The Washington herald., 1914-03-07
HISTORY BUILDERS.
A Great Preacher Who Was Never
Ordained.
Cwritten expressly for The Herald.)
BY DIR. Il. ,. EDWARDS.

(Written expressly for The Herald-)
BY DIR. Il. >. EDWARDS.
lNN the occasion of a religious con-
~ yention which was held In New
York City few years ago. some
ten or twelve ciergymen were invited as
guests Of William p. Hall, 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 exciu-
siyely to men engaged In the transporta-
ton 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 a kind that was influential
in bringing men into close relationship
with the churches. was that done by lay
men.
That remark should not be confined
to the preaching that was done in the
early part OF the past century," Mr..
Hall said. For the two most effective
preachers that We have known in mod
ern times were both laymen. One OF
them was an evangelist and the other
was the pastor of a very large church" Z"
'Hew could a man who was the pas
tor of a church be described as a lay
man." one of the clergymen asked.
For the simple reason that although
pastor of a church. and that one of
the largest churches in the world In at
tendance and membership. he was never
ordained to the ministry. He was pas
tor. but he was a layman."
who was 't?' several Of the clergy
men asked with e common impulse.
1T was Charles II. Spurgeon. esteemed
by many to be the greatest preacher of
his time. He was the pastor Of the
church organization. whole pulpit was
in what was called the Tabernacle in
London From the pulpit in that church
Spurgeon preached every Sunday when
he was in London to a congregation num-
bering 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 any
thing but n iayman, nor did he ever act
as pastor in the strict sense OF the
term said one of the clergymen. T
am certain that you must be mistaken
when you say that Sturgeon was never
ordained as a pastor"
Well was Mr.. Halls reply. in a
few DAYS Charles Inglis. widely known
as a preacher and pastor OF London,
and who had intimate personal acduaint-
ance with Spurgeon. will be in the United
states. lie certainly Will know whether
Spurgeon was ever ordsined or not"
\ few weeks later Mr.. IngIis arrived
in the United States. and at the first
opportunity he was asked IL IL were true
that SpurgaOn. although a pastor of
great church. was never ordained.
Il know what Sturgeon told me- Mr..
Inglis replied. AS a boy 7 attended
his church. As grew older I was
brought under his direct personal infiU-
ence. After / entered the ministry our
relations Were very close. said to him
one day that / had been asked the ques
tion whether or not he had ever been
ordained as a clergyman. 7 can quote
his reply in almost his exact words. He
said:
q" The only ordination that 7 ever had
came from God. I have no objection to
ecclesiastical forms or to the ordination
which is Visibly manifested by the layin-
on Of hands, and yet believe that there
is no true ordination unless il comes dI-
reCtIy from God. That was my sole o-di
nation. have never permitted. IL
could help u. any one to address me as
the Reverend Mr.. SpurEeon. | am
plain Charles H Spurgeon. | have no
objection II any pastor or minister is des-
ignated by the title ''rsverend," but il is
nothing. II only distinguishes him as a
man who has been ordained"
There" said Mr.. Inslis, you have
an answer to tie question which YOU
put to me. and you may say TO yoUr
friends. the c!ergymen. that the state
menJ that you made that SpurEecn. al
though a Pastor and 4 preacher. WHO
spoke to thousands every Sunday. was
never ordained. was true"
lCoryriElt. MA