Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1901-09-21


yers? 1t is often the case that theo-
logical seminaries cut man and clip
him and square him and mold him and
| bore him and twist him until all tha
individual is gone out of him and he is
/ only poor copy of a man who was
! elected to professoratc because he
| could not preach. We want less dead
wood in the theological seminaries and
more flaming evangels. | declare that a
man who cannot preach himself cannot
| teach Others how to preach.
Sympathies of the Pcop'e.
At meeting Of the general assembly
of the Presbyterian Church of the United
! States clergyman accustomed on the
/ Sabbath to preach TO an audience OF two
or three hundred people, in an audience
room that could hold fifteen hundred. was
appointed to preach Il sermon on how to
reach the masses. | am told the incon-
gruity was too much for the risibilities of
many of the clergy in the audience. Now.
Il young man coming out from such be-
dwarting influences. how can he eu;er into
the wants and the woes and the sympa-
thies OF the people who want on the
Lords day practical gospel that will
help them all the week and help them for
ever?
Young ministers are told they must
preach Christ and him crucihed. Yes, but
not as an abstraction. Many a minister
has preached Christ and him crucifed
in such way that he preached an
audience of five hundred down to two
hundred, and from two hundred to one
| hundred, and from one hundred to fifty
and from fifty to twenty, and on down
until there was but little left save the
sexton, who was paid to stay until the
service was over and lock up. There is
great deal of cant about Christ and
him cruciied 1t is not Christ and him
crucihed as an abstraction, but as an ON
nipotent sympathy applied to all the
wants and woes Of our immortal nature
a Christ who will help us in every domes-
tic, social, financial, political. national
struggle-a Christ for the pallor. a Christ
for the nursery, Christ for the kitchen,
Christ for the barn, Christ for the
street. Christ for the store, a Christ for
the banking house, Christ for the fac
tory, a Christ for the congressional as
sembly. Christ for the court room.
Christ for every trial aud every einer-
gency and every perturbation.
Meeting Pub ic Needs.
All, my friends churches will be large
ly attended just in proportion as we min
listers can meet their wants, meet their
sufferiugs, meet their hercavements aud
meet their sympathies. If there he Il
church with small help, small audience;
medium help, medium audience; large
help, large audience. II there be a fam
inc in a city and three depots OF bread
and one depot has 100 loaves and an
other 800 loayes and another depot
| 10000 lOaveS, the depot that has 100
loayes will have applicants, he depot
that has 500 loaves will have far more
applicants, the depot that has 10000
leaves will have throngs, throngs.
throngs.
Oh, my brethren in the Christian min
istry, we must somehow get our shout
Dire under the burden Of the people on
the Lords day aud give them a good
stout lift, and we can do it, We have it
all our own way. 1t is great pity il,
| with the floor clear and no interruption,
we cannot during the COURSE of an hour
get our hymn or our prayer or our SER
mon under such momentum we can, by
the help Of God, lift the people, body,
mind and soul, clear out of their sins,
temptations and troubles.
/ think that ministerial lazincss often
emptcs the church Of auditors Hearers,
who are intelligent through reading news
papers and by active association in BUSH
ness circles, will not on the Sabbath sit
and hstcp to platitudes Hearers will
not come to sermons which have in them
no important facts, no information. no
! stirring power, no adaptation, no fire.
The pew will not listen to the pulpit I'M
! less the pulpit knows more than the pew
I Ministerial la2inrsS has cleared out many
churches. Such ministers saunter around
from parlor to parlor under the nnme of
pastoral visitation and 20 Gaddng about
through the village or the city on err
rands Of complete nothingucss and wrap
their brains around n cigar and smoke
/ them mp, and then on Saturday afternoon
put few crude thoughts tOCnthar ami
! on Sunday morning wonder that the
/ theme of Christ ami him crucihcd does
1 not bring a large audience, and on Mon
day sit down and write jcrcuiads for the
religious newspapers about the decadenco
Of church attendance.
Caurchgoiug aa nufy.
People viii not go TO church merely as
matter of duty. There win not next
Sabbath be- n thousand people in any city
/ who viii get UP in the morning and say.
The Bible says must go 10 church. It
! is my duty to 20 10 church, therefore I
/ Will 80 to church" The VAST multitude
/ Of people who 20 to church go to church
because they like it, ana the multitude Of
people who stay away from church stay