 better work. The cost of curtaining off a half- dozen classes and putting a rolling partition or folding doors across a small building for the Primary Department need not exceed $100. This method will leave the building intact for other purposes. A way can be found when the need is realized. Two proposed alterations of a more ambitious character may be described in which efficient use was made of the present buildings and at the same time modern equipment was provided for the Sunday school. In each case a large saving over new construction was effected. In the first plan the old building consisted of an auditorium with a Sunday-school room in the rear. The old Sunday-school room was used largely for the Junior Department, and a portion of it for Senior classes. The new construction was two stories first floor and basement. On the first floor were provided parlors, dining-room, and kitchen, which were also used as classrooms. The Primary and Kindergar- ten departments were provided with adequate rooms, while the Intermediate Department had excellent quarters with six good classrooms. On the basement floor was planned a 40X40 foot gymnasium, swimming pool and lockers, bowling alleys and clubroom. What a transformation from a two-room, old-style church! In the second plan a substantial one-room church with a basement Sunday-school room was io8 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING transformed by the erection of a two-story and basement addition. The basement plan provided for a dining-room and entertainment room, check- and locker-rooms, and a 3oX5o-foot gymnasium in the new part. The first floor provided for Kinder- garten and Primary departments and parlor, all three capable of being thrown together for social purposes. The Junior Department had an excel- lent assembly-room and four classrooms. The second floor provided nine classrooms and club- rooms. A delighted people will move into their new church, for such it will be with these admirable additions to its equipment. Consultation with a competent church architect will often reveal possi- bilities of improvement not realized by the layman. CHAPTER XIII SUGGESTIONS FOR THE BUILDING COMMITTEE To the building committee of a church is assigned a most difficult and responsible task. The average church does not construct more than one building in a generation. It is of the utmost importance that mistakes should be avoided and that the new building should be responsive to future needs. The building committee should enter upon its task first as a commission to study the needs, present and future, of the church. This task calls for broadmindedness. The church of the future will be called upon to serve in other ways than the church of the past. The committee should cer- tainly include in its membership some of the younger generation. The question of the amount of the contribution should not be the basis for choice of building-committee members. The Sunday school is destined to be of increas- ing importance in the work of the church. The activity of the church in religious education has resulted in the past in three-fourths of the increase in church membership. There is no reason to believe that the coming generation will show a smaller proportion for this division of the church's IOQ no THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING work. But in addition to this appeal to the desire for self-perpetuation is the challenge to meet more adequately the community needs for religious and moral education. Our churches through their schools must do more of this necessary work and must do it better in the future. The all-pervasive principle of efficiency demands this larger result. The wise building committee, whether the church is large or small, will give special thought to generous and adequate provision for the Sunday school. Community service is a new note in our church life which will receive large attention in the coming generation. An earlier chapter (chap, vii) has enlarged upon this theme. The building com- mittee will consider with the utmost seriousness what facilities shall be provided for this field of church activity. Community service keeps the church plant busy more hours every week and relates the church more vitally to the physical, social, educational, and recreational needs of the community. One of the first and most important steps for the committee to consider is the choice of the architect. The wisdom of the committee in this matter will determine largely the success or failure of the building to be constructed. Shall he be a local man ? Shall he be selected by competition ? Or shall he be a church specialist, widely informed, SUGGESTIONS FOR BUILDING in exceptionally competent to help in the problem of the committee? The obvious answer is, The architect should be a church specialist, a man with wide experience in building churches, alert to the modern needs. He should not be selected by com- petition; such a method is unsatisfactory and the best men, except in unusual cases, refuse to enter competitions. The church specialist may be a local architect, but there are not many competent men of this type and they are not to be found in every community. The architect having been selected, he should be treated with the same confidence which the medical specialist or expert lawyer receives. The committee should tell him what it considers its present and future needs, but should be open to his suggestions. He is in close touch with the best that is being done in the country. The committee may well feel free to express to him any prefer- ences in ideals and plans which have come to it in its study. It is refreshing to learn occasionally of a church building committee that seeks honestly and sym- pathetically to learn the real needs of the Sunday school, and which recognizes that the future church will be recruited largely from that organization. Building a modern Sunday-school and church building is one of the most complicated tasks the architect is called upon to undertake, for ii2 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING the transition situation in the Sunday-school world makes difficult the satisfaction of every need, present and future. Many a building constructed within the last four or five years fails to show a suggestion of attempted response to the needs of the modern graded Sunday school. And in many cases the failure lies at the feet of the church building com- mittee, which did not include in its membership representatives of the Sunday school. Despite the radical demands of the new Sunday-school building, every department of church activity can have facilities for its work as good as, or better than, in the older type of building. Perhaps one of the chief matters of adjustment will be the favorite plan of using the Sunday-school quarters for an extension of the normal audience room. This plan will not be popular in the future. Careful study of many cases has shown that the added seating capacity is rarely used, hence there is no valid reason in those cases that Sunday-school facilities should be sacrificed to the desire for an enlarged auditorium two or three times a year. It is questionable whether a thoroughly effective modern Sunday-school building can be constructed, at the same time making the space available for added seating capacity for the church auditorium. A new church costing $100,000 recently exam- ined by the author is not less than 40 per cent inefficient for Sunday-school purposes because SUGGESTIONS FOR BUILDING 113 the minister insisted on using the Sunday-school room to make an additional capacity of four hundred for his audience room. Another church, costing over $150,000, advertised as the most modern church in its section, has extended the steep church auditorium gallery about the Sunday- school room and used pews of the same style in the Sunday school as in the church proper. And the Sunday school burdened itself through a period of years to pay thousands of dollars toward this building! Whenever a church gains the vision of efficiency in religious education and provision for the leisure hours of its youth, there will be no difficulty in constructing a Sunday-school building which will respond to the new ideal. MEETING THE NEEDS OF OTHER CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS An examination of the plans and descriptions preceding will show that while the Sunday school often has been apparently the primary thought, yet other church needs have been amply cared for. What better use can be made of the church parlor, for example, than to make of it a cheerful Primary and Beginners' room for the children ? The gym- nasium and entertainment room will be found available for the occasional dinners of other church organizations. The secondary auditorium or one of the departmental rooms will serve ii4 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING admirably as a chapel. Classrooms respond to the needs of committee meetings. Every club will have ample quarters in the classrooms. The possible clash between Sunday school and morning worship, when the same auditorium is used, can be avoided by Sunday-school worship being held at the beginning of the Sunday-school hour with dismissal from the classes and no return to the church auditorium. Dismissal of the Sunday- school groups directly from their classes without closing exercises is a proved success and gives to the individual teacher the opportunity for the last impression. Five to seven minutes of lost time for reassembly is also saved to the lesson. GENERAL SUGGESTIONS The basement of the church building is not the ideal place for the Sunday school. If its use can possibly be avoided, efforts should be made to do so. A ground floor with full-size windows is very desirable. This will enable little children to enter their departments with few or no steps. If a basement must be utilized, let the men's class- rooms be put there. What true father would consign his children to the basement while he and the mother chose the sunny, cheerful rooms for themselves! Absurd as it may seem, one of the otherwise good plans for a new building, which has recently been constructed, shows precisely that SUGGESTIONS FOR BUILDING 115 situation down the dark stairs for the little children, and a very large east and south room on the ground floor for the "men's class"! It is better to use leaded, clear glass in Sunday- school classrooms than deep-colored glass. Keep the rooms bright and cheerful. The competent architect will provide good ventilation and light for every room in which people are asked to remain for any length of time. There are technical stand- ards in these respects which should be observed. Care should be taken that halls are ample and well lighted, that stairs should have an easy tread, and should in no case be of a winding character with narrower footboards at one side than the other. Handrails are desirable in some cases, with a second rail for small children. An adequate sanitary drinking-water supply should be provided. Convenient cloakrooms adjacent to each depart- ment are desirable in which umbrella drips should be installed. All departments and classrooms should be reached from halls and not through other rooms. Main entrances to rooms where worship is planned should be from the rear. Provision against panic from fire should be made. At least two staircases built of fireproof material should be available from upper floors. It is not too much to require either fireproof stairs or fire escapes on all Sunday-school buildings of three stories or over. n6 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BUILDING Toilets should be conveniently located on main halls, not in dark basement corners. Those for the two sexes should not be located adjacent to each other or on the same hall. Frescoings should be restful in character. The good colors do not cost more than those which are objectionable. Red and blue will, of course, be avoided. Soft tones of brown and green are most desirable. It is better to trust the architect and decorator in this matter than to take a vote of the committee. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 305 De Neve Drive - Parking Lot 17 Box 951388 LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90095-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. Series 94K A H n n ' ''' '