Evening star., 1918-07-28

Rev. DIR. C. Ernest Smith Of Washington. in
the New York Times.
There is an American attitude to-.
ward the clergy which differs from
that Of other peoples. 1t is the at
titude of what we may call official
dom. and it differs materially from
that of ofieia,dom elsewhere. For
whereas among other peoples clergy
men are generally regarded as lead
ers. among ourselves efhcialdom.
neither expects nor desires such
leadership.
Once. indeed the good old term
"parson," that is. the person. was as
truly descriptive of the place an
American pastor filled in the COM
munity as it was anywhere in the
world. Men rejoiced to follow his
leadership as representing the forces
leadership was part of, the eternal
fitness. of things; hence, when it was
not forthcoming they were keenly
disappointed and feared: for the fu-
ture.
Soon after Herbert c. Hoover had
become food econseryatpf 'heHsent-
circular letter to every clergyman
throughout the country appealing to
him for help .'as a leader Of the peo-
ple." adding that it would be "a calam-
ity to the nation and to the church if
their chosen ministers neglected to
exercise their proper leadership" One
wonders whether Mr.. Hoover was just
then in a pleasantly remiscent moou
Of boyhood days or whether he WAS
thinking of recent tines in Belgium
when he had seen Cardinal Mercier
and his brave clergy winning the adj
miration of the world by their lead
ership Of the Belgian people. In our
city life-it is different IN the coun-
try-there is no present-day Ameri-
can clerical leadership to be found.
Nothing to His Disadvantage.
1t is true that, view from other
angles, there is no great difference
between the: way the pastor is re-
garded here and, elsewhere: at any
rate. there Is nothing to his disad-
vantage. Nowhere in the world is he
more appreciated. when ministering
in the homes of his people or in; the
midst of ffs s-congregation than here.
provided, always. that HIS ministra-
tions are strickly domestic and paro-
chial in character. On public ques-
tions he Is expected to be discreetly
silent. He is a minister of religion. a
preacher of Righteousness, and as such
he must take care that~the gospel is
not brought into too close contact
affairs and worldly ambitions. Should
he not conform to this Conventional
ideal he will be regarded as a sensa-
tionalist. timeseryer, a self-seeker.
a busybody I'M worldly affairs, and 1
know not what besides. {
Is ~
istence OF this, conception Of ythescleri-
cal officeg ANY large city will readily
supply the answer. SWashington VIII
do this as well -as any other, perhaps
better. because Washington is more
representative than any, other Here
than elsewhere. : Hers sofficlaldom
f1ourishes more luxuriantly. An exotic
in other places. it is "a native plant
here.
!. Now in Washington. as in:New York
or San Francisco, there arc different
little worlds in which men and wona-
en- live and move apart from each
bther. There is the religious world,
the political, the business, the philan-
thropic, the social, the educational,
the sporting world, the legal world.
and SO on. Now tn which of these
worlds do we find the clergy as lead
ers? There is aotHa single activity.
suppose to be peculiarly their own
the religious or the ecc<esiastical-in
which they are s1efe5sfns any true
leadership. -
Sought in Philanthropie World.
In the philanthropic world. at. any
rate. the clergy will come into their
own. Surely, lin this sphere clerical
leadership win not only, be conceded.
but eagerly sought for. and this on
two grounds; . =, -. Is :. :.
(a) Becauses philanthropy issa part
Of religion. pure religion and sun-
denied before Goa sand the Father zig
5his, to visit : the fatheflesss and
himself inspected from the, world. !: !.
In; His parable OF the: last Judgment
Christ Jesus makes acQuittaf and
condemnation to, turn on how men
have fed the, hungry and cfothed the
Of souls only. They have an equal
responsibility to care for = needy
bodies CONSEQUENTLY. philanthropy
is their business, as 1t is the business
Of no other class IN the world
(b) Because Of the>work done and
ognition- of this Gad.giyen duty Due
to their constant -fhsistence upon fuh
recognition of this duty by an who
acknowledge their. :spirHuaf author
! ity, the astonishing result Is con-
cedeed that 95 pert cent of saiF the
monty given. 1of charitable purposes
throughout tthe United States : Is
given by the. msns and women of the
Obviously, therefore, clerical lead
ership will be Welcome here. Moth
ing OF the kind. Look over the gov
erning boards Qf such organizations
as even the Red Cross, the Commit
tee of Mercy and similar societies
that the clergy are effectively boy
cotted! The very men on whose coz
| operation and good will success tn
Iappealing for funds mainly depends