The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-03
FEWER MEN ID FILL PU[P|TSA AT PRESENT THAN IN YEARSPAS1 Systematic Efforts Made to Obtain Young Men for
 Ministry
F NEW CARDINALS
 WILL BE CREATED
Many Surprises for Catholics in An ncuncement of Coming Consistory. Friscopals Having Hard Time
 Changing Form of Prayer

New York May 2.--(Special )--The supply of ministers for Protestant church pulpits Is found to be more inadequate than for years. The num- Der of new men needed annually Is from $500 to $500 These are for va cancies caused by deaths. for growth at home and for foreign mission fields The number of men to be graduated from all leading theological semina- Ties this spring is 325O. This short age has gone now for a decade at least, and is producing conditions that have become acute and discouraging to officials in charge of congregations, especially of large ones. Some men get into Christian pulpits who do not pass through seminaries, but their numbers are offset by seminary grad uates who go into seeretarial rather than pulpit work.
 Nobody seems able to determine the causes for this continued shortage, save the fact that in few bodies Is there any systematic effort made to present the claims of the ministry to young men. Conditions are getting more desperate because churches are coming to have more members, larger financial budgets, and to try to raise money in larger amounts for mission and similar outside causes. Demand for men of larger calibre Is constant Entrance upon social service work by the churches has led to higher de- mands ay churches of smaller num- bors and gifts. Pension plans, put for ward by most bodies, do not as yet encourage new men. or better grade men.
 Religious bodies in which conditions are reported as more desperate than others this spring are the Presbyte- rian, the Baptist. the Congregational and the Episcopal. Much more hope full conditions obtain among Disciples, Methodists and Lutherans. especially among the conservative Lutherans, due to the fact that greater attention is Kiven to searching out young men and laying before them the call of their church for ministers. Larger numbers of small seminaries with easier con- ditions Financially, also assist the three Cast named bodies. In some of the four bodies twice many men are de- manded to fill pulpits vacant now or to become vacant before October as are being graduated from seminaries this month.
 So far as can be learned. this long continued shortage of ministers is not due 10 advance of higher criticism. OE1 thodox and liberals fare the me--@1t is not due to smalll salarieS. Bod les whose average salaries, .afe lowest Of all have largest propoFtionate mum bers entering their mipXsteries, It is not due to competition of business. Some of the ablest men from the col leges are refusing business careers to enter uptn altruistic work not in volving ordination. Some religious bodies are making big demands for men for foreign fields. but the num- bers actually going are not sufficient to change supplies materially. Famous seminaries like Yale. Princeton, Union, the GeneraH Mccormick, Chicago, Virginia. soyAhern. and others, have only average crAsses to go out this month. and some 1fe below in numbers.
 Thoz best informed put the minis teriaR shortage of the year at 800 in actXAl numbers. while the shortage In really first grade men to fill pulpits reuAiring such men to avert disaster is at least three times 800.