Omaha daily bee., 1902-03-23
VBAT HLNDIC1Ps Our PREACHER,


An English non-conformlst minister,
who has recently devoted some time
to the study and observation Of Ameri-
can churches, church-goers and preach
ers, endeavors to point out the handi-
caps Of preachers In the last issue Of
the New York Independent.
Having spent more thar fifty Sundays
in this country, during which he at
tended services In the various Protestant
churches Of the leading American cities,
he finds that American ministers have
to struggle with at least two conditions
from which most Of the English breth-
rem are entirely free.
The first of these is church music,
which, in his opinion, has no place at
all In the distinctively religious meet
ings of the church as a means Of enter
tainment, but overshadows and sub
merges the preacher by strains of har-
mony that make the congregations OBJ
llvious to his presence. At first, this
British observer declares, he was very
much surprised to find a congregation
doubled by the end of the first half
hour, but he soon discovered that 1t
was not so much the spiritual stimu-
liant they sought as the operate bra
vuras of a soprano who had just been
singing Nearer, My Good, to Thee"
to the tune of Robin Adair.
The most glaring and outrageous In
stance Of encroachment of musical per
Torrance upon divine worship occurred
last Christmas morning In a leading
Fifth Avenue church. While the Of
| floating minister was reading the les
son the organist was all the time play
ing the Pastoral Symphony from the
Messiah" The result of this extraor-
binary concurrence between the pulpit
and the gallery vas that one could not
hear the gospel for the music, or the
music for the gospel.
There may be a good deal more Of
truth than Of poetry in this criticism.
but we apprehend that members Of
American church choirs will not allow
themselves to be jostled and pushed
| aside for the benefit of the pulpit spell
| binder, no matter how learned or elo-
quent he may be.
The second great difficulty as viewed
| from the British minister's standpoint
with which American preachers have
to contend is suggested by MI. Spur
geon's remark that nobody was ever
converted when his feet were cold. In
order to adapt this theory to American
| conditions, we are told that nobody is
likely to be spiritually receptive when
his body is uncomfortably hot. The
excessive warmth Of American churches
is a real foe to devotion. The baked
air of the churches is very trying on
the constitution, as well as on the tenn
per. The physical and mental irritation
caused thereby has to be overcome by
an exercise of the will power before
the church-goer can put himself, or
herself, into a suitable frame Of mind
either for prayer and praise or for ap-
preciating the sermon of the preacher.
These very broad hints to American
preachers should not be entirely lost
upon them, but we feel sure that music
and hot air are not the only handicaps
from which the majority of pulpit ora-
tors have suffered.
While many of them have the power
to magnetise the congregation and make
it oblivious to music and perspiration,
Others have the faculty Of hypnotizing
| them and putting them to sleep and a
sleepy congregation Is very hard to
rouse to the realities of this world or
the world to come.