HOW I LOST MY JOB AS A PREACHER By J. D. M. BUCKNER Aurora, Nebr. How I Lost My Job as a Preacher J. D, M. BUCKNER This booklet may be secured from C. V. Howard, 31 Nassau street, New York City, or J. D. M. Buckner, Au- rora, Nebraska, by remitting fifty cents. "Higher Criticism and the Christian Life" may be obtained by remitting twenty-five cents to the author, J. D. M. Buckner, Aurora, Nebraska. J. D. M. BUCKNEIw Born September 25. 1855. Licensed to Preach. 1880. Began Preaching in Methodist Church. 1883. Retired September 9, 1922, by Nebraska Methodist Conference at Omaha. Bishop Homer C. Stuntz, Presiding. J. D. M. BUCKNER WHY THIS BOOKLET IS WRITTEN After nearly forty years of service as a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church I have been retired by the Nebraska Conference over my protest. The reasons for this are here set forth. This booklet would not be worth my time to write or your time to read if its object were merely to expose a piece of individual injustice. Such personal injustice as was suffered, such unfairness as may have existed in denying me a trial, such disinge- nuousness as may have been practiced in the invocation of a retirement clause written and always employed for an entirely different object, were all incidents to the larger purpose on the part of Bishop Stuntz and his cabinet to suppress liberal thinking and liberal preaching in the Meth- odist church in Nebraska. I feel that this latter issue is worth my writing about and worth your reading about because it raises questions of far-reaching importance to the future of the church in all denominations. For many years there has been a fight on in all de- nominations between what are commonly called the "new school" men and the "old school" men. Speaking in a large way this fight until very recently has been limited to preachers and professors. Church members have not been let in on it. The new school men do not believe in the verbal, literal, inspiration of the Bible; they believe in the his- torical interpretation in the light of the times when writ- ten and with consideration given to the education, char- acter, and vision of the different men who wrote the bible. Consideration is also given to the methods of copying and recopying, translating, and retranslating, the Bible dur- ing many centuries. This attitude towards the Bible and the study of it as sacred literature is commonly called 6 HOW I LOST MY JOB "Higher Criticism". The old school men believe in the literal, verbal, inspiration of the Bible; that every state- ment in the Bible must be accepted as literally true be- cause inspired. Another disaprreement is even more important. The new school men believe that the modern conception of re- ligion should be one of personal service to fellow-men. The old school men, while of course approving of such service, continue to lay primary emphasis upon personal reward. New school men accept the demonstrated conclusions of science in the fields of geology and biology. Old school men reject these conclusi )ns in so far as they feel that they are contrary to the geological and biological accounts found in the Bible. The world was created in six days, because the Bible says so. Man was created as he now is and not developed, because the Bible says so. In the Baptist church after a conspicuous struggle reported at length in the daily press the new school men achieved a victory in the recent Baptist Convention at Indianapolis. In the Presbyterian church the struggle is an old one, with Union Theological Seminary (no longer officially connected with the church) leading the forces of liberalism in so far it has furnished teachers and stu- dents urging the modern views on these questions. In the Congregational church Dr. George A. Gordon for a generation has With tongue and pen been a notable leader of liberalism. In the Methodist church also there have been many outspoken leaders of the new school, among the ablest and most influential of which may be men- tioned the late Dr. Borden P. Browne, formerly Professor of Philosophy in the Boston School of Theology. On the other hand, Mr. L. W. Munshall for twenty-five years has been doing his best to hold the Methodist church in rigid adherence to the old dogmas and traditions. In AS A PREACHER 7 "Methodism Adrift" and "Breakers Ahead" he has given effective voice to the old school view. I have believed and preached the views advocated by the late Dr. Bowne. I beUeve that the hope of the Methodist church and of all churches lies in the triumph of the new and modern con- ception of the Bible and of the function of Christianity as applied to the modern problems of a torn and disord- ered world. I am opposed to Mr. Munhall's views, opposed to the teachings of his books, and beheve that the tri- umph of the old school would turn back the clock of pro- gress and cripple the church forever. HOW IT HAPPENED For twenty years I have openly taught the views de- scribed as those of the new school men. I have believed that these views should be preached to my congregation and not limited to closeted conversations or controversies among preachers. I beheve it is wrong to believe one thing and preach another. I believe it is wrong to believe one thing and keep discreetly silent so that the impres- sion is created that a man believes another thing, even if he does not expressly say so. I believe that ministers are harming the church and corroding their own char- acters when they privately concede the error of an as- sumption and yet by silence or by dodging or by the use of big words perpetuate what they honestly believe to be a deception. For those old school men who sincerely be- lieve the views they espouse I have respect. I think they are wrong and I am sure that progressive views of the Bible and religion will eventually triumph, as they have already triumphed in many places. At Aurora, Nebraska, as pastor of the Methodist church, I have preached the beliefs of the new school 8 HOW I LOST MY JOB men for eleven years. In May, 1922, I sent an article entitled ''A Good God" to the Omaha World Herald, the Nebraska State Journal at Lincoln, and the Hamilton County Register, the Aurora Republican, and the Aurora Sun, at Aurora. This article was printed in all of these papers at or about the same time. It follows below : "A GOOD GOD" ''Aurora, Neb., May 26.— To the Editor of the World Herald: A good many years ago I decided God was good. This conclusion was reached ^rom two sources: The teachings of Christ and my own personal experience. As I studied the teachings of Christ and my own personal fellowship with God I decided my God is good. That faith has grown with years and I believe it more strongly today than ever in my life. "When I read in the Bible anything which re- flects on the goodness of God, I do not believe it. All scripture must be measured by the life and teach- ings of Christ. When I read that God killed all the people in the world except eight with a flood, I say that does not sound like my God. When I read that God told the Hebrews to kill all the Canaanites and take their property, I say my God is a missionary and seeks to save men, not to kill them. Why should I believe that story coming out of the dim past, paint- ing God as a cruel tyrant, any more than I should believe that God told the Germans to kill the Bel- gians and steal their property ? "When I was pastor at David City and we were studying the conquest of Canaan, a girl asked me if AS A PREACHER 9 it were right for the Hebrew soldiers to kill the women and children. I said *No/ Then another girl said, Why did God tell them to do it then?' I said 'God never told them to do it. The writer was mistaken.* I have been asked many, many times why God hardened Pharaoh's heart ten times and then brought ten plagues upon innocent people which caused untold suffering. For twenty-five years I tried to fix it up, but always failed to satisfy the people or myself, until finally I had the courage to say, *God never did it. My God is good.' "When I read that God commanded David to number Israel and he did it, but God was angry with him and killed 70,000 innocent men with a plague, I must defend God against that charge and answer, *He never did it.* **When I read that a few peeked into the ark and God killed 50,070 people of a child-race for that offense, I said it could not be true. "When I read that story about Korah, Datham and Abiram when they told Moses and Aaron that God would speak to all the people and not only un- to them, that God w^as angry with these men and opened the earth and it swallowed them up with all their families, sent fire and burned 250 men up who had offered incense to him, and then in his wrath smote the people with a plague that killed 14,700 of them before Aaron could appease God with a burn- ing incense, I say This story can not be true, for my God is better than Aaron, Moses or any other man.* I cannot believe that God killed 185,000 of the As- syrian army one night, that he told Joshua to hock the horses, that he told the Jews they could sell spoiled meat to the Gentiles but not to the Jews, 10 HOW I LOST MY JOB that he commanded that if a boy did not obey his parents he was to be killed, that if a man gathered sticks on the Sabbath to make a fire he was to be stoned to death, and that if anyone worshiped any other God he was to be killed. None of these things is like my Heavenly Father. It is no virtue for a man to believe these things which p^int a bad God, even though they are found in the Bible. "One p^jssap^e in the Bible, Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live/ was bolievpd for so many centuries that it is estim^t'^d ?^^0 000 pponle were Villpd be- cause peonle believed that w^^s the law of God: our own American soil was stained with the blood of witches. The judore and the preacher who said ^We do not believe in witches neither do we believe that is God's law' were condemned p.s infidels and enemies of God. The ppc-Q^o-e is stil^ in the Bible, but we do not beh'eve in witches nor t^^e law th^t killed them. "How did we tret our Bible? First a rpli^ious folk produced a rehVinns literature; second a relig- ious folk selectf^d the B'l^le from th5»t literature. Now we have a rehV'ous folk th'^t interprets the Bib!e. I must stand with Christ ^^nd his teachings and with my own personal exr^eriences with Clm^ o-^d all smo- ture must be me^isiirpd bv this standard. All the problems and nuestions in life which are constantly meeting us mu^^t be settled on the basis that God is good, and all other nue«^tions adin^^t^d to that st^md- ard. T can only believe in a prood God. T can love, admire, devote mvself, worshin, follow, obev only a good God. All theories of life must make God good or else I cannot accept them. J. D. M. BUCKNER, Pastor M. E. Church, Aurora, Neb. AS A PREACHER 11 This article was printed apparently in other papers, because I received letters from different parts of the country concerning it. Articles in opposition were sent to the above-named and printed. Shortly after the pub- lication of this article, I received the following letter from Bishop Homer C. Stuntz : Church HOMER C. STUNTZ Resident Bishop 320 City National Bank Bldg. Omaha, Nebraska June 14, 1922 Rev. J. M. Buckner, Aurora, Nebr. My dear Brother Buckner: I am both amazed and shocked at your letter entitled "A Good God" which appeared recently in the World-Herald. I did not happen to be in the city when it appeared and only within the last few days has the text of it been brought to my attention. I do not know what the Conference may de- cide to do about such an unprovoked and unwar- ranted declaration of disbelief in the word of God. Already it has brought you into unfavorable pub- licity wherever it is discussed in our own Church (Copy) Methodist Episcopal Omaha Area 12 HOW I LOST MY JOB circles. It is certain to have the effect of making your appointment more difficult this next fall. Yours very sincerely (Signed) Homer C. Stuntz. I did not reply to this letter. During the winter and spring of 1922, I decided that it might be well after eleven years of service at Aurora to remove to a new charge. I had served the church at Aurora for a longer period than any Meth- odist minister had ever served a church in Nebraska and I felt that it might be better if I should preach the views I held to a new group for a while and also felt that Aurora should have the benefit of a new preacher. I called twenty of my leading members together and submitted my plan. Nineteen of them were opposed to it. Nevertheless, I continued to think and talk about it and convinced many more of my members that my plan was best, although some continued to oppose it. My quar- terly conference, composed of officials in my church, on August 22, 1922, unanimously voted for my return, al- though it was understood that if satisfactory arrange- ments could be made with Bishop Stuntz for me to receive an appointment satisfactory to myself, the move would be made. It was also understood and constantly express- ed by my leading members that if the Bishop's letter to me augured a disinclination on his part to give me a satisfactory charge, I should ask to be returned to Au- rora and they would demand it. I should explain for the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with the Methodist Church that the presiding bishop has arbitrary power over the appointment of ministers to different churches. This power is not often abused. Nevertheless, when AS A PREACHER 13 a Methodist church wants a particular preacher to serve them, their wishes must take the form of a request to the bishop instead of an offer to the minister himself. The congregation has no voice in the matter if the bishop wishes to exercise his autocratic power. With the plan and understanding in mind as out- lined, I announced that I would preach my farewell ser- mon on September 3rd, 1922, that being the last Sunday before the annual conference of Methodist preachers at Omaha. I had stenographic notes taken of my ser- mon, not with a view to current publicity, but because I desired to preserve my last words in a church where I had enjoyed the longest and most successful pastorate of my forty years career as a minister. A lawyer at Aurora named F. E. Edgerton, who is a friend of mine though not a member of my church, was present at my farewell sermon. He made a short synop- sis of it and sent it to the Omaha and Lincoln papers. This was without my knowledge, although I would have had no objections to it if I had known it. In the mean- time I had gone to the conference at Omaha where re- porters sought me out, handed me Mr. Edgerton's syn- opsis of my sermon, and asked me if it was correct. I stated that while it was very brief and while some state- ments did not include the elaboration or qualification given in the complete sermon, yet it could be fairly said to be an accurate short synopsis of my sermon and my views. The reporters had with them a photographer and asked me to pose for a picture which I refused to do. Apparently they snapped me when I was not looking, because the next day there appeared in the Omaha pap- ers a picture of myself while talking to a reporter. I wish to make clear that while I knew nothing about Mr. Edg- erton's sending the report to the papers, I had no ob- 14 HOW I LOST MY JOB jection at any time to anyone's knowing what I believed, whether the conference was in session or not in session. A synopsis of my farewell sermon, an even briefer account of which was published as described above, here follows : FAREWELL SERMON "I take two passages for my texts: 'And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free' — 'Wherefore, Oh King Agrippa, I was not dis- obedient unto the heavenly vision'. "Jesus said to his followers that they should seek the truth and the truth would make them free. The implication is that the great purpose of man is to seek truth. "The other text was the testimony of the Apostle Paul when on trial, when he was persecuting the Christians he was a pharisee, and thought he should destroy the followers of Jesus, and said he was con- scientious in this work, but when he was on the road to Damascus God showed him that he was wrong and the Christians were right. He testified as a prisoner that he had obeyed the truth which God had revealed to him. These two texts teach: First, the best thing to believe is the truth; Second, We ought to have a heart that will respond to God and say, 'Let in the light and I will walk in it ; reveal the truth and I will obey it.' "I desire to speak on the difference between an old school Christian and a new school Christian. These terms are colloquial. The two groups are ex- AS A PREACHER 15 pressed by various terms. For twenty years I have been a new school Christian and before that I was and old school Christian, so I should speak with some authority. "A few years ago four young men who had graduated from Union Theological Seminary were to be ordained by the New York Presbytery and were to go as missionaries. In their examination they were asked if they believpd in the virorin birth of Jesus and they answered We will not affirm neither will we deny*. Some of the ministers wanted them to answer 'y^s' or 'no' but thev would not do it. The Presbytery ordained them and they went as mission- aries. This broil prht trouble between the New York Presbvterv and the general church, so the General Assemblv p«»ssed a resolution reouiriner all gradu^ites of Union Theoloorical Seminary to take a certain amount of work in an orthodox Presbyterian school before thev are ordained. "A few ve*^rs ago the Methodist Enisconal chnrr»h fl-nr»ointpd a commission to splp^'t a course of stndv for our ministers. On th«t commission wp^e somp of the le«»dinQr ednpntors of onr church w^'th two Bishons. and they selected « c^ood course of study but some folks raise the crv "Heresv" and got two or three conferences to enter a protest and asked thfit certain books be taken out and the commission discontinued. "Last June The Northern Bantists held their convention in Indianapolis where two thousand dele