St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1901-10-23
CHRISTIAN NURTURE - THE PAS
TORS PLACE IN 1T.
A Paper Read at the Congregational
Convention ia Portland by Rev. Ed
ward NJ. Chapman of 1T. JOhnsbury.

II L were asked TO MAKE list OF those
who during the last century had most
profoundly influenced English life upon
its ecclesiastical, social, and imperial
DIES, | should be inclined to include in
my list the names of three humble and
unknown women. They are Betty Nor
ton, Maria Mills, and Margaret Morse
The names mean nothing to most of you
But when | remind you that they
were the nurses and real foster mothers
Of Archibald Campb,ll TAFT, Archbishop
of Canterbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper,
Seventh Earl of Shattesbury, and the
great Lord Lawrence, the inconsplcuous
names suddenly begin to glow with mean
ing. Each OF those three men-and all
were great men-was glad to confess his
debt TO his nurse, not merely for physical
care but for Christian Nurture. Through
their reverent devotion to the work
which God gave them-thtir real cure OF
sOuls-those three humble women were
permitted TO mould and influence, yes, to
put compulson upon, the life OF great
century.
Within the last year or two a cele
brated Journalist and critic, who has
himself been part OF MANY OF the stir
ring scenes which he described has pub
Iisned his autobiography. In it with
singular frankness he has told the st ory
OF his early religious training by his
mother, the extent of his departure from
her faith, and-this is the significant
thing-his return in later lie to the great
essentials of it. He goes so far as to
state his conviction that most men, given
a.,
convictions which they held in childhood
They may not be expressed in the old
time terms, But they will be practically
the same, none the less.
cite these examples to remind you Of
certain facts which though patent enough,
we are prone to forget.
Let me set beside them an illustration
Of another sort. Some time ago the
President Of Clark University called nv
attention to large number Of compost
tions-sOmewhere about 1000 in mum
ber,-written by pupils in the Cal fornia
public schools upon the subjects ot Heav-
tn and He'll. Some very interesting facts
were brought out, although the lnvesti
cation was too hasty and crude to adj
NIT of scientific generalz alton. In the
first place it served to remind us anew
that children al very early age are ac-
lively engaged in specializing upon reIi-
grOus themes In the second place it
suggested that religious training Of some
sort is a necessity to the normal child
The religious nature may be properly or
improperly fed. 1t may be starved. 1t
may be miserably distorted and mis-
shapen through abuse. But it is there
just as the child's physical nature is there
o be recognized or ignored, TO be trained
or neglected,
In the third place this California at
tempt at investigation suggests that a
critical spirt-a tendency to question
received opinion-was specially manifest
among children OF from II to Is years
OF age. OF the essays showing such
critical tendency about ninety per cent
were the compositions OF children within
these age limits.
So far as this series of Investigations
indicate, it would appear to be A part OF
the Divine Plan that the maturing body,
the religious sense and thecritical faculty
should develop together.
In the fourth place, good deal OF in
terest attaches to the testimony of the
children as to the sources OF their theo-
logical ideas. Several quote servants.
Two refer their notions OF the devil to
the somewhat imaginative device upon
tins of devilIed ham. Some have been
influenced by pictures. Many refer nat
urally to home church, and Sunday
school. Not one, u'arly enough,
makes any reference to his school-teacher
as having ii her directly or incidentally
influenced his religious views; which
goes to show that California schools
have been pretty thoroughly secularized.
have said so much simply by way OF
reminding you of the need OF Christian
nurture-a need ever reCurrent with each
new generation, ever pressing and urgent
and compelling-a need as deep as the
lite of the soul itset-a need arising from
the very constitution and order OF ma
ture.
Now then. What can Christian min.
lister do to meet this need What place
can he fill in its supply? | have no time
to discuss this matter at length and must
content myself therefore with a lew sug-
gestions of a practical nature.
In the first place | incline to believe
that one of the best things that pastor
can do, in this day when the need of
more cal elul and generous Christian nur-
ture is so gener, lily admitted, is to recog,
nize and stead astly to proclaim the prl-
mary responsibility of the parent for the
Christian training OF the child.
Here, as frequently elsewhere the min
lister may do his best work tor the chill
dren by enlisting natural helpers for
them, instead OF trying to help them in
the first place with his own hands. The
high priesthood of the father in every
family is a social fact OF first impor.
lance. Its needs, proclamation, exposi-
ton, emphasis, illustration. The man,
who having children, makes no personal
provision for the training of their souls
or who hands that training over tC
Others in order to shift it's responsibility
from his own shoulders, cheats his chill
dren just as really as though he adulter
atcd the food that he supplied for theil
bodies sustenance. Pray do not think
me unreasonable or extravagant. l am
not saying that every father should teach
his children precisely what | believe my
children should be taught. The one point
that | am concerned to make is that
every father should give serious thought
and take careful pains for the training Of
the spiritual and religious lite OF his child
that he should recognize and conscien
tiously perform the priestly function in
his own home. To neglect this is not