The Falls City tribune., 1910-11-25

loss of solidarity ~inseparable from
going back to the first principles of
breaking in a new pastor, with new
policies, and with a new point of
view.
1t means the leaving unfinished of
many plans, inaugurated by the forme
pastor and needing the sympathetic
guidance of their organizer to bring
them to their full fruition.
1t means. for the young, in the
critical years, the loss of a mentor
and friend, the broken threads of
whose influence over them cannot al
ways be lightly picked up by the next
pastor who happens along. And often
before the time needed for gaining
this influence over them has elapsed,
the imp~ressionable years have flown.
In a word, the termination of one o
these near-ideal pastorates ordinarily
throws a congregation back several
years In its work, II it does not per-
manently injure It.
In spite of all this there are circ-
lcumstances when even such pastor
ates must end. Death calls them.
But when it does, because che being
dead yet speaketh," there is much
to ease the jar of this break. A long
time pastor, taken by death, becomes
a sort of invisible pastor emeritus
whose influence for good continues on
into the new pastorate, and smooths
the transaction.
A genuine call" to ever more inn
portant service may legitimately ter
inmate a pastorate of this type, al
though the genuineness of the call
needs to be subjected to the closest
and most disinterested scrutiny.
Too often the sundering of such pas
torates is nothing more than a ques-
ton of common shepherd-stealing.
Sheep-stealing is bad enough-as som
pastors can testify to their
but notwithstanding is worse.
And yet it is our frequently adopted
policy in the church. Here is the
process, and most of us ministers and
congregations, must plead guilty.
A congregation is without a pastor
and wants one. They look about to
discover pastors who are particularly
successful in their present fields.
And then they deliberately offer them
inducements to leave the congrega-
ton for work in which results have
demonstrated their fitness. Some
times they succeed. If they do, the
congregation whose shepherd has
5een stolen, appoints a pastor-purloin-
ing committee of its own to steal
some other flock's shepherd.
And so the work of alternating success
full pastors from devoted congregation
goes on, with the result that many of
our congregations are constantly tink-
ering at the foundations of a new pas
torate, instead of carrying up the
superstructure past the stage OF
mutual adjustment.
In theory "the itinerant system" is
better, but it is not a better in
fact. For in addition to keeping its
pastorates in a chronic state of
new beginningness;" the automatic
distribution of pastors is frequently
liable to Just such d~emoralizing ex-
~periences as a prominent Ohio Metho-
dist church is just now going through
"a reluctant pastor is forced upon an
unwilling people, who shrinking from
open rebellion, resign their church
officers and cut down their church
, subscription in order to drive him
out.
The writer has no inclination to
blame congregations or individuals. 1t
is a case of 1--WE all do it."
But surely there is something rad
ically wrong with the system which
encourages this method at the ex-
pense of UNCONVENTIONAL progress
and spiritual growth.
Who can estimate the retarding in