Evening journal., 1914-03-07
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
A Great Preacher Who Was
Never Ordained
By Holland.


On the occasion OF religious con-
vention which was held in New York
City few years ago, some ten or
twelve clergymen we're invited as
guests OF William p Hail. a widely
known lay evangelist, as well as very
prominent business man, to a
luncheon IN the private rooms Of a
club whose membership is confined
almost exclusively to men engaged ia
the transportation business. whose
offices or whose homes are in New
York
In the course of the luncheon one
OF the clergymen said that In the old
days some OF the most effective
speaking. preaching Of kind that
was influential in bringing men into
close relationship with the churches
was that done by laymen.
THAT remark should not be con-
fined to the preaching that was done
IN the early part Of the past century"
Mr. Hall said. For the two most ef-
fective' preachers that We have known
in modern times were both laymen.
One OF them was an evangelist and
the other was the pastor of very
large church,
How could man who was the
pastor of a church be described as a
layman?" one of the clereymen ask
ed.
For the simple reason that al
though q pastor Of church, and
that one Of the largest churches i'm
the world in attendance and member
ship, he was never ordained to the
ministry. He was pastor. but he
was a layman."
who was it?" several Of the
clergymen asked with q common inn
pulse.
1T was Charles II. Spurgeon, es-
teemed by many" to be the greatest
preacher Of his time He was the
pastor Of the church organization,
whose pulpit was in what was call
ed the Tabernacle in London. From
the pulpit in that church Spurgeon
preached every Sunday when he was
in London to congregation number
ing thousands. He was not only the
preacher. but the pastor The other
layman, to whom I referred just now,
as one of the most efficient preachers /
the world has ever known was of
course, Dwight l.. Moody" replied !
Mr.. Hall.
But Moody never pretended TO be
anything but a layman. nor did he /
ever act as a pastor in the strict 1
sense of the term" said one of the |
clergymen. 81 am certain that you /
must be mistaken when YOU say that
Spurgeon was never ordained as a
pastor"
We'll" was Mr.. Halls reply. "in
few days Charles Inglis, widely
known as a preacher and pastor of
London. and who had intimate per-
sonal acquaintance with Spurgeon,
will be in the United States He GER
tainly will know whether Spurgeon
was ever ordained or not"
A few weeks later Mr. Inglis ar
rived in the United States, and al the
first opportunity he was asked if it
were true that Sturgeon. although
pastor of great church. was never
ordained.
u know what Spurgeon told me-"
Mr. lnglis replied. "As a boy ! at
tended his church AS grew older
] was brought under his direct per-
sonal influence. After J entered the +
ministry our relations we're very
close I said to him one day that
had been asked the question whether
a clergyman. I can quote his reply
In almost his exact words. He said:
The only ordination that ever
had came from God. have no OBJ
lection TO ecclesiastical forms, or to
the ordination which Is visibly mani
Tested by the LAYING on of hands, and
yet I believe that there is no true
ordination unless it comes directly /
from God. That was my sole ordi- |
nation. ! have never permitted. IL /
could helD 1t, anv one to address me /
as the Reverend" Mr.. Spurgeon. II
am plain Charles II. Spurgeon. III
have no objection if anv pastor or
minister is DESIGNATED by the title I
reverend" but II is nothing. It only /
distinguishes him as a man who has |
been ordained
There" said Mr. Inglis, "you have /
an answer to the question which you
put to me. and you may say to your
friends the clergymen, that the state
ment that you made that Spurgeon. |
although a pastor and a preacher I
who spoke to thousands every sun. /
day. was never ordained"
Copyright. 1914 by f. j Edwards. |
All rights reserved.)