The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-12-09

| greater than in the Christian ministry.
| There has never been a time when q man
| OF education and real capacity could not
| make more money in some other calling.
| It may be that the worldwide craze TO
| get rich quick is responsible for the
! small number OF young men who are
; entering the ministry today. The love of
| noney-the desire TO make everything
subservienr TO the dollar is the para
mount thought of this era Il has, in
greater or less measure, touched every
class and every calling Even the church
has had its garments touch with this all
consuming fire, though it alone, in the
| main, called men from the worship OF the
dollar TO the ancient affairs Of Jehovah.
It's voice has often been drowned in the
babel of money hunters and money wor-
| shippers. The young men nave had their
| ears so full Of the stories Of success-and
| success measured by the getting Of
money that they have been deaf TO the
call TO duty. While that is not the only
reason, it is the modern idolatry that
| threatens the worship Of all things that
are good. The tendencies toward world
Illness, toward m~aterialism, toward max
ing merchandise of the precious things
Of life is SO powerful that if the church
fails TO man its pulpits with men who
will lead back the hearts Of men to the
things that do not perish with the using,
then there is no deliverance.
WANTED-Young men Of brains, of
faith, of courage, Of love OF their fell
| lows, Of conservation, to man the pu!pits
in C~hrtstendom.
That is the crying want and need of
the church Of today
The dearth of candidates for the min
istry disproyes one idea that some good
men have given expression to in the
+ past. He has gone into the ministry
because he can get better pay han in
any other calling" is a statement that has
been made, often thoughtlessly Of conse-
Grated young men. AS a matter of fact,
if the ministry offered better worldly ad-
: yantages to young men than other ayo-
cations, why is there a falling off in the
ministerial candidates? The truth is that,
with few exceptions, the men who so into
the ministry are impelled to do SO by the
divine words which sound in their ears,
Woe is me if l preach not the gospel"
The years of preparation, the life OF
sacrifice many make, the inability to
I have any continuing city" as their
abode, the exclusion from gainful pur-
! suits, the wear and tear upon the heart
| because Of the attempt to carry comfort
| izto the homes of woe, the anguish Of
soul when l~eanness seems to follow their
preaching-all these things make against
| choosing the ministry as a profession in
a country where the support Of the
preachers is voluntary, even if any young
men could enter the holy order from
the low motive of personal advancement
No, while there are unworthy men in the
ministry, they are very few in number.
In North Carolina, at least, the induce
ment of worldly prosperity would attract
no man of capacity. The average salary
Of a North Carolina Methodist preacher
is something like 5000 or 800, and the
| itinerant plan Of moving is in the way Of
the natural Anglo-Saxon desire to build
a permanent home and become settled in
a fixed abode. The preachers of today do
not have to face the hardships of the past.
No;fbar 40 tho mon Of other cal1inoS. But
they have their trials, their sacrifices,
their heroic labors common to the age.
The people have grown into more sys-
tematic paying q do not use the mis-
leading word 'giving') for the support
Of the gospel than formerly, but if you
could know the story Of the hardshlps,
the close economies, the self-denial of
the average North Carolina circuit rider
you would not even think they entered
the ranks of the itinerants for worldly
promotion.
The address of Bishop Coke Smith to
the class of three ministers who were
admitted into the regular ranks today
wax worthy of warmer praise than l
can write. The class was composed Of
only three-the smallest in the history
CT the Conference. The Bishops coun-
sci and admonition was along the general
line of the discipline, but it was chock
full of sound sense and wisdom. The
bishop grows upon you. He has the rare
quality of gentleness and strength, and
the rare gift of saying the common truths
in an way. He is a maker Of
cpigrams, his talks are sermons and are
expression falls from his lips that is not
well matured. He is bright and spark
ling at times, but there is no sting, nc
rebukes, no Notwithstanding he says
is said in charity, in courtesy, in sweet