The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-06-28
WORK OF A CLERGYMAN.
Many Demands Made Upon Their Time
"a Steady Intellectual GEhd.

The sunbeams streamed in from bay
window through the curtains and foliage
| plants and flooded the room with mellow
light The birds sang in their gilded cages
while their less melodious though freer
friends without, added their pretty chirps
| to the chorus A stray sunbeam rested
| caressingly on the head of man seated at
desk, the green haiZe top Of which peeped
out from beneath mass of papers and cor
respondence. Around him lay scattered
books, papers, magazines and pamphlets OF
| all descriptions
The central figure was a prominent cler
gyman of New York. His pleasant face
was scanned with the lines of thought, while
his pen scratching rapidly over the paper
| was laying the framework Of one of those
| brainy, vigorous sermons which have been
so often reported i'll the 1ftbuae. Looking
| up and observing visitor, whom he had
| been too busy to notice before, he court
eously motioned him to a seat and pro-
ceeded to the completion Of his task
| You catch me in busy time" he said,
| pleasantly, as the pen ceased moving and
he threw himself back in the chair with an
air of relief. 1.-THE general public seems to
| be under the impression that we ministers
| have nothing to do but to laugh and grow
stout, preach sermon or two and enjoy
| the good things of this world" said the
/ clergymen. "Ths idea, strange to say, is
| shared by some members Of our own con-
| gregations, who, If they took the interest
| in the church they should. would soon learn
| to know better.
mot long ago was accosted as l came
out of my study one morning by an old
parishIoner of mine with the remark, 'Ah,
how do you dog
What do you expect to find to do that
will enable you to XIII the time between now
and next Sundays
This / am sorry to say expresses the idea
formed by the masses of a clergyman's life.
Idee No indeed, we are not. l have been
in both the business and christian world for
over twenty-five years, and l never worked
so hard in my life as have since became
| minister.
"The world Of laborers and mechanics
are crying out for less hours, yet we work
| from fourteen to nineteen hours aday, Sun
| days included. To be sure, there is a GER
| tain advantage in our business-for such
| must term tin the fact of its not being
monotonous. We generally try to spend our
| mornings in our studies, but we are subject
| to so many Interruptions that l do my best
| thinking and almost all my writing after
| o'clock p. m, and have for nearly twenty
| years. We are public men, the servants of
| the people, and should be at their disposal at
| any hour of the day or night. / have always
made myself easy of access, and hold my
| self in readiness to extend sympathy or do
| good where good can be done. We are sub
| ject to sudden calls for funerals, baptsms,
weddings and sick calls, and are expected to
lend an ear to the wall of sorrow from
| whomsoever itmay come.
LAS minister you are justly expected to
| give consolation. To do this you must give
| the matter your undivided attention Then
| comes the preparation of our sermons. This
| necessarily takes time, and a great deal of
| it. 1t takes thought and study to enable a
| clergyman to present to his congregation
| Sunday after Sunday and year after year
thoughts that will reach their hearts, and
| preach sermons which will not pail upon
them, and do more harm than good by turn
ing them from the church with feeling
| akin to disgust at the minister's poverty of
| expression or meagernesS of thought.
"What time l can get from my sick calls
| and other drains upon my time devote to
study, but have not an idle moment, and
| have no opportunity for social calls what
| ever. NV method of making a sermon is this:
| In the first place l settle on a theme early
| in the week, read about 1t, investigate it and
| think about it until the inspiration seizes me
| to write, and then.it is my habit to WRITE it at
one sitting. IL is done by simply letting my
thoughts accumulate. Everything a man
| reads, sees and thinks about In his life and
| travels is held by the cumulative power
| which stores up ideas. There are occasions
| when sermon comes like flash and is
seen from beginning to end by pure inspira-
| ton, and some of the best sermons | ever
| preached have come in that way, suggested
by something had seen or somebody had
| said"
| "Are these studies all retrospective, deal
| ing entirely with the traditions of the pastr'
| "They should not be, but regret to say
| that in some cases they are, and this &C
| counts for the failure some men make as
ministers of the gospel. They seem to for
got that the world is progressing, that
| every year the people to whom they preach
are becoming better informed ON all sub
| jects; that the minds Of the young like
| sponges, are absorbing all the knowledge
| they can, and that each generation is be-
| coming better informed than the last. These
points are vital to the success Of clergy
| man. He must not only keep abreast of
the times, but, If possible, IN advance of
| them, as a school teacher must ahead of bis
class. Once let your congregation pass you
| i'll this education, so that they look down
upon you from thu hight of this superior
knowledge, and your usefulness is destroyed
The narrowness Of your views is at once de-
tected by their better trained intellects, and
the truths you may tell them lose their
value A congregation looks TO their minis
ter for guidance and for help, and it is folly
for the blind TO lead those who can see, or
the weak TO assist the strong.
"Not only that, but how is a minister go
ing 10 preach telling sermon on the wrongs
existing in the world unless he reads about
them, hears of them or sees them2 The
reading minister is obliged to do in this
day TO keep track Of these things and watch
the world is prodigious. The reviews,
? magazines and new books, TO say nothing
of ths literature of tho past, of which you
spoke, that minister must necessarily read,
would take all the time of an ordinary man.
] read history in its broadcast sense. | read
everything pertaining to the worlds Of ma
lions, secular and religious. | do not think a
mans heart can he enlarged or his sym
pathies be where they ought TO be unless he
, becomes acquainted with tho affairs of this
vast universe, TO all OF which he can well
apply the scriptures, and find i'll each Incl
, dent a confirmation of the word Of God. To
T, do this requires a student and a thinker,
! and thinking man can never be an idle
one. We often work the hardest when tc
outsiders We seem idle.
Can a journalist write an article without
knowing something about the subject with
q which he dealsi No. If he attempts il his
/ ignorance stares his readers in the face in
8 every line, and what should be entertaining
r and instructive becomes ridiculous. A
( lawyer to successfully plead his cases mus
( be acquainted not only with the legal point,
= involved in it, but thoroughly informed OF
y the subject which forms the cause of action