Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1910-05-22
THE PROFESSIONAL EVANGELIST
AN APPARENT NECGSSITY,

The revival of revivals in the
last year or two has attracted
much attention to the whole |
subject of evangelism by the
in these efforts arouse communities
from a condition of spiritual torpidlty
into which they may have fallen, or
to reach the large element of every
community that never enters a church
building, but which, can be induced
to come to a tent meeting or to SER
vices held in a warehouse.
Several articles dealing with this
subject have recently appeared in
the monthly magazines. One is pub
lished in the June number of Hamp-
tons. Considering the question of the
necessity of the evangelist such as the
country knows so well today, George
R. Stuart, one of the best known of
them all, declares that lots of things
have made such evangelstic methods
necessary. Says he:
Lack of efficiency in the pulpit
mainly. The preacher isn't up to the
age in which he lives. The CONNER
cial spirit crowds all thought of re-
Iligion out of mans soul, and makes
him SO tired after six days of rush
and strain that he must spend Sunday
in rest and recreation. And then the
world outmarehes the church in at
tracuyeness. Men and women walk
past dark church door to a bright
ly lighted theatre-they turn away
from dry stupid, prosy sermon for
an enjoyable entertainment"
And what is the remedy?" he was
asked.
Fight the devil with his own fire.
| UD-to-date ministers, attractive SER
vices, legitimate counter-attractions
they will help. Then preach the BIZ
ble-that's the thing"
Lincoln Mcconnell, another evan
gel.st of note. believes that the vaude-
vile features of evangehstic work are
passing away, that it will soon not
be necessary for the evangelist 10
turn four ways at once and light on
his ear to make 'em gasp" The large
sums received by a few evangelists
he believes have done the cause much
harm. There is a decided swing away
! from paying eyangelists big sums. 81
hear it everywhere, says Mr.. McCon-
nell. The reaction demands saner,
less exrayagant, less sensational
evangelist with the emphasis on the
personality of the evangelist, and more
on the message he brings"
The fact is pointed out that there
are today a number of understudies
of the great evangeIists, imitators of
, Sam Jones, imftators of Billy Sun
day im;tators of every unique char
acter in the revival work. These I'M
, dertake all sorts and kinds of eccen-
tricities to make themselves success
, full and valuable in sensational re-
ligious promotion.
In closing his summary of some of
the features of evangelistic work this
writer in Hampton's says:
Behind the interesting consideration
of reyivals and revivalism there is a
far deeper question, one that is funda-
mental to the whole fabric of Ameri-
| can civilization.
Admittedly church going and church
support are not keeping pace with the
increase in our own population. 1t is
not meeting and solving the ethical
problems Of our own life. 1t is not
reaching, even remotely, the masses
OF our own population. 1t is making
little if any impression for good upon
! the great foreign multtudes Of our
own great cities.
= The church needs to attune itself to
the great moving spirit of service
service to the community, to the state,
to our fellowman-the spirit which
is abroad in America today The
i, spiritual urge of the modern Ameri-
can world is toward the saving of poor
children's lives, the battle against the
Great White Plague, the attempt to
Tree the people from the grinding Of
great trusts. 1t is in such fields that
the clean thinking and noble men of
spirituality are found today. Christ
an men today want to upIift human
ity by doing actual service to other
human beings, and the Church needs
to be reorganized so that it can meet
these demands of the new era.
The professional evangelist is an ap-
parent necessity in the present decad-
ence of faith and obedience, the cur
rent decline in church attendance
and church support, the weakened AMI
increas .ngly enfeebled condition of the
ministry. By virtue of these condi-
IONS he must employ startling meth
DDS and sensational means by which to
galvanize an almost atrophied vital
! ity into life