The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1897-02-13

IhoIe u = 4Au EuBAeu rhyme hA4oN
Gays:
"a pastor without any people
Is ike 4 church without q steeple."
Dean Swift added two lines which
said:
"Apeople without q pastor
Are like q dog without q master
This fits us better for we have lost
ours and are now cropping around In
hearch Of another one. Calling a
preacher is always a perplexing and en-
-barrassing thing to do. What Is the
best mode Of procedure has long been
8 vexed question among the churches
There are some objections to every
nethod that has been tried. 1t is like
the election of judges Of our courts;
nine times il my recollection the mode
OF their election has been changed In
Georgia and now TIA press and the peo-
bic are bowling fof another change.
hut the churches don't change. They
think it better to endure the objections
rather than abandon the faith and for
mula OF their fathers. The Methodists
get their preachers from the bishops
md the people nave no choice in the SCI
lection. If they are disappointed they
make no complaint, for they know that
the year will soon pass and a change
will come. The rotation must go ID.
There is no interregnum. They are
never without a preacher. This plan
saves the people some embarrassment.
1t is hard upon the preachers, and espe-
cially upon their wives and children.
No permanent abode; no home attach
ments; no vine and fig tree; no neigh
bors of long standing who have been
true and tried in sickness and health.
BY the time they Begin to know them
and to love them the year is gone and
they must separate. DIR. johnson, the
great philosopher, said; "I have always
looked upon it as the worstcondition of
mans destiny that persons are so often
torn assunder just as they become
happy In each others society" Meth
odist preachers wives and children are
the gypsies of the church. I have al
ways sympathized with them.
Another objection to the Wesleyan
method is the bishops lack of informa-
ton as to the needs of the different
churches and the qualifications of the
preachers to be assigned. Of cours
he has to consult the elders and these
have their ~favorites, their college
mates, their likes and dislikes, and the
appointments sometimes are disap-
pointments and cause heart burnings
that are smothered, but felt, We see
by the papers that Rev. Robert Tocmbs
Dubose, a grandson of Bob Toombs,
was given six little scattered country
churches for the coming year, and he
saws He cannot take the burden, for his
health ii very poor and the winters
fravelEfrom chlsrcN to t11rch rEorzasen
6anget his life! Tt looks like somebody
oughk to have known this before.
some 40 years ago a Mr.. Graves wrote q
sarcastic, unkind book about the power
of the bishops over the people, and pic
tured h great iron wheel revolving hor-
izontaaly and the bishops sitting on II
in dighihed ease, while the wheel rested
on thA bowed shoulders of the humble
preachers.
The Episcopalians get their preach
!. ers from the bishops, too, but they
1 don't rotate, neither do theyget fal
a away from railroads or civilization
They are the most devoted sectarians oi
h all Christian OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
to their church, its venerable renown
its rituals and traditions-devoted Il
= their bishop almost to idolatry. An in
+ differentpreacheri is all the samet to then
: as the most eloquent divine, for the5
: perform as much of the service as IL
does, and only need him for a leader
q If he can read the ritual passing wei
: and pass the communion he is all RICH
with them. It is an admirable featur
in the ritual of this churchthatthe pee
/ pie both young and old take SO promi
! nent a part in the service. / asked
"a critical synical friend one Sunda
morning where he wa going in such
hurry. SIM going up to my church t
= worship God-not man." said he.
!. read the other day aboutan old fisher
I. man who had taken a great liking t
4 an Episcopal preacher who was ishin
III his neighborhood, and he accepte
his invitation to come and hear hill
: preach in a neighboring church ne
L Sabbath. He put on his best clothI
3 and rode the old mare to the lit
2 chapel and took q front seat and trie
= to be devout for the first time in h
life. After the service was over he toe
the preacher by the hand and sait
swell parson, l promised to come, ar
/ come. / didn't understand much
y what you was saying and doing, b
I ris and sot with you the best Icould
/ have always thought that there W
most too much risin' an sottin' in tn
church, and not enough in the othea
We took q little city boy with us
church last Sunday. It was his tr
adventure Of that kind, but he b
- been going to matinees. "Aunty, VIII
IN are they doing now?" he whispere
'sThey are saying their prayers" S
l replied. So he bowed his head and
peated: Twinkle, twinkle, little star
The Baptists have the most dem
cratic method of calling d preach,
ID. It is the very essence Of simplicii
he They call whom they please and eve
en- member has a vote. They keep him
raj long as it Is mutually agreeable, a
either party can dissolve the relatic
He ship at pleasure. OF course, there
he always some embarrassment about g
ting rid Of an ~unwelcome preacher b