Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-04-19
Observation-Disclosures!
EFor Sunday Reading. !
|. All Sorts Of Opinions. !


y All 9OFtS OF OPttuOuS' =
PULPIT HANDICAPS IN AMERICA
An English View of American Con-
ditions.l
An English Nonconformist minister
who has spent some In this country
writes in the Independent of some OF
the handicaps that rest upon the
American preacher. The things he cites
may seem trivial, but he contends that
they make the difference between a
tolerable and an effective preacher:
1.-The first of these is the domination
of false and harmful conceptions ot the
function of music in public worship
Music is appropriate and helpful In
service in so far as it either is used by
the members of the congregation TO eA-
press their religious emotions, or is EN-
ployed by some devout and sKlllIul
singer or singers to carry message OF
Christian stimulus or comfort 10 the
hearts of the listeners. AS means OF
entertainment 1t has no place DIT all IN
the distinctively religious meetings OF
the church, but the strongest impress
sion left upon me by what have heard
is for providing musical entertainment
that the average church quartet earns
its salary. I admit the technic;t'iblllty
which distinguishes the performance IN
the best equipped churches. MY COM
plant, however. is not against eSnipl-
tons of imperfect training. but against
exhibitions altogether. The concert
room and the Christian sanctuary can
not be satisfactorily combined under
one management.
Not the least of the surprises that a
years residence in America has
brought me has been the discovery
that, tho a Nonconformist of the Nom
conformists, have felt more at home
in congregations of the Protestant
Episcopal church than in those OF any
other denomination. In England, an
Anglican church Is one of the last
places l should think of going to Tor
spiritual refreshments. The spread OF
the ritualistic movement in town and
country has been SO rapid and COM
piete that one would have to take some
pains to find an Anglican church where
the element of display was not pain
fully obtrusive. have, therefore. been
corresponding in simplicity and free
dom from ostentation to the usuai type
of Nonconformist service in England
is most likely to be afforded In this
country among those who derivs their
ecclesiastical origin from the estab-
lished church of England.
"The second great difficulty with
which American preachers have to
contend is suggested by Mr. Spuiseon's
remark that nobody was ever con-
verified when the feet are cold. The
necessary adaptation of this most
orthodox dogma for American con-
sumption is that nobody is likely to be
spiritually receptive when his body is
uncomfortably hot. The excessive and
artificial warmth of
American churches is a real foe to de-
votion. Regarding my recent expert
ence in the American pew in the light
of my earlier experience in the English
Pulpit, am convinced that the Ameri-
can preacher is handicapped by these
local customs more seriously than he
himself realizes. When he stands up
to begin his sermon he :s not touching
the highest point of an ascending scale
OF spiritual emotion. His discourse
must be disjointed from what has gone
before; the preceding purt of the. serv-
ice is no preparation Tor what Is to
come. The devout MOOD has yet to be
created, and created in spite of lassi-
tude and wandering thoughts. The
preacher has to overcome not orly his
own languor-the product of AN un-,
atmosphere and the tedi-
BUSINESS of listening to unrnsptrius mu-
the languor of his hearers. In
listening to American preachers l think
l have noticed a, certain lack OF spon-
taneity and naturalness. There is
sense of effort and over elaboration on
the part of the preacher The discourse
smells of the lamp. 1t would not be
safe to leave anything to the influence
OF the occasion. The congregation. in
stead of helping the preacher. has to be
helped by him out of its listlessness.
and he must, therefore, spice his ser
mon plentifully with ep'gram and an
ecdote in order to keep his hearers
awake. That which should have pre-
pared the path of the gospel has degen-
arated into dead weight that has to
be removed out of the way. I am not
surprised to hear of so many break
downs among American preachers.
The strain of working under such con-
iitions must be heavy tax upon the
strongest"
THE CHURCH CONSCIENCE.
samuel Zane Batten, in the March
American Journal of Sociology.]
In considering the church as the ma
Ser Of conscience, we do not mean to
IMPLY that this Is all the work that the
church has to do; we only maintain
hat this is an important and essential
cart of the church's work. There is the
work Of the church In evangelism:
here Is the work of the church in mis-
,ionary extension; there is the work of
he church as the leader of worship and
he quickener of devotion. But, ovec
md above this, there is the work of the
church as the maker of conscience
This has to do with what may be called |
he prophetic, the ethical. the social |
work Of the church The term CON
cience" is here used to describe that I
,ower Of the human soul by which