The Mankato free press., 1921-12-09
CLERGY NO LONGER
LEADERS OF FLOCK
Some Reasons Why Young
Men Shy At Ministry
PASTOR GIVES HISV|EWS
However, ,Seminaries HavePassed
The Attendance of Pre-War
Days

Following discussion Of the prob
lem of getting young men TO enter
the service of the church, which
subject was discussed at the meeting
Of the Ministerial association yeSter-
day, Rev. r. ii. knehanS gave as
his ideas on the subject three major
reasons. Before going into the sub
ject with Inc free Press, he ex-
planned that at the present time the
LneoIogical SeminarieS in this country
have passed their attendance marks
OF prewa days and that more men
are entering the schools OF divinity
every year.
The number in the seminaries, how =
ever, in no way determines the num-
Der that will later enter church Serv-
ice. Percentage of those completing
the course and then entering some
other field of endeavor ranges from
twenty five to fifty, it is said.
Reasons For Scarcity.
Monetary consideration were the
first in Importance when facing the
problem OF suitable material for the
clergy, said the local minister. Many
and in TACT, most pastors have the
mental equipment that would make
them successful in the world of bust
ness, science or arts but in order
to enter the service Of the church
they take positions from which the
financial returns are meager, to say
the least. Where a man with the
same mental powers and talents as
the clergyman goes into another line
Of work the returns run into the
thousands annually while those of the
preacher make up similar number
of hundreds. 1t was the opinion of at
least one Mankato divine yesterday
fhor
kept young men from entering the
preaching field.
Different Church Outlook
Another reason is the different
outlook of the public on churchmen
In the old days when the finest minds
OF the world were pondering and lab
oring on church problems, every
man who had troubles of any nature
went to the churchman for counsel
and advice. There was no criticism
of the clergy before the children OF
the family and no words of the pastor
were spoken in a sighting or dis
er or pastor, whatever his title may
have been, was the one man in the
community that had been away TO
gather the learning taught in higher
institutions and when he returned
to take up the cares of his flock he
was venerated above all others. He
stood as a lighthouse for his com
fnunity in whom the highest and
the lowest placed perfect confidence.
In the present age, schools ano
colleges are so common that 1t is a
rare congregation that does not hold
some one member whose learning
along some line or other, even in the
arts and sciences, does not exceed that
OF the leader Of the flock. There is
no longer the blind devotion to a
holy man that once obtained in prac-
tically every parish in Christendom.
The calling may be just as noble but
it lacks the inspired atmosphere for
young men that once made it so de-
sirable.
Many Angles of Work.
Where the work of the churchmen
once was that OF preaching alone
now widely differentiated lines of
activity that come under the jurisdic-
ton of the church. Aside from the
pastor whose duty it is to preach
sermons, and guide the destinies of a
small flock, the church now requires
the services of able lawyers, medical
men, organizing geniuSeS, linguists,
educators and what not in the drives
for evangelizing the world. Presumins
that the same number as in former
years enter the work of the church,
the number accruing to the preaching
branch is of necessity lessened On
account of the drains of the other
departments. Financial men of no
mean ability are now required for
handling Of the vast amount of funds
that are now in the hands of or soon
will be in the hands of several
churches whose missionary works
have reached a scale unparalleled in
the histGry of the Christian church.
Any of these three reasons given
by a local pastor seem plausible but
as he stated there may be many
other reasons of even more fmpor-
lance that are keeping young men
out of the ranks of the clergy. It
is a problem with which the worlds
ablest and most important church
men are now wrestling in an effort