Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1920-05-03

Mrs. T.. l.. Estes. How great a shock
ito both community and church was the
sudden and accidental death of Mr..
Ware. / have peculiarly pleasant
memories of Mr.. A. N. Boeye in the
congregation, a forward looking mind
that listened with intense interest, to
whatever message che pulpit might
have for the day. Over there in that
pew used to sit Deacon Samuel Baxter,
his head white with the SHOWS Of many
winters, his mind alert for the current
message. The figure and personality
of JIM. Jones moves in this procession
of those who have gone on before, and
II think Of the two Mrs. Ships and
also of Robert Fullerton, my personal
neighbor and friend.
This is but a part of the roster OF
our dead-a line of fortnight up
I! standing men and women whose per-
sOnality has been woven into the warp
and wool Of the church and whom any
man may be pleased to have been per-
mitted to minister unto. This church
is haunted with the memory Of good
men and noble women, and we are the
better today for thinking of them
awhile. The money we make in the
market place we may lose. We may
slip out of the place and power in
society which we win for ourselves.
But our investments in human friend
ship will bear compound interest for
ever. The past has borne a goodly fell
lowship, and it should be the goal OF
the present to hand down to the next
generation as fine a heritage as we en-
Joy from the past.
The Christian Ministry.
This anniversary occasion presses
home to me the growing difficulties
which beset the Christian ministry,
and alongside of the difficulties there
comes to mind the glorious idealism
WHICH ltllCICS al lHt SoSINA :.
THE grave men whose hands and spirit
ordained me to the gospel ministry
asked me whether or not l felt that
Ii could endure hardship as Il good
soldier of Jesus Christ. OF course the
answer of the callow youth was in the
Affirmative! But had / known all the
way that stretched through the years
from that solemn hour to this, the
grievOus burdens that must be borne,
the difficult situations to be constantly
faced, the chaos Of parishes waiting to
be reduced to order, the stubborn prob
lens to be solved in the mathematics
of human equation, the mental stress
and the. spiritual strain-it is hardly
likely that wild horses could have
dragged me into the ministry: and
it is certain that now wild horses
could not drag me away from the glor-
ious problems Of the Kingdom Of God
In the midst of difficulty / have had a
good time, bethu here and in previous
parishes, Il happy time and Il fairly
prosperous. But looking backward,
the task of the years seems appalling.
Nay, the backward look makes it all
seem quite impossible!
Every decade makes the task of the
Christian ministry seemingly more and
more impossible Of fulfflmcnt, and for
this very reason the Christian ministry
is more and more alluring to those who
would serve the race toward the at
tainment Of it's highest goals. Time
was when the minister's task was. COM
paratively easy. In those far-away
days there We're pretty sure to be three
educated men in the community.
whose mental equipment ordained
them to be leaders of their fellows.
These were the lawyer, the physician
and the minister. The lawyer was a
Of culture and refinement. lie
was the product of the schools. was
well read in general literature as well
as we'll posted in the lore Of his pro-
fession. He lived the honorable tradi-
tiOns of Daniel Webster. In those
days the physician. too, was IN edu-
Gated man. His library was apt to be
the mecca of the youth in the neigh
borhood who happened to have intel
ambition. With these two III
tellectual forces dwelt the minister,
and his position easily made him the
foremost constructive power in the
community. Par excellence, he was
the hest educated man in the locality.
He vas ''The Person. His place
and power have dwindled down in our
vocabulary to THE Parson.' But, be
it noted that in these strange good
old days of the past these three per-
were almost the only people
in the community who were educated
at all. Neither men nor women read
many books. There were few news
on pers, no magazines, and books were
scarce. 1t was easy in such Il parish
the minister to really be Il leader
of his flock. Many of the outstanding