The Indianapolis journal., 1899-12-25
THE MODERN MINISTER
HIS DUTIES ARE TOUCHED UPON BY
BISHOP FRANCIS.
The Installation Services at Grace
CathedraI-At the First Presby-
terian Church Services.

The installation services at Grace Ca
thedral yesterday morning. conducted by
Bishop Francis, were well attended. Rev
Roger II. Peters was installed as the dean
and minister of Grace Cathedral, and at
the close of the services Bishop Francis de-
livered a short sermon touching on the du-
ties of the modern minister. He said, In
part:
'In the church of God there is an lnclina-
ton to seek one minister in preference to
another: the merits Of the different min
listers are compared and one is set against
the other. 1t is understood that the minis
ters are the paid servants Of the church,
and their congregations value them as in
diyiduals. and not as the servants of God.
We should keep our eyes ever to that
source from whence all good things come,
and how few of us to-day give thought TO
the fact that the minister is not the serv-
ant of the people, but the servant of Jesus
Christ. Our one thought seems to be that
he is ministering in his own name, forget
ting entirely that he is the minister of
Jesus Christ. The minister is not only the
servant of Jesus Christ, but he is also the
servant of the people, and he administers
not only the sacraments of the church' put
teaches the whole doctrine of Christianity.
He descends from the pulpit to visit the
sick and the poor; he breaches the gospei
alike to the rich and the poor. and he
does this as the servant of Jesus CHRIST,
and not as the servant of the people. The
chief thing required of him is faithfulness.
He must be faithful to the trust OF his call
ing. He must preach the gospel as it is,
for it does not permit of equivocation;
there can be no two interpretations. He
must exercise care and thought in the ex-
ercise of his calling, for it involves great
responsibility. He must be as honorable in
his dealings as the ordinary business man.
and to be honorable he must preach the
| truth.
when a minister, for fear of driving
people away from his church, breaches an
he he is to his
gregati0ns require their ministers TO
eschew certain subjects, for they rankle
| within their hearts, and as they regard
| think that they have the right to outline
his sermons for him, but they forget en-
| tirely that he is not only their paid serv-
| ant, but the servant of Jesus Christ. And
| the minister who forgets and permits him.
self to cater to the wishes of his congrega-
| tfon, forgets his duty, and is neither hon.
orable with Jesus Christ, his congregation
| or himself. / know that the preaching Of
Christianity has never been popular, and
it probably never will be. 1t involves, from
| the worldly standpoint, too many hard
| ships. 'Tis hard to listen to some Of the
| inevitable consequences of sin, as por-
| trayed in the New Testament, but every
thing that is found in it should be preached
fearlessly, for 1t is the doctrine of Jesus
| Christ. AS many portions Of the Bible are
not acceptable to the modern Christian,
/ there Is tendency among the preachers
| to preach that which is acceptable, and the
| truths which should come forth with no
uncertain sound are considerably softened
| down, and made more easy of acceptance.
| ing Christ's doctrines. 1t is true that ii is
/ sometimes the means of procuring higher
salaries for the minister but he who
breaches alone for the salary, forgets that
| he is ChriSts servant.
| THE truth should not be softened. The
| minister should remember that the power
/ to preach is divine. He who remembers
| that he is both the servant of Christ and
| the people becomes wonderful power for
| the religion OF Jesus Christ. He should
preach Christianity in teachable way so
| that his people may learn to know the
| Savior, and not be driven away from Him
! cultivate the love of his people, but as a
| minister he should be as one apart from
his congregation, for he is the ordained
| servant of God to preach unto them His
| twist the truth to suit the wishes of his
| people. Gods word is intended for us all,
and all of us, from the highest to the low
| est, should come into the church, with the
spirit that we will yield obedience to His
VIII, and we should each of us recognize
that the minister is not our servant alone.
| but the servant of God as we'll We should
not be afraid of the truth for il means our
eternal salvation, and should remem-
ber that IL our minister becomes unfaithful
to his calling, that he at the same time be-
comes unfaithful to us. and, as q conse-
quence, we are losing ground with God"