The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-12-28
PREACHERS AND THEIR WORK.


praph:
E'Wherevcr Mr. Beecher breaches. there will
Plymouth Church be found. The stockhold
ers who are prosecuting the old gentleman
for politics sake should remember that there
is nothing to Plymouth Church but Beecher."
This statement may well put more people
to thinking than Mr.. Beecher and the mem
bers Of Plymouth Church 1t CURLY sets
forth fact that must have impressed itself
more or less deeply upon large number OF
minds, and that is, that there are churches and
churchcs-the former, places where the effort
is to make men and the world better and
stronger, and the other, where the only wor-
ship is that of the preacher who for
the time stands in the pulpit Mr.
Beecher is growing DID, he cannot
in the nature of things live very long. 1t
will be sorry outcome for all the effort of
PRAYER, and faith, and work expended
in the founding and development of a
great church organization that it will
wink ont with the passing away Of its preacher
And vet that is what is predicted of Mr.. Beech
er's CHURCH and it is what may be predicted
of many others than of Plymouth Church.
There are churches" which are little more than
mutual admiration societies or social clubs
and when the spirit of admiration of socia
ability fails the churches fail with
them. The thought suggested by such
paragraphs as that in the World is that
the real Christian church is more. and better,
and higher than man or human instinct or
desire. and that to make the church potential
for lasting good, preachers and people alike
must be careful not to lose the essential spirit,
nor to seek by any mere temporary methods to
supplant the permanent purpose and objects
of the churchs existence.
The Christian church is divided iufo two
great bodies, the Roman and TIE Protestant.
With the Roman Catholic there is little or no
danger of the trG1tle to which allusion is
made; with the Protestant, necessarily, the
dangerous tendency is always present. 1t is
the evil to which professionalism in anything,
religion, politics or what not, is constantly liza
bic: the emphasis of the individual and the
radical, at the expense of the aggregate and
the conservative The problem with all in
telligent and earnest professionalism is how to
allow the largest individual liberty, and yet
avoid license that overthrows the law by
which i'll harmony with one far-off divine
event the whole creation moves.
"Will the coming man attend church,? is
q query that has commanded the attention Of
ministers and laymen. 1t has been discussed
in newspapers and periodicals. in conventions,
assemblies and conferences. Might it not be
well to change the form Of the inquiry, and
ask whether the church shall be made and
kept worthy the attendance of the coming
mani That is a much more vital inquiry.
When the pulpit is made simply the theater
in which performer displays the profundity
of his learning, the briliance of his genius,
or the effiorescence OF his eccentricties. it
may attract largely for time, just any
sensational exhibition will draw crowds but
it has not that life in it which endures. and
which viii draw people to its healing con
tact after the particular star that presently
Eliminates it with freely radiance. has set
in darkness.
The Christian church has its origin and the
reason for its existence in fundamental need
of human nature, and it can only be certain
of its continued power so long as it answers
that demand Mere pulpit eloquonco is not
the whole work of the church nor the whole
duty of the preacher. Indeed, it is the least
important part of its function and of his pow
er. The church, with its ministrations aud
consultations, must be brought into contact
with the people, in their everyday life. The
church whose doors are closed six days out Of
seven, aud only opened then for m hour or
two of formal worship, can have no strong and
helpful and permanent hold upon even its own
members. The minister who is never seen
elsewhere than in his pulpit on Sundays, and
only comes in contact with his people during
the two hours in which he administers a form
al, though it be brilliant and powerful service
can not, and need not expect to have any
vital force or influence. Jesus went about
doing good; end the minister of Jesus must
mix with the people and do them good by al
lowing them to come in actual contact with
the warmth of his Christian character and life.
Seeding from the pulpit viii not fill the pews.