Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1889-01-19
HOW THEY GOT RID OF A BAD
PASTOR.

Mr.. Crosson was not a bad man
had he been, a higher court would
have taken his case in hand and re-
lieved the church OF I'll the RESPONSE
bility Of his removal. No one ques-
toned his being a good man. He
was sincere in his piety, conscien-
tious in his outward life, ard his ear
nest desire seemed to be the spirit
ual good of the church over which
he had been called to minister. But,
in spite of this, he had not proved a
good pastor. The six years of his
pastorate had not been success,
and murmurs of disapprobation, de-
veloping finally into an expressed
desire that they might get rid OF him,
were becoming alarmingly frequent.
It is true his church had never
been an encouraging one; his people
were, themselves, very far from fault
less. For the most part they be-
longed to that class-so numerous in
our churches-who are Jealous and
active in all kinds of work so long as
the minister pleases their fancy and
gives them no occasion for finding
fault, but sensitive to the first lack
of attention to them and critical of
any deviation from their standard of
propriety in matters great or small.
When Mr.. Crosson first came among
them some very soon began to criti-
else his manner of praying; Others
did not like his rule for visiting !;
some even complained that he did
not buy his groceries of them while
others thought it very strage that
Mrs. Crosson could not do her own
washing. And in this last matter
they certainly did all they could to
enforce her duty upon her by making
their salary SO small that she could
hardly afford to hire it done; but be-
ing delicate woman and not accus-
toned to the wash-tub, she felt COM
PEELED to deny herself of other things
and thereby relieve herself ofa task
for which she was so untitled. But
these minor criticisms were soon
merged into a general complaint of
his preaching and pastoral work.
That Mr.. Crosson was not an ideal
preacher we must admit. Too often
were his texts taken from the book Of
human nature rather than from the
Word of God, and his sermons point
ed expositions of the weaknesses of
his people, as revealed in their daily
lives. He was by far too severe in
his rebukes and too personal in his
applications. Forgetting that, as
the sugar-coating in no way destroys
the potency of the pill, only renders
it more pleasant to be taken, so
coating of tenderness and persuasion
does not make reproof less effective,
but more so, since thereby it is more
readily received and assimilated; for
getting, as I said, this principle of
human nature, he administered his
rebukes in so bitter and unpalatable
form that his people refused to
swallow them, and therefore not only
received no benefit, but were more
confirmed in their spiritual maladies
and embittered against him who was
trying to cure them. And so it had
been for the past two or three years;
the people were so busy finding fault
with their pastor that they forgot
their own sins, and daily became
colder and more Indifferent to their
church duties while he, seeing their
unfaithfulness and missing their en-
couragement and cooperation, be-
, came more and more censorious, un-
til it was serious question how it
would all end.
But as in every Israel, so in this,
there were few more faithful than
the rest, who, while recognizing and
mourning Mr.. Crosson's mistake,
still remembered that he was their
pastor, whom they had chosen and
called, and whom they had pledged