The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1877-08-22
FOR THE orsr PRESBYTERIAN.
THE UNEMPI&YED MINISTRY.

~
D men in behalf of an nsncrease of the numbe
Q of ministers of the gospel They left upo
his mind an indelibie impression, and tn
, solemn words of the Divine Master" Th
harvest truly is plenteous but the laborer
are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of tn
harvest, that He will send forth laborers int
his harVest" still ring in his ears with
deep spiritual power. But he has lived Il
see condition of things hard to reconcile
with these apPeapes arge number of those
whom the Church hae Encouraged to come ou
from the world and devote their lives to th'
service of Christ, are, at this moment, out o.
all regular connection with that service, anC
driven, by an inexorable necessity, to carr
their bread in various secular callings.
The mournful fact to which attention is
now invited, implies several things by nc
means creditable to the Christianity of our
times. Either these supernumerarieS are ur''
fit for this sacred calling, and the Church
has committed great error in investing them
with the ministerial character, or the Church
has Shamefully allowed them, for want of sup
port, to waste their energies in other pur-
suits. 1t is doubtless true that some of our
unemployed ministers have proved inefficient,
and unadapted to the spiritual duties of their
vocation. But, making every allowance for
such failures, it is hard to believe that any
considerable proportion of Presbyterian min
listers have proved utterly unworthy of a
share in the holy work to which they were
consecrated. The number is too great to
warrant such conclusion. We are COM
PEELED to adopt the other alternative, to a
large extent, and arrive at conclusion,
equally mortifying, that the neglect or inditt-
ference of our churches is the main cause of
this great want of ministerial labor.
When we speak of the churches, we do not
refer exclusively to the lay members. The
fault lies somewhere among the people and
their spiritual guides-not only with the con-
gregations, but in our Presbyteries and
Synods. Something is due, beyond doubt,
to the caprice of our churches in the Selec-
tion of their pastors. The demand is becom-
ing almost universal, for meV man fresh
from the Seminary, and many Of our best Ia
borers are starved out, to make way for
young men, who are thought capable of do
ing maximum of work for the smallest COM
pensation. But another cause appears to us
equally operative in preventing our unem-
ployed brethren from securing fields of labor.
l refer to the difficulty exp perienced in dis
covering the mutual adaptation, requisite to
successful settlement. Minister and church
eS must knoW one another, in order to make
or receive call. Our system is practically
defective in this point. We need an organi-
zation for the purpose of bringing the pas
tors into correspondence. As far as we
have observed, such correspondence is gen.
orally left to accident-or rather to the sug-
gestions of interest, or friendship, in behalf
of the candidate. Influential friends are the
real agents in most cases, since churches can
not generally know many available ministers,
unless their names are presented by some in
dividual recommendation. 1t is obvious that,
in such state of things, many modest un-
obtrusiVe, humble servant of Jesus Christ,
may spend his life in obscurity and want,
simply because the churches know nothing
about him.
1t need not be said that churches epiSco-
pally organized, have an advantage over US
in this matter of locating ministers. The
difficulty is not inherent in our system. 1t
Is simply consequence of neglect. We
have not realized, as We should, the impor-
tance of furnishing channel of correspon-
dence between ministers and churches and
the evil has now grown to such enormous
proportions, especially in the Northern Pres
byterian Church, as to demand immediate
attention and remedy.
A committee of Presbytery could discharge
this function as well as diocesan bishop
1t is not appointment that is needed, but
mutual acquaintance between ministers and
churches. Every PreSbytery in our bounds
should exercise episcopal supervision to this
extent, that its ministers may not be secular
lied, and its churches be preserved from dy
ing out. Many Of them are dying from this
very cause, and we often wonder at the ap
parent Indifference of the Presbyteries. This
is one of the worst features of independency
and one against which our Form of Govern
ment can and should provide. The evil tt
which we refer is rapidly advancing, ant
tending more and more, every year, to i'm
pair the efficiency of our Church. II canno
!, cure itself. Water will seek it's level, bu
it must have channel. 1t is moreover
physical agent, and may sometimes force it
way through obstacles. Modest worth, Oh
the contrary, needs fostering and encourage
ment, and refuses to force its way into no
3 tce, either in Church or State. **
r CovEToUsNEss is very evil thing in
s family; it brings disquiet and uneasinesS int