You will notice that this Sunday school is not made up of children, with a few older heads to keep them straight, but is composed of the membership of the Church, including all ages.
The Sunday school having been dismissed for a short recess, let us have a look at the church building. You doubtless already have been looking at it, since I am quite sure you never saw anything like it before. It is in the shape of an L, so as to make it easy to divide into two rooms, at the same time allowing the entire congregation to see the preacher, who stands in one corner. The men and boys occupy one side, and the women and girls the other. They are not supposed to see each other, hence this arrangement of the church. In buildings not constructed on the L shape a curtain or other partition separates the men from the women.
Now that the congregation is gathering for the preaching service, come and take your place with me on the platform, so you can see everything that is going on in the house. Notice that everybody takes off his shoes at the door and the men keep on their hats. Everybody bows in silent prayer before taking his seat. There are no chairs or benches of any kind. The floor is covered with clean straw matting, and on this the people find comfortable seats, since this is what they are used to in their houses. The pastor announces a hymn and pauses a moment to give everybody time to find it, for all the people want to sing. Yes, they all love to sing; but such singing you never heard, and doubtless will never hear, outside of
