The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-02-16
PLENTY Or new MINISTER'S.
ARE THE BRIGHTEST YOUNG
MEN TAKING ORDERSr
The Rev. Dr. Rainsford says they Are
Not Seeing the Advantages or the
Ocrg, mans Calling Contrar, opin-
ions OF five Representative Ministers.

Not Seeing the AdNsn'aEes o inc
Cerg, mans Calling -Contrar. Opin-
ions Of rive Representative Ministers.
This ia said 20 be the day OF tho young
man In business and In the professions
the Younger generation. as a whole, Is
making it's mark at an earlier age than has
been the case In preceding generations
In many businesses and in many profess
.Ions tho veterans complain that the re-
or,i,s are shouldeing them aside before
,hei, ace Of usefulness ia over. The de-
msnd In business and In the professions
4. for Young men--bright young men,
The new generation Is also generally
.ooen,ed as being ambitious beyond the
ambition Of the generations hat nave
gone by. 1t il anxious to succeed carry IN
life and to go far.
Therefore there Ia a rush TO the businesses
and the professions which seem 10 anoro
the best chances ~ quickest and greatest
uccess: 10 stockbr king and fnanoi ring
wherein the brightest men may rapioly
fortunes, TO mining and en-
ginecrtug; to a few booming hdustrlee'
NOR. than all TO the law and medicine.
In which are fame and fortune both.
Many persons have asked recently how.
In the present age OF htnlttitc hiN NooiSh
seeking. the third Of the three great pro-
LESSONS, the ministry, Is faitng at the
hands OF the younger generation. With
fame. but few financial prizes to offer.
with rumor Of a dead line drawn at the
age OF IS when new pulpits are TO be filled.
with social position to confer upon It's
members. but with proportionate demands
upon their purse. does the ministry hold
It's own In the competition for recruits,
with the oallings which Offer more worldly
advanta ges7
Are so many young men being attracted
10 the ministry and are those who feel
the attraction the bright young men or
the men OF mediocre ability who seek merely
a comfortable nving1 Is there as much
religious enthusla SIN In the colleges and
10 the seminahes, where the young men
are. as heretofore7 And does the ministry
attract the poor. ambitious young student
a. we'll as the young man With private
means at his commando
A Sun reporter put these questions to
ak representative ~clergymen and here
are their answers. The clergymen In
cluded the President OF a famous theology
cal seminary, the chief assistant In q great
Protestant bishoprc, the radical rector
OF a large and important Fast Side church.
a vell-known Unitarian pastor, one OF the
most Influential Roman Catholic priests,
and a white-haired pastor emeritus. world
famous rs a pulpit orator. now resting after
a life Of strenuous endeavor.
Five OF the clergymen answered all Of
the questions In the Affirmative. They
declared that the attractions Of the min
istry "a a profession have not waned; that
the Intellectual calibre OF the young men
who seek to enter 1t Is equal In the rising
generation. 70 that Of any that has gone
before. and that the colleges and semi
naries contain fully as much religious
fervor as In past days.
Most Of them went further. They
pointed 10 the fact that In the last twenty
years the standards Of mental equipment
for admission TO the ministry have been
raised and they asserted that the result
has been the raising up Of a class OF min
listers far more capable OF dealing with
modern social and religious problem ms
than would be their predecessors Of years
ago.
One minister out OF the six-the Episcopal
~rector-took a directly opposite view. He
Is the Rev. DR.. william s. Rainsford. rector
Of st. Georges Church, who has been called
pessi mist and radical both.
While warmly advocating the attractions
OF his own profession, DR.. Rainsford e1-
pressed the opinion that their potency in
an ultra commercial age Is failing, and he
blames the women for II.
Il will say this said DR.. Rainsford
when the questions we're ~propounded 70
him. There Is no profession In which
a man OF moderate means can do 30 much
lasting good TO his country. TO humanity
at large and to himself as in the ministry.
And are the young men seeing thisf'
NO. they are not. Ii is their mothers
fault. some time ago | found a clever
earnest young man particularly gifted fol
ministerial life. I said to his mother
Let your son go into the ministry
How much will he get. rector?' said she
Il told her five thousand a year at the
most.
why said she. his father is making
6ftyr
Yet concluded DR.. Rainsford, .ther'
Is no Professionalism you, none-whicf
affords q ial chances to a man OF moderate
means and moderate ability, none in which
h can do so much And the secret Of tina
Is that In spite OF the magazines, in spite o
tha improvement in newspapers there is NJ
agency so potent in living humanity as
the human voice. backed by a sympathetic
personality
The Rev. Percy Stickney Grant, rectoI
OF the Church OF the Ascension In Fifth
Avenue and Bishop Potter's assistant II
the Diocese Of New York. is a type Of
successful young clergyman. Mr.. Gran
is young, but he ministers to one o.
thf most representative Of the Episcopa
churches Of the city. And Mr.. Grant Think
the ministry the ideal profession for a ma
who would do moro for humanity thar
merely get rich.
MIR. Grant expressed the opinion tina
there are no prizes In the Church from
monetary point Of view. but hat there ar,
other attractions which bring to the min
istry just as surely the class OF men VIII
can best do its work. The number Of thos,
men, he declared. Is increasing rather thar
diminishing and the ability of the recruits
Is no, 10 b. questioned by any one having
knowledge OF the subject.
siou NAV ask nfty clerpymen. said he