Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-03-22
FUN FROM THE PULPIT
Rev. c. E. Locke, of the Smlthfeld
Street Nj. L. Church, Lectures
UPON THEPARSON ANDTHEPEOPLE
Some Queer Situations Arising From MIS-
takes in the Pulpit
NTERMIxED WITH GRAVER SUBJECTS

The Rev. C. E. Locke delivered bright
and entertaining lecture at the Smithfeld
Street NJ. E. Church to large audience
YESTERDAY evening, the subject being The
Parsou and the People"
The lecturer made the following pre-
fatorv remarks: 'The profession of the
preaeher is as old as the nineteenth century,
and is founded on the injunction of our
Lord. Go We unto all the world and preach
the gospel.
During the first 200 years of preaching,
8 phenomenal growth was experienced.
Then it fell into rapid decline, caused by
asceticism and ceremonialism, by the latter
of which the soul of the preacher is trans
ferred from his heart to his robes. Thus
manscled preaching was cast into the dun
geon of superstition, there to remain during
the slowly passing centuries.
"Now and then it came forth, as when st.
Bernard and Fulk melted Christianity to
the Crusades, but in every instance when it
showed such signs of life it was arrested by
robed priests and corrupt prelates. Yet this
tomb
PROVED A CHRYsALIS,
for there was life therein. With John Wick
life in England, Peter Waldo in France, John
Calvin and Zwingli in the Alps, Saronarolla in
Italy, Huss and Jerome in Bohemia, and
Luther and Melancthon in Germany, preaching
came forth for the last time. scepter OF power
before which the curtain of the dark ages oe-
gan to roll back. letting in the light OF civil
and religious liberty"
The speaker then proceeded to discuss the
debt which modern civilization owes to the
pulpit and referred to the common school sys-
TEN as being developed according TO the loeas
of Luther in Germany, ard Knox IN Scotland,
and that America is indebted to John Calvin
for the principles of government. A call to
preach was next ably discussed. being Illus
trated by witty parallels and timely anecdotes
In this connection the lecturer said:
The Lord is no more ready to I'LL the empty
mouth of lazy preacher, than He is to till the
empty stomach of a lazy mechanic"
The various relations of preacher and lay
men, together with the right of a congregation
to an industrious preacher, were lucidly ex-
planned, and followed by a humorous exposi-
tiOn of the preacher about to marry couple:
A laughable incident OF the preacher VINO exc
pected to get roll of bills and got roll of
finecut tobacco instead, brought down the
house in reality.
FUN IN THE PULPIT,
The various predicaments of preachers was
next dwelt upon. The speaker told a story of
two Methodist and Baptist manuscript
preachers who exchanged pulpits one week,
and the Methodist congregation was edited by
sermon on Infant Baptism" A good story
was also told of an old-time preacher who
wore buckskin breeches during the winter.
One Sunday in the fall of the year, the
story goes, he took them down from their peg.
and found them full of moss. After cleaning
them he drew them on, and proceeded to go to
church. Before much time had elapsed, the
moss began to sting and when member of the
congregation pointed out the unusual antics of
the preacher, the latter exclaimed:
THE word of the Lord is in my mouth. but
the devil is in my breeches."
The lecture then closed as follows: "John
Quincy Adams has called the pulpit the throne
of modern cloquence, yet it is a lamentable
fact that many good effort has been spoiled
by the somnolence of a member of the audi
ence. 1t is all very well for the congregation
to cry out. o Lord, send fire into the pulpit
but not quite as well when it goes to sleep over
the fire. While there are many curious things
in the relations of the pastor with his people,
it still remains true that the work of the
church is most serious. and that tie business
of the church is of eternal concerns"