pMiHilBiwnPliii—nniiBiniwntin«;iiiBmiMif’!Mi;!f;if?;f !iM)iMHff«nnMim^'
I J H^GCltOTT —B» E«rl Heffner
There’s an educational experi
ment going on in Charlotte, an
experiment that hasn’t been un
derway very long and an experi
ment thdt is begining to attract
citywide attention despite its brief
life.
The experiment?
A pre-school kindergarten at
Our Lady of Consolation School.
So what’s unusual about a kin
dergarten?
This one uses the Montessori
method of teaching.
THE METHOD was developed
by an Italian woman who was a
physician and an educator. Her
method assumes that small chil
dren from 2% years to 5 years of
age can learn quickly and easily
the same things their older broth
ers and sisters learn, that they
No Better Time
Than the Present
For Church Unity
SAN FRANCISCO — (NC) —
The Rev. Eugene Carson Blake,
stated clerk of the United Presby
terian Church in the U.S.A., said
here that recent developments in
the Roman Catholic Church have
made the need for non-Catholic
unity efforts “more important and
more urgent.”
Citing the “amazing and miracu
lous renewal” of the Catholic
Church, Dr. Blake said “no Protes
tant dares ignore either the reality
of Catholic renewal or its bearing
upon the life and direction of all
Christian churches.”
The chief executive officer of the
United Presbyterian Church spoke
in the Episcopalian Grace cathe
dral where four years ago he first
proposed a merger of the Presby
terian, Episcopal and Methodist
Churches and the United Church of
Christ.
Since then a group called the
Consultation on Church Union has
met three times to study the possi
bility of such a step.
DR. BLAKE said Christians to
day “dare not pursue or separate
denominational goals as if our
present denominational divisions
were not a scandal and a sin.”
There is “no reason,” he said,
to think “that any later time will
be a better time” for religious
unity.
“We dare not excuse ourselves
or abdicate our responsibility by
leaving its accomplishment to the
next generation, or after so many
years—a dozen or 25 or 50, as some
have suggested,” he said.
Dr. Blake said the aim of church
union must not be to increase the
power of the churches but rather to
increase their ability to be of serv
ice.
“Any church union motivated by
a desire for increased wealth, ef
ficiency, monopoly, or domination
is a dangerous union and one that
must be avoided,” he said.
Also, he said, “we must be
against any church union which is
established at the expense of truth.
A union produced by compromis
ing convictions is not according to
the will of Christ.”
BEWARE OF
OAK HALL HOTEL
TRYON, N. C.
Traditional Southern Cuisine — Special
rotes for traveling and weekend guests —
most reasonable hotel. Church neor. All
sports and diversions.
home
of
your
can learn to read, to spell and to
do arithmetic.
Dr. Maria Montessori originated
the method in 1900, after conclud
ing from her studies of pre-school
children that they would learn
under controlled conditions.
She used bright objects which a
child could feel with the fingers.
For instance, a string of colored
beads. And she stressed that chil
dren should move freely around
the classroom, picking up card
board letters or whatever interest
ed them. The teacher guides rath
er than instructs.
Dr. Montessori’s method was
used widely in the United States
about 40 years ago. But interest
waned Until the Sputnik era be
gan. Since 1958, more than 100
Montessori schools have been or
ganized in the country.
MSGR. CHARLES Gable started
the school at Our Lady of Consola
tion under Miss Wilma Gardner
who had been teaching the regu
lar kindergarten classes. Miss
Gardner took training in the Mon
tessori method and started the
school’s two classes last October.
Her children are in class, three
hours each day. They come from
parishes all over Charlotte.
Most of the pupils are non-Cath
olic. Their parents are paying a
tuition of $12 a month.
While learning, the children are
unhurried. So is their teacher.
She gives them answer books to
check their own work because
“they resent being criticized.”
Maria Montessori said we must al
ways treat small children with re
spect because they get so little
of it.
“If they don’t do a problem cor
rectly, we consider it our fault.”
How successful is the school?
Well, it hasn’t been in operation
for a year yet.
But Msgr. Gable is enthusiastic.
So is the school principal, Mother
Dolorosa. So is Miss Gardner. And
so are many people in Charlotte.
THE TIME TO answer this
question may come when these
children now in the kindergarten
are in grammar school. Then their
teachers will be able to say more
precisely how much they learned,
how much the Montessori kinder
garten helped them in later school
work.
Of course, even that may be
hard to determine.
What is important now is that
pre-school children are learning
in this kindergarten and at a
younger age in many cases than
they would be learning in any oth
er kindergarten or at home.
And this in itself is an accom
plishment, is important for their
future.
R.
GRAHAM
and SON
• •
Construction Company
• •
Phone 882-8167
Greensboro Road
High Point
North Carolina
Scholars Examine Relations
Between Catholics ana Jews
LATROBE, Pa. — (NC)— Catholic and
Jewish scholars spent four days examining re
lations between their faiths here and uncovered
many areas of agreement as well as disagree
ment.
The occasion was a Jewish-Catholic “col
loquy” held (Jan. 25-28) at St. Vincent Arch
abbey under joint sponsorship of the National
Conference of Christians and Jews and the
American Benedictine Academy. The partici
pants discussed both theological and temporal
aspects of Catholic-Jewish relations.
TWO SCRIPTURE SCHOLARS — Father
Roland Murphy, O. Carm., of the Catholic Uni
versity of America in Washington, D.C., and
Rabbi Samual Sandmel of Hebrew Union Col
lege in Cincinnati — noted a broad scholarly
consensus between Catholic and Jewish stu
dents of the Bible.
Father Murphy said this has been made
possible by the shared concern of scholars for
“understanding the biblical message in its his
torical perspective.”
“From this point of view,” he said, “all
interpreters are equal — they must use the
same tools: philology, literary criticism, history
archaeology, etc. . . On the level of objective
analysis, where the text is subject to the con
trol of historical and literary evidence, a con
sensus of opinion is possible, even apart from
one’s particular religious commitment.”
Rabbi Sandmel said that the 20th century
has seen “a joining by Catholics and by Jews
in the Protestant search for the pristine mean
ing of Scripture.”
“At last we are united in common acad
emic quests, reading each other’s books and
agreeing and disagreeing with each other, not
on denominational lines but in the way that
scholars differ in weighing the materials they
deal with,” he said.
The close relationship between Catholic
and Jewish worship was underlined by Father
Aidan Kavanagh, O.S.B., of St. Meinrad (Ind.)
Archabbey and Rabbi Solomon Freehof of
Rodef Shalom Temple, Pittsburgh.
RABBI FREEHOF noted that ancient re
ligions were essentially “spectator religions” in
which the people “were not worshipers — they
were audience.” By contrast, he said, syna
gogue Judaism and primitive Christianity fo
cused on a “highly democratic and participat
ing” form pf worship.
“The modern changes in the Catholic
Church with regard to the Mass, as to the ver
nacular and increased participation of the
people — the whole democratic tendency —
may seem radical to some, but it is merely a
reemphasis of the democratic spirit of the early
Church and of the synagogue,” Rabbi Freehof
said.
Father Kavanagh called Christianity’s debt
to Judaism in the area of worship “incalu
lable.”
“The more closely we examine the origins
of Christian worship, the more we see them be
gin to merge into Jewish tradition both in
structure and detail,” he said.
Rabbi Jacob B. Agus of Baltimore, in a
talk examining fundamental Jewish ideas about
Judaism, said the growth of the ecumenical
movement is “likely to strengthen the humanist
trend in the concept of Israel, transforming it
into the vision of the invisible fellowship of all
who seek the Lord with heart and soul.”
“This development,” he added, “is likely
to gather additional momentum if Moslem in
tellectuals Should fall in line. We may expect
some deep and sustained soul-searching among
Jews, which will result in according full rec
ognition to the latent universalism within the
Jewish faith.”
RABBI ROBERT GORDIS of New York, a
past president of the Synagogue Council of
America, said believers must find a basis for
religious liberty in their fundamental religious
convictions. Otherwise, he warned, “They may
extend freedom of religion to those who differ
with them, but it will be at worst a grudging
surrender ... and at best a counsel of prudence
limited in scope and temporary in application.
“Unless a nexus is established between
the religious tradition to which the believer
gives his allegiance and the doctrine of religi
ous liberty,” Rabbi Gordis said, “he will still
be in danger . . . of violating the divine com
mandment, ‘You shall not hate your brother
in your heart.’ ”
Italian Foods
Villa Capri Restaurant
3625 Hillsboro
RALEIGH, N. G.
Diol TE 4-2086 Reservotions
CHARLOTTE QUALITY
SHOPPING GUIDE
Jock Wood Ltd.
300 S. Tryon Charlotte, N. C.
There's None Better Than
S&P PEANUT PRODUCTS
Sju^trCkwv
rooD^PRopycTS.
Charlotte, N. C.
Carolina Delivery
Service Co., Inc.
To make the necessary special
arrangements call
Charlotte Raleigh
ED 35196 TE 27046
John C. Lydon
Agency
Specializing in Fire, Casualty
& Auto Insurance .
2500 Selwyn Avenue V
Charlotte, N.C.
Telephone EJ 4-2984
Carolina Sandwiches
and best selling
DUCHESS PIES
whole or in slices
give ygu
Flavor and Freshness
EWARE OF
Termite Damage!
PROTECT YOUR HOME
I,
GUARANTY
EXTERMINATING COMPANY
Free Inspection & Estimates without obligation
Complete pest control
3812 Western Boulevard, P.O. Box 3033, Raleigh, N.C. 832-0337
^L CL CowpMi IjUAJL
i DAIRY FOODS
MILK AND ICE CREAM
★ At 'your nearby store
MILK AND DAIRY FOODS
★ By convenient home delivery
PINE STATE
RALEIGH • OXFORD • HENDERSON
DUNN • GOLDSBORO
SANFORD • ROANOKE RAPIDS
Sorth Carolina',-; Chain Sinn tUl!)