The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-12-04
YOUNG MEN URGED ID ENTER MINISTRY Greatest Calling on Earth,
 Says Dr. Wells CALL IS NECESSARY However, Men Can So Conduct Their Lives That They Will Hear
 the Call When It
 Comes

"The Claim of the Christian Ministry Upon the Young Manhood of the Church" was the subject of the Sun day morning sermon of pr. P. B. Wells, pastor of the Highlands Methodist church.
 Dr. Wells made plea for more young men to enter the field. The harvest truly is great, the laborers are few" he said.
 In reply to the oft repeated question as to whether or not a man should preach without the divine call, he said: q do believe in the divine call to preach; you should not preach without this call; you cannot call yourself, but you can do this:
 You can strive to be not morally un- fit nor unworthy for this great call; you can endeavor to maintain such a spiritual sensitiveness as will make it possible for you to hear the divine call; you can cultivate such reverence for duty as not to be incapable of being touched by the majesty and fired by the fascination of this supreme vocation, and your prayer can be Lord if Thou shalt call, my heart will make glad response.
 THE GREATEST WORK
 "The greatest work in the world is that of preaching the gospel of the Son of God" said pr. Wells, in be- ginning his sermon This is the divine method for the dissemination of the truth There is a special need at the present time for renewed emphasis to be laid upon the place that the pulpit plays in modern life. There seems to be a growing tendency to underesti- mate the value of the preaching of the gospel.
 Tn the work of the church preach ing is relegated to place of secondary importance and undue emphasis is placed upon other things. There is an increased demand for sermonettes. So many demands for service are made upon the preacher that at times there is danger that even he may forget what his prime work is to be. The failure properly to stress the value of preach . ing must result in 1ncalculable injury to the church.
 LABORERS ARE FEW
 Since the pulpit occupies place of such importance it would seem that the pathway leading to it would be filled with men asking for the privilege of preaching the gospel, but such is not the case. The havest is great, the la berers are few. This was true in Christ s day; it is true today. That the harvest truly is great no one who looks abroad can fail to see And neither can it be questioned that the laborers are few. There are calls from all of the leading churches of the Protestant faith for more men and stronger men, but often they are not forthcoming.
 First, because of the allurements of material progress; second, parents oft en prefer other vacations for their sons; third, the absence of genuine re- ligious home influence; fourth, pray ye. This is, after all. the key to the situa- tion and we have forgotten to use 1t.
 pr. Wells closed his sermon with a few words to the fathers of young men. Let me tell you of the ministry as a vocation,' he said. q do not tell you that it is an easy calling. It is no place for a weakling. It Is no f1owery bed or ease. It has its thorns and it's shadows but it is not all shadows. It has its compensations."