The Newtown bee., 1909-10-01
NUMBER 10

Missionary Society In another yer- mont church the minister's salary was
 $500, but at the close of the year they
 owed him $500, uhlt do these things
 meanI They mean that if tt had not
 ers @ tbat mans @ family would 3 sis have 1ssp ss9n
 days when they would not have known
 where the next meal was coming from,
 That Is not all, II meant that the
 Into the store and met the grocer to
 whom he owed ll00 and could not pay,
 IL meant lssened efficiency in the pulpit
 and lessened respect for the church in
 the community. Brethren, Il you cans
 due, borrow the money, some one must
 pay interest, pay Der cent, better pay
 20 than have your minister and his wife pay the interest In modification and
 heartache.
 Is it not also true that many mlnls-
 ter's salaries are paid as donation. At a conference of college students .
 that he could not go into q calling where he would feel himself dependent upon dole of charity. He said "I am not q pauper; have earned what | have. l cannot part with my manhood, do not want to be set or from men, am a man and want mans treatmentnH He was brought up In a minister's family.
 
 phases is a serious reason for men of force staying out of the ministry, and little business forethought is often the sole requisite for it's removal.
 A second reason for the ministry f1il- ing to attract men nof force lies in tho home. It is one of the results of the many deterrent forces that are attacking American life. The father has his many business calls, he must, hurry in the morning, in the evening he has the club CT more business. The mother has her society calls, the cares of the family, often without help; a strenuous life with not much time for vital religion. l do not charge that our homes are mer- cenary.. In them you will find morality ance of the Sabbath. But in far too many of our Christian homes there in not found deep sense of God and the seriousness of the great issues of life. It is said that Spartan mothers sent forth their soEs and asked that they might be brought back upon their shields. We would have more men If Christ if more mothers rejoiced that a man child had been born into the world and whose chief joy were that they could send him forth as an ambassador for God Many of our forceful young men feel that the work of the ministry is so, seriously: limited as not to afford the best opportunity for the invest forces in modern Protestantlsm: de- nominationalism and consequent petti- ness in the individual church's life. Combination is undoubtedly the key word to the marvellous commercial and industrial development of our day. Com petition has been found to mean waste to eliminate every possible needless ma- n hi At hoo tA all impedimenta is the most strenuous demand everywhere-except in Protest antism A young graduate from Har- yard felt himself calle, 70 the ministry. He studied three years at Andover and then received a call to a church in ;t Western city of 5000. In a year he returned. He laconically gave his req son: "27 ,denominatlons and a Presby-- ,erlan college. l haven't time for that sort of competition" This can be dupl- .ated in thousands of towns in Ameri- "a. Can we expect young men of fire wen though they be men of vision to invest their lives in one-third, or one ninth or one-twenty- seventh part oc m enterprise? Sectarianism has a ie- md makes their leadership less desir- able. It is doubtless responsible for the petty view the rank and file hold of the ;hurch's mission. s' Reginald Campbell ,ampares that two-thn B of the church's strength is expended in social activity. Take away our social features and how title would be left. Dr Aked is reported r in minister's life in New York was pink teas. Young men are saying hum- .n life is too large and it's possibilities % transcendently large to expend a hird of ones strength on the mere so- ial activity demanded by many of the hurches. A comfortable building, musical treat, an interesting short talk.
 few platitudes dispensed to the chil,, ren, four parish suppers a year and hurch duties have been fulfilled for 75 er cent of our membersship; meanwhile per cent of the working men of lmerica are outside the church and bout every community there is a cir of poverty and loneliness untouched by Christian influences, All his may, be the fault of the ministry. he point is that for many young men his represents the condition of the hurch and it's leadership is not attract Ve to them. They feel that the man is wamped by his office and becomes at ength negative influence rather than a OS1tiVe force.
 Over against this is the influence of he churCh's teaching. We have main- aimed tha, the scope of Christian serv- 'e is as large Gs human need, and many oung men are taking us at our word, nd dedlcating their lives to the minis " of public service. It is to be feared nat churches have not a very inhuen- al voice in lne life of our cities. and cope of the modern church is restricted. Orcetul men conclude that they can arVe the cause of righteousness as lWyer better than as a minister and lany are making good their word. agencies, social settle rents. the Y. M. c. A. and kindred work. le new emphasis that our democracy is ltting upon the individual ih the pro- aSSlorS and in the trades, are all in uenceS broadening the conception of le ministry making it not the sacred llIing but only one of many sacred pro- 'SSlOns and drawing men away from hat was considered the greatest call g in life.
 Finally, realize rat such a paper as
 lis, were it t0 close here might well eep any man out of the pulpit For arhaps the greatest cause of the de- inc of the ministry is the ministry it. If. Too OfteE We belittle our calling Id magnny our difficulties. The inn )rtance. the vitality of the profession ,pends upon the man. Men of small ivial ideals have trivial. petty minis y. Men of great heart and great pur- 'se will make ,Aeir pulpit a throne of 'Wer. their coming to the home will as the coming of a great peace-their essence in the community is as a lviour of life unto IIe.
 The best the market affords in sef, fruit, vegetables and groceries