St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1909-11-10
Why the Ministry is Failing to At
tract Men of Force.

u AT mSA VA VI W.
EXTRACTS from paper in the VERMONT Mis-
sGoNARY, by Rev. Stanley F. Bloomfield, M ont
peer, VT.
By implication then the men in tn,
ministry are not forceful men, They
are milk and water sort of fellows. the
Rev. Dr. Cream-cheese is the usual name
in the directory; his opinions are the
color of skim milk and a vigorous
world, to quote Kingsley's famous ex
PRESTON says it hates these dapper young
lady preachers like the devil. From time
immemorial there have been these critics
of the priest and there always will be,
but | submit after listening to the men
at this conference that the allegation is
not proven. There are men Of force in
the ministry. Ministers have the reputa-
ton of being poor business men, vet il
there is church to be builded. or any
philanthropc work that demands energy
to be carried on, you will find a minister
at the head, usually the only man in the
community that can make bricks with
out straw. Moreover it requires con-
siderable energy to enthuse the sixty un-
paid workers i'll the average church.
Our churches were never such hives OF
activity as now, and the motive power
that finds a work for every one, and
keeps every one at work usually emanates
from the minister.
Yet the theme is timely. Consider the
conditions. Our Seminaries are gradual
ing less than a third enough students TO
man our pulpits. There are more men en-
tering the ministry without full prepara-
ton than any other calling. New England
has almost ceased to send her sons into
the ministry. In 1903, Drew Theologi-
cal Seminary, located in Madison, N j.,
had 1913 students, but only three came
east of Jersey City. In the same year
Newton Seminary had only three stu.
dents from all New England. While the
graduates of Yale has more than
doubled in the last forty years, the
actual number of her graduates from her
Divinity school has decreased so per
cent. In general it may be said that the
number of trained men entering the
ministry has decreased, while the scope
of the church's work has increased. Here
is another fact Mr.. E. J. Tomlinson
wrote to the presidents of our promi-
nent educationalinsti asking them
of the intellectual qualifications of their
ministerial students. The almost unani-
nous verdict seems to have been that
the quality OF the men studying for the
ministry was not as strong as that OF
the men studying law, journalism or
medicine. This is a serious statement.
If the quality of the leaders of our
churches decrease, surely her influence
will be limited. Churches are judged by
what they accomplish.
So much for the conditions. Now what
are the causes? First, the church is fail
ing to attract men of force because the
men do not receive sufficient salary, and
because, too often the small stipend is
paid in so miserable fashion as to be
most unattractiye to manly men. The
average minister's salary in New Eng
land is $685., lin the country at large it
is smaler.) Seventy three per cent. OF
our men earn less than $1,000 a year,
That is to say that we pay our ministers
relatively less than stone cutter, a
bricklayer, or mason. Seventy-three per
cent of the men entering the ministry may
certainly expect life of genteel poverty
often grinding struggle to keep up APP
pearances. Nor is it to be forgotten
that the period of service only averages
20 years, and then there is a niggardly
pension of $3.50. But this is not the
worst. The manner in which certain
churches pay the pastors salary must
make his lite almost uncomfortable. On
January LIST of this year certain YER
mont minister reported his salary paid
II,;a Dana;-aI GOO.
Feb SO; Mar. ST. and so on through
the year. On Dec 81 they were in debt
to him $135 OF the $500 they had pledg-
ed and may add he donated part of
that in order to help make up the deficit,
and meet the conditions required to re-
ceive the 5000 pledged by the State
Home Missionary society In another
/ Vermont church, the minister's salary
is $500, but at the close of the year they
owed him $500. What do these things
mean? They mean that if it had not
been for the charity of the storekeepers
that mans family would have seen days
when they would not have known where
the next meal was coming from. That
is not all. 1t meant that the minister
soul quivered when he went into the
store and met the grocer to whom he
owed 500 and could not pay. 1t meant
lessened efficiency in the pulpit and
lessened respect for the church in the
community. Brethen, if you cannot
meet your church bills as they come due,
borrow the money, some one must pay
interest, pay six per cent, better pay
20 per cent. than have your minister and
his wife paw the interest in modification
and heartache.
Is it not also true that many minister's
salaries are paid as donation? At a
conference of college students certain
christian young man declared that he
could not go into calling where he
would feel himself dependent upon a
dole of charity. He said, II am not a
pauper, have earned what l have,
cannot part with my manhood, | do not
want to be set off from men, am man
and want mans treatment" He was
brought up in minister's family. The
financial question in it's many phases is
a serious reason for men OIL, force staying
out of the ministry, and little business
forethought is often the sole requisite for
its removal.
A second reason for the ministry fail
ing to attract men of force lies in the
home. 1t 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
I