LETTERS: NEED PRAYER IN CHURCHES, NOT SCHOOLS

To the editor:

It was at the University of Illinois in the 1960s that a professor stated that some of the educational faculty had run different methods of teaching reading through a computer to see which ones were best. To their amazement, one showed a result of about 95 percent perfect. When asked about which one it was, the reply was McGuffy's. If it was so good to teach reading, why was it not being used in schools today as it was in the early days of U.S. history? The reply astounded me. It also taught morality.

Today, we can see the result of not teaching morality in schools and the result of not using McGuffy's readers. Neither is their morality in school, nor can children read. Would, then, a return of teaching morality in the classrooms or placing the Ten Commandments in the classroom help expunge evil from schools? It would not hurt, but it would not cure. For decades my ears have heard and seen the hand-wringing of those who want prayer returned to school. We do not need prayer in schools as much as we need prayer in churches.

Look around the communities, counties, cities and the area where you live. How many -- or, rather, how few -- churches advertise midweek prayer meetings? How few gather together in the middle of the week for the explicit purpose of praying? Yellow pages have been searched. Church listings of worship times have been looked at. Few to almost nonexistent are the ones that have prayer meetings. Recently, a church was visited in the East. The pastor prayed for minutes, and it sounded like a prophet praying to a God with home he was acquainted. It has been seen where the pastor is seldom heard to pray in a public service. It has been seen in church where prayer requests were asked for and then immediately neglected if not forgotten.

If you decide to go to church this midweek for the purpose of meeting with Christians to pray, where would you go? Morality is not needed in the schools as much as morality is needed in churches. Prayer is not needed in the schools as much as in the churches and homes. Prayer is needed in churches. To paraphrase II Chronicles 7:14: "If my people will humble themselves and pray ... ." When you search for solutions, search in the correct place.

WARREN E. JORDAN

Patton