The Penn's Grove record., 1911-09-08
If the
Pastor Falls
Down

NN clear and honest thought
WS to what a variety of abili-
NNIMA ties a minister's position
&V demands Of him.
~ He needs to be a smooth.
fluent orator. He ought to have not
merely words, but ideas. too; he very
decidedly needs to be a thinker. He
needs a lot of book knowledge-the-
ology, philosophy, history, and the
lke-all the time; people won't stand
for him unless he is also very much OF
a MIXER" perfectly at home among
men.
And, of course, the modern preach
er should be an organizer-masterful
as a general thing in fitting people
into the places where they belong
He doesn't dare, however, to show a
bit OF a generals spirit of command;
he's bound to manage people wholly
by persuasiveness-which takes enor-
nous responsiveness. The preacher
should be an acute, accurate, discreet
business MANN order to keep a
church "temporalities" out Of tangle
And above all, he must be a spirit
ually-minded man, though at the same
time it is highly important that he
must not be a visionary; people won't
listen to him If he is not practical.
Many Qualities Combined.
Just see what a tremendous bundle
Of qualities you've got. You could
make a lawyer, a politician. a bust
ness man, a teacher, a settlement
worker, a popular lecturer, an author,
a philosopher, a man-around-town, all
out of that combination, and have a
lot of qualities left over to distribute
along a whole line of occupations
from family physician to church jan
itor.
Yet you're supposing that you've
hired the whole combination in the
pastor of your church, and are expect
ing to get the benefit of each of these
various elements of strength-all out
of n
But you won't; somewhere in the
list you're due for a disappointment.
If your minister is a great preacher,
it's more than likely he won't be very
strong on organization. If he's a gen.
tie, comforting pastor, he may very
probably be a good deal lacking in
the pulpit. If he is a deep student,
he may be awkward out among men.
II he's a hearty good fellow to meet,
he may impress you as not very deep
Intellectually, or even spiritually.
Some day before long you'll find a
weak side to him.
Every church when 1t calls a new
pastor ought to watch narrowly to
so see where he is going to fall down.
But not to get a chance to complain
God forbid! When a pastor falls
down, then the church has discovered
where it can help him.
How He Should Be Helped.
II the preacher shows up inefficient
In organizing the people for work,
then that's the signal for men in the
church who are strongest in the
knack of organization to turn in and
line up the membership for effective
results.
If the pastor seems to get tangled
and b~efuddled when money matters
are to be dealt with, then let men
used to handling dollars step forward
and get the money worry off the pas
mind.
If the pastor is slow about calling
strangers and difident in meeting
newcomers, let the folks that have
easy social graces go in strong for
visiting and handshaking.
If the Sunday chool lags or the
prayer meeting is dull, and the pastor
doesn't seem to know what to 90
about it,, let the congregation boom
those features of work with their own
effort
Finally, here's a rule for a going
and growing church: Count on your
pastors abilities as his chance; count
on his abilities as your chance"