The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-10-02
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON
Sunday; DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.
snbiect: The Methods Needed i'll thc "o"-
ern Church-A Practical Gospei he,p-
fuI-Ministcrial Laziness peh"""ee"-
Tho Church Needs No Apologies.
tCopyrigh!. 1911 J

The ChurCh NceuS NJ
[Copyrirh.. 1871 !
wasH1NGToN, D. C.-Most encouraging
to all Christian workers Is TINS uIscourse
nf Dr. Ta,mare while denying the accur-
ocv of statistics which represent SUNDAY
audiences as diminishing; text Hsorews
X, Is. "Nor forsaking the assembling OF
Startling Statements have been made IN
many of the pulpits and in some renslous
newspapers It is heard over ara over
again that church attendance IN AlleriSa H..
is in decadence. I deny the ssaeet,en. ;Il III
disnute the fact that there are more
churches in America than ever before.
one denomination averaging two ne"
chnrches every day of the year. The law
If demand and supply is as ineXoraole IN
The kingdom of God as it is in the world.
More Churches supplied argues more
church privileges demanded. More banks,
more bankers. More factories, more man.
nfacturers. More ships, more importers
More churches, more attendants.
In all our cities within 1e" Years
churches have been built large enough 70
| swallow I'D two or three OF the old-time
obnrcbe, T cannot understand with what
lind Of arithmetic and slate pencil man
calculates when he comes to the conclusion
that church attendance in America IS IN
docadence. Take the aggregate. OF tn:
number of people who enter the house OF
| God now and compare it with the aggre'
cate Of the people who entered the house
| of God twenty-five years ago, and @ the
nresent attendance is four to one. Inc
facts are most exhilerating instead OF
heinc depressing. That man who presents
! the opposite statistics must have been
most unfortunate in his church acquaint-
ance.
You are not to argue adversely, because
here and there a church is depleted.
Churches have their day. Sometimes
merchandise will entirely occupy neigh.
borhood and crowd out the churches: and
families ordinarily attendant upon them;
| conat;.nes - ~hur~" ,""'sh"S tnrHur '"-
ternecine strife But tn ere are no facts
to overthrow the statement that have
made in regard to the increasing attend
ance upon the house of God. Now. l am
ready to admit, as every intelligent man
will admit, that there are churches which
have been depleted. and it is high time
| that sermon be preached for the benefit
! OF Young men who are Just entering the
GOSPEL ministry and for the warning OF
prosperous churches as to what gre the
! causes of decline in any case. II mer-
cbapdse crowd out a church, that cannot
be helped, but under all other circum-
| stances decadence in church attendance
| is the fault either of the church or OF the
| pastor.
Churches are often cleared of their an
| diences by the attempt to transplant the
| modes Of the past into tae present. The
modes and methods Of fifty years ago are
no more appropriate for to-day than the
modes and methods of to-day will ne ap-
propriate for fifty wears hence. Or. k,rk,
DR.. McElroy, DR.. Mason. DR.. DE WITT,
men Just az good as they were never
! lacked audiences, because they were
| abreast Of the time in which they lived.
| Peopie will not be interested IN what we
sav unless we understand the spirit of the
| day in which we live. All the woebegon-
| ish statistics are given bv those who are
| irving in our time to work with the worn
out machinery of the nast times: Such
men might Just as well throw the furnaces
! out Of our church Easements and subst,-
tute the foot stoves which our grand
mothers used to carry with them to meet
| ing, and throw out our organs and our
| corncts and take the old fashioned tuning
| fork. striking it on the knee and then lift
| ing it to the ear to catch the pitch OF the
| hvmn, and might as we'll throw out our
modern platforms and modern pulplts
! and substitute the wineglass pulpit up
| which the minister used to climb to the
! dizzy height of Mcnt Blanc solitariness,
and then 90 in out Of sight and shut the
door after him. -,
The trouble begins awav back in the
theological seminaries. 1t is shame that
! larger provision is not made for ministers
Of religion. for the sick and the aged and
the niirm who have worn themselves out
| in the service Of God. We have naval
asylums and soldiers asylums for men who
fought on land and sea for our country
when these men have become aged or
cripnled, and it is shame that larger
| provision is not made for tha good sol
| diers cf Jesus Christ who have worn
themselves out in battling for the Lord.
But lack Of provision in that respect
makes a tendency to turn orr theological
seminaries into hospitals for sick and
aged and infrm ministers.
| When a man begins tn go down they
give him the title of D. D. bv way of re-
suscitaton. IF that fails. then the tend
ency is to elect him to professorate IN
| some theological seminary. There are
grand exceptions to the rule. but it is Of
| ten the case that the professorate IN a
| theological seminary is occupied ny some
| minister of the gospel who. not being able
| to preach himself is set to teach others
! how to preach. In more cases than one
| the poorest speaker in the faculty Is the
| professor OF elocution. -,
We want more wideawakr. more able
bodied, able-minded men. more cnthusas,,
| tic men, in our theological seminaries and
| in the professorates-men like Addison
| Alexander, who could during the week
| teach young men the theory Of preaching
| and then on Sunday go into the. .pulplt:
and with the thunder ard lightning of
| Christian eonuence show them how. What
would YOU think Of faculty Of unsucccss-
| full merchants to train young .merchants
or a faculty Of unsuccessful lawyers to
| train young lawyers?
Tt is often the case that theological SEM
inaries cut a man and clip him and s4uarr,
| him and mold him and bore him and
| twist him until all the individual is gone
out Of him. and he is only poor. copy OF
a man who was elected TO a professorate
because he could not preach.
We want less dead wood 10 the theo.ogi-
| cal seminar;es and more flaming evange!S.
I declare that a man who cannot preach
himself cannot teach others how to
preach.
At meeting Of the General Assembly,
of the Presbyterian Church Of the United
States. clergyman accustomed Oh The
Sabbath to preach to an audience OF two
or tnree nunuIeu Peope III "'i
room that could hold 1900 was appointed
to preach a sermon on how to reach the
masses, 7 am told the ncongruity was
too much for the risibiites Of many OF the
clergy in the audience. Now, young
man coming out from such badwsrfing in
fluences, how can be enter into the wants
and the woes and the sympathles OF peo?'
| ple who want on the Lords day practi-
cal gospel that will help them ali the
week and help them forever:
Young ministers are told thev mtlst
preach Christ and Him crucificd. Yes. but
| not as an abstraction. Many a minister