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been almost universally adopted in this country", and a 1914 publication stated that of the churches built in the preceding fifty years, three-quarters of those that made provisions for Sunday schools had used some version of the Akron Plan. Many of these churches modified the design with the addition of a movable partition between the sanctuary and the Sunday-school spaces, allowing the Sunday-school classes and the main body of congregants to be separated or united.
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heterogeneous set of pupils, and the mix of ages tended to give rise to disciplinary problems. In response to this, and in keeping with the practice in the public schools, Sunday schools began to be divided into grades. In 1872, a national convention adopted the
Uniform Lesson Plan, whereunder all students would study the same Scriptural passage but would be taught in a manner appropriate to their age.
210:
In 1908, a convention of the
International Sunday School Association approved the development of completely graded lesson plans. These were adopted by 35,000 Sunday schools during the following five years. With the different grades no longer studying the same topic during a given week, there was no
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The Akron Plan was not without its failings. The divisions between the classrooms impeded worship by the whole body of pupils, compared to how they might have acted in a single large space. The wedge-shaped rooms were often poorly lighted and ventilated. Flimsy partitions and doors did not suffice
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Through the first quarter of the 19th century, religious instruction in Sunday schools took the form of rote memorization of extensive passages from the Bible or the catechism; pupils might be tasked with memorizing as many as 300 verses a week. In about 1826, this began to give way to a new system,
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of Akron, he devised a plan in which wedge-shaped classrooms were separated by partitions radiating from the direction of a central superintendent's platform. Doors on the platform-facing side of each classroom could be closed during grade-separated lessons, or opened to allow all pupils to see and
177:
The so-called Akron Plan was adopted by
Protestant churches throughout the United States and the world, particularly after 1872, when the Fifth National Sunday-School Convention adopted the Uniform Lesson Plan. A 1911 American publication stated that "This plan for the Sunday-school building has
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and later a bishop, described the architectural requirements: "Provide for togetherness and separateness; have a room in which the whole school can be brought together in a moment for simultaneous exercises, and with a minimum of movement can be divided into classes for uninterrupted classwork".
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arranged for the teaching of a measure of literacy and religious instruction to slum children, most of whom worked six days a week and had Sunday as their only free day. The experiment proved successful and was taken up elsewhere; by Raikes's death in 1811, Sunday-school pupils numbered about a
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In the early 20th century, the
Uniform Lesson Plan began to fall out of favor. The requirement that the same Scriptural passages be taught to pupils of all grades was seen as unduly constraining: passages that adults could profitably study might be meaningless to small children. Moreover, the
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Under the
Uniform Lesson Plan, the grades were not to be kept separate for the entire duration of the session. Rather, the class was to begin with devotional exercises, led by the superintendent and involving the entire body of pupils. After this, the grades were to be taught separately. The
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The plan fell out of favor in the early 20th century, when Sunday schools changed their approach to one in which pupils were taught separately for the entire session, eliminating the school-wide exercises. The awkwardly shaped and imperfectly soundproofed rooms were poorly adapted for this new
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Until about 1860, Sunday school was usually conducted in a single large room, with pupils of all ages learning the same lesson. This allowed all members of a family to discuss the lesson at home after church; but it was difficult to devise lessons that would be useful to all members of such a
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The change in Sunday-school organization did away with the advantages of the Akron Plan. The oddly shaped rooms could not readily be turned to other purposes without extensive modification. While Akron Plan churches continued to be built into the 1920s and 1930s, many existing churches were
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Until about 1860, Sunday-school pupils of all ages were taught together in a single large room. After that, there was an increasing tendency for pupils to be taught separately, with instruction tailored to their ages, for most of the session. However, the superintendent conducted all-school
46:. It was characterized by a set of wedge-shaped classrooms that radiated from the direction of a central superintendent's platform. Doors or movable partitions could be closed to separate the classes, or opened to allow the entire body of pupils to participate in school-wide exercises.
478:
Evans (1915), p. 31, gives a date of 1909 for the
Louisville convention of the International Sunday School Association. This is apparently an error. Evans (1914), p. 158, gives a date of 1908, as do other sources, including Cope (1911), p. 117, and Meyer (1910), p.
129:
This created a challenge for ecclesiastical architects. The Sunday-school building had to be designed in such a way that the pupils could quickly and efficiently be separated according to their various grades, and brought together for whole-school activities.
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exercises at the beginning and end of the session. To facilitate this, the building's interior layout had to enable the students to be quickly and efficiently divided into classes or brought together in a single body.
101:, who in about 1830 sent his children to Sunday school, and encouraged his neighbors to do likewise. Instruction in reading and writing was dropped, and the schools devoted themselves to religious education.
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longer a place for the superintendent's review of the whole school. School-wide assemblies became infrequent, eliminating the need for a means of quickly bringing the whole body of pupils together.
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the "selected lesson" or "limited lesson", whereunder all pupils were given the same relatively short excerpt from
Scripture to memorize, and were taught the passage's meaning and significance.
617:, ed. by W. N. Hartshorn, Rev. George R. Merrill, and Marion Lawrance. Boston: Fort Hill Press; published by Executive Committee of the International Sunday-School Association. Retrieved via
595:, ed. by W. N. Hartshorn, Rev. George R. Merrill, and Marion Lawrance. Boston: Fort Hill Press; published by Executive Committee of the International Sunday-School Association. Retrieved via
573:, ed. by W. N. Hartshorn, Rev. George R. Merrill, and Marion Lawrance. Boston: Fort Hill Press; published by Executive Committee of the International Sunday-School Association. Retrieved via
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When the First
Methodist Episcopal Church of Akron decided to construct a new building, Miller interested himself in the building's design. Working with architects Walter Blythe of
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of the United States, where it was developed for the construction of a church built in 1866–67. It was quickly adopted by
Protestant churches across the United States.
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With the passage of time, the exclusive focus on lower-class children was abandoned. The expansion to upper classes was pioneered by, among others, noted divine
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session would end with the superintendent's leading, and the whole body's participating in, a five-minute review of the lesson followed by closing exercises.
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approach, and many of them underwent extensive remodelling. By the beginning of the 21st century, few intact Akron Plan interiors remained in existence.
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remodelled to create more useful interior spaces. By the beginning of the 21st century, few intact Akron Plan interiors remained.
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hear the superintendent during school-wide exercises. The new church, following these plans, was constructed in 1866–67.
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154:. There, he employed the graded system and experienced the problems that arose from unsuitable building designs.
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exclusive focus on
Biblical passages made it difficult to study such things as church history and organization,
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366:
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528:"National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: First Congregational Church" (Akron, Ohio).
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Interior of 1914 Akron Plan church: Sunday-school rooms, seen from sanctuary through tambour doors
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235:"National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: First United Presbyterian Church".
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The Akron Plan was devised to address this need. It took its name from the city of
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Hamill, H. M. (1905). "The Genesis of the International Sunday-school Lesson", in
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was a scheme for the design of churches and other religious buildings that housed
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Evans, Herbert Francis (1914). "The Sunday-School Building and Its Equipment".
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Trumbull, Charles Gallaudet (1905). "The Nineteenth Century Sunday-school", in
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146:. A wealthy inventor and industrialist, Miller supervised a Sunday school in
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Jenks, Brother Christopher Stephen (1995). "The Akron Plan Sunday School".
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591:
Merrill, George R. (1905). "Robert Raikes and the Eighteenth Century", in
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510:. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. p. 8. Retrieved 2017-01-07 via
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quarter-million, throughout the British Isles and in the United States.
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ed. by John T. McFarland and Benjamin S. Winchester, (1915). pp. 28–55
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Chambers, Murphy & Burge, Restoration Architects, Ltd. (2003).
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294:(New York Landmarks Conservancy), December 1995. Reproduced at
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34:; the polygonal projection at left holds six Sunday-school rooms
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559:
The Encyclopedia of Sunday Schools and Religious Education,
584:. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press. Retrieved via
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The genesis of the Sunday school occurred in 1780 in
604:The Graded Sunday School in Principle and Practice
142:One of those who addressed the design problem was
557:Evans, H.F. "Architecture of Sunday Schools" in
233:Trine, Phyllis, and Stacy Stupka-Burda (2008).
615:The Development of the Sunday-School, 1780–1905
593:The Development of the Sunday-School, 1780–1905
571:The Development of the Sunday-School, 1780–1905
548:, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 150–224. Retrieved
367:"Aultman companies enjoy period of prosperity".
606:. New York: Eaton & Mains. Retrieved via
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537:. Boston: Pilgrim Press. Retrieved via
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497:Chambers et al. (2003), section 8, p. 5.
451:Chambers et al. (2003), section 8, p. 4.
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134:, an authority on Sunday schools in the
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7:
535:The Evolution of the Sunday School
508:Akron Churches: Early Architecture
238:Nebraska State Historical Society.
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354:Texas Archival Resources Online.
195:, and latter-day issues such as
533:Cope, Henry Frederick (1911).
187:to exclude distracting noises.
113:Uniform Lessons and Akron Plan
1:
369:Part 2 of a 3-part article.
635:Akron Plan church buildings
506:Mavromatis, Kelly (2008).
403:Lawrance (1911), pp. 84–89.
382:Lawrance (1911), pp. 83–84.
351:"John Heyl Vincent papers".
296:Partners for Sacred Places.
267:Trumbull (1905), pp. 10–11.
661:
580:Lawrance, Marion (1911).
136:Methodist Episcopal Church
602:Meyer, Henry H. (1910).
582:Housing the Sunday School
460:Evans (1914), pp. 157–58.
421:Hamill (1905), pp. 41–42.
332:Evans (1914), pp. 155–56.
320:Hamill (1905), pp. 42–43.
258:Trumbull (1905), pp. 8–9.
73:Sunday schools, 1780–1872
469:Cope (1911), pp. 113–15.
412:Evans (1915), pp. 29–30.
249:Merrill (1905), pp. 3–6.
442:Lawrance (1911), p. 90.
341:Lawrance (1911), p. 14.
298:Retrieved 2014-07-05.
207:
174:
126:
89:, when philanthropist
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32:1914 Akron Plan church
530:Retrieved 2017-01-07.
488:Evans (1914), p. 158.
394:Evans (1914), p. 155.
373:Retrieved 2015-12-01.
356:Retrieved 2015-12-01.
276:Hamill (1905), p. 38.
240:Retrieved 2014-01-05.
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645:History of Methodism
433:Evans (1915), p. 30.
311:Evans (1915), p. 29.
640:Church architecture
300:Archived 2014-07-16
173:Original Akron Plan
150:, and later one in
87:Gloucester, England
546:The Biblical World
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63:Great Lakes region
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16:(Redirected from
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144:Lewis Miller
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125:Lewis Miller
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292:Common Bond
629:Categories
521:References
197:temperance
40:Akron Plan
18:Akron plan
550:via JSTOR
159:Cleveland
193:missions
563:online.
182:Decline
61:in the
219:Notes
152:Akron
55:Akron
479:232.
161:and
59:Ohio
38:The
631::
426:^
387:^
325:^
281:^
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20:)
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