The herald., 1897-05-09
PLETHORA OF MINISTERS


PLETHORA OF MINISTERS
The The religious world Of late has
lbeen shaken by many controversies. All
sorts of difficulties have arisen in the
ranks Of clergymen themselves. Charges
Of heterodoxy have been freely made
Iagainst representatives Of some Of the
principal Protestant denominations, the
latest being that preferred against DR..
Lyman Abbott because Of his reference
to Jonah as one of the poetic books OF the
Bible. On the other side Of the water.
lDr John Watson, Ian Maclaren," has
just undergone a trial for heresy the
Synod thinking his utterances as pub
liehed, unorthodox. That so great and
lovable a writer and minister as John
Watson should come under the petty
domination Of a few narrow minded
bigots, is pitiable, and does not reflect
much credit on the liberal spirit which
is supposed to mark the close of the
nineteenth century.
The world is getting very weary of
these religious controversies, and is slow
to understand how such discussions can
come up among those persons who have
expressly pledged themselves to follow
the example and teach the truths of the
lowly Christ. 1t seems as though there
was never time when solidarity in the
ranks of the Christian army was more
needed, beset as it is by foes without and
the more dangerous dissensions within.
To add to the many perplex-
ing matters with which the Chris
tian Church today is burdened comes up
a new and very alarming matter, viz,
the over-production of ministers. A
Boston minister is reported to have re-
Gently said that there never were, to his
knowledge, such awful times in the min
istry az now. 1t seems that the minis
terial profession is greatly overcrowded.
so much so that recently, when church
| in New York needed a minister, 250 ap-
plications were received from members
of the profession out of employment.
Another minister is reported as having
said, deepondingly, "the woods are full
Of the unemployed. 1t is not only for
the fat places that there is scramble,
but for every place" In letter written
to a religious contemporary by one
signing himself Clergyman" the mat
ter is gone into at length, and some
suggestions are made looking to the pre-
vention of overproduction. The writer
asserts that it has become more diff
cult than ever for men trained for the
ministry to find places. There never
was a time," he says, when a self
respecting young man undertook a
greater risk in committing himself to the
restless sea Of min ieterial supply and
demand. 1t makes one sick of the whole
business to see the scramble for place."
clergyman" further says that there is
often wire-pulling and pipe-laying by
ministers out of job merely to get
hearing in vacant pulpit. Among the
baneful results Of the overcrowding in
ecclesiastical ranks are the cheapening
of the clerical profession, and the lower
ing of ministerial manhood. 1t is al
legged by the minister here quoted that
the barterings between ministers and
their employers have been brought down
to the level of the "veriest commercial
ISM"
Among the suggestions Clergyman"
makes for the benefit of his profession.
he favors the organization of a new or
der: "The Society for the Decrease Of
the Ministry" He urges that theo-
logical eeminaries shall refuse, for at
least while, to admit any new students.
This may be done by raising the price
of tuition. He also seriously maintains
that ministers should refrain from
marriage, which laet suggestion will not
commend itself to the clergy or laity
as very practicable. In the conduct of
church affairs the pastors wife" has
come to be as necessary, almost, as the
pastor himself. Our modern churches
are wonderful institutions. containing
within themselves organizations for So
cial, educational, charitable and other
purposes. In all of these schemes the
minister's wife usually takes a large
part. In the abstract, celibacy may ap-
pear very desirable for the clergy, but
in actual fact it is not so, for Protest
ant denominations. In the Roman Cath |
olic church 1t has rightful recognition
and may be considered one of the chief
factors which have made that church
the enormous civil as we'll as religious
power that it is today. II cannot be de-
MED that the ascetic pursues his re-
iigious work with a one-pointed zeal ami
a fervor impossible for the man who is
husband as we'll as clergyman. The lat
ter, no doubt, leads the more natural
life, according to our modern ideas, and /
accomplishes much good in lines of work
not touched by the celibate. Let uc
concede that celibste Protestant
clergy is both undesirab BILE and impos-
sible of accomplishment. So, no means
of relief for an overcrowded market is
to be found in the celibacy idea. Then
there is the other that admittance to
theological seminares be restricted. |
This plan, if practical, might in time
give relief, but few moments consider |
alton shows it to be inadequate az a .
= I.