Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-07-19
WORK OF A CLERGYMAN.
ONE OF THE CLOTH CHATS A
 WHILE ON THE SUBJECT.

ONE UT SGSiE
 WHILE ON THE SUBJECT.
 Many Demands NIadc Upon His Time.
 Always Subject to Sudden Calls--Method
 of Making a Sermon-Keeping Track of
 Every hing.
 The central figure was prominent clergy man of New York His pleasant face was scanned with the lines of thought, while his pen scratching rapidly over tho paper was laying the framework of one of those brainy, vigorous sermons which have been so often reported. Looking up And observing a visi- tor, whom he had been too busy to notice be- fore, he courteously motioned him to seat and proceeded to the completion of his task. |
 You catch me in a busy time," he said, pleasantly as the pen ceased moving and he | threw himself back in the chair with an air | of relief, 'The general public seems to be l under the impression that we ministers have l nothing to do but to laugh and grow stout, l preach a sermon or two and enjoy the good | things of this world," said the clergyman. | 'This idea, strange to say, is shared by some | members of our own congregations, who, if l they took the interest in the church they | should, would soon learn to know better.
 "Not long ago I was accosted as came out of my study one morning by an old parishioner of mine with the remark, 'Ah, how do you do' What do you expect to find to do that will enable you to kill the time between now and next Sundayr
 ''This, am sorry to say, expresses the idea formed by the masses of a clergymans life. Idle? No, indeed, we are not I have been in both the business and Christian world for over twenty-five years, and I never worked d so hard in my life as I have since I became a minister.
 A CLERGYMAN'S WORK.
 ''The world of laborers and mechanics are crying out for less hours, yet we work from fourteen to nineteen hours a day, Sundays included. To be sure, there is a certain ad- vantage in our business-for such I must term it-in the fact of its not being monoto- nous. We generally try to spend our morn ings in our studies, but we are subject to so many interruptions that I do my best think ing and almost all my writing after 9 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. I have always made myself easy of access, and hold myself in readiness to extend sympathy or do good where good can be done. We are subject to sudden calls for funerals, baptisms, weddings and sick calls, and are expected to lend an ear to the wall of sorrow from whenever it may come.
 "As 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 tSne, and great deal of it. It takes thought and study to enable cler- gyman to present to his congregation Sun day 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 a feeling | akin to disgust at the minister's poverty of expression or meagerness of thought.
 What time can get from my sick calls and other drains upon my time I devote to | study, but have not an idle moment, and | have no opportunity for social calls what \ ever My method of making a sermon is this: | In the first place settle on 8 theme early in ! the week, read about it, 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. 1t is done by simply letting | my thoughts accumulate. Everything & l 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 a flash and is seen from beginning to end by pure inspiration, and some of the best sermons lever preached | AaNS COllo HI way, SuSSeSLSu DS SOu1e- | thing had seen or somebody had said"
 VITAL TO SUCCESS.
 Are these studies all retrospective, deal- ing entirely with the traditions of the past?'
 "They should not be, but I regret to say that in some cases they are, and this accounts for the failure some men make as ministers of the Gospel. They seem to forget that the
 world is progressing, that every year the people to whom they preach are becoming
 better informed on all subjects; that the
 minds of the young, like sponges, are absorb,
 ing all the knowledge they can, and that
 each generation is becoming better informed
 than the last. These points vital to the
 success of a clergyman. He must not only
 keep abreast of the times, but if possible, ir
 advance of them, as a school teacher must
 ahead of his class. Once let your congrega
 tion pass you in this education, so that they | look down upon you from the height of theil ! superior knowledge, and your usefulness is ! destroyed. The narrowness of your views i:
 at once detected by their better trained in
 tellects, and the truths you may tell then
 lose their value. A congregation look t.
 their minister for guidance and for help, anG l it is folly for the blind to lead those who car l see or the weak to assist the strong.
 ''Not only that, but how is minister go
 ing to preach telling sermon on the wrong !
 them, hears of them or sees theml The read
 ing minister is obliged to do in this day tt
 keep track of these things and watch tn,
 world is prodigious. The reviews, magazine
 and new books, to say nothing of the litera
 ture of the past, of which you spoke, that , minister must necessarily read would talk
 all the time of an ordinary man. I read his tory in its broadest sense. I read everything
 pertaining to the world of all nations, secula , and religious do not think mans hear can be enlarged or his sympathies be wher they ought to be unless he becomes ac quainted with the affairs of this vast uni , verse, to all of which he can well apply tn \ Scriptures, and find in each incident a COZ , !, firmation of the Word of God. To do this re , , quires student and thinker, and a think 4 ing man can never be an idle one. We ofte work the hardest when to outsiders we seer
 idle. "-New York Tribune.
 Apparatus for Cooling Air.
 Au nnporofuc hoe hoar, introduced fysu, ,f1