Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1907-10-31
PASTOR SIMPLY
WON'T VACATH

sANAA =
Though he has been repeatedly r..
questpd h resign the nastotAte, and
Though The highest tribunal In the
church. in conjunction with.th lower
bodies. has ordered him n vacate tho
pulpit. the Rev " n never. pastor
of the Lutheran church Al rrovorton.
steaafastlv refuses e. leave his charge.
contupdinp that God alone can make
u clear % him whether or not ne
shall seek other fields and that pena
ing the arrival ~ tine divine summons
he viii remain in Trevorton and con
tinue his work Tor tho Mastcr The
case Is the most interesting In the
history Of cbuich troubles aud the lit
tie town wherein the war is being
waged on the determined pastor is in
state Of excitement.
Rev. Hever received cali to the
Trevorton church six wears ago. At
ter FIVE wears The people decided that
they wanted new minister, aud one
wear ago they limited 90 tie reverend
gentleman that his presence IN their
midst was no longer desired. when he
failed to take anv action, the parish
toners held meeting az which a
vote was taken. the result showing
that the pastor was wanted by one out
Of every hve members Of his flock Al
though this showed that the cougrega-
ton was overwhelmingly against him
Ree Heyer still retained control
Tie next step 10 be taken bv the
people WAS to have the church couu-
Gil. composed Of 1--WE palfshiouer,, pass
upon the ms;ter. The council vss
unanimous ln its opinion that the
shepherd look for another flock This
decision glanced OF. aud Rev Heycr
still continued 10 preach
Gradually the size Of the cougreEs-
tion decreased. Every Sunday the
minister appeared and taught rhe
Word. but each time 10 fewer people.
Growing a triie desperate. tie parish
toners decided on a move which, they
thought, could nor help bat relieve
them of their spiritual guide.
Taking the matter before the annual
conference they received q decision
from the elders 70 the effect that Rev.
Heyer should vacste. The preacher
swallowed this as He had the others
and calmly prepared his next Sunday :
sermon
Recently the question received the
attention of the Synod. the highest
tribunal Of the church. As in the 9th
er instances. the decision went to the
people. and in a letter the Rev. Heyer
was told that iuasmuch as be could
not do any good while remaining in
Trevortan De should leave at once.
Bat all the power thar man can
muster cannot oust this worker in tine
Masters vineyard He Is there TO
stay. be says. until the Lord shows
him that Iie has been called TO another
church.
when the trouble first arose the
church council decided 20 cut down
the pastors salary This they did,
reducing the yearly stipend from 500
10 500 For one year the minister has
managed To subsist on this meagre in
come
Saturday the council again held
meeting and came to the conclusion
that since it seems absolutely impos-
sib!e 20 remove tine pastor they would
resign and let church and pastor take
care Of themselves.
IL will be practically impossible for
Rev. Hsyer to organize another coun-
ell. a all but two of the parishiouers
are lined up against him. Within the
last few weeks the attendance at ser
vices has dwindIed alarmingIy an
average OF 10 people going to the house
of worship TO listen TO the Gospel