In Relation to Public Education.—The rec ognized necessity for courses of instruction in religion available to all school children led to the organization of a field in which both the churches and the public schools could operate without official relations under what is known as the plan of correlated Bible study. In 1910 an arrangement was made by which students at the Colorado State Teachers College, Greeley, Colo., could receive not to exceed two units of credit for the study of the Bible outside of the college in ,ehurth classes under academic regulations. Later this plan was extended to apply to students in high schools through the State. In 1912 a somewhat like plan was adopted in North Dakota by the State Teachers' Asso ciation. It provides that high school students may follow an official syllabus of Bible study and upon passing an examination conducted by the State Teachers' Association receive not to exceed one-fourth of a unit of credit per annum. Several plans are now in operation in a number of the States. A further and dif ferent development has taken place, at Gary, Ind., by which children in the public schools may be excused at certain periods in order to attend classes conducted according to schoolroom standards in their churches and this without prejudice to their standing in the public school. None of these plans call for the use of either the property, the funds, the au or the professional workers of the schools as such. Care is constantly exercised so that there is no sort of official relation be tween the churches and the State, but the plans have resulted in very much larger numbers of young people receiving regular and systematic instruction in their different churches and Sun day schools, instruction which has been corre lated to their week-day work. Similar plant. are followed in Toledo, Ohio, Birmingham, Ala., and in numerous lesser communities in Illinois, Indiana, Oregon, Montana and elsewhere. In New York City an influential interdenomina tional committee promotes the instruction, on week-days, of thousands of children in Hebrew, Catholic and Protestant churches. The Daily Vacation Public School Movement adopted by many church communions provides for week day religious instructions during the summer penoti. The fact remains, however, that there are probably 70,000,000 of persons of school age in the United States who are receiving no for mal instruction in religion.
In the Family.— The problem of the re ligious instruction of children has been pe culiarly complicated in the United States by the fact that, while the public schools have been necessarily debarred from this work, the breakdown of family customs due to settle ment in a new country has largely deprived the family of its function in regard to religion. Changing social and economic conditions have effected a similar result so that it is not possible to count on any general custom of instruction in religion in family life nor on any effective degree of religious training in habits and ideals. Doubtless some awakening has been effected. Several organizations have given serious atten tion to the problem of religious education in the home, notably the Religious Education As sociation which held a convention on the sub ject in 1911 and has published much useful material on the problems involved. Other or ganizations touching the matter are The Mother's Congress, Philadelphia; L'Unione Familiale, Pans; League for the Populariza tion of Pedagogy for Families, Brussels, pub lishing up to the outbreak of the war Edu catione Fanaliale ; the Home Progress Society, Cambridge, Mass.; After School Club, Phila
delphia. The impressive Child Welfare Ex hibits also aided in calling attention to this need. Consult Hodges, George,