St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1884-04-10

ed downward.
"Why Don't the Pastor Come J"
The more faithful pastor Is, and
the more tit by his very sensltlveness
to be good pastor, the more he Is
pained bv the unnecessary complaints
of his people. One form of his annoy
ance is the complaint of sick people
that the pastor does not visit them
The invalid who is member OF a /
church ought to know that he has no
friend in the world more ready to come
to see him than the pastor. He ought
to be the paHshOner of pastor OF such
a character as TO be the most desirable
man for the sick man to see and yet
through all the large churches people
sicken, and sometimes recover, and
then go sulking through the church
six months, until at last it is discov-
cred that the ground of their grum-
bling is that the pastor had not visited
them when they were sick. 1t Is this
senscless demand of omniscience which
is so intolerable.
This naturally brings up the ques-
ton, whether the pastor ought to go to
see sick people until he is sent for.
/ What right has whole congregation
to suppose that the pastor knows OF
sickness when no human being ever
presumed upon the physicians having
that knOwledgeP 1t would be less I'M
reasonable to make this latter suppO-
sition. A physician passing amongst
the families in which he has patients
might begin to suspect from some
bodily appearance that sickness would
shortly ensue, and might therefore be
expected to go around in due time to
see if the suspected person was really
sick. Instead of that, it Is the pastor,
Il man engaged i'll quite different stud
les, who is supposed to be able, from
looking over his congregation on Sun
day. to believe that Mr.. A. will be sick
on Monday. Mrs. b. will he i'll on Tues
= day. Mr.. c. will sprain his ankle on
Wednesday. Mrs. DIS child will have
the measles on Thursday, and SO on
through the week. The physician
whose business it is especially to look
after sick folks, never goes till he Is
: sent for, even if he knows there Is
a sickness but the minister is expected
to come without being sent for, and tt
= he able to tell that there is sickness
without any information.
Perhaps each church needs thre'
e bishops pastor bishop, an evangeliS
= bishop, and teacher bishOp-One t.
: take care of those who are already en-
rolled in the church, to keep then
5 toned up and drilled; another to g
t out. leading forth as many of the churcl
as he can, to bring i'll those who arr
: outside. beating up recruits and train
Is ing them for the service; and thlr'
to preach to those inside and ontsld
the church, giving his whole time t.
that one work. As it is now, thes
three functions are expected to he dis
r charged by one man. Whoever tina
1t man is, and however large his capa
e bilities of discharging duties i'll thes
Is three departments, it is quite certail
he that he will excel in one. a man VIII
i dcvotes himself to personal care q
e hundreds of members of Il church vii
$ have little time to go out among me-
ID of the world aud endeavor to brin
k them into the church of God. He VIII
n. devotes his whole week to this latte
'd employment can have little time t
Is prepare for the pulpit; and he VIII
II does. or undertakes to do, all three
~ cannot hope to do any of them quit
3 as well. Hence the disappointment.
+ is as if man undertook to practic
Is medicine and law and edit IA daily pa
Il, per. That is just what is often eN
~ pected of pastors i'll the large churcht
III of our cities DIR. Deems.