Just what place does the Lesson-Sermon have in Sunday School teaching?
It cannot be a minor one, for Mrs. Eddy tells us that the very prosperity of Christian Science largely depends upon the lesson. (See Manual of The Mother Church, Art. Ill, Sect. 1.)
However, experience has proved that a routine reading of the lesson throughout the class session, or using the hour to have pupils explain what citation after citation means, does not constitute genuine teaching, nor do these approaches measure up to the Manual requirement (see Art. XX, Sects. 2 and 3) of adapting our instruction to the needs of the pupil. Furthermore, instead of increasing the pupil's interest in and enthusiasm for Christian Science, these practices may leave the pupil with the impression that the study of the lesson is a weekly chore to be fulfilled, rather than an infinitely expanding joy and a God-given source of solutions to his problems.
