The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-09-12
MINISTERS WHO MOVE ON.

MINISTERS WHO MOVE ON.
The reports of the annual conferences re-
mind the careless public that this is the
time of year when the ministers of one great
religious denomination are Ike poor 10, or
dered to move on. The casual reader of the
newspapers feels but mild and passing inter
est in the proceedings Of these bodies; but not
so the preacher whose name appears in the list
assignment, fixing their fate for another year,
is OF absorbing Importance and concern. It
may be all their hearts have wished-a promo
ton to wider field and an increase of salary
but it may mean, so often, alas, it does
mean, transfer to unpromising fields, mar
rowing Of the outlook and a consequent de-
preston Of hopes and high aspirations. To
many it may seem that the itinerant is not
especially in need of sympathy and it
is true enough that such life to-day
is not filled with the vicissitudes
and privations experienced by the brethren of
preceding generation. 1t by no means fol-
lows, however, great though the contrast is in
some respects, that the path Of the Methodist
is granted the privilege of ministering in the
costly tabernacles of the church and to large
congregations of saints and sinners. But a
few have the privilege Of listening to ''calp
and of going where their own inclinations and
the wishes of parish lead them. These
great favors are for the exceptionally gifted
orators for the Smooth takers" for the
''debt raisers," for the socially accomplished
or, as they would be called in political parlance
the good mixers The others, the great ma
jority, must go whittier they are directed,
however their hopes and wishes may lean
elsewhere. These must submit to the COM
mands of their ecclesiastical superiors and
murmur not. When he entered the
ltlnerancy, each man among them
agreed, of course, to accept the
hardships with the compensations, but being
human-a minister is very human creature
he naturally and innocently enough looked
forward to the enjoyment of some of the
prizes Of the profession. With laudable
ambition he hoped to some day preside over a
large church, and from this vantage ground
to reach a greater multitude than when on the
circuit in a sparsely settled region. Sooner
or later he of the majority finds that the
elders and the bishops do not recognize the
abilities which he hoped that he possessed and
which he is secretly convinced that he does
yet possess. He took a VOW that he knew
was one of obedience, and might be one of
poverty; but it is a hard lesson to learn, after
all, that of subordination to an authority
which he cannot always revere nor believe in
fallible in judgment. 1t takes long, some
times, to convince him that he is to labor al
ways in the rocky and least fertile parts Of the
vineyard; that his harvest, so far as worldly
measurements 60, is to be small and poor
When the autocratic system has at last taught
him that his life is to be one of humble serv-
ice and that his aspirations and hopes Of pre-
ferment are vain, the fact that he is not
crushed and rendered incapable of earnest and
active effort is the strongest proof that can be
offered of the genuineness of his religion and
nobleness Of his purpose. Knowing that all
his years are to be spent in poverty that he
must live remote from the centers of society
and the advantages thus afforded to the mem
bers of his class, conscious that he can give
his family few privileges, he yet goes on his
way with humility and gentleness, and labors
with zeal at the task assigned him. 1t is not
in the city churches toward which the young
Circuit rider" looks so longingly, that inspir-
ing sermons and the most earnest prayers are
oftenest heard The exhortation that stirs
hearers to new life as frequently falls from
the lips of the man who has no ambition left
but to serve his Master in that field of labor
to which the bishop calls him. But not until
the days when he is superannuated and set
aside can he learn to look with entire indiffer-
ence upon the annual disposal of himself, and
hence it is that that list of appointments hides
many story and much that is pathetic be-
tween its lines.
-
REJOICING TO ORDER.
A grand festival is being arranged to be