Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-01-27
Notes in the Pulpit.

From the New York Tribune.
The number of churches throughout the
country that are invariably full, not to say
crowded on each recurring Sunday is not large
We doubt III it reaches one quarter of one per
cent of the aggregate. The majority of churches
are never more than twO-thirds full A great
many are never more than third full Not a
few are uniformly Us ''sparsely settled" as very
new country.
Various explanations have been suggested to
account for this state of things, all of which
are plausible. But 1t occurs to us that one of
these upon which no unusual stress has ever
been laid Is worthy Of the serious consideration
OF the ministry. We mean the EXPLANATION
which refers the smaness of the average at
tendence upon church services to the fact that
sermons are either entirely read or are preached
from more or less cOpiOus notes. The LAWYER
addressing jury. politician on the stump are
not confined to notes; why should ministers be:
Is not the method employed by lawyers and
stump speakers better calculated to engage and
hold attention? Obviously so. 1t is human
instinct to believe that when man is earnest.
when the message he has to deliver comes from
his heart as well as from his head he will find
any but the most casual and infrequent refer
ence to a manuscript impossible. since he real
ICES that 1t can only be accomplished by breaking
the chain OF attention that connects the pulpit
with the pew.
Z
when was young in the profession l was as
signed TO the defense of q man who had been
indicted for murder. When came to sum m.
being profoundly impressed with the Importance
to my client of what had to submit to the jury.
departed from custom and read a carefully
prepared speech. No sooner had done so than
1 regretted that / had not thrown aside my
notes. found that could not get at the Jury
scores OF ministers are constantly complaining
that they cannot ''get at" their CONGREGATIONS.
yrh ip6n %
their manuscripts Show us minister who is
reckOned the most successful and we will show
you one who breaches without notes. There is
much sense In the eulo@ium passed upon pop
ular divine by an old hunter. Il like him. said
NimrOd, because he shoots without rest"
The preaching that is philosophic. reflective.
metaphy steal, possibly without serious disad-
vantage may be done from the closely followed
written page So, too may that preaching be
which is to interest cultivated audience as a
fine lecture would. But the preaching which is
calculated to arouse and quicken must follow
not that method nor yet the extemporaneous
method. which, except in rare instances has it's
outcome In loose and incOnsecntive thought
out Il method which leaves the preacher as free
to come into personal. persuasive relations with
MS hearers as it he were lawyer or a stump
speaker. We are aware that some ministers saw
that they cannot trust themselves to get up 10
their puipits without firm reliance upOn their
notes The impl cation of course is that they
hold that they had better preach with notes than
not preach at ALL But it is question whether
poor preaching. preaching that does not take
mold. Is not worse than no preaching. No man
wOnld feel that he had call to be jury lawyer
who found that he could not "shOot without a
rest in court. Why should man with similar
limitations feel that he has call to address his
fellows In relation to matters of the first import
ance! A few weeks ago a minister in a neigh
boring city who breaches to more empty than
occupied pews took for the subject of his dis.
course the decline of religion. He proved the
decline by reference to mass of suggestive
statistics and concluded by an urgent appeal to
his hearers to join him In applications to the
throne OF grace for a revival. The matter of
the sermon was excellent, but the manner
From first to last the speaker was closely con-
fined to his notes, and the urgent appeal with
which he concluded was shOrn Of nearly all its
force since 1t came from the lips of a man not
leaning toward his hearers but bending over his
desk; not looking into the eyes of those whom
he desired to touch. but upon the printed page
The sermon ought to have produced deep i'm
preston. Apparently it produced none. There
was no magnetism in it.
poet of the flOrid school was once criticised
"a having nothing to say but saying it magnifi-
Gently The trouble with so many ministers is
that they have much to say but they say it with
distressing effect. If public sentiment could
be organized intOlerant of the reliance of minis
tiers upon notes, the effect would doubtless be
to exclude some very worthy men from the
pulpit. But 1t would certainly lead to the
survival of the fttest And in this field above
all Others none but the fttest ought to survive