St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-11-05
OUT ON THE CIRCUIT.
Presiding Elder Robert Forbes
Gives His Ideas Of
Preachers.
True Gospel Expounders Do
Not Talk to Empty
PeWS.
Country Congregations APP
/ preeiate Pulpit 0ratory as
Well as City Cousins.
Liberality in Religion One Of
the Fundamental Ppinci-
/ pies OF Methodism.

The lot of Christian minister is
rarely understood by the public gen-
orally. True, they see him in the pull
pit Sunday. have superficial acquaint-
ance with him during the week. but
very few are privileged to know the
extent and nature of the calls made
upon him. With view of obtaining
some information on these points a
GLOBE reporter yesterday visited Rev.
Dr. Forbes, presiding elder of the st.
Paul district of the Minnesota confer
ence of the Methodist Episcopal church.
He expressed himself in the following
language:
WE'LL. my own personal experience
has not been especially eyentful. L
have followed the routine of the average
Methodist minister's life. | have found
in the work of the Christian ministry
great deal of downright satisfaction. 1t
is a great work; it is great thing to be
a Methodist preacher-tO be saved the
humiliation OF candidate for all appoint
ment, but to have bishop and pre-
siding elder, well paid by the church,
who are my servants to find churches
for me, appoint me to them without any
anxiety on -my part. The support of
the average Methodist minister is quite
comfortable. He does not grow rich,
nor does he feel the pinch of poverty
particularly. He has without money
what money buys-that is. social po-.
sitiOn. educational advantages for his
children. society and good home fur
nished by the church.
/ have found. in my experience and
nt
breaches the gospel, not science, phi
Iosophy, but the gospel of, Jesus Christ
to men, will not preach to empty peWs.
The pulpit is not declining in power.
There are a larger number of great
preachers OH earth to-day than ever be-
fore-better preaching in churches OF
all denominations than the world has
ever been favored with. Il have always
been inspired for my work by the con-
SciouSness that am
ON THE WINNING SIDE.
A man of catholic spirit. of broad aud
liberal views, and yet of profound COIL
victions and of intense loyalty to his
own denomination, is the man for the
times. The gospel OF Jesus Christ is
too large for any of the creedS-GOd is
too large for any of Our definitions-we
are coming out from under the dOmin-
ion of creeds. and are getting back to
the simple gospel. Gods b0undfeSS
lote for Il fallen race is the great theme
ofChristian teaching.
The minister for these times must be
preacher who can conduct a revival,
organize and inspire Sunday school.
collect money to build church, do pas
tofal visiting. and anything else that the
church needs to have done. There is
no excuse for a man being one-sded: he
ninst be a well-developed, symmetrical
character. ready to preach i'll tie coun-
try or in the city; ready to go on the
Street with subscription list to raise
money: ready to conduct a camp meet
ing or Sunday school convention. He
must be ready to speak. Oh the platform
on all living questions of the day, and
be able to deliver a Fourth of July
Grafton, temperance lecture, deliver
AM address for any of the benevolent
societies of the age-in short, he must
be man well Informed on all topics.
1t is mistake to suppose the intelli-
gence of the church is confined to the
city churches. There are as intelligent
people in the country school houses and
the.country churches as we find in any
of our city congregations, and in the
smallest congregation the preacher Will
find men and women who are able to
appreciate his best productions. began
my own ministry at little country cir
cult eighteen years ago in the old
fashioned Methodist preacher way, rid
ing around the country on horseback.
PREACHING IN THE SCHOOL. HOUSES,
visiting among the farmers. have had
eyery grade of appointment, from the
poorest kind of Il country circuit to the
wealthieSt city congregation, and each
one has it's advantages and dlSadyan-
tages, each one has its bright and dark
sides. The peculiar difficulties of
minister's life are known only to those
who have any experience in it. but
there are more bright than dark things
in the average minister's. life. The
most irving hours of a minister's life
are those when he is called to stand be-
side the grave of the. dead, and repeat
the sad ends: earth to earth, ashes to
ashes, dust to dust" have never re-
fused to attend the funeral service OF
rich OF poor, member or non-church
member; and, exposed to; all kinds OF
contagious diseases, have never con-
tracted any. The most sacred friend
ships are formed at such an hour and at
such time, and it is a great blessing to
be able to point the bereaved ones to
the home lover there"
Among the pleasant things of minis
tiers life may be named the pleasant ac
ouaintance formed among the best peo-
ple on earth, for after all the faults of
the church. in the ministry and the
laity. it has ever had on its roll of
membership the best and nobleSt men
and women on earth. The associations
formed near Gods altar are more sacred
and blessed and more enduring than
those formed under any other circum-
stances or in any other place. To be
grasped in friendly way by the hand
of one who, in other days we helped
into a better life. carries with it a rich
reward. and more than compenSateS US
for all our toll
AND ALL OUR SACRIFICE.
Give me the privilege of preaching
THE gospel Oh the Sabbath day to the
listening congregations, and ask no
other pre-eminence-1 ask no other dis
tinctiOn: leave me alone in my glory.
MY observation has been that the man
who enthusiastically gives himself to
his work and earnestly takes care of
the great interests placed in his hands,
the people will take care of him.. The
world does not want any whining senti-
meptalism, nor any religious cant, nor
any drv dogmatism, but it needs to feel
the heart throb of mana manly man
.-ih downright earnest to do good. Our
mission is not to save men from posi-
be hell hereafter, nor primarily into
| glorious heaven hereafter. but to save
nifn- from the meannesS of sin now, to
save them into high, pure, noble living
ipsthe present. The future will take
care of itself.
| The changes that have taken place IN
theology and in the manner OF present
ing Christian truth are changes -decid-
edly for the better. Instead of getting
further away from the heart of the Cos
pei we are coming nearer to it, and in
this nineteenth century of Christian de-
velopment we are but learning the
Al, cfaD ,oIaf. q