'o Be a Pastor 
 
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 BY 
 
 THEODORE L. CUYLER, D. D. 
 
 LATE PASTOR OF THE LAFAYETTE AVENUE CHURCH, BROOKLYN. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 THE BAKER AND TAYLOR CO. 
 
 740 and 742 Broadway. 
 
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,G85 
 
 Copyright, 1890, 
 By The Baker & Taylor Co. 
 
 j • a s r 
 Engineers School Liby. 
 
 <* June 29, 1931 
 
(The HJoung pim.otcv.o' of the goxH $c$\\$ Christ 
 
 ALL CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS, 
 THIS LITTLE VOLUME 
 IS LOVINGLY INSCRIBED. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 I. The Importance of Pastoral La- 
 bor 7 
 
 II. Pastoral Visits 21 
 
 III. Visitation of the Sick — Funeral 
 
 Services 36 
 
 IV. The Treatment of the Troubled 45 
 V. How to Have a Working 
 
 Church 54 
 
 VI. Training Converts 63 
 
 VII. Prayer-Meetings 71 
 
 VIII. A Model Prayer Meeting .... 79 
 
 IX. Revivals S7 
 
 X. Drawing the Bow at a Venture . 106 
 
 XI. Whereto be a Pastor 112 
 
 XII. The Joys of the Christian Min- 
 istry 120 
 
HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE IMPORTANCE OF PASTORAL LABOR. 
 
 GREAT number of volumes have 
 been written on the art of preach- 
 ing. Lectures on Homiletics have 
 been multiplied until they would form a re- 
 spectable library. But a large part of the 
 labors of every settled minister lies outside 
 of the pulpit. They embrace the whole 
 sphere of his personal intercourse with his 
 flock, his care of the sick and the suffering, 
 his dealings with awakened or doubting or 
 troubled souls, his organization of christian 
 work, his development of the spiritual life 
 of the church, and his executive oversight 
 
8 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 of all its manifold activities. Upon this 
 vitally important side of ministerial life the 
 current literature is quite scanty. 
 
 Richard Baxter's " Reformed Pastor " is 
 a classic of undisputed value ; but it is now 
 more seldom studied than it ought to be, 
 and the circumstances in which modern 
 ministers are placed, are very different from 
 those which surrounded the immortal 
 " bishop " of Kidderminster. About forty 
 years ago (in 1850) Dr. Ichabod Smith 
 Spencer, of Brooklyn, issued a very remarka- 
 ble work entitled " A Pastor's Sketches," 
 which attracted wide attention and admira- 
 tion. It was devoted to a narrative of 
 specific " cases of conscience," and of con- 
 versation with anxious inquirers ; his deal- 
 ings with whom exhibited a most surprising 
 sagacity. Other volumes more or less 
 similar to Dr. Spencer's brilliant book, have 
 been published. There still seems to be, 
 however, a vacant niche for another treatise 
 which shall discuss in the most familiar, col- 
 loquial and practical fashion, the every-day 
 
THE IMPOR TANCE OF CHURCH WORK. 9 
 
 duties of a Christian Pastor. At the solici- 
 tation of several of my ministerial brethren, 
 I have been led to undertake such a discus- 
 sion; and if the results of forty-four years of 
 experience and observation shall prove 
 to be of value to others — especially to 
 my younger brethren — I shall be thank- 
 ful. 
 
 The importance of all that portion of a 
 minister's work that lies outside of his pulpit 
 can hardly be overestimated. What is the 
 chief object of the christian ministry? It 
 goes without saying that it is to win souls 
 to Jesus Christ. A great element of power 
 with every faithful ambassador of Christ 
 should be heart-power. A majority of all 
 congregations, rich or poor, are reached and 
 influenced, not so much through the intel- 
 lect as through the affections. This is an 
 encouraging fact ; for while only one man 
 in ten may have the talent to become a very 
 great preacher, the other nine, if they love 
 Christ and love human souls, can become 
 great pastors. Nothing gives a minister 
 
10 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 such heart-power as personal acquaintance 
 with, and personal attentions to those whom 
 he aims to influence; for everybody loves 
 to be noticed. Especially is personal sym- 
 pathy welcome in seasons of trial. Let a 
 pastor make himself at home in everybody's 
 home ; let him come often and visit their 
 sick rooms, and kneel beside their empty 
 cribs, and their broken hearts, and pray 
 with them ; let him go to the business men 
 in his congregation when they have suffered 
 reverses and give them a word of cheer ; 
 let him be quick to recognize the poor, and 
 the children — and he will weave a cord 
 around the hearts of his people that will 
 stand a prodigious pressure. His inferior 
 sermons — (for every minister is guilty of 
 such occasionally) — will be kindly condoned, 
 and he can launch the most pungent truths 
 at his auditors and they will not take 
 offense. He will have won their hearts to 
 himself, and that is a great step towards 
 drawing them to the house of God, and win- 
 nine their souls to the Saviour. "A house- 
 
THE IMPORTANCE OF CHURCH WORK. II 
 
 going minister" said Chalmers, "makes a 
 church-going people." 
 
 Never must the chief end of a minister's 
 labors be lost sight of. It is to awaken the 
 careless, to warn the endangered, to com- 
 fort the sorrowing, to help the weak, and to 
 edify believers ; — in short to make bad peo- 
 ple good, and good people better. Preach- 
 ing strong gospel-sermons is one of the 
 most effective means to this end ; but it is 
 not the only means. Outside of the pulpit 
 every messenger of Christ can come to close 
 quarters with each individual soul, and 
 preach eye to eye; nobody can dodge such 
 preaching or fall to sleep under it. If the 
 shepherd can only save the sheep, by going 
 after the sheep, then woe be unto him if he 
 neglect his duty ! As many souls are won to 
 Jesus Christ outside of the pulpit, as in the 
 pulpit. I am firmly persuaded that if many 
 a minister would take part of the time that 
 he now spends in polishing his discourses, 
 or in miscellaneous studies and would de- 
 vote it to pastoral visitation he would have 
 
12 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 larger congregations, and a far larger num- 
 ber of conversions to Christ. He would be 
 a healthier man for the physical exercise of 
 going from house to house; he would be a 
 more fluent speaker from the practice he 
 would gain in personal conversation ; he 
 would become a much more tender, elo- 
 quent and heart-moving ambassador of his 
 Master. 
 
 There is one potent argument for close 
 pastoral intercourse with his congregation 
 that many ministers are in danger of ignor- 
 ing, or of underestimating. Every pulpit 
 needs to be vitalized by close contact with 
 living people, rather than with lifeless 
 books ; and the best practical discourses are 
 those which the congregation help their 
 minister to prepare. His books teach him 
 many truths in the abstract ; his people can 
 teach him those and many more truths in 
 the concrete. By constant and loving in- 
 tercourse with the individuals of his flock, 
 he becomes acquainted with their peculiari- 
 ties, and thus enlarges his knowledge of 
 
THE IMPORTANCE OF CHURCH WORK. I 3 
 
 human nature, which is second only to a 
 knowledge of God's Word. He discovers 
 also their spiritual wants. He soon be- 
 comes convinced that they care most to 
 have clear, strong, practical instruction 
 about their every-day duties,* trials, and 
 temptations. They want to know not only 
 how to save their souls for eternity, but 
 how to save their lives in this world. They 
 want portable truth that they can carry 
 with them into their homes, into their sick 
 rooms, into their storey and shops, and into 
 every nook and corner of daily life. If a 
 minister is a wise man (and neither God nor 
 man has any use for fools), he will be made 
 all the wiser by the thousand suggestions 
 which he can gain from the immortal beings 
 to whom he preaches. 
 
 There is about as much human nature in 
 the pulpit as there is in the pew. We all 
 love honest commendation and encourage- 
 ment. Nothing cheers and helps a pastor 
 more than to have his people say to him 
 during the week, " I thank you for last Sun- 
 
14 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 day's sermon ; it did me solid good ; it re- 
 lieved some of my doubts, it lifted off some 
 of my loads, it comforted me under my 
 heartaches, it brought me nearer to Christ." 
 Such encouragements not only reveal to us 
 what our people need, but they are an hun- 
 dred-fold better " pay " than a salary. A 
 very distinguished and evangelical minister 
 once said to me rather sadly, " I don't get 
 that sort of encouragement once in six 
 months." Probably the real reason is that 
 he spends so much of. his time in his study, 
 preparing his superb sermons, that he does 
 not go familiarly among his flock, and give 
 them a chance to say such cheering and 
 helpful things. They listen to him, love 
 him, and are proud of him, but are not 
 enough " in touch " with him. And when I 
 have read his masterly discourses, I have 
 often thought that their only lack was the 
 lack of just those tender, close, comforting 
 home-truths which an intimate, personal in- 
 tercourse with his people would suggest to 
 him. He is a very great preacher, but per- 
 
THE IMPORTANCE OF CHURCH WORK. 1 5 
 
 haps would be still greater if he were a 
 pastor-preacher. 
 
 In Dundee, I conversed with a gray- 
 headed member of St. Peter's Presbyterian 
 Church, who, in his youth, listened to the 
 sainted Robert Murray McCheyne. He 
 spoke of him with the deepest reverence 
 and love. But the chief thing that he re- 
 membered — -after forty-six years — was that 
 McCheyne, a few days before his death, met 
 him in the street, and, laying his hand on 
 his shoulder, said to him, kindly, "Jimmy, I 
 hope that all is well with your soul. How 
 is your sick sister? I am coming to see her 
 again shortly." That sentence or two had 
 stuck to the old Christian for over forty 
 years. It had grappled his pastor to him. 
 And this little narrative gave me a fresh 
 insight into the secret of McCheyne's won- 
 derful power. He was a man of rare spirit- 
 uality and knowledge of God's Word ; he 
 was a tender, soul-awakening minister of 
 Jesus Christ ; his ministry was richly suc- 
 cessful ; and largely because he kept in 
 
l6 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 touch with his people, and was a pastor as 
 well as a powerful preacher. 
 
 Ought every minister to strive to be 
 popular? Yes ; if that word be used in its 
 legitimate sense. Of course the mere hun- 
 ger for applause from selfish motives, is an 
 utter degradation of a high and holy calling. 
 Such unsanctified ambition is a cancer that 
 gnaws away the vitals of every man who 
 falls a prey to it. But there is a laudable 
 desire of popularity. Every herald of God's 
 Word should strive to "commend himself to 
 every man's conscience in the sight of God " 
 and to " let no man despise him." We are 
 told that the common people — i. e. the mass 
 of the people irrespective of social caste — 
 heard Jesus Christ gladly. 
 
 To gain the ear and to win the affection 
 of our fellow-men, is as much a part of our 
 duty, as it is to study our Bibles. What is 
 the use of studying the Bible if we cannot 
 get people to hear us expound it ? The 
 secret of a legitimate and permanent popu- 
 larity is this ; — first, keep your heart strong 
 
THE IMPORTANCE OF CHURCH WORK, ij 
 
 and sweet and loving and courageous by a 
 constant living in Jesus Christ ; and sec- 
 ondly, take a personal interest in everybody. 
 To each human being on this globe nobody 
 is quite as important as his own self. This 
 is not egotism or self-conceit ; it is an 
 instinct. The poor man who blacks my 
 boots, or saws my wood is a more impor- 
 tant person to himself than Bismarck or 
 Gladstone. What becomes of the German 
 or the British Empire is of less consequence 
 to that obscure son of toil than that he 
 should earn a dime to buy his breakfast. 
 This. instinct is universal. Every ambassa- 
 dor of Christ should avail himself of it and 
 use it. He should endeavor to find out the 
 character, condition and needs of every 
 person within his reach. He should put 
 himself into personal sympathy with every- 
 body. The man who is called to pro- 
 claim the glorious gospel is bound to 
 preach it winsomely as well as boldly — 
 whether his parish be in a rustic region 
 or in the crowded hive of a great 
 
1 8 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 city. Popularity is power. Use it for 
 God! 
 
 A western clergyman once addressed to 
 me the inquiry whether " eastern ministers 
 regard pastoral labors as befitting an intel- 
 lectual and manly ministry?" What the 
 opinion of other "eastern pastors" may be, 
 I cannot affirm ; but I have a very decided 
 opinion that the ministry of Paul and his 
 Divine Master were both intellectual and 
 manly. They both devoted a great deal of 
 time and effort to personal interviews— often 
 with very humble individuals. Three of 
 Christ's most memorable and precious utter- 
 ances were delivered to a single auditor — 
 Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, and the 
 rich young ruler. Jesus Christ made a 
 great many pastoral visits. If my western 
 brother means by the word " manly " to 
 describe uncompromising fidelity to con- 
 science in the face of jeers or scoffs, then it 
 is a prime essential in every minister; but 
 it is equally essential that he be womanly 
 in sympathetic tenderness, and childlike in 
 
THE IMPORTANCE OF CHURCH WORK. 1 9 
 
 simplicity and meekness. Manliness is a 
 good thing ; godliness is still better ; imita- 
 tion of Jesus Christ is best of all. 
 
 Perhaps our friend had formed his estimate 
 of pastoral work from the remark of a cer- 
 tain famous preacher that he " had no time 
 to gossip over a cup of tea with old 
 women." That was his plausible excuse 
 for neglecting to visit his people ; but he 
 has paid the penalty for it in the fact that 
 while he has attracted a vast crowd around 
 his brilliant and orthodox pulpit, he has not 
 built up a compact, well-organized money- 
 giving church. I maintain that the upbuild- 
 ing and perpetuation of a strong working 
 church depends quite as much upon close 
 personal oversight as upon popular preach- 
 ing. In a solid wall each stone must be 
 handled ; each has its place ; and the soft 
 "pudding-stones" must be kept out of 
 places where the heavy strain comes. Faith- 
 ful pastoral labor is quite a different thing 
 from " gossiping from house to house." It 
 requires brains and patience and consecra- 
 
20 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 tion to the holy purpose of saving souls. 
 It consumes time ; but how can the same 
 time be spent more profitably elsewhere ? 
 If any minister of the gospel fancies himself 
 to be too intellectual or too manly to under- 
 take such patient labors for his Master, he 
 has mistaken his calling. He had better 
 take to literature or the lyecum-platform or 
 a chair of philosophy. 
 
 It is an encouraging thought that the 
 humblest minister may become a faithful 
 and successful pastor. God never intended 
 that this world should be saved by pulpit 
 geniuses or else He would create more of 
 them. The average Christian must serve 
 this world if it is saved at all. Every herald 
 of the gospel who loves his Master, loves his 
 Bible, loves his fellow-men, and who hungers 
 to win souls to the Saviour, can be a good pas- 
 tor, if he honestly aims to become one. The 
 Lord Jesus Christ, in this respect as in every 
 other, is our model. " I am the GOOD 
 SHEPHERD ; the shepherd knoweth His 
 sheep; He calleth all His sheep by name." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 PASTORAL VISITS. 
 
 HAVE already emphasized the vital 
 importance of establishing a close 
 personal intercourse with all the 
 people among whom you labor. You can 
 do but little good with your sermons to 
 those who dislike you, and no good at all to 
 those who refuse to hear you. The business 
 of a minister of Christ is, not simply to 
 preach the Word, but to win hearers to the 
 Word ; still more, to win them to become 
 doers of the Word. Congregations are 
 built up externally by thorough pastoral 
 work, and then they are built up internally 
 by a thorough setting-forth of Bible truth. 
 It is one thing to attract a gaping crowd to 
 witness a display of pulpit pyrotechny ; it is 
 
22 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 quite another thing to attract and to hold 
 attentive listeners to the gospel of life. 
 When I was a lad upon a sheep farm, I had 
 to gather the flock to the troughs before 
 they could be fed, and I found it a good 
 plan to go out among them with a basket 
 of oats on my arm. 
 
 Set it down as a prime rule to spend part 
 of every day in circulating among your 
 people. Do not let your library — no, not 
 even your Bible or your sermon-study, en- 
 tice you away from your pastoral duties. 
 If your mornings are spent in honest study, 
 you can devote the after-part of the day to 
 itinerating. If you go in the right way to a 
 man's house, you are very likely to win him 
 and to hold him in God's house. " The 
 sermon always sounds better to me on Sun- 
 day when I have had a shake of my minis- 
 ter's hand during the week." This was the 
 very natural remark of a very sensible par- 
 ishioner. The invitations and instructions 
 of God's Word come with tenfold more 
 power from one whom we love than from 
 
PASTORAL VISITS. 23 
 
 the man who treats us with indifference and 
 neglect. 
 
 After all, the chief power of a Christian 
 minister is heart-poiver. That is Christ's 
 real power over you and me. The pride of 
 a congregation may be awakened by bril- 
 liant pulpit displays ; but it is personal at- 
 tention and affectionate sympathy with each 
 individual that bind our congregations to us 
 with hooks of steel. And when we have 
 grappled the affections of our people to us, 
 they will bear any amount of close, search- 
 ing truth and of the most pungent rebukes 
 of their personal sins, without flinching. I 
 once opened a pulpit-broadside against a 
 certain sin which would inevitably have 
 driven a certain pewholder outside of the 
 doors, if I had not previously got a strong 
 hold on him by pastoral attention in a time 
 of trouble. Conscience often requires a 
 " plain-spoken " minister of God to put a 
 severe strain on the tether that binds him 
 to his pastorate ; at such times it is a happy 
 thing for him if that tether is securely fast- 
 
24 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 ened to an hundred or more of family altars 
 and firesides. Some brethren make a sad 
 mistake when they imagine that they lost 
 their situations because they preached the 
 truth too faithfully, or because their people 
 would not endure sound doctrine. Perhaps 
 the real cause was that they had been poor 
 pastors, and never had acquired any genuine 
 grip on the personal affection of their flocks. 
 Not one minister in ten is ever dismissed on 
 account of his fidelity to any duty. 
 
 Of course, if you are a faithful pastor, 
 you will secure a regular visit to every fam- 
 ily in your flock once (or oftener), in every 
 year. But extra emergencies demand an 
 extra call promptly. Sudden affliction de- 
 mands an immediate visit. If you are a 
 sagacious " watchman," you will also be 
 very prompt in giving attention to any case 
 of difficulty or disaffection. For example, 
 
 Mr. A has become very sore on account 
 
 of some scandal raised against him or on 
 account of his pew-rent, or from some im- 
 agined unkindness on your part. Human 
 
PASTORAL VISITS. 2$ 
 
 nature gets sore on any spot that is sensi- 
 tive. Whenever you learn of any such case, 
 put on your hat at the earliest practicable 
 moment, and go straightway to that man, 
 and have a frank, honest talk with him. In 
 a few minutes you may prevent that sore 
 from festering, or may heal it on the spot. 
 Perhaps the man has been injured, and you 
 may redress his injury ; he will love you 
 ever afterward. Perhaps he was quite in 
 the wrong, and then you have an opportu- 
 nity to point out his error and to do him 
 good. Do not be afraid to deal honestly 
 with him. The probe or the lancet kindly 
 used may save him from worse things to 
 follow. Nathan did the best job of his life 
 when he dealt faithfully with a very promi- 
 nent transgressor. 
 
 These prompt dealings with offended peo- 
 ple or with " crotchety " people or with back- 
 sliders and wrong-doers, are not the pleas- 
 ant part of a pastor's work; they are not 
 half so agreeable as attending weddings or 
 visiting warm-hearted, stimulating disciples 
 
26 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 of Christ. But you are not fit for your 
 sacred office if you shirk any duty because 
 it is disagreeable. It goes against the grain 
 to call upon certain persons ; especially to 
 talk plainly with them about their sins or 
 the salvation of their souls. Ah, how often 
 we ministers feel ashamed of ourselves when 
 we find that these very persons were wonder- 
 ing why we did not come to them sooner and 
 interest ourselves in their welfare! 
 
 Set it down as a cardinal principle, my 
 young brother, that if you would interest 
 people in the gospel and interest them 
 in their salvation, you have got to in- 
 terest yourself \n them and all that belongs 
 to them. You must win them to yourself 
 and win them to the sanctuary, if you would 
 win them to Christ. Find out, therefore, 
 where your people live, and keep a careful 
 record of their residences. Be sure to re- 
 member where poor old Mr. A or blind 
 
 Mother B or bedridden Mrs. C 
 
 lives, and never let them feel, that they are 
 neglected. If a business-man in your parish 
 
PASTORAL VISITS. 2J 
 
 has met with a sad reverse, go at once to his 
 counting-room and give him a warm shake 
 of the hand and a word of encouragement. 
 When you grasp his hand, he will slip the 
 key to his heart into yours. If you learn 
 that the son or daughter in any family has 
 fallen into open disgrace, then is the time 
 for you to pay them a tender visit and give 
 them confidential counsels as well as sympa- 
 thy. If the tidings of serious sickness reach 
 you from any dwelling, lose no time in get- 
 ting there. A soul may be very near to 
 eternity and may need your presence most 
 imperatively. The person that wants you is 
 the person that you want. And if you are 
 always on the lookout and always at the 
 post where a service for your Master can be 
 rendered, you will never complain that time 
 hangs heavy on your hands, or that " your 
 field is not large enough " for you. 
 
 The excuse that is sometimes made that 
 a congregation is too large for any man's 
 oversight is absurd. All things are possible 
 to the faithful man who understands the 
 
28 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 value of time, and is a miser of the minutes. 
 Dr. S. H. Tyng, Senior, was for many years 
 the rector of the largest Episcopal church in 
 New York, and yet he visited every family 
 in his flock. Dr. John Hall, who has at this 
 time the largest Presbyterian parish, and 
 Dr. Wm. M. Taylor, who has the largest 
 Congregational parish, are both systematic 
 pastors ; they know the geography of every 
 household committed to their charge. Yet 
 these three men never scrimped their ser- 
 mon-preparations. 
 
 I once took occasion to say that there is 
 about one minister (or two) in every genera- 
 tion who is so situated that he cannot be a 
 visitant of his vast flock. Charles H. Spur- 
 geon is that man in the present generation. 
 With a membership of 4,000 souls, "with the 
 charge of a theological school, a religious 
 magazine and a dozen missions of charity 
 (and tormenting twinges of the gout be- 
 sides), he cannot be expected to visit eight 
 or nine hundred families. He leaves pas- 
 toral duties to his brother and his Board of 
 
PASTORAL VISITS. 20. 
 
 Elders. When Mr. Spurgeon does meet his 
 parishioners, he is very approachable and 
 affable. 
 
 Pastoral work is a thing to be learned by 
 practice, just like making a hat, or conduct- 
 ing a lawsuit. Books will not help you 
 much ; but a genuine heartlove for Christ, 
 and a personal sympathy with human souls, 
 will make you successful. (If you do not 
 possess these two essentials, you have mis- 
 taken your calling, and had better get out 
 of the ministry.) As soon as you take 
 charge of a church whose call you have ac- 
 cepted, begin your tour of visitation at 
 once. Do not omit a single house occupied 
 by any one who either attends your church 
 regularly or occasionally. In order to ascer- 
 tain their whereabouts, make an urgent re- 
 quest from the pulpit for every family (or 
 single person) to furnish you their residence. 
 Also from time to time request all those 
 who have changed their residences to inform 
 you promptly of the fact. I often urge my 
 people to inform me promptly of every case 
 
30 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 of serious sickness. The neglect to do this 
 sometimes involves serious mischief. I 
 never accept as an excuse for this neglect 
 the remark, " You ought to have missed me 
 from church, and come to inquire after me." 
 It is not a minister's business to take the 
 census of his congregation every Sabbath ; 
 and a person may be absent from a dozen 
 causes. Ministers are not omniscient ; and 
 we must press upon our people the necessity 
 of keeping us constantly informed as to 
 everything in their households which we 
 ought to know — whether it be a case of 
 sickness, or of peculiar affliction, or of a soul 
 awakened to a conviction of sin. Whatever 
 touches your people's hearts should touch 
 yours. You cannot keep the tie between 
 pastor and flock too close or too strong. 
 
 I have seldom found it wise to send word 
 in advance to families in my parish that I 
 would visit them on a certain day or hour. 
 For I might be prevented from coming, and 
 thus subject them to disappointment and 
 annoyance. Unless you are sent for to visit 
 
PASTORAL VISITS. 3 1 
 
 a particular house for a particular purpose, 
 it is the best plan to arrange each day's vis- 
 itations to suit yourself. If you come in 
 upon your people unawares (as you com- 
 monly will), it depends very much upon 
 yourself whether you are cordially wel- 
 comed. If you enter the house with a 
 hearty salutation and a kind word — without 
 a chilling or stately reserve — and if you tell 
 them to " allow you to sit down among 
 them as they are," without their running off 
 to " dress," or without subjecting you to 
 formal frigidities of the parlor, you will 
 soon be perfectly at home with them. 
 
 When you get into frank, friendly conver- 
 sation with them, do your best to draw 
 them out. Encourage them to talk about 
 the Sabbath services ; the truths preached ; 
 the difficulties raised or allayed ; the light 
 afforded, or the comforts given. Encourage 
 them to speak of any special effects of the 
 word upon any of themselves. In this way 
 you discover whether you are really inter- 
 esting your auditors, whether you are mak- 
 
32 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 ing yourself understood, and whether your 
 heavenly messages are producing spiritual 
 results. Fishing for compliments is too 
 contemptible to deserve even a rebuke; but 
 it does cheer a minister's heart to be told : 
 " Your sermon has helped me all this week ; " 
 or, " Your discourse cleared up a difficult 
 passage for me ; " or, " I made up my mind 
 last Sunday that I will try to serve God." 
 Nothing delights me so much as to have a 
 child talk to me about my sermons ; for I 
 have tried to adhere to a fixed rule — never 
 to deliver a discourse which did not contain 
 at least something in it which would attract 
 and take hold of every average child in the 
 house. Why is it that so many ministers of 
 Christ forget Christ's own example in mak- 
 ing truth simple, picturesque and intelligible 
 to the young and the ignorant? 
 
 When calling on your parishioners, frown 
 down all attempts at gossip, and seal your 
 ears against malicious scandal. If one per- 
 son has a charge against a fellow-member, 
 and you see that an enmity may be engen- 
 
PASTORAL VISITS. 33 
 
 dered, you may win the benedictions pro- 
 nounced on " the peace-maker," by your 
 good offices, an'd so prevent a pimple from 
 becoming a festering sore. The true time 
 to take hold of a quarrel is in its first stages. 
 Of course, if the way opens, you will pray 
 with the families you visit ; but they will 
 commonly wait for you to offer to do 
 so. 
 
 If any one in the house asks or needs a 
 personal conversation about his or her soul's 
 welfare, by all means endeavor that it be 
 private. The timid will never unlock their 
 heart-troubles in the presence of others. 
 Sometimes a case will occur which will re- 
 quire several visits, and much probing con- 
 versation. Do not begrudge the time. To 
 save one soul is joy enough for an angel ; 
 and there is no school in practical theology 
 like dealing with a soul in its struggles and 
 temptations. I hope you will study thor- 
 oughly Dr. Spencer's unrivalled " Pastor's 
 Sketches." He was the Bunyan of Brook- 
 lyn ; the secret of his success was that he 
 3 
 
34 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 always aimed to co-operate with the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 When in your pastoral rounds, you will 
 sometimes have the opportunity to do more 
 execution in a single talk than in an hun- 
 dred sermons. I once spent an evening in a 
 vain endeavor to bring a man to a decision 
 for Christ. Before I left he took me up- 
 stairs to the nursery to show me his beauti- 
 ful children in their cribs. I said to him 
 tenderly : " Do you mean that these sweet 
 children shall never have any help from 
 their father to get to heaven ? " He was 
 deeply moved, and in a month became an 
 active member of my church. For twenty- 
 five years that man has been glued to me ; 
 infinitely better, he has steadily glorified his 
 Saviour. 
 
 On a cold winter evening I made my first 
 call on a rich merchant in New York. As 
 I left his door, and the piercing gale swept 
 in, I said, " What an awful night for the 
 poor!" He went back, and bringing to me 
 a roll of bank bills, he said, " Please hand 
 
PASTORAL VISITS. 35 
 
 these, for me, to the poorest people you 
 know." After a few days I wrote to him 
 the grateful thanks of the poor whom his 
 bounty had relieved, and added : " How is it 
 that a man who is so kind to his fellow- 
 creatures, has always been so unkind to his 
 Saviour as to refuse Him his heart? " That 
 sentence touched him in the core. He sent 
 for me to come and talk with him, and 
 speedily gave himself to Christ. He has 
 been a most useful Christian ever since. 
 But he told me that I was the first person 
 who had talked to him about his soul in 
 nearly twenty years ! One hour of pastoral 
 work did more for that man than the pulpit 
 efforts of a lifetime. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 VISITATION OF THE SICK — FUNERAL SER- 
 VICES. 
 
 T is a duty which every family in 
 your congregation, owes to their 
 pastor as well as to themselves that 
 they should inform you promptly of every 
 case of serious sickness. Nor can you be 
 too prompt in responding to such a call. 
 However busy you may be in preparing a 
 sermon or in any commendable occupation, 
 everything else must be laid aside ; a pastor 
 should be as quick to hasten to the room of 
 sickness, as an ambulance is to reach a 
 scene of disaster. You may find that your 
 parishioner has been suddenly attacked with 
 dangerous illness and that even your en- 
 trance into the sick room may be agitating 
 
VISITS TO THE SICK— FUNERALS. 37 
 
 to the patient ; at such times you will need 
 to use all the tact and delicacy and discre- 
 tion that you can command. Do not need- 
 lessly endanger a sick body by your efforts 
 to guide or to console the immortal spirit 
 that may be hovering on the brink of the 
 eternal world. Let your words be few, 
 calm, tender, and every syllable you speak 
 point towards Jesus. Whoever the. sufferer 
 may be — saint or sinner — his failing vision 
 should be directed to " no man save Jesus 
 only." Let the prayer also which you offer 
 be brief, and in the tenderest language in 
 which you can breathe out a fervid suppli- 
 cation to the God of all grace. It is not 
 commonly the office of a pastor to tell a 
 patient that his, or her disease is assuredly a 
 fatal one ; but if you know that death is 
 near, then in the name of the Master, be 
 faithful as well as tender. 
 
 There are many cases of extreme and 
 critical illness, when the presence of even 
 the most loving pastor may be an unwise 
 intrusion. An excellent Christian lady who 
 
38 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 had been twice apparently at the brink of 
 death said to me, " never enter the room of 
 a person who is extremely low, unless the 
 person urgently requests you, or unless a 
 spiritual necessity compels it. You have no 
 idea how the sight of a new face agitates 
 the sufferer, or how you may unconsciously 
 and unintentionally rob that sufferer of some 
 of the little life that is fluttering in that 
 feeble frame." I felt grateful to the good 
 woman for her advice ; and have often acted 
 upon it accordingly, when the family have 
 unwisely importuned me to do what would 
 be of more harm than benefit. On some 
 occasions when I have found a sick room 
 crowded by well-meaning but needless in- 
 truders, I have taken the liberty to " put 
 them all forth " as our Master did from that 
 chamber in which the daughter of Jairus was 
 in the death-slumber. 
 
 A large portion of the time and attention 
 which you bestow upon the sick will be de- 
 manded by chronic sufferers — who have been 
 confined to their beds of weariness for many 
 
VISITS TO THE SICK— FUNERALS. 39 
 
 months, or years. Whoever you may neg- 
 lect, do not neglect them. Visit them as 
 often as possible. Bring into their rooms 
 the sunshine of a cheerful countenance, and 
 a morsel of fresh manna from heaven that 
 shall have the taste of honey. Some of 
 those bed-ridden sufferers are " prisoners of 
 Jesus Christ," who can do you quite as 
 much good as you can do for them. What 
 eloquent sermons they can preach to you on 
 the beauty of submissive patience, and on 
 the supporting power of the Everlasting 
 Arm ! Such interviews strengthen your 
 own faith, soften your own heart, and in- 
 fuse into it the spirit of Him who " took our 
 infirmities and bare our sickness." Mc- 
 Cheyne of Dundee said that before preach- 
 ing on the Sabbath he sometimes visited 
 some parishioner who might be lying ex- 
 tremely low, for he found it good " to take 
 a look over the verged 
 
 The hour you spend in the abodes of sick- 
 ness and of sorrow will often subject your 
 nerves, and your sympathetic sensibilities to 
 
40 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 a pretty severe strain ; and from such trials 
 you must not shrink. But the most diffi- 
 cult and delicate part of your pastoral duties 
 will be the conducting of funeral-services. 
 At such trying services too many minis- 
 ters sadly fail ; some from want of sense, 
 and some from want of sensibility. The 
 first class offend by their unwise utterances ; 
 the second offend by their utter lack of 
 sympathy ; to them a funeral is as " profes- 
 sional " an affair as it is to the undertaker. 
 
 In making the arrangements for funeral- 
 services, the first persons to be consulted are 
 the bereaved family ; their wishes must be 
 respected. Unless in a few and rare cases 
 where public honors are to be paid to public 
 men, the last services will be of a domestic 
 character; and the simpler they are the 
 better. I always love to see the kindred 
 occupy the same apartment in which the 
 form of the beloved one lies sleeping ; it 
 seems far more affectionate to sit beside 
 their dead, than to leave a parent, a wife or 
 a child to be surrounded by chance-gathered 
 
VISITS TO THE SICK— FUNERALS. 4 1 
 
 neighbors or strangers. The pastor should 
 also, if possible, stand close beside the 
 mourning family, and not be thrust away 
 into another part of the dwelling. We are 
 often stationed upon a stairway in the hall, 
 with nothing to look at but a blank wall, or 
 the heads of the people congregated below 
 us. This detracts from the naturalness of 
 the service, and puts us, as it were, out of 
 sympathy with those whom we desire to 
 comfort. We are affected through the eye, 
 and the sight of the slumbering dead, and 
 the sorrowing kindred is apt to stir the fount 
 of feeling in our own hearts. Cold formality 
 is the unpardonable sin in the house of 
 mourning. No matter what suffering it may 
 cost us, or however severe may be the strain 
 upon our nerves, we pastors must not shirk 
 the suffering. It is no place to harden the 
 heart or to retreat into a frigid formality. 
 A funeral is a heart-service ; let your own 
 heart have its way. The closer you follow 
 your own best instincts, the fewer blunders 
 will you commit. Put yourself in the place 
 
42 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 of the mourner, and then speak as your feel- 
 ings dictate. 
 
 So far have I aimed to carry out this 
 principle that I rarely prepare any funeral 
 address. I store my mind with the chief 
 facts and circumstances of the occasion, and 
 then allow the heart to utter its own words 
 of sympathy and consolation. Set speeches 
 beside a coffin are icicles. Stale truisms 
 about death are often a solemn imper- 
 tinence. Elaborate addresses are usually as 
 much out of place as at a communion table. 
 Simplicity and tenderness are the prime 
 essentials. Grief is always simple, and 
 bleeding hearts must be touched tenderly. 
 Honest eulogy of those who have lived 
 nobly and for God's glory is often a duty to 
 the living as well as a deserved tribute to 
 the one who has fallen asleep in Jesus. 
 The instincts of a minister's heart ought to 
 tell ^lim how much to say ; but let him not 
 disown or dishonor the grace of God that 
 dwelt in the life just ended. The last ex- 
 periences of the last hours of the departed 
 
VISITS TO THE SICK— FUNERALS. 43 
 
 are sometimes full of eloquent inspirations, 
 and we ought to rehearse them to cheer the 
 faith of the survivors. A sudden death is 
 in itself a tremendous sermon ; and we may 
 enforce the solemn lesson, if we do it dis- 
 creetly and lovingly. Grant that but few 
 persons have ever been converted by funeral 
 addresses ; we should none the less speak 
 in the same direction that the Almighty 
 God is speaking. While comforting the be- 
 reaved we may incidentally gain a strong 
 hold on some unconverted souls, and thus 
 the way be opened to lead them to Christ. 
 
 No funeral service is adequate or proper 
 in which there is not a large use of appro- 
 priate Scripture — and also the singing of 
 one or more hymns. Sometimes an elab- 
 orate musical performance is provided that 
 would better befit a concert-room. Noth- 
 ing goes quite so close to the heart as the 
 tender and tearful singing of some sw,eet 
 hymn like "Rock of Ages," or "Jesus, 
 Lover of my Soul," or " Abide with me," or 
 "Asleep in Jesus." A hymn sinks deeper 
 
44 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 into the soul than a discourse. Tears are a 
 blessed escape-valve for pent-up overpower- 
 ing grief, and the more freely they are 
 evoked during the last services of affection, 
 the greater will be relief to suffering hearts. 
 Pray that God may make you a " son of 
 consolation," while you are standing be- 
 tween the living and the dead. Yet your 
 office as a comforter does not end when the 
 silent form has been committed to the 
 bosom of mother-earth. The hardest strain 
 upon the bereaved will come when the obse- 
 quies are all over and the crowd have gone, 
 and the sorrowing ones come back to the 
 empty house and home and hearts. Then 
 you will be needed most ; and then will it 
 be your office to guide the trembling hands 
 and point the weeping eyes to that Friend 
 that sticketh closer than a brother. May 
 the dear Master give you grace to speak a 
 " word in season to them that are weary," 
 and to lift many a sobbing, suffering soul up 
 into the sweet sunshine that streams from 
 the heavenly Throne ! 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE TREATMENT OF THE TROUBLED. 
 
 LARGE part of every Christian 
 minister's work must be given to 
 those who are in trouble. The 
 careless are to be awakened by faithful, 
 pungent proclamation of the sinfulness of 
 sin and the certainty of its endless retribu- 
 tion ; the inquirers are to be directed, and 
 God's people to be fed with their rations of 
 solid food. But every week brings before 
 his pulpit, or under his eye in pastoral visi- 
 tation, some of that numerous class who 
 need a lift or a helping hand. Bruised 
 hearts are to be bound up ; feeble knees to 
 be strengthened ; a word in season to be 
 spoken to the weary or the weak or the 
 woebegone. Tonic sermons are always in 
 
46 HO W TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 order, the stronger the better ; some of our 
 flock get terribly run down by Saturday 
 night and need fresh infusion of iron in the 
 blood. There are two sorts of trouble that 
 demand kind, careful and wise treatment. 
 
 (1.) The first sort belongs to those who 
 are in the fold of Christ. All true Chris- 
 tians are not happy Christians. While 
 " Great Heart " and " Hopeful " go striding 
 and singing on their way to the celestial 
 city, poor Mr. Despondency and Mr. Little- 
 faith and Sister Much-afraid hobble along 
 painfully and need a helping hand pretty 
 often. It takes all sorts of Christians 
 to make an average church. Some are 
 constitutionally despondent about every- 
 thing. It is not easy to change natural 
 temperament ; let such travel the straight 
 road conscientiously, even if their heads 
 often droop like the bulrush ; they will 
 find heaven's sunshine and song all the 
 more welcome when they get there. Un- 
 easy as this kind of Christians often are 
 
THE TREA TMENT OF THE TROUBLED. 47 
 
 about themselves, they seldom give much 
 uneasiness to their pastor. It is the self- 
 confident, dash-ahead professor that we are 
 oftener anxious about. Another class owe 
 their despondency to ill health. The flesh 
 and the spirit lie mighty close together, 
 and they act and react upon each other. 
 That ripe old saint, Dr. Archibald Alex- 
 ander, suffered from such a peculiar nervous 
 disorder that he was always gloomy when 
 an east wind blew. Dyspepsia puts some 
 of Christ's choice ones into the dumps ; a 
 dose of medicine or a bottle of Saratoga 
 water will bring more relief than a prayer or 
 a Bible text. The saddest case of religious 
 despair I ever encountered came from 
 physical disease, and the lady was shocked 
 when I told her so. Yet as soon as the 
 torpid liver was set right, her soul was 
 filled with light and gladness. 
 
 But the most frequent cases that the 
 pastor has to deal with are those who are 
 suffering under some trying dispensation of 
 Providence. Disappointment has shattered 
 
 *k 
 
48 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 their schemes, or pecuniary adversities have 
 crippled them, or death has smitten' the 
 four corners of their house, and their hearts 
 are breaking. To try to stanch the tears 
 of persons who are in deep grief is a folly, 
 even if it were possible. Tears are the 
 safety-valve of grief, and often keep an 
 agonized heart from bursting ; let them 
 flow. When nature has had her way, grace 
 may begin to work. In dealing with the 
 afflicted — from whatever cause it come — we 
 must treat them always as scholars in God's 
 school of suffering. The temptation of the 
 devil to such sufferers is to get them into a 
 quarrel with God ; if he cannot do that he 
 tries to break their lanterns and leave them 
 in the dark. As long as a Christian's 
 anchor holds he can ride out any hurricane 
 of trouble ; but if his cable that fastens 
 him to Christ is cut he goes helplessly on 
 the rocks. 
 
 The true way to look at affliction is as a 
 prime part of a Christian's education. The 
 only relief I have ever found myself when 
 
THE TREATMENT OF THE TROUBLED. 
 
 49 
 
 under sharp bereavement was in the Heaven- 
 ordered certainty that this world is only a 
 preparatory school for the better and, the 
 endless life beyond. Terribly hard lessons 
 in " division " and " subtraction " are often 
 assigned us ; we are put on the back 
 benches and the lowest, when we fancy our- 
 selves entitled to the highest. Our text- 
 books are often stained with tears, and our 
 loving Teacher often uses the rod. The 
 strongest Christians are made by a costly edu- 
 cation. The very word "disciple" signi- 
 fies a little learner, and the chief object of all 
 discipline is to develop character. The core 
 of Christianity is obedience to our Divine 
 Master, and the highest attainment is to let 
 him have his own way. Often when the hard 
 lesson starts the tears and makes the heart 
 ache, the blessed Teacher comes close and 
 whispers in our ears, " As many as I love I 
 chasten ; no chastening for the present 
 seemeth to be joyous, but grievous ; never- 
 theless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable 
 fruit of righteousness." It is the "after- 
 4 
 
50 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 ward " that vindicates God's dealings. 
 Noble old Richard Baxter exclaimed after a 
 life of severe toil and suffering, " O God, I 
 thank thee for a bodily discipline of eight 
 and fifty years ! " Out of the school of 
 trial the Master brings his ripest, holiest 
 pupils. The best pruned vines yield the 
 richest clusters ; the brightest gold comes 
 out of the hottest furnace. A glorious pro- 
 motion will it be — when the life-school is 
 over — that they whose hearts have ached 
 and whose eyes have so often wept, will be 
 graduated into the magnificent inheritance 
 of the Father's house ! 
 
 Two things are chiefly to be aimed -at in 
 the treatment of desponding or bereaved 
 Christians. The first is to get them out of 
 themselves, and the other is to get them 
 into active service for their Master. The 
 tides of inward feeling are in danger of 
 stagnating into a fen of bitter waters. 
 Sluice them off, and turn them into streams 
 of beneficence to others. A sorely bereaved 
 lady once said to me, " If I could not keep 
 
THE TREA TMENT OF THE TROUBLED. 5 I 
 
 my mind occupied in Christian labor for 
 the poor and elsewhere, I should go crazy 
 with grief." Useful occupation is both a 
 tonic to faith and a sedative to sorrow. If 
 troubles drive us to toils for our Master, 
 then the useful toils will in turn, drive 
 away many of the troubles. 
 
 (2.) There is a second sort of troubles to 
 be dealt with which belong to those who 
 are outside of Christ's fold, and who find 
 obstacles in the way of their getting in. 
 They are plagued with doubts and unbe- 
 lief. A careful discrimination must be 
 made between the wilful skeptics who will 
 not believe, and the involuntary ones who 
 find it hard to believe. This latter class 
 merit the kindest and most gentle treat- 
 ment, such as Jesus showed to the father of 
 the demoniac-child, and to doubting 
 Thomas. We should aim to discover just 
 what it is that they find it difficult to be- 
 lieve. Are they puzzled and perplexed 
 with such mysteries as the nature of the 
 
52 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 Trinity, or the doctrine of election, or the 
 existence of sin in the world, or any other 
 hard nut that human ingenuity cannot 
 crack? Let all such mysteries alone ; they 
 are an overmatch for the mightiest brains 
 ever created ; the secret things belong unto 
 God. Happily our salvation does not de- 
 pend on unlocking mysteries. 
 
 " I find it hard to believe in Christ," 
 says the troubled inquirer, when he is 
 pushed to the sticking point. " Have you 
 ever honestly tried to do it in the way that 
 Christ commands?" That is the query 
 which we should press on such a person. 
 Saving faith in Christ is not an abstract 
 opinion, it is an act ; it is putting yourself 
 into connection with the Saviour. Have 
 you with empty hand grasped hold on him 
 in honest prayer ? Have you tried sin- 
 cerely to follow him by taking a single step 
 to please him ? Have you endeavored to 
 keep a solitary commandment? Have you, 
 in short, ever obeyed him ? If not, then you 
 must die a doubter; for the only way to be 
 
THE TREATMENT OF THE TROUBLED. 53 
 
 saved by the Lord Jesus is to do what he 
 commands. 
 
 To get a troubled sinner out of the region 
 of theory into the region of practice, out 
 of doctrines into duties, is a prime point 
 gained. No one is ever troubled about 
 believing in Christ as soon as he begins 
 to obey Christ. Knowing comes by doing. 
 The loving Saviour's hand is immediately 
 stretched out to save every one who leaps 
 overboard from the boat of sin and strug- 
 gles towards HIM. Unbelief stays in the 
 boat and goes down ; faith leaps out and 
 trusts. As Spurgeon pithily says, " The 
 way to do a thing is — to do it." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 HOW TO HAVE A WORKING CHURCH. 
 
 HE pulpit services of a minister oc- 
 cupy only a few hours on each 
 Sabbath ; his duties as a pastor 
 extend over all the other days of the week. 
 He may be a very eloquent pulpiteer and 
 yet have an inactive church. Of some plain 
 preachers it may be said as Dr. James W. 
 Alexander once said to me of that noble 
 and admirable pastor Dr. Asa D. Smith — " I 
 envy Doctor Smith more than any pastor in 
 N ew York, for he has the art of setting all his 
 people to work, and of keeping them at it." 
 That is a great art ; how is it to be acquired ? 
 A few suggestions that I have gathered dur- 
 ing forty years or more, may be of value to 
 beginners in the ministry. 
 
 m 
 
HOW TO HAVE A WORKING CHURCH. 55 
 
 (1.) If you expect to have an active church, 
 you must be a wide-awake, industrious man 
 yourself. An indolent pastor is apt to have 
 an indolent congregation. If you are found 
 smoking on your lounge or dawdling away 
 your time over light literature ; if you are 
 seen oftener out driving for pleasure or 
 sauntering in book-stores and picture-galler- 
 ies, than you are in visiting your flock, then 
 your people will soon hold you cheap and 
 rightly conclude that they have a lazy min- 
 ister. They will come to the same conclu- 
 sion if you are ready to put into your pul- 
 pit any man who comes along in a clerical 
 coat. Never cheapen your own pulpit. Go 
 to it as often as possible, even if through 
 unavoidable circumstances, you have been 
 prevented from preparing a " finished dis- 
 course." An imperfect sermon, if well satu- 
 rated with prayer and sent home with fervor 
 may do good execution. Veteran pastors 
 will testify that often the discourses from 
 which they had expected the least, have ac- 
 complished the most. 
 
$6 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 Recreate mind and body with easy occupa- 
 tions on Monday. Get at your sermon on 
 Tuesday — the minister's best day — and 
 never commit the idiotic sin of writing a 
 sermon on Saturday evening. Make the 
 utmost of those hours when your mind 
 works like a trip-hammer and then put upon 
 paper your best thoughts— whether you ever 
 carry the paper into the pulpit or not. Use 
 the forenoons for study, your afternoons for 
 pastoral visitation and your evenings for 
 meetings or for reading, recreation or social 
 purposes. Sleep as soundly as possible all 
 night if you want to keep your congregation 
 awake on Sunday. The Irishman's rule for 
 good sleeping was "to pay attintion to it." 
 
 The men who live the longest, and do the 
 most effective work, are commonly good 
 sleepers. If they cannot secure enough at 
 night, they make it up during the day. 
 When a man who has so much strain on 
 his brain and his sensibilities as a pastor has, 
 goes to his bedroom, he should school him- 
 self to the habit of dismissing all thoughts 
 
HOW TO HAVE A WORKING CHURCH. 57 
 
 about outside matters. If this cost him 
 some difficulty, he should pray for Divine 
 help to do it. Too many ministers toil at 
 their sermons until eleven or twelve o'clock, 
 and then retire with throbbing heads to their 
 sleepless beds. The man who invented 
 " midnight oil " deserves a purgatory of end- 
 less nightmare. My own rule is never to 
 touch a sermon by lamplight. One hour in 
 the morning is worth five at night. 
 
 I have already exhorted you to learn the 
 geography of your parish thoroughly, and to 
 keep yourself in daily intercourse with your 
 people. Do not have any " running-places " 
 or favorite resorts ; and don't let anybody in 
 the congregation own you. While making 
 your pastoral visits, show an interest in what 
 your people are doing, and then repay your- 
 self by making them interested in what you 
 are doing. Discuss freely the affairs of 
 the church with all your families; commend 
 those who are most prompt at the devo- 
 tional meetings, and most alert in serving the 
 Master ; and kindly chide the delinquents. 
 
58 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 Let them know that you miss them. A 
 shepherd's " crook " must often be used with 
 
 (2.) However active you may be, it is 
 vitally important that you should develop 
 the activities of your church-members, and 
 direct them into fields of usefulness. There 
 is a vast amount of latent power in most of 
 our congregations ; and in large churches 
 there is a tendency to say, " Oh, you have 
 enough to do the work without me." As 
 small farms are usually the best tilled, so 
 small churches are often the best worked. 
 There must be leaders in every church ; but 
 don't try to push into prominence conceited 
 people who happen to have large purses or 
 social conspicuousness. The best workers 
 are oftenest those of humblest social rank ; 
 and no man or woman should be prominent 
 unless they- have earned their position by 
 consecration to the Master's service. Try to 
 discover what a man is best fitted for, and 
 then set him at it. When a new member 
 
HOW TO HAVE A WORKING CHURCH 59 
 
 comes into your church — either by conver- 
 sion or transmission from another church — 
 do not let him settle down into a mere " pas- 
 senger." Endeavor to enlist him at once 
 into some line of usefulness. There will be 
 some conceited and presumptous folk who 
 thrust themselves into positions for which 
 they have no capacity ; but such very soon 
 find their level. I have generally found 
 that ardent, zealous Christians, even when 
 sometimes indiscreet, accomplish a great 
 deal more than the over-prudent, phlegmatic 
 sort. Good Dr. Brainard used to say, " I 
 whip up the fast horses, for there are plenty 
 that don't pull a pound." 
 
 (3.) Keep your eye on all the operations of 
 the church; not to do the trustee's work, or 
 the elder's work, or the Sunday-school super- 
 intendent's work, or the class-leader's work, 
 but to see that they do it. A meddlesome 
 minister may be as mischievous as an idle 
 one ; yet oversight and wise counsel are your 
 prerogative. Always attend your prayer- 
 
60 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 meetings, both for your own spiritual profit 
 and also to put honor on the most vital ser- 
 vice, next to the preaching of the Word. 
 As long as you have competent laymen who 
 can lead the meeting, commit the leadership 
 of the service to them ; this will develop 
 them, and relieve you of " over much speak- 
 ing." Ministers may talk too often ; and if 
 a pastor is especially gifted, there is danger 
 that the church may become a one-man 
 power machine. Mr. Beecher used to com- 
 plain that his people were too slow to take 
 part in his prayer-meetings ; and one cause 
 of this was that he took so large a part in 
 them himself. No church can ever be strong 
 unless the strain is put on their own sinews ; 
 there is a place for the Aquilas and Priscil- 
 las, as well as for Paul. A timely word from 
 the pastor may help a prayer-meeting, but it 
 is the people's service, not his. 
 
 (4.) As the bottle is the chronic curse of 
 every community, the church of God cannot 
 ignore it. Every minister ought to preach 
 
HOW TO HAVE A V/ORKING CHURCH. 6 1 
 
 and practice entire abstinence from the in- 
 toxicating cup ; and every Christian church 
 ought to have a Temperance wheel in its 
 machinery. Therefore it is wise to organize 
 a society which shall not be a political or 
 partisan "annex," but a part of the religious 
 movement of your church, under the super- 
 vision of the Pastor. The titTe to member- 
 ship should be the avowed practice of total 
 abstinence from all intoxicants ; and I still 
 believe in the expediency of signing a 
 pledge to thus abstain. A brief constitution, 
 an efficient President, and Board of Mana- 
 gers, a package of pledges and a good com- 
 mittee to secure proper speakers are the 
 main requisites for such a society. The 
 public meetings should be free ; and a col- 
 lection taken up will meet the current ex- 
 penses. Such an organization has been a 
 source of social and spiritual blessings in my 
 own and in many other congregations. 
 
 (5.) Drive every wheel in your machinery 
 to its utmost power, but don't have more 
 
62 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 wheels than power. Widen your activities 
 as fast as you have men and money to 
 propel them. Organize your young people 
 into an association, with a weekly meeting 
 for prayer and training in Christian work. 
 Organize your women into missionary socie- 
 ties and other benevolent labors. Do not 
 overwork any one department to the sacri- 
 fice of others, or run your own hobbies to 
 death. Feed your people with the solid 
 meat of the Word, if you want them to be 
 strong for work ; and then fire them by 
 constant pointing them to Jesus and pray- 
 ing for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 
 Keep Christ in the foreground. Come to 
 your flock every Sabbath with Jesus in your 
 heart and Jesus on your tongue. The only 
 permanent power that can propel any 
 church is the power from on high ; and 
 that church which is mighty in prayer is 
 the one that is always mighty in work. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TRAINING CONVERTS. 
 
 VERY large proportion of mem- 
 bers in our churches count for very- 
 little except upon the muster-roll. 
 When that roll is called for practical service 
 they do not answer, " Here ! " The lament- 
 able statistics of contributions show how 
 small are the pecuniary gifts of those coma- 
 tose Christians. The thin attendance at 
 prayer-meetings in too many churches, the 
 fewness of those who take part in them, or 
 in any kind of personal effort for souls and 
 the spread of Christ's kingdom, are illustra- 
 tions of the same fact. A large portion of 
 the power in the church is a latent power. 
 The stream is diverted upon the water- 
 wheels of the world, or else runs to waste ; 
 
64 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 less than half of it turned upon spiritual 
 machinery. One reason, among many, is 
 that new converts are not trained into 
 Christian activity from the start. 
 
 Many converts to Christ are still in the 
 morning of life, although they may have 
 outgrown the Sunday-school. Under thirty 
 years of age the habits of individuals are 
 easily moulded ; and during the thirty years 
 after that, they ought to be set to work for 
 their Master. The true time to enlist a 
 Christian in active service is when he enlists 
 in the visible army of Christ by a public 
 confession of Christ. If a new convert does 
 not open his lips in some devotional meeting 
 during the first thirty days, he is apt to 
 remain tongue-tied for life. If he or she is 
 not called into some sort of service, then 
 doth he or she become a drone in the hive. 
 One of the most effectual methods that I 
 know of for training new converts is by the 
 agency of a "Young People's Association," 
 organized in the church and under the over- 
 sight of the pastor. There has been such 
 
TRAINING CONVERTS. 65 
 
 an association in the church which I had 
 the honor to serve, for about twenty-five 
 years. Sometimes its membership runs as 
 high as seven hundred. 
 
 It embraces three classes of members — 
 active, associate, and honorary. Any mem- 
 ber of our church between the ages of fif- 
 teen and forty-five may be chosen an 
 " active " member of the association. Any 
 person of good moral character may be- 
 come an associate member, entitled to all 
 privileges except that of holding office. 
 The fee of membership is fifty cents annu- 
 ally, and ten dollars secures a membership 
 for life. The objects of the Association 
 are to hold weekly devotional meetings, to 
 promote social intercourse, to visit the sick, 
 to search out and bring in young people, to 
 labor for their conversion, and to do what- 
 ever will develop the spiritual life of new 
 converts. There is a " Devotional Com- 
 mittee," which has charge of the Monday 
 evening meeting, which is held in the 
 houses of the congregation. This com- 
 5 
 
66 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 mittee must select the house, have it an- 
 nounced from the pulpit, and see to it that 
 the camp-stools and hymn-books are taken 
 to the said house in season. 
 
 That meeting lasts just one hour. The 
 leader of the service is allowed to occupy 
 fifteen minutes in opening the exercises. 
 As soon as possible after a person is con- 
 verted he is requested to take charge of the 
 meeting ; this breaks him into the harness 
 at once. No one is allowed to occupy 
 more than three minutes in an address or a 
 prayer. At the close of the service a half- 
 hour is spent in giving introductions and in 
 social intercourse. In pleasant weather we 
 expect the house to be crowded ; but we 
 have seldom had the spiritual thermometer 
 so high as to pack a house on a stormy 
 evening. Only a pleasure-party or a politi- 
 cal caucus can do that. 
 
 In these social meetings all are made 
 welcome, and new converts are encouraged 
 to take part. There is a freedom felt in a 
 private house which cannot be felt by a be- 
 
TRAINING CONVERTS. 67 
 
 ginner in the public lecture-room of the 
 church. Most persons of modesty and 
 common sense are apt to feel a certain diffi- 
 dence in speaking or praying for the first 
 time. Some of our most effective speakers 
 made an unpromising start, and had one or 
 two break-downs before they could, as the 
 oarsmen say, " pull themselves together." 
 But it is not simply a public speaking and 
 praying service into which the Association 
 trains its members. They are organized 
 for various kinds of work. There is a Visit- 
 ing Committee to look after the sick. 
 There is an Entertainment Committee who 
 arrange music, readings, and other pleasant 
 features for a monthly sociable — to which 
 the whole congregation are invited. The 
 monthly entertainments commonly crowd 
 the lecture-room or the Sabbath-school hall. 
 There is a Temperance Committee which 
 oversees that branch of Christian labor. 
 Recently a meeting of our young ladies 
 who are interested in this blessed work 
 was very largely attended. For years we 
 
68 HO W TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 had an efficient corps of tract-distributers in 
 the Association ; but the removal from town 
 of its moving spirits has left this depart- 
 ment rather feeble at present. There is 
 also a " Relief Committee " for cases of 
 poverty, and another one which provides 
 flowers every Sabbath for the pulpit and 
 then sends them to the rooms of the 
 sick. 
 
 I have entered more into the details of 
 this Association because it has yielded such 
 precious spiritual fruits. Its graduates are 
 all over the West as active Christians ; some 
 of them have entered the gospel ministry. 
 It has been a training-school for converts, 
 and as such deserves a place beside the 
 Sabbath-school in the affections and prayers 
 of the church. I should almost as soon 
 think of conducting a church without the 
 regular officers as without this educational 
 institution for new-born souls. It helps to 
 solve several such questions as — how to de- 
 velop the lay element ; how to cultivate so- 
 cial intercourse ; how to save the young for 
 
TRAINING CONVERTS. 69 
 
 Christ and keep them out of the clutch of 
 the devil. In the apostolic churches the new 
 material was put to immediate use. That 
 was one reason why the Word grew mightily 
 and prevailed. If the machinery in those 
 days was simpler than now, still there was 
 organized effort, and that was built on per- 
 sonal consecration to Christ. Give us but 
 that, and we shall have few drones in the 
 hive. Conversion without consecration sig- 
 nifies birth without growth — blossoms with- 
 out fruit. 
 
 I have drawn upon my personal observa- 
 tion in this outline of the work done by the 
 Young People's Association of the Lafayette 
 Avenue Church ; but the same style of work 
 is being done in many hundreds of churches 
 by the admirable " Societies of Christian 
 Endeavor." Every new convert should en- 
 roll himself or herself in such a society if it 
 is within reach. Wherever the circum- 
 stances permit I also cordially commend the 
 " Young Men's Christian Association " as a 
 most excellent training-school in the service 
 
JO HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 of Christ. There need be no clash or 
 collision between the "Y. M. C. A." 
 and the organization in each individual 
 church. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PRAYER-MEETINGS. 
 
 HE prayer-meeting may fairly claim 
 to be regarded as second only to 
 the pulpit in the spiritual life of a 
 Christian church. Some would give it the 
 first place ; for while many churches have 
 managed to keep alive without a pastor, 
 none are likely to preserve their vitality and 
 vigor without a regular gathering of the 
 flock for public devotion. Certainly the 
 prayer-meeting is a very fair thermometer ; 
 a cold prayer-meeting marks a cold church. 
 It is at once the cause, and the effect of 
 spiritual declension. On the other hand, a 
 well attended, well conducted prayer-meet- 
 ing is both a joy to the pastor, and a well- 
 spring of blessings to the people. It is 
 
J 2 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 pre-eminently th& people s service ; and dur- 
 ing nearly the whole of my ministry it has 
 been my custom to entrust the charge of 
 the service to the elders, who are the repre- 
 sentatives of the congregation. Each elder 
 takes the leadership of the weekly meeting, 
 in alphabetical order. He selects the topic 
 to be discussed and must see to it that the 
 topic is duly announced from the pulpit on 
 the previous Sabbath. For the right man- 
 agement of the meeting he is responsible ; 
 and he should make thorough preparation 
 for the solemn charge committed to him. 
 
 If there be any religious service that 
 ought to be delivered from frigid formal- 
 ity it is the family-gathering of Christ's 
 disciples at the mercy seat. " Cut and 
 dried " addresses are out of place. Long 
 stereotyped petitions are a weariness to the 
 flesh. A good rule for the pulpit, and an 
 equally good one for the weekly devotional 
 service is — have something to say, and then 
 say it ! Those who come to the service 
 filled with the Spirit, are likely to overflow 
 
PRAYER-MEETINGS. . J^ 
 
 in pithy, inspiring exhortations, or in fer- 
 vent, well-ordered petitions. 
 
 It commonly requires the presence of 
 several sensible people to make a good 
 prayer-meeting ; but it is in the power of 
 one or two weak-headed and troublesome 
 people to mar it most wretchedly. Certain 
 persons of this sort will come into a meet- 
 ing as moths fly into a candle. They stick 
 there like the moths ; but, instead of being 
 scorched to death, they nearly extinguish 
 the meeting. Now, it is the imperative 
 duty of the pastor or of the conductor of 
 the service to deal with such brethren most 
 frankly.. If self-conceit makes the brother 
 so troublesome, then that self-conceit 
 should be kindly rebuked. If he offend 
 ignorantly, then his ignorance should be 
 kindly corrected. The man who has not 
 enough sense or conscience to take a wise 
 hint gratefully will never be of any value 
 to a devotional meeting. Some good peo- 
 ple mar a meeting without intending it. 
 For example, one fluent brother gets to 
 
74 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 monopolizing the time by the inordinate 
 frequency or the inordinate length of his 
 utterances. I once had an excellent church- 
 member who spoke regularly at every 
 prayer service (and it requires a very full 
 man to do that profitably). I frankly told 
 him that he was crowding others out of 
 their rights ; and also suggested that he 
 might better address the Almighty in peti- 
 tion sometimes, instead of always addressing 
 his neighbors in exhortation. He accepted 
 the hint kindly and reformed. Some good 
 speakers would be listened to more eagerly 
 if they relieved their talks with more fre- 
 quent " flashes of silence." 
 
 A prayer-meeting is sometimes marred 
 by aimlessness, both in the addresses to the 
 
 Lord and to each other. Brother A 
 
 talks about faith, and Brother B about 
 
 the pestilence at Memphis, and Brother 
 
 C about — no one can exactly tell what ; 
 
 and the prayers go off about as fairly at 
 random as the squibs which boys fire on the 
 Fourth of July. One method of correcting 
 
PR A YER-MEE TINGS. 7 5 
 
 this aimless diffuseness, and of compacting 
 the service, is to select and announce be- 
 forehand some profitable topic for discus- 
 sion. This may be even selected by the 
 leader and announced on the previous Sab- 
 bath. Then everybody has some definite 
 object to aim at in his remarks. Then the 
 whole service hangs together like a fleece 
 of wool, and there is spiritual instruction 
 afforded, as well as a kindling of devotional 
 feeling by a study of God's truth. If a 
 company of Christians will carefully discuss 
 such a practical topic as " Obeying Con- 
 science," or such a passage as the twenty- 
 third psalm, or the parable of. the wheat and 
 the tares, they cannot but be instructed and 
 strengthened. Food for devotion will be 
 furnished and both the praying and the 
 speaking will be directed "at a mark." Of 
 course, this arrangement need not hoop a 
 meeting as with iron, or forbid any one from 
 presenting some especial request or some 
 matter of immediate interest that lies near 
 his heart. The moment that any system of 
 
76 BOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 management kills the freedom of the family 
 gathering at the mercy-seat, then the system 
 should be abated. A cast-iron rigidity may 
 be as fatal to the meeting as aimless verbi- 
 age. If the Spirit of God is present with 
 great power, there is no danger from either 
 quarter. Wherefore the most effectual cure 
 for an invalid prayer-meeting is to open 
 the lips and the hearts in fervent supplica- 
 tion for the incoming of the Holy Spirit. 
 There may be cases in which a meeting 
 is seriously disturbed by the unwelcome 
 utterances of persons whose character is 
 more than doubtful, and who desire to gain 
 a cheap reputation for piety by taking part 
 in prayer or exhortations. Such trans- 
 gressors should be frankly informed that 
 they had better remain silent until they are 
 ready to open their lips in honest confes- 
 sion. Mr, Moody pithily says that " a man 
 who pays fifty cents on the dollar when he 
 could pay one hundred cents on the dollar 
 had better keep still.*' To confess flagrant 
 wrong-doing in a social meeting is no easy 
 
PRAYER-MEETINGS. J? 
 
 thing ; but I once heard a man do it in a 
 way that not only thrilled the assembly, 
 but brought a rich blessing on his own soul 
 and reinstated him in the position which he 
 had lost. Sincere confession to God or to 
 our fellow-men fills a prayer-room with an 
 odor as sweet as that of the broken alabas- 
 ter-box in the house of Simon the leper. 
 But there is a species of wordy and windy 
 parading of one's own "awful guiltiness," 
 which only nauseates the auditors and can- 
 not impose upon God. It is a terrible thing 
 to tell lies in the name of the Lord. What- 
 ever else be the faults of our prayer ser- 
 vices, let them be delivered from pious fraud 
 and solemn falsehood. 
 
 Brevity should be rigorously enforced in 
 the prayer-meeting, except in those rare 
 cases where an individual is speaking so ev- 
 idently under the inspiration of the Divine 
 Wisdom that it would be a sin to apply the 
 gag-law. Five minutes is commonly long 
 enough for an address and three minutes 
 for a prayer. The model for our petitions 
 
yS HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 which our Lord has taught us, does not con- 
 sume half a minute ; and even that wonder- 
 ful intercessory prayer which he offered for 
 his followers on the night of his betrayal, 
 occupied just twenty-six sentences. We 
 ministers too often transgress in monopoliz- 
 ing time at our people's devotional meet- 
 ings. In is their meeting. We have ample 
 opportunity for Bible exposition on the 
 Sabbath. If the social meeting has broken 
 down under the weight of long, heavy 
 preachments, it is time it were mended. 
 An energetic leader can do this by a prompt 
 tap of a bell or a kind word of monition, or 
 by calling on some " full " brother to offer 
 a word of prayer. Without dwelling fur- 
 ther upon the things which mar the seasons 
 of devotion, I will present briefly in the 
 next chapter, an account of a service which 
 fairly realized my ideal of a prayer-meeting. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A MODEL PRAYER-MEETING. 
 
 T began punctually at the moment. 
 As the clock struck eight the 
 leader rose and sounded the 
 reveille, by giving out the inspiring lines — 
 
 " Come, my soul, thy suit prepare ; 
 Jesus loves to answer prayer." 
 
 A sweet symphony was touched on a 
 piano in one of the crowded rooms, and 
 then the words of the hymn were sent 
 heavenward on a full tide of united and 
 enthusiastic song. Every voice chimed in. 
 Each verse was sung with more spirit than 
 its predecessor, marking the outcome'of the 
 rising devotion; and, like a strong "off- 
 shore " breeze, the opening chant of praise 
 
80 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 carried the whole meeting out of harbor 
 into the larger liberty and deep waters of 
 the open sea. Then the leader invoked the 
 descent of the Holy Ghost, the gift of utter- 
 ance, and the Pentecostal baptism. It was 
 a very short prayer, but very full. He 
 prayed for the gift of prayer upon all, for 
 honesty of speech, for deliverance from 
 dead formalities, for sincerity in confession, 
 for child-like familiarity of approach to God, 
 for filial faith ; and then closed by inviting 
 Christ to " come in, as through the closed 
 doors of the disciples' upper room at Jeru- 
 salem, and speak, Peace be unto you." 
 
 As soon as a fitting passage of the Word 
 had been read, each one present seemed 
 ready to bear his part in giving life and 
 interest to the occasion. Each one felt, 
 " This is not the leader's meeting, nor the 
 pastor's, but my meeting with my own 
 spiritual family at the feet of my own Sav- 
 iour. Here I have a right to weep, and 
 sing, and melt in spirit, and flow out in 
 social communings with the brotherhood 
 
A MODEL PRAYER-MEETING. 8 1 
 
 around me. If I am silent, then the meet- 
 ing may prove dumb ; and if I freeze up 
 then my neighbor may chill through, un- 
 til the place becomes an ice house. So 
 there was no entreaty required on the part 
 of the leader to " draw out " those present. 
 He was obliged to use no turnkey. What 
 is more pitiful than to see a poor embar- 
 rassed elder or deacon sit before a petrified 
 company, and after a long, awful pause, in 
 which you can count the clock-ticks, be- 
 seechingly implore " some brother present 
 to improve the time"? As if the dreary 
 dribble of dullness that was forced out by 
 such a process was not a downright //^-im- 
 provement and murder of the sweet, sacred 
 hour of devotion. It is no wonder that so 
 many of us grew up with a loathing for the 
 very name, and next to a taste of the birch 
 that grew behind the school-house, we 
 dreaded a sentence to " go to prayer-meet- 
 ing." Our only solace was a sound nap, 
 until some one shook our eyes open, and 
 with an admonitory thump informed us 
 6 
 
82 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 that " meetin's out ; it is time to go 
 home." 
 
 But even a child of eight years old would 
 have been interested in the enlivening ser- 
 vice we are now etching. Not a moment 
 was lost ; not a syllable of persuasion was 
 needed. One man rose and gave a touch- 
 ing account of the scene a few evenings 
 before, when he had first set up a family 
 altar in his once prayerless house. That 
 was his first audible prayer, and this was his 
 first speech. While he is speaking, the 
 tears stream down the cheek of his aston- 
 ished and overjoyed wife. Then comes a 
 fervid prayer of thanksgiving to God from 
 some one present, and a petition that the 
 family altar thus reared may never be 
 desecrated, or thrown down. After this a 
 youth arose, with a blue jacket, and an 
 anchor embroidered on his broad collar. 
 He had been brought there by a tract visi- 
 tor. The burden of his short, artless speech 
 was, Come to Jesus. " Whosoever will, let 
 him come," said the sunburnt youth ; that 
 
A MODEL PRAYER-MEETING. 83 
 
 means that everybody on board may come, 
 from the captain to the cabin boy. We are 
 bound for heaven. Christ is our pilot. The 
 anchor is sure and steadfast. Come aboard, 
 friends, before eight bells strike, and your 
 time is up." No one felt like criticising this 
 earnest lad, or objecting to his simple ver- 
 nacular of the sea. He spake as the Spirit 
 gave him utterance. So did they all. One 
 young man asked counsel in regard to the 
 rightfulness of his discharging some pre- 
 scribed duties in a government office on the 
 Sabbath mornings. The leader answered 
 his question briefly, and a brother offered 
 prayer that God would guide aright his 
 perplexed child, would enable him to " do 
 right even if it cost him his daily bread," 
 and would deliver the land from Sabbath 
 desecration in high places. 
 
 When his prayer was ended, a tremulous, 
 stammering voice was heard in the further 
 room for a moment, and then it stopped. 
 There was a breathless pause. Every one 
 felt for the young beginner. Every one 
 
84 HOW. TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 wanted to help him out. He began again, 
 hesitated, stammered out a few words brok- 
 enly; at last he said, " Lord, thou know- 
 est I can not tell what I want to say; but 
 thou hearest even what I do not say. Have 
 mercy on my poor soul, for Christ's sake. 
 Amen." An audible sob broke out through- 
 out the whole apartment. Then outspoke 
 a gray-headed veteran, in tones like old An- 
 drew Peden's among the Covenanters of the 
 Highlands. The old man went into his 
 prayer like Gideon into the battle with 
 Midian. The sword of faith gleamed in his 
 right hand ; the light shot forth as from the 
 shivered pitchers, and the whole host of 
 doubts, and sins, and fears were scattered 
 like chaff at the breath of the gale. How 
 he took us all on eagles' wings heavenward ! 
 How he enthroned the glorified Lamb ! 
 And the close of his rapturous outbreak 
 was in a " sevenfold chorus of hallelujahs, 
 aud harping symphonies." 
 
 When the old man's prayer was ended (it 
 was the seventh prayer offered during that 
 
A MODEL PRAYER-MEETING. 8$ 
 
 one busy, blessed hour), the time had ar- 
 rived for closing the service. The leader 
 touched his bell, and read the doxology. 
 We were all in the very frame for that most 
 celestial of strains — glorious Old Hundred 
 — that magnificent battle-hymn to which 
 Luther marched against principalities and 
 powers, and spiritual wickedness in high 
 places. Immortal is that strain, like him 
 who gave it birth. There is not a Chris- 
 tian's tomb in all our land where repose not 
 the silent lips that once sang that matchless 
 tune. If any of earth's music shall be 
 heard amid the "new songs" of Paradise* 
 be assured that the one surviving piece that 
 shall outlive the judgment will be that 
 " king of sacred airs," Old Hundred. With 
 this ancient song upon our lips, we closed 
 our service, spent a few moments in hand- 
 shakings, in introducing strangers, in cordial 
 heart-greetings ; and so ended a model 
 prayer meeting. 
 
 The spirit that pervaded the meeting was 
 too intensely earnest for phraseology as sap- 
 
86 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 less and dry as last year's corn husks, and 
 at the same time too reverential for affecta- 
 tions and flippancy. We lingered about the 
 hallowed spot, loth to go away. But for 
 the rigid rule that restricted the service to a 
 single hour, we might have tarried until 
 midnight, praying and singing praises to 
 God. And as we turned reluctantly home- 
 ward, more than one gratefully said, " Truly 
 the LORD was in this place." Why may 
 not every church of Christ have one or more 
 just such model prayer meetings f 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 REVIVALS. 
 
 Y the word " revival " we commonly 
 describe such a condition of a 
 church that Christians are more 
 than ordinarily active and spiritually- 
 minded, and as a result, the conversions of 
 the impenitent are more than ordinarily 
 numerous. Whatever the other character- 
 istics may be, two phenomena are essential 
 to a genuine revival — the Holy Spirit quick- 
 ens believers and the Holy Spirit regener- 
 ates sinners. The power of the work of 
 grace may be estimated by the degree with 
 which the divine Spirit produces these 
 blessed results. Never forget, my young 
 brother, that the foremost factor, the indis- 
 pensable agent is that same Spirit which 
 
88 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 was poured out with such marvelous results 
 on the day of Pentecost. 
 
 After a long- pastoral experience and fre- 
 quent labors in revivals I confess that there 
 is much that is utterly mysterious in regard 
 to them. Our God is a sovereign. He often 
 seems to withhold His converting power at 
 the very time when according to our calcu- 
 lations, we ought to expect it. I have had 
 many disappointments of this kind. On the 
 other hand several copious showers of 
 heavenly blessings have descended when we 
 were not expecting them. The first revival 
 that ever visited my ministry (in my little 
 church at Burlington, New Jersey) — began 
 at a time of deep discouragement ; it began 
 too in a single act of one godly woman. 
 The most remarkable work of grace that I 
 have ever enjoyed was in the Lafayette 
 Avenue Church, Brooklyn (in 1866); and 
 that commenced during the " week of 
 prayer." There were no extraordinary 
 efforts made, no peculiar expectations of a 
 revival were discernible, no outside help 
 
REVIVALS. 89 
 
 was called for, from the beginning to the 
 end. In both cases the showers burst upon 
 us suddenly. 
 
 It has not been my custom to send for 
 Evangelists to do the work which the Mas- 
 ter has committed to me. Eighteen years 
 ago, I invited my beloved friend Mr. 
 Dwight L. Moody to come and conduct a 
 series of special services in one of our Mis- 
 sion-chapels. He prepared there the first 
 "Bible-Readings" which he ever delivered; 
 and after a few days of patient effort, a fire 
 was kindled which spread through the parent 
 congregation, and over one hundred souls 
 were hopefully converted. In 1887 my 
 church united with several neighboring 
 churches in inviting that very earnest and 
 discreet evangelist, the Rev. B. Fay Mills, 
 to conduct public meetings during about 
 three weeks, and his faithful preaching pro- 
 duced some happy results. There is often 
 a prodigious temptation to pastors and 
 churches to shirk their own responsibility, 
 and to send off after somebody to come and 
 
90 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 do their work for them. The minister 
 thinks that " perhaps a new voice may wake 
 up the sleepers," or his officers may suggest 
 that some " novelty will draw the people 
 out" and accordingly an invitation is sent 
 
 to Mr. A , the evangelist, or Mr. B , 
 
 the Bible-reader, or the Rev. Mr. C — : — , the 
 " revivalist," to come and inaugurate some 
 special services. Far be it from me to 
 speak disparagingly of some faithful, godly- 
 minded itinerants who go about preaching 
 the pure gospel, or holding " Bible-readings," 
 or conducting various meetings for arousing 
 sinners or edifying believers. I sometimes 
 wish that they would carry their torches 
 oftener into the darkness of neglected re- 
 gions and not spend so much time in setting 
 their extra lamps in pulpits, and prayer- 
 rooms that are already well lighted. One 
 of the dangers of importing outside laborers 
 is that it tends to belittle and disparage the 
 installed shepherds of the flock. An idea is 
 becoming quite current that the pastor may 
 plod on in his routine of expounding God's 
 
REVIVALS. 91 
 
 Word, visiting his flock, comforting the sick 
 and sorrowing, and burying the dead ; but if 
 souls are to be converted, then somebody 
 must be sent for whose profession it is to 
 convert people. He is sent for as a farmer 
 whose wheat is ripe goes after the owner of 
 a patent " Reaper " to bring his machine 
 that will cut and bind the grain with the 
 utmost dispatch. Surely, if nobody else can 
 bring a new gospel or a new Redeemer, or 
 another Holy Spirit than the One that is 
 promised to the prayer of faith, w r hy should 
 a faithful and zealous pastor look anywhere 
 else than Heaven-ward? Sometimes it may 
 be wise to employ itinerant heralds of the 
 gospel ; but commonly a minister had bet- 
 ter sow his own seed and reap his own har- 
 vests. 
 
 We must bear in mind that God always 
 means to be God. He bestows spiritual 
 blessings when He pleases, how He pleases 
 and where He pleases. We may labor, we 
 may pray, we may " plant," but we must not 
 dictate. Sometimes a godly pastor — greatly 
 
92 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 troubled by the low state of religion in his 
 church — sets in motion some special machin- 
 ery to produce a revival. It comes to 
 nothing. The wheels whirl for awhile, but 
 there is " no living Spirit within the 
 wheels." Never, in my whole life, have I 
 arranged any peculiar measures to produce 
 a revival, — which have been successful. 
 The shower of blessings has descended upon 
 us when I have been preaching God's Word 
 in my usual way and when the church has 
 been in what may be called an " average 
 condition."- Whatever the experience of 
 other pastors has been, this has been my 
 experience. 
 
 (i.) In the first place, then, I would ad- 
 vise you, my brother, not to talk too much 
 about a " revival." You will wear out the 
 very word. Lay hold of your heaven- 
 appointed work of preaching the whole gos- 
 pel and soak it in prayer; keep at it, and do 
 your utmost to keep your people at work ; 
 and then commit results to God. Do not 
 
REVIVALS. 93 
 
 worry ; do not become disheartened ; do not 
 scold your people ; do not undertake any- 
 thing but the fearless, faithful and loving 
 discharge of duty to your Master and to 
 dying souls. Constantly present the great 
 vital truths of the inspired Book — such as 
 human depravity, the remedy for sin, the 
 atonement of Jesus Christ, justification by 
 faith, the character and claims of Jesus, 
 the Bible rules of clean living, the final 
 judgment, and future retributions. Waste 
 no time in defending your Bible ; preach it 
 and let it defend itself ! Preach sound doc- 
 trine fervently, and with lively, helpful illus- 
 trations. A revival that is not founded on 
 Bible truth is a blaze of pine shavings, and 
 will end in smoke. You should mingle 
 your instructive discourses with frequent 
 arguments and tender appeals to the uncon- 
 verted. Say as little as you can about 
 "revivals" — and keep your own eyes and 
 those of your people upon " no man but 
 JESCS ONLY!" Deal with sin fearlessly; 
 press home upon the consciences of your 
 
94 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 hearers the tremendous claims of God, the 
 necessity of immediate repentance and ac- 
 ceptance of the Saviour. Keep your people 
 at personal work for the welfare of others 
 and for the salvation of souls. 
 
 (2.) Watch, with open eye and ear, for 
 the first tokens of an especial manifestation 
 of the Spirit's presence; be on the lookout, 
 and the moment that you detect such a 
 manifestation, follow it up promptly. One 
 afternoon, when I was out making calls, I 
 discovered that in two or three families 
 there were anxious seekers after salvation. 
 I immediately called together the officers 
 of my church, stated to them my discover- 
 ies, and we instituted a series of meetings 
 for almost every evening, and followed them 
 with conversations with inquirers. A large 
 ingathering of souls rewarded our efforts and 
 prayers. Without any noise, or violent ex- 
 citement, or "sensational" devices, the 
 good work went steadily on for months, 
 and there was no reaction after it. People 
 
REVIVALS. 95 
 
 did not flock together to hear a noted 
 preacher; they came to hear preaching of 
 the Word (which is a mightily different 
 thing). All the time, too, there was abun- 
 dant and fervent prayer by God's people. 
 When revivals die down, they die from the 
 want of humble, persistent supplication, and 
 the lack of persistent laboring and living for 
 the Lord. The church gets satisfied with 
 the harvest, and the harvesting stops. 
 When we cease to co-operate with the Holy 
 Spirit, then the grieved and neglected Spirit 
 withholds His converting power. 
 
 (3.) While it is true that we finite crea- 
 tures cannot predict the times or seasons of 
 the Spirit's especial presence, yet it is 
 always right, to be praying for an outpour- 
 ing of the power from on high. The late 
 Dr. Thos. H. Skinner (a remarkably humble 
 and holy man) told me that two or three 
 of his elders, in Philadelphia, met in his 
 study to prostrate themselves before God, 
 and to ask for a baptism of the Spirit. 
 
9D HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 They emptied themselves and prayed to be 
 filled with Christ. He did fill them. Then 
 they interceded most fervently for the 
 awakening and conversion of sinners. Pres- 
 ently a most powerful revival shook the 
 whole church like the mighty blast which 
 filled the upper-room at Pentecost. Mr. 
 Finney tells us that for fourteen successive 
 winters there was a rich spiritual blessing 
 brought down upon a certain church just 
 because it was the custom of the church- 
 officers to " pray fervently for their minister 
 far into the night before each Sabbath." 
 Those wise, godly men honored Christ's 
 ambassador, honored His gospel, honored 
 their own duty and felt their own responsi- 
 bility. They did not run off to Egypt for 
 help. The prayer-hearing God honored 
 them. 
 
 (4.) When the influences of the Spirit are 
 recognized in your congregation in any un- 
 wonted degree, you must be on the alert, 
 and be prompt and untiring in your co-oper- 
 
REVIVALS. 97 
 
 ation with the Divine Agent. The secret 
 of success in a revival is to co-operate with 
 the Holy Spirit. Therefore you will be 
 praying most fervently for His guidance. 
 Appoint as many services of prayer as can 
 be profitably attended. During the remark- 
 able revival in my church (in 1866), the 
 following programme of services was carried 
 out. It may give you some hints if I repro- 
 duce it here : — 
 
 On Monday evenings our young people 
 held their regular weekly gathering, which 
 was very crowded, and was followed by a 
 service for inquirers. On Tuesday evening, 
 Thursday evening and Friday evening, there 
 was a general prayer-service, followed by 
 inquiry meetings. On Wednesday evening 
 I usually preached as clearly and pungently 
 as I possibly could — sometimes to back- 
 sliders, sometimes to the impenitent, and 
 sometimes to awakened sinners who were 
 seeking salvation. This service, like all the 
 others, was followed by a cordial invitation 
 to all inquirers to go into a large adjoining 
 7 
 
98 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 room for personal conversation and prayer. 
 I found a vast benefit from this plan. It 
 revealed to me just who were awakened, and 
 the very act of going into that room as in- 
 quirers had a certain strengthening and 
 compacting influence upon those who were 
 awakened. It was a step, and a step in the 
 right direction. If pride and self-conceit 
 were somewhat humbled by this step, all 
 the better. In addition to these evening 
 services there was an afternoon meeting of 
 young lads (for an hour) and another after- 
 noon meeting of young ladies. Both these 
 services were in charge of experienced Chris- 
 tians, and were devoted to prayer, praise 
 and free conversation. 
 
 (5.) The inquiry meetings during a season 
 of revival are so vitally and critically impor- 
 tant, that no rash, inexperienced or fanatical 
 person ought to be admitted to converse 
 with inquirers. By the fanatical I mean all 
 such people as are (in Scotch phrase) " clean 
 daft " with some spiritual hobby of their 
 
REVIVALS. 99 
 
 own. I always conducted the inquiry meet- 
 ings myself, and called to my aid certain 
 men and women who possessed both grace 
 and good sense. (The two are not always 
 found in combination.) In the solemn 
 w r ork of the inquiry-room no small artifices 
 were allowed. I aimed to discover just 
 what hindrance was in the path of each in- 
 quirer. It is a great point for a sinner to 
 discover what it is that keeps him from sur- 
 rendering to Christ. If it be some habit or 
 some evil practice, then he must give it up. 
 If some heart-sin, then he must yield — even 
 if it be like plucking out a right eye, or lop- 
 ping off a right hand. Commonly the chief 
 hindrance lies in a wicked, stubborn heart. 
 It was my aim, and ever has been, to con- 
 vince the awakened person that, unless he 
 or she was willing to give that heart to 
 Jesus, and to " do the will " of Jesus, there 
 was no hope for them. We must shut the 
 soul up to Christ ! 
 
 Of course the Word of God is as indis- 
 pensable in an inquiry meeting as a compass 
 
IOO HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 on board of a ship. It is well to have cer- 
 tain passages so familiar to the mind that 
 you can turn to them instantly, and read 
 them to the one who is seeking for light. 
 The healing of blind Bartimeus, and the 
 conversation of Christ with Nicodemus, I 
 have always found helpful in guiding in- 
 quirers. When you use the inspired direc- 
 tions of God's Word you are sure that you 
 are right, and you may always confidently 
 ask for a blessing on God's own instrument. 
 You ought to converse with each person in- 
 dividually. If time forbids as full discus- 
 sion as the case demands, then appoint some 
 hour for further conversation at the person's 
 house or your own study. During a sea- 
 son of awakening, you must not allow any- 
 thing to call you away from your parish — 
 especially any " lecturing " or money-making 
 expedition — ; and you will probably find it 
 necessary to devote half of every day to 
 thorough visitations and conversations from 
 house to house. Do not begrudge the time 
 required to guide a perplexed or halting 
 
REVIVALS. IOI 
 
 soul into the Kingdom. Hand-picked ap- 
 ples keep the longest. Individual labor 
 with each individual soul is indispensable. 
 The book of the "Acts" of the Apostles is 
 such a record. Those early Christians un- 
 derstood their personal responsibility and 
 the power of personal effort. Peter goes 
 right after Cornelius ; Philip talks directly 
 to Queen Candace's royal treasurer; Paul 
 answers the Phillippian jailor's questions 
 face to face, and Aquila and Priscilla have a 
 great Bible-class in the person of the elo- 
 quent Apollos. If the Son of God would 
 devote so much time to the Jewish ruler 
 who came to Him by night, and to a poor 
 soul-smirched woman at the well of Sychar, 
 surely we ought to spare no time or toil in 
 leading an immortal soul out of darkness 
 into the daylight. 
 
 (6.) " Had I better ask those who are 
 seeking Christ to rise in a public meeting? " 
 To this question I would reply that the 
 method of inviting anxious inquirers to rise 
 
102 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 for special prayer has been adopted by 
 many very wise pastors ; it has been blessed 
 with many glorious results. During the 
 first half of my ministry I requested in- 
 quirers to remain after the service for con- 
 versation, or to go into a room by them- 
 selves. During later years I have often re- 
 quested those who wished to be prayed for 
 to manifest that desire by rising. So many 
 happy results have followed this measure 
 that, on the whole, I approve of it. But 
 great discretion must be used, or else a 
 very solemn step will be perverted into a 
 flippant and careless formality. Be very 
 careful to set before your auditors just what 
 is involved in "rising for prayer," and make 
 your invitation not only affectionate but so 
 clear that even the weakest may understand 
 it. Let the prayer that is offered be direct, 
 simple and importunate. When the service 
 is over those who have taken the public 
 step of rising up should be conversed with 
 in private. After an inquirer has made a 
 firm decision for Christ, I have always en- 
 
REVIVALS. 103 
 
 couraged them to make it known to others. 
 A few touching words from a new-born soul 
 will often thrill a meeting like the sight of 
 a Lazarus lifted from the tomb. It quick- 
 ens the faith of God's people wonderfully to 
 hear the " new song " from a soul that has 
 been dead in trespasses and sin. Unless 
 young converts begin to testify for Christ at 
 once, they are apt to be tongue-tied all their 
 lives. 
 
 (7.) The preaching during a revival should 
 be steeped in Holy Scripture and saturated 
 with prayer. You cannot be too simple, 
 too earnest, too close in your applica- 
 tions, or too clear in your illustrations. 
 President Finney — a king of revival-preach- 
 ers — used to subsoil his auditors' hearts by a 
 prodigiously powerful presentation of every 
 sinner's personal guilt before God. He put 
 his plough in deep — "up to the beam" — 
 and it made ripping work in the conscience. 
 His chief aim was to make every uncon- 
 verted hearer realize that he was a sinner 
 
104 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 against infinite holiness and love ; that sin 
 was exceedingly damnable ; that it should 
 be repented of and abandoned straightway ; 
 and that the sinner should turn immediately 
 to God who would grant abundant par- 
 don through Jesus Christ, the all-sufficient 
 Saviour of every man who trusts in Him. 
 Pungent convictions followed such preach- 
 ing; the conversions were usually as clean- 
 cut as the stamp of the die on a gold eagle 
 from the mint. We need more of such 
 thorough work in the pulpits of these days. 
 The key-note of John the Baptist's preach- 
 ing, of Jesus Christ's first preaching, and of 
 apostolic preaching was " repent, — repent ! " 
 You must bear in mind that " repentance 
 unto life is a saving grace whereby a sin- 
 ner, out c&a true sense of his sin and appre- 
 hension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth 
 with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it 
 unto God with full purpose of and endeavor 
 after new obedience." Can any step be 
 more vital, or any duty be more peremptory 
 than this ? Do not be afraid of preaching 
 
REVIVALS. 105 
 
 with too much of the plainness of love ; do 
 not hesitate to make every soul that is in 
 the wrong place feel uncomfortable. The 
 more deeply a man feels his guilt, his weak- 
 ness, and his desert of punishment, the 
 sooner will he flee to the crucified Lamb of 
 God. That revival will leave the most en- 
 during results which sends every awakened 
 soul to " Jesus only," — and which draws the 
 church into the closest daily imitation of its 
 holy and loving LORD. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 DRAWING THE BOW AT A VENTURE. 
 
 MONG the many delightful prayer- 
 meetings held during a revival in 
 
 the town of B , there was one 
 
 which I never can forget, and which some 
 souls, I trust, will remember in that hour 
 when the redeemed shall be summoned in 
 to the marriage supper of the Lamb. It 
 was held in a private dwelling, and the 
 rooms were thronged. The house was as 
 silent as the grave, when I entered, and 
 many were sitting with their heads bowed 
 and their faces covered. An awful so- 
 lemnity hung over the little assembly, for 
 the Spirit of the Lord " was in that place." 
 An hour was spent in singing two or three 
 inviting hymns, and while two aged men 
 
DRAWING THE BOW AT A VENTURE. 10J 
 
 (both far up the Delectable Mountains), 
 poured forth fervent prayers, which were 
 interrupted by frequent sobs and ejacula- 
 tions. When the benediction was pro- 
 nounced, a request was made that all who 
 desired private conversation on the state of 
 their souls would remain. The whole as- 
 sembly settled back again, as one man, into 
 their seats ! The scene was overwhelming. 
 Some of those before me were professed 
 Christians, some had been openly profane, 
 many of them were strangers. It was evi- 
 dent that a word must be spoken to all, and 
 the bow be " drawn at a venture." 
 
 Near me sat a young female dressed in 
 black, whose face betokened a deep so- 
 lemnity. I had never seen her before, and 
 supposed her to be a member of a neigh- 
 boring church, who had come in to unite 
 her prayers with our own. Approaching 
 her respectfully, I ventured to ask her if 
 " she had any hope that she was a child of 
 God ? " Her head dropped in a moment ; 
 she burst into tears, and in her deep emo- 
 
108 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 tion her answer to me was not intelligible. 
 With a kind word of exhortation I left her, 
 and after a little inquiry I learned that she 
 had been for a long time utterly thought- 
 less, and a perpetual neglecter of the house 
 of God. At our next meeting I saw the 
 same face again, but sadder than before. 
 At the end of a fortnight (one of inde- 
 scribable anguish to her struggling soul), 
 the cloud left her brow, and the serenity of 
 a peace that passeth understanding sat like 
 a dove upon her happy countenance. She 
 is now an humble and consistent member of 
 the fold of Christ. 
 
 Farther on was a timid and retiring 
 young member of my congregation, with 
 whom I had never had an opportunity for 
 conversation. As she sat with her face cov- 
 ered, I addressed a few pointed inquiries to 
 her and turned away. The next day a 
 member of my church called upon me to 
 say that the person whom I had addressed 
 as impenitent and thoughtless, was a church- 
 member before I came to B , but her 
 
DRA WING THE BOW AT A VENTURE. 109 
 
 name had either been omitted from the 
 record, or confounded with that of two 
 others in the congregation bearing the same 
 name. I sent the necessary explanation to 
 her, and thought no more about it. When 
 nearly a month had elapsed, the same per- 
 son who had before waited on me, stopped 
 me one evening at the church-door and said, 
 
 " I wish you would call on M T , 
 
 and endeavor to calm her. She is in a state 
 of utter despair. Those remarks that you 
 made to her in the inquiry-meeting by mis- 
 take have troubled her ever since. She 
 fears now that she never was a true Chris- 
 tian, and after a long struggle with her 
 pride, she can no longer conceal her an- 
 guish. I fear, sir, that she will lose her 
 reason." I called at once, as requested, and 
 found the unhappy young woman the pict- 
 ure of despair. It was a long time before 
 her weeping eyes could be turned toward 
 Calvary, or she could be persuaded that 
 there was mercy left for one who had so 
 long done despite to the Spirit of divine 
 
IIO HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 grace. But the wound which the stray 
 arrow — guided by infinite wisdom — had 
 made, was at length healed. The Mas- 
 ter's gentle voice whispered "Peace." She 
 went on her way rejoicing, and though her 
 eye may never rest on this humble volume, 
 she can hardly forget to her dying day that 
 interview in the inquiry-meeting. 
 
 During -the progress of the revival, it was 
 pleasant to hear from one how he had been 
 awakened by a tract handed to him, " at a 
 venture " — how another had been aroused 
 by some particular passage in a discourse — 
 and how some had been reached by truths 
 that were aimed at others than themselves. 
 
 " Dr. C preached entirely at me last 
 
 evening," said a young man to me one 
 Monday morning " He reached my own 
 case exactly, and I never heard such a ser- 
 mon before." It is certain that he never 
 heard before with such a spirit as then ; 
 and for that discourse he will doubtless bless 
 Redeeming Love when the ransomed host 
 shall shout their Harvest Home I 
 
DRA WING THE BOW AT A VENTURE. 1 1 I 
 
 Fainting and desponding minister of 
 Christ ! who shall dare to tell you, when 
 you have come back from preaching the 
 cross boldly and earnestly, that many an 
 arrow may not have pierced the waiting 
 souls around you ? You may not have 
 seen its flight. You may have heard no 
 outcry of the wounded soul. You may 
 have seen no tears, and heard no groans. 
 You may never hear of them in this world. 
 But in the great day of retribution you 
 shall stand as God's appointed archer, with 
 the trophies of redeeming grace about you, 
 — and stars shall blaze in the coronet of 
 your rejoicing, which are now unseen save 
 by Him who seeth in secret and rewardeth 
 openly. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 WHERE TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 SjHOULD a young minister,, take a 
 large church or a small one for 
 his first pastorate?" Some 
 cynical persons might respond to this 
 question that a man fresh from the theologi- 
 cal seminary, who has had no experience, 
 had better "take" whatever he can get. 
 For it is true that some men who have risen 
 to great eminence have not found it easy 
 to secure a very favorable hearing at the 
 start, Another person might respond that a 
 young man whose ambition led him to 
 " seek great things for himself " would very 
 likely be forced to content himself with 
 small things. Certainly the surest way for 
 any man to secure a wide field is for him to 
 
WHERE TO BE A PASTOR. 113 
 
 fill full and overflow a narrow field. All that 
 any licentiate of real force and consecrated 
 heart should reasonably ask is to find some 
 pulpit, high or humble, in which to begin 
 his heaven-directed work. When God calls 
 a man to the gospel-ministry, he is very apt 
 to get calls from his fellow-men to preach 
 that gospel. The demand exceeds the sup- 
 ply. 
 
 Supposing that a young man of abilities 
 and fervent piety were permitted to choose 
 between two calls, the one to a. large church 
 and the other to a small one, which of the 
 two should he prefer for his first pastorate ? 
 I answer unhesitatingly, the small church. 
 In Scotland the rule has been to locate 
 the "apprentices" in a rural parish, and 
 then let them work their way up into the 
 large towns. A wise custom it is too. 
 Thus the great Chalmers began in the little 
 parish of Kilmany : Dr. Norman McLeod's 
 first settlement was among the farmers and 
 weavers of Loudon ; the eloquent Guthrie had 
 hard work to get the humble parish of 
 
114 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 Arbirot, and the sainted McCheyne com- 
 menced his wonderful ministry at Dundee as 
 the pastor of a new colony of artisans and 
 day-laborers. There are several strong rea- 
 sons why a small church is to be preferred 
 at the outset. And I shall always thank 
 God that my own lot was cast during my 
 early ministry, in a little parish of about one 
 hundred souls, a considerable portion of 
 whom were shoemakers, gardeners, and 
 coachmen. A distinguished lawyer who at- 
 tended my church during the summer 
 months, used to say to me, " I want you to 
 preach the gospel so simply and plainly that 
 my coachman and gardener can understand 
 you as well as I do." That sensible advice 
 did me, as our Southern friends say" a heap 
 of good." 
 
 (i.) The first argument for a small parish 
 is that it gives a young minister a better op- 
 portunity to study individuals. He has fewer 
 persons to count, and he counts every man 
 and every woman ; yes, and if he is wise, 
 
WHERE TO BE A PASTOR. 1 1 5 
 
 every child. The most profitable study for 
 every minister, next to his Bible, is human 
 character. The misfortune with many of 
 our young ministers in these days is that 
 they know more about books than about 
 human nature. When there are but few 
 individuals in his flock, the pastor gets a 
 deeper insight into each one ; and he also 
 learns more thoroughly that mighty lesson, 
 the infinite value of one immortal soul. A 
 crowd is an inspiring object for me to preach 
 to ; an individual soul brought into close 
 and living contact is an inspiring personage to 
 preach to me. In a big city we deal with the 
 masses; in a quiet rural or village parish a 
 pastor deals with each man, woman or child. 
 That minister rarely gains a great hold or 
 exerts a great power over a congregation, 
 who has no personal hold on the various 
 persons who compose that congregation. 
 
 (2.) A second argument for a small parish 
 is that it gives the young beginner more 
 time for uninterupted study and more time 
 
1 1 6 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 to think. Almost no great immortal work 
 has been produced amid the pressure of 
 a large pastorate. Jonathan Edwards 
 could not have written the " Freedom of the 
 Will," John Bunyan could not have written 
 the " Pilgrim's Progress," and Charles 
 Hodge could not have prepared his massive 
 Theology, if they had been the pastors of 
 big city churches, with their door-bells 
 playing a perpetual St. Vitus's dance. 
 Many a city pastor has maintained himself 
 mainly on the good stock laid in during his 
 early settlement in some quiet neighborhood. 
 A young minister must learn the use of his 
 tools. He must learn how to think, and 
 how to put his thoughts into the most effect- 
 ive shape. If he ever expects to be a vig- 
 orous, meaty, instructive and enduring ex- 
 tempore preacher, he must first spend sev- 
 eral years in carefully writing out his dis- 
 courses. A small church will afford him the 
 best opportunity to lay good, broad, solid 
 foundations by deep meditation, deep study 
 of the Word and of fertilizing books, and 
 
WHERE TO BE A PASTOR. \\J 
 
 deep study of human nature. Nearly all 
 the greatest American ministers have com- 
 menced their careers in small, or in secluded 
 parishes. Dr. Archibald Alexander once 
 said to us in his Princeton lecture room, 
 "Young gentlemen, do not be ambitious to 
 begin in the city ; I never knew but one 
 man who did this and held out through a 
 long life without breaking down." 
 
 The strain upon pastors grows heavier 
 every year. The multiplication of societies, 
 enterprises, and " causes," (some of them 
 without much effect) ; the tendency to over- 
 load churches with what does not belong to 
 them, the encroachments and the competi- 
 tions of the busy world about us, make the 
 life of an earnest spiritual pastor no holiday 
 business. Young brethren, if you know 
 when you are well off, do not itch for a call 
 to a large town ; and do not lose one golden 
 hour that you may now be spending in some 
 modest little corner of the Master's vast 
 vineyard. If you have bread to put into 
 your mouths, and nutritious books to study, 
 
1 18 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 and immortal souls to win for Christ, be 
 thankful and buckle to your work. Time 
 enough to shoulder up the bullock when 
 you have learned to carry the calf. Bend 
 your whole undivided strength upon your 
 first charge, even if it does not contain over 
 one hundred precious souls; and remember 
 that a single soul for whom Jesus died, is a 
 tremendous trust. Those who are over- 
 loaded too early in life break down the 
 soonest. Therefore if both a large church 
 and a small one were offered at the same 
 time to any young minister, it would be the 
 highest proof of his sagacity for him to ac- 
 cept the latter. He would be far more 
 likely to hold a position of commanding in- 
 fluence and usefulness fifteen or twenty 
 years afterward. 
 
 There are many other practical questions 
 that I should like to discuss— such as the 
 relations of a pastor to the Sunday-school, 
 — the methods of receiving members into 
 the church, and of dealing; with those who 
 
WHERE TO BE A PASTOR. 119 
 
 may require ecclesiastical discipline — the 
 performance of marriage-rites and the ad- 
 ministration of the sacraments. But the 
 limits which I had prescribed for myself for- 
 bid my consideration of these and several 
 other kindred topics. My chief aim has 
 been to set forth the great principles and 
 purposes which should animate and inspire 
 the sacred office of a Christian Pastor. 
 How far I have been enabled (with the 
 divine assistance) to realize my own ideal of 
 pastoral labor, will appear in the following 
 discourse— which I would modestly present 
 as the closing chapter of this little volume. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE JOYS OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 
 
 A Valedictory Discourse delivered to the Lafayette 
 Avenue Church, April 6th, 1890. 
 
 INVITE your attention this morn- 
 ing to the nineteenth and twenti- 
 eth verses of the second chapter of 
 Paul's Epistle to the Thessalonians: 
 
 " For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoic- 
 ing ? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ at His coming ? For ye are our glory 
 and joy." 
 
 These words were written by the most re- 
 markable man in the annals of the Christian 
 Church. Great interest is attached to them 
 from the fact that they are part of the first 
 inspired epistle that Paul ever wrote. Nay, 
 
JOYS OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 121 
 
 more. The letter to the Church of Thessa- 
 lonica is probably the earliest as to date of 
 all the books of the New Testament. Paul 
 was then at Corinth, about fifty-two years 
 old, in the full vigor of his splendid prime. 
 His spiritual son, Timothy, brings him tid- 
 ings from the infant church in Thessalonica, 
 that awakens his solicitude. He yearns to 
 go and see them, but he cannot ; so he de- 
 termines to write to them ; and one day he 
 lays aside his tent needle, seizes his pen, 
 and, when that pen touches the papyrus 
 sheet the New Testament begins. The 
 Apostle's great, warm heart kindles and 
 blazes as he goes on, and at length bursts 
 out in this impassioned utterance : " Ye are 
 my glory and joy ! " 
 
 Paul, I thank thee for a thousand things, 
 but for nothing do I thank thee more than 
 for that golden sentence. In these thrilling 
 words, the greatest of Christian pastors, ris- 
 ing above the poverty, homelessness, and 
 scorn that surrounded him, reaches forth his 
 hand and grasps his royal diadem. No 
 
122 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 man shall rob the aged hero of his crown. 
 No chaplet worn by a Roman conqueror in 
 the hour of his brightest triumph, rivals the 
 coronal that Pastor Paul sees flashing before 
 his eyes. It is a crown blazing with stars ; 
 every star an immortal soul plucked from 
 the darkness of sin into the light and liberty 
 of a child of God. Poor, is he? He is 
 making many rich. Despised is he ? He 
 wouldn't change places with Caesar. Home- 
 less is he? His citizenship is in heaven, 
 where he will find myriads whom he can 
 meet and say to them: "Ye, ye are my 
 glory and joy." Sixteen centuries after 
 Paul uttered these words, John Bunyan re- 
 echoed them when he said : 
 
 " I have counted as if I had goodly buildings in the 
 places where my spiritual children were born. My 
 heart has been so wrapt up in this excellent work that 
 I accounted myself more honored of God than if He 
 had made me emperor of all the world, or the lord of 
 all the glory of the earth without it. He that con- 
 verteth a sinner from the error of his ways doth save 
 a soul from death ; and they that be wise shall shine 
 as the brightness of the firmament." 
 
JOYS OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 1 23 
 
 Now, the great Apostle expressed what 
 every ambassador of Christ constantly ex- 
 periences when in the thick of the Master's 
 work. His are the joys of acquisition. His 
 purse may be scanty, his teaching may be 
 humble, and the field of his labor may be 
 so obscure that no bulletins of his achieve- 
 ments are ever proclaimed to an admiring 
 world. Difficulties may sadden and dis- 
 couragement bring him to his knees ; but I 
 tell you that obscure, toiling man of God 
 has a joy vouchsafed to him that a Fred- 
 erick or a Marlborough never knew on the 
 field of bloody triumph, or that a Roths- 
 child never dreams of in his mansions of 
 splendor, nor an Astor with his stores of 
 gold. Every nugget of fresh truth discov- 
 ered makes him happier than one who has 
 found golden spoil. Every attentive audi- 
 tor is a delight ; every look of interest on a 
 human countenance flashes back to illumi- 
 nate his own. Above all, when the tears of 
 penitence course down a cheek and a re- 
 turning soul is led by him to the Saviour, 
 
124 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 there is great joy in heaven over a repentant 
 wanderer, and a joy in that minister's heart 
 too exquisite to utter. Then he is repaid 
 in full measure, pressed down, running over 
 into his bosom. 
 
 Converted souls' are jewels in the caskets 
 of faithful parents, teachers and pastors. 
 They shall flash in the diadem which the 
 Righteous Judge shall give them in that 
 great day. Ah ! it is when an ambassador" 
 of Christ sees an army of young converts 
 and listens to the first utterances of their 
 new-born love, and when he presides at a 
 communion table and sees his spiritual off- 
 spring gathered around him, more true joy 
 that faithful pastor feels than " Caesar with 
 a Senate at his heels." Rutherford, of 
 Scotland, only voiced the yearnings of every 
 true pastor's heart when he exclaimed : 
 " Oh, how rich were I if I could obtain of 
 my Lord the salvation of you all ! What a 
 prey had I gotten to have you all caught in 
 Christ's net. My witness is above, that 
 your heaven would be the two heavens to 
 
JOYS OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 1 25 
 
 me, and the salvation of you all would be 
 two salvations to me." 
 
 Yet, my beloved people, when I recall 
 the joy of my forty-four years of public 
 ministry I often shudder at the fact of how 
 near I came to losing it. For very many 
 months my rnjiid was balancing between 
 the pulpit and the attractions of a legal and 
 political career. A single hour in a village 
 prayer-meeting turned the scale. But per- 
 haps behind it all a beloved mother's prayers 
 were moving the mysterious hand that 
 touched the poised balance, and made souls 
 outweigh silver, and eternity outweigh time. 
 
 Would that I could lift up my voice this 
 morning in every academy, college and uni- 
 versity on this broad continent. I would 
 say to every gifted Christian youth, "God 
 and humanity have need of you." He who 
 redeemed you by His precious blood has a 
 sovereign right to the best brains and the 
 most persuasive tongues and the highest 
 culture. Why crowd into the already over- 
 crowded professions? The only occupation 
 
126 HO W TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 in America that is not overdone is the occu- 
 pation of serving Jesus Christ and saving 
 souls. I do not affirm that a Christian can- 
 not serve his Master in any other sphere or 
 calling than the Gospel ministry ; but I do 
 affirm that the ambition for worldly gains 
 and worldly honors is sluicing the very heart 
 of God's Church, and drawing out to-day 
 much of the Church's best blood in their 
 greedy outlets. And I fearlessly declare 
 that when the most splendid talent has 
 reached the loftiest round on the ladder of 
 promotion, that round is many rungs lower 
 than a pulpit in which a consecrated tongue 
 proclaims a living Christianity to a dying 
 world. What Lord Eldon from the bar, 
 what Webster from the Senate-chamber, 
 what Sir Walter Scott from the realms of 
 romance, what Darwin from the field of 
 science, what monarch from Wall street or 
 Lombard street can carry his laurels or his 
 gold up to the judgment seat and say, 
 " These are my joy and crown ? " The lau- 
 rels and the gold will be dust — ashes. But 
 
JOYS OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. \2J 
 
 if so humble a servant of Jesus Christ as 
 your pastor can ever point to the gathered 
 flock arrayed in white before the celestial 
 throne, then he may say, " What is my 
 hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are 
 not even ye in the presence of Christ at His 
 coming?" 
 
 Good friends, I have told you what aspir- 
 ations led me to the pulpit as a place in 
 which to serve my Master ; and I thank 
 Christ, the Lord, for putting me into the 
 ministry. The forty-four years I have spent 
 in that office have been unspeakably happy. 
 Many a far better man has not been as 
 happy from causes beyond control. He 
 may have had to contend with feeble health 
 as I never have ; or a despondent tempera- 
 ment, as I never have ; or have struggled to 
 maintain a large household on a slender 
 purse ; he may have been placed in a stub- 
 born field, where the Gospel was shattered 
 to pieces on flinty hearts. From all such 
 trials a kind Providence has delivered your 
 pastor. 
 
128 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 My ministry began in a very small 
 church. For that I am thankful. Let no 
 young minister covet a large parish at the out- 
 set. The clock that is not content to strike 
 one will never strike twelve. In that little 
 parish at Burlington, N. J., I had opportu- 
 nity for the two most valuable studies for 
 any minister — God's Book and individual 
 hearts. My next call was to organize and 
 serve an infant church in Trenton, N. J., 
 and for that I am thankful. Laying the 
 foundation of a new church affords capital 
 tuition in spiritual masonry, and the walls 
 of that church have stood firm and solid 
 for forty years. The crowning mercy of 
 my Trenton ministry was this, that one 
 Sunday while I was watering the flock, a 
 goodlier vision than that of Rebecca ap- 
 peared at the well's mouth, and the sweet 
 sunshine of that presence has never de- 
 parted from the pathway of my life. To 
 this hour the prosaic old capital of New 
 Jersey has a halo of poetry floating over 
 it, and I never go through it without 
 
JOYS OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 1 29 
 
 waving a benediction from the passing 
 train. 
 
 The next stage of my life's work was a 
 seven year's pastorate of Market-street 
 Church in the City of New York. To those 
 seven years of hard and happy labor I look 
 back with joy. The congregation swarmed 
 with young men, many of whom have risen 
 to prominence in the commercial and relig- 
 ious life of the great metropolis. The name 
 of Market-street is graven indelibly on my 
 heart. I rejoice that the quaint old edifice 
 still stands and welcomes every Sabbath a 
 congregation* of landsmen and of sailors. 
 During the year 1858 occurred the great 
 revival, when a mighty wind from Heaven 
 filled every house where the people of God 
 were sitting, and the glorious work of that 
 revival kept many of us busy for six months, 
 night and day. 
 
 Early in the year i860 a signal was made 
 
 to me from this side of the East River. It 
 
 came from a brave little band then known 
 
 as the Park Presbyterian Church, who had 
 
 9 
 
130 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 never had any installed pastor. The signal 
 at first was unheeded ; but a higher than hu- 
 man hand seemed to be behind it, and I had 
 only to obey. That little flock stood like 
 the man of Macedonia, saying, " Come over 
 and help us," and after I had seen the vision 
 immediately I decided to come, assuredly 
 concluding that God had called me to preach 
 the Gospel unto them. 
 
 This morning my memory goes back to 
 that chilly, stormy April Sunday when my 
 labors began as your first pastor. About 
 two hundred and fifty people, full of grace 
 and grit, gathered on that Easter morning 
 to see how God could roll away stones that 
 for two years had blocked their path with 
 discouragement. My first message many of 
 you remember. It was, " I determined not 
 to know anything among you save Jesus 
 Christ and Him crucified." Of that little 
 company the large majority has departed. 
 Many of them are among the white-robed 
 that now behold their risen Lord in glory. 
 Of the seventeen church officers — elders, 
 
JO YS OF THE CHRIS TIAAT MINIS TR Y. 1 3 1 
 
 deacons and trustees — then in office, who 
 greeted me that day, only four are living, 
 and of that number only one, Mr. Albion P. 
 Higgins, is now a member of this congrega- 
 tion. I wonder how many there are here this 
 morning that gathered before my pulpit on 
 that Easter Sunday thirty years ago? As 
 many of you as there are present that were 
 at that service thirty years ago will do me a 
 favor if you will rise in your pews. 
 
 (Thirteen people here stood up). 
 
 God bless you ! If it hadn't been for 
 you this ark would never have been 
 built. 
 
 Ah ! we had happy days in that modest 
 chapel. The tempest of civil war was rag- 
 ing, with Lincoln's steady hand at the 
 helm. We got our share of the gale ; but 
 we set our storm-sails, and every one that 
 could handle ropes stood at his or her place. 
 Just think of the money contributions that 
 small church made during the first year of 
 my pastorate — $20,000, not in paper, but in 
 gold. The little band in that chapel was 
 
132 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 not only generous in donations but valiant 
 in spirit, and it was under the gracious 
 shower of a revival that we removed into 
 this edifice on the 16th March, 1862. 
 
 The subsequent history of the church was 
 published so fully at the notable anniversary 
 five years ago, that I need only repeat the 
 chief head-lines in a very few sentences. In 
 1863 Mr. William Wickes started a mission 
 school, which afterward grew into the 
 present Cumberland Street Church. In 1866 
 occurred that wonderful work of grace that 
 resulted in the addition of 320 souls to our 
 membership, one hundred of them heads of 
 families. As a thank-offering to God for 
 that rich blessing the Memorial Mission 
 School was established, which was soon 
 organized into the Memorial Presbyterian 
 Church, now on Seventh Avenue, under the 
 excellent pastorate of my Brother Nelson. 
 During the winter of 1867 a conference of 
 gentlemen was held in yonder study which 
 set on foot the present Classon Avenue 
 Church, where my Brother Chamberlain ad- 
 
JOYS OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 1 33 
 
 ministers equally satisfactorily. Olivet Mis- 
 sion was organized in 1874. It will always 
 be fragrant with the memory of Horace B. 
 Grifring, its first superintendent. The Cuy- 
 ler Chapel was opened on Atlantic Avenue 
 in March, 1886, by our Young People's 
 Association, who are maintaining it most 
 vigorously. The little Corwin Mission on 
 Myrtle Avenue Avas established by a mem- 
 ber of the church to perpetuate his name, 
 and is largely sustained by members of this 
 church. 
 
 Of all the efficient, successful labors of 
 the Lafayette Avenue Temperance Society, 
 the Women's Home and Foreign Mission- 
 ary Society, their Benevolent Society, the 
 Cuyler Mission Band, the Daughters of the 
 Temple, and other kindred organizations, 
 I have no time or place to speak this morn- 
 ing. But I must repeat now what I have 
 said in years past, that the two strong arms 
 of this church are its Sunday-school, and its 
 Young People's Association. The former 
 has been kept well up to the ideal of such 
 
134 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 an institution. It is that of a training 
 school of young hearts for this life and for 
 the life to come. God's blessing has de- 
 scended upon it like the morning dew. Of 
 the large number of children that have been 
 enrolled in its classes 730 have been received 
 into membership with this church alone, 
 and to the profession of faith in Christ — to 
 say nothing of those who have joined else- 
 where. Warmly do I thank and heartily do 
 I congratulate our beloved brother, Daniel 
 W. McWilliams, and his faithful group of 
 teachers, and the Superintendent of the 
 primary department and her group of assist- 
 ants, on the seal which God has set upon 
 their loving work. They contemplate the 
 the long array of children whom they have 
 guided to Jesus ; and they, too, can exclaim, 
 "What is our joy or crown of rejoicing? 
 Are not even ye in the Lord ? " 
 
 If the Sunday-school has rendered good 
 service, so has the well-drilled and well- 
 watered Young People's Association. The 
 fires of devotion have never gone out on the 
 
JOYS OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. I 35 
 
 altar of their Monday evening gatherings. 
 For length of days and number of member- 
 ship combined, probably it surpasses all sim- 
 ilar young people's associations in our coun- 
 try. About three thousand names have been 
 on its membership roll, and of this number 
 twelve have set their faces toward the Gos- 
 pel ministry Oh, what a source of joy to 
 me that I leave that association in such a 
 high condition of vigor and prosperity ! No 
 church can languish, no church can die, 
 while it has plenty of young blood in its 
 veins. 
 
 What has been the outcome of these thirty 
 years of happy pastorate ? As far as the 
 results can be tabulated the following is a 
 brief summary: — During my pastorate here 
 I have preached about 2,750 discourses, have 
 delivered a very large number of public ad- 
 dresses in behalf of Sunday-schools, Young 
 Men's Associations, the temperance reform, 
 and kindred enterprises for advancing hu- 
 man welfare. I have officiated at 682 mar- 
 riages. I have baptized 962 children. The 
 
136 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 total number received into the membership of 
 this church during this time has been 4,223. 
 Of this number 1,920 have united by a confes- 
 sion of their faith in Jesus Christ. An army, 
 you see, an army of nearly two thousand 
 souls, have enlisted under the banner of King 
 Jesus, and taken their " sacramentum," or 
 vow of loyalty, before this pulpit. What is 
 our crown of rejoicing? Are not even they 
 in the presence of Christ at His coming? 
 
 It is due to you that I should commend 
 your liberality in gifts to God's treasury. 
 During these thirty years over $640,000 
 have been contributed for ecclesiastical and 
 benevolent purposes, and about $700,000 for 
 the maintenance of the sanctuary, its wor- 
 ship, and its work. Over a million and a 
 quarter of dollars have passed through these 
 two channels. The successive boards of 
 trustees have managed our financial affairs 
 carefully and efficiently. The architecture 
 of this noble edifice is not disfigured by any 
 mortgage. I hope it never will be. 
 
 There is one department of ministerial 
 
JO YS OF THE CHRIS TIA N MINIS TR Y. 1 3 7 
 
 labor that has had a peculiar attraction to 
 me and afforded me peculiar joy. Pastoral 
 work has always been my passion. It has 
 been my rule to know everybody in this 
 congregation, if possible, and seldom have I 
 allowed a day to pass without a visit to 
 some of your homes. I fancied that you 
 cared more to have a warm-hearted pastor 
 than a cold-blooded preacher, however intel- 
 lectual. To carry out thoroughly a system 
 of personal oversight, to visit every family, 
 to stand by the sick and dying beds, to put 
 one's self into sympathy with aching hearts 
 and bereaved households, is a process that 
 has swallowed up time, and I tell you it has 
 strained the nerves prodigiously. Costly as 
 the process has been, it has paid. If I have 
 given sermons to you, I have got sermons 
 from you. The closest tie that binds us to- 
 gether is that sacred tie that has been wound 
 around the cribs in your nurseries, the 
 couches in your sick chambers, the chairs at 
 your fireside, and even the coffins that have 
 borne away your precious dead. My fond- 
 
138 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 est hope is that however much you may 
 honor and love my successor in this pulpit, 
 you will evermore keep a warm place in the 
 chimney-corner of your hearts for the man 
 that gave the best thirty years of his life to 
 your service. 
 
 Here let me bespeak for my successor the 
 most kind and reasonable allowance as to pas- 
 toral labors. Do not expect too much from 
 him. Very few ministers have the pecu- 
 liar passion for pastoral service that I have 
 had ; and if Christ's ambassador who shall 
 occupy this pulpit proclaims faithfully the 
 whole Gospel of God and brings a sympa- 
 thetic heart to your houses, do not criticize 
 him unjustly because he may not attempt to 
 make twenty-five thousand pastoral visits in 
 thirty years. House to house visitation has 
 only been one hemisphere of the pastor's 
 work. I have accordingly endeavored to 
 guard the door of yonder study so that I 
 might give undivided energy to preparation 
 for this pulpit. 
 
 You know, my dear people, how I have 
 
JOYS OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY, 1 39 
 
 preached and what I have preached. In 
 spite of many interruptions, I have hon- 
 estly handled each topic as best I could. 
 The minister that foolishly runs races with 
 himself is doomed to an early suicide. All 
 that I claim for my sermons is that they 
 have been true to God's Book and the cross 
 of Jesus Christ, — have been simple enough 
 for a child to understand, and have been 
 preached in full view of the judgment 
 seat. I have aimed to keep this pulpit 
 abreast of all great moral reforms and 
 human progress, and the majestic march- 
 ings of the kingdom of King Jesus. The 
 preparation of my sermons has been an un- 
 speakable delight. The manna fell fresh 
 every morning, and it had to me the sweet- 
 ness of angels' food. Ah, there are many 
 sharp pangs before me. None will be 
 sharper than the hour that bids farewell to 
 yonder blessed and beloved study. For 
 twenty-eight years it has been my daily 
 home, — one of the dearest spots this side of 
 Heaven. From its walls have looked down 
 
I40 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 upon me the inspiring faces of Chalmers, 
 Charles Wesley, Spurgeon, Lincoln and 
 Gladstone, Adams, Storrs, Guthrie, New- 
 man Hall, and my beloved teachers, Charles 
 Hodge and the Alexanders of Princeton. 
 Thither your infant children have been 
 brought on Sabbath mornings, awaiting 
 their baptism. Thither your older children 
 have come by hundreds to converse with 
 me about the welfare of their souls. 
 Thither have come all the candidates for 
 admission to the fellowship of this church, 
 and have made there their confession of 
 faith and their allegiance to Christ. Oh, 
 what blessed interviews with inquirers have 
 been held there ! What sweet and happy 
 fellowship with my successive bands of help- 
 ers, some of whom have joined the general 
 assembly of the redeemed in glory. That 
 hallowed study has been to me sometimes a 
 Bochim of tears, and sometimes a Hermon, 
 when the vision was of no man save Jesus 
 only. And the work there has been a wider 
 one for a far wider multitude than these 
 
 ^ 
 
JOYS OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 141 
 
 walls contain this morning. I have written 
 there nearly all the hundreds of articles 
 which have gone out through the religious 
 press, over this country, over Great Britain, 
 over Europe, over Australia, Canada, India, 
 and New Zealand. During my ministry I 
 have published about 3,200 of these arti- 
 cles. Many of them have been gathered 
 into books, many of them translated into 
 Swedish, Spanish, Dutch, and other foreign 
 tongues. They have made the scratch of a 
 very humble pen audible to Christendom. 
 The consecrated pen may be more powerful 
 than the consecrated tongue I devoutly 
 thank God for having condescended to use 
 my humble pen to the spread of His Gos- 
 pel ; and I purpose with His help to 
 spend much of the brief remainder of my 
 life in preaching His glorious Gospel 
 through the press. 
 
 I am sincerely sorry that the necessities 
 of this hour seem to require so personal a 
 discourse this morning; but I must hide 
 behind the example of the great Apostle 
 
142 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 who gave me my text. Because He re- 
 viewed His ministry among His spiritual 
 children of Thessalonica, I may be allowed 
 to review my own, too — standing here this 
 morning under such peculiar circumstances. 
 These thirty years have been to me years of 
 unbounded joy. Sorrow I have had, when 
 death paid four visits to my house ; but the 
 sorrow taught sympathy with the grief of 
 others. Sins I have committed — too many 
 of them ; your patient love has never cast a 
 stone. The faults of my ministry have been 
 my own. The successes of my ministry have 
 been largely due under God, to your co- 
 operation, and, above all, to the amazing 
 goodness of our Heavenly Father. Look- 
 ing my long pastorate squarely in the face, 
 I think I can honestly say that I have been 
 no man's man ; I have never courted the 
 rich, nor wilfully neglected the poor ; I have 
 never blunted the sword of the Spirit lest it 
 should cut your consciences, or concealed a 
 truth that might save a soul. In no large 
 church is there a perfect unanimity of tastes 
 
JOYS OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 1 43 
 
 as to preaching. I do not doubt that there 
 are some of you that are quite ready for the 
 experiment of a new face in this pulpit, and 
 perhaps there may be some who are lusting 
 after the fat quail of elaborate or philoso- 
 phic discourse. For thirty years I have 
 tried to feed you on " nothing but manna." 
 Whatever the difference of taste, you have 
 always stood by me, true as steel. This 
 has been your spiritual home ; and you have 
 loved your home, and you have drunk every 
 Sunday from your own well ; and though 
 the water of life has not always been passed 
 up to you in a richly embossed silver cup, it 
 has drawn up the undiluted Gospel from the 
 inspired fountain-head. To hear the truth, 
 to heed the truth, to " back " the truth with 
 prayer and toil, has been the delight of the 
 stanchest members of this church. Oh, the 
 children of this church are inexpressibly dear 
 to me ! There are hundreds here to-day that 
 never had any other home, nor ever knew any 
 other pastor. I think I can say that " every 
 baptism has baptized us into closer fellow- 
 
144 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 ship, every marriage has married us into 
 closer union, every funeral that bore away 
 your beloved dead, only bound us more 
 strongly to the living." Every invitation 
 from another church — and I have had some 
 veiy attractive ones that I never told you 
 about — every invitation from another church 
 has always been promptly declined ; for I 
 long ago determined never to be pastor of 
 any other than Lafayette Avenue Church. 
 
 What is my joy or crown of rejoicing? 
 Are not even ye — ye — in the presence of 
 Christ at His coming? Why, then, sunder a 
 tie that is bound to every fibre of my inmost 
 heart ? I will answer you frankly. There 
 must be no concealment or false pretexts 
 between us. In the first place, as I told you 
 two months ago, I had determined to make 
 my thirtieth anniversary the terminal point 
 of my present pastorate. I determined not 
 to outstay my fullest capacity for the enor- 
 mous work demanded here. The extent of 
 that demanded work increases every twelve 
 months. The requirements of preaching 
 
JOYS OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 145 
 
 twice every Sunday, to visit the vast num- 
 ber of families directly connected with this 
 church, attending funeral services, conferring 
 with committees about Christian work of 
 various kinds, and numberless other duties 
 — all these requirements are prodigious. 
 Thus far, by the Divine help, I have carried 
 that load. My health to-day is as firm as 
 usual ; and I thank God that such forces of 
 heart and brain as He has given me are un- 
 abated. The chronic catarrh that long ago 
 muffled my ears to many a strain of sweet 
 music, has never made me too deaf to hear 
 the sweet accents of your love. But I under- 
 stand my constitution well enough to know 
 that I could not carry the undivided load of 
 this great church a great while longer with- 
 out the risk of breaking down ; and there 
 must be no risk run with you or with myself. 
 I also desire to assist you in transferring this 
 magnificent vessel to the next pilot whom 
 God shall appoint ; and I wish to transfer it 
 while it is well manned, well equipped, and 
 on the clear sea of an unbroken financial and 
 10 
 
I46 HO W TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 spiritual prosperity. No man shall ever say 
 that I so far presumed on the generous kind- 
 ness of this dear church as to linger here 
 until I had outlived my usefulness. 
 
 For these reasons I present to-day my res- 
 ignation of this sacred, precious charge. It 
 is my honest desire and purpose that this 
 day must terminate my present pastorate. 
 For presenting this resignation I alone am 
 responsible before God, before this church 
 and before the world. When you shall have 
 accepted my resignation, the whole responsi- 
 bility for the welfare of this beloved church 
 will rest on yourshoulders — not on mine. My 
 earnest prayer is that you may soon be di- 
 rected to the right man to be your minister, 
 to one who shall unite all hearts and all 
 hands, and carry forward the high and holy 
 mission to which God has called you. He 
 will find in me not a jealous critic, but a 
 hearty ally in everything that he may re- 
 gard for the welfare of this church. 
 
 As for myself, I do not propose to sit 
 down on the veranda and watch the sun of 
 
JOYS OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 1 47 
 
 life wheel downward in the west. The 
 labors of a pen and of a ministry at large 
 will afford me no lack of employment. The 
 welfare of this church is inexpressibly dear 
 to me — nothing is dearer to me this side of 
 heaven. If, therefore, .while this flock re- 
 mains shepherdless, and in search of my 
 successor, I can be of actual service to you 
 in supplying at any time this pulpit or per- 
 forming pastoral labor, that service, beloved, 
 shall be performed cheerfully. 
 
 The first thought, the only thought with 
 all of us, is this church, this cliurch, THIS 
 CHURCH. I call no man my friend, you 
 must call no man your friend that does 
 not stand by the interests of Lafayette 
 Avenue Church. It is now called to meet 
 a great emergency. For the first time in 
 twenty-eight years this church is subjected 
 to a severe strain. During all these years 
 you had very smooth sailing. You have 
 never been crippled by debt ; you have 
 never been distracted with quarrels, and 
 you have never been without a pastor in 
 
I48 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 your pulpit or your homes when you needed 
 him. And I suppose no church in Brooklyn 
 has ever been subjected to less strain than 
 this one. Now you are called upon to face 
 a new condition of things, perhaps a new 
 danger— certainly a new duty. The duty 
 overrides the danger. To meet that duty 
 you are strong in numbers. There are 
 2,350 names on your church register. Of 
 these many are young children, many are 
 non-residents who have never asked a dis- 
 mission to other churches ; but a great army 
 of church members three Sabbaths ago rose 
 up before that sacramental table. You are 
 strong in a holy harmony. Let no man, no 
 woman, break the ranks ! You are strong 
 in the protection of that great Shepherd 
 who never resigns and who never grows 
 old. " Lo ! I am with you always ! Lo ! 
 I am with you always ! Lo ! I am with you 
 always ! " seems to greet me this morning 
 from every wall of this sanctuary. I con- 
 fidently expect to see Lafayette Avenue 
 Church move steadily forward with un- 
 
JOYS OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 1 49 
 
 broken column led by the Captain of our 
 salvation. All eyes are upon you. The eye 
 that never slumbers or sleeps is watching 
 over you. If you are all true to conscience, 
 true to your covenants, true to Christ, the 
 future of this dear church may be as glorious 
 as its past. And when another thirty years 
 have rolled away, it may still be a strong 
 tower' of the truth on which the smile of 
 God shall rest like the light of the morning. 
 By as much as you love me, I entreat you 
 not to sadden my life or break my heart by 
 ever deserting these walls, or letting the fire 
 of devotion burn down on these sacred 
 altars. 
 
 The hands of the clock warn me to close. 
 This is one of the most trying hours of my 
 whole life. It is an hour when tears are 
 only endurable by being rainbowed with 
 the memory of tender mercies and holy joys. 
 When my feet descend those steps to-day, 
 this will no longer be my pulpit. I sur- 
 render it back before God into your hands. 
 One of my chiefest sorrows is that I leave 
 
150 . HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 some of my beloved hearers out of Christ. 
 Oh, you have been faithfully warned here, 
 and you have been lovingly invited here ; 
 and once more, as though God did beseech 
 you by me, I implore you in Christ's name 
 to be reconciled to God. This dear pulpit, 
 whose teachings are based on the Rock of 
 Ages, will stand long after the lips that now 
 address you have turned to dust. It will 
 be visible from the judgment seat ; and its 
 witness will be that I determined to know 
 not anything among you save Jesus Christ 
 and Him crucified. To-day I write the last 
 page in the record of thirty bright, happy, 
 Heaven-blessed years among you. What is 
 written is written. I shall fold up the book 
 and lay it away with all its many faults ; 
 and it will not lose its fragrance while 
 between its leaves are the pressed flowers of 
 your love. When my closing eyes shall look 
 on that record for the last time, I hope to 
 discover there only one name— the name 
 that is above every name, the name of Him 
 whose glory crowns this Easter morn with 
 
JOYS OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. I 5 I 
 
 radiant splendor, the name of Jesus Christ, 
 King of kings, Lord of lords. And the 
 last words I utter in this sacred spot are 
 unto Him that loves us and delivers us from 
 sin with His precious blood ; and unto God 
 be all the praise and thanks and dominion 
 and glory for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
A NEW BOOK BY DR. CUYLER. 
 
 HOW TO BE A PASTOR. 
 
 BY THEODORE L. CUYLER, D. D. 
 
 16mo, Gilt Top, 75 Cents. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 I.— Importance of Pastoral Labor. II.— Pastoral Visits. 
 III. — Visitation of the Sick— Funeral Services. IV. — Treat- 
 ment of the Troubled. V.— How to Have a Working Church. 
 VI.— Training Converts. VII.— Prayer -Meetings. VIII.— A 
 Model Prayer - Meeting. IX. — Revivals. X.— Drawing the 
 Bow at a Venture. XI. — Where to be a Pastor. XII.— Joys 
 of the Christian Ministry. 
 
 "It is not everyone who has wisdom and opportunity, at the close 
 of along career of usefulness, so to take account of the results of his 
 work as to bring to light the secrets of his success, and to present them 
 in concrete form to those who shall come after him. This Dr. Cuyler 
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 the pastor's triumphs over the difficulties and problems of a forty years' 
 pastorate — a master-key indeed, which will fit the wards of many a 
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 "The fruit of large native sense, long experience, wide observa- 
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 "Ought to be read by all pastors, young and old. Dr. Cuyler has 
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 Sent, postpaid, upon receipt of price, by 
 
 THE BAKER & TAYLOR CO., 
 
 PUBLISHERS, 
 
 740 and 742 Broadway, New York. 
 
WORKS BY REV. DR. CUYLER. 
 
 POINTED PAPERS FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
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 STRAY ARROWS. 
 
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 *#* For sale by all Booksellers. Sent, post-paid, on receipt of the price, 
 by the Publishers, 
 
 THE BAKER AND TAYLOR COMPANY, 
 
 740 AND 742 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 
 
WORKS BY ARTHUR T. PIERSON. 
 
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 EVANGELISTIC WORK IN PRINCIPLE AND PRACTICE. 
 
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