, 1877-08-19
CHURCH CHANGES.


| DATES.
| Mem 1;ork Herald
Notwithstanding The apparent increase Ii
tfe number Of young men who have sought tt
| enter the ministry during the last three years
IL is q painful reflection, strengthened by obser
satton Of those III position to know whereof theJ
aurm: that the number oil candidates Tor th.
ministry Is constantly and steadily diminishing
AND thls is not confined to any single dcnosni
nation The Baptists, Presbytcrians, Conere
gatlonalists, aud Episcoralians make the SAINT
complaint. The Methodists hare shut the doors
| OF their conferences to keep out the crowds whe
seek to enter, aud yet their Bishops tell them
every few years th2: the inconlcrs DO not equal
the outeoers, and that something more mus, oc
done to encourage Young men to seek the 1uin.
lstry. But everything that can be done is dont
already. Young men can get collegiate and
theological education almost free Or fur u next
to nothing.' And yet they do not keep pace
W1th the wants OF the Church aud the increase
of population. DR.. 4. H. Strong President Of
tue Baptist Institution at Rochester, n. r.,
has collected aud published some statistics
on this rout covering period OF half century,
'shicl. hc divides into five decades, and takes
tue graduates Of the leading colleges as basis.
At fale College, the first ten years o{its history
e per cent Of the students had the ministry III
view. ln the first deca,lc Of tho fifty years 30
per cent had the ministry iu view il, the last
only H. In Williams College, in the lirs1 de-
cade OF the fifty years, SO per cent were looking;
to the ministry, iu the last, only Is In Anu
hcTst, in the first decade, the percentage is Ct !;
in the last, Is. Hamilton College dropl,cd from
IS per cent to %, Brown University from 30 to
IS per cent; Rochester from 4G to -. The av-
srss srsse % ol al these soeEes was &c cent in the
might well awaken anxiety for our country.
Not simply relatively to the number Of students
In coutse Of preparation, hut absolutely the
number Of candidates for the ministry is COLI
stantly diminishing. Meanwhile the call tor
men to fill important stations OF usefulness is
becoming ever more pressing. AS Daniel Web
ster said about the legal profession, 50 ,yc may
about the ministerial, 'Thcre is plenty Of room
at the top"
Among the reasons for this fallins-off sus-
gested BY Dr.. Strong, one is the marked change
in the tone and spirit of the age a mist seems
to have come over Ill these sublime truths so
much rerered by our fathers. Materialism has
supplanted the ideal philosophy. This has
SO that from three learned professions we have
dozen. The secu1arizatfon Of our seats Of
learning suggests another reason 4 secular air
in colleges has expelled special religious or the
olosieal study; One hundred years; a$o Che
might have said dfty) religious or theological
teaching formed a part Of every College cur1icu-
lun,. The young man who BECAME lawyer Lad
studied theology with his felow-student who
entered the ministry Thus bond Of union was
formed between them which brought them into
intimate relations. Now, theology-the science
Of God-is about the only science which is not
taught in our colleges As fer remedies, the min
stry itself must magnify their office in every pos
sible way. The churches must lay hands on their
gifted Young men and compel them to take
up the office. But the ministry have magnliicd
their Office greatly that there Is chance for
the average young man to enter their ranks,
and gifted young men can do better SO far as
money-naking is concerned ia other callings.
And for the soul~saving part, which now is q sec
onaary consideration with many ministers, any
Christian young man cat DO his part in the work
Us we'll without rs with the consent OF the
Church authorities.
Raptists, Presbyterians, and others hold the
idea that when God calls man to the ministry
He also calls congregation to be served by
him. Hence candidate Is never ordained by
those bodies, nor sent forth with their inprima-
ture unless congregation willing to sit under
his ministry has been found. But they may not
want him more than year or two. and then he
goes OIL. perhaps even without Golspeel, to
seek other pastures and other tocks to feed for
two or three years more. The Catholic and the
Methodist Churches are the only ones that keep
un any sort Of equilibrium between their con-
gregatons and the misistcrial supply. There is
fault somewhere ia the ecclesiastical! poity uf
other sects that keeps oae-haif more Of their
ministers idle and their pulpits empty.