The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-12-11
THE INCREASE OF THE MIN
ISTRY.

THE INCREASE OF THE MIN
ISTRY.
1t will not be questioned among our
thoughtful readers that THE UNIvERs-
ALIsT is in the direct line of a COM
manding duty to our church in devotiDg
considerable space to the discussion
which is now fairly at the front, in re-
gard to the increase of the ministry.
The question is one of supreme i'm
portance to the future Of our church,
and its consideration has been too long
delayed. 1t is one of the encouraging
signs Of the times that it is now up for
discussion, that the attention of our
people is being directed to the neces-
sity which is upon us, of devising
methods which shall meet the emer-
gency of our present condition.
In common with other churches, we
are suffering from the lack of capable
and well equipped pastors. Many fields
which promise rich rewards for spirit
ual husbandry are not cultivated ON
account of the lack of preachers who
are trained and educated for the work.
Each year the depletion that death
makes in our ranks is more and more
severely felt. The places of the vet
eran workmen called away from earthly
fields are not made good by new re-
cruits. The situation is paralyzing
to the missionary spirit. If a new par
ish is gathered, or a new field open, we
have no assurance that the workman
will be ready to carry on the enterprise
and secure by pastoral labor the COW
eted results. The embarrassment is
sorely felt under such circumstances
in order to fill such places others hardly
less important are vacated, and the pow
erty of our resources becomes evident
every time such change is made. In
the meantime our theological schools
are waiting for the students who do not
come, and they barely graduate minis
tiers enough from year to year to keep
up the average of working pastors.
With all the inducements offered to as
sist worthy youth to an education for
the ministry, we find that there is no
encouraging response to the call of the
church, and that unless things change
for the better, and very soon, the num-
Der of our graduates will grow less with
every year, and our church become still
more embarrassed in every de ,artment
of its appointed work by the scarcity Of
the workmen.
We enter at present on no examina-
tion of the possible reasons for this
condition of things. Undoubtedly the
the trouble is not peculiar to our church
it is general and not special-and
is shared by other denominations as
we'll as our own. What is styled the
"spirit of the age" has doubtless much
to do with it. In such period as the
present, when so much Importance is
attached to wealth, when emphasis is
placed on material things as the su-
preme object of pursuit, and men are
fired with the insan ambitions of mod
ern society, we need not be surprised
that the ministry is neglected and that
young men turn their attention to other
professions as stepping stones to fame
and fortune. 1t requires a profound
conviction of the Importance and real
ity of spiritual things, and a clear
insight into the true nature of what
constitutes genuine success in life,-
a success which alone makes life worth
the living-to rise superior to these
tendencies of modern society. To this
point should be addressed the most
earnest exhortations of the pulpit and
the most faithful discipline of the home.
If we would secure young men for the
ministry, the pulpit needs to exercise
its influence and the home sanction It's
appeals to our youth. The moral and
spiritual rewards of the ministry should
be kept before the people, so that
parents may be educated themselves
into the thought of its honorable fields
of usefulness, and that, in time, they
may use their influence in directing the |
attention of their promising youth to
this noble profession which holds so
much of the highest future of the world
in its divine keeping.
1t is because of the paramount i'm