The Globe-republican., 1893-04-28
CHURCH WORK.
DR.. Talnage Reviews the Work of
Nearly 2 Quarter Of 8 Century.
Three GT"-s Churche, Eriit Difficulties
and Pleasures of BrCo!>lyn Pastor.
ate-E>sentialS OF success in
Church Work.

annual sermon in Brooklyn, his text
being from Revelations. iv. 4: And
round about the throne We're four and
twenty seats. and upon the seats saw
four and twenty elders" The preacher
said:
This text 1 choose chiefly for the
numerals it mentions, namely four and
twenty. That was the number of elders
seated around the throne of God. But
that is the number of years seated
around my Brooklyn ministry, and
every pulpit is throne of blessing or
blasting. throne of good or evil. And
to-day in this. my twenty-fourth ami
versary sermon. twenty-four years
come and sit around me. and they speak
out in Renaissance of gladness and
tears. Twenty-four years ago | ar
rived in this city to shepherd such
flock as might come, and that day l
carried in on my arms the infant son
who in two weeks from to-day l will
help ordain to the gospel ministry. hop
ing that he will be preaching long after
my poor work is done.
We have received into our membership
|
are only small portion of the multi
tudas who. coming from all parts of the
earth. have in our house of God been
blest. and saved. Although we have as
church raised S1.1OO.O00 for religious
purposes. yet we are in the strange po-
sition OF not knowing whether in two
or three months we shall have any
church at all. and with audiences of
! thousands of people crowded into this
room and the adjoining rooms. we are
confronted with the question whether
shall go on with my work here or go
/ on to some other field. What an awful
necessitv that we should have been
obliged to build three immense
| churches. two of them destroyed by
! fire.
A Amisapprehensioni is abroad that the
! financial exigency of this church is past.
Through journalistic and personal
friends a breathing spell has been af-
forded us, but before us yet are tinan-
cial obligations which must promptly
be met or speedily this house of God
will go into worldly uses and become
! theater or a concert hall. The $4,000
raised cannot cancel floating debt of
sl4O. 1000 Through the kindness of those
to whom we are indebte 500. 200 would
set us forever free. | am glad to say
that the case is not hopeless. We are
daily in receipt of touching evidences of
practical sympathy from all classes OF
the community and from all sections OF
the country. and it was but yesterday
that by nv own hand | sent, for con-
tributions gratefully received. nearly
fifty acknowledgements east, west,
north and south.
Our trust is in the Lord who divid-
ed the Red sea and made the mount
aims skip like lambs" With this
paragraph | dismiss the financial sub
! iect and return to the spiritual.
In the first place. | remark that a
Brooklyn pastorate is always difficult
pastorate. No city under the sun has a
grander array of pulpit talent than
Brooklyn. The Methodists. the Bap-
fists. the Congregationalists. the
Episcopalians. all the denominations
send their brightest lights here. He
who stands in Brooklyn pulpit
preaching. may know that he stands
within fifteen minutes walk of sermons
which Saurin, and Bourdaloue, and
a John NJ. Mason. and a George Whit
field would not be ashamed Of
For forty years Brooklyn has been
surcharged with homiletics. an cleo
tricity of elOquence that struck every
time it flashed. from the old pulpits
which quaked with the power OF a
Bethune. and a Cox. and Spencer. and
a Spear. and Ninton, and Il Farley.
and Beecher, not mentioning the
names of the magnificent men now
manning the Brooklyn pulpits. So dur,
ing all the time there has been some
thing to appeal to every mans taste,
and to crafty every mans preference.
Now let me say to all the minister OF
the gospel who are ambitious for a
Brooklyn pulpit, that it is always diff
ficult pastorate. If a man shall come
and stand before any audience in al
most any church in Brooklyn, he will
find before him men who have heard
the mightiest themes discussed in the
mightiest way. You will have before
YOU. if YOU fail in argument. fifty 10
gicians in fidget. If you make slip
in the use of commercial figure OF
speech. there will be five hundred mer'
chants who will notice it. If you throw
out an anchor or furl sail in the wrong
way. there will be ship captains right
off who will wonder if you are as ig
norant OF theology as you are OF navi
cation. So it will be place of hard
study. If you are going to maintain
Yourself. you will find a Brooklyn pas
torate most difficult pastorate.
| remark still further. Brooklyn
oastorate is always conspicuous pas
torate. The printing press Of the coun
try has no greater force than that or
the sea coast. Every pulpit word, gooe
or bad. wise or ignorant. kind or mean
. is watched. The repOrtorial corps o.
these cities is an organized army
Many of them have collegiate educa
ton and large culture, and they art
able to weigh grafton, or address, o.
| sermon. If you say silly thing yo,
, will never hear the end of if, and if yo,
, saw wise thing it will go into per
! petual multiplication.
Eesides that. Brooklyn pastorate i