The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1901-09-20
DIR. TALMAGES SERMON
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE By rHs NOTED
DIVINE.
Subject Tn. Methods Needed In the Mod
ern Church-A Practical Gospel Is Help
fui-Ministeriai LaStness Denounced
The Church Needs No Apologies.

OF Dr. IAimage while denying the accur-
acy OF statistics which represent Sunday
audiences as diminishing; text, Hebrews
x. -. Nor forsaking the assembling Of
ourselves together"
Startling statements have been made in
many of the pu,pts and m some religious
newspapers. liz Is heard over and over
again that church attendance in America
isd~ decadence. | denv the statement bv
presenting some hard facts. No one will
dispute the fact that there are more
churches IN America than ever before.
one denomination averaging two new
churches every day of the year. The law
of demand and supply Is as memorable IN
the kingdom of God as II is in the world.
More churches supplied argues more
church privileges demanded More banks,
more bankers. More factories, more man
ufacturers. More ships. more importers.
More churches. more attendants.
In all our cities within a few wears
churches have been built large enough 10
swallow up two or three OF the old-time
churches I cannot understand with what
kind OF arithmetic and slate pencil man
csStdlates when he comes 10 the conclusion
that church attendance in America is in
decadence. Take the aggregate OF the
number Of people who enter the house OF
God now and compare It with the aSgre'
gate Of the people who entered the house
nresent attendance is four To one. The
facts are most eXhilerating instead Of
being depressing. That man who presents
the opposite statistics must have been
most unfortunate in his church acqualnt'
ance.
You are not 10 argue adversely because
here and there n church IL depleted.
Churches have their day. Sometimes
merchandise will entirely occupy neigh
I.rL1oI 81 N,,t tba nbtrohas nA
families ordinarily attendant upon them;
something's ,Sur-' urs.shet .n~ai'v'
ternecine strife But there arc no facts
TO overthrow the statement that ] have
made in regard 10 the increasing attend
ance upon the house OF God Now. | am
ready 20 admit as every intelligent man
will admit, that there are churches which
have been depleted and it is high time
that a sermon be preached for the benefit
OF young men who are Just entering the
gospel ministry and for the warning Of
prosperous churches as 20 what ere the
causes OF decline in any case. II mer-
chandise 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 20 transplant the
modes and methods OF fftv wears ago are
no more appropriate for to-day than the
modes and methods of to-day viii he an
propriate for fifty years hence Dr KIRK,
DR. McElrov. DR. Mason. DR.. De Witt,
DR.. Nermilysa and hundreds of other
men Just as good a. they were never
lacked audiences, because they were
abreast OF the time in which they lived
People will not be interested IN what we
saw unless we understand the spirit Of the
day in which we live. All the woebegon-
sh statistics are given bv those who are
irving in our time to work with the worn
out machinery of the past times. Such
men might just as we'll throw the furnaces
out of our church Easements and subsu-
tute the foot stoves which our grand
mothers used 10 carry with them 20 meet
ing, and throw ont our organs and our
comets and take the old fashioned tuning
fork. striking it on the knee and then lift
ing il 10 the ear TO catch the pitch OF the
hvmn and might as well throw out our
modern platforms and modern pulpits
and substitute the wireglass pulpit mp
dizzy height of Mcnt Blanc solitariness,
and then go in out of sight and shut the
door after him
The trouble begins away back in the
theological seminaries. II ~ shame that
larger provision ia not made for ministers
OF religion, for the sick and the aged and
the inhrm 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
crippled, and it is shame that larger
provision is not made for the good sol
diers e Jesus Christ who have worn
themselves out in battling for the Lord.
But lack Of provision IN that respect
makes a tendency 20 turn orr theological
seminaries into hospitals for sick and
aged and inhrm ministers.
When a man begins to 60 down they
give him the title OF ID ID by way Of re
suscitation IF that fails. then the tend
ency il 70 elect him TO a proiessorate IN
some theological seminary There are
grand exceptions 10 the ru,o. but IL is Of.
ten the case that the proiessorate IN
theological seminary ~ occupied hv some
minister Of the gospel who. no. being able
20 preach himself, is set 10 teach Others
how TO preach In more cases than one
the poorest speaker N the faculty is the
professor Of elocution
We want more wideawake. moro able
bodied. able e-minded men. more enthusas.
tic men, in our theological semInaries and
in the professorates-men like Addison
Alexander. who could during the weel:
teach Young men the theory OF preaching
and then on Sunday 90 into the pulpit
and with the thunder and lightning Of
Christian eloquence show them how. What
would You think of faculty OF unsuccess.
ful merchants 70 train young merchants
or faculty of unsuccessful lawyers 20
train Young lswyers'
II IL often the casn that theo.Orica, som
inaries cut a man and ciin hum and square
him and mold him and bore him and
twist him until AL the individual u gone
out Of him. and hc IL on,v a poor copy 0i
a man who w7s elected 20 A prOfessDTate
because he could not preach
We want less dead wood In the the1iOr;-
cal spminar.es and more flaming evanze's
I declare that a man who cannot preach
himself cannot teach others how 20
preach.
At meeting Of the Genera Assembly
of the Presbyterian Church 0f the United
States a clergyman accustomed on the
Sabbath % preach W an audience Of two
or three hundred peOr'e On an audience
room that could hold 1900 was appointed
20 prcach a sermon on how 20 reach the
masses ! am told the inoOnzruitv was
too much for the FislDIiities Of many oi the
clergy m the audIepce. Now, n yOune
man coming out from sucn bffwarhn1 IN
fuences how can ne enter into the wants
and the woes and the sympathIcs % pe0-
ME who want on the Lords diy prscti-
cal gospel that viii help them all shs
week and help them forever
Young ministers are tod tnev must
preach CHRIS, and HIM crir.hei Yes. but
not az an abstraction May a minister
bas preached Christ sni HIM crucihed IN
such a way that he preached % m au-
dience Of 700 down % % and from 2DO 20
100 and from 100 20 fifty 8nd from hitv 20
twenty and on down unlIi there was but
little left save the sexton. who Vag PAID
% stay until the service was over and
lock up There Is 4 great deal ~ can.
about Christ and HIM crl-ihed j. u 'Jt
lnr-.l .rI l-rI rru.LIat ~ ln ...l. ~