The Penn's Grove record., 1913-05-23
MINISTER AND MAN
Former Preacher Sets Forth
Ideas That Call for Most
Serious Consideration.

we are familiar with the tragic
taLl OF policemen who urge in extenu-
alton that they are not strong enough
TO Withstand the system" 1t ap
pears that this menace to freedom is
also felt elsewhere in other guises. A
congregational minister writes to his
pensioners an account of his rea-
sons for quitting the ministry for the
profession Of law, which the Christian
work New York; publishes. His
father and grandfather, he tells US,
were Methodist preachers, and his
natural bent would have been toward
that fold, but he found, during his
seminary days, that the Methodist
organization hampered the freedom
which he sought and seemed to find
In the denomination he later joined.
But here also the system" inter
vened. We read:
Some Of the pastoral tasks came
natural to me. I was at my best in
them. Others were anything but
natural, and l made it m task to ex-
ercise these that I might be an all
around, good minister. Being unmar-
ried, 1 could live with my work, and
that I truly did, and no one ever
guessed that many times I smiled with
a false enjoyment. But 1 was learn
ing slowly that there is a traditional
system, as strong as a stone wall,
and far more formidable than the
Methodist organism, which gradually
forces a minister into a certain rut.
Unconsciously it walls him in; his
vision, which was large, is stifed, and
ne will fight in vain, if he fights at all.
for freedom. And the very people
who condemn the minister for his
narrow life are the ones who perpet-
uate the system.
Il am not complaining about the
remuneration of my profession. I
will leave that for others who have
felt the pinch Of poverty more than I
have. You have done nobly in fnan-
cling our church, and have paid me lib
orally. My complaint is against the
system which makes the minister.
when publicly spoken Of, a superman;
when privately spoken Of, a weakling.
l have tried to believe that this isn't
so, but it is, and even in this village
and in this church people by their
conception of the ministry have made
the minister a small man. He has
been banqueted and Toasted, and peo-
pie have prayed that he might be
guided Alright, but seldom has he been
considered as the first creation of
God, a a
81 didn't think of these things at
first. 1 thought that the trouble was
In the ministers themselves, and that
the comments which came to my boy
ish ears were justified. But l have
come to see that many big ministers
have unconsciously fallen victims to
the system. A minister owes his po-
sition to popularity, and popularity
with the average congregation can be
bought only at the price Of con-
science. We compromise our big
tasks with popularity and we prosti-
tute our manhood upon its altar.
These thoughts came to me the more
forcibly when I contemplated matri-
mony. A minister's wife is usually of
interest to the whole church. A mer-
chant has not got to choose a mate
who knows his business; neither does
a doctor have to choose a wife who is
interested in the practice of medicine.
But a minister must choose as a
wife one who is not only interested in
the work of the church, but one who
is willing to make the sacrifice of a
home that the church may have first
place. Perhaps this isn't unjust
equipped for such work and who
would willingly take 1t up, but the
sacrifice of personality demanded BIZ
the system of the minister's wife is
so great that I could not ask any
woman, particularly the one have in
mind, to make it. All I have a right
to ask of any woman is to help me
to make a home.
The last reason I suggest to you
for leaving your church is a spiritual
one. The thought of these other
things mentioned have strangled the
spiritual f~reeness which I used to en-
Joy. To myself my sermons no long
er sound as sermon having author
ity. They are crowded and pinched
to please, and compromise rather
than condemn and inspire. I have
compromised with my conscience and
1 have compromised with my intel
lect. There is always a wide chasm
between my genuine thoughts and
words. The virtue Of ar elocu-
ZIONIST may deceive the congregation,
but it cannot deceive oneself.
81 believed that I was called to
preach. Perhaps God called me to
preach for a few years and then to go
elsewhere. Anyway. I am going. I
want a freer conscience and a freer
life. 1 honestly believe that my life
will be efficient. d"
81 am writing at length that you
may see my attitude and that it may
be. as have all my acts in your COM
munity been, open and frank."-From
the Literary Digest.