Omaha daily bee., 1909-02-01
LOVELANDOPENS THATSERlES
Begins Discourses Connected with
Charge Of Proselyting.
RAPs THE MINISTERIAL FOSSIL
Says Minister of Today Must BE In
sympathetic Touch with New
world LIfe-Not an Age
of DoHmas.

Rev Frank L. Loveland, d. D., pastor of
First Methodist church, last night preached
the first Of the series of discourses relative
to which he addressed letters to men of
other churches and drew forth the asser-
ton from other members of the clergy that
charges of proseyting would be filed
against him in the Ministerial union The
character of the discourses does not enter
into consideration with the alleged prose-
lyting. The objection the other ministers
have found is that DR.. Loveland "is invit
ing men from our churches to his own"
"The Relation of the Minister to Modern
Life was the subject of DR.. Loveland's ad
dress last night. His addresses give con-
sideration to the answers he has received
from the men to whom he sent these let
ters. He deals the doctrinal preacher a
blow. pays his compliments to the minis
terial FOSSIL and declares that the min
lister OF today must be in sympathetic touch
with the new world life"
should he Practical.
In the main, DR.. Loveland said:
Ministers should have more practical
conceptions of the business, professional
and industrial world. To acquire these he
should know the world of men as we'll as
tion is not sufficient equipment for the
modern minister
For years l have sought not only to
know the mind of the Master but the
mind of the great throbbing, busy world.
and its real attitude toward Master II
Christianity and the church are to accom-
plish their mission today they must keep
in touch with the present The ministerial
fossil must disappear. Theological fulmina-
tions that belong to the catboniferous age
of the church only excite a smile today.
F'lfty-two sermons a year Baptism
Free Grace or The Five Points no longer
serve as a magnet to draw men to church.
Dulness and piety are not synonymous
terms.
THE business world is struggling with
new problems The industrial world has
undergone a complete change in the last
two decades. New varieties of sin are rap
idly appearing that seem to demand an an
nual supplement to the Sermon on the
Mount The minister of today must be in
sympathetic touch with this new world life
or he will see the multitude pass his
church doors and he will waste his sweet
ness on empty pews.
THE church never had so great a mission
or so vexed a problem as today.
Some would make us believe that the
church Is tottering tower'-that the gos-
pei is an extinct volcano-that the pulpit
is falling into decay but. people talk
thus when they talk foolishly.
Men Are Not AtheistIc.
II find in the replies received in answer
to my letters that men are not atheistic,
nor violent opponents of the church, as
in the days of old. They are simply in
different to its services and unattracted
by the pulpit-and they give some pretty
good reasons-not excuses-for their atti-
tude.
Il believe 1t would be means of grace
to every minister and church member in
Omaha to read the letters have received
| ia the last three weeks. The suggestions
they make to the ministry are wholesome
"First-'Mnisters should be more demo-
! cratic-a Prince Albert coat and a white
! tie no longer serve a substitute for
| enthusiasm for humanity
"Second-'Preachers should be more In
dependent. should refuse to be quasi OBJ
! jects of charity: the half fore, the dona-
ton. the discount. too often make him ap-
pear as a mendicant; people pay the
doctor, but they give to the preacher.
'Third-'The preaching does not meet the
demands of the times'-two many sermons
drip with mildew and smell of the barrel
TOO much stress is laid on unimportant
| matters.
| IF you get the ordinary man to listen
to you today 1t is because you are COM
petent to interest him-petty dogmatisms
and theological, trivialities should be barred
from the pulpit. The following epitaph
would be most appropriate for many a
minister's tombstone: He was a good
man, but he couldn't preach Then should
he have been called a preacher No!
''Fourth-'The ministratons OF the pulpit
never so much needed as today. The
issues of life and death for modern busi-
ness and social life are In the pulpit. The
great longings OF the human soul are for
| comfort, peace and rest. Riches. power
nor fame can bring these. Sorrows come
to sll,-high and low alike-for in one as
we'll as the other the great agonies of
| life are located. Into this busy world of
commerce, this whirling world of society,
this heart-broken world OF sorrow. comes
the minister with the message OF worries,
OF aspiration and of solace. He is the
escort of the angels of rebuke and OF COM
fort. The relation Of the minister to mod
ern life should be close, sympathetic and
| altogether helpful"