New Britain herald., 1916-11-14


| of pastoral service. Such testimonies
are by no means infrequent.
! THAT the board has been under re-
! sponsible UNCONVENTIONAL control, with
all important correspondence open to
| official inspection, has added to the
| effectiveness of the work, and given
| increased confidence to churches and
| minister's
"a certain standardizing Of the
| work and help to escape from
| troublesome provincialism and indi-
| vidualism has been inevitable. Fruit
| full have been the limitations about
| supply fees, salaries of ministers,
! treatment Of candidates, hindrances
! to effectiveness on the part Of min
| listers; and while these have not
| fringed upon church autonomy or in
! dividual liberty, they have been Of
real value to both churches and min
| listers. Sometimes the secretary has
wondered whether these by-products
Of the work might not prove Of as
| much value as the direct results of
the work. The churches have been
protected in some measure from ad-
venturers and unworthy men. A
constant effort has been made to help
modest men, and to give substantial
tied.
THE files Of the board are being
constantly increased and already con-
tain discriminating reports concern
ing a large majority of all the Con-
gregational ministers in the United
States, and of many outside of this
country. We have also in our out
files reports Of many men Of other
denominations who have had some
connection with our church, or have
thought of gaining admittance to
Congregational fellowship. During the
first nineteen years of it's life the
board had the good fortune to have
as secretary a very wise, judicia1ly
minded, yet sympathetic man, and ac-
quaintance with the records will bring
realization Of their value. The pres
ent secretary doubts whether this part
of the work could have been done
better, and is sure that there is little
to be undone
The report this year comes be-
fore four new state conferences. OF
what value is the work likely to be
to the church of these states?
This is a fair question. The Pope
has, since the great European war
began, issued a request to the bellig-
erents to arrange their ASPIRATIONS
The effectiveness of the work of the
board will depend partly on how we'll
both churches and ministers arrange
their ASPIRATIONS The board can not
revolutionize present conditions 1t
can only work alongside existing
agencies to remedy difficult conditions
New England has not been wont to
specialize in revolutions. She has
rather emphasized education, and be-
Heved in steady evolution towards
better conditions. The board can
neither remove all difficulties attend
ing pastoral transfer, nor be held re- |
sponsible for the persistence Of some |
longstanding burdens in our form Of |
policy. Time will be- required to
make known the purposes and meth
DDS Of the work.
THE exact value of the work for
each specific part Of New England |
can not be precisely measured, since |
we are members one of another" If |
one state suffers then all New Eng |
land suffers with her. And if one /
state be exalted for recruitment eff |
ficiency, then all New England may
well rejoice with her. In the confer
ence leading up to the organization of
the present board it was recognized
that the work was Of vital import
ance, but that no State outside Of
Massachusetts, was large enough
unit to maintain the work effectively.
1t was believed that the MOTTO leach
for all and all for each" applied to
the question of pastoral supply in
New England.
"Another consideration should be
taken into account: The question Of
Matchmaking the board has been
raised. The matter has been before
the executive committee of the Ma
tional council Conferences have been
held and the matter discussed. An af-
fliated relation for a temporary pur-
pose was established for a year with
western superintendent and secre-
taries. The directors have needed to
consider the matter and to define
their attitude. and it has seemed to
them that for purposes of pastoral
supply New England is a natural unit
They have felt that to nationalize the
board would take away the element
Of personal knowledge and personal
contact that has given the work it's
greatest value. And, therefore, your
directors favor the policy Of other
boards as needed, established outside
of New England in friendly co-opera-
ton with this one. Your directors
believe that the present plan will be
more effective for New England.
''The following are some of the ad-
vantages to the states that are just
coming into the work Of pastoral
supply through this board
THE fee system for candidating
and settlement outside of Massachu-
sets, adopted in order to partly
TO
chusetts churches, is abolished, and
there is no candidating fee for min
listers in the cooperating states for
nrea ching az candidates within such