New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-01-13
IN THE CHURCH PORCH.

Harlem, ID rapidly taking bis place Amons .u'
influential Episcopal clergymon OF TINS oS, n0
:, ~ ola srsesds said TO me the other day "wo are
an proud of George-we call him George pecanse
We can hardly believe yet that he Is anything Ou.
very young man. so rapid has been his advance no
10 one Of that comparatively small NUMBER OF pcop
q self made man. who has no reason 10 20 aenaA
of the lob He was nothing but boy whom bisnop
ritlcjohn took him out OF the Episcopai scn'n"s'
ordained him of hand and made him rector Oh the
tnportant church at Oyster Bay. Thon followed bis
cali to st. Lulc's Brooklyn, and his remarkable WORK
there During this period also he fulfilled important
and delicate duties at the Garden CITY Oalneora'
and mado . great reputation as fervid prcacnor ~
the Episcopal revival meetings known as Miss'om.
year ago he became rector Of st. Andrews In TINS
civ. At an ace whom many young men arc beginning
to wonder what calling they had better ADOPT anu
already bis personality Is dominant both In ms par
fish and In the diocese. He Is a Doctor OF DNimts'
snd a member of some Of the most important stand
Ing committees in this metropolitan diocese new
York weren't too big place for that 500 u thing,
fancy some of the old boys in the ministry wouio
te little jealous Of him, as am told was the case
In BROOKLYN But In Ncw-York there is SO much
room for everybody that there Is no excuse Tor
jealousy. OF course George, or as We should now
say, DR. vandewater VIII have 10 be bishop some
Of these days He is an ideal man for tho once
and don't how he will escape It, unless ne leaves
the country Bat this is contingency that his de-
voted parfshioners will be, far from relshng, and
perhaps should not have said anything about it,
I NAV add that DIR. vandewater is an excellent type
Of the younger clergy of this city, who rule arc
fully alive to the tendencies Of the age, without at
all losing their grasp of the Ohurchs traditional faith
with the exception Of the Roman Catholic Church
there is not Christian denomination that is not be-
wailing the desrth of candidates for the ministry
Every year, wc are told, the percentage Of young
men who voluntarily seek the ministry is growing
<ipnA n
organs the ministry has deteoraed both intellectually
and morally AS a rule, it longer attracts young
men of the highest intellectual gifts such as were eager
and anxious TO enter its ranks forty or my years
ago Ministerial aid societies have been established 10
meet this deficiency. and they have met 1t In
measure by encouraging many young men to study
for tho ministry who would not otherwise have thought
Of It.
There has been good deal Of undeserved criticism
OF these aid societies OF they have helped
unworthy men get into the ministry; but they nave
also aided many of the abcs and most devoted men IN
the ranks Of the ministry to-day. And had 1t not oeen
for their efforts tho churches would long ago have ex
per,enccd clerical famine. As for the charge tna'
they psuperize young men, 1t is charge that might Dc
chit against the Government with equal justice,
because It educates young mon at West Point ana
Annapolis.
Nevertneless the best friends Of ministerial AID
societies must acknowledge that they are only neces
ssry makeshift They would not exist IL young men
were as anxious to enter the ministry as they are 10
enter other calngs. What is wanting arc faith ana oe
yotion Given these and q want OF means wouio Keep
~, man ont Of the ministry, more than IL Keeps
them to-day out Of other professions. we nave no
law students aid societies, and yet somehow or oher
all the men who ought to be in that calling are IN IT,
and great multitude besides
The clerical famine SO often predicted IS upon us
ALREADY Not 30 much because there are not enough
oIereymep as because there is congestion OF clergy
men at all the desirable points. There are ciergymeh
of every denomination hanging around IN This CITY
month after MONTH and year after year, vanly tylhs
10 secure city or suburban church. ana ehins ou.
miserable and beggary existence by supply duty
Ask any Of these to to Texas, or Colorado or
Montana. or Dakota, to take charge OF
promising church iH growing town, ana
they VIII Indignantly refuse IT. Ihey pro
Ysr TO compromise their dignity, lower their
manhood and subject themselves to snubs and sights
IN hopeless attempt drop into snug thing In the
,tv vhan thew could every one Of them 20 to morrow
To = destitute congregation In the far West where
they would be doing some good, and could gain the
respect of good men and women, and where tner
material condition would DO most enviabie one IN
very few years.
Nor need they 70 even to the far West In Illinois
.ionc there are at the present moment fifty churches
seeking In vain for PASTORS and In the same eta'e
religious instruction Of any kind In the centre Of
the State there district comprising seven largo
villages with not Protestant church nor Protest
ant service In the whole district There are enough
clorgymeD IN this city Alone absolutely idle, to supply
the religious needs Of this half million people, and
yet will venture TO sag that not one OF them could De
induced to 20. Some years ago an Episcopal Terri
toral Bishop told that he offered six young clergy
men who were in East doing little or nothing, The
pastorsts Of prosperous mining town at salary OF
81 800 year and travelling expenses paid. MOI
one Of them would 60. One thought miners were SO
dweadfully wougb, lou know; another could not
leave the cultured society of the East; another
thought be was best fitted to preach to intellectual
people who knew something about the "Zeitgeist'
another couldn't think Of going because the services
were held in hail. and Two Others felt the Divine call
to 20 very strongly, but their wives vetoed the said
Divine CALL and So Of course they could not think
Of obeying It, / imagine many missionary In the
west could tell similar story. That such state of
Affairs should exist in the Church is to me more omir-
Gus than the vogue Of Robert Elsmere,' which Is
throwing the clergy into such panic, for IL implies
lack of religious devotion and desire Tor material
ease and comfort the part Of many OF the clergy
which prove their unftness to enter that sacred call
NO do not saw this of myself, but merely repeat
what leading clergynen in all the denominations
have frequently told me.
sse that the chaplain Of a certain State Legis-
lature is said make his daily prayers the vehlce
of sundry political opinions on various matters thar
come before the Legislature BE is called the rev.
ereuc stump speaker / am sorry to say that sucD
door TASTE TO call 1t by no barsher name, is by no
means uncommon. 1t suggests the question whether
on the whole the of religion is helped by tho
appointment Of legislative chaplains. In certain
state It used to BIO the CUSTOM ana may % now Do'
10 appoint any ono clergyman as chaplain, but 70
call upon the local clergy to oicate in turn. each
clergyman being paid % for his services. NOW IL
frequently happened that clergyman who had oeen
notified to oBiciate on certain DAY either iorso'
.hout n or was unayoidably absent. Knowing this
fact. several clergymen to whom $3 was an object,
used to make practice Of hanging around the Capoi
every morning in the hope Of getting the loo. IL
wasn't pleasant spectacle 10 see these men cheaper
Ing themselves in this way, and perhaps hoonooons
with members who might be able to give them THIS
miserable little bit Of patronage. Certainly the poll
ttcians who witnessed such spectacle could not DC
very much blamed II they carried away low opinio'