The Advantages of a 
 Settled Pastorate 
 
 BV ^ 
 
 Rev. NEWTON H. ROYER, A. M 
 
 Rrookville. Ohio 
 
 (* DEC 29 1908 
 
 :.!fi/G>,L V}^ 
 
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 .i>Mi:i> rwK THK AUTHOR AT THE REQUEST OF THE FACVI.TV 
 AND STUDENTS OF HAMMA DIVINITY SCHOOL, 
 SPRINGFIELD, OHIO 
 
 PHII^DELPHIA, PA. 
 
 I^UTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY 
 
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 d .OS 
 
 10 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. ^ 
 
 BV 660 .R69 
 Royer, Newton H. 
 The advantages of a settle 
 pastorate 
 

The Advantages of a 
 Settled Pastorate 
 
 Rev. NEWTON H. ROYER, A. M, 
 
 Brookville, Ohio 
 
 PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR AT THE REQUEST OF THE FACULTY 
 
 AND STUDENTS OF HAMMA DIVINITY SCHOOL, 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, OHIO 
 
 PHIIvADEl<PHIA, PA. 
 
 LUTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY 
 
[copyright, 1907, BY NEWTON H. ROYER.] 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
 
 The lecture published herewith was prepared at the 
 request of the faculty of the Hamma Divinity School, 
 and delivered before the students, faculty, and friends, 
 during the seminary year of 1905-1906. It created 
 deep interest, and was deemed worthy of publication by 
 those in attendance. It was thought that it would be 
 valuable in the creation of abetter estimate of the value, 
 dignity, and permanency of the pastoral office. Ac- 
 cordingly, by the unanimous action of the faculty, stu- 
 dents, and pastors present, such publication was re- 
 quested. 
 
 The author of the address, Rev. Newton H. Royer, is 
 esteemed as one of our most successful pastors, and is 
 warranted to speak upon the subject from the fact that 
 he has just entered upon the fourteenth year of his first 
 and only pastorate. 
 
 David H. Bauslin. 
 
 Hamma Divinity School, 
 Springfield, Ohio, 
 November, 1906. 
 
The Advantages of a 
 Settled Pastorate. 
 
 If the Church is a divine institution, the office of 
 the ministry is a divine commission. 
 
 The priesthood was no more essential to the edifica- 
 tion and preservation of the Jewish nation as a godly 
 people, than is the ministry to the Christian Church, 
 which is the custodian of the faith delivered to the 
 saints ; the pillar and ground of the truth. 
 
 The choice of the twelve apostles by the Head of the 
 Church, and the divine selection of another, after the 
 apostasy and suicide of Judas to complete the number, 
 twelve, is sufficient proof that certain men were sent of 
 God to accomplish a specific and important work. 
 These twelve were especially trained by their Master, 
 and what they proclaimed, ordained ministers to-day are 
 to preach, but as to polity and methods we find no abso- 
 lute directions in the Book, which is the infallible rule 
 for faith and practice. 
 
 The form of government which may best subserve the 
 interests of the Church in one land may prove to be 
 altogether inefficient in another, and the methods em- 
 ployed in one age may be wholly unsuitable for the suc- 
 ceeding generation. 
 
4 THE ADVANTAGES OF 
 
 Our Lord trained and equipped the apostles for their 
 work, and then commanded them/* Go preach," " Bear 
 testimony to these things," but in- what particular local- 
 ity, or in how many vicinities tkeir witness-bearing zvas 
 to be accomplished, their Master did not specify. Those 
 same conditions obtain in our schools of theology to- 
 day. The training, instruction, and equipment, which 
 candidates for the ministry receive in our seminaries are 
 par excellence ; but the work of our religious instructors 
 is finished when young men are graduated ; they can 
 but send them forth into the world, as Christ sent the 
 apostles, to preach the Gospel. 
 
 The denomination in which our lives have been con- 
 secrated does not guarantee any minister a pastorate, 
 nor does it designate precisely where he is to ''pitch 
 his tent," or when he is to ''pull up stakes." The 
 Lutheran Church permits ample room for the guidance 
 of the Holy Spirit, and the exercise of individual lib- 
 erty. The Church has a right to dictate in some things, 
 but not in all things. It is the prerogative of our Church 
 to insist that her ministers shall not preach doctrines 
 which are incompatible with the Augsburg Confession, 
 because she believes that the Confession of the great re- 
 former gives the best exhibition and the purest interpre- 
 tation of God's revelation to the children of men ; but 
 where her ordained servants are to expound the inspired 
 word, to what people they are to break the bread oi 
 life, in what particular community they are to devote 
 their lives, is for them to determine, not the Church. 
 
A SETTLED PASTORATE. 5 
 
 And while the Lutheran Church is not stereotyped 
 in her forms, and gives the largest liberty in things 
 unessential, yet she expects her constituency and or- 
 dained ministry to pursue that course and adopt those 
 methods which are in harmony with her polity in any 
 country. 
 
 I presume that no Lutheran minister would attempt 
 to defend the itinerant system, for there surely is no 
 more Scriptural authority for an itinerating ministry 
 binding on us than for the setting out of young preach- 
 ers without trunk, scrip, and purse, although quite a 
 number may be obliged so to do to-day. 
 
 In Paul's oversight over the newly-established 
 churches there is no more foundation for a bishopric, as 
 we find it in some Protestant denominations, than was 
 Paul's experience at his conversion, the ground on which 
 we may justly insist that, every individual at conversion 
 must experience blindness, fasting, and prostration. The 
 Church was then in its formative period. That was the 
 day of evangelization in a special sense, the day of its 
 infancy. The methods then in vogue are no longer 
 applicable and useful. 
 
 The principle of a long pastorate we find in the con- 
 stitution of things, and the names applied to God's se- 
 lect laborers and teachers all indicate the plan and pur- 
 pose of God as to the duration of a servant's labors in 
 a given place, such as pastor, minister, shepherd, over- 
 seer, etc. 
 
 We find nothing in the whole range of the Scriptures, 
 
6 THE ADVANTAGES OF 
 
 either in doctrine or method, to support the itinerant 
 system of serving the Church. There are no modern 
 conditions which render the itineracy advisable or de- 
 sirable. It is true that no ironclad rule can be laid 
 down to govern all men in the ministry in this particu- 
 lar, for there are some ministers who have marked ex- 
 ecutive ability, unusual organizing capacity, who have 
 the '' collecting instinct " ; who are more successful in 
 gathering dollars into the Lord's coffers than in edifying 
 believers, who can establish a congregation but cannot 
 perpetuate its existence. When such men have com- 
 pleted the work for which they have peculiar qualifica- 
 tions, it may be wise for them to seek new fields of 
 labor. Undoubtedly there are instances, too, on ac- 
 count of peculiar conditions, that a pastor should resign, 
 even though he has labored but a few years in the 
 charge, but such cases are comparatively rare. 
 
 Generally speaking, a settled pastorate is decidedly 
 advantageous, and when you sum up the arguments on 
 both sides of this question, the Scriptures and experi- 
 ence decide the preponderance. We ought not to be 
 surprised, therefore, that the Lutheran Church is on the 
 right side of this question in theory. But why is it that 
 the great majority of our ministers do not serve any con- 
 gregation more than four or five years ? Why is there 
 so much candidating ? Why are so many ministers for- 
 ever looking beyond the limits of their own pastorates, 
 not so much for larger fields of labor, as for taller clo- 
 ver ? Why are they not content to settle down in some 
 
A SETTLED PASTORATE. 7 
 
 pastorate, and leave a definite and permanent impress on 
 at least one locality, rather than to make fleeting im- 
 pressions on a score ? How are we to account for this 
 spirit of restlessness among the clergy? Have they im- 
 bibed the characteristic spirit of the age ? How are we 
 to explain this disposition among so many to move from 
 place to place? Might finance or personal ambition 
 have more to do with their conduct than a call from on 
 high? 
 
 One of the elders of a certain congregation rang the 
 door bell at his pastor's home, and was greeted by the 
 little son. " Johnnie," said the elder, '' where is your 
 papa?" The boy answered, '' Papa is in his study 
 praying, asking God to guide him that he may rightly 
 answer his call to a larger city." ''Well," said the 
 elder, ''where is your mother?" "Oh," said the 
 boy, "she is up -stairs packing the trunks to move." 
 Might that story be true of more than one ? Is it not a 
 fact that those ministers who are constantly resigning to 
 accept another call, to whom someone has justly given 
 the name, " ecclesiastical hobo," seldom improve their 
 opportunities, and very frequently handicap themselves 
 and work harm to pastorates ? There are so many 
 preachers, like children, who imagine that any place is 
 better than the one where they have taken up their 
 habitation, and every time they resign they are certain 
 of leaving Vinegartown and setting out for Honeyville 
 — that they are shaking the dust of a thorn patch off 
 their feet, and are soon to tread the streets of an earthly 
 
8 THE ADVANTAGES OF 
 
 paradise. We have heard of some men who boast of 
 their ability to move from one charge to another hur- 
 riedly, with the utmost expedition and without much ex- 
 ertion. They have the proper number of boxes of suit- 
 able size for all their earthly possessions — from stove 
 polish to their life-size portrait of Luther, who they 
 are anxious shall see as much of this country as possi- 
 ble. Sometimes I am tempted to think that it would 
 be a splendid thing if such men were to be caught up as 
 Philip was, and translated, not to Azotus, but to the 
 New Jerusalem, for they would gain a great deal, and 
 the Church sustain but little loss. It seems to me no 
 foundation can be discovered in the Bible, in experience, 
 nor in wisdom on which to build tenable arguments in 
 favor of short pastorates. 
 
 Let us endeavor to ascertain what are some of the ad- 
 vantages of settled pastorates. They are many and im- 
 portant, both to the pastor and the pastorate. First, to 
 the pastor, because he develops more thoroughly, and 
 consequently becomes a more capable and efficient 
 preacher and pastor. A preacher who serves a congre- 
 gation but a few years will, after his first pastorate, be 
 sorely tempted to visit " the barrel," and to depend on 
 sermons which he previously prepared for another peo- 
 ple. His duties in a new field of labor will be manifold, 
 urgent, diverse, and particularly absorbing because of 
 the novelty which a change of environment always pre- 
 sents. He must acquaint himself with the people in the 
 church and out of it ; he must ascertain the locations o 
 
A SETTLED PASTORATE. 9 
 
 their residences ; he must familiarize himself with the 
 disposition and peculiar temperament of each parish- 
 ioner ; he must also learn some of the history of the 
 place, and there are characteristic features as well as 
 peculiar conditions in each community concerning 
 which he must inform himself, and these, with other 
 duties, preclude the possibility of careful and systematic 
 study, and proper preparation for the pulpit. 
 
 In a new pastorate a preacher finds himself in the 
 midst of many disadvantages. Every day he spends a 
 great deal of time informing himself concerning matters 
 of which his predecessor had certain knowledge, and 
 because he is not conversant with the history of the 
 people, he misdirects and wastes a great deal of energy 
 which should be given to mental enrichment and the 
 development of his pastorate. 
 
 The professor of Greek and Hebrew in Wittenberg 
 Theological Seminary once told our class that if a 
 preacher would not apply himself diligently to his studies 
 ''he would soon pump muddy water." The thought 
 which he expressed in figure has its correspondence in 
 fact. 
 
 The ' ' dead line ' ' must early come to the man who 
 fails to work assiduously in his study, and that does not 
 mean beguiling the time over newspapers and readable 
 magazines, but hard work. With his college and semi- 
 nary training for a foundation, if he fail to work out his 
 own system of theology in accordance with the creed to 
 which he has subscribed, his growth will soon cease 
 
lo THE ADVANTAGES OF 
 
 and he will be doomed to a premature mental grave. 
 Short pastorates render such study impossible. 
 
 But it is not only lack of time, through the pressure 
 of numerous and onerous duties of a new charge, which 
 interferes with the systematic development of the mind. 
 The Scriptures are so ri-ch in themes, so many-sided in 
 their revealed truths, so inexhaustible in their fullness, 
 that the traveling preacher can only set forth and apply 
 a small portion of the whole counsel of God. Besides, 
 the people of his next pastorate are very likely to get 
 precisely the same portion, and by that time it will not 
 be palatable food for the soul so much as spiritual " hard- 
 tack." 
 
 Somewhere I read the statement, by one who had the 
 time and took the pains to make the inquiry, that the 
 ministers who have served the same pastorate for a num- 
 ber of years are the ones who have continued their 
 study of Greek and Hebrew. This is right to the point. 
 The reason is obvious, because the pastors who preach 
 to the same people year after year must depend espec- 
 ially on the unsearchable riches of divine truth, and 
 there are only two avenues to the heart of the sacred 
 Scriptures, viz., the Greek and Hebrew languages, and 
 the Scriptures, — these two are the unfailing fountain of 
 all riches to the preacher. 
 
 A few years after I entered the ministry, one of my 
 parishioners requested me to preach on the subject of pre- 
 destination (the ancestors of the person in question hav- 
 ing belonged to the Presbyterian Church), and I prom- 
 
A SETTLED PASTORATE. II 
 
 ised her the sermon in a fortnight, but instead it was 
 ahnost six months before I had finished the sermon, and 
 then only after I had examined all the passages bearing 
 on the subject in the original languages. Several years 
 ago another member asked me to prepare a sermon on 
 the subject of perdition. At once I addressed myself to 
 the task of investigating all the commentaries in my pos- 
 session and found that, on the verses concerning which 
 I needed information, they were as silent as the place 
 itself. Then I proceeded to re-read Dante's '* Inferno ' ' 
 and Pollok's ''Course of Time." I perused Haley's 
 " Hereafter of Sin," and everything that I could secure 
 that had any relation to the subject, and again, I found 
 that the original languages rendered me more assistance 
 than all other sources combined. 
 
 A long pastorate simply drives a man to the study of 
 the original languages if he would preach living sermons 
 to his people. The preacher who expects to remain a 
 number of years in one pastorate will ever be conscious 
 of the deep and varied needs of his congregation. He 
 will anticipate the spiritual necessities of his people, and 
 he Avill select his themes accordingly, and in their devel- 
 opment his heart will be enriched and his mind trained 
 in the relation of truth to truth and doctrine to doctrine, 
 and thus he will become a safe leader and, eventually, an 
 authoritative expounder of the deep things of God, and 
 a man whose knowledge the people will respect and to 
 whom they will look with confidence. 
 
 He who preaches to a different congregation every 
 
12 THE ADVANTAGES OF 
 
 few years, not only is not so well qualified, but he is like 
 a marksman who shoots in the dark, for it requires as 
 much wisdom to know what to omit as what to present 
 in a sermon. 
 
 The settled pastor not only grows mentally, but his 
 influence is steadily enlarged, and this is a tremendous 
 advantage. It is a serious mistake to suppose that a 
 pastor must live in a large number of towns in order to 
 become acquainted with all the various temperaments of 
 humanity. There are not so many in each class, but 
 there is as great a number of human types in Brookville 
 as there is in Chicago, and I have just as many oppor- 
 tunities for the study of men, women, and children, as 
 a pastor has in New York, and the people of a village 
 or town are as susceptible, as capable of develop- 
 ment in every way as the inhabitants of a metrop- 
 olis. It is not a question of place, then, but oj 
 time, for knowledge of people comes slowly. Ac- 
 quaintance with the history of individuals or families, 
 of their relations to each other, comes even more 
 slowly, and yet such knowledge is absolutely essential 
 to any minister who would do a work which is to be 
 permanent and who would equip himself for the highest 
 usefulness. 
 
 I am altogether certain that the pastor who has faith- 
 fully served the same people for fifteen years is far better 
 qualified to continue his ministrations to that same con- 
 gregation than any other of equal ability, and that he 
 can assume the work of another pastorate with greater 
 
A SETTLED PASTORATE. 13 
 
 success than the man who has served five charges during 
 the same number of years. 
 
 Difficulties have arisen during the last year in my 
 pastorate which were not anticipated and which were 
 different in character from any which preceded them 
 during a ministry of thirteen years — difficulties which 
 could not have been so satisfactorily overcome had it 
 not been for my long experience in the pastorate and 
 my thorough acquaintance with the people and their 
 relations to each other. 
 
 To a faithful pastor each successive year will prove to 
 be more fruitful of good than its predecessor, and the 
 reasons are not far to seek. The cumulative strength, 
 the disciplined mind, the solution of many problems of 
 a varied nature, the increased knowledge of human 
 character, the thorough acquaintance with local condi- 
 tions which a settled pastorate gives to any preacher 
 who works and studies, is the answer to the whole 
 matter. 
 
 A settled pastorate is advantageous also in this, that 
 it develops the ability of a man to adapt himself to the 
 changing conditions of his pastorate and the community 
 in which he labors. All the methods which are success- 
 ful in one pastorate are never equally useful in another. 
 Vicinities and congregations differ of necessity, and 
 the elements which differentiate one congregation from 
 another may require years to master and control. It is 
 also true that the same community and pastorate change 
 vastly. The methods which were quite successful dur- 
 
14 THE ADVANTAGES OF 
 
 ing the first years of my ministry are no longer adequate 
 in the same congregation. The same principles are 
 operative, but their expression has materially changed. 
 Thus I have had to learn to adapt myself and my 
 methods to the changing Conditions of the passing 
 years. Through long years in the same pastorate a 
 minister better learns how to lead his flock, how to 
 direct the work of the Master, to meet emergencies, to 
 supply needs, and to be an efficient overseer. 
 
 Again, a settled pastorate teaches a pastor self-control 
 and discretion. I' do not mean adroitness, but a sincere 
 judiciousness. He will eventually learn that, if he 
 hopes to exercise a salutary influence, he must not only 
 be as ingenious as a spider and as diligent as an ant, 
 but also as harmless as a dove and as wise as a serpent. 
 
 In a pastorate and community there is no clerical 
 requisite so telling, no qualifications so confidence- 
 inspiring, no acquirement so indispensable for holding 
 the respect of the people, and the successful accomplish- 
 ment of the work of the Lord, as self-control, restraint, 
 and balance. The ministerial rover will suffer little as 
 the result of his imprudent conversation and his indis- 
 creet conduct because it requires some time for opposi- 
 tion to crystallize against a pastor, and by that time the 
 ecclesiastical wanderer has packed his effects and gone 
 to scenes of fresh troubles. But when a minister 
 preaches to a congregation to-day with the conscious- 
 ness that he will, in all probability, proclaim the gospel 
 to the same people ten years hence ; when he makes a 
 
A SETTLED PASTORATE. 15 
 
 pastoral call feeling in his heart that he is likely to enter 
 that home many years afterward, he will be very 
 cautious as he mingles with the people in any of the very 
 many possible relations, he will guard his tongue, watch 
 his acts, even his facial expressions, lest he leave a dele- 
 terious impression upon the hearts of the people whom 
 he has been commissioned to bless. 
 
 Another benefit of a settled pastorate is the purifica- 
 tion of a preacher's purposes and the sanctification of 
 his incentives. The '' new minister " in a pastorate has 
 no difficulty in securing a large audience and gaining 
 the attention of the congregation. He will be the out- 
 standing man of the community for several months, 
 while there is nothing novel about the old pastor whose 
 presence creates no stir, no comment, no temporary 
 increase in attendance. He may be tempted to think 
 that he would be more useful and diligent in another 
 charge, but such temptations are to be withstood, 
 remembering that a new broom sweeps well. Prompted 
 by curiosity, large numbers may go to hear a strange 
 minister, but such motives early cease to actuate, and 
 if the people continue regularly to attend the house of 
 God, it is not because he is a new comer, but a faithful 
 preacher of the word. When once the novelty of the 
 minister wears off and the curiosity of the people wanes, 
 when the strangeness of his voice ceases to fascinate, 
 and the congregation becomes accustomed to his pres- 
 ence in the pulpit and in their homes, then he cannot help 
 but realize that his own faithulness and honesty, and 
 
1 6 THE ADVANTAGES OF 
 
 the purity of his preaching, must be depended upon to 
 make him a successful ambassador. 
 
 The long-time pastor will frequently be reminded that 
 his motives need rectifying if they have been selfish and 
 unworthy, for unless his purposes are beneficent and his 
 motives generous, he cannot long hold the respect of 
 the people and enjoy their support. The constituency 
 of a pastorate or community not only becomes acquainted 
 with the chief traits of the minister's character, but 
 eventually they come to know his reason for doing 
 things — his inner life. 
 
 Laziness, irritability, adroitness, selfishness, avarice, 
 slovenliness, indifference to financial obligations, these 
 cannot be successfully covered from the knowledge of 
 the people by a pastor who walks in and out before them 
 for many years ; they gradually learn to know him as he 
 is. A Jiian of doubtful character and questionable mo- 
 tives may manage to remain in almost any pastorate for 
 a- few years, but if he is wrong at heart the fact will 
 make itself manifest. He must ring true if he hopes to 
 prolong his labors through the years in one place. 
 
 A long pastorate also gives a minister stability of pur- 
 pose, and develops sagacity. With rare exceptions a 
 renter will not exercise the same care of a building as 
 an owner. He will not keep the fences in as good re- 
 pair ; he will not be so particular about the proper cul- 
 tivation and enrichment of the soil as if he owned the 
 farm himself. In all likelihood he will plow around a 
 stump instead of digging it out ; he will lay the scythe 
 
A SETTLED PASTORATE. 17 
 
 to noxious weeds in lieu of extirpating them. Recently, 
 I heard a farmer say that he could determine whether 
 or not the man whom he employed by the month in- 
 tended to apply for work the next year by the manner 
 in which he performed his labor. 
 
 When the short-time pastor anticipates an unpleasant 
 event, when he feels that trouble is brewing, he will be 
 sorely tempted to postpone the crisis, if possible, so that 
 his successor will have something to occupy his time and 
 develop his sagacity and judgment ; and, '^ for the sake 
 of his wife's health," he seeks a new climate about forty 
 miles east or west of the coming temptest. But when a 
 man has settled down in a pastorate he endeavors to 
 counteract disruptive influences ; he prepares to meet 
 any inevitable crisis, even emergencies do not take him 
 wholly unawares. Such a man not only makes the most 
 of the present, but he is not forgetful of the future, and 
 accordingly he formulates his plans for the erection of a 
 new church edifice, or the remodeling of the present 
 structure if needed. He keeps in touch with the best 
 methods, and employs them in the different departments 
 of his work ; he looks after the varied interests of the 
 pastorate ; he directs the nurture of the young, quickly 
 reclaims the erring, and never ceases to warn the un- 
 wary. In short, he considers the interests and well- 
 being of his people rather than consult his own pleasure 
 and advantage. Hence, what to the settled pastor be- 
 comes a steadfast purpose, to the itinerant is a danger- 
 ous and pressing temptation. It is therefore obvious 
 
1 8 THE ADVANTAGES OF 
 
 that the advantages of a long pastorate to a minister cail 
 scarcely be exaggerated because it affords him the best 
 opportunities for study, for the development of resource- 
 fulness, self-control, and all those qualifications which 
 are so essential to a successful ministry. 
 
 Let us now consider the advantages of a settled pas- 
 torate to the pastorate itself. To the congregation the 
 frequent change of pastors is injurious. It is in the na- 
 ture of a breaking up, a small revolution. 
 
 The selection of a new pastor is a serious responsibil- 
 ity, and often a grievous disappointment. It is usually 
 a difficult thing for a people to adjust themselves to the 
 peculiarities in thought, delivery, mannerisms, and 
 methods of a new pastor two or three times every de- 
 cade. The frequent change of pastors in a congrega- 
 tion is much like the employment of a different con- 
 tractor every month while a building is in process of 
 erection. 
 
 A congregation will not grow numerically nor spirit- 
 ually, the flock will not hold together, the fold will 
 have little attraction for those without, when the voice 
 of the shepherd is ever strange. Neither can a new 
 pastor lead the sheep into the richest pastures, because 
 they will follow him with reluctance, at a distance, if 
 not with suspicion. 
 
 A long pastorate enables the people to repose their 
 confidence in their spiritual leader, for confidence is a 
 plant of slow growth. 
 
 When once the people have witnessed their minister 
 
A SETTLED PASTORATE. 19 
 
 carry himself through circumstances which try one's 
 faith, without losing his poise, patience, and charity ; 
 when once he has been repeatedly tested in the midst of 
 the most tempting situations before their very eyes, and 
 has not failed, then they will believe in him, and it is 
 wonderful to what lengths they will trust him. All this 
 is an incalculable advantage to a pastorate. It saves it 
 from many difficulties and dangers, and frequently from 
 dissension and disruption. 
 
 Nothing can be more encouraging to a pastor's heart 
 than to behold the unmistakable evidences of the abso- 
 lute confidence of his people in his wisdom, integrity, 
 and fidelity to conviction. But the price of such en- 
 couragement is long hours of study, unfaltering faith in 
 God, unfailing love, and untiring efforts for the welfare 
 of his people through many years. How helpful to a 
 people is the continued acquaintance of a pastor with 
 their individual and family life. During a few years it 
 is possible to learn the names of all the members of a 
 pastorate, but years and years of time are required for a 
 man to become so well acquainted with the disposition 
 and history of a family that he will be able to understand 
 much that is unintelligible to the ordinary observer. 
 He learns to be more sympathetic and charitable than a 
 new pastor could possibly be, not knowing what is per- 
 fectly clear to him. For this reason a long-time pastor 
 can mollify the asperities and modify the grievances of 
 his people ; and frequently he can adjust their differ- 
 ences, and, by proper explanations, divert those un- 
 
20 THE ADVANTAGES OF 
 
 pleasantnesses which misunderstandings so often bring. 
 He who has served the same congregation for many 
 years is enabled to see every new situation in the light 
 of history, so that he knows what plans to pursue, what 
 measures to adopt, and what factors to introduce. Be- 
 cause he is familiar with the chief joys and sorrows, he 
 knows precisely how to direct the conversation, what 
 counsel to give, what knowledge to impart, and what to 
 leave unsaid. 
 
 Think, too, of the tremendous advantage of a settled 
 pastorate to the children. Their pastor becomes 
 acquainted with them from infancy. He is one of the 
 first to enter the home, at the altar he baptizes them into 
 .Christ, in the catechetical class he instructs them in the 
 things of God, he confirms them, officiates at their mar- 
 riage, and stands in the same relation to their children 
 and their children's children. 
 
 Last spring I confirmed the first catechetical class, 
 the members of which I baptized in their infancy, and 
 it was a rare pleasure, a satisfaction which can never 
 come to the man who is ever seeking new fields of labor. 
 It is but natural that the pastor who has taken the lambs 
 in his arms, who has fed them the milk of God's word, 
 who has jealously guarded them against enemies, is better 
 qualified to minister to their needs during the years of 
 their maturity. Then, too, such a pastor can secure 
 unity of purpose in a congregation. By virtue of his 
 continued instruction from the pulpit and his influence 
 in the home, the people become increasingly like- 
 
A SETTLED PASTORATE. 21 
 
 minded, and in unity there is great executive strength 
 as well as marvelous attractive power — both of which 
 work mightily for the upbuilding of the Church. 
 
 It is to the congregation's inestimable advantage that 
 the pastor should remain until he becomes a part of the 
 people, inseparably linked with their inner lives, identi- 
 fied with all their dearest interests. Unless his ministry 
 extends over a number of years, he will leave them 
 much as he found them in their way of thinking, believ- 
 ing, and doing. 
 
 There is no real reason for surprise that some of our 
 churches hold unscriptural views and that many of their 
 practices are un -Lutheran when we remember that dur- 
 ing the past twenty-five years they have had almost as 
 many pastors who resigned before they had become fully 
 conversant with the conditions and needs of the people. 
 Let a pastor once serve a people until he gains their 
 implicit confidence and he can lead them whither he 
 wills. He can introduce any reasonable methods, 
 disabuse their minds, correct their erroneous prac- 
 tices, and, if he has proved himself to be a worthy 
 and able leader, he can revolutionize the whole organi- 
 zation. 
 
 The mere fact that a pastor is quite well known in a 
 community is a decided advantage to a congregation in 
 many ways. He will be asked to officiate at weddings, 
 his services will be secured at funerals by those who are 
 not identified with any church, for the sole reason that 
 he is known, and through such ministrations his influ- 
 
2 2 THE ADVANTAGES OF 
 
 ence is strengthened and people are persuaded to unite 
 with the church. When a sincere preacher walks cir- 
 cumspectly before hundreds of people year after year, 
 when his mental capacity has been tested, his motives 
 scrutinized, his purposes analyzed, and his usefulness 
 proved, criticism is disarmed, and, while the whole com- 
 munity is enriched by his service, his own congregation 
 reaps a particular benefit. When once the whole com- 
 munity regards a minister as a public servant, as a friend 
 of its present and future well-being, when it looks to 
 him for leadership (as it never does to a new-comer) 
 and authority on all those things which concern the 
 public weal, it cannot help but be attracted to his pulpit 
 and feel kindly toward his people. 
 
 At the time when a pastor first assumes the duties of 
 a new pastorate he is regarded as ^^ the minister,'" and 
 it is not until the people of the community come to 
 think of him as ' ' ^ citizen ' ' that he can mingle with 
 men in public matters, that he will be able to create 
 sentiment in favor of the right issue in municipal affairs. 
 Many years of service in one pastorate, therefore, means 
 prestige, and prestige means influence, and the greater 
 the influence which a pastor can wield in a community 
 the greater are the benefits which must accrue to the 
 church of which he is pastor. 
 
 That the settled pastor is a man of large influence is 
 proved by such men as Richard Storrs, Theodore 
 Cuyler, Charles Parkhurst, Joseph Seiss, Washington 
 Gladden, who remained long enough in one parish for 
 
A SETTLED TASTOR ATE. 23 
 
 the world to find out where they were. To all of us 
 Beecher and Plymouth are inseparable names. You 
 cannot point to a man of national reputation and influ- 
 ence who belongs to a denomination having the itiner- 
 ant system, except bishops, as John H. Vincent, and 
 he because he is a bishop permanently. 
 
 The idea, prevalent among some ministers, that a 
 young preacher should first seek a small parish and there 
 practice for a few years, then seek a larger field and do 
 some more selfish practicing, then under pretense of 
 another call from the Holy Spirit make another sudden 
 motion toward a more populous town, is a principle 
 which, it seems to me, is unwise, un -Lutheran, un- 
 scriptural. The population of a town is by no means 
 to be regarded uniformly as the true measure of a pas- 
 tor's ability and influence. It is rather the size and the 
 piety of his congregation which determine these. The 
 people of any community have practically the same de- 
 sires, needs, and capacities, so that it ought to be the 
 determined purpose and the holy ambition of a pastor 
 to build up a large and righteous congregation, no difler- 
 ence where he may be laboring. 
 
 If a man has the indomitable will, the tireless energy, 
 and the unreserved consecration, he can not only build 
 up a congregation numerically, but he can develop his 
 people in liberality, loyalty, piety, intelligence, culture, 
 and refinement. He can cultivate their taste for any 
 and every thing that is uplifting and edifying, and he 
 can fashion them according to any type. 
 
24 THE ADVANTAGES OF A SETTLED PASTORATE. 
 
 As to how long a minister should remain in one pas- 
 torate depends, for the most part, not so much on the 
 congregation as upon the pastor's ability, his diligence, 
 sincerity, discretion, and faithfulness. 
 
 It matters very little where he labors, but the pastor 
 must work with a contented mind, for he can never be 
 at his best with one eye open for a more pleasant parish, 
 than the deacon's wife can be attentive to morning 
 prayer while counting the number of new hats in the 
 congregation. 
 
 If you would do a work which shall survive the years 
 of your own life, if you would stamp your own person- 
 ality on the world as a servant of the Most High, if you 
 would do your utmost to assist in the spiritualizing of 
 humanity, then be not as anxious to " get up " in the 
 world as to ' ' build up ' ' in the most holy faith those 
 who are committed to your oversight. 
 
 Again I say, it is not where you are that is of cardinal 
 importance, but what you are doing where you are. 
 

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