MISSIONARY CONSECRATION 
 
 OF PASTORS. 
 
 A PAPER 
 
 READ AT THE MEETING OF THE A. B. C. F. M., AT HARTFORD, 
 
 OCTOBER 4, 1876. 
 
 BY 
 
 Rev. S. B. TREAT, 
 
 SECRETARY OF THE BOARD. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE: 
 
 at tfte 
 
 1876. 
 

MISSIONARY CONSECRATION OF PASTORS. 
 
 -♦ .. — 
 
 Those who attended the annual meeting at Rutland, in 1874, will re¬ 
 member that $400,000 were deemed a fitting sum to ask of the Congrega¬ 
 tional churches, year by year; and it was hoped that other sources of 
 income would yield $100,000 more. Our financial history since that time 
 has shown — (1) that in order to the highest missionary results, we need 
 more than $500,000; (2) that our churches have failed as yet to contribute 
 $400,000 a year; and, further, that the other sources yielded during the 
 past year less than $83,000. 
 
 The Committee have no evidence that our constituency, as a whole, 
 regards an expenditure of $500,000 as too large. On the contrary, they 
 have abundant evidence that many are strongly opposed to a lower scale. 
 Hence they feel compelled to ask, “ How shall the increasing demands of 
 the missions be met? ” Here, in a region so rich in Puritan memories, in 
 a population as intelligent as it is prosperous ; here, looking out upon the 
 wide and fruitful fields which the Lord of the harvest has invited us to 
 occupy, they submit the inquiry. 
 
 Various answers may be given ; but one, in their judgment, takes pre¬ 
 cedence of all others, to wit, “ In order to our reaching that high plane 
 whereunto we are called, a heartfelt consecration to the missionary work, 
 on the part of pastors, is indispensable” 
 
 The commission which these brethren have received is as broad as it is 
 weighty. They are ambassadors to lost men; they are teachers of the 
 way of life; they are leaders and guides for all intrusted to their care. 
 With more comprehensiveness it may be said, “ They are to do for, loith, 
 and through their congregations, whatever the Lord Jesus Christ prescribes. , 
 What, then, does He wish them to do for the evangelization of the world ? 
 
 Permit us to isolate one of the many pastors whom we are happy to meet 
 here at this time, and to address him personally. 
 
 Dear brother in Christ, our fellow-worker unto the kingdom of God ! 
 Let us suppose your Saviour, in some favored moment, to enter your study, 
 and sit down by your side. He opens to your wondering vision his infinite 
 pity for our race. To do this the more surely, he takes you back to the 
 dawn of eternity, and by some mysterious process he shows you the Father, 
 the Comforter, and the uncreated Word, three yet one, pondering the ques¬ 
 tion of human redemption. They study it in all its vastness, in all its 
 relations and interrelations, not in one cycle, but in all cycles. He permits 
 you to catch a glimpse of that love which is so far above and beyond all 
 finite thought. You are not startled, therefore, you are hardly surprised, 
 when the Only Begotten of the Father surrenders himself with a conse¬ 
 cration, which none besides could have made, to this great endeavor. 
 
4 
 
 MISSIONARY CONSECRATION OE PASTORS. 
 
 He shows you the joy that is set before him, (1) in transforming the poor 
 lost ones of earth into the cliildren of the Highest, so raising them to the 
 fellowship of angels and archangels, so making them heirs with himself to 
 that inheritance which the Father has enriched with all the wealth of the 
 universe ; (2) in quickening and intensifying the love, the wonder, the 
 ecstasy of the heavenly host, not merely because of the ever-increasing 
 number of the saved, but because of the resources, multiform and exhaust¬ 
 less, whereby the wisdom of God has achieved its measureless results ; 
 (3) in illustrating the silent, harmonious co-working of all the divine per¬ 
 fections, so that justice and mercy are seen to walk hand in hand, each 
 more resplendent because of this fraternal companionship; (4) in founding 
 a kingdom greater than all other kingdoms, upholding, defending, encir- 
 clinoc all other kincrdoms. He to wear the crown alone. He to collect and 
 concentrate the brightness of all the diadems of earth, and place it upon 
 his own imperial brow. 
 
 Now he transports you to scenes which lie far down the stream of time. 
 Y’ou become the friend and daily attendant of the Son of Mary. You see 
 all that he suffered from the contradiction of sinners, as also from his 
 hourly contact with them. Y^ou are with him in Gethsemane. You follow 
 him to the cross. Y^ou listen to that cry, piercing, heartrending, beyond 
 all that this world has heard till now, “ Why hast thou forsaken me V” 
 With the two Marys you go to the sepulchre and share in their “ great 
 joy,” in that he did not see corruption. Y’ou stand with the eleven on the 
 mountain in Galilee, and hear that commission, “ Go,” “ disciple all na¬ 
 tions.” Bewildered as you have been all along, you are more bewildered 
 now than ever. “ Can it be? ” you ask. “ The First Born of every crea¬ 
 ture ! Has he tendered to his people a partnership of love and service in 
 this life, and in the life to come a partnershq) of transcendent honor and 
 blessedness V ” Y’ou look back from the supremest moment in our lower 
 annals to the supremest moment in the heavenly annals, and you say, 
 “ Y'^onder, where I saw it, redemption was devised. At Calvary, where 
 I saw it, redemption was achieved. Henceforth it is to be redemption 
 wrought out, instrumentally, by those who have themselves felt its trans¬ 
 forming might, ‘ to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers 
 in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of 
 God.’ ” 
 
 You stand by his side once more on the eastern slope of Olivet. It is 
 the last time ; you know it, — all know it. Once more you hear his chief 
 commission. In token of its unspeakable urgency, in token of its central 
 place in the scheme of redemption as seen from its earthly side, it receives 
 its third, its final announcement, “ Ye shall be witnesses ” “ unto the utter¬ 
 most part of the earth.” “And when he had spoken these things,” “he 
 was taken up, and a cloud received him out of your sight.” 
 
 Y’^ou that represent the pastoral office here to-day ! Y^ou will never be 
 honored by such glimpses of the divine plan as seen from its heavenly 
 side. Never in his human form will Immanuel sit down by your side, and 
 disclose the affluence of his grace. But if, burdened with the thought of 
 his infinite love for the lost, yourselves among them, you say to him. 
 
MISSIONARY CONSECRATION OF PASTORS. 
 
 5 
 
 “ Lord, wliat ^vilt thou have me to do ? ” be sure that light will arise in the 
 darkness. If you desire a consecration to his service, as a world service, 
 that shall please him, be sure that you will receive the “ promise of the 
 Father.” 
 
 But when, dear brethren, you shall have reached this higher level of 
 Christian purpose, certain problems may present themselves, toward the 
 solution of which a few suggestions may be deemed appropriate. 
 
 I. Y^ou may be embarrassed, as many are, by the comparative claims of 
 the work abroad and the work at home. 
 
 It is the belief of the Committee that no Congregational minister who 
 is true to his office can lightly esteem the latter. This wide domain of 
 ours, with its firm grasp upon the grea.t sea of the east, and the greater 
 sea of the west; with its immense resources; with its fast increasing mil¬ 
 lions-; with an interblending of races, creeds, sympathies, hopes, aspira¬ 
 tions, as strange as it is portentous; Romanism and skepticism — either of 
 them among the mightiest forces of the age — stubbornly arrayed against 
 evangelical truth ; surely it is not difficult to foresee the vast possibilities 
 of good and evil which a single century may evolve. And should the evil 
 gain the mastery, it would be as if Saturn or Jupiter were to leap from his 
 orbit, and roam at will among his brother planets. 
 
 But the argument for the home work is so strong as to be in some degree 
 a source of danger. That which is near, soonest fills the eye. Family 
 wants make a strong appeal, as they should. Church wants and parish 
 wants take the second place. The claims of neighborhood, the state, the 
 country, follow in due order. Constai\t familiarity with these, deepens the 
 feeling of their urgency. It is for this reason that so many mission 
 churches are slow to relinquish their hold upon the hand which has helped 
 them. In every missionary field to-day, at home and abroad, there is the 
 same desire for continued aid. 
 
 But He who is able to check every tendency, however subtle, and avert 
 every peril, however stealthy, has provided just the safeguards which are 
 needed. Objects which are near, he balances with others which, though 
 distant, are larger. From the home field which pleads so eloquently, he 
 bids us look away to fields which are broader, needier, sadder. The Com¬ 
 mittee do not suggest any comparison between the two great departments 
 of Christian effort. Indeed, they regard them in fact as so thoroughly 
 interdependent that if one suffers, the other must suffer also. For the 
 relief, however, of those who may differ from them, and to illustrate the 
 self-adjusting harmonies of Christian beneficence, they beg leave to say, 
 that “ a generous support of the work abroad helps the work at home” In 
 proof of this the Committee adduce the following considerations : — 
 
 1. Foreign missions have taught our churches the safety of large undertak¬ 
 ings. Individuals, churches, communities, nations, are ignorant at times of 
 their own resources. We of the North had not the faintest conception of 
 what we could do, when the fiery storm of 1861 burst upon us. And so it 
 has been all along the history of missions. The doctrine preached at Not¬ 
 tingham in 1792, “ expect great things from God, attempt great things for 
 
6 
 
 MISSIONARY CONS]j:CRATION OF PASTORS. 
 
 God,” has been constantly verified from that day to this. Who would 
 have ventured to prophesy all that Carey, the journeyman shoemaker, the 
 village schoolmaster, the humble preacher, accomplished for India. When 
 the vote was passed at Bradford which called the Board into life, did any 
 one look down the vista which then opened before him, and foresee all that 
 has since come to pass? When our fathers, in the winter of 1811-12, with 
 only $1200 in hand, voted to send five missionaries to Hindostan, who 
 could have believed, in that day of small things, that $6,000 would be 
 placed*at their disposal in three weeks? The value of these incidents, 
 and others like them, was beyond all price. They revealed a strength of 
 faithj courage, enterprise, as stimulating as it was unlooked for. How 
 many endeavors of the highest moment might be traced thereto ? What 
 harvests have been gathered at the West, year after year, from the seed 
 which was cast upon the waters at that early epoch! 
 
 2. Foreign missions have done much for doctrinal purity. The service 
 which the Board rendered, even in its infancy, can hardly be prized too 
 highly. Its founders held the Puritan faith with a confidence in its truth, 
 fully matched by their confidence in its efficacy. What Paul had said of 
 the heathen in his day, they believed to be true of the heathen in their 
 day. What he said of the progress of the Gospel, they believed could be 
 realized again. They laid their foundations, therefore, in a spirit that was 
 thoroughly Pauline. The first missionaries, for the most part, were trained 
 in Andover Seminary, which began its work just in time to take its place 
 as a true yokefellow. No men have been truer to the traditions of New 
 England. After they commenced their labors, their testimony came back 
 to us as clear as it was strong. They were filled with humiliation and 
 awe, as they beheld the depravity which on every side of them was so 
 appalling. But they had, as they well knew, an infinite Saviour to sustain 
 them, as also an infinite Saviour to urge upon the heathen. The influence 
 which they sent back, therefore, was large and helpful,— (1) in confirming 
 the churches in the faith which they had received from the past; (2) in 
 showing the supreme value of the essentials of Christianity, as compared 
 with its non-essentials ; (3) in proving the adaptation of scriptural truth, if 
 presented simply and lovingly, to lost men the world over. 
 
 The Committee crave the privilege of saying that they have endeavored 
 to follow in the footsteps of the fathers. It has been their aim to send 
 forth laborers who should be worthy to receive the mantles which the elder 
 prophets, sooner or later, must needs leave to the younger. And they 
 desire to record their devout thankfulness for the good hand of their God 
 upon them. As they turn to the different mission fields, and behold ven¬ 
 erable forms coming out from the shadows of the past, — a long proces- 
 ■ sion, — they cannot but congratulate the Board, not merely because of the 
 work which has been done, but because of the workers. 
 
 3. The educational value of the foreign service is much greater than most 
 have supposed. Could we gain access to the annals of our Congregational 
 households, we should find that to many of them missions have proved a 
 constant benediction. The departure of the two earliest detachments, in 
 circumstances which clothed the act with all the interest of novelty. 
 
MISSIONAKY CONSECRATION OF PASTORS. 
 
 • 7 
 
 romance, and Christian heroism, carried to our fire-sides an inspiration as 
 generous as it was elevating. The ends of the earth had never seemed so 
 near ; redemption had never seemed so vast; humanity, even in its lowest 
 depths, had never seemed so precious; sacrifice for the unknown and un- 
 deservino; had never seemed so noble. 
 
 The disappointments at Calcutta, as-unexpected as they were strange, 
 the death of Harriet Newell, deepened the interest. And when the history 
 of that life, so brief and yet so fragrant, was given to the world, it cast a 
 spell upon the old and the young, which abides with many to this day. 
 
 And what a flood of light has been shed upon questions of race, lan¬ 
 guage, topography, history ! How many problems that once were ac- 
 eounted intricate and bewildering, are made clear to-day! That stum¬ 
 bling-block and rock of offense on the Bosphorus, in the eye of all Europe, 
 — what a pivot it has been for the grandest events in the past; and what 
 a pivot it may prove for like events, or grander still, in the future ! 
 
 The letters of the missionaries to the churches at home, and their words 
 from time to time, during their needful furloughs — how instructive and 
 how quickening they have been ! At the college, the seminary, before the 
 great congregation, or wherever they have spoken, how much have they 
 done to inform the mind and enlartje the heart! 
 
 4. Foreicjn missions have taught our churches the highest form of benevo¬ 
 lence. It is not the quantity of giving so much as its quality that deter¬ 
 mines its value. The costliest offering may shrivel to nothing beneath the 
 All-searching eye; while that of the poor widow may become a memorial 
 forever. Men may devise liberal things for the west, from the impulse of 
 patriotism; they may devise liberal things for the east, from the impulse 
 of public spirit. We call such deeds praiseworthy, as they are; and yet 
 the motive, confessedly, is not the purest and best. 
 
 But when a man gives of his substance because of his Saviour’s last 
 command, or from a desire to see the Pacific Islander, though repulsive 
 exceedingly, the pariah of India, the Bushman of Africa, transformed into 
 the likeness of Christ, he ascends to the highest plane of earthly benevo¬ 
 lence. He expects no return, save that which may accrue from the grate¬ 
 ful intercessions of his unknown beneficiaries. Never in this life will his 
 eye rest upon the fruit of his self-denial. The giver and receiver will 
 never meet till the hour, when, in the hush of their transcendent joy, they 
 shall look for the first time upon their eommon Judge and their common 
 Saviour. 
 
 Such offerings bear the image of the heavenly; they are all written in 
 the book of remembrance, against the final Apocalypse. They verify that 
 saying, as true as it is eomprehensive and profound, “ It is more blessed 
 to give than to receive,” — not as but more., — “ more blessed ” because 
 of the manifoldness of the good which proceeds therefrom, like the out¬ 
 spreading circles on a quiet lake. 
 
 The Committee are obliged to arrest the argument at this point for lack 
 of time. They will only add that they regard the missionaries abroad as 
 supplementing, practically, the labors of the missionaries at home ; and 
 they regard the Board as having been, for fifty years, a most helpful aux¬ 
 iliary to our national Home Missionary Society. 
 
8 
 
 MISSIONARY CONSECRATION OF PASTORS. 
 
 IL Another problem, more directly practical, you will submit to us in 
 this wise, perhaps : “ Assuming that we are anxious to discharge our 
 whole duty, what course shall we pursue?” The first step, as also the 
 most important, will be to convince your people that you take a profound 
 and abiding interest in missions. If you are conscious of possessing that 
 interest, but feel that you might have done more to prove it, go to them 
 without delay, as “ the man whose eyes are open.” Speak to them as one 
 who has been admitted, in some sort, to the secret of that soul-travail, 
 which is to be followed by such amazing, such endless issues. Speak to 
 them as one who has caught some foreglimpses of the grandeur of that 
 kingdom, which is slowly but surely infolding all other kingdoms. Y'our 
 words will carry a benediction to them not only ; they will take back a 
 larger benediction to yourself. 
 
 The Committee attach special importance to this initial step. And they 
 are persuaded that there is in the Congregational pastorate much more of 
 susceptibility in this regard than the churches have supposed. They are 
 confident that if all should set forth, on a predetermined Sabbath, their 
 convictions, desires, and hopes, in their full strength, the revelation would 
 prove a grateful surprise to all. 
 
 1. In speaking of measures, the Committee place in the foreground ivell- 
 laid plans for imparting information. Of this, if report speaks truly, there 
 is a serious lack. 
 
 The value of the pulpit in this endeavor must be obvious to all. And it 
 so happens that there are no better themes for sermons, anywhere, than 
 those which are found in the domain of missions. Some have made the 
 discovery by actual experiment, having preached thereon, with special 
 frequency, to the acknowledged profit and satisfaction of their congrega¬ 
 tions. They have supposed it to he their duty to hold up redemption, not 
 merely as a doctrine for civilized lands, but as a central and vital truth for 
 the world. They have felt burdened by the conviction that if Christ has 
 died for all, then he should be preached to all. The Committee venture 
 to suggest that if any pastor will form a plan for a series of discourses, to 
 be delivered at fitting times, and will enrich them with fact, argument, 
 appeal, such as the Bible, the history of man, and especially the history of 
 missions, will furnish, he will find at the end of a few years that the profit 
 thereof, as well to himself, as to his hearers, has greatly exceeded his ex¬ 
 pectations. 
 
 The best agency, however, for diffusing information is the monthly con¬ 
 cert. The Committee are aware of the perplexities which beset this meet¬ 
 ing, but they do not propose to discuss them at the present time. They 
 must be allowed to express their surprise, however, that the difficulty of 
 finding themes of sufficient attractiveness is made so prominent. With 
 such fields as Turkey, India, China, Japan before him, and with all the 
 annals of the past at his command, how can any pastor think himself strait¬ 
 ened for materials ? 
 
 Take that topic which has so deeply interested the Christian world of 
 late, the ever-recurring Eastern Question. Suppose one of your number 
 to have begun, years ago, to ground his people thoroughly in Oriental 
 
MISSIONARY CONSECRATION OF PASTORS. 
 
 9 
 
 missions, lie has told them of the growth of that power which came out 
 from the East, far back in the past; established itself first at Broosa, then 
 at Adrianople; and from that point swept like a storm of fire across the 
 entire region which, in the last few weeks, has been the scene of such 
 fierce conflicts, such bitter hates, such terrible cruelties, — and onward still, 
 even to the gates of Vienna. He has told them of the conquest of Con¬ 
 stantinople ; how that ancient city succumbed to its invaders, not because 
 of their prowess, but because of the jealousies, dissensions, perverseness, 
 and cowardice of the Christians, so called, who professed to defend it, and 
 so an entrance to that land which has been so dear to the church in all 
 ages, was made possible for American missionaries, — an entrance which 
 the Greek empire, intolerant, effete, worthless, would never have conceded. 
 He has told you of the wonderful changes which have been -wrought there 
 in these later years, so silent that few have suspected their importance, 
 and yet so real and mighty that they must needs take their place among 
 the acknowledged factors in some of the grandest problems of our race. 
 Having made his people familiar with this large segment of history, how 
 easy for him to speak of the causes, remote and proximate, of the existing 
 war, the strange complications growing out of diversities of ancestry, re¬ 
 ligion, historic affinities and repellences, above all of w'estern diplomacy; 
 and how easy to point to that unseen Hand, unrecognized for the most 
 part by the actors in this momentous drama, which directs all events for 
 the honor of the only begotten Son ! 
 
 2. The question of ingatherings remains to be considered. The Com¬ 
 mittee are obliged to confess that it is always with blended feelings that 
 their thoughts turn to this subject. The steadfastness and large-hearted¬ 
 ness with which many contribute to the work of the Board, year after year, 
 fill them with thankfulness and admiration. But the meagreness of the 
 offerings Avhich come from quarters whence they have hoped for better 
 things, and the large number of those who give nothing at all, affect them 
 not less profoundly than sadly. They cannot avoid the conviction that 
 every church member, by the mere fact of his discipleship, is committed to 
 the missionary service. He who enters into cove'nant with the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, in the customary form, and yet refuses to do anything for the 
 heathen, they are constrained to think, keeps back part of the price. 
 
 Most of our membership recognize the duty of commemorating the death 
 of Christ at the times duly appointed therefor. The words, “ This do in 
 remembrance of me,” are accepted as clear and imperative. The frequent 
 neglect of this ordinance is followed by remonstrance, if not by discipline. 
 How, then, has it come to pass that the other command, announced with 
 such unequaled solemnity; that command which is the expression of an 
 infinite longing for the redemption of man; — how has it come to pass that 
 that command is broken so grievously, so constantly, and yet, seemingly, 
 with the connivance of our churches! 
 
 The first duty of pastors, in the judgment of the Committee, is to secure 
 a contribution from every communicant, if practicable, and also from every 
 non-communicant, if practicable, in the belief that the injunction, “Let 
 him that heareth say come,” is unconditional, and hence that a refusal to 
 
10 
 
 MISSIONARY CONSECRATION OF PASTORS. 
 
 accept the offer of pardon by no means justifies a refusal to make known 
 that offer to those who have never heard it. 
 
 The second duty is to persuade all, if possible, to give as the Lord hath 
 prospered them. In order to success herein, frequent, patient, faithful in¬ 
 struction will be found indispensable. Habits of giving are not easily 
 chano-ed. Habits of withholding are more inveterate still. 
 
 The third duty is to select the best plan for taking collections. As the 
 object is to induce all to give as the Lord hath prospered them, the inquiry 
 will be, “ Which method, this or that, will meet the conditions of the prob¬ 
 lem ? ” It is but a step to the conclusion, “ Boxes, as they are generally 
 used, do not meet these conditions.” On the other hand, the visits of 
 collectors, cheerfully and conscientiously made to every household, have 
 been very effective. Weekly offerings, especially when raised to the dig¬ 
 nity of Christian worship, have been attended with admirable results. But 
 the impression cannot be too deeply lodged in the minds of all, that no 
 system is self-executive. In order to a proper outcome from any plan, there 
 needs to be a steady hand behind it. 
 
 It will be said, perhaps, that there is one serious objection to the fore¬ 
 going suggestions, to wit, that they impose additional labor upon pastors. 
 The Committee are obliged to concede the truth of this allegation. But 
 (1) the world can never be saved without a large amount of toil and self- 
 denial. The life of Christ was a constant sacrifice. He came not to be 
 ministered unto, but to minister; and surely the disciple is not above his 
 Master. (2.) Whatever additional service may be needed, no part thereof, 
 not the smallest, will fail of its reward. He who uttered those words, — 
 just as the heavens were opening to receive him, — that were to be the 
 culminating proof of his infinite compassion for man, however sinful, will 
 say of those who long for the triumph of his Word, with no bated stress, 
 “ Him that honoreth me, I will honor.” 
 
 When the Board met in this city twenty-two years ago, there sat with 
 us many pastors, — Porter, Hawes, Dwight, Linsley, and others like them, 
 — who have since been summoned to the presence of the Great King. Sup¬ 
 pose that from their celestial homes they were to speak to their brethren 
 who are here to-day. Might they not say, “ Were you to stand for the 
 briefest space where we stand, there would be no thought of toil, self- 
 denial, sacrifice, but rather, and only, of privilege, honor, intense delight. 
 Here, on the one hand, are myriads upon myriads who have come up from 
 all the ‘ habitations of cruelty.’ There, on the other hand, is the Lord 
 that bought them. These, once so low, now so high! See with what radi- 
 ancy of love they turn to the Crucified One I He, — but who can sound 
 the depths of his joy? He sees of the travail of his soul, and is satisfied! 
 Surely, with such a spectacle before you, calling to mind the power which 
 you can wield for the uplifting of the heathen, you will exclaim with pas¬ 
 sionate emphasis, ‘ Unto me who am less than the least of all saints is this 
 grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable 
 riches of Christ.’ ”