Advancing the Kingdom

the child until his seventh year, and I care

not who has him afterward.’ But were the

truth of it fully comprehended, the most

vital period in a human’s life would not

be passed by so lightly. Children reflect in

their plays the impressions they receive, no

matter where and of what kind. To illustrate:

William always wants to play policeman,

so he can arrest his father who gets drunk.

One little fellow who was playing ‘horse’

with another boy, drew the lines, meaning

for the horse to stop; in addition to this hint

he added an oath. The teacher, overhearing

this, went across the room and said: ‘You

do not have to say those ugly words, the

horse will stop without them.’ The child

replied, ‘That is what his mother said to

him when she wanted him to quit doing

anything.’ If it were fully realized by people

who call themselves thinking people, that

the first years of a child’s life is the most

impressionable age, what would or could

hinder them from doing all in their power

to make these years count for good, both to

the child and to the community, by making

it possible to have the training which a

Kindergarten affords. By taking hold of

these children at the age of two years and

a half, and having them three years, it is

almost safe to say, unless its environment

after this time is unusual in the wrong

direction, these same children will have

formed many good and useful habits of mind

and body that will assist them toward right

conduct and living. It is very interesting and

strikingly encouraging to note the change in

the children of this particular little school.

Many of their mothers have voluntarily

come to the principal and expressed

themselves gratified with the training

afforded, and in some cases have consulted

as to methods of discipline to use at home

with the children. The comradeship existing

now between these little folks, and which

was so woefully lacking in the beginning,

is a very noticeable feature. Unselfishness

has taken the place of selfishness, courtesy

the place of rudeness, and now it is the

exception to have one child strike another.

The older ones are lovely in their help of the

younger children, assisting them in putting

on wraps, carrying their chairs or doing any

little service in their power. The daily work

in the Kindergarten is not haphazard by any

means, but is carefully planned and based

upon some fundamental law or principle of

vital interest to the child. The thought chosen

is brought to the child’s understanding in

many and various ways, and everything is

done to assist him in expressing this thought.

Thus, the songs, games, stories and table

work are all selected to this end. Along

with a physical and moral development is

seen much improvement in habits of mind

which show themselves in ability to think

and reason and to act at the proper time.

Every human being, regardless of position

or birth, is at least in the susceptible age

of childhood, but justly entitled to the

environment and opportunities which are

essential to the development of nobility

of character, and those who fail for the

want of them can not be severely censured

for their shortcomings. We as individuals

may not be personally responsible for the

conditions which withhold from tens of

thousands of tomorrow’s men and women

the requirements to produce the highest

standard of manhood and womanhood;

but are we not, as individuals personally

responsible for the institution the purpose

of which is to eliminate these conditions

and give to every child that care in training

which is absolutely necessary to the

development of its higher self?

The sewing school was organized

in April 1902 by the Young Ladies’

Mission of St. John’s Church with six

teachers and twenty-five pupils. Lessons

were conducted until summer, when the

school closed during the hot months.

In October, the school was reorganized

under the management of The Board of

City Missions under a committee led

by Mrs. Sloan. In the school practical

sewing arts were taught to the girls.

Mothers’ Prayer Meetings were

instituted in August 1902 as a way

of not only reaching the mothers in

the neighborhood, but as a way of

interaction between the members of the

Methodist auxiliaries involved in the

Mission and those mothers in the area of

Kingdom House.

In 1903, Miss Mattie Wright

came to work at Sloan Mission in the

official capacity of Deaconess of the

Methodist Episcopal Church South. The

establishment of the order of deaconess

in the M.E. Church, South is traced to

the resolutions adopted by the St. Louis

Board of Church Extension and City

Missions. In 1901, the Board asked the

St. Louis Annual Conference to ask the

General Conference to establish such

an order. This was done by the General

Conference in May 1902. Mattie Wright

was the first to complete the training

and be ordained a deaconess. She

would be thrilled to know deaconesses

are still a vital part of the Methodist

Church’s twenty-first century ministry.

In the

Second Annual Report of the

Women’s Board,

Wright described her

responsibilities:

The duties of a deaconess, as outlined

by the Committee of Control, are –‘Ministry

to the poor, caring for the sick, providing

for the orphan, comforting the sorrowing,

seeking the wandering and sinful and any

hapter

eginnings

(1902-1927)

“I

will

come

at once

ook

for

little old

maid

brown

suit

carrying

straw

suitcase

.”

– M

attie

right

to her

call

service

loan

ission