^^^^•iOFPRW^T^^^ 
 
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 SEP 23 1918 
 
 BV 4017 .G467 
 George, R. j. 1844-1911 
 Lectures in pastoral 
 t heo logy 
 
LECTURES IN 
 PASTORAL THEOLOGY 
 
 SEP 23 1918 
 R. J. Jeorge ^^LOSICAlSlj^ 
 
 PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY AND CHURCH HISTORY IN THE 
 COVENANTER SEMINARY, ALLEGHENY, PA., 1892-I9IO 
 
 SECOND SERIES 
 PASTOR AND PEOPLE 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION 
 
 By rev. prof. D. B. WILLSON, D.D. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 CHRISTIAN NATION PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 1914 
 
TO 
 WILLIAM SLATER 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 Rev. W. McLeod George, the writer of the Foreword 
 
 for the First Series of these Lectures, passed away on 
 the 2pth of September, ipi2. 
 
 In writing this Foreword, it is with the memory of 
 many years as an associate of the author — in the days 
 of his student life in the Seminary, and also during the 
 period of his professorship here. 
 
 Many fresh from University studies, take chairs as 
 teachers of the on-coming ministry, and knowing 
 naught of the joys and sorrows of Pastoral Care. This 
 teacher had served many years as a pastor, and had 
 gathered to himself the love of an attached people. He 
 was an under-shepherd of the Great Shepherd of the 
 sheep. He was a faithful shepherd; and these Lec- 
 tures enter into the details of a pastor's life in a way 
 that cannot but be helpful to pastors and people. 
 
 D. B. WiLLSON. 
 
 Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 
 Pittsburgh, Pa. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PART I — THE PASTOR AND THE CONGREGATION 
 
 LECTURE ^^^^ 
 
 I Organizing for Work i 
 
 n Organizing for Work (Continued) .... 9 
 
 HI Getting the People to Work I7 
 
 IV The Prayer- meeting 28 
 
 V The Prayer- meeting — Helps and Hindr.\nces 40 
 VI The Relation of the Sabbath School to the 
 
 Church 53 
 
 VII The Relation of the Pastor to the Sabbath 
 
 School 63 
 
 VIII The Pastor and the Teachers' Normal Class 71 
 
 IX The Pastor and the Teachers' Meeting . . 82 
 
 X The jManagement of the Sabbath School . . 93 
 
 XI The Graded System 106 
 
 XII The Home Department 115 
 
 XIII Young People's Societies 124 
 
 XIV The Pastor and the Young People's Society 13S 
 XV The Pastor and the Missionary Societies . 146 
 
 PART II — THE PASTOR AND THE CHURCH 
 COURTS 
 
 XVI The Pastor in the Session I57 
 
 XVII The Reception of :Members 165 
 
 XVIII The Election of Officers I74 
 
 XIX The Ordination and Installation of Officers 181 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 LECTURE PAGE 
 
 XX The ExERasE of Discipune 189 
 
 XXI Instituting Process 200 
 
 XXII Conducting a Trial 210 
 
 XXIII Issuing a Case 219 
 
 XXIV Removal of a Case to a Higher Court . . . 229 
 XXV The Pastor in the Higher Courts of the 
 
 Church 239 
 
PART I 
 
 THE PASTOR 
 
 IN RELATION TO THE ACTIVITIES 
 
 OF THE CONGREGATION 
 
SECOND SERIES 
 
 LECTURE I 
 
 ORGANIZING FOR WORK 
 
 The general subject of the course of lectures in 
 Pastoral Theology the present year will be: The 
 Pastor in Relation to the Activities of the Church. 
 
 A congregation is to be viewed as a band of work- 
 ers in the Lord's vineyard with the pastor at the head. 
 In the upbuilding of the Kingdom of God, the pastor 
 is to be not only a builder, but a wise Master-Builder 
 whose business it is to lay out the work and direct 
 the efforts of the workmen. *Tor the Son of Man is 
 as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and 
 gave authority to his servants, and to every man 
 his work, and commanded the porter to watch." 
 (Mark xiii, 34.) There is a vast amount of unused 
 moral power in the church to-day, and the minister 
 who can call out this latent talent and direct it into 
 channels of useful service confers an immense bless- 
 ing on the workers and gives a mighty impulse to the 
 work. 
 
 "All at it, and always at it" is a good motto for 
 pastor and people. 
 
 I 
 
 The Advantages of Having a Congregation Well Or- 
 ganized for Work. 
 
 I. It adds the strength of the people to that of 
 
 the pastor. 
 Dr. Thomas Guthrie said, that, as he looked over 
 
 I 
 
2 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 his congregation, three solemn thoughts passed 
 through his mind: ''first, What a great variety of 
 spiritual needs these people have; second, What 
 solemn changes a few years will make among them ; 
 third, What vast resources of power and possibilities 
 for usefulness are here ! " 
 
 Young gentlemen, however gifted one may be as a 
 preacher, he is not successful as a pastor unless he 
 can arouse this moral force to action, and direct it to 
 systematic effort in upbuilding the Kingdom of God. 
 He is not a great general who is merely a skillful 
 swordsman. He must have ability to organize an 
 army, to direct the movements of battalions, and 
 brigades, and regiments; to command the ready 
 obedience of all his under officers, and to inspire the 
 rank and file of his soldiery with enthusiasm, courage, 
 and devotion. 
 
 The pastoral office demands the faculty of leader- 
 ship. No amount of personal effort will make up 
 for the lack of ability to organize a working force; 
 and a ministry, otherwise weak, may become powerful 
 by being able to command the strength of the people. 
 
 Dr. Wilcox, in The Pastor and His Flock, says: 
 "There is some danger that you young theologues 
 may, yourselves, underrate the importance of setting 
 your people at work. You may feel strong and able 
 to carry things along, whether your people bestir 
 themselves or not. You have little idea of the folly 
 of that. Did you ever put a bright reflector behind 
 a gas burner? Did you notice how it doubled the 
 light? Your people are the reflector behind you. 
 Lives from them that harmonize with words from 
 you will double the power of the words. It is a good 
 rule in church work to do nothing yourself, that you 
 can get some one else to do well." 
 
 2. Christian work develops the talents and in- 
 creases the graces of the people. 
 
ORGANIZING FOR WORK 3 
 
 The Pastor who does all the work himself wrongs 
 the flock. He deprives them of one of the highest 
 privileges of the gospel, vis, the privilege of service. 
 Talents increase by use. Grace grows by exercise. 
 It is perilous to the soul to be awakened to a sense of 
 duty and then fail to perform it. *'Lord, what wilt 
 thou have me to do?" is the natural inquiry of a new- 
 born soul ; and woe to the pastor who has no reply 
 to give ! Experience shows that the workers are the 
 growing members of a congregation, and that the 
 drones die. 
 
 3. Work promotes the peace of a congregation. 
 
 An elder, being asked the secret of the long-con- 
 tinued peace of his congregation, answered: ''Our 
 Pastor has kept us so busy working that we have had 
 no time to fight." That is the true Christian philos- 
 ophy. 'Walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the 
 lusts of the flesh." Keep the people walking or they 
 will fall to lusting. 
 
 It is unnecessary to speak further of the advantages 
 of organization. Enough has been said to show, that, 
 to be good pastors, you must be good organizers. 
 Some have much more of the faculty than others. 
 The more you have of it, the more encouragement you 
 have to exercise it; and the less you have of it, the 
 more you need to cultivate what you have. 
 
 Granting the necessity for organization, how shall 
 the pastor proceed? To a certain extent, the congre- 
 gation is organized when the pastor is placed over 
 it : it has its Board of Elders ; and should have its 
 Board of Deacons. But there still remains a two- 
 fold work of organization : viz, organizing the of- 
 ficers for systematic, official work; and organizing 
 the people for actual service, under the officers. We 
 will consider these in their order. 
 
4 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 II 
 
 Organizing the Eldership. 
 
 Murphy says : "To the Elders of the Church, prop- 
 erly belongs the management of its spiritual affairs, 
 but that is not by any means the whole of their duty. 
 They are also to be leaders in the various activities 
 for which the united body of God's people is respon- 
 sible. It is their duty to be the counselors of the 
 pastor in devising and putting into operation plans 
 for the better carrying on of the Lord's work. In 
 the session, properly, should originate efforts — and 
 some of them should be originating constantly — for in- 
 citing, and vigorously conducting, the work of the 
 Church. By the Elders, preeminently, should the 
 activity be carried forward as well as supervised." If 
 this is true, and it is true, the pastor's work as an 
 organizer must begin with the eldership. 
 
 I. The pastor should use his influence to secure a 
 large session. 
 
 Of course I mean large in proportion to the size of 
 the congregation. It is the business of the session to 
 determine when there shall be an increase of its mem- 
 bers. There is often a disposition to avoid an elec- 
 tion of elders, lest the peace of the congregation should 
 be disturbed. Some pastors prefer to have a small 
 session, because they think it is easier to control. 
 This policy is not ordinarily the best. The advan- 
 tages of a large session are ; 
 
 a. It is more representative of the whole con- 
 gregation. 
 
 It often happens that where two or three leading 
 family connections control the session for generations, 
 other families remain in obscurity and manifest little 
 interest in the work of the congregation, because they 
 have no representative in its counsels. This is a loss 
 of power. 
 
ORGANIZING FOR WORK 5 
 
 b. It gives greater weight to the decisions of the 
 session. 
 
 It is very important that the decisions of a church 
 court command the confidence and respect of all sub- 
 ject to its authority. This can hardly be expected 
 when two or three elders undertake to legislate for a 
 large congregation. 
 
 c. It enlists more minds in planning and more 
 hands in working. 
 
 It is very desirable that plans for church work be 
 originated and matured in the session. If the session 
 is feeble and the congregation is strong and vigorous, 
 it will always be found that the army will outrun 
 its officers. This inevitably results in confusion. It 
 is not only in planning but in working that the ad- 
 vantage is seen. The more you can enlist in formu- 
 lating the plans, the more will be ready to cooperate 
 in executing them. 
 
 d. It lightens the responsibilities of the pastor. 
 The pastor who lends his influence to keep the 
 
 session small in order that he may be able to control 
 its decisions, is simply loading himself with respon- 
 sibility. When everything is running smoothly, this 
 one-man power may be very convenient; but when 
 difficulties arise, as in differences of view about church 
 policy, or unhappy cases of discipline, the pastor may 
 be glad to share the responsibility with a good strong 
 board of elders. 
 
 If I were asked as to the number of elders desir- 
 able, I should say, that, there should be three elders 
 for the first twenty-five members ; and an additional 
 elder for every twenty-five additional members; so 
 that, if there were one hundred members, there would 
 be six elders; if two hundred members, there would 
 be ten elders; after that, I would add one elder for 
 every fifty or one hundred members. 
 
6 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 2. The pastor should instruct the elders as to their 
 duties. 
 
 Many unwarranted criticisms are made on the ef- 
 ficiency of the eldership. Elders undertake grave re- 
 sponsibilities as members of church courts and as 
 shepherds of the flock. They are expected to visit the 
 sick, and to counsel the erring, and to feed the 
 lambs and to perform many of the most delicate and 
 difficult duties along with the pastor; and yet they 
 are thrust into it without previous instruction or train- 
 ing, w^hile the pastor has spent years in preparation 
 for his work. It is due them that the pastor 
 kindly and carefully unfold to them the duties of their 
 office. 
 
 The young minister should be modest about as- 
 suming to know more about sessional business and 
 pastoral work, when he is just entering upon it, than 
 elders who have been in the exercise of their office 
 for a score of years. They have a better acquaintance 
 with the field than he has, and possibly a religious 
 experience deeper than his own. He must not assume 
 too much superior wisdom or they may reply in the 
 words of Eliphaz the Temanite: "With us are both 
 the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than 
 thy father." (Job xv, lo.) But might it not be a 
 very helpful thing, when young men are chosen to 
 the eldership, if the pastor should say to them : "You 
 have a great many difficult duties in common with 
 me. We had instruction in the Seminary concerning 
 our duties as connected with church courts, and with 
 the Sabbath school and prayer-meeting, as to pas- 
 toral visitation, visiting the sick and dealing with the 
 unconverted; and I should be glad to study it over 
 with you, and to give you the benefit of the sugges- 
 tions given to me." Such a proposal would find a 
 ready response and would bring pastor and youthful 
 elders into very close sympathy in their church work. 
 
ORGANIZING FOR WORK 7 
 
 3. There should be regular meetings of session. 
 
 It is useless to talk about regular systematic work 
 without this. In the country congregations quarterly 
 meetings should be held, and in towns and cities the 
 meetings should be monthly. 
 
 4. The congregation should be districted among 
 the elders. 
 
 a. There may be as many districts as there are 
 elders. 
 
 b. The division may be made geographically or 
 by families. 
 
 c. To promote acquaintance, the elders may ex- 
 change districts. 
 
 5. The district elder should have definite duties. 
 
 a. To have personal acquaintance with all the 
 families in his district. 
 
 b. To visit the sick, and report to the session 
 cases of sickness. 
 
 c. To find out those anxious about their souls, 
 or in danger of temptation, or out of the way. 
 
 d. To see that all attend ordinances, prayer- 
 meeting, Sabbath school, and class meetings. 
 
 Some of the young people's societies have Look-out 
 committees. Some good is done by them, and some 
 harm, but they cannot take the place of the elders 
 in the spiritual oversight of the flock. 
 
 e. Each district elder should report at each meet- 
 ing of the session. 
 
 6. The session should have some standing commit- 
 tees. 
 
 a. A prayo'^-meeting committee. The duties of 
 this committee would be: (i) To select 
 leaders; (2) To select subjects; (3) To ar- 
 range cottage prayer-meetings; (4) To pro- 
 mote interest in all prayer-meetings. 
 
 b. A committee on Sabbath Schools. The duties 
 of this committee would be: (i) To plan 
 
8 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 for the growth of the school. Every congre- 
 gation has some persons who ought to be in 
 the Sabbath school and are not. Judicious 
 management would bring in many of them. 
 (2) To counsel with the superintendent in the 
 choice of teachers; (3) To assist in grading 
 the school; (4) To make provision for the 
 instruction of inquirers, 
 c. A committee on music, (i) To provide 
 training in music for the congregation; (2) 
 To provide Psalm-books or Psalters; (3) To 
 secure proper leaders. 
 
 Ill 
 
 The Inspiration to Work. 
 
 Spiritual devotion is never hurtful to work, but 
 work is sometimes hard on spiritual devotion. Too 
 much engrossing social work throughout the week 
 may bring the pastor into the pulpit on Sabbath morn- 
 ing in a doubting, fretful, scolding frame of mind, 
 than which nothing can be more deadening. Let time 
 be reserved, after the disheartening labors with human 
 nature, for intimate communion with the divine na- 
 ture; and however impossible you have found the 
 people, come into your pulpit with a full sense of 
 the truth that with God all things are possible. 
 Work hard, but be serene in the assurance that the 
 increase is with God, and bring this mood into your 
 pulpit every Sabbath morning. 
 
LECTURE II 
 ORGANIZING FOR WORK (Continued) 
 
 There is one department of congregational work 
 which has not received the consideration which its 
 importance demands. I mean the financial depart- 
 ment. Works on Pastoral Theology, as a rule, con- 
 tain little on this subject. It is only in recent years 
 that Church courts have given it attention. The con- 
 sequence is that congregational church work has de- 
 clined for lack of financial support ; suitable provision 
 is not made for pastors, and the salary promised is 
 often far in arrears ; while the public schemes of the 
 church languish for the lack of means. In the mean- 
 time, God's people grow fat of purse and lean of soul. 
 The Scriptures declare (Prov. xi, 25) : "The liberal 
 soul shall be made fat;" and Paul exhorts: 'There- 
 fore, as ye abound in everything, in faith, and utter- 
 ance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your 
 love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also." 
 (2 Cor. viii, 7.) 
 
 Following in the line of the last lecture I announce 
 as the Fourth General Point: 
 
 IV 
 
 Organizing a Financial Board. 
 
 I. The elders, in ordinary cases, should not be the 
 financial managers of the congregation, 
 a. Because the qualifications for the two offices 
 are entirely distinct. 
 A man may be an excellent elder, and yet be worse 
 than useless as a financial officer. 
 
 9 
 
10 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 b. The duties of the two offices are liable to con- 
 flict. 
 
 No argument is necessary to show that it would 
 be unwise for the pastor to involve himself in the 
 financial management of the congregation, because 
 it would interfere with the discharge of his pastoral 
 duties. With the exception of the pastor's salary, 
 the same principles apply to the eldership. 
 
 c. Either office is enough for one man. 
 
 The men who fill offices in the Church are usually 
 busy men. They serve without compensation and 
 are compelled to give most of their attention to their 
 worldly affairs. It is therefore unwise to ask one 
 man to fill two offices, of such importance and so en- 
 tirely distinct. 
 
 d. The work should be distributed. 
 
 This is according to the Gospel. "Bear ye one an- 
 other's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ," (Gal. 
 vi, 2.) 'Tor I mean not that other men be eased, 
 and ye burdened." (2 Cor. viii, 13.) Both the la- 
 bors and the honors in a congregation should be dis- 
 tributed. 
 
 2. If possible, have a Board of Deacons. 
 
 I say "if possible," because there are some things 
 that are not possible with men ; and one of these may 
 be the securing of a Board of Deacons in an anti- 
 deacon congregation. One of our ministers of mas- 
 terly ability once declared to me, "I zmll have them." 
 But he did not "have them." For while he was able 
 to press the congregation to the point of electing them, 
 when the persons chosen absolutely refused to serve, 
 he was powerless. I do not advise disturbing the 
 peace of a congregation on this subject, but there 
 are good reasons why a pastor should labor to this 
 end. 
 
 a. Because this is a Scriptural oflfice. 
 
 The New Testament designates this office as in- 
 
ORGANIZING FOR WORK ii 
 
 stituted in the Apostolic Church; it prescribes the 
 quahfications for the office ; it prescribes the manner 
 of induction into the office; it defines the duties be- 
 longing to the office; and gives the example of the 
 choice and ordination of the first deacons. Acts vi, 
 1-8; I Tim. iii, 8-13. 
 
 b. It is in accordance with the standards of our 
 Church. 
 
 "The Scripture doth hold out deacons as distinct 
 officers in the Church, whose office is perpetual." 
 {Book of Discipline, page 24.) The controversy in 
 our Church on the Deacon question was not so much 
 on the Scripturalness of the office as on the extent 
 of its powers. 
 
 3. Endeavor to have the Board of Deacons thor- 
 oughly organized. 
 
 The relation of the pastor to the Board of Deacons 
 is not by any means the same as his relation to the 
 session. By virtue of his office as pastor, he is mod- 
 erator of the session, but he is not even a member 
 of the Board of Deacons. 
 
 a. The Board of Deacons is a self-organizing 
 body. It chooses its own officers, usually 
 electing them annually. 
 
 b. The regular officers are: President, Vice- 
 President, Secretary and Treasurer. 
 
 In some congregations, the congregation elects a 
 treasurer who may or may not be a member of the 
 Board of Deacons. When this is done, the Board of 
 Deacons need not elect a treasurer. 
 
 c. There should be one standing committee, i. e., 
 on the care of the poor. 
 
 "The poor ye have always with you," says Christ. 
 There are few congregations that have no poor. The 
 first demand for deacons was to take care of the 
 poor, and it is one of the most sacred duties of their 
 office. 
 
12 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 Special committees may be appointed as required. 
 
 4. Seek to have a well-planned financial system. 
 There are various systems of finance in use in the 
 Church. One method is to depend entirely upon the 
 voluntary offerings of the people, with no subscrip- 
 tions binding to any definite amount, and no account 
 taken of individual contributions. Another method is 
 by subscriptions made annually and paid at stated 
 times — weekly, monthly, or quarterly. A third 
 method is by subscriptions made in advance and pay- 
 ment made by envelope. A fourth method is by vol- 
 untary contributions through the envelope, accom- 
 panied with the name of the donor, and credit on the 
 treasurer's book, with a quarterly, semi-annual or an- 
 nual report of the amount given by each one. Per- 
 haps no one system is suited to every locaHty. A 
 system in order to be good must possess the follow- 
 ing requisites: 
 
 a. It should secure the equalization of burdens. 
 No system is good which allows half the congre- 
 gation to shirk paying. 
 
 b. It should secure the prompt payment of the 
 pastor's salary, and other current expenses. 
 
 Many congregations permit their pastor's salary to 
 fall far in arrears. It is a species of dishonesty. It 
 often works great hardship to the minister and injury 
 to the people. I remember to have seen a suggestive 
 picture in a barber-shop. It was of a dead watch- 
 dog. Its legend ran — "Old Trust is dead : poor pay 
 killed him." It would make a not inappropriate epi- 
 taph over the graves of some faithful pastors. 
 
 c. It should secure the full support of the Pub- 
 lic Schemes of the Church. 
 
 When appropriations are made by the Supreme Ju- 
 dicatory for the carrying forward of the Church's 
 public work, they constitute a moral obligation, bind- 
 ing upon the congregations. Any financial scheme 
 
ORGANIZING FOR WORK 13 
 
 which fails to provide for the meeting of this obliga- 
 tion is fatally defective. 
 
 d. There should be business-like methods of 
 keeping accounts. 
 
 Great harm is done by carelessness in this par- 
 ticular. It is important, in forming a financial sys- 
 tem, to avoid unnecessary burdens in the way of book- 
 keeping, on an unsalaried treasurer; but whatever the 
 system the bookkeeping should be accurate and busi- 
 ness-like. 
 
 e. It should furnish to the people full informa- 
 tion as to the use made of their money. 
 
 There is a reasonable demand on the part of the 
 people to know what is done with their offerings, and 
 money should follow the will of the donors. Strenu- 
 ous opposition is sometimes made to the publishing 
 of reports of the contributions by individual mem- 
 bers, on the ground that it is contrary to the Saviour's 
 command: "Let not thy left hand know what thy 
 right hand doeth." I knew such a case where a 
 prominent elder withheld his contributions altogether 
 on this plea. A brother elder in explaining this el- 
 der's opposition to the publishing of the quarterly 
 reports, said : "Mr. Blank does not want to let his 
 left hand know that his right hand is not doing any- 
 thing." After all, this is the secret of much of the 
 opposition to a public exhibit of the finances of a 
 congregation. 
 
 Finally, give liberally yourself, and make the people 
 give. It is their life. Murphy, in his "Pastoral The- 
 ology," says : "A great problem of practical impor- 
 tance which in every quarter now presses for solution 
 is, how the liberality of Christians may be brought 
 up to anything like its capabilities or to the crying 
 demands of the perishing millions. Unbounded 
 means are in the hands of the people of God. Vastly 
 more of them could be expended in a most advan- 
 
14 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 tageous manner. The need for them which is de- 
 veloped in almost every department of Christian en- 
 terprise is appalling. How then can the consciences 
 of the professed people of God be so aroused that 
 they will look upon the matter as pressing upon them, 
 and feel their responsibility as they ought? How 
 can they be persuaded to believe God fully when he 
 commands, ''Give and it shall be given unto you ; good 
 measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and run- 
 ning over shall men give unto your bosom. For with 
 the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be 
 measured to you again !" 
 
 V 
 
 Organising the Congregation. 
 
 1. The congregation may be incorporated. 
 
 It is the judgment of many that all our congre- 
 gations should be incorporated. It is thought to give 
 greater security in holding their property ; where this 
 is done the charter must, of course, conform to the 
 laws of the commonwealth ; and the congregation must 
 strictly observe the terms of its charter. This usually 
 prescribes the number of its financial officers and the 
 manner of calling meetings for the transaction of 
 legal business. 
 
 2. Great care should be taken in framing a charter 
 to secure the property to the Reformed Presby- 
 terian Church. 
 
 See the form of Charter of the Reformed Presby- 
 terian Congregation of Eighth Street, Pittsburgh, 
 as published in their memorial volume of 1891. 
 
 3. Whether incorporated or not, the congregation 
 as such should be organized. 
 
 Presbyterianism vests the spiritual control of a con- 
 
ORGANIZING FOR WORK 15 
 
 gregation in the session, and commits the manage- 
 ment of its financial affairs to an ordained Board of 
 Deacons. These officers in the discharge of their 
 duties, are subject to the courts of the Lord's House. 
 Nevertheless they are the servants of the people, and 
 it is eminently proper that they should statedly re- 
 port to the congregation concerning the work en- 
 trusted to them. Besides, there are questions affect- 
 ing the interests of the congregation which do not 
 properly belong to any of the official boards, or, at 
 least, on which the voice of the people should be heard. 
 
 4. The officers of the congregation should be 
 president and secretary. 
 
 These are all the officers really necessary to the 
 transaction of business ; other officers may be made 
 necessary by circumstances, or by the terms of the 
 charter. For instance, a Board of Trustees may be 
 required in order to hold the property. 
 
 5. The congregation should hold a regular annual 
 meeting. 
 
 The business of this meeting should be: 
 
 a. To hear a report by the session on the state 
 of religion in the congregation. 
 
 This should be prepared with great care and with 
 strict regard to the facts ; with close appeal to the con- 
 sciences of the people; dealing faithfully with their 
 failings and short-comings, and making full recogni- 
 tion of their progress and attainments. 
 
 b. A report from the Financial Board. 
 
 It is of the utmost importance that the people be 
 kept in closest sympathy with the financial manage- 
 ment. There can be no success in this line without 
 the fullest confidence and heartiest cooperation. And 
 this cannot be expected unless the congregation is 
 taken confidentially into the plans of the financial 
 board. 
 
 c. Reports from all the congregational societies. 
 
i6 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 It is desirable that all the organizations of the con- 
 gregation be permeated by a common church life. To 
 this end there should be annual reports of the work 
 of each : the Sabbath schools, the missionary socie- 
 ties, the young people's societies, should all be repre- 
 sented. The reports should be written and preserved, 
 and thus the materials for a complete history of the 
 activities of the congregation would be provided for 
 future use. 
 
 d. Transaction of congregational business. 
 
 It has already been intimated that the congregation 
 may have business peculiar to itself, which does not 
 legitimately belong to any of the official boards; and 
 any or all of the reports may originate business call- 
 ing for the action of the congregation. 
 
 e. The cultivation of christian fellowship. 
 
 Dr. Wilcox suggests, 'Tn announcing this meeting 
 call special attention to it as one of the events in the 
 round of the year. Let the roll of members be called. 
 Let each one answer to his name with a text of the 
 bible or a christian sentiment. Let a simple collation 
 be served to promote familiar acquaintance among the 
 members." 
 
 Gentlemen: I am persuaded that what is now a 
 mere formality, if not a drag, can be made a means of 
 arousing new interest in congregational life and work. 
 Still, it has always been a problem in Church life, 
 how to get the members to attend the congregational 
 meetings. One of our ministers, supplying a vacant 
 congregation, was asked to announce the annual meet- 
 ing and urge the members to attend. After reading 
 the notice, he proceeded in this wise: "When our 
 Lord sent two of His disciples to bring the colt on 
 which He rode into Jerusalem, He instructed them to 
 say, 'The Lord hath need of him.' Now," said the 
 minister, "if the Lord had need of an ass, He has 
 need of you.'" 
 
LECTURE III 
 GETTING THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 It is one thing to set up a machine; it is another 
 thing to set it going. I have already spoken of the 
 official organization of a congregation: its Board of 
 Elders, its Board of Deacons, and its corporate of- 
 ficers. You will soon discover among the people a 
 strong disposition to leave the whole work of the 
 Church in the hands of its officers. It requires judi- 
 cious and persevering effort on the part of the pastor 
 to counteract this tendency and enlist the united ef- 
 forts of the people. 
 
 Nor should you become too much cast down that 
 among the older members there are many drones, 
 . . . some who consider it sufficient if they come to 
 the crib regularly to feed. The reproach of their lives 
 lies not with you. It is your duty to feed them, and 
 you may congratulate yourself if you are always ready 
 and able to do them this service. 
 
 But miss no chance of putting the ready hands to 
 work. 
 
 There is a time in the life of every Christian when 
 he is ready to be trained for work in the Master's 
 vineyard. This time comes, usually, soon after con- 
 version, immediately upon joining the church, or on 
 the occasion of a certain definite spiritual experience. 
 Be on the alert for these opportunities and concentrate 
 your effort upon the training of such a member at 
 the psychological moment. It is like breaking a colt: 
 to be well done, it must be done at the right time. 
 
 The secret of success in rebuilding the walls of 
 Jerusalem is given in a single sentence, when it is 
 
 17 
 
i8 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 said: 'Tor the people had a mind to work." (Neh. 
 iv, 6.) How to secure this happy result is one of the 
 most important and difficult problems in pastoral ex- 
 perience. What is the pastor's duty in this respect? 
 
 The Pastor Must Persistently Teach the People as 
 to Their Personal Responsibility. 
 
 1. There is need for instruction on this point. 
 All admit that there is a great work before the 
 
 Church, but few feel their personal responsibility for 
 the doing of it. Men seek to lose themselves in the 
 crowd as the woman did who came in the throng 
 behind Jesus and touched the hem of His garment. 
 The pastor must individualize them, as Jesus did when 
 He turned about in the press and said: ''Somebody 
 hath touched me." 
 
 2. This teaching must be persistent. 
 
 Murphy says : "The pastor should endeavor to fix 
 it upon every conscience, that none are so obscure that 
 they may safely hide, and none so weak but there is 
 something within their reach : that all are positively 
 guilty who are not contributing their share to swell 
 the vast volume of influence which is ultimately to 
 sweep over the whole earth for its regeneration. This 
 doctrine of every person having his own work to do 
 should be laid down squarely, and never receded from, 
 never omitted when there is an opportunity of press- 
 ing it home, from pulpit, or prayer-meeting, or pas- 
 toral visit." 
 
 3. This teaching should be enforced by the author- 
 ity of Scripture. 
 
 Paul represents the Church as a body composed of 
 many members, each having its own particular office 
 and all of them essential to the perfection of the body. 
 
GETTING THE PEOPLE AT WORK 19 
 
 "For the body," says he, *'is not one member, but 
 many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the 
 hand, I am not of the body ; is it therefore not of the 
 body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not 
 the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of 
 the body? If the whole body were an eye, where 
 were the hearing? If the w^hole were hearing, where 
 were the smelling? But now hath God set the mem- 
 bers, ez'ery one of them, in the body as it hath pleased 
 him. . . . And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I 
 have no need of thee : nor again the head to the feet, 
 I have no need of you. . . . Now ye are the body of 
 Christ, and members in particular." (i Cor. xii, 
 
 14-27.) 
 
 With this graphic picture from the pen of an in- 
 spired Apostle before him, the pastor need not hesi- 
 tate to enforce upon his people a sense of personal 
 responsibility. 
 
 II 
 
 In Receiving Members info the Church the Pastor 
 Should Emphasize the Fact that They are to he 
 Workers. 
 
 1. Because the impression made at such a time 
 will have much to do in determining their future 
 course. 
 
 Uniting with the Church is an epoch in the life of 
 the young Christian. It is of much importance that 
 he should have correct ideas of the duties involved in 
 this new relationship. He should know that the 
 Church is not a hospital, but a hive; that he is not 
 entering a summer hotel, but a workshop ; that he is 
 not joining a pleasure excursion party, but that he is 
 enlisting in an army and entering upon a campaign. 
 
 2. Because it is easy to be mistaken on this point. 
 
20 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 So much is said of the blessedness to be received 
 in joining the Church, that persons are sometimes led 
 to think that it is all receiving and no giving. This 
 is very agreeable to our natural dispositions. Dr. 
 Wilcox remarks: 'Tt is so pleasant to settle into a 
 well-cushioned pew, hear fine music, and an eloquent 
 sermon and then go home to a sumptuous dinner with 
 the feeling that our Sunday duty is done. Teach em- 
 phatically," he adds, "that one is more profited by 
 acting than by hearing, that it is more blessed to give 
 than to receive." 
 
 3. Because this is according to the example of 
 our Lord. 
 
 Jesus never deceived any one with the idea that 
 the Christian life is one of indolence and ease. True, 
 He does say: ''Come unto me, all ye that labor and 
 are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." That 
 there may be no mistake, however. He adds in the very 
 next verse : "Take my yoke upon you." Now a yoke 
 means service. (Matt, xi, 28-29.) We cannot mis- 
 understand such passages as : Matt, xx, i : "For 
 the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that 
 is an householder, which went out early in the 
 morning to hire laborers into his vineyard." Matt xx, 
 6: "Why stand ye here all the day idle?" Matt. 
 xxi, 28 : "Son, go work to-day in my vineyard." 
 Luke xix, 13 : "Occupy till I come." 
 
 It is worthy of notice, that, in the parable of the 
 talents, it is the man with the one talent that failed. 
 This does not teach that a man with one talent is 
 more likely to fail than a man with two or five; but 
 to show that the one with the smallest gifts will be 
 held accountable for the use of all that has been en- 
 trusted to him. When Jesus said : "No man having 
 put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for 
 the Kingdom of God," He did not have in view a 
 modern sulky plow with the driver sitting at ease 
 
GETTING THE PEOPLE AT WORK 21 
 
 with an umbrella over him, but rather one after the 
 style of the cuts in the old almanac, under which the 
 couplet ran thus: 
 
 "The man who by the plow would thrive, 
 Himself must either hold or drive." 
 In reality, he must "both hold and drive," as you 
 farm boys know. As pastors we must inculcate this 
 view of the Christian life at the door of entrance to 
 the Church. "This is a faithful saying, and these 
 things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they 
 which have believed in God might be careful to main- 
 tain good works." (Titus iii, 8.) 
 
 Ill 
 
 The Pastor Should Study the Peculiar Gifts of the 
 Individual Members of His Flock. 
 
 1. Because gifts differ. 
 
 I Cor. xii, 4. "There are diversities of gifts, but 
 the same Spirit." In the election of officers the choice 
 must be left to the people, but in the distribution of 
 workers a large share of responsibility rests with the 
 pastor. It is neither wise nor right that missionary 
 societies or young people's societies should assume to 
 distribute the workers independently of the judgment 
 of the pastor. That the pastor may act intelligently 
 he must acquaint himself with the special gifts of 
 each one. 
 
 2. Because it is of great importance to assign each 
 one to the work for which he is adapted. 
 
 When the members of the human body are wrongly 
 placed the result is a monstrosity. There are good 
 many ecclesiastical monstrosities, as when the pew 
 thinks itself a pulpit. To put into the eldership one 
 whose gifts are adapted to the diaconate is like put- 
 
22 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 ting a hand in the place of an eye. One may be very 
 efficient in the place to which he is suited, and yet 
 be either useless or harmful in another position. 
 
 In the Saviour's parable of the distribution of the 
 talents He says: *'To every man according to his 
 several ability." The natural ability is the basis on 
 which talents are distributed. To have given five tal- 
 ents to one who had ability for only two would have 
 been to have wasted the talents and to have wronged 
 the servant. It is no real honor to any man to be 
 put into a higher position than he is capable of filling. 
 It is a misfortune. 
 
 3. Because a mistake here is difficult to remedy. 
 
 You will never know, until you have tried it, how 
 hard it is to get important work out of inefficient 
 hands. Harm may result to the individual when the 
 general good demands a change among the workers. 
 He is a happy pastor who has the faculty to discern 
 the fitness or unfitness of a person to a work before 
 it is too late. 
 
 IV 
 
 It is Necessary for the Pastor to Devise Plans of 
 Work. 
 
 With the field before him, and the peculiar personal 
 gifts of his members in his mind, the next great re- 
 sponsibility of the pastor is to devise plans of work. 
 
 I. Because no efficient work can be done without 
 a plan. 
 
 The Church is a building; the pastor is the master- 
 builder. He must draw up the plans and specifica- 
 tions by which the workmen are to be guided. The 
 Church is a vineyard; the pastor is the husbandman. 
 He must determine the system of cultivation to be 
 followed. The Church is an army ; the pastor is the 
 
GETTING THE PEOPLE AT WORK 23 
 
 commander-in-chief of all the forces. He must 
 formulate the plan of campaign. If the pastor is a 
 live earnest man, he will be planning all the time. 
 
 2. Because the need for new plans will constantly 
 recur. 
 
 a. Methods wear out and lose their efficiency. 
 
 b. New fields of work open up. 
 
 c. New members come in and must be employed. 
 
 d. New zeal is kindled and must have an outlet. 
 These and other reasons will demand that new 
 
 plans be devised to meet changing circumstances. It 
 is an evidence of stagnation if not of decay when the 
 pastor ceases to plan for work. 
 
 3. Because plans need to be carefully thought out 
 before they are adopted. 
 
 When anything new is proposed, there are several 
 important questions to be considered. 
 
 a. W^hether or not the method is Scriptural. 
 
 It is not enough that we have good intentions and 
 good ends in view. We must have right methods. 
 All our success depends on our being "laborers to- 
 gether with God." To labor with God we must work 
 in God's way. 
 
 Dr. E. P. Marvin of Lockport, N. Y., is quoted in 
 the September, 1905, number of the Christian States- 
 man as giving some pungent reasons why all effort 
 fails to secure a revival of religion. Among other 
 reasons he gives the following: "The less piety a 
 Church has, the more oysters, ice-cream and fun it 
 takes to run it, and the faster it runs from God. The 
 craze of organization, added to outside lodges, split- 
 ting up, confusing and weakening the Church with 
 many-lettered societies and Te-to-tum Clubs — all this 
 unblest mechanism fills the Church with clatter of ma- 
 chinery and clamor of methods. These many super- 
 fluous wheels, unanointed by the Holy Spirit, are a 
 dead weight, and they present little or no spiritual 
 
24 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 output. God never organized His Church as the 
 nexus for a confederacy of societies for miscellaneous 
 purposes, but as a compact body for united effort, 
 with the minimum of machinery and the maximum 
 of power. When we seek to improve on this, we im- 
 pugn the wisdom of God. We need to energize more, 
 and organize less." He concludes with these words : 
 **No great revival is possible till the Church and min- 
 istry repent, pray, get right with God, and unload the 
 dead weight of about half our Church members." 
 
 Such an arraignment of the methods of Church 
 work prevailing in our times emphasizes this point : 
 that the very first question to be raised as to new 
 methods proposed is, "Are they Scriptural?" No 
 matter what apparent success they have, if they do 
 not bear this test, they must be rejected. 
 
 b. Whether or not it has been successfully em- 
 ployed elsewhere. 
 
 We must not allow ourselves to become so self- 
 sufficient as to refuse to profit by the experience of 
 others. We may' get some valuable lessons as to 
 plans of work from sister congregations or sister de- 
 nominations. It would have been worth while for 
 our Church to have given some attention to the plans 
 and experiences of the United Presbyterians and the 
 Methodists, and the Lutherans, and the Baptists, in 
 determining our policy for the organization of our 
 young people. 
 
 c. Whether or not it is adapted to this congre- 
 gation. 
 
 To find a method of work in successful operation 
 in another pastorate does not insure its success in 
 yours. You are a different man; you labor among a 
 different people; you and they have a different en- 
 vironment. In considering plans a pastor should 
 calmly reflect whether he has the right persons for 
 carrying them out; whether he is himself willing to 
 
GETTING THE PEOPLE AT WORK 25 
 
 undergo the labor necessary to their success. Bear in 
 mind that a plan may look well in theory and yet 
 be wholly impracticable. Reflection should come be- 
 fore inaugurating a plan, rather than regret after- 
 wards. 
 
 4. The pastor should be persevering in his plans 
 of work. When a plan is adopted, it should be 
 pushed. 
 
 It is hurtful to the pastor's influence to be always 
 inaugurating movements that are never carried out. 
 People soon learn to distrust the plans of their min- 
 ister if they are habitually failures. It not infre- 
 quently happens that a good plan of work is difficult to 
 inaugurate. You must not be too easily discouraged. 
 If you have been sufficiently careful in considering a 
 plan, you should not too readily abandon it because 
 it does not meet your expectations from the first. On 
 the other hand do not obstinately persist in a plan to 
 the injury of the cause, through unwillingness to con- 
 fess your mistake. 
 
 5. Never plan without prayer. 
 
 You cannot succeed without God. It is presump- 
 tion to plan without His counsel, and then expect to 
 have His aid. "In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and 
 He shall direct thy paths." The flock is His. The 
 under shepherd should take counsel with the Chief 
 Shepherd. 
 
 V 
 
 The Pastor Should Train the Workers. 
 
 Normal classes for the training of Sabbath school 
 teachers and workers in missions may seem impossible, 
 but the best of plans may be defeated in the hands of 
 unskilled workmen. The pastor should be careful not 
 to find fault with workers who are doing the best they 
 
26 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 know, but do all in his power to instruct them as to 
 improved methods. And there never was a successful 
 pastor who did not conduct some sort of training 
 class among his young people, in music, or in doc- 
 trine, or in methods of work, or in the Bible. 
 
 VI 
 
 The Pastor Should Seek to Gather the Fruits of Their 
 Labors. 
 
 1. He should expect fruits. 
 
 We should plan in faith and teach our people to 
 labor in faith. It is true that God giveth the in- 
 crease; but it is not less certain on that account that 
 the husbandman plows and sows in hope. True, all 
 our efforts will be in vain unless the Holy Spirit 
 works with us. But we need not think of that as the 
 most unlikely thing in the world. Nothing is more 
 certain. ''Much more shall the Heavenly Father give 
 the Holy Spirit unto them that ask Him." 
 
 2. He should be prompt to gather the fruits in 
 their season. 
 
 We do too little reaping for the amount of sowing. 
 We gather children into the Sabbath school, keep 
 them perhaps for years, and then see them drift back 
 into the world. We employ city missionaries, and the 
 Church comes into contact with irreligious families 
 and yet fails to win them. Good seed is sown, but 
 no harvest is garnered. This ought not to be so. 
 Young gentlemen, I beseech you to set yourselves to 
 be reapers as well as sowers. Be alert for the in- 
 gathering of souls. God "giveth the increase," but 
 bringing in the sheaves is our business. Nothing can 
 be more discouraging to faithful workers in the 
 Church, than to see their efforts fail of results through 
 the failure, carelessness, or inefficiency of their pastor. 
 
GETTING PEOPLE AT WORK 27 
 
 May these thoughts lead you to reflect that the 
 pastoral office is a great trust; that it leaves no time 
 to turn aside to secular employments ; that it demands 
 the fullest dedication of all our gifts of body, mind, 
 and soul, and their utmost exercise ; and that it af- 
 fords the widest opportunities for usefulness, and 
 promises the most glorious rewards for faithfulness. 
 *'The elders which are among you I exhort, who am 
 also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of 
 Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall 
 be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is among 
 you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, 
 but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready 
 mind; neither as being lords over God's heritage, but 
 being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief 
 Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of 
 glory that fadeth not away." (i Pet. v, 1-4.) 
 
LECTURE IV 
 THE PRAYER-MEETING 
 
 We are now ready to turn our attention to the ac- 
 tivities of the congregation, or The Pastor and Peo- 
 ple at Work. In placing the prayer-meeting first 
 among the activities of church-life, I follow the ex- 
 ample of most writers on Pastoral Theology. 
 
 Dr. Wilcox says: "Some writer has said to the 
 young pastor: 'Give one-third of yourself to your 
 pulpit, one-third to your pastoral calls, and one-third 
 to the prayer-meeting.' " And he adds, "This esti- 
 mate of the importance of the prayer-meeting is 
 hardly exaggerate." 
 
 Dr. Cuyler in How to he a Pastor, says: "The 
 prayer-meeting may fairly claim to be regarded as 
 second only to the pulpit in the spiritual life of the 
 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 vi- 
 tality and vigor without a regular gathering of the 
 flock for public devotion." 
 
 Murphy says: "The piety and usefulness of the 
 Church are most intimately connected with its prayer- 
 meetings. Whether as cause or effect, it is found that 
 the degree of the one is always in proportion to the 
 interest manifested in the other. It will therefore 
 be seen at once that this is a subject that claims the 
 most careful attention of the pastor. It is one which 
 he ...ust not only study, but carry out into practice 
 from the first to the last day of his ministry. Every- 
 thing demands of him that it should be made most 
 prominent, in both thought and practice." 
 
 28 
 
THE PRAYER-MEETING 29 
 
 These are very strong testimonies. I think the 
 writers describe the prayer-meeting, not as it is, but 
 as it ought to be — the ideal prayer-meeting. Let it 
 be your purpose to make the ideal prayer-meeting 
 the real one in the congregation of which you are to 
 be pastor, and then the best that has been said of 
 the prayer-meeting will be true of yours. There is a 
 fine field for progress in this department of our 
 church life. 
 
 Let us consider: 
 
 Wherein Lies the Importance of the Prayer-Meeting. 
 
 I. It measures the spiritual life of the Church. 
 
 The prayer-meeting is the spiritual thermometer. 
 The rise and fall of interest in the prayer-meeting 
 marks the change of heat or coldness in the church. 
 You may be at a loss to determine which is cause 
 and which is effect; i.e., whether the cold prayer- 
 meeting makes a cold church, or a cold church makes 
 a cold prayer-meeting; but we know that a cold 
 prayer-meeting indicates a cold church. They are 
 inter-operative. 
 
 Not only is this true of the congregation as a whole, 
 but equally true of the individual members. Those 
 members who habitually attend the prayer-meeting 
 will have warmth and fervor; while those who habit- 
 ually absent themselves fall into spiritual decline. 
 And even the same individual will grow hot or cold 
 according as he attends or neglects the prayer-meet- 
 ing. 
 
 Murphy says: 'Tn a measure that can scarcely be 
 mistaken, the attendance and interest in these meet- 
 ings show whose hearts are alive to the things of 
 
30 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 Christ, and what is the extent of spirituality that per- 
 vades the body." 
 
 What could more clearly demonstrate the impor- 
 tance of the prayer-meetin^^ than this fact? 
 
 2. It increases the spiritual life of the Church. 
 The prayer-meeting is not merely a thermometer, 
 
 to measure the heat of the spiritual body; nor yet a 
 pulsimeter, for indicating the frequency, force, and 
 variations of the spiritual pulse. It also supplies 
 spiritual strength and increases the vital forces of the 
 spiritual nature. It comes midway between the Sab- 
 baths to arrest the rushing tide of worldliness, and 
 to draw the Christian apart from the exacting cares 
 of this earthly life ; and it makes him "to sit in the 
 heavenly places with Christ." "They that wait upon 
 the Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall mount 
 up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be 
 weary; and they shall walk and not faint." (Isa. 
 
 xl, 3I-) 
 
 3. It utilises the spiritual life of the Church. 
 
 a. The members are called to exercise their 
 gifts in the prayer-meeting itself. 
 
 In the public worship on the Sabbath, the services 
 are wholly in the hands of the pastor; in the prayer- 
 meeting they should be as far as possible in the hands 
 of the people. As the apostle says: "Not forsaking 
 the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner 
 of some is ; but exhorting one another ; and so much 
 the more as ye see the day approaching." (Heb. x, 
 
 25.) 
 
 b. The spiritual power generated in the prayer- 
 meeting pervades all the other activities of 
 the Church. 
 
 It has been well said that, "when the hearts of 
 Christians are in it, and the life and unction of the 
 Holy Spirit pervades it, it sends out its blessed in- 
 fluence to every part of the Church work." Through 
 
THE PRAYER-MEETING 31 
 
 it the Lord's Day services are made more profitable, 
 the Sabbath school is blessed, the effort to attract 
 to the sanctuary is prospered, the family is happier, 
 and the fruits of the Spirit are everywhere seen. 
 
 It is not enough to say that the prayer-meeting 
 creates the power, and the other agencies utilize it. 
 The prayer-meeting is itself the connecting link be- 
 tween the Spirit's power and the human instrumen- 
 tality. It is the band that unites the revolving shaft 
 with the machine, and starts the click of cogs and 
 the whir of wheels. 
 
 The importance of the prayer-meeting is seen in 
 that it measures the spiritual life of the Church; still 
 more, in that it increases it ; and most of all that it 
 utilizes it. 
 
 II 
 
 How to Secure Attendance at the Prayer-Meeting. 
 
 I. Arrange carefully as to the place of meeting. 
 
 a. If possible have all meet together. 
 
 It is always heartsome to have a good-sized meet- 
 ing. It promotes a warmth, and sociability, and con- 
 gregational spirit. 
 
 b. If necessary, district the congregation. 
 You must study the convenience of the people. 
 
 They cannot be expected to come regularly from long 
 distances. Even when the main body of the people 
 meet at the church, it may be well to arrange cottage 
 prayer-meetings in the outskirts, — both in city and in 
 country congregations. 
 
 c. If there are several prayer-meetings, let them 
 unite on special occasions. 
 
 For instance, this would be well once or twice dur- 
 ing the week of prayer, and in the meetings prepara- 
 tory to the communion. 
 
32 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 2. Aim to have the place of meeting attractive : 
 
 a. Well-furnished. 
 
 b. Well-lighted. 
 
 c. Heated. 
 
 d. Ventilated. 
 
 Such provisions for the comfort of the worshipers 
 are means of grace. People dislike to leave their 
 comfortable homes and cushioned furniture and walk 
 for miles to do penance sitting on a hard board, shiv- 
 ering with cold or stupefied and sickened with foul 
 air. 
 
 Dr. Wilcox says : "Do your best to make it a cheer- 
 ful, social room. Give it the air of a home-parlor. 
 Have a carpet or drugget on the floor." 
 
 Especially, whatever else is lacking, let the room 
 be amply lighted. A dingy place is enough to take 
 the life out of any meeting that ever was gathered. 
 
 3. Reserve a time for the prayer-meeting, free 
 from all other meetings. 
 
 It may be weekly, or semi-monthly, or monthly, 
 according to circumstances: but let it have a stated 
 time, and guard it from interference. This is of great 
 importance in the cities. In and about Pittsburgh, it 
 is well understood that Wednesday evening is prayer- 
 meeting evening. Pastors should agree together that 
 no meetings will be arranged which might draw away 
 members from each other's prayer-meetings. Deter- 
 minedly resist any interference with prayer-meeting 
 night by any lecture course committee or by any pro- 
 posed form of social entertainment. I sympathize far 
 more than I once did with those pastors who refuse 
 to dismiss the prayer-meeting for the sake of reform 
 lectures or union services. These do not fill the place 
 of the prayer-meeting, and, ordinarily, they should 
 not ask to take its place. The modern device of ar- 
 ranging weddings for prayer-meeting evening is not 
 from above. My advice is : Exalt the importance of 
 
THE PRAYER-MEETING 33 
 
 the prayer-meeting in the minds of your people by 
 refusing to yield its place to any ordinary occurrence. 
 
 4. Give frequent and kindly invitation to attend 
 the prayer-meeting. 
 
 Do not scold. It does no good. Invite and per- 
 suade. Let your invitations be marked by serious- 
 ness and solicitude. "Come early and get a back 
 seat" is a modern pulpit witticism which is in very 
 bad taste. It vitiates the appeal to the conscience by 
 trifling with sacred things. It is not the speech of 
 moral earnestness. 
 
 5. Refer occasionally in your discourses to the 
 good things offered and enjoyed at prayer-meet- 
 
 .ing. 
 This doubles the appreciation of those who have 
 enjoyed the good things; and it may awaken a sense 
 of loss in the minds of the absentees. You need 
 not always tell what the good things were. "The 
 secret of the Lord is with the righteous." 
 
 6. Make the meetings interesting. 
 
 After all is said, this is the only way to have a good 
 attendance. A few saintly souls will, from a sense 
 of duty or by sheer force of habit, meet from week 
 to week, and "go through" as they used to say in 
 the good, old-time "Society"; but the ordinary mod- 
 ern Christian will not do that. The prayer-meet- 
 ing cannot live on its good name. It must have 
 worth. 
 
 On one occasion, in our Synod, a minister gave a 
 very lengthy and pithless address on how to get the 
 masses to attend church. When, at last, he gradually 
 settled into his seat, another brother sprang up, and, 
 in a quick, alert tone, said: "There are just three 
 things to be done to bring the masses to church: (i) 
 Invite them to come; (2) Welcome them when they 
 do come; (3) Give them something for coming," and 
 down he sat. It was as if some one had opened a 
 
34 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 door and let in a blast. It is a good rule for securing 
 attendance at prayer-meeting. 
 
 7. Encourage sociability at the close of the meet- 
 
 A general handshaking, with especial attention to 
 strangers, is a good thing. Yet a word of caution 
 may be necessary just at this point. If a meeting 
 has been peculiarly solemn and impressive, it is proper 
 for the pastor to ask the people not to dissipate its 
 good impressions by frivolous conversation, but to 
 cherish them by speaking to each other of spiritual 
 things. 
 
 Ill 
 
 General Rules for Conducting a Prayer-Meeting. 
 
 1. Always prepare carefully. 
 
 When Dr. Wilcox quotes with approval the advice 
 for a pastor to give one-third of his time to the prayer- 
 meeting, he evidently has in view the method, com- 
 mon in many churches, of the pastor carrying on the 
 meeting almost wholly himself and making an ex- 
 tended address. This is not common with us. Our 
 danger is in ''trusting to the spur of the moment" 
 to carry us through. This is a great mistake. 
 
 2. The pastor should lead frequently. 
 
 Not always, because the prayer-meeting is the peo- 
 ple's service; but frequently, because 
 
 a. Something is due to his position as pastor; 
 
 b. He is usually better qualified than others. 
 His mind is more taken up with spiritual things; 
 
 he has more familiarity with methods; the people will 
 follow his leadership more readily : "They know the 
 Shepherd's voice ; and a stranger will they not follow, 
 for they know not the voice of strangers." 
 
 Customs differ. Dr. Cuyler gives it as his custom 
 to entrust the charge of this service to the eldership 
 
THE PRAYER-MEETING 35 
 
 in turn. The custom, common in our church, of em- 
 ploying the male members in turn is better; and best 
 of all, the custom which prevails in a few congrega- 
 tions of employing the women as well as the men. 
 There is neither male nor female in the fellowship 
 meeting. 
 
 3. Begin promptly. 
 
 It belongs to the pastor to see that the meeting 
 opens on time. Never wait more than five minutes 
 for the leader. Start the meeting and resign the 
 chair to the appointed leader when he arrives. Noth- 
 ing is surer to kill a prayer-meeting than dilly-dally- 
 ing at the opening. 
 
 4. Seek to have many participate in the exercises. 
 The more that take part in a prayer-meeting, the 
 
 better it is. Everyone who does anything thinks the 
 meeting was good. Fault-finding usually comes from 
 those who have contributed nothing. The children 
 should be encouraged to read scripture references 
 and to announce psalms. 
 
 5. Close promptly on time. 
 
 This is about as important as opening on time. Do 
 not be betrayed into prolonging the meeting on ac- 
 count of a fresh interest that springs up just when 
 it is time to close. It is not uncommon for persons 
 who have left you to suffer the agony of long pauses 
 all through the meeting, to have an impulse to speak 
 when it is time to dismiss. Shut them off remorse- 
 lessly. I do not think it is wicked even to have a 
 little satisfaction in doing it. If there is a manifest 
 interest at the close of the meeting which should be 
 utilized, it may be better to hold an after meeting. 
 But rem.ember, it is no disadvantage for a prayer- 
 meeting to close when everybody is wishing it would 
 go on. 
 
 6. Aim to secure reverence and solemnity in the 
 services. 
 
36 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 People frequently engage in frivolous conversation 
 while waiting for the meeting to begin. The leader 
 rises and proceeds quite a distance in the reading of 
 the psalm before quiet is secured. This is a very 
 bad beginning. 
 
 Do not encourage facetious or funny remarks, or 
 eccentricities of any kind. "Because He is thy Lord, 
 do thou Him worship reverently." 
 
 IV 
 
 The Exercises of the Prayer-Mee^ting. 
 
 I. As far as possible, let the exercises be volun- 
 tary. 
 
 In many places it is difficult to introduce voluntary 
 exercises. It would be unwise to disturb the peace 
 of a congregation, but, where it can be secured, the 
 voluntary exercises are preferable. 
 
 a. In a large meeting you cannot call every one 
 by name. 
 
 The old method of one person going through all 
 the parts of worship — singing, reading, and prayer 
 — was adapted only to the small societies. 
 
 b. A voluntary meeting gives greater freedom 
 to the operations of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 A devotional meeting should be led by the Spirit. 
 When the leader calls on individuals, he is liable 
 to summon one to speak whom the Spirit is prompting 
 to pray ; or ask one to pray who is prepared to speak ; 
 or wholly to overlook one to whom the Spirit has 
 given a message or a prayer, and call on one who 
 has no tidings ready. "Let the Holy Spirit have His 
 way with you," is a good motto for a prayer-meeting. 
 
 c. Meetings of this kind will rise to greater spir- 
 itual heights than by the other method. 
 
THE PRAYER-MEETING 37 
 
 This is a matter of common experience, and is ac- 
 cording to the operation of spiritual laws. The free, 
 spontaneous movement carries with it a spiritual im- 
 pulse which is contagious and cumulative. 
 
 d. The success of the voluntary meeting de- 
 pends largely upon the leader. 
 
 It is a great mistake to suppose that because the 
 meeting is voluntary the leader of the meeting is re- 
 lieved from responsibility. It requires no great tact 
 to call out members by name, but it often taxes the 
 utmost resources of the leader to keep the meeting 
 going without naming persons. "Will some one 
 pray?" "Has any one a psalm?" "Will not some of 
 the young people speak?" "Can not some one relate 
 an experience?" These are some of the ways of giv- 
 ing the meeting a lift. 
 
 e. In a voluntary meeting the pastor must ear- 
 nestly sustain the leader. 
 
 The pastor has not done his whole duty when he 
 has taken his place in speaking or prayer. He should 
 prompt others to the service. This may often be done 
 privately before the meeting opens, — especially when 
 the leader is young or inexperienced. The famine 
 should be anticipated and provision laid up before- 
 hand, like the corn in the storehouses of Egypt. This 
 becomes a necessity in introducing the voluntary 
 method where the other has been the custom. 
 2. Give much attention to the praise service. 
 You need not have a dull prayer-rneeting if you 
 have good singers and know how to use the psalter, 
 There are psalms suited to every scriptural subject. 
 My own opinion is that the introduction of the re- 
 vised psalter will be a great aid to the prayerrmeetr 
 ing. But do not disturb the peace of the congregar 
 tion. There have been some foolish things done in 
 the effort to introduce new versions. Do not despair 
 if the people are found tinwilling to accept the rf- 
 
38 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 vision ; there are great possibilities in the old ver- 
 sion yet. 
 
 In a few instances, our people have introduced the 
 ''Bible Songs" in prayer-meetings and mission services 
 and in young people's societies. Such a course is 
 irregular, lawless, and hurtful. The Bible Songs are 
 without warrant in our Church. They are admittedly 
 far removed from the original words of the Holy 
 Spirit. The most conservative ministers and people 
 of the United Presbyterian Church do not approve 
 of them. In reply to a question whether they could 
 be lawfully introduced into our prayer-meetings, lead- 
 ing members of Synod answered most emphatically 
 that they could not ; and it was accepted without dis- 
 sent as the mind of the court.^ 
 
 No one believes that he could secure approval of 
 the supreme judicatory. To introduce them without 
 warrant is a violation of our ordination vows, in 
 which we promise subordination to the authority of 
 the Synod. I charge you, as candidates for the min- 
 istry, never to be guilty of willfully violating the laws 
 and established usages of the Church to which you 
 belong. 
 
 3. Encourage the reading of Scripture references. 
 Persons will do this who will not participate in any 
 
 other way. Frequently it is the very best part of the 
 study of a passage. The custom of rising to read is 
 helpful in many ways. 
 
 4. Aim to have many prayers. 
 
 The fault with many of our prayer-meetings is that 
 
 1 The attention of Synod having been called to the fact that 
 in some congregations the Bible Songs are used in Sabbath 
 Schools and mission work, the following action was taken : 
 " That the Pastors and Sessions of such congregations as 
 may be using unauthorized versions of the psalms in the wor- 
 ship in any department of their church work, be earnestly 
 urged to discontinue the practice and conform to the law of 
 the church on the subject." (Minutes of Synod, 1907, p. 77.) 
 
THE PRAYER-MEETING 39 
 
 there is too little praying. The truth is, it is often 
 a misnomer to call it a prayer-meeting. It is Hamlet 
 with Hamlet left out. We might better omit the 
 remarks. 
 
 The number of prayers may be increased : 
 
 a. By having a series of prayers; 
 
 b. By having special prayers for special objects; 
 
 c. Requests for prayers should always be wel- 
 comed, and may sometimes be asked for. 
 
 5. A Bible reading may be substituted occasionally 
 for remarks on the passage. 
 
 Our prayer-meetings are too formal. We get into 
 ruts. The same people do the same things at every 
 meeting, and the others do nothing. A well chosen 
 Bible Reading will serve to break up this monotony, 
 and in the hands of a skillful leader it can be made 
 both interesting and profitable. 
 
 6. Aim to have the remarks practical, experi- 
 mental, and devotional, rather than doctrinal or 
 controversial. 
 
 It is generally said that our people speak with more 
 freedom on doctrinal subjects than on practical ones; 
 and that they are better at controversy than at testi- 
 fying to religious experience. We should aim to cul- 
 tivate their neglected gifts. How this may be done 
 will be treated in the next lecture. 
 
LECTURE 
 
 THE PRAYER-MEETING— HELPS AND 
 HINDRANCES 
 
 It may seem to you that about all has been said 
 that needs to be said, as to the relation of the pastor 
 to the prayer-meeting. The fact, however, remains 
 that our prayer-meetings are generally far below the 
 ideal presented and that something should be done to 
 increase their efficiency as a means of grace. This 
 lecture will be devoted to a consideration of Helps 
 and Hindrances to a Successful Prayer-meeting. 
 
 Helps to a Good Prayer-Meeting. 
 
 I. The selection of suitable subjects: 
 
 The prayer-meeting, to be successful, should have a 
 center of unity. Around that center, all its exercises 
 should be made to revolve. The prayers, the praise, 
 and the remarks should radiate from that center in 
 the beginning and should converge to that center at 
 the close. And the center of unity in any good 
 prayer-meeting is the scripture passage which fur- 
 nishes the subject for consideration. It follows with- 
 out argument that the selection of suitable subjects is 
 essential to success. 
 
 What should be the character of the subjects? 
 
 A. The subject should be definite and particular. 
 In the old-time society the rule was for the one who 
 gave the text to "put a Statement on it." This meant 
 to raise some point from the verse, which would give 
 
 40 
 
THE PRAYER-MEETING 41 
 
 direction to the discussion. The custom was a good 
 one. Dr. Wilcox says : "There is sometimes a no- 
 tion that if the subject is a large comprehensive one, 
 it will promote variety in remark and prove rich in 
 suggestion. This is a great mistake. . . . What you 
 need is to divide your subject into several varied ones, 
 that one meeting in a series will not resemble the 
 others." He advises, in announcing the subject, to 
 sub-divide it, to make points. In most of our con- 
 gregations there are those who can make points about 
 as well as the minister; and they prefer to speak on 
 points they make themselves. What they need is a 
 clearly defined topic. Instead of selecting as a sub- 
 ject, 'The Means of Grace," take "The Bible as a 
 Means of Grace," or "Prayer as a Means of Grace," 
 or "The Sacraments as a Means of Grace." 
 
 B. The subjects should be practical rather than 
 doctrinal. 
 
 This does not mean that there shall not be doctrine, 
 but that the aim will be not so much the statement 
 and proof of doctrines as inquiry after the practical 
 uses. For instance, instead of discussing "The King- 
 ship of Christ," consider "The Duties Growing Out 
 of Our Relation to Christ as King." 
 
 Two reasons may be given : 
 
 a. Doctrinal subjects tend to long and dry 
 speeches. These are always hurtful and 
 sometimes fatal to the meeting. 
 
 b. Practical subjects invite personal testimony. 
 The prayer-meeting should be an experience meet- 
 ing. The Methodists go to one extreme ; we go to 
 the other. They are in danger of professing experi- 
 ences which they do not have; we are in danger of 
 conceahng experiences which we ought to profess. 
 The scriptural ground is safe and right ; i. e., "Come 
 and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will tell what He 
 hath done for my soul." (Ps. Ixvi, 16.) 
 
42 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 C. The Distinctive Principles of the Church 
 should have a place. 
 
 If a denomination has any just ground for main- 
 taining a separate existence, its distinctive principles 
 must be held as of sufficient importance to color all 
 the departments of church life. Various advantages 
 arise from occasionally introducing them in prayer- 
 meeting. 
 
 a. It helps the pastor to understand what is 
 needed : 
 
 If the people are indifferent, or ignorant, or un- 
 settled on any point, it is likely to discover itself in the 
 freedom of the prayer-meeting. Then the remedy 
 can be judiciously applied. 
 
 b. The discussion may be more instructive to 
 the young than would be a sermon on the 
 subject. 
 
 It gives an opportunity to ask questions and to 
 state difficulties. Our distinctive principles can be 
 simplified to suit the minds of children. I recall an 
 instance from a prayer-meeting address by Rev. R. C. 
 Allen, just before a communion. He said he would 
 explain to the children why Covenanters do not vote, 
 and proceeded as follows : 
 
 (i) Jesus Christ is the King of Nations; 
 
 (2) Nations ought to own their King; 
 
 (3) Our Nation does not own King Jesus; 
 
 (4) This is a great dishonor done to Christ; 
 
 (5) A Christian should not join in this dis- 
 honor ; 
 
 (6) Those who vote consent to the Nation's dis- 
 honoring Christ. 
 
 Mr. Allen seemed to gain assent to every point as 
 he advanced. His remarks were instructive, full of 
 warning, and made a lasting impression. 
 
 c. It may lead to an invitation to preach on 
 these subjects: 
 
THE PRAYER-MEETING 43 
 
 I recall three such invitations that came to me by- 
 vote of the prayer-meeting — one on Systematic Giv- 
 ing; another on Secret Societies; the third, on the 
 Exclusive Use of the Psalms. 
 
 The Report on Young People's Societies at the 
 Synod of 1905 prescribed a series of topics taken 
 from the Covenant of 1871. Nothing could be more 
 helpful to Covenanter youth. 
 
 2. A judicious method of selecting subjects: 
 
 Since the success of the prayer-meeting depends so 
 largely on the suitableness of the subject, the matter 
 of choosing the topic becomes of the first importance. 
 No one method is best for all places, nor for any one 
 place at all times. The following suggestions may 
 assist in choosing the best method for your congre- 
 gation : 
 
 A. Some one may be appointed at each meeting 
 to bring the subject for the next meeting. 
 
 The advantages of this method are : 
 
 a. It interests a large number of members. 
 The one who selects the subject and his friends will 
 
 be interested. 'T must attend the prayer-meeting to- 
 night because they have my subject." ''Come and 
 hear my subject discussed." "I want you to speak 
 to-night on my text." 'T hope we shall have a good 
 meeting, for I chose the text." A method which 
 leads to looking forward with expectation has much 
 to commend it. 
 
 b. It secures subjects in which the people are 
 interested. 
 
 The prayer-meeting is the people's meeting. This 
 is a good reason why they should choose the subjects 
 directly. 
 
 c. It gives opportunity to adapt the subject to 
 the circumstances. 
 
 "He hath made everything beautiful in its time." 
 Timeliness in a subject helps the prayer-meeting. 
 
44 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 The objections to this method are : 
 
 a. The appointment is liable to be overlooked 
 occasionally. 
 
 b. The absent members may not learn the sub- 
 ject for next meeting. 
 
 It is not uncommon to hear the remark: *T was 
 not at the last meeting and did not hear the subject 
 until I came in." This is not infrequently the omi- 
 nous preface to a long, rambling talk which confirms 
 the truth of the statement. 
 
 c. The selection is not always judicious. 
 
 This is more likely to be the case than when the 
 selection is made by an experienced committee. 
 
 d. Some subjects will be chosen over and over 
 again, and others not at all. 
 
 B. A second method is to have a committee select 
 subjects and leaders for six months or a year in ad- 
 vance. 
 
 The advantages of this method are: 
 
 a. It gives timely notice of the subject to all; 
 
 b. Tends to equalize the privileges and duties of 
 the members ; 
 
 c. Secures a wider and more systematic range 
 of subjects; 
 
 d. Avoids the introduction of unsuitable topics. 
 Its disadvantages are: 
 
 a. It removes the meeting further from the peo- 
 ple; 
 
 b. Has less adaptability to changing circum- 
 stances. 
 
 C. A third method is to adopt the topics selected 
 by a Presbyterial or Synodical committee. 
 
 The advantages of this method are: 
 
 a. It saves labor; 
 
 b. Gives a uniform subject to a number of con- 
 gregations ; 
 
THE PRAYER-MEETING 45 
 
 c. Secures aids similar to the Sabbath School 
 helps. 
 Its disadvantages are the same as in the second 
 method. 
 
 D. A fourth method is to use the Golden Texts 
 of the Sabbath School lessons. 
 
 The advantages of this method are : 
 
 a. Every one knows the subject; 
 
 b. There is access to Sabbath School helps; 
 
 c. People are already interested in the subject; 
 
 d. It offers an aid to Sabbath School workers. 
 Its disadvantages are: 
 
 a. It tends to give undue attention to one sub- 
 ject; 
 
 b. Some of the most appropriate subjects are 
 omitted ; 
 
 c. The aim of the Sabbath School is instruc- 
 tion, that of the prayer-meeting is devotion ; 
 
 d. It has a tendency to take the freshness off 
 Sabbath School teaching. 
 
 The above are the four principal methods known 
 to me as prevailing in our congregations. The con- 
 scientious pastor will diligently seek to discover the 
 method best suited to his field. I have given them 
 thus at length and in detail because of the great im- 
 portance that attaches, not only to the prayer-meet- 
 ing topics, but to the method of their selection. If 
 your prayer-meeing lacks variety and freshness, in- 
 troduce a new method of selecting the topics. Make 
 a trial of it for three months. You will be surprised 
 how many will take part who have never taken part 
 before ; and you will be gratified to find the old stand- 
 bys shaken out of their rut. 
 
46 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 II 
 
 Hindrances to the Prayer-Meeting. 
 
 After what has been said of the importance of the 
 prayer-meeting, we must all feel that for some rea- 
 son there are very few ideal prayer-meetings. There 
 are obstacles in the way of success that sorely try 
 the earnest pastor. If what I have to say does not 
 point out a way of escape from these difficulties, it 
 may at least assist you to bear them. I can say in 
 the words of Peter: ''Beloved, think it not strange 
 concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as 
 though some strange thing had happened unto you." 
 
 What are some of the Hindrances, and how shall 
 we overcome them? 
 
 I. The prayer-meeting suffers from the disposition 
 of people to choose the back seats. 
 
 It would not seem strange that those who occupy 
 the front row at the theatre should form the back 
 row at the prayer-meeting; but it is remarkable that 
 prominent church members will seek the remotest cor- 
 ners of the room. It is a very serious obstacle in 
 the way of a good prayer-meeting. 
 
 Dr. Washington Gladden says: "A pastor with 
 people in the back seats and emptiness between him- 
 self and them, feels like singing pathetically: 
 
 " Though sundered far, by faith we meet 
 About a common mercy seat' " 
 
 This is not such an insignificant matter as it seems. 
 Murphy says: 'When the people are scattered over 
 the house, back by the door or around the walls, there 
 is a feeling of coldness comes over the whole assem- 
 bly. . . . The sensation of indifference is inevitably 
 produced. If strangers happen to be present, an ex- 
 ceedingly unhappy impression is made upon them. 
 
THE PRAYER-MEETING 47 
 
 The minister or other leader is chilled by seeing noth- 
 ing around him but empty seats." 
 
 Admitting the evil, what is the remedy? 
 
 A. Some turn down or pile away all but a few 
 front chairs and let them be brought out as the peo- 
 ple gather. 
 
 My observation is that it would be necessary to put 
 them under lock and key or they would be carried 
 out before the seats were half filled. 
 
 B. Habitually call on tfee brethren in the rear 
 seats. 
 
 Our Synod has a rule of procedure that when 
 two members rise and address the moderator at the 
 same time, the floor shall be awarded to the member 
 most distant from the moderator's chair. If it were 
 made a rule of procedure to call on the members in 
 the rear seats first, modesty would prompt some of 
 them to move forward. 
 
 C. By quiet, personal persuasion, seek to break up 
 the habit. 
 
 I doubt the propriety of publicly alluding to the 
 fact at all, or showing any annoyance about it. To 
 scold and harangue the back seats is worse than use- 
 less. But if you set yourself determinedly to break 
 up the habit by tactful personal effort, in most places 
 you will succeed. 
 
 2. A second serious hindrance is from a few per- 
 sons monopolizing the time. 
 
 Speaking of this, Dr. Cuyler says : "Some good 
 people mar a meeting without intending it. For ex- 
 ample, one fluent brother gets to 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 oi their rights, and suggested that he might 
 
48 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 better address the Almighty in petition sometimes, 
 instead of always addressing his neighbors in exhorta- 
 tion. He accepted it kindly." 
 
 Some good speakers would be listened to more 
 eagerly if they relieved their talks by more frequent 
 flashes of silence. 
 
 A. Stir up the silent members to do their part. 
 
 My observation is that this foregoing evil is fre- 
 quently the fault of those who refuse to do anything. 
 There are persons who find fault with others for 
 monopolizing the time who would, themselves, sit there 
 and let the meeting die and then watch in silence be- 
 side the corpse, rather than contribute anything to 
 keep it alive. 
 
 B. Secure the promise of some privately that they 
 will occupy the time. 
 
 This need not be done with the avowed purpose 
 .of crowding somebody else out, but with that result. 
 
 C. n necessary, speak to such persons of their 
 .^'ault. 
 
 They usually know it themselves. In fact it is 
 quite common to hear such a person aggravate his 
 offense by repeated apologies and by tmconvincing 
 assurances that he will not take any time. In deal- 
 ing with such a case, general remarks seldom effect 
 a change. And yet I must caution you to use the 
 utmost delicacy and care not to wound unnecessarily 
 one who, from a sense of duty, is seeking to do his 
 part in the prayer-meeting. It is well to have the art 
 of the woman of Tekoah and "fetch about this form 
 of speech." 
 
 3. The prayer-meeting often suffers from long 
 common-place speeches and prayers. 
 
 This evil is related to the foregoing. I need not 
 Q Hscuss it. You have all seen it. It is almost every- 
 ^^ 'lere. What is the remedy? 
 ^\ JMake a rule for brevity. 
 
THE pkatek-m:e:et'ing 49^ 
 
 With common consent to a three-minute rule, you 
 need not make it an issue with the man personally. 
 
 B. Place a clock where all can see it. 
 
 The difficulty is that everybody sees it except the 
 offender, and he drags on in blissful ignorance. 
 
 C. Secure a rapid movement in the meeting by 
 having all the exercises short. 
 
 If the leader takes the chair two or three minutes 
 late, then mopes over the psalm book two or three 
 minutes more, then with deliberation draws one leg off 
 the other knee and makes two or three ineffectual 
 efforts to get to his feet, then reads a lengthy portion 
 of psalm and the longest chapter in the book, and 
 prays from the Creation down through all creation, 
 he has delivered the prayer-meeting over, shaven and 
 shorn, to the hand of the Philistines. 
 
 Reading several short selections bearing directly on 
 the subject, rather than long chapters; singing fre- 
 quently, but briefly; offering a short, pointed prayer 
 — all this by the leader in opening the meeting will 
 help. Like begets like. 
 
 D. The pastor should set a good example. 
 
 E. As a last resort it may be necessary to speak 
 plainly to the offender. 
 
 4. A fourth hindrance to the prayer-meeting comes 
 from grumblers and fault-finders. 
 
 Dr. Cuyler says : "It commonly requires the pres- 
 ence of several sensible people to make a good prayer- 
 meeting, but it is in the power of one or two weak- 
 minded and troublesome people to mar it most 
 wretchedly. Some people of this sort will come into 
 a meeting as moths fly into a candle; they stick there 
 like the moths, but instead of being scorched to death, 
 they merely extinguish the meeting." 
 
 There are some people so constituted that they 
 never see the bright side of anything. It is a very 
 unhappy temperament, and speeches made habitually 
 
50 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 in this vein, even when discussing the evils of the 
 day, may do much to injure the prayer-meeting. Then 
 such people are sure to complain of the meetings. 
 They will even scold about the absentees until they 
 make those who are present wish they were absent, to 
 escape the tirade. 
 
 The pastor must be on the alert not to allow such 
 persons to impart to the prayer-meeting the outlook 
 of their jaundiced eyes. The prayer-meeting is no 
 place for talking the church down. Habitual grum- 
 blers should be suppressed or they will suppress the 
 prayer-meeting. Kindle such a light as will dispel 
 the darkness and drive away the moles and bats and 
 owls. The prayer-meeting is not the place for politi- 
 cal pessimism, but for spiritual uplift. Make it your 
 rule to send the people home with the impression that 
 they have had a good meeting. 
 
 5. It is a serious hindrance when men of incon- 
 sistent lives take a prominent part in the prayer-meet- 
 ing. 
 
 Cuyler says : 'There may be cases in which a meet- 
 ing is seriously disturbed by the unwelcome utterances 
 of persons whose characters are 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 told that they had better 
 remain silent until they are ready to open their lips 
 in honest confession." 
 
 This last remark is noteworthy. If a man who 
 has gone wrong has the humility fully to confess his 
 fault and to seek the forgiveness and the prayers of 
 his brethren, he may fill a prayer-room with a fra- 
 grance as sweet as that of the broken alabaster box. 
 But there is a species of wordy and windy parading 
 of one's own awful guiltiness which only nauseates 
 the auditors, and cannot impose upon God. 
 
 My own experience is that there is no class of of- 
 
THE PRAYER-MEETING 51 
 
 fenders that is more obnoxious than those who have 
 gone wrong financially. People are not willing to be 
 exhorted, or even led in prayer, by one who has 
 cheated them. Moody says : *'A man who pays fifty 
 cents on the dollar when he could pay a hundred 
 cents had better keep still." This is good advice, even 
 if he couldn't pay his debts, provided the general im- 
 pression is that he could, or if his inability arises from 
 simple neglect or carelessness. 
 
 6. The last hindrance of which I will speak is 
 the long pauses between the exercises. 
 
 What can be done to correct this evil? 
 
 A. Impress the elders with their responsibility; 
 
 B. Engage persons privately to break up such 
 
 pauses ; 
 
 C. Encourage voluntary psalm-singing without 
 
 reading ; 
 
 D. Urge the leader of the singing to be prompt 
 with the music; 
 
 E. Turn the pauses into seasons of silent prayer. 
 This is the most important. The silences are the 
 
 best part of some meetings. It should be impressed 
 upon all that when silences occur, they are not to be 
 considered as breaks in devotion, but that all hearts 
 are lifted up in unison to God. An appropriate peti- 
 tion at such times would be : 
 
 ''My closed lips, O Lord, by Thee 
 Let them be opened: 
 Then shall thy praises by my mouth 
 Abroad be published." 
 
 In closing these lectures on the prayer-meeting, I 
 would again urge upon you that you resolve that as 
 pastors you w^ill give great care and attention to the 
 improvement of the prayer-meeting service, and that 
 you will carefully look after those who willfully and 
 habitually neglect it. 
 
 "And let us consider one another to provoke unto 
 
52 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 love and to good works; not forsaking the assem- 
 bling of ourselves together as the manner of some 
 is; but exhorting one another, and so much the more 
 as' ye see the day approaching." (Heb. x, 24, 25.) 
 
LECTURE VI 
 
 THE RELATION OF THE SABBATH SCHOOL 
 TO THE CHURCH 
 
 It is too late in the day to stop to discuss the im- 
 portance of the Sabbath School. The fact that many 
 millions throughout all Christendom are engaged in 
 its exercises; that the best talent of the churches is 
 employed in the preparation of its literature; that it 
 receives large attention from the Church courts; and 
 that the deepest interest is felt in the discussions of 
 its methods and plans of work in Sabbath School In- 
 stitutes, Conventions, and Assemblies; all these tes- 
 tify to the important place which the Sabbath School 
 has attained among the activities of our Church life. 
 
 The following testimonies of eminent pastors, as 
 quoted by Murphy, will impress the claims of the 
 Sabbath School upon your time and attention, as pas- 
 tors. Rev, Dr. Ashbel Green, near the close of his 
 life said: "If I had my ministry to go over again, 
 I would give more attention to the children." Rev. 
 Dr. Samuel Miller gave this emphatic testimony : 
 "After the observation and experience of a long life 
 I have come decisively to the conclusion that, if I 
 had my life to live over again, I would pay ten times 
 as much attention to the children and young people 
 of my charge as I ever did. If I were now about to 
 take a new or feeble church, I would consider that to 
 give attention to the children and young people of the 
 neighborhood would be one of the most certain meth- 
 ods of collecting a large congregation that could be 
 
 53 
 
54 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 employed." Rev. Dr. S. H. Tyng says: "If every 
 pastor would give one sermon on every Sunday espe- 
 cially addressed to the young, and designed and pre- 
 pared to teach them, he would find himself enlarging 
 his direct usefulness in this particular work, and 
 equally advancing the value and benefit of every other 
 class of his public and private labors in religious in- 
 struction." Such testimonies as these from aged pas- 
 tors, reviewing their life work from the threshold 
 of eternity, should have much weight with those just 
 entering the ministry. Of Him who is our example 
 and our Lord it is said : *'He shall feed His flock like 
 a Shepherd : He shall gather the lambs with His arm, 
 and carry them in His bosom." (Isa. xl, ii.) 
 
 Our theme to-day is The Relation of the Sabbath 
 School to the Church. 
 
 I 
 
 The Sabbath School is IDENTICAL with the Church. 
 
 The Sabbath School is the Church at work. To 
 conceive of it as a separate, independent, and rival 
 institution set up alongside the Church is an error 
 of other days. If this were the true idea of the Sab- 
 bath School, then the charge that it is without Scrip- 
 tural warrant would be well-founded. The authority 
 for the Sabbath School is in the command given to 
 the elders of the Church : "Shepherdize the Church 
 of God, which He hath purchased with His own 
 blood." (Acts XX, 28.) The Sabbath School is sim- 
 ply the Church of Christ, exercising the authority 
 with which He has invested her, and employing the 
 talents with which He has endowed her, to do the 
 work with which He has entrusted her. The relation 
 between the Sabbath School and the Church is one 
 of identity. 
 
SABBATH SCHOOL AND CHURCH 55 
 
 H 
 
 The Sabbath School Should be Subordinate to Church 
 Authority. 
 
 This follows from the relation of identity. On this 
 subject Bishop John H. Vincent in his work entitled 
 The Modern Sunday School, says : "The question as 
 to the original authority of the Sunday School will 
 be answered according to the theory of the person 
 questioned. It may be in the school itself as an in- 
 dependent organization, a society outside of all 
 Churches and amenable to none. It may be, and I 
 think in every case shoidd be, from the Church as a 
 divine institution established to do a given work and 
 creating the Sunday School as the wisest and best 
 method for doing that work. Having established or 
 recognized the method, the Church as a local body, 
 or the Church Synodical, should be responsible for 
 everything pertaining to the school, for the consti- 
 tution or plan under which it is to be conducted, and 
 for the officers who are to have control for this pur- 
 pose. These should make regular reports to the 
 Church in her governing conference or committee, or 
 to the congregation in which all ecclesiastical power is 
 lodged. Authority must dwell somewhere, and where 
 more appropriately or securely than in the Church it- 
 self ?" With the principles here laid down by Bishop 
 Vincent, I agree in the main. 
 
 I. The Sabbath School of the congregation should 
 be under the immediate control of the session. 
 
 a. In the choice of its officers. 
 
 b. In the selection of its teachers. 
 
 c. In the methods of its work. 
 
 d. In the nature and scope of its instructions. 
 The reason of all this is obvious. The Church is 
 
 responsible for the religious instruction and training 
 of her youth, and of all her members ; and she cannot 
 
56 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 shift that responsibiHty to other shoulders. How this 
 control should be exercised will be discussed later. 
 Suffice it here to say that the authority of the ses- 
 sion over the school should be unquestioned. 
 
 2. The mission schools of a congregation should 
 be under the control of the session. 
 
 Every Sabbath School is a missionary agent. In 
 every neighborhood where there is a Christless home 
 there will be mission scholars. To reach these is one 
 of the great ends of the Sabbath School. But in all 
 large towns, and in cities, there should be established, 
 in outlying districts, what are distinctively called Mis- 
 sion Schools. These are frequently organized and 
 carried on under the leadership of some earnest man 
 or woman, wholly independent of Church control. 
 Such schools would gain immensely by being placed 
 under the supervision of a devoted pastor and a judi- 
 cious session. The gospel gains power over the 
 hearts and lives of men by being connected with the 
 divine institutions of the Church. When such a field 
 lies open the authorities of the Church should oc- 
 cupy it and extend their supervision over it. 
 
 3. Even a union school would be better under the 
 control of some one Church. 
 
 I would prefer to labor in a union school controlled 
 by any body of evangelical Christians that would agree 
 to maintain Scriptural forms of worship, rather than 
 in a so-called union school organized independently 
 of all churches. 
 
 HI 
 
 The Sabbath School Should be in VITAL Union zvith 
 the Church. 
 
 A graft may be inserted into a living tree and be 
 held in its place by bands and wax, but until it forms 
 
SABBATH SCHOOL AND CHURCH 57 
 
 a vital connection with the tree it will neither grow 
 nor bear fruit. So a Sabbath School may be held in 
 an external connection with the Church by the bands 
 and cords of Church authority, but, before it can 
 flourish and become fruitful, it must have such vital 
 union with the Church that the spiritual forces of the 
 Church's life will flow out through every branch, and 
 twig, and leaf, and flower, and fruit of its organism. 
 How shall this result be secured? 
 
 1. The members of session should manifest a deep 
 interest in the school. 
 
 Not that every elder should be a teacher. Many 
 an elder has no gift in that direction. Such would 
 prove their interest in the welfare of the school by 
 not teaching. But each one should manifest interest 
 by his presence, by intimacy with the scholars and 
 teachers ; by words of approval and encouragement ; 
 by his kindly helpful suggestions for improvement ; 
 and by his prayers. 
 
 2. All the members of the Church should be in 
 the school. 
 
 The lawful exceptions to this rule are not sufficient 
 to modify the statement. Those who excuse them- 
 selves from attendance on the ground that they are 
 unfit to be teachers bear witness to their need to be 
 taught. No one is too old to study the Bible or too 
 wise to receive instruction. 
 
 In some country congregations they have what has 
 been aptly named ''the horse-shed class." It is usu- 
 ally composed of men who seem to think they know 
 too much to spend their time in the simple exercises 
 of the Sabbath School; and so they sit on the fence 
 and chew tobacco and talk worldliness, while those 
 of lower attainments pore over their Bibles, or engage 
 in services of worship. The pastor needs great wis- 
 dom and tact in approaching this misguided class, 
 but he should not rest satisfied until it is broken up. 
 
S8 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 I was present in a Sabbath School Convention where 
 the question was asked, "How shall we keep the chil- 
 dren in the Sabbath School, as they grow up?" The 
 answer was given. "Build a wall of grown folks 
 between them and the door." The difficulty with 
 many schools is that there is a wall of grown folks 
 built outside the door and it keeps them out, in- 
 stead of keeping them in. 
 
 3. All the children of the Sabbath School should 
 attend the Church services. 
 
 Bishop Vincent deals earnestly with this question. 
 He says: "In this connection, I make earnest pro- 
 test against making the Sunday School a substitute 
 for public service of worship and preaching, especially 
 in the case of little children. The service is for them 
 and they should be required to attend it regularly." 
 
 I am familiar with the usual objections, viz: 
 
 a. "The child cannot understand the sermon." 
 The answer to this is: 
 
 (i) Adults do not all understand the sermon. 
 
 (2) Children understand more than we sup- 
 pose. 
 
 (3) Sermons of more simplicity and plainness 
 would be an advantage to both children 
 and adults. 
 
 b. "Children are disinclined to go." 
 The answer to this is: 
 
 (i) It is not a matter of the children's choice, 
 but of parental authority. The children 
 should not remember the day when they 
 did not attend preaching. 
 
 (2) Their disinclination cannot set aside the 
 claims of God. 
 
 (3) They are not excused from week-day 
 schools because they are disinclined to 
 attend. 
 
SABBATH SCHOOL AND CHURCH 59 
 
 c. "We may prejudice our children against 
 church by requiring them to attend." To 
 this we answer: 
 (i) The habit of church going will overcome 
 the prejudice. 
 
 (2) The habit of non-church going is more 
 dangerous than the prejudice caused by 
 parental discipline. 
 
 (3) Experience proves the contrary. 
 
 The men and women of our day who are most 
 faithful in attendance upon the sanctuary are those 
 who were trained to it as children. "Train up a child 
 in the way he should go, and, when he is old, he will 
 not depart from it." 
 
 4. The services of worship in the Sabbath School 
 should harmonize with the Church service. 
 
 It is a mistake to introduce forms of worship into 
 the Sabbath School which are not employed in the 
 Church. As I have already said in another connec- 
 tion, the introduction of the United Presbyterian 
 "Bible Songs" into our Sabbath Schools is wholly un- 
 warranted and to be condemned. Our own new ver- 
 sion should be brought into all the services: Sabbath 
 school, young people's societies, prayer meetings, 
 and church services. 
 
 5. The children should be made acquainted with 
 the Church and her glorious work. 
 
 Murphy says: "The children should be made to 
 see the superior advantages which the Church has 
 above every mere institution of men. They should be 
 taught her honorable history, and they should be kept 
 well acquainted with the various projects she is carry- 
 ing on for the purpose of saving and sanctifying the 
 human race. The more they are made to know of 
 the Church, the more they will be interested in her 
 and be drawn to the fold. They should be made to 
 feel that the Church is theirs and awakened to a lev- 
 
6o THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 ing concern in all her affairs. They should also be 
 taught that they have duties toward the Church, to 
 help forward her interests, to love her, and to strive 
 to bring others to love her." 
 
 A little reflection upon these words, and upon the 
 impression generally made by Sabbath-school teach- 
 ing, will convince us that the Sabbath School is not 
 held close enough to the heart and life of the Church. 
 
 6. We should cultivate in the Sabbath School a 
 sincere and intelligent denominational attach- 
 ment. 
 
 Murphy says : 'Tf patriotism loves its own Coun- 
 try, should not piety love its own Church? Our own 
 denomination, whatever it is, we think to be the best, 
 as we show by our connection with it. Should we 
 not teach our children that we do so, sincerely, be- 
 lieve? To stay them in the midst of wildly floating 
 theories, to fix them in the possession of the blessings 
 of the house of God, it is deeply important that all 
 our children should be taught to love their own 
 Church." 
 
 In this matter great stress is to be laid on the 
 phrase, "An intelligent attachment." Attachment to 
 a denomination is comparatively valueless unless it 
 springs from love for the distinctive truth held by 
 that denomination, intelligently apprehended. 
 
 'Tntelligent attachment" includes three things: 
 
 a. To know the truth. 
 
 b. To love the truth. 
 
 c. To live the truth. 
 
 There cannot be intelligent attachment to any truth 
 which we do not know; nor attachment of any kind 
 to truth which we do not love; nor abiding attach- 
 ment to any truth which we do not embody practically 
 in our lives. There will be vital union between the 
 Sabbath School and the Church when both are united 
 to the living truth of the living God. 
 
SABBATH SCHOOL AND CHURCH 6i 
 
 7. It should have a place in the services of the 
 sanctuary. 
 
 a. In the prayers. 
 
 Officers, teachers and scholars should feel the 
 heart-throbs of the Church in her prayers in their 
 behalf. 
 
 b. By special sermons. 
 
 (i) On the Sabbath School. 
 (2) To the Sabbath School. 
 My own custom in the later years of my pastorate 
 was to preach to the Sabbath School the first Sab- 
 bath of each quarter and to especially invite the chil- 
 dren of the different mission schools to these services. 
 On such occasions I have spoken to over two hundred 
 children, largely mission scholars. I look back upon 
 those services as among the most delightful of my 
 pastorate. I do not know that I helped the children 
 greatly, but I do know how much they helped me. 
 
 IV 
 
 The Sabbath School should be Supported by the 
 Church. 
 
 It is remarkable how difficult it frequently is to 
 secure a generous support of the Sabbath School by 
 the congregation. Congregations which pour out 
 their money freely for other causes will allow their 
 own Sabbath School to suffer for financial aid. Dr. 
 Wilcox says: "The pecuniary support of the school 
 must go with the control of it. A man who sends 
 off his son to earn his own living can hardly expect 
 from him an implicit obedience. Many a scholar that 
 belongs to a church to-day that liberally pays its pas- 
 tor, choir, and sexton, might well cry: 'How many 
 hired servants of my father have bread enough and 
 to spare, and I perish with hunger !' " Of course, 
 
62 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 collections will be taken up in the Sabbath School, 
 but these should not be expended on the school itself, 
 but used to develop in the children the grace of giving 
 for the benefit of others. 
 
 The expenses of the Sabbath School should always 
 be included in the financial scheme for the year, and 
 should be calculated on a generous scale. 'There is 
 that giveth, and yet increaseth ; and there is that with- 
 holdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty." 
 
LECTURE VII 
 
 THE RELATION OF THE PASTOR TO THE 
 SABBATH SCHOOL 
 
 Having considered the relation of the Sabbath 
 School to the Church, it follows naturally to inquire 
 what is the relation of the pastor to the Sabbath 
 School? On this subject views differ. Some very 
 eminent preachers take the ground that the Sabbath 
 School has no claim upon their time, that their busi- 
 ness is to preach the gospel. Others magnify the 
 claims of the Sabbath School, even above the claims 
 of the pulpit and neglect the preparation of sermons 
 to attend to the details of Sabbath-school work. An- 
 other large class admit its claims, theoretically, and 
 almost entirely overlook them practically. Let us, 
 therefore, study the question in the spirit of honest 
 inquiry, and seek to reach settled convictions as to 
 what place the Sabbath School shall have in the dis- 
 tribution of our time as pastors. 
 
 I 
 Usually, the Pastor should not be the Superintendent 
 of the Sabbath School. 
 I. Because it draws too heavily on his nervous 
 
 force. 
 The supervision and control of the Sabbath School 
 require effort. The superintendent must be alert 
 and active, not merely during the opening and closing 
 exercises, but during the session of the school. It is 
 very important that the minister should come to his 
 pulpit work with all the freshness and vigor of which 
 he is naturally possessed. 
 
 63 
 
64 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 2. This work can be well done by others. 
 
 If it were true that no person but the pastor could 
 do the work well, it might be his duty to undertake 
 it, even at the expense of pulpit power. But experi- 
 ence shows that many of the most successful super- 
 intendents are laymen. There are duties which the 
 pastor himself must perform. As far as possible let 
 him reserve himself for these, and develop the gifts 
 of his people in the other services. 
 
 3. It trains the congregation to depend too much 
 on the pastor. 
 
 It is a misfortune for a congregation to be de- 
 pendent upon any man. It is no kindness to the peo- 
 ple for the pastor to carry the burdens that belong 
 to them ; for when he has killed himself doing it, they 
 have become too weak to carry them themselves. It 
 is no small compliment to our Covenanter people to 
 say, that, while none honor their pastors more than 
 they, few depend on them less. If the pastor is 
 absent for a Sabbath, or from a prayer-meeting, the 
 work still goes on. Where you find a congregation 
 that gives up its services when the pastor is away, 
 you have found one that is getting ready to die. This 
 independence is promoted by keeping the prayer- 
 meeting and the Sabbath School largely in the hands 
 of the people. When a prominent pastor went out of 
 our denomination, leaving the New Castle congre- 
 gation without a shepherd, that congregation paid a 
 high compliment to his training by marching straight 
 forward without losing a step. 
 
 II 
 
 Circumstances May Arise in which It is the Duty of 
 the Pastor to be the Superintendent. 
 
 I. When only one preaching service is required, 
 the pastor should aim to have two services: if 
 
PASTOR AND SABBATH SCHOOL 65 
 
 not in the congregation, then at some outpost. 
 In case this fails, he may take charge of the 
 school. 
 
 2. In a new field where no one qualified is avail- 
 able. 
 
 In founding a new congregation it is of great im- 
 portance that the Sabbath School be started right and 
 carried to the highest point of efficiency. It not in- 
 frequently happens, that, in the fewness of numbers, 
 no one can be found of sufficient knowledge, tact, 
 and experience to be safely entrusted with the charge 
 of the school. In such circumstances the earnest pas- 
 tor will, for a time, over-burden himself, rather than 
 let the work fall into inefficient hands. 
 
 3. Where the Sabbath School has fallen into ruts 
 and no one else can lift it out. 
 
 It sometimes happens that an old man has been 
 superintendent for years and has outserved his use- 
 fulness. He is occupying the place to the manifest 
 injury of the school, and yet it seems impossible to 
 drop him out. Perhaps he would willingly give way 
 to the pastor, but would be deeply wounded if any 
 other were put in his place. In such circumstances 
 it might become the duty of the pastor to accept the 
 place until such time as he could transfer it to other 
 hands. 
 
 These and other exceptional cases may suspend the 
 rule, but they do not set it aside permanently. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Usually, the Pastor should not he a Teacher in the 
 School. 
 
 I. For the same reasons that he should not be 
 
 the superintendent. 
 Others can do the work of teaching; it will be the 
 
66 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 means of growth and development to them to do it ; 
 and the minister's strength should be reserved for 
 other services. 
 
 2. Because the pastor's class is likely to over- 
 shadow the other classes. 
 
 Naturally the pastor should be able to make his 
 class superior to the others. The tendency, therefore, 
 is to make excuses to get into the pastor's class. 
 Other teachers feel uncomfortable, not so much be- 
 cause they cannot rival the pastor, as because they 
 feel that their scholars would prefer to be in his 
 class. 
 
 3. Because the pastor's teaching should be done 
 at a point where it will reach the whole school. 
 
 In relieving the pastor from obligation to be either 
 the superintendent of the school or the teacher of a 
 class, there is no intention of depriving the school 
 of his services. He should be more than a teacher, 
 i. e., a teacher of the teachers, in Normal Class and 
 in Teachers' Meeting. 
 
 IV 
 
 The Pastor should be the Pastor of the Sabbath 
 School. 
 
 I. He should exercise his pastoral office in the 
 school itself. 
 
 a. He should visit the school regularly. His 
 coming into the school should be like the ris- 
 ing of the sun, bringing both light and 
 warmth. 
 
 b. He should acquaint himself fully with the 
 character of the work done. 
 
 As the pastor, he has a responsibility for the effi- 
 ciency of the school. The officers and teachers and 
 scholars should all feel the influence of his personality 
 
PASTOR AND SABBATH SCHOOL 6^ 
 
 in their work. It will have a beneficial effect upon 
 the deportment of the classes and will quicken the 
 diligence and fidelity of the teachers if they feel con- 
 stantly the gentle but firm pressure of the pastor's 
 hand. 
 
 c. He should be recognized as the superior offi- 
 cer in the school. 
 
 Not that the pastor should officiously interfere with 
 the regular work of teachers or superintendent, but it 
 should be perfectly understood that he is at liberty 
 to come in and assume charge of the school or of 
 any part of its exercises without being regarded as 
 an intruder or a usurper. The Sabbath School is a 
 part of his pastoral charge and he is the superior 
 officer in it. Where a mission school is properly 
 organized in connection with the congregation, the 
 relation of the pastor to it is the same as to the con- 
 gregational school. 
 
 2. The pastor should visit the scholars regularly 
 in their homes : 
 
 a. So that the children may feel that they have 
 a pastor. 
 
 A certain respect is felt for the minister of God, 
 even in the homes of the Christless and the irreligious. 
 And while the children in these homes cannot be ex- 
 pected to have that intelligent appreciation of a pas- 
 toral visit that is found in the homes of our people, 
 still a new and helpful influence comes into their lives 
 the moment they are made to feel that they are the 
 objects of pastoral oversight and solicitude. In some 
 way it links the life with God. 
 
 b. That the pastor may become personally ac- 
 quainted with the children. 
 
 It is worth a persistent effort to secure such ac- 
 quaintance with mission children as to be able to call 
 them by their names. It is humiliating after you have 
 passed a group of children on the street and they 
 
68 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 have looked up expectantly into your face, to hear the 
 scoffer among them say : "A — ah, he don't know 
 you !" Now the best way to ''know them" is by home 
 visits. 
 
 c. That the parents may know that he is caring 
 for their children. 
 
 The pastor needs no better warrant for calling on 
 a family than the fact that the children are attending 
 his school. Ask to see the children. Let it be under- 
 stood that you have called on their account. Parents 
 will not resent your interest in their little ones. You 
 may even win the parents. 
 
 d. That he may be impressed with his responsi- 
 bility for the saving of their souls. 
 
 A visit to the homes of the children will often re- 
 veal that their only hope of salvation is in what he 
 and his church can do for them. Oh, how our hearts 
 would soften toward the wicked, hardened, blessed 
 little wretches which so try our patience and weaken 
 our faith, if we only knew the misery, and hardship, 
 and cruelty of their home life. For these and many 
 other reasons, the pastor should visit all the children 
 of his Sabbath School as he does the members of his 
 flock. 
 
 3. He should visit the members of the Sabbath 
 School in sickness. 
 
 Where the families from which the children come 
 belong to other churches, discretion is necessary not 
 to give ground of complaint of proselytism. The 
 Golden Rule is an excellent guide in such cases. 
 
 I remark — 
 
 a. Such visits are appreciated by children. 
 
 There is danger that the young pastor will not 
 know, and that the old pastor will forget, that quite 
 young children are comforted and helped, in sickness, 
 by a pastoral visit. I have more than once been re- 
 proved by the remark of a little child, that I did not 
 
PASTOR AND SABBATH SCHOOL 69 
 
 come to see him in sickness ; and I have been made 
 glad by the manifestation of pleasure on the part of 
 little sufferers when I came to the bedside."^ 
 
 b. Such visits may win the hearts of the parents. 
 
 When hearts are softened by the blows of affliction 
 or solemnized by the imminence of death, the gospel 
 message frequently finds an entrance where it has 
 long been sought in vain. Even the godless welcome 
 the minister in such an hour. Any failure on the 
 part of the minister to do his duty then may alienate 
 from the Church those who might have been won to 
 Christ and to heaven. 
 
 4. He should preach special sermons adapted to 
 the capacities of the children. 
 
 There should be something in every sermon suited 
 to childhood. It is wrong to insist that the children 
 should attend church and then provide nothing for 
 their needs. We would not invite children to a ban- 
 quet merely as spectators, to look on and be good 
 while the grown folks fed on the rich dainties. But 
 besides this regular provision, there should be special 
 sermons for children. These should be — 
 
 a. Brief : i. e., the whole service less than an 
 hour. 
 
 It is helpful to sing after each point, allowing the 
 children to stand during the singing. When the in- 
 terest begins to flag it is time to close. 
 
 b. Chaste and simple in language. 
 Recently, one of our ministers announced that he 
 
 would preach a sermon to the children. The children 
 were present, eager and expectant. The opening sen- 
 tence ran thus : "Children are the normal conser- 
 vators of the public weal." The children must have 
 wondered what he had called them. They might have 
 
 * At this point Dr. George was in the habit of recalling a 
 last visit with President Dr. W. P. Johnston's two children, 
 Elinor and Jimmie, stricken with scarlet fever. 
 
70 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 felt like the boy when one said to him: *'Why, my 
 little fellow, you are quite a philosopher." And he 
 replied : " I hope that means no harm." 
 
 c. They should be picturesque. 
 
 Children love pictures, and good word pictures fas- 
 cinate them. Narrative, anecdote, illustration, must 
 characterize the children's sermon. 
 
 d. They should be tender and sympathetic. 
 Children are reached through their emotional na- 
 tures. But the pathos must be real. They are sharp 
 detectives. 
 
 e. They should contain the marrow of the 
 gospel. 
 
 It is a sin to choose a trifling, insignificant theme. 
 An Action sermon may be changed to a Children's 
 sermon. Great care in the choice of texts is neces- 
 sary. Genesis xvi, 13: **Thou God seest me"; 
 I Kings iii, 5 : ''Ask what I shall give thee" ; John 
 i, 43: "Follow me"; I Kings xvii, 13: "Make me 
 a little cake first." No theme is too big for a chil- 
 dren's sermon, providing it is a gospel theme: for 
 the big truths are plain truths. 
 
LECTURE VIII 
 
 THE PASTOR AND THE TEACHERS' 
 NORMAL CLASS 
 
 It was stated in the last lecture that the pastor 
 should do his teaching, in connection with the Sab- 
 bath School, at a point where it would benefit the 
 whole. It will be the aim of this and the following 
 lecture to show how this may be done. 
 
 The Inefficiency of Teachers is a Prolific Source of 
 Weakness in the Sabbath Schools. 
 
 I. This fact is recognized by the leaders in Sab- 
 bath-school work. 
 
 H. Clay Trumbull opens his excellent volume on 
 ''Teachers and Teaching" with the following state- 
 ment: 
 
 "All Sunday-school teachers ought to be teachers 
 in the Sunday School. Being teachers in the Sunday 
 School, they ought to teach in the Sunday School. 
 In order to teach in the Sunday School, they ought 
 to know what teaching is. An initial purpose of this 
 volume is, so to designate and define the nature and 
 methods, and so to indicate the comparative rarity 
 of proper Sunday-school teaching, as will enable Sun- 
 day-school teachers to know whether or not they are, 
 or ever have been, teachers in the Sunday School. 
 There is practical need of honest doubt at this point; 
 especially on the part of those who have never sup- 
 posed there was any cause of questioning here." 
 
 These words seem to be severe; yet Dr. Trumbull 
 71 
 
72 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 was very familiar with Sabbath-school work, and 
 especially in the large denominations. 
 
 2. This inefficiency is not mainly the fault of the 
 teachers. 
 
 Perhaps no one knows better than the teachers 
 themselves how poorly equipped they are for their 
 work; and no one more sincerely regrets it than do 
 they. The fault is with the Church in not giving 
 such attention to the selection and training of teachers 
 as the importance of the work demands. 
 
 3. One remedy lies in Normal-class training for 
 Sabbath-school teachers. 
 
 The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
 in 1879 took the following action: 
 
 "Resolved, That the Assembly approve of the action 
 of the Board of Publication in preparing a three 
 years' course of Normal-class instruction, and 
 earnestly recommend the formation of Normal Classes 
 wherever practicable." 
 
 Similar recommendations have been made by our 
 own synod and in some instances carried out. 
 
 II 
 
 The Specific Aim of the Normal Class. 
 
 This is twofold — 
 
 I. To instruct teachers in the knowledge of the 
 Bible. 
 
 The first essential to teaching is knowing. No 
 matter what skill any one may have in the art of 
 teaching, if he does not know anything he has noth- 
 ing to teach. The Bible is the Sabbath-school text- 
 book. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, 
 and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for cor- 
 rection, for instruction in righteousness: that the man 
 of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all 
 
THE TEACHERS' NORMAL CLASS 73 
 
 good works." (H Tim. iii, 16, 17.) The first aim 
 of the Normal Class is to impart Bible instruction. 
 
 2. To train teachers in the art of teaching. 
 
 The mere possession of Scriptural knowledge will 
 not make an efficient teacher. There must be ability 
 to transfer knowledge to the mind of another. Hence 
 the second aim of the Normal Class is training in the 
 art of teaching. Bishop John H. Vincent, speaking 
 of Normal Class training, says it involves — 
 (i) The acquisition of knowledge. 
 
 (2) The testing of the knowledge thus acquired. 
 
 (3) The utilizing of such knowledge for teach- 
 ing purposes. 
 
 HI 
 
 The Necessity for the Normal Class. 
 
 1. Other professions have schools of preparation. 
 
 We have Medical Colleges for the training of phy- 
 sicians ; Law Schools for the education of lawyers ; 
 Theological Seminaries for the preparation of minis- 
 ters, and Normal Schools for the instruction of public 
 school teachers. And even kindergarten work de- 
 mands a course of study. Why should it be supposed 
 that the religious teaching of the young may be safely 
 entrusted to unskilled, untaught educators? 
 
 2. Usually, Sabbath-school teachers have little time 
 for immediate preparation. 
 
 In medicine, law, theology, or public school teach- 
 ing, the whole time is devoted to the study and prac- 
 tice of the profession. The practitioner is a man 
 of one work. Not so the Sabbath-school teacher. 
 As has been well said: ''His work is performed 
 under the pressure of secular occupations. Mothers 
 from the nursery; merchants and clerks from the 
 
74 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 counter; farmers from the field; lawyers from the 
 bar; jurists from the bench; physicians from the bed- 
 side; students from the recitation room." Many of 
 them are wholly deficient in mental discipline, and 
 with no time for preparation must make sad work 
 with the brain of the pupil and the Book of God on 
 the Sabbath. It is unreasonable to expect that such 
 teachers can have fitness for their work without 
 preparation. 
 
 3. Because Sabbath-school teaching demands the 
 very highest and best work. 
 
 a. The immortal soul is the material on which 
 it works. 
 
 b. The Divine Word is the instrument with 
 which it works. 
 
 c. The Holy Spirit is the agent through whom 
 it works. 
 
 d. Eternal life is the goal for which it works. 
 Arguing for the necessity for Normal-class train- 
 ing for Sabbath-school teachers is like proving an 
 axiom. 
 
 IV 
 
 What should be Embraced in a Normal Course? 
 
 I. Instruction as to the Sabbath School itself. 
 
 a. As to the Scripture warrant for it. 
 Teachers should have a full persuasion that they are 
 
 engaged in the Lord's work and that they are doing it 
 in the Lord's way. 
 
 b. As to its relation to the Church. 
 
 The Sabbath School would be more efficient as a 
 missionary agent and as a nursery to the Church, if 
 both teachers and scholars were more impressed with 
 its vital relation to the Church of Christ. 
 
THE TEACHERS' NORMAL CLASS 75 
 
 c. As to the duties of the Sabbath-school 
 teacher. 
 
 Much of the failure in Sabbath-school work is 
 due to the ignorance of teachers as to the scope of 
 their duties. Many regard them as confined to the 
 Sabbath-school hour. They should be instructed, 
 both as to what the duties of the teacher are, and how 
 to perform them. For instance, visiting the scholars 
 in their homes, and in sickness, interesting themselves 
 in their scholars as regards their secular affairs, their 
 associations and reading, and their school life. 
 
 d. As to the duties of Sabbath-school officers. 
 The Sabbath School is an organization in which the 
 
 duties of the several officers — superintendent, secre- 
 tary, treasurer, and librarian, bring them into closest 
 contact with the teachers in their work. Sometimes 
 the contact becomes conflict. It is necessary to the 
 smooth running of the machinery that the limits of 
 each office be well understood and conscientiously ob- 
 served. The uninstructed teacher is liable to assume 
 the prerogatives of the superintendent and the pastor 
 by changing studies, grading classes, or choosing an 
 assistant or a substitute without any consultation. 
 
 2. Instruction in the Bible as the Sabbath-school 
 text-book. 
 
 The Bible is the text-book. All other manuals of 
 instruction are subordinate to this. When the Cate- 
 chisms, the Testimony and the Confession of Faith 
 are employed, it should be understood that they are 
 used as aids to Bible study. 
 
 A Normal Course of Bible study might include — 
 a. Studies in Bible Chronology, History, and 
 Geography, with use of maps and charts. 
 
 Too large a place should not be given to these 
 subjects in teaching the lessons, but it is of great value 
 to the teacher to be well informed on them. 
 
y6 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 b. The classification of the books of the Bible. 
 Every teacher should be familiar with the scope of 
 
 the simplest classification : historical, poetical, pro- 
 phetical, and epistolary books. 
 
 c. Studies in particular books. 
 
 Robert E. Speer has published a small volume 
 called ''Studies in Luke," and another ''Studies in 
 Acts." The mastery of such Bible studies would be 
 delightful work to earnest Sabbath-school teachers, 
 and greatly helpful in the work. Our Synod at its 
 meeting in 1905, recommended that pastors seek to 
 interest their young people in Bible study, by giving 
 them at convenient times in their pulpit ministrations 
 during that year instruction in the books of Jonah, 
 Obadiah, Galatians, and Philippians. Similar recom- 
 mendations have been made from time to time. This 
 could be still more efficiently done in Normal Class 
 work. 
 
 The Normal Course of Bible study as originally 
 provided by the Presbyterian Church covers three 
 years: Junior, Middle and Senior. The junior year 
 is an outline of the Life of Jesus and embraces a 
 study of the Four Gospels ; the middle course con- 
 sists of biographical outlines of the four principal 
 apostles: Peter, Paul, James, and John; the senior 
 is occupied with Studies in the Old Testament. 
 
 3. Instruction as to the Church and Church His- 
 tory. 
 
 Sabbath-school teachers ought to be informed as 
 to the nature of the Church and the purposes of its 
 organization — its Doctrine, Government, Worship, and 
 Discipline. Also as to the history of the Church, at 
 least in its general outlines ; e. g., Under the Old 
 Testament ; IJnder the New ; In the Apostolic Age ; 
 During the Dark Ages ; The Reformation, and par- 
 ticularly as to the history of our own denomination. 
 
 4. Instruction in the Art of Teaching. 
 
THE TEACHERS' NORMAL CLASS yj 
 
 a. How to prepare a lesson. 
 
 The first essential to teaching is knowing. There 
 is a great difference between knowing the lesson and 
 knowing about the lesson. It is possible to spend 
 much time and read many lesson helps, and yet come 
 to the class wholly unprepared to teach. The Nor- 
 mal Course should teach teachers how to study. 
 
 b. How to approach a class. 
 
 It is a high art. How to open the door of the 
 heart to the entrance of the word, and how to adapt 
 the word for entrance through the open door, can 
 only be learned by the study of the class and of the 
 lesson in its relation to the class. 
 
 c. How to secure attention. 
 
 Dr. Trumbull says: ''Preparedness amounts to 
 just nothing at all unless the teacher has and holds 
 attention of the scholar. Without the attention of 
 the scholar, the best teacher in the world cannot be a 
 teacher to that scholar." 
 
 Shakespeare says : 
 
 "The crow doth sing as sweetly as the lark, 
 When neither is attended." 
 
 And the poorest teacher can do no worse than the 
 best teacher when neither has attention. A visit to 
 some Sabbath Schools would lead one to think that 
 the art of securing attention is one of the lost arts. 
 
 d. How to ask questions. 
 
 Asking printed questions from a lesson leaflet can 
 hardly be called teaching. To be able to ask questions 
 in such a way as to convey to the mind of the scholar 
 the truth which you seem to be drawing from him is 
 worthy of painstaking endeavor. A brief course in 
 a well-conducted Normal Class will furnish sugges- 
 tions in the art of questioning which it would require 
 years of experience in teaching to discover. 
 
 e. How to use illustrations. 
 
 Every intelligent teacher knows the value of illus- 
 
78 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 tration in teaching; but how to do it so that the illus- 
 tration will afford instruction and not be a mere 
 diversion from the lesson, is a high attainment. The 
 Normal Class should give valuable assistance here. 
 
 f. How to enforce practical lessons. 
 
 A vast amount of Sabbath-school effort is lost be- 
 cause truth is not taught practically. Dr. Wilcox well 
 says : "Many teachers make too much of the frame- 
 work of the lesson. They spend the time on points 
 of sacred history, geography, manners and customs. 
 As to the value of such information, there is a glamour 
 on the eyes of many Bible readers. Measurably such 
 information is needful to a clear idea of Scripture. 
 But the notion is that one may find something far 
 more edifying, spiritually, in knowing the distance 
 between Jerusalem and Jericho than in being able to 
 tell the number of miles from New York to Boston.'* 
 
 To spend time on these things to the neglect of 
 sanctifying and saving truths is to give stones for 
 bread, to feed the children on the husks while we 
 throw away the kernel. The Normal Class should 
 train the teacher rightly to divide the word of truth. 
 
 g. How to conduct a review. 
 
 Review day is like a night-mare in the day-dreams 
 of many teachers. They have no definite purpose in 
 regard to it, only to fill in the time in some way and 
 get past it for another three months. Now review 
 day ought to be the raciest and most profitable of all 
 the days of the quarter. To make it so, it must be 
 the day for which all the other days are made. The 
 Normal Class should teach how to make it so. 
 
 5. Instruction in the work of winning souls. 
 
 "He that winneth souls is wise" ; and to win souls, 
 one must be wise. The Sabbath-school work which 
 does not result in souls brought to Christ is a failure. 
 Better to let souls perish in ignorince than to bring 
 them into the light of the Gospel and leave them still 
 
THE TEACHERS' NORMAL CLASS 79 
 
 unsaved. The teacher must yearn over the members 
 of his class with such love as the apostle expresses 
 when he says : *'My little children of whom I travail 
 in birth again until Christ be formed in you." 
 The Normal Class should teach — 
 
 a. Personal work for the salvation of souls. 
 
 b. How to use the Bible in personal work. 
 
 c. How to answer excuses. 
 
 d. How to persuade men to receive Christ. 
 
 e. How to persuade men to unite with the 
 Church. 
 
 Young- gentlemen, does it not startle you to think 
 of the multitude of teachers entrusted with the care of 
 souls, who yet have not the remotest idea how to 
 lead them to Christ? Is it not the duty of pastors to 
 hold Normal Classes for the instruction of teachers in 
 the art of soul-winning? 
 
 How should a Normal Class he Conducted? 
 
 1. Select the best materials for it. 
 
 After forming acquaintance with the members of 
 his congregation, the pastor will form an opinion of 
 the qualifications and possibilities of each person. 
 He should seek to awaken in each a profound sense 
 of the magnitude and importance of the Sabbath- 
 school work and what could be done in the way of 
 preparation for it. He will soon gather about him a 
 band ''whose hearts God has touched," and with 
 these he is ready to begin. It would not be wise to 
 exclude any from its privileges, but care should be 
 taken to see that the best do not exclude themselves. 
 
 2. Outline the plan of study. 
 
 It is of great importance that the Normal Class be 
 formed with a specific aim, and that the members 
 
8o THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 when they enter the class know precisely what you 
 propose to do; and make sure when the course closes, 
 that they feel that the thing proposed has been done. 
 The Board of Publication of the Presbyterian Church 
 in 1905 issued a book outlining a Normal Course. It 
 is entitled 'The Westminster Teacher Training 
 Course," and embraces the following: 
 
 1. Seven lessons on the books of the New Testa- 
 ment. 
 
 2. Six lessons on Church History. 
 
 3. Nine lessons in Christian Doctrine. 
 
 4. Four lessons on Christian Service in Win- 
 ning Souls. 
 
 5. Eight lessons on the Church. 
 
 6. Six lessons on the Church at work in the 
 Sunday School. 
 
 This is intended as a text-book for use in Normal 
 training. The outline shows its scope. 
 
 Another text-book, prepared by Jesse Lyman Hurl- 
 but, contains the following course: 
 
 1. Four lessons on The Book and Its Books. 
 
 2. Six lessons in Bible History. 
 
 3. Six lessons in Bible Geography. 
 
 4. Six lessons in Bible Institutions. 
 
 5. Six lessons on The Sunday School. 
 
 6. Six lessons on The Sunday-school Teacher. 
 
 7. Six lessons on The Sunday-school Pupil. 
 
 I do not give unqualified endorsement to either of 
 these courses. Let the pastor make out his own 
 course, adapted to his field. 
 
 3. Fix a certain number of lessons to be embraced 
 in the course. 
 
 Bishop Vincent says: 'The movement must not 
 involve too much work, or too much time. Instead 
 of inaugurating a meeting which shall be continued 
 for all time, let those who are interested agree to 
 organize for ten or twelve special meetings. A lim- 
 
THE TEACHERS' NORMAL CLASS 8i 
 
 ited number of meetings will be attended by persons 
 who could not pledge themselves to be regular at- 
 tendants for a long series of services." 
 
 By this method you can choose the most favorable 
 season of the year. 
 
 4. A Normal Course may embrace a series of lec- 
 tures or papers. 
 
 Such subjects as: The Scripture Warrant for the 
 Sabbath School; The Relation of Sabbath School to 
 the Church; The Sabbath School as a Missionary 
 Agency; The Qualifications of Teachers, and Visit- 
 ing the Sick, would be appropriate. The pastor, or 
 teachers, or others, could prepare them. 
 
 5. The course should provide for spiritual culture. 
 
 This is the crowning preparation for the Sabbath- 
 school teacher as it is also of the ministry. Devo- 
 tional exercises, testimonies of experience, seeking for 
 the presence and power of the Holy Spirit : a course 
 of study on these lines is greatly needed and would 
 tend to sanctify all other gifts and attainments. 
 
LECTURE IX: 
 
 THE PASTOR AND THE TEACHERS' 
 MEETING 
 
 Most pastors cannot find time to conduct a series 
 of Normal classes every year. But such pastors can- 
 not find time for Sabbath-school work at all. The 
 pastor has an especial duty to the young; his specific 
 duty to them is through the Sabbath School; he can 
 best serve them by training their teachers; and, in 
 addition to the special Normal Training courses at 
 intervals, he should take time regularly for the weekly 
 Teachers' Meeting. Doing the two things will make 
 it easier to find the time. 
 
 If it is true that a church can be best built up 
 through the Sabbath School, then the young pastor 
 will do well to plan certain, definite, permanent work 
 here. The work of the pastor in the Sabbath School 
 should be done in such a way as to secure two things : 
 
 a. That it will affect and influence the whole 
 school. 
 
 b. That on the Sabbath all his energies of body 
 and mind will be reserved for the pulpit. 
 
 These two ends are best secured by his teaching the 
 teachers : first in the Normal Class ; and second in the 
 Teachers' Meeting. 
 
 What is the Idea of the Teachers' Mee'tingf 
 
 I. It is not exclusively for the benefit of the 
 
 teachers. 
 Marion Lawrence in How to Conduct a Sunday 
 School emphasizes this point. He says: "The true 
 
 83 
 
THE TEACHERS' MEETING 83 
 
 teachers' meeting is no more exclusively for the 
 teachers than it is for the officers ; nor is it for either 
 of these to the exclusion of several other classes. Its 
 intent is to aid all those who have anything to do 
 with the management of the school." 
 
 2. The Teachers' Meeting is not for controversy. 
 Dr. Schauffler in his Ways of Working says: 
 
 "The teachers' meeting should not be a debating so- 
 ciety. There is always danger of this. In every 
 school there are some men, and women, too, who are 
 argumentatively inclined. As soon as they strike any 
 question that will bear discussion they grow com- 
 bative. It matters not what the debate is, if the de- 
 baters are allowed to have their own way they will 
 ruin the meeting; for the majority of the teachers 
 have come to the meeting, not for discussion, but for 
 help to handle their classes on the following Sunday. 
 If such discussions are allowed to be carried on, this 
 class of teachers will soon tire of the meeting and will 
 stay away." 
 
 To the same effect Bishop Vincent writes : "Too 
 often mere controversy arises on obscure passages, 
 trifling points and doctrinal inferences, and this con- 
 troversy is sustained by two or three interested parties, 
 while the majority of the teachers are annoyed be- 
 yond measure. At first the teachers attend this meet- 
 ing. But soon their interest wanes. They allow 
 trifling obstacles to prevent their attendance, and I 
 am not surprised that the teachers' meeting is un- 
 popular." 
 
 Evidently these two great Sabbath-school instruc- 
 tors have the same doleful picture before their minds 
 of the teachers' meeting talked to death by senseless 
 controversialists. The pastor must let it be under- 
 stood that such troublers should get up a debating so- 
 ciety of their own and find their own audiences. 
 
 3. It is not for social enjoyment. 
 
84 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 Doubtless much of the very highest social enjoy- 
 ment will result from it, but this is purely incidental. 
 Here again Dr. Schauffler sounds a note of warning: 
 "This sometimes happens. The young men and 
 maidens gather and are full of their fun. They begin 
 to pass jokes and smart sayings, and are filled with 
 the spirit of banter. This is all well enough in its 
 way and at the proper time; but it will kill any 
 teachers' meeting in the long run. The serious 
 teachers will weary of it, and will show their feelings 
 by staying away. There is a time for everything 
 under the sun; and the teachers' meeting is not the 
 time for polite sky-larking." 
 
 4. One object of the teachers' meeting is to study 
 the lesson. 
 
 On this point the doctors seem to differ. Dr. 
 Schauffler says : "The teachers' meeting is one for 
 the study of the lesson. In theory all teachers ought 
 to come to the meeting with the lesson prepared; at 
 least in its outline facts. But as a matter of fact 
 most of the teachers do not find time for this, and 
 for that reason I say the meeting must take up the 
 lesson from the very beginning, and the leader see 
 to it that the teachers know the lesson facts." On 
 the other hand, Bishop Vincent says: "The teachers' 
 meeting is not an adult Bible Class for the study of 
 the subject-matter of the next Sunday's lesson. 
 Many teachers' meetings have been utterly ruined by 
 this false conception of its mission." 
 
 My own opinion is that Dr. Vincent is right ideally, 
 and that Dr. Schauffler is right practically, and that 
 you will have to combine the practical with the ideal. 
 It will be found necessary to study the lesson as one 
 feature of the meeting. 
 
 5. Another object is to digest the lesson. 
 
 You are familiar with the fact that when the 
 preacher has the materials fully collected for his ser- 
 
THE TEACHERS' MEETING 85 
 
 mon there still remains a very important work in di- 
 gesting these materials and constructing a sermon. 
 Nor is the minister prepared to preach the sermon 
 until he has passed it through his own personal ex- 
 perience, that his own personality may be stamped 
 on it. The Sabbath-school lesson must pass through 
 a similar process in the minds of the teachers. To 
 facilitate and perfect this work is one important aim 
 of the teachers' meeting. 
 
 6. To formulate plans for teaching. 
 
 It is well to keep in mind the distinction between 
 the teachers' meeting and the Normal Class. The 
 Normal Class is for the general study of the Bible; 
 the teachers' meeting is for the study of a particular 
 lesson : the former gives general instruction in the 
 Art of Teaching; the latter gives special instruction 
 as to the best method of teaching the lesson for the 
 next Sabbath. How this will be done will appear 
 later. 
 
 7. It is for devotional exercises connected with 
 the lesson. 
 
 In our great concern about intellectual preparation, 
 we are in danger of undervaluing the devotional. 
 We cultivate the head, and too often neglect the 
 heart. The remarks of Dr. Schauffler on this point 
 are particularly good : 
 
 'The work that teachers have in hand has its in- 
 tensely devotional side and without much prayer will 
 not succeed. So opportunity should be given for 
 requests for prayer, and for a statement of difficulties 
 and encouragements, after which the meeting can 
 unite in prayer, or thanksgiving. Let there never be 
 less than two prayers, and often more. Let prayers 
 be short, strong, specific, not running over all the 
 world and all time, but for that which just at present 
 lies nearest the hearts of the teachers. Teachers 
 should be strongly encouraged to bring special cases 
 
86 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 and ask prayer in their behalf. If we had such 
 prayerful meetings we would have more conversions." 
 
 II 
 
 The Advantages of the Teachers' Meeting. 
 
 1. It helps to secure the thorough study of the 
 lesson. 
 
 Many teachers depend on a few hurried glances at 
 lesson helps on the Sabbath morning to carry them 
 through. It is easy to see that what they bring to 
 their classes is like the froth that rises in the pail at a 
 hurried milking, rather than like the cream which 
 rises when the milk stands quietly cooling in the milk- 
 pans. Let us not chide the hard-worked teachers 
 about doing their solemn work in this slip-shod way, 
 until we have provided a good teachers' meeting to 
 which they can come and secure time for mature re- 
 flection on the lesson. 
 
 2. It gives inexperienced teachers the help of the 
 experienced. 
 
 That a large proportion of Sabbath School teaching 
 is entrusted to very young and inexperienced hands, 
 is a serious drawback in the work. A well-conducted 
 teachers' meeting will, in a measure, correct this evil. 
 
 3. It assists teachers to arrange truth in com- 
 municable form. 
 
 Teaching involves the transfer of knowledge from 
 the mind of the teacher to the mind of the scholar, 
 and particularly in stimulating his mind and quicken- 
 ing his heart in religious things. A teachers' meeting 
 which stops with getting the truths of the lesson into 
 the minds of the teachers is far from the ideal. That 
 may be a teaching meeting, but it is not a Teachers' 
 meeting. 
 
 4. It gives unity to the Sabbath-school instruction. 
 We have a uniform system of International Les- 
 
THE TEACHERS' MEETING 87 
 
 sons; it does not follow that we have uniform teach- 
 ing. Much is gained if the minds of all are con- 
 centrated on the same general lines of doctrine and 
 duty. Members from the same family are in different 
 classes. If, when they compare notes at the close 
 of the day, it is found that widely divergent or perhaps 
 even contradictory views have been taught, the effect 
 is to weaken the impression and discredit the teachers 
 and the Bible. On the other hand, if it be found 
 that all have received the same general instruction, the 
 impression will be doubled. To do this, the teachers 
 need to study together under the same leader. 
 
 5. It helps to adapt the lessons to the locality. 
 On this, Bishop Vincent remarks: "Let the lesson 
 
 be studied with an eye to the peculiarities of the local- 
 ity in which it is taught. What is there in this lesson 
 for our community? Are there important moral is- 
 sues brought to the surface, such as Sabbath Ob- 
 servance, Purity of Speech, Reverence for Parents? 
 Which truth shall we make emphatic? Thus, teachers 
 may agree upon a particular point of attack, and such 
 concentration will prove of immense value to that 
 community." 
 
 6. It aids the teachers in adapting the lesson to 
 the peculiarities of each class. 
 
 While the same doctrines and duties may be taught 
 to all, they should be taught in a very different way. 
 Adaptability is one essential to good teaching. The 
 comparison of plans in the Teachers' meeting will aid 
 each teacher in selecting the method best suited to his 
 scholars. 
 
 Ill 
 
 How to Secure Attendance. 
 
 I. Have a convenient and attractive place of meet- 
 ing. 
 
88 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 Bishop Vincent says : "This means a cheerful, com- 
 fortable room, fitted up in good style, with tables, 
 chairs, carpets, maps, blackboards, cabinet of archae- 
 ological curiosities and illustrative apparatus, library 
 of books — especially on the art of teaching — maga- 
 zines and other periodicals." We might say of this, 
 as people often say of Covenanter principles, "that 
 will do for the millennium." In the meantime, aim in 
 that direction. 
 
 2. Select carefully the time for meeting. 
 
 a. Not on the Sabbath. The pastor has other 
 use for his time and strength on that day, 
 and so have all others. 
 
 b. Not on prayer-meeting evening. 
 
 Some regard this as the most favorable time, (i) 
 It saves an extra evening. (2) It secures the at- 
 tendance of teachers at prayer-meeting. (3) It en- 
 courages prayer for the Sabbath School. (4) Where 
 the golden text is used in the prayer-meeting, it is 
 easy to combine the two. But there are reasons 
 against it which outweigh all these considerations, 
 the chief of which is that each of these should have 
 an evening to itself. 
 
 Lawrence says : "It is desirable to give a whole 
 evening to it and this will be found little enough when 
 its real value is understood. A teachers' meeting 
 tacked on before or after another meeting, while a 
 great deal better than none at all, falls far short of 
 the possibilities of this agency. As to the best time 
 in the week, we favor Friday night, if it does not con- 
 flict with the prayer-meeting. . . . However, any 
 night in the week, provided you can have the whole 
 evening, is better than any other night on which you 
 can have but part of the evening. Some will say 
 they cannot spend two nights in the week giving one 
 ^ach to the prayer-meeting and the teachers' meeting. 
 
THE TEACHERS' MEETING 89 
 
 We have often heard this and used to beUeve it; but 
 our observation is that in practice it is not so. If 
 the two meetings are properly conducted, the one 
 should create a relish for the other." 
 
 3. Limit the time to be spent in it. 
 
 Some good people love to sing of a happy land — 
 
 *'Where congregations ne'er break up 
 And Sabbaths have no end," 
 
 but the ideal Teachers' meeting is not conducted on 
 that plan. There is no surer way to wear out a 
 teachers' meeting than to permit it to drag its weary 
 length along interminably. We cannot successfully 
 introduce the measures that belong to an "endless 
 life" into the things of time. Lawrence says : ''An 
 hour and a quarter is quite short enough: an hour 
 and a half is much better for the whole meeting." 
 This is a liberal allowance, in my judgment. 
 
 4. Guard against the waste of time. 
 
 Every teachers' meeting, like every prayer-meet- 
 ing, has its time-killer. It is easy to fritter away a 
 precious hour speculating about something God has 
 not revealed. The pastor should exercise his office 
 as a Ruling Elder and force the meeting to run in 
 proper channels. 
 
 5. Never postpone the meeting on account of the 
 fewness of the numbers present. 
 
 It always tends to discourage and break down the 
 meeting, if it is held irregularly. Dr. Thomas SprouU 
 used to say that when you hear the children ask: 
 "Mamma, are we going to have worship to-night?" 
 you may be sure you are in a home where family 
 worship is only occasional. It is a bad sign if, when 
 the regular night for teachers' meeting arrives, people 
 are heard inquiring, "Are we going to have teachers' 
 meeting to-night?" Of course we are. 
 
90 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 IV 
 
 Hozv to Conduct the Teachers' Meeting. 
 
 1. Usually the pastor should be the teacher. 
 
 The only exception to this rule is when he is dis- 
 abled or necessarily absent, or when there is some one 
 who can do it better. 
 
 2. The teachers should study the lesson before- 
 hand. 
 
 What has been said above as to teaching the lesson 
 in the teachers' meeting, is in no way inconsistent 
 with this point. Vincent tells of a pastor who kept up 
 a successful teachers' meeting for many years, who 
 always expected any of his teachers to recite the lesson 
 from memory immediately after the opening of the 
 meeting. The law of the Kingdom is, "To him that 
 hath shall be given." The one who brings nothing 
 to the meeting should not expect to carry much away. 
 
 3. It is well to secure a brief analysis of the lesson. 
 The central truths of the lesson must be grasped 
 
 and arranged before they can be efifectively taught. 
 This requires a careful analysis. One may be ap- 
 pointed beforehand to give this outline, or the pas- 
 tor may do it himself. 
 
 4. The practical lessons to be taught should be de- 
 termined upon. 
 
 It is not enough that each teacher be asked to sug- 
 gest a practical lesson, but these should be considered, 
 and a few of them selected and firmly fixed in the 
 minds of all, to be enforced in the classes. 
 
 5. There should be a comparison of views, where 
 the lesson-helps differ. 
 
 It is an element of weakness in the teacher if un- 
 certainty exists as to the meaning of the lesson. It 
 is hurtful if different teachers give different or op- 
 
THE TEACHERS' MEETING 91 
 
 posing interpretations. A prayerful effort should be 
 made to reach the mind of the vS])irit. 
 
 6. Anecdotes and illustrations may be called for. 
 These should be studied with reference to their 
 
 suitableness, and the pastor should rule out anything 
 questionable or lial^le to be abused. 
 
 7. Several specific thoughts may be assigned re- 
 spectively to each of a dozen teachers for pre- 
 sentation at the meeting. This method is com- 
 mended by Lawrence and he calls it The Angle 
 Method. He suggests the following: 
 
 Api)roach : i. e., Last Lesson and 
 circumstances leading up to this les- 
 son. 
 
 The Lesson Story : i. e., Told in his 
 own words. 
 
 Analysis: i. e., Outline for studying 
 and teaching the lesson. 
 References: Parallel passages bear- 
 ing on the lesson. 
 
 l>iography: Names of persons, 
 classes and nations mentioned. 
 Orientalisms: Oriental customs and 
 manners referred to in lesson. 
 Princi])al Teachings : Doctrinal and 
 practical. 
 
 First Step: How to secure atten- 
 tion. 
 
 I'rimary Work : Features best 
 adapted to children. 
 Objects: i. e., Such as can be shown 
 in class in object teaching. 
 Illustrations: Incidents or facts il- 
 lustrative of the lesson. 
 
 Angle No. 12. Practical Points: Application to 
 every-day life. 
 
 In conclusion let me say that the conscientious pas- 
 
 Angle No. 
 
 I. 
 
 Angle No. 
 
 2. 
 
 Angle No. 
 
 3- 
 
 Angle No. 
 
 4- 
 
 Angle No. 
 
 5- 
 
 Angle No. 
 
 6. 
 
 Angle No. 
 
 7- 
 
 Angle No. 
 
 8. 
 
 Angle No. 
 
 9- 
 
 Angle No. 
 
 10 
 
 Angle No. 
 
 IT 
 
92 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 tor will form a high ideal as to what the teachers' 
 meeting ought to be, and will sacrifice much to real- 
 ize that ideal. Determine that your Sabbath School 
 shall be equipped with genuine teachers. Dr. Trum- 
 bull says : "How many legs does a calf have, if you 
 count his tail one? Counting a tail a leg, doesn't make 
 it one. A calf has only four legs, however you may 
 count them. How many teachers are in all the Sun- 
 day Schools in the United States? There are two 
 ways of answering that question and the answers 
 would differ widely. It makes a vast difference to 
 a Sunday School whether it has teachers who fill their 
 places, or only teachers who hold them." 
 
 Young gentlemen, the conclusion of the whole mat- 
 ter is this : Teach the teachers, in the Normal Class, 
 that they may know the Bible as a whole ; and that 
 they may be trained in the art of teaching: and 
 teach the teachers in the teachers' meeting, that they 
 may know the particular lesson for the next Sabbath 
 and how to adapt it to their particular classes. Teach 
 the teachers and you will teach the zvhole school. 
 
LECTURE X 
 
 THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SABBATH 
 SCHOOL 
 
 The aim of the Sabbath School is threefold, namely : 
 Instruction, Conversion, and Edification. Whatever 
 in our Sabbath-school management does not conduce 
 to one or other, or all of these results, should be laid 
 aside; and whatever changes are necessary to pro- 
 mote these ends should be made. This leads us to 
 consider the organization and management of the 
 school. 
 
 The Superintendent. 
 
 I. He should be chosen by the session. 
 
 This is a matter on which views differ. Some say, 
 by the school ; but manifestly this is too sacred a trust 
 to be placed in the hands of children, many of whom 
 are not even members of the congregation. Others 
 maintain that he should be chosen by the teachers. 
 They are especially interested in the work; are well 
 qualified to make the selection ; and this method would 
 promote harmony between the superintendent and the 
 workers. It is, however, liable to abuses. If the 
 superintendent selects the teachers and they choose the 
 superintendent, the control of the school is left in the 
 hands of a little circle. In my opinion the selection 
 of the superintendent belongs to the session, for the 
 following reasons : 
 
 93 
 
94 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 a. Because the session represents the whole con- 
 gregation. 
 
 The people choose the pastor and elders ; and, when 
 these elect the superintendent, he represents the whole 
 people. 
 
 b. Because the session is responsible for the 
 work of the school. 
 
 They are the spiritual overseers of the flock. To 
 take out of their hands the choice of the superintendent 
 of the Sabbath School, is to hamper them in fulfilling 
 their trust. 
 
 c. Because this tends to promote harmony be- 
 tween the session and the school. 
 
 This is not less important than to have harmony 
 between the superintendent and the teachers. 
 
 d. In order to maintain the authority of the 
 session over the school. 
 
 If the chief officer of the school is chosen inde- 
 pendently of the session, it is difficult to see how their 
 authority would remain unimpaired. Authority must 
 go with responsibility. For these, and other reasons, 
 I think it is safe to lay down the rule that, in gen- 
 eral, the session should elect the superintendent. It 
 does not follow that he should be of their own number. 
 
 2. The qualifications of a good superintendent. 
 
 An old gentleman, speaking in one of our Sabbath- 
 school conventions, said : ''Mr. President : I think 
 that God has not made many good superintendents." 
 The probabilities are that the old man was wrong in 
 placing the responsibility for the scarcity on God. 
 Men have not done their part in cultivating their di- 
 vine gifts, and the Church has not done her part in 
 setting aside the manifestly disqualified, and in seek- 
 ing out those whom God has properly endowed for 
 this great office. 
 
 The superintendent should be, — 
 
SABBATH-SCHOOL MANAGEMENT 95 
 
 a. An eminent Christian. 
 
 Dr. Plummer divides professors into three classes, 
 viz., unconverted professors, doubtful Christians, and 
 eminent Christians. Men have sometimes questioned 
 whether a non-professor, or even an unconverted 
 man, might not be a teacher in the Bible Class; but 
 no one is so blind as to suggest that an unregenerate 
 man might be chosen as superintendent. Doubtful 
 Christians go in a zig-zag course and make the road 
 to heaven so long that there is danger that, in the 
 brevity .of life, they will not get there. Such Chris- 
 tians are not safe guides for little children. All 
 superintendents should be chosen from the class of 
 eminent Christians. 
 
 b. He should be orthodox. 
 
 It has been said, "Orthodoxy is my doxy ; hetero- 
 doxy is your doxy." I have no objection to that way 
 of putting it. The dangerous people are those who 
 pride themselves in having no doxy at all, or rather 
 who esteem all doxies as equally good. 
 
 (i) He should be evangelically orthodox. 
 
 There is a standard of evangelical orthodoxy, rec- 
 ognized by all evangelical Christians. Unitarians 
 protested because they found themselves excluded 
 from the Conference of Christian Churches held in 
 New York in 1905. No one who calls in question 
 the inspiration of the Scriptures and their consequent 
 inerrancy and infallibility, or who denies the true 
 Divinity of our Lord, should preside over a Christian 
 Sabbath School. 
 
 (2) He should be denominationally orthodox. 
 
 I do not hesitate to say that any Church that has 
 a right to exist as a separate denomination is bound to 
 select its superintendents from men who hold with 
 unwavering fidelity to the faith and practices of the 
 Church. 
 
96 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 c. He should be a man of practical plans and 
 executive ability. 
 
 It does not require great practical talent to fill the 
 office as it is frequently done, i. e., by opening and 
 closing the school by singing, reading, and prayer. 
 But to conduct these devotions so as to be real wor- 
 ship ; to select and direct the teachers ; to govern 
 the school, grade the classes, and visit in the homes 
 of the scholars requires a many-sided man. 
 
 d. He should be sympathetic. 
 
 In no department of Church v^ork is it more im- 
 portant to have a sympathetic heart. He must be 
 like the Good Shepherd of v^hom it is said: ''He 
 shall gather the lambs in His arms; and carry them 
 in His bosom." 
 
 3. The duties of the superintendent. 
 
 a. To conduct the general exercises of the 
 school. 
 
 b. To receive and classify the scholars. 
 
 In too many schools the scholars are left to classify 
 themselves. This is an end to all order. 
 
 c. To aid in the selection of teachers. 
 
 The question of how teachers should be chosen is 
 an open one. Certainly the superintendent should 
 have a voice and much weight in the choice. That 
 the teacher retiring from the charge of a class should 
 bring in another to take his place without consultation 
 with the superintendent, is not allowable. The class 
 belongs to the school, not to the teacher; and the 
 school is under the care of the superintendent. 
 
 d. He may review the lesson each Sabbath. 
 The time occupied in this should be very brief, but 
 
 it is the right and duty of the superintendent, if he 
 is capable of it, to sum up the work of the hour. 
 
 e. To arrange for the quarterly review. 
 
 f. To visit the scholars in their homes. 
 
 All that was said as to the duty of the pastor in 
 
SABBATH-SCHOOL MANAGEMENT 97 
 
 this regard may Avith equal propriety be applied to 
 the superintendent. 
 
 II 
 
 The Teachers. 
 
 1. Who should choose the teachers? 
 
 a. The superintendent should have much to do 
 with this. 
 
 It is not just to hold the superintendent responsible 
 for the success of the school, and yet ignore his 
 authority in the appointment of the teachers. His 
 constant contact with the school affords opportunity 
 for him to decide as to the work being done in the 
 classes. 
 
 b. The session should be consulted. 
 
 The session should have a permanent committee 
 on the Sabbath School, part of whose office should 
 be to consult with the superintendent in securing suit- 
 able teachers. 
 
 c. The pastor should have a veto power in all 
 the appointments. 
 
 As the pastor of the congregation, and the superior 
 officer of the Sabbath School, he should have the 
 final voice as to who may be set to impart instruction 
 to the members of his flock, for all of whom he 
 must give account to God. One of the great defects 
 in the modern Sabbath School is the irresponsible way 
 in which teachers are chosen. 
 
 2. What are the qualifications of teachers? 
 
 a. They should have a good mental endowment. 
 Scholars must have respect for the mental qualities 
 of their teachers or they will not be profited by their 
 instruction ; and it is well to bear in mind in selecting 
 teachers that the children of this day are not slow 
 to detect a deficiency. The Sabbath-school teacher 
 
98 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 is weighed in the balance with the day-school teacher 
 and should not suffer by the comparison. 
 
 b. They should have good social qualities. 
 Too little attention is usually paid to the social 
 
 element in the Sabbath-school class. This is one 
 reason why children usually prefer young people for 
 their instructors. These have a social sympathy with 
 them which the staid old elder, who knows so much 
 more, may lack. The teacher that can enter into the 
 social nature of the children has a divine gift. This 
 helps to the awakening of a class spirit that may 
 become wonderfully influential. The interchange of 
 visits as between teacher and pupil, kindly attention 
 in sickness, deep interest in all that concerns the 
 welfare of the scholars, even extending to their school 
 studies, their occupations, their life plans : all are con- 
 nected with good teaching. 
 
 c. They should be of exemplary life. 
 
 True spiritual power in teaching cannot be found 
 apart from consistent, upright living; and, it is quite 
 possible among Christian young people to find many 
 of high purpose and high ideals of life. Habits of 
 reading aft'ord a good test; it will usually be found 
 that young men and young women who enjoy the 
 Bible and have a desire to find out what books may 
 be classed as good literature, and to read these, — 
 such young men and young women are likely to be 
 of right habits of life. Theater-goers, dancers, and 
 card-players are not good teachers, and will not often 
 be found seeking places in the school. The personal 
 habits of the teacher are of the utmost importance. 
 of course; and any teacher will make sacrifices rather 
 than mislead those following in his steps. The to- 
 bacco user who will not give up that habit for the 
 sake of the children committed to him is not suffi- 
 ciently impressed with his responsibility. In the 
 long run, as pastors, you will find the noblest of lives 
 
SABBATH-SCHOOL MANAGEMENT 99 
 
 ready to be guided wisely into proper methods of 
 teaching. It is one of the beautiful things in a pas- 
 tor's life. 
 
 HI 
 
 The Exercises of the School. 
 
 I. The devotional exercises. 
 
 a. All should be required to be present. 
 There are many, both in Sabbath School and 
 
 Church, who regard the devotional exercises as mere 
 preliminaries, and, if they are in time for the teach- 
 ing of the lesson, they are satisfied. This false view 
 must be corrected. If prizes are given for prompt 
 attendance, they should be conditioned absolutely on 
 being present for the devotional exercises. 
 
 The difficulty about attendance on the closing exer- 
 cises arises where advanced Bible classes are taught 
 in separate rooms. They often find the time too 
 short, and, becom.ing interested, are unwilling to re- 
 spond to the closing bell. In ordinary cases attend- 
 ance should be made imperative. Where there is 
 a large Infant Department they may have their own 
 closing exercises. 
 
 b. They must be conducted wnth reverence. 
 Never begin until perfect quiet is secured. Per- 
 mit nothing to be carried on that will divert the mind 
 from the exercises of worship. Secure reverence in 
 outward form, as essential to heart reverence. 
 
 c. Use familiar Psalms and tunes. 
 
 A mistake is sometimes made in seeking to adapt 
 the Psalms to the lesson, rather than choosing that 
 which the children can sing. In most schools it is 
 better to use the same tune always to the same 
 Psalm. Children love to sing and should be en- 
 couraged to memorize Psalms. Insist that the 
 
100 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 teachers join in the singing. Do not permit young 
 men, and maidens in their teens, to form the idea 
 that they are too big to sing, or that it is more poHte 
 to sit with closed lips. 
 
 d. The prayers should be appropriate and 
 brief. 
 
 Dr. Amos R. Wells says : 'Tn no way can more 
 Christianity be taught in less time than by a good 
 prayer. And yet," he adds, 'T know of no point in 
 Sunday-school management regarding which super- 
 intendents are more careless. The children must 
 listen to Magellan prayers, that circumnavigate the 
 globe; to mechanical prayers, cast in stereotyped 
 forms; to officious prayers, that volunteer to teach 
 the coming lesson; to peacock prayers, that flaunt big 
 words and fine phrases ; to wrinkled prayers, dealing 
 with experiences into which the children will not 
 grow for three decades. 
 
 'Tn some schools the superintendent always makes 
 the prayer himself, in the same terms, and tones, and 
 order, and for the same things. Elsewhere, he in- 
 vites others to perform this service, but, with pitiless 
 impartiality, calls upon all that will, whether they 
 are capable or totally unfit." 
 
 Having thus pointedly described the evil. Dr. Wells 
 lays down the following points : 
 
 "(i) No one should be invited to pray merely 
 for policy's sake. 
 
 "(2) Give notice beforehand to the one expected 
 to pray. 
 
 "(3) Insist on all assuming a reverent attitude. 
 
 "(4) Sometimes have silent prayer, the super- 
 intendent closing. 
 
 "(5) Occasionally hold a prayer-meeting at the 
 close of the lesson hour." 
 
 In regard to the last he suggests : "This will do 
 much to inspire a deeper spirit of worship; that is, 
 
SABBATH-SCHOOL MANAGEMENT loi 
 
 if the scholars themselves take part. And these 
 Sunday-school prayer-meetings are magnificent op- 
 portunities for drawing the net. Do not hold them 
 so frequently as to be burdensome. Keep them brief 
 and earnest. Let the teachers work for them in their 
 classes and use them as tests for their teaching. 
 Above all, expect conversions in them, and, if you 
 are faithful and faith-filled, you will get them." 
 e. See that all have Bibles and use them. 
 The dearth of Bibles in many of our Sabbath 
 Schools is a disgrace. One of the striking features 
 of John Wanamaker's great school is the Bible in 
 the hands of every scholar, and an incident at the 
 opening of each session of the school is the call for 
 the show of Bibles. 
 
 2. The study in the classes. 
 
 a. Secure to each class the utmost privacy pos- 
 sible. 
 
 Even a curtain, slipping on wires and enclosing the 
 class, is of value. Churches should be planned to 
 provide separate rooms for classes. 
 
 b. Secure the classes against interruption. 
 
 A method should be devised that will enable the 
 secretary, the treasurer, and the librarian to do their 
 work without interrupting the teacher. It is a great 
 hardship to have some general officer pounce down 
 upon the class just when the teacher by patient, ear- 
 nest effort has secured attention. Each class should 
 have its monitor. 
 
 3. What should be taught in the Sabbath Schools? 
 
 a. Direct, systematic Bible study. 
 
 Whether the International lessons, or some other 
 scheme, is an open question. 
 
 b. Memorizing the Catechisms, Psalms and 
 Scripture. 
 
 It is a weakness in our training of the youth that 
 there is so little memorizing in these days. 
 
102 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 c. There should be a class for inquirers. 
 When it is known that the direct and persistent aim 
 of the school is conversion, and that converts are to 
 be united with the Church, it should also be under- 
 stood that special attention will be given to the awak- 
 ened and inquiring. They should have the instruction 
 of a very sincere, intelligent and experienced teacher. 
 
 4. The collection. 
 
 a. There should be a Sabbath-school collection. 
 This is a part of Christian culture, a means of 
 
 grace and a fountain of joy. Remember the words 
 of Christ when He said : 'It is more blessed to give 
 than to receive." 
 
 b. It should be for a special object, clearly un- 
 derstood. 
 
 The children should know the object to which their 
 gifts are devoted ; and that in giving for that purpose, 
 they are giving to the Lord. 
 
 c. The object should be something outside of 
 the school. 
 
 The congregation should support the school. Then 
 the money of the school may be devoted to congrega- 
 tional objects if that is more needful than the public 
 work of the Church. If the children understand that 
 they are giving money to buy books and candy for 
 themselves it will be difficult to impress them that 
 they are thereby giving to Christ. 
 
 d. The giving should be done as a service to 
 God. 
 
 Some schools always speak of it as presenting the 
 offering to the Lord; and some formally dedicate it 
 to God by prayer. This should not be carried to an 
 extreme. 
 
 5. Review of the school, weekly — 
 
 a. Should be by superintendent, or pastor; 
 
 b. Should be brief and pointed ; 
 
 c. Should be practical and impressive. 
 
SABBATH-SCHOOL MANAGEMENT 103 
 
 IV 
 
 Should the Sabbath School have a Lihraryf 
 
 1. The objections to having a library. 
 
 a. The books are often injurious: i.e., wrong 
 in morals; unsound in doctrine; unfit for 
 Sabbath reading ; and mentally dissipating. 
 
 b. The best books are seldom read. 
 
 c. The attention of the school is diverted by the 
 distribution. 
 
 d. Dissatisfaction is bred among the scholars. 
 
 e. The money is better spent for papers and 
 prizes. 
 
 2. The advantages of a library. 
 
 a. Provides reading matter for those who have 
 
 b. Enables teachers to superintend the scholars' 
 reading. 
 
 c. Aids in securing attendance. 
 
 It is evident from the discussions, that in many 
 cases the library has not been a blessing ; it is equally 
 evident that the evils are not inherent and necessary, 
 but may be avoided and the library be made an effi- 
 cient arm of the school ; and, finally, that it is a mere 
 incident in Sabbath-school management, and has in 
 many cases been greatlv over-estimated. Where it is 
 introduced, the greatest care should be exercised in 
 the selection of the books. 
 
 V 
 
 Evils to be Guarded Against or Corrected. 
 
 Before closing this lecture I wish to refer to sev- 
 eral evils that have seriously damaged the good that 
 would otherwise have resulted from Sabbath-school 
 work. 
 
104 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 1. The incompetence of teachers. 
 
 It is universally admitted that this is a prevalent 
 and very serious evil. I do not emphasize it to find 
 fault with the teachers, but to urge pastors to train 
 their teachers. The world is full of a wonderful 
 latent power in the devotion of earnest Sabbath- 
 school teachers. Train them. 
 
 2. Irregularity of attendance. 
 
 This is another crying evil. The great discrepancy 
 between the enrollment and the average attendance 
 tells the story. The best corrective that I know, after 
 the personal influence of the superintendent and the 
 teacher, is the prize system. I do not share the 
 scruples of some about giving rewards to children for 
 faithfulness in doing their duty. 
 
 3. Tardiness in coming. 
 
 I should seek to correct this by confining the prizes 
 to those who are present at the opening. It is not 
 well to allow absence from the devotional exercises 
 r^nd reward attendance on the class studies. 
 
 4. Disorder in the room. 
 
 The only hope is in getting good order established 
 as the fixed habit of the school. One bad boy can 
 keep a whole class in a rumpus; and one disorderly 
 class can make trouble for the whole school. The 
 pastor's visits to the school will tend to promote good 
 order. What to do with the noisy, unruly scholars 
 is a great problem. One thing is settled, viz., that 
 they should not be permitted to remain in the school 
 as disorderly scholars. Another is that they should 
 remain. It is useless to scold the school in general; 
 find the boy that starts the disorder, then devise a 
 way for making him over. 
 
SABBATH-SCHOOL MANAGEMENT 105 
 
 5. Children regarding the Sabbath School as a 
 substitute for the Church service is an evil 
 that should never be condoned; much less 
 parents regarding the Sabbath School as a sub- 
 stitute for home instruction. The Sabbath 
 School is not to supplant either the Church or 
 the home. 
 
LECTURE XI 
 THE GRADED SYSTEM 
 
 Much of our Sabbath-school work is superficial. 
 This department of Church activity is constantly de- 
 manding and receiving attention ; and yet it is 
 generally conceded that the results are somewhat dis- 
 appointing. An argument was made against the use 
 of tobacco, that statistics would show that a large 
 proportion of the prisoners in the penitentiaries had 
 been tobacco users. The reply was made, that sta- 
 tistics would also show that a large percentage of the 
 prisoners in the penitentiary had been Sunday-school 
 scholars. 
 
 Nor is the failure merely that the children, after 
 spending five or ten years in the Sabbath School go 
 out without being converted; but they frequently go 
 out without being instructed. They do not know the 
 Holy Scriptures which are able to make them wise 
 unto salvation. Improvements in the methods of 
 work are now being earnestly sought. Prominent 
 among schemes for improvement is the graded system. 
 
 As far back as 1895 ^^'^^ Synod recommended Sab- 
 bath-school officers and teachers to make a special 
 study of the graded system with a view to introducing 
 it into our Sabbath Schools. (Min. of Synod, 1895, 
 P- I95-) 
 
 I 
 What is Included in a Graded System? 
 
 I. Graded departments. 
 
 Lawrence, in How to Conduct a Sunday School, 
 106 
 
THE GRADED SYSTEM 107 
 
 recommends the division of the school into seven de- 
 partments. This includes a Home Department and a 
 Teachers' Training- Department. 
 
 The Committee on Education of the International 
 Sunday School Association recommends five depart- 
 ments to be named as follows : 
 
 a. The Primary Department. 
 
 b. The Junior Department. 
 
 c. The Intermediate Department. 
 
 d. The Senior Department. 
 
 e. The Adult Department. 
 
 It is probable that in many of our Sabbath Schools 
 three departments will be found sufficient; yet, if we 
 are to have a uniform course of study, the department 
 grades should be uniform. 
 
 2. A graded classification of scholars in the several 
 departments. 
 
 The basis of this classification may be 
 
 a. According to age. 
 
 b. According to attainments. 
 
 Dr. Schauffler describes the grading in his school 
 as follows : "Two primary classes : In the one, go all 
 who cannot read. In the other, those who can read 
 easy words when printed on the blackboard. As soon 
 as they can read with facility they are transferred into 
 the intermediate school, where they are put in such 
 classes as their ages fit them for. In the intermediate 
 department all classes are graded according to age, the 
 ages stretching over three years ; e. g., eleven to four- 
 teen, twelve to fifteen, thirteen to sixteen. In the 
 higher department there are two grades: (a) Juniors, 
 from sixteen to eighteen; (b) Seniors, from eighteen 
 years upwards." According to this method the pri- 
 mary department is classified according to attain- 
 ments; the other departments according to age and 
 attainments. 
 
 The grading of the school into departments and 
 
io8 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 the classification of the scholars should be carefully 
 made and maintained. On this point Lawrence says: 
 *Tt is one thing to grade a Sunday School, and Cjuite 
 another to keep it graded. It will be readily ob- 
 served that if teachers enroll in their classes any one 
 who may happen to apply for membership, and if 
 scholars are permitted to bring their friends pro- 
 miscuously into their own classes, the system of grad- 
 ing will soon be broken down." There must be a 
 superintendent for the whole school, who alone shall 
 have authority to classify the scholars. 
 
 3. The teachers should be graded. 
 
 This requires two things — a. The teachers should 
 be assigned to the department for which they are 
 especially qualified, b. Usually, they should not pass 
 with their scholars from one department to another. 
 The same principles should prevail here as in the pub- 
 lic schools. Successful teachers in one department 
 are not transferred to another. The scholars pass on, 
 the teacher remains, and, by long experience, becomes 
 a specialist in his own department. A teacher may 
 be allowed to carry his scholars through the successive 
 courses in one department, but should not pass from 
 one department to another. 
 
 4. A graded system of instruction. 
 
 In the International Sunday-school lesson the basis 
 of instruction is the same for all classes. The effort 
 is made in the preparation of Lesson Helps to adapt 
 the treatment of the lesson to children and to adults. 
 Very few Helps attempt anything beyond two grades. 
 When it is undertaken to establish a graded school, 
 it is necessary to adopt either an entirely different 
 system or a supplemental system to be used in con- 
 nection with the International lessons. The West- 
 minster System of Graded Supplemental Lessons by 
 James A. Worden, D.D., is published by the Presby- 
 
THE GRADED SYSTEM 109 
 
 terian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School 
 Work, 1334 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. 
 
 1. The Westminster Supplemental System has five 
 grades or departments — 
 
 a. The Primary Department. 
 
 b. The Junior-intermediate Department. 
 
 c. The Senior-intermediate Department. 
 
 d. The Normal Department. 
 
 e. The Adult Department. 
 
 2. These five grades are divided into twelve 
 courses. 
 
 a. The Primary Department has one course. 
 
 b. The Junior-intermediate has four courses. 
 
 c. The Senior-intermediate has three courses. 
 
 d. The Normal has three courses. 
 
 e. The Adult has one continuous course. 
 
 A school graded according to the Westminster Sup- 
 plemental System would have five departments and 
 twelve stages of progress. A leaflet giving a full 
 description of the different courses of study by years 
 can be secured at the Presbyterian Book Rooms, 
 Pittsburgh. 
 
 3. The Bible Study Union (or Blakeslee) System 
 has four courses — 
 
 a. The Junior Course for the youngest classes. 
 
 b. The Intermediate Course for the boys and 
 girls. 
 
 c. The Progressive Course for the young people 
 and adults. 
 
 d. The Bible Class Course for the adults. 
 
 4. These four courses are divided into ten grades. 
 
 a. The Junior Course has three grades. 
 
 b. The Intermediate Course has three grades. 
 
 c. The Progressive Course has three grades. 
 
 d. The Bible Class has one continuous course. 
 The danger in such courses is that they may get 
 
 away from the Bible., Full instruction as to the 
 
no THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 Blakeslee System can be obtained by addressing The 
 Bible Study Publishing Co., 250 Devonshire St., Bos- 
 ton, Mass. 
 
 5. Stated examinations and promotions. 
 
 a. This is an essential part of the system. 
 
 It may be necessary to reach this result gradually, 
 but the graded system is not complete without it. 
 Dr. James A. Worden, who was for many years Gen- 
 eral Superintendent of Sabbath Schools in the Pres- 
 byterian Church, asks: "Shall there be examinations?" 
 and answers: — "This question must be left for each 
 school to determine for itself. Some schools will pro- 
 mote the scholars after requiring them to pass an 
 examination ; others will promote them simply on the 
 recommendation of the teachers." The difficulty with 
 the latter method is the tendency to lower the standard. 
 
 b. Promotion should be made at stated times. 
 Lawrence, on this point, recommends a regular pro- 
 motion day at least once a year, and that the promo- 
 tion should involve a change of seats if possible, and 
 that these promotions be made a prominent feature of 
 the school, the services being conducted by the pastor 
 and superintendent. Some schools give certificates of 
 promotion which are attractive and inexpensive; and 
 in some schools every child on leaving the primary 
 department is presented with a Bible. 
 
 c. Promotions should usually be on the basis of 
 attainments made. 
 
 The Sabbath School is an educational institution 
 and should approach more and more to the most ap- 
 proved educational methods ; and this means regular 
 examinations at stated periods and promotions based 
 on work successfully done. But the standard should 
 not be placed too high. Dr. Worden says: "We 
 w^ould call attention to the wisdom of making excep- 
 tions of all scholars whose attendance has been faith- 
 ful, whose conduct has been good, who have made 
 
THE GRADED SYSTEM iii 
 
 honest efforts, and yet have failed to learn the supple- 
 mental lessons; and of passing such scholars and pro- 
 moting them on recommendation of their teachers." 
 Lawrence says : "Supplemental work should be car- 
 ried on as a feature of the grading of the school, 
 but should not be made a rigid and absolute condition 
 of promotion. Those who satisfactorily complete the 
 supplemental work may be promoted with honor, i. e., 
 supplemental work should be made a condition of 
 earning the honors of the school, rather than a con- 
 dition of promotion." 
 
 One of our own ministers writes : ''We put upon 
 rolls of honor those scholars that pass, and condition 
 those who do not ; and if they fail at the end of one 
 year to fulfill the condition of the previous year we 
 take them out of the class and put them into what 
 we call the 'drone' class. No one has as yet reached 
 that class. Many have turned in the other direction 
 as they neared it." 
 
 I would emphasize the fact that there must be sym- 
 pathetic consideration for unfortunate children who 
 have no encouragement or assistance at home. Some 
 of these little ones have hard lives in the day-schools. 
 The Sabbath School should help them to bear their 
 trials and not increase them. 
 
 II 
 
 The Advantages of the Graded System. 
 
 1. It promotes uniformity in the classes. 
 
 It is impossible for a teacher to work effectively 
 when classes are made up haphazard, or by elective 
 affinity without reference to attainments. 
 
 2. It stimulates effort in order to secure promo- 
 tion. 
 
112 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 Every one understands the operation of this prin- 
 ciple in school and college life. 
 
 3. It aids in storing the mind with truth. 
 
 The very idea of the graded system is to make a 
 thorough, systematic and prolonged study in the Bible. 
 Extended portions of Scripture are memorized ; texts 
 setting forth certain doctrines are grouped together 
 and committed; Psalms are learned by heart; the 
 Catechisms are mastered; the attainments made are 
 tested by examinations, and riveted in the memory 
 by frequent reviews. When such a system is in effi- 
 cient hands the result must be a great advance. 
 
 4. It increases respect for the Sabbath School. 
 Dr. Schauffler says: "The scholars themselves will 
 
 be pleased to see the methods to which they have be- 
 come accustomed in their daily life adopted in their 
 Sunday instruction. The child of to-day, in America 
 at least, respects the institution that compels him to 
 work, and gives him the consciousness of actual acqui- 
 sition. Children have been run after and coaxed and 
 bribed to come to the Sabbath School, and then cod- 
 dled and palavered and permitted to 'go as you please,' 
 until the whole affair has come to be the synonym for 
 that which is weak and effeminate and unpractical. 
 Men show their contempt for a book by calling it 
 'Sunday-school literature,' and for a political theory or 
 method by calling it 'Sunday-school politics.' " 
 
 The aim of the graded system is to make the Sab- 
 bath School a real school that will demand work of 
 its members and give them something real and sub- 
 stantial in return and thus lift this department of 
 Church work into a position of dignity and power 
 worthy of a divine institution. 
 
 I bespeak your especial attention to certain objec- 
 tions to the graded system, and to the caution neces- 
 sary in choosing an orthodox system. 
 
THE GRADED SYSTEM 113 
 
 III 
 Objections to the Graded System. 
 
 1. That the time used in teaching the graded stu- 
 dies is needed for teaching the International 
 lesson. 
 
 Of course this applies only to schools using the 
 supplemental system. In the Blakeslee system the 
 whole time is given to the graded studies. 
 
 In reply to this objection a pastor of considerable 
 experience writes: "Invariably this objection comes 
 from teachers who give every evidence in their teach- 
 ing that they would not get over the lesson if they 
 had all day for it. Lack of system is their trouble, 
 rather than lack of time." 
 
 2. The scholars object because it necessitates 
 study. 
 
 This is the one thing in its favor : It does require 
 study. Teachers who thoroughly believe in the sys- 
 tem will overcome this objection. The pastor above 
 quoted says further: "We have lost no scholars as 
 yet because of its introduction, and even if we were 
 to lose some, that would not induce us to abandon it ; 
 for its operation is a powerful stimulus to the school 
 as a whole." 
 
 3. It breaks the tie between teacher and scholar. 
 This objection seems to have more weight. When 
 
 relations are what they should be a very strong bond 
 of affection grows up between the faithful teacher and 
 the pupils of his class. The same is true in our 
 public schools. The children are often greatly at- 
 tached to their teachers, and teachers to their scholars ; 
 but there is mutual joy to both teacher and scholar 
 when the separation comes through the promotion of 
 the scholar. And, in all above the primary depart- 
 
114 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 ment, teacher and scholars may advance together 
 through the whole course included in any department. 
 
 IV 
 
 What System Should be Adopted? 
 
 This question I am not prepared to answer. Above 
 all else, the Bible must be offered in its purity. What 
 I have said bears particularly on the method of grad- 
 ing, not on the orthodoxy of either of the systems 
 mentioned. Of course, doubt on this point, even the 
 slightest doubt, would more than offset all the advan- 
 tages any system has to offer. The Westminster Sup- 
 plemental System is so called because it retains the 
 International lessons and provides a supplemental 
 course; the Blakeslee System drops the International 
 lessons and has an independent course of Bible study, 
 going through the Bible twice in the primary depart- 
 ment, and three times in the main school department. 
 
 In the Westminster system the grading is done, not 
 on the International lesson studies, but on the supple- 
 mental course. In the other system the grading is 
 mainly on the Bible studies. Until the Church takes 
 some action, each pastor and session should make a 
 careful study of the different systems and decide 
 which is best adapted to his own school. An eclectic 
 system which would use the Blakeslee system of Bible 
 studies and the Westminster as to the Catechism, 
 substituting Psalms for hymns, would secure the best 
 out of both systems. Some suggestions as to intro- 
 ducing the graded system will come in the next lecture ; 
 let me suggest that there is a life work here for some 
 ardent young Covenanter, preparing such a system. 
 
LECTURE XII 
 THE HOME DEPARTMENT 
 
 W. A. Duncan, Ph. D., President of the Interna- 
 tional Home Department Association, writing in the 
 Sunday School Times of Nov. 4, 1899, says: "The 
 Home Department is no longer an experiment. In 
 numberless cases it has demonstrated its great useful- 
 ness and has shown that it is extraordinarily adapted 
 for the purpose of reaching those outside of the 
 Church and Sunday School. Therefore it has become 
 not merely the privilege, but the duty, of every Sun- 
 day School to organize a Home Department. The 
 very same reasons exist for having a Home Depart- 
 ment as for having a Main, Junior, or Primary De- 
 partment." 
 
 This comparatively new department is now fully 
 recognized in the different denominations by the 
 preparation of special literature adapted to its use. 
 The United Presbyterian Board issues a Quarterly 
 entitled "The Bible Readers' Home Companion, an 
 Aid to the Home Department." The Presbyterian 
 Board publishes "The Westminster Home Department 
 Quarterly." The Sunday School Times has given 
 special attention to the development of this depart- 
 ment. In 1895 our Synod recommended "that this 
 department be introduced at once into all the Sabbath 
 Schools." This recommendation has not been carried 
 into effect generally. The present lecture will be de- 
 voted to a consideration of the Home Department. 
 
 "5 
 
ii6 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 The Specific Object of the Home Department. 
 
 1. To reach those who cannot attend the Sabbath 
 School. 
 
 Dr. Duncan in the article referred to above says: 
 "All Christian work is based on the great commission : 
 *Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to 
 every creature.' Until the Home Department was 
 organized the Sunday School was not fulfilling its 
 obligations under this commission, for it offered an 
 opportunity to study the Word of God only to those 
 who would attend the regular sessions of the Sunday 
 School. Sunday-school membership was confined to 
 attendants upon Sunday-school services. By a sim- 
 ple change in the basis of Sunday-school membership, 
 the Home Department expanded the walls of the Sun- 
 day-school room, so as to include the whole parish. 
 This change in the basis of membership is the funda- 
 mental and vital idea upon which Home Departments 
 are organized." 
 
 2. To reach those who will not attend the Sabbath 
 School. 
 
 A little booklet entitled "About the Home Depart- 
 ment," published by John D. Wattles & Co., Phila- 
 delphia, Pa., says: "The Home Department is 
 designed primarily for those persons in the immediate 
 community and elsewhere who cannot attend the regu- 
 lar sessions of the Sunday School ; but it may also 
 properly include those who for various reasons are 
 not disposed to attend." 
 
 It has been tersely stated that there are two general 
 classes of people whom it seeks to reach, the "Can'ts" 
 and the "Won'ts." Evidently the Home Department 
 does not lack for a field, whatever may be said of the 
 character of the soil. 
 
THE HOME DEPARTMENT 117 
 
 II 
 
 Who are Eligible to Membership in the Home De- 
 partment? 
 
 1. Children who are too young, and men and 
 women who are too aged to attend the pubHc 
 services of the Sabbath School. 
 
 2. Mothers who are kept at home by family cares 
 and duties. 
 
 3. Confirmed invalids, i. e., the ''shut-ins." 
 
 4. Those disqualified for taking part in the public 
 exercises by want of bodily senses, i. e., blind, 
 deaf, dumb. 
 
 5. Those whose professions prevent them from at- 
 tendance, e. g., physicians and nurses. 
 
 6. Those living at a distance or absent from home, 
 e. g., commercial travelers. 
 
 7. Those who could attend, but will not, 
 
 a. Because of indifference, worldliness or in- 
 dolence. 
 
 b. Because of prejudice against the Church, the 
 pastor, or some one connected with the school. 
 
 c. Because of diffidence — conscious of their 
 ignorance and unwilling to expose it. 
 
 The report on Sabbath Schools made to our Synod 
 in 1895 says : 'Tn every community there are per- 
 sons who from necessity, or choice, are in no way 
 connected with Sabbath Schools and not infrequently 
 a large proportion of such are found among pro^ 
 fessing Christians. Any method of Sabbath-school 
 work that will enlist the attention and meet the wants 
 of these, and, at the same time, carry the Word of 
 God into the homes of the irreligious and ungodly 
 will be welcomed. Such the Home Department has 
 proved wherever operated." 
 
ii8 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 III 
 
 The Method of Work in the Home Department. 
 
 This must, in some measure, be determined by the 
 pastor and Sabbath-school workers in each congrega- 
 tion. 
 
 I. The literature prepared for its special use in- 
 cludes — 
 
 a. A home class membership card. 
 
 It reads as follows: *T, the undersigned, hereby 
 
 join the Home Class Department of the Sabbath 
 
 School. In so doing I promise, unless providentially 
 hindered, to spend at least one half-hour each week, 
 either on or before the Sabbath, in the study of the 
 regular Sabbath-school lesson. Name — Date — Ad- 
 dress — " 
 
 b. Certificate of membership in the Home Class 
 Department. 
 
 This reads as follows: "This certifies that 
 
 has been enrolled as a member of the Home Depart- 
 ment Class, and is entitled to all the privileges enjoyed 
 by any member of the regular school. — Superin- 
 tendent — Pastor — Date." This certificate, duly 
 signed by the pastor and superintendent, is given to the 
 scholar. 
 
 c. A Home Department Quarterly. 
 
 These are prepared with Lesson Helps, questions 
 with space for written answers, and a record in which 
 to report the time devoted to study each week. 
 
 d. Home Department envelope. 
 
 This is a prepared envelope suitable for entering a 
 report of the lessons studied, and enclosing a quar- 
 terly offering to the Lord. 
 
 There is other literature, but this is sufficient for 
 inaugurating the work on a systematic basis. 
 
THE HOME DEPARTMENT 119 
 
 2. Course of procedure in conducting the Home 
 Department. 
 
 a. Enroll all non-attenders at Sabbath School 
 who will sign the membership card. 
 
 b. Classify them, assigning each to a visitor. 
 
 c. Provide each member with a lesson quarterly 
 and a quarterly report envelope. 
 
 d. At the close of each quarter the visitors, or 
 teachers, collect these quarterlies and enve- 
 lopes, and give out the new ones for the next 
 quarter. 
 
 e. The visitor, or teacher, should make regular 
 quarterly reports of his class, or district, to 
 the regular officers of the school. 
 
 f. Where the Home Department becomes large, 
 it may have a special superintendent and sec- 
 retary, as assistants to the regular officers of 
 the school. 
 
 3. Methods of classification. 
 
 These will be determined by the circumstances. 
 There may be — 
 
 a. The individual class, where there is but one 
 who will engage to do the work, 
 
 b. The family class, i. e., where different mem- 
 bers of a family engage in it. 
 
 c. The district class, where there are a number of 
 members in a neighborhood under one teacher 
 or visitor. 
 
 d. Foreign class, composed of members who are 
 learning the English language. Some may 
 not be able to study for themselves and each 
 scholar may require a teacher. 
 
 4. The privileges and relations of the Home De- 
 partment, classes and teachers, are identical 
 with those of the regular school. 
 
 The pastor of the Sabbath School owes the same 
 
120 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 spiritual oversight to the members of this department 
 as to the scholars in the regular school. The mem- 
 bers are entitled to the use of the library and other 
 Sabbath-school literature and to attend the picnics, 
 entertainments, excursions and anniversaries of the 
 school. 
 
 IV 
 
 The Advantages of the Home Department. 
 
 1. It is calculated to enlist all the families of the 
 congregation in the Sabbath-school work. 
 
 2. It draws members into the Sabbath School 
 proper. 
 
 The President of the International Home Depart- 
 ment says : "The visitors constantly strive to interest 
 students in the regular services of the Sabbath School, 
 inviting them to attend the preaching and the regular 
 school services, showing them the advantages of such 
 study over independent, isolated work. As a result, 
 about one-third of all the Home Class students unite 
 with the main school." 
 
 3. It secures the cooperation of parents in the in- 
 struction of their children. 
 
 4. It brings the blessings and fellowship of the 
 Sabbath School to those who are unable to at- 
 tend. 
 
 5. It brings earnest Christian workers into per- 
 sonal contact with those who are neglecting the 
 Word of God and their souls' salvation. 
 
 6. It wins to the Church some who are alienated 
 from it. 
 
 7. It aids in the cultivation of systematic giving 
 and increases the contributions to the Lord's 
 work. 
 
 One pastor writes : ''As to the Home Department, 
 
THE HOME DEPARTMENT 121 
 
 the whole congregation, and especially all the teachers 
 and officers in both the congregational and mission 
 Sabbath Schools, have become enthusiastic supporters 
 of it. . . . We have more than forty persons regu- 
 larly studying the weekly Sabbath-school lessons and 
 contributing to the Lord's work, outside of the con- 
 gregation; and their contributions are quite as good, 
 if not better, than those of our own members. So 
 also their study of the lessons. Many of them are 
 coming occasionally to church, and two or three who 
 were thus originally interested have joined the 
 church." 
 
 These two methods of Sabbath-school work, i. e., 
 the Graded System and the Home Department, are 
 comparatively new, and are not by any means general 
 throughout our Church; but such testimony as the 
 above will commend them to your consideration as 
 candidates for the pastoral office. 
 
 Precautionary Remarks on Introducing New 
 Methods. 
 
 I. Do not attempt new methods until you secure 
 the cooperation of your leading workers. 
 
 The success of such methods as these cannot be as- 
 sured in the face of determined opposition, or even 
 indifference. It is a great gain if persons can be re- 
 strained from taking an attitude of antagonism, be- 
 cause it is so difficult to rejoice in the success of a 
 scheme which has been carried on in despite of one's 
 prediction of failure. It is easier to gain consent in 
 advance than afterward. Of course a pastor cannot 
 always permit his plans to be blocked by the unreason- 
 ing opposition of a few opinionated and unprogressive 
 
122 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 men. "Be ye, therefore, wise as serpents and harm- 
 less as doves." 
 
 2. It may be better to confine the graded system 
 at first to the children and young people. 
 
 Some of the aged people cannot memorize, and 
 others of them are wedded to the old way and are 
 made uncomfortable by new-fangled methods. It is 
 better to leave them out at first and let them drift in, 
 than to force them in at the outset and have them 
 drop out. 
 
 3. Bear in mind that the brilliant success of any 
 method in one congregation does not insure its 
 success in every other. 
 
 Fields dififer. Pastors differ. Workers differ. 
 Circumstances differ. In forming plans of work you 
 must follow the inductive method, i. e., make a full 
 and complete collection of all the facts and deduce a 
 theory that will embrace all the phenomena. Failure 
 here will end in disappointment. 
 
 4. These methods require work and perseverance 
 to make them successful. 
 
 No one can study the Graded System or the Home 
 Department without perceiving that such methods de- 
 mand unwearying, self-sacrificing toil. A certain 
 well-worn Latin phrase concerning the price of ex- 
 cellence is nowhere more just than here. The ease- 
 loving pastor need not attempt these methods. He 
 will not succeed in them. But for the faithful perse- 
 vering worker they have rewards. 
 
 And now, young gentlemen, this is all the time we 
 can devote to the study of this department of the 
 Church's activities. There is a demand that the theo- 
 logical seminaries shall furnish the practical instruc- 
 tion necessary to equip candidates for the pastoral 
 office ; much must be learned by doing, and this is 
 especially true as to Sabbath-school work. I have 
 done my best to cover the ground. I am well aware 
 
THE HOME DEPARTMENT 123 
 
 that many important aspects of the work are still left 
 untouched. For these I can only refer you to the 
 books referred to in these lectures, especially, The 
 Modern Sunday School, by Bishop John H. Vincent; 
 Teachers and Teaching, by Dr. Trumbull; and How 
 to Conduct a Sunday School, by Marion Lawrence; 
 and to Murphy's Pastoral Theology. 
 
 As my last word to you on Sabbath Schools, I 
 would charge you to regard as imperative the Saviour's 
 command, 'Teed my lambs." ''Take heed that ye 
 despise not one of these little ones ; for I say unto 
 you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the 
 face of my Father which is in heaven. . . . Even so 
 it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, 
 that one of these little ones should perish." 
 
LECTURE XIII 
 YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES 
 
 Among the notable activities of the Church in the 
 present day are the Young People's Societies, and the 
 Church has been compelled to give attention to this 
 modern development of religious activity. The move- 
 ment is not one to be suppressed, much less is it to be 
 left to take care of itself. It demands painstaking 
 consideration and the utmost wisdom which the 
 Church can command. Our own Church is behind 
 most of the denominations in giving attention to it, 
 and yet to no other Church is it of more vital impor- 
 tance. A few years ago the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church appointed a committee of eleven 
 members, embracing some of the ablest ministers and 
 laymen of the denomination, and they spent six full 
 days in the effort to formulate a report defining the 
 relation of Young People's Societies to the Church. 
 All the leading denominations have grappled with the 
 question. Our Church has not fully met her responsi- 
 bility in this regard, and this department of her work 
 lacks unity and force. 
 
 This subject follows naturally the subject of Sab- 
 bath Schools. 
 
 I 
 
 Young People's Societies are of Different Kinds. 
 
 I. Undenominational societies. 
 This class includes such societies as the Y. M. 
 124 
 
YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES 125 
 
 C A., the Y. W. C A., the Y. W. C. T. U., the 
 Legion of Honor, and such Hke. These societies are 
 composed of young people gathered from the various 
 denominations, and in some cases including those not 
 members of any Church. They are organized for ob- 
 jects of a common Christianity. They all draw their 
 strength and support from the Church of Christ, but 
 have no organic connection with it, and are not in 
 any sense under its authority and control. The Y. 
 M. C. A. requires its active members to belong to 
 some evangelical church. I have already, in another 
 connection, endeavored to define the relation of a 
 Covenanter minister to these organizations. If these 
 undenominational societies are formed on the basis of 
 an agreement to do work that is common to all de- 
 nominations, in methods which all denominations ap- 
 prove, and in the use of forms of worship in which 
 all the denominations agree, then identification and 
 cooperation with them is not difficult. But to unite 
 with them on a platform that is in violation of our 
 own public profession and sworn covenant engage- 
 ments is hurtful, both to common Christianity, and to 
 our own Church. 
 
 I am fully persuaded that no form of undenomi- 
 national society will satisfy the conscientious pastor 
 as taking the place of the organization of his own 
 young people under his own immediate supervision. 
 
 2. Interdenominational societies. 
 
 The most noted example of this class of young 
 people's societies is the Young People's Society of 
 Christian Endeavor. 
 
 The advantages claimed for this form of organiza- 
 tion are, — 
 
 a. That it is superior to the undenominational 
 society, because it is within the bosom of the 
 Church. One of its rules is "that the pas- 
 tor, deacons, elders, stewards and Sunday- 
 
126 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 school superintendents shall be ex-officio 
 members of the society." I think this claim 
 of superiority over the undenominational so- 
 ciety is justly made, and is of very great 
 importance. It makes the society a develop- 
 ment of Church life, and puts honor on the 
 Church as a Divine institution. This is of 
 great value, 
 b. It also claims superiority over the de- 
 nominational society as happily combining 
 denominational and interdenominational fea- 
 tures. It is insisted upon, as one of the 
 principles of Christian Endeavor, that the 
 Endeavorer must alw^ays be loyal to his own 
 Church. This, it is said, guarantees the 
 safety of the denomination. Then in the dis- 
 trict and state unions and in the international 
 conventions held under the auspices of the 
 United Society of Christian Endeavor, the 
 young people have the added advantage of 
 the broader interdenominational fellowship. 
 That this is a rightful claim is not so clear. 
 To make good this claim it is necessary to 
 show that the Christian Endeavor interde- 
 nominational fellowship is established on such 
 a basis that the young people of all the 
 Churches can enter into it in consistency with 
 that first principle of Christian Endeavor, — 
 namely, supreme loyalty to the distinctive 
 principles and usages of their own Churches. 
 3. Denominational societies. 
 
 The denominational society differs from the unde- 
 nominational in that instead of being independent of 
 the Church it is identical with it. It is not only a form 
 of Christian activity, but it is a method of Church 
 service. It is the Church at work. It is in organic 
 union with the Church as a body, and in vital union 
 
YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES 127 
 
 with it as a life. It owes its allegiance to the Church 
 alone, and is in subordination to the courts of the de- 
 nomination to which it belongs. This is the form of 
 organization adopted by a large majority of the leading 
 denominations in the care of their youth. The United 
 Presbyterian Church has its Young People's Union; 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church has its Epzvorth 
 League; the Baptists have The Baptist Yoking Peo- 
 ple's Union; the Lutherans have The Luther League; 
 the Protestant Episcopal Church has The Brotherhood 
 of St. Andrew, and the Canadian Presbyterian Church 
 has The Presbyterian Guild. 
 
 4. Societies controlled by local sessions and pres- 
 byteries under general principles laid down by 
 the supreme judicatory. 
 
 These are not strictly denominational societies, but 
 are largely organized on denominational principles and 
 subject to Church authority. 
 
 A. The regulations adopted by the Presbyterian 
 Church embrace the following: 
 
 a. "That all the young people's religious organi- 
 zations which are to be found within its 
 Churches are under the jurisdiction of the 
 Church. 
 
 b. "That in general these societies are to be or- 
 ganized, and are to work in conformity with 
 the historic position of the Church as ex- 
 pressed in her standards and interpreted by 
 her courts. 
 
 c. "The particular relations of all Presbyterian 
 young people's societies to the Church are sus- 
 tained in the first instance to the session of a 
 particular Church and thence through the 
 session to the Church at large. 
 
 "Each such society is under the immediate 
 direction, control, and oversight of the ses- 
 sion of that Church in which it is formed, 
 
128 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 and that oversight is not merely general, but 
 
 applies to — 
 (i) ''The constitution of the society, which 
 the session must be careful to see is 
 framed in accordance with the general 
 principles named hereinbefore, and the 
 received usages of the Presbyterian 
 Church. 
 
 (2) ''The schedule of its services: including 
 the time of meeting, the course of topics, 
 and the general leadership, in order that 
 such services may form an integral part 
 of the work and worship of the Church, 
 
 (3) "The election of its officers: to this ex- 
 tent that each society shall submit for the 
 approval of the session the list of those 
 whom it has chosen, lest unsuitable per- 
 sons should be placed in positions of in- 
 fluence. 
 
 (4) "The distribution of its funds: that the 
 regular benevolent work of the Church 
 under the care of Presbyterian Boards be 
 not allowed to suffer through indiscrimi- 
 nate contributions to miscellaneous objects 
 which appeal to individual sympathy." 
 
 It will be seen that the carrying out of these princi- 
 ples would make all the young people's societies of 
 the Presbyterian Church strictly denominational. It 
 leaves unsettled the question of how the interdenomi- 
 national fellowship of these societies will be deter- 
 mined. 
 
 B. The principles adopted by the Reformed Pres- 
 byterian Synod for the government of her young 
 people's societies are toiind in Minutes of Synod, 
 1898, page 53, and also in the Minutes for 
 1901. 
 
YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES 129 
 
 The report of a special committee in 1898 contains 
 the following: 
 
 "Your committee are united in the belief that the 
 denominational society is the ideal young people's so- 
 ciety, and, if our young people were without organi- 
 zation, they would recommend the formation of such 
 a society." This report was adopted by Synod. 
 
 The following recommendations were adopted : 
 
 1. "That the young people's societies in all our con- 
 gregations are under the immediate control of 
 the sessions. 
 
 2. "That it be left to the sessions to determine, in 
 their wisdom, the name, form of organization, 
 services, and relations of these societies. 
 
 3. "That sessions be held responsible to the presby- 
 teries for the societies under their care. 
 
 4. "That presbyteries be recommended to seek to 
 unite all the Covenanter young people within 
 their bounds in a Covenanter Young People's 
 Union, which shall embrace all the young peo- 
 ple's societies in the congregations under their 
 care; and shall also include the young people 
 not connected with these societies, and those 
 living in congregations where no local societies 
 exist." 
 
 In 1901, Synod adopted the following: 
 
 1. "That we recognize as under the jurisdiction of 
 the Church all young people's organizations that 
 may exist within her bounds; that the Church 
 through her courts owes to them maternal care 
 and provision, and that to her spiritual author- 
 ity they owe filial obedience in whatever she 
 may advise or direct. 
 
 2. "That while Synod has allowed sessions to deter- 
 mine in their wisdom the name, form of organi- 
 zation, services, and relations of the individual 
 societies, it is intended that these shall be in 
 
130 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 harmony with the historic testimony and prac- 
 tice of the Church, as expressed in her standards 
 and interpreted by her courts. 
 
 3. "That we remind our young people that in their 
 work they represent the denomination of which 
 they are a part, and that denominational loyalty 
 consists in devotion to her principles and obedi- 
 ence to her authority. 
 
 4. "That while leaving to sessions the responsibility 
 of controlling the interdenominational or unde- 
 nominational fellowship of the young people's 
 societies under their care, we recommend pres- 
 byteries to secure the organization of all societies 
 of young people in Presbyterial Unions in loyal 
 recognition of the primary authority and inclu- 
 sive scope of the vows taken by our members 
 when uniting with the Church; and we counsel 
 all sessions and societies to guard against the 
 corrupting influence of any and all false teach- 
 ing and unscriptural practice: and especially 
 against anything in the matter of praise con- 
 trary to the principles of our Church." 
 
 II 
 
 Principles Which Should Govern the Organization of 
 Young People's Societies. 
 
 Having impartially stated the characteristics of each 
 of these classes of young people's organizations, I 
 submit to you the following propositions, which I 
 think will commend themselves to your judgment: 
 
 I. The young people's societies should be organized 
 within the Church. 
 
 The young people's society should not be what is 
 termed a Voluntary Society, but a Church organiza- 
 
YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES 131 
 
 tion. Connection with it may be voluntary in the same 
 sense that connection with the Sabbath School is 
 voluntary. 
 
 2. The young people's societies should be organized 
 on denominational principles. 
 
 If the Church proposes to maintain her position as 
 a distinct denomination, she must do it by the culture 
 and training of her youth. As the Presbyterian As- 
 sembly has declared: 'These societies are to be or- 
 ganized and to work in conformity with the historic 
 position of the Church as expressed in her standards 
 and interpreted by her courts." 
 
 The young people should feel that their engagements 
 to duty in the society have their sanctions in something 
 far more sacred and solemn than a mere social pledge ; 
 namely, in their sworn covenant engagements and 
 their sacramental vows. Our Synod recognizes this 
 principle when it recommends "presbyteries to secure 
 the organization of all societies of young people in 
 presbyterial unions in loyal recognition of the primary 
 authority and inclusive scope of the vows taken by 
 our members when uniting with the Church." 
 
 3. The basis of the interdenominational fellowship 
 of the young people's societies should be deter- 
 mined by the authority of the churches to which 
 the young people belong. 
 
 It is a great mistake to suppose that denominational 
 young people's societies can have no interdenomina- 
 tional fellowship. The following proposition was 
 submitted to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church, namely : — 
 
 "That a committee be appointed to correspond with 
 the representatives of the young people's organizations 
 in the Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, United Presby- 
 terian, Southern Presbyterian, and other Churches, 
 with the purpose of ascertaining wherein an interde- 
 nominational fellowship among these young people can 
 
132 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 be established and utilized for the promotion of those 
 objects which we share in common with our sister 
 Churches." 
 
 The Churches named here have all organized their 
 young people on a denominational basis. This was a 
 proposition to establish interdenominational fellowship 
 among these denominational societies, under the aus- 
 pices of their respective denominations. It is both 
 reasonable and right that in so important a matter 
 the Churches should have supervision of their own 
 young people. It is a most serious defect in the inter- 
 denominational feature of Christian Endeavor that it 
 establishes the fellowship of the young people of the 
 Churches under the auspices and control of a legal 
 corporation that is outside of all Churches; and that 
 it excludes from this fellowship all denominational so- 
 cieties. 
 
 4. The interdenominational fellowship of the young 
 people's societies should be regulated by the 
 same principles by which the Church regulates 
 her own interdenominational fellowship. 
 
 This principle has been illustrated repeatedly by the 
 action of our Synod. In entering the Presbyterian 
 Alliance she made it a condition that only what she 
 recognizes as Scriptural forms of worship should be 
 employed in the meetings of the Alliance. When she 
 received an invitation for her young people to join in 
 conventions where instrumental music would be used 
 in the worship she respectfully declined in the follow- 
 ing terms : 
 
 'Tn taking this action Synod begs to assure you that 
 she is moved only by a sincere purpose to maintain 
 consistently her testimony for purity of worship. 
 This testimony has been transmitted to us by our 
 covenanted fathers in Scotland and Ireland, and is the 
 well-known historical position of our Church to which 
 her practice has ever been conformed." 
 
YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES 133 
 
 As long as the Church, in uniting with sister 
 Churches in worship, makes it a condition that the 
 worship in which they unite shall be Scriptural, the 
 same principle should prevail when the young people's 
 societies unite in services of worship. A session which 
 would not arrange for a union service in which hymns 
 and organs would be used, certainly should apply the 
 same rule to the young people's organization. 
 
 5. Denominational fellowship should not be sacri- 
 ficed for the sake of interdenominational. 
 
 There is something radically wrong with the inter- 
 denominational fellowship which runs a plowshare 
 through the heart of the Churches and separates the 
 societies of the same denomination. For instance, 
 there are a great number of Westminster Leagues in 
 the Presbyterian Church. As societies these are all 
 excluded from fellowship with the Christian En- 
 deavor Societies of their own Church, in district, 
 county, and State unions. Frequent proposals have 
 been made to organize local unions which would em- 
 brace all denominational societies in a town or com- 
 munity. This has always been resisted by those in 
 control of the Christian Endeavor movement, as being 
 detrimental to the interests of that organization. Such 
 unions may have been formed, but they are not ap- 
 proved by the United Society. 
 
 These five principles seem to me to be self-evident, 
 and their application imperative if the young people's 
 movement is to prove a permanent blessing: 
 
 I. The young people's societies should he organized 
 zvithin the Church. 
 II. They should be organized on denominational 
 
 principles. 
 III. The basis of interdenominational fellowship 
 should be determined by the Churches to which 
 they belong. 
 
134 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 IV. They should he governed by the principles which 
 govern the Church, as a body, in her inter- 
 church fellowship. 
 V. Denominational fellowship should not be sacri- 
 ficed for the sake of interdenominational. 
 
LECTURE XIV 
 
 THE PASTOR AND THE YOUNG PEOPLE'S 
 SOCIETY 
 
 The young people's societies are here. Their ad- 
 vent generally has been regarded as one of the great 
 spiritual movements of the age. Such has been their 
 sway over the popular mind that he was a bold man 
 who dared to call in question their right to be. This 
 was the period when the Young People's Society was 
 judged by its professions, what it claimed to be and 
 to do. Now we have reached a period when it begins 
 to be judged by its fruits. Whether the Young Peo- 
 ple's Society will remain as an approved form of 
 Church-life and service depends upon the devotion 
 of its members. 
 
 The fact that the advent of the young people's so- 
 cieties was followed by a marked decline in Church 
 growth brought the arrest of thought. Zion's Herald, 
 one of the ablest papers of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, regards the influence of the society as un- 
 spiritual ; and says it leads the minds of the young 
 people away from Church connection, the very oppo- 
 site of what was expected of it. "Whatever is the 
 cause," it says, "there is a tendency to be satisfied and 
 let the Church go." 
 
 One of our own ministers, a pastor of long experi- 
 ence, published an address delivered by him at one 
 of our Presbyterial Christian Endeavor Conventions, 
 in which he says : "There are dangers necessarily 
 connected with all young people's societies. There is 
 
 135 
 
136 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 not one today in which are not manifested hurtful 
 tendencies. Those brethren would not be far wrong 
 who oppose them in any and every form, were it not 
 that they fail to take into consideration the fact that 
 these societies are already in existence, and, by an 
 inevitable law, will continue to multiply." (Dr. J. W. 
 Sproull, in Oliz/e Trees.) 
 
 If the Church comes to regard the society as only 
 a necessary evil to which she submits because it is 
 inevitable, she will find a way to rid herself of it. 
 My experience as a pastor, however, taught me to look 
 upon it in a more favorable light. Let us consider: 
 
 The Advantages of a Young People's Society. 
 
 I. To the pastor. 
 
 a. It brings the pastor into closer sympathy with 
 the young people. 
 
 Many ministers find it difficult to establish proper 
 relations with their young people. If they stand apart 
 from them, surrounded by an atmosphere of minis- 
 terial dignity, they may win their respect, but not 
 their love. If they mingle with them in their social 
 gatherings and amusements as one of themselves, 
 there is danger that the too great familiarity may 
 breed contempt. The solution of the difficult problem 
 lies in the young people's meeting, where the pastor 
 mingles with the young people, as, indeed, one of 
 themselves, and yet goes before them as their leader 
 in a delightful, yet solemn religious experience. 
 
 b. It promotes his acquaintance with their spirit- 
 ual needs. 
 
 The pastor needs to know the needs of the flock. 
 With the young people this is sometimes difficult. 
 
YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES 137 
 
 They do not open their hearts to him. How can he 
 come in contact with their souls? The Young Peo- 
 ple's Society furnishes the meeting ground. Their 
 prayer-meeting usually is more of an experience meet- 
 ing than the congregational prayer-meeting is. They 
 cannot descant so learnedly on doctrinal subjects, and 
 naturally turn to the practical side. They have fewer 
 set phrases in prayer, and their petitions are more of 
 an index to their hearts. The thoughtful pastor, 
 mingling with them in these services, becomes ac- 
 quainted with their inner life. Words let drop in the 
 young people's meeting will often open the way for 
 private interviews when the whole heart will be laid 
 open to the pastor for counsel and help. 
 
 c. The pastor is supported by their prayers. 
 
 Some of the very sweetest hours in my pastoral 
 experience were in the Sabbath evening meetings of 
 my young people, when, weary and frequently dis- 
 couraged with the labors of the day, I sat and listened 
 to the gracious words that fell from their lips, and 
 the fervent petitions in my behalf that rose from their 
 tender and loving hearts. I would not willingly part 
 with the memory of it. The pastor has an ample com- 
 pensation for all the labor it imposes on him in the 
 good it brings to himself. 
 
 2. The Young People's Society is a connecting link 
 between the Sabbath School and the Church. 
 
 One of the greatest difficulties experienced in Sab- 
 bath-school work is to retain scholars when they pass 
 out of childhood and young manhood and woman- 
 hood. At this point the young people's society renders 
 valuable aid. It binds the youth of the Sabbath 
 School to the Church by a threefold bond, 
 a. By a social tie. 
 
 The difficulty with many of our young people is, 
 that they form social relations either with the uncon- 
 verted and the irreligious or with those having moral 
 
138 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 and religious standards lower than our own. By the 
 powerful influence of the social nature they are drawn 
 away from the Church. The best way to counteract 
 this evil is to employ the social nature to bind them 
 to the Church. 
 
 b. By a religious tie. 
 
 Man's religious nature is still more powerful than 
 his social nature. If it is possible to weave the golden 
 threads of religious experience into the web of life, 
 so that it cannot be separated without a painful rend- 
 ing, then the Church will not lose her young people. 
 A well-conducted Young People's Society will help 
 to do this. 
 
 c. By a tie of practical work. 
 
 Multitudes drift away simply beause they have no 
 working interest in the Church. They are not ripe 
 enough in knowledge or in Christian experience to be 
 Sabbath-school teachers. They are not qualified to 
 be deacons or elders. They find no use for their gifts. 
 Having nothing to do they soon cease to care. The 
 young people's society is a portion of the vineyard in 
 which they can find some practical work. It will form 
 another tie to bind them to the Church. 
 
 3. It is a means of regulating the Christian de- 
 portment of young people. 
 
 a. It guards the negative side of the Christian 
 life by cultivating the positive side. 
 
 The Christian life is not one of repression, but of 
 expression. ''Walk in the spirit and ye shall not 
 fulfill the lusts of the flesh." As to how to get rid of 
 evil : "Learn to do well," and you will soon ''cease 
 to do evil." Cultivate the positive side, and the nega- 
 tive side will take care of itself. 
 
 b. It controls the conduct of young people by 
 love of Christ, rather than by fear of disci- 
 pline. 
 
 It is perhaps true that in former days the Church 
 
YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES 139 
 
 depended too much on the fear of the session to 
 restrain her young people from sinful and worldly 
 amusements and appealed too little to their love of 
 Christ. I would not be understood as urging the 
 relaxing of Church discipline, but I plead for the culti- 
 vation of that which shall make discipline less neces- 
 sary. I long for the day when young people will be 
 kept from the dance, the pool-room, and the theater 
 by their love of purity, rather than by the fear of the 
 session. Too many young Christians are, like Simon 
 the Cyrenian, ''compelled to bear His cross." 
 
 4. It promotes Christian culture. 
 
 The Church is generally remiss in the care of new 
 converts. Great effort is put forth to persuade them 
 to come into the Church, but, once their names are on 
 the roll, effort in their behalf ceases. That is the very 
 point where it ought to be redoubled. The secret of 
 many an apostasy can be found in the failure of the 
 Church to follow up her work. The young people's 
 society promotes Christian culture: 
 
 a. By the study of the Scriptures. 
 
 '*As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the 
 word, that ye may grow thereby." (I Peter ii, 2.) 
 "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by 
 taking heed thereto according to thy word." (Psalm 
 cxix, 9.) 
 
 b. By experimental acquaintance with Christ. 
 "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our 
 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." (II Peter iii, 18.) 
 This is not knowing about Christ, but knowing Him. 
 "That I may know Him, and the power of His resur- 
 rection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being 
 made conformable unto His death." (Philip, iii, 10.) 
 
 c. By frequent personal testimony. 
 
 Christ asked such questions as these: "Who 
 touched me?" "What think ye of Christ?" "Whom 
 say ye that I am?" "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou 
 
I40 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 me?" Such questions were not addressed merely to 
 new converts, but also to those who had been with 
 Him from the beginning. Why? Not for infonna- 
 tion, for He knew all things. It was partly, at least, 
 to call forth the testimony of His disciples, that they 
 might have their own faith made clear and strong by 
 bold confession as to who He was and what He had 
 done for them. To such service the young people's 
 society invites. 
 
 5. It is a training school for Christian workers, 
 
 a. All Christians need work. 
 
 No matter how well instructed they may be, they 
 cannot be strong Christians without something to do. 
 Rich food without exercise is liable to produce dys- 
 pepsia. That there are not more spiritual dyspeptics 
 among idle professors is due to the fact that many of 
 them are fed on very light diet. 
 
 b. The Church needs workers. 
 
 Look at the uncultivated fields and the ungathered 
 sheaves, and this just around the church doors. It 
 is pitiful to see Christians dwindling and pining away 
 for want of work, and souls perishing for want of 
 workers. 
 
 c. The workers need training. 
 
 It is vain to expect men and women to take up, in 
 mature years, work for which they have had no train- 
 ing in early life. It is the mission of the young peo- 
 ple's society to raise up an army of trained soldiers, 
 accustomed from their youth to use the weapons of 
 spiritual warfare in fighting the battles of the Lord, 
 and the implements of Christian husbandry in culti- 
 vating His vineyard, and the tools of Christian work 
 in building the temple. 
 
 6. It promotes true denominational attachment. 
 This does not mean an empty pride in an ancestral 
 
 name. It means devotion to divine institutions, to a 
 system of God-given and blood-bought truth, and to 
 
YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES 141 
 
 the accomplishment of a heaven-appointed mission. 
 Such an attachment must be founded upon intellectual 
 knowledge, conscientious convictions, and deep reli- 
 gious experience : and these the young people's society 
 should supply. In personal experience as a pastor I 
 found this true. 
 
 II 
 
 The Dtity of the Pastor to the Young People's Society. 
 
 1. He should attend the meetings regularly. 
 
 a. For his own sake. 
 
 I have already spoken of the advantages to the 
 pastor of the 3^oung people's society. To secure these 
 he must be a regular attendant. 
 
 b. For the sake of the young people. 
 
 The presence of the pastor is important in order 
 to maintain the proprieties of the meeting. A young 
 people's meeting has its perils. It may be a very good 
 thing, and it is possible for it to becom.e a very bad 
 thing. Satan's wolves delight to pounce upon the 
 lambs of the flock when the shepherd is away. It will 
 be difficult to secure regular attendance of the young 
 people if the pastor is irregular. 
 
 c. Because an irregular attendance makes his 
 presence embarrassing to the young people. 
 
 At first it is one of the trials of the young people 
 to take part when the pastor is present. If he attends 
 regularly the embarrassment passes away. But if 
 they never know when to look for him, his coming in 
 \N\\\ put a damper on the meeting, and the young peo- 
 ple will come to feel that the very poorest meetings 
 they have are those when the pastor is there. 
 
 2. The pastor should enter heartily into the young 
 people's plans. 
 
142 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 a. He should counsel with their committees. 
 
 It is common for these societies to carry on their 
 work through various committees. Dr. Cuyler's so- 
 ciety had a devotional committee to arrange prayer- 
 meetings ; a visiting committee to look after the sick ; 
 an entertainment committee to arrange music, read- 
 ings, and other pleasant features for a monthly social ; 
 a temperance committee to oversee that branch of 
 Christian labor; a relief committee for cases of pov- 
 erty ; and another to bring flowers for the pulpit every 
 Sabbath and later send them to the rooms of the sick. 
 In many societies the pastor is, ex officio, a member 
 of all committees. All need his counsel and it should 
 be given sympathetically. 
 
 b. He should assist them in any proper special 
 work. 
 
 If the young people act wisely, they will not under- 
 take work without the pastor's counsel. It has been 
 found beneficial for them to have a special work 
 which they call their own. But it should not be inde- 
 pendent of the control of the pastor and session. If 
 their work needs financial support it is well for the 
 pastor to give and to encourage others to aid them. 
 
 c. Encourage their efforts to quicken themselves 
 in duty. 
 
 There are differences of view as to the propriety of 
 having a society pledge and a monthly consecration 
 service. These are essential features of the Christian 
 Endeavor Society. So far as I know, denominational 
 societies make the taking of a special pledge optional. 
 Dr. Cuyler, speaking of the terms of membership in 
 his society, says : *Tt embraces three classes of mem- 
 bers: active, associate, and honorary. Any member 
 of our Church between the ages of fifteen and forty- 
 five may be chosen an active member of the asso- 
 ciation; any person of good moral character may 
 
YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES 143 
 
 become an associate member entitled to all privileges 
 except that of holding office." 
 
 My own opinion is that this is the right basis of 
 membership, and that a special pledge in addition to 
 the Church Covenant should not be required ; but every 
 effort should be made to quicken members to a sense 
 of the binding obligation of our Church vows. Many 
 of our denominational societies have adopted the fol- 
 lowing paragraph from our Church Covenant of 1871, 
 viz: 
 
 "We take the moral law as dispensed by the medi- 
 ator, Christ, to be the rule of our life, and to be 
 obeyed by us in all its precepts and prohibitions. 
 Aiming to live for the glory of God as our chief end, 
 we will in reliance upon God's grace, and feeling our 
 inability to perform any spiritual duty in our own 
 strength, diligently attend to searching the Scriptures, 
 religious conversation, the duties of the closet, the 
 household, the fellowship meeting and the sanctuary, 
 and will seek in them to worship God in spirit and 
 in truth. We do solemnly promise to depart from 
 all iniquity, and to live soberly, and righteously, and 
 godly in this present world, commending and encour- 
 aging by our example : temperance, charity, and godli- 
 ness." 
 
 d. He should exercise judicious restraint over 
 the young people. 
 
 They will probably have plans which your judgment 
 will not approve. Do not yield everything to their 
 judgment. Guard against mere fault-finding, but 
 persuade them to other things. 
 
 e. Preach sermons to the young people. 
 
 It is questionable whether more good than harm 
 is done by the observance of Young People's Day, 
 Decision Day, Rally Day, and such special occasions, 
 but a sermon especially for the young people may be 
 very helpful. 
 
144 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 IV 
 
 Dangers to he Avoided in Connection with Young 
 P copiers Societies. 
 
 1. The danger of separating the people into classes. 
 One of the most reasonable objections made to 
 
 young people's societies is that they tend to put asunder 
 what God has joined together, namely, the old and 
 the young. The young, it is said, need the old; and 
 certainly we who are old need the young. This sepa- 
 ration would be an evil indeed, but it does not neces- 
 sarily follow. These two classes should not be 
 permitted to drift apart. Encourage the older people 
 occasionally to drop into the young people's meeting. 
 Keep the young people constantly in the congrega- 
 tional prayer-meeting. Teach them that if they can 
 attend only one prayer-meeting in the week, it should 
 be the prayer-meeting of the congregation, and not 
 the young people's meeting. 
 
 2. Avoid the cultivation of a self-sufficient or self- 
 satisfied spirit. 
 
 There are forms of evil which have a tendency to 
 creep into young people's societies. They are little 
 foxes that spoil the vines, and our vines have tender 
 grapes. The very fact of putting forward very young 
 children to lead the meetings, or calling upon them 
 to testify as to their religious experience, has its perils. 
 
 3. Guard against irreverence in the religious 
 services. 
 
 Irreverence in worship is a sad blight upon Protes- 
 tant Churches. It is necessary for the pastor to hold 
 the reins with a firm hand in this matter. Young 
 people who are not intentionally wicked are often very 
 thoughtless, and shamefully irreverent in the house 
 of God. 
 
 The leaders in large conventions of young people 
 
YOUNG PEOPLE'S SOCIETIES 145 
 
 are not always sufficiently careful to preserve the 
 spirit of reverent worship. A recent report of one 
 such gathering told that the leader of the choir called 
 upon all who were over thirty years of age to sing 
 one verse of the hymn; and all under thirty to sing 
 the succeeding verse. The worshipers sang with an 
 amused smile playing over their faces as they glanced 
 from side to side to mark the effect upon those of 
 uncertain age. Could anything be more unbecoming 
 than that in the worship of God? 
 
 4. Guard against trifling with sacred things in the 
 use of the pledge and the consecration meeting. 
 
 If it is decided to introduce these sacred ceremonies, 
 then I charge you that as pastors you must hold your- 
 selves responsible for their employment in the most 
 solemn and impressive way. I can hardly conceive of 
 anything more calculated to bring upon young souls 
 the blight of spiritual decline than a monthly renewal 
 of promises to God, followed by their habitual vio- 
 lation. 
 
 5. Guard them against the violation of their pro- 
 fession in the interdenominational gatherings. 
 
 There seems to be a difference of opinion as to the 
 consistency of Covenanter young people becoming 
 members of organizations whose forms of worship 
 are in violation of the Scriptural law of worship and 
 contrary to the doctrines and usages of our Church. 
 That it is fraught with danger no one need deny. 
 
 In closing this subject I wish to express my pro- 
 found conviction that, if our Church is to live to 
 honor, her pastors must guard more carefully the 
 young people's associations. May God make you wise 
 and safe leaders of the youth who will soon be en- 
 trusted to your care. "That our sons may be as 
 plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters 
 may be as corner stones, carved after the similitude of 
 a palace." 
 
LECTURE XV 
 
 THE PASTOR AND THE MISSIONARY 
 SOCIETIES 
 
 Of organizing societies there seems to be no end. 
 A society having as its special object to kill off 
 all the other organizations, is about all that is left 
 to be organized. The Woman's Missionary Society, 
 however, was one of the first in the field and it should 
 be spared to the last. 
 
 Murphy in his Pastoral Theology, says : 
 "Explain the matter as we may, the fact cannot be 
 mistaken that, with woman is ever to be found the 
 greater part of the piety, the earnest devotion, and 
 the zeal of the Church. This is plainly to be seen in 
 all of our churches. Among all denominations the 
 evidences of it are to be found in the rolls of the 
 membership ; in the attendance upon all the services 
 of the sanctuary ; in her sympathy with every true 
 object of benevolence; in her readiness to engage in 
 every good work; and in her consistency of Hfe. 
 Upon this element of piety in his Church the pastor 
 must ever place great reliance, and his wisdom will 
 be manifested in so framing his plans of activity that 
 it can be used to the greatest advantage. It is a 
 power for good too important and peculiar not to 
 receive his special attention." 
 
 I 
 
 The Various Missionary Organizations. 
 
 I. The Woman's Missionary Society. 
 The name of the society indicates its membership 
 146 
 
THE MISSIONARY SOCIETIES • 147 
 
 and the purposes of the organization. It is of long 
 standing in the Church and has a place in nearly all 
 of our congregations. The earlier name for it was 
 The Female Missionary Society. Then it was more 
 dependent on the pastor than it is now. It was thought 
 that the society could hardly be opened with prayer 
 unless the pastor or some prominent male member of 
 the congregation were present. These societies are 
 usually organized under a constitution, with by-laws, 
 and the young pastor will generally find the mission- 
 ary society in full running operation when he enters 
 the field. If he does not, he should inaugurate the 
 movement by consultation with the leading women of 
 the congregation. It is easy to frame a constitution 
 or to secure a copy from another society. 
 
 2. The Young Women's Missionary Society. 
 
 It is not best to multiply societies unnecessarily; 
 one good strong society is better than two feeble ones ; 
 but, in large congregations, it has been found desirable 
 to have a separate society for the young women. 
 
 a. It frequently suits the young women better 
 to meet at a different hour. 
 
 b. They may be interested in different lines of 
 work. 
 
 c. It tends more to the development of their 
 gifts. 
 
 If old and young meet together, the tendency is for 
 the meeting to fall into the hands of the older mem- 
 bers. The propriety of having a young women's so- 
 ciety depends very largely on the circumstances, and 
 the pastor should exercise a careful judgment and 
 give his advice. 
 
 3. The Children's Mission Band. 
 
 This name is usually given to the organization of 
 the children. Some doubt the propriety of such or- 
 ganizations, but experience seems to justify them. 
 
 a. They should be under the supervision of one 
 
148 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 of the women or young women of the con- 
 gregation, 
 b. A special effort should be made to interest 
 mission scholars in the mission band. 
 
 4. The Band of Hope. 
 
 This is a form of organization similar to the Mis- 
 sion Band, except that its special object is temperance 
 instruction. The Loyal Temperance Legion has 
 largely supplanted this organization, and one or the 
 other will likely claim some of your children. Wher- 
 ever children's organizations are formed, the pastor 
 should recognize that they have a special claim upon 
 him. At no point can he make his work more effec- 
 tive than in dealing with the mind of childhood. 
 
 5. The Boys' Brigade and the Boy Scout Move- 
 ment. 
 
 Much was formerly made of the Boys' Brigade, an 
 organization for boys, largely wind and water, with 
 absolutely nothing to commend it. The Boy Scout 
 Movement is of the same type, but has the grace to 
 keep itself clear of the Church. Such organizations 
 are condemned by one and the same test: They are 
 out of harmony with the spirit and aim of Him who 
 is the Prince of Peace. 
 
 6. The Men's Missionary Society, and the Busi- 
 ness Men's League. 
 
 It is one of the unmistakable signs of the progress 
 of the Kingdom that in every well organized con- 
 gregation we now have Men's Clubs. In the country 
 congregation of a generation ago, the question was 
 how to break up the horse-shed class. Later, during 
 the years of my pastorate, I frequently heard it asked 
 why we could not have missionary organizations of 
 men as well as of women, and there seemed to be no 
 reason except that the women managed their affairs 
 better without the men. In fact they still originate 
 and carry out plans which the men are staggered to 
 
THE MISSIONARY SOCIETIES 149 
 
 think of. But gradually the men of the church have 
 been awakened to their opportunities; there are busi- 
 ness men's leagues for "financiering the kingdom"; 
 men's auxiliary missionary societies ; civic leagues ; 
 law and order societies; and in fact every proposed 
 reform now has a solid organization among the men 
 of the Church. Among our own people the working 
 congregations are organizing the men, and many of 
 you will find, as young pastors, a strong working 
 force in these organizations. Here lies your oppor- 
 tunity. 
 
 The pastor should consider that his pastoral over- 
 sight extends to all forms of organization in the con- 
 gregation. Nothing is beyond his responsibility or 
 beneath his notice. 
 
 II 
 The Uses of the Missionary Society. 
 
 What is said on this point will have special refer- 
 ence to the Woman's Missionary Society and can be 
 applied to the others according to their circumstances. 
 
 I. It is an organization for prayer. 
 
 Formerly this occupied but a small place in the 
 "Female Missionary Society," for there were but few 
 women who would consent to lead in public prayer. 
 Now the missionary society is, first of all, a woman's 
 prayer-meeting. Speaking of the importance of this, 
 Murphy says : "The influence of such a stated meet- 
 ing of devout women for prayer and spiritual confer- 
 ence will most undoubtedly tell upon the piety and 
 progress of the Church. . . . Unseen, and perhaps 
 unnoticed, may be those little assemblies, but not un- 
 felt will be their blessed results." They will tell upon 
 the preaching and upon the Sabbath School, upon the 
 cause of missions, and upon the bringing in of revivals 
 of religion. 
 
I50 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 2. As a pastor's aid society. 
 
 Many congregations have organizations with this ob- 
 ject and called by this name, but this is really a depart- 
 ment of missionary society work. The work would 
 be such as the following: 
 
 a. Visiting new families coming into the bounds 
 of the congregation. 
 
 b. Seeking out those without a Church home. 
 
 c. Reclaiming the disaffected and the negligent. 
 
 d. Bringing scholars into the Sabbath School. 
 
 e. Promoting peace and sociability in the 
 church. 
 
 Murphy says: "Women have the piety, they have 
 the feeling, they have the tact, they more generally 
 have the time to do such work; and hence they do it 
 more efficiently than men. There are some parts of 
 Church work they can do better than even the pastor. 
 They can reach families, especially the female portion 
 of them, as the other sex cannot. They can follow 
 up impressions that are made, cultivate the acquaint- 
 ance of strangers, and persevere in efforts to interest 
 them in the Church and her ordinances as men cannot 
 or will not." 
 
 3. As a benevolent society. 
 
 Dorcas gave her name to this department of woman's 
 work, and Dorcas Societies have long been known in 
 the Church. But this, again, is only a department of 
 missionary society work. 
 
 a. Making garments for the poor. 
 
 b. Clothing children for the Sabbath School. 
 
 c. Sending missionary boxes to the various mis- 
 sion fields. 
 
 Such has been a most important branch of mission- 
 ary society effort. This is applied Christianity, and 
 some who have not been able to contribute large sums 
 of money to the mission cause have given in time and 
 skill what has been of very great value. 
 
THE MISSIONARY SOCIETIES 151 
 
 4. In the care and keeping of the church building. 
 Perhaps a majority of the churches in our body 
 
 have been furnished with carpets and with pulpit 
 furniture, and some even with pews, by the missionary 
 society; and you will find as pastors that it frequently 
 happens that, when men cannot be moved to clean and 
 paint and fresco the church, the women will come 
 to your assistance through the missionary society. 
 
 5. As a direct missionary agent in the congrega- 
 tion. 
 
 a. In cultivating the missionary spirit. 
 
 The missionary societies secure missionary sermons 
 and lectures, keep up correspondence with mission 
 fields, hold farewell meetings for missionaries going 
 out and meetings of welcome to missionaries return- 
 ing home. No one but Jesus knows what these noble 
 women have done to fire the Church with missionary 
 zeal, and to comfort the heart of His servants, the 
 missionaries ; but the missionaries testify somewhat to 
 the value of their works of faith and labors of love. 
 
 b. In employing city missionaries. 
 
 In many of our city congregations it is the Woman's 
 Missionary Society that originates and sustains the 
 city mission. It may be said that, after all, the men 
 have to provide the means. That is only partially 
 true; and, even so, it is the women that supply the 
 spirit, and courage, and heart. 
 
 c. By organizing the sewing school. 
 
 A very common branch of this local missionary 
 effort is the organizing of schools for the training of 
 girls to sew. It calls for consecrated womanhood to 
 carry on this toilsome, and sometimes thankless, work. 
 
 d. By combining the mother's meeting, the sew- 
 ing circle, the gospel service and charity. 
 
 There is a plan of missionary work carried on by 
 the women of the Second New York congregation 
 which I wish to bring to your attention. It is this: 
 
152 THE PEOPLE AT WORK 
 
 The women of the missionary society provide large 
 quantities of materials for the manufacture of cloth- 
 ing. They invite poor women in the neighborhood 
 of the church, or connected with the children of the 
 Sabbath School, to meet in the sewing room in the 
 church, and there they meet with them and cut out 
 useful garments for the families of such as can be 
 present, and direct them in the making. While the 
 sewing goes on, the women of the society mingle with 
 those brought in, conversing as in a mother's meeting. 
 If the pastor, or any other minister, comes in to talk 
 with them, they stop work for ten or twenty minutes 
 and listen to him. When the work is done, the poor 
 women take the garments which they have made with 
 them, and they carry away hearts comforted and 
 helped by this Christian fellowship and sym.pathy. 
 Such a method combines many elements of helpful- 
 ness. 
 
 6. Raising funds for the different schemes of the 
 church. 
 
 An examination of the various treasurers' reports 
 will show that women's missionary societies are doing 
 a marvelous work in raising funds for the church. 
 No good work appeals in vain to these devoted 
 women. 
 
 Ill 
 
 The Duty of the Pastor to the Missionary Societies. 
 
 I. He should not interfere obtrusively in their 
 work. 
 
 The pastor may make himself a nuisance to the 
 missionary societies by attending all their meetings 
 and undertaking to shape all their plans. This is 
 worse than to discourage by neglect. 
 
THE MISSIONARY SOCIETIES 153 
 
 2. He should visit them occasionally to encourage 
 by his words. 
 
 A brief call once in a while to manifest interest 
 and sympathy and to assure them of how much they 
 aid him in his work will be appreciated. 
 
 3. He should promote the upbuilding of the so- 
 ciety. 
 
 a. By encouraging members to join. 
 
 b. By remembering them in his public prayers. 
 
 c. By special sermons on their behalf. 
 
 d. By enforcing their claims for assistance upon 
 the congregation. 
 
 It was the custom of our congregation to devote 
 the collection of Sabbath evening after communion 
 to the missionary society. It was a good plan. 
 
 4. He should consult with them in regard to plans 
 of work. 
 
 This will be necessary if they are to fill the place 
 of Pastor's Aid Society and Benevolent Society. He 
 will often find among the godly women of his flock 
 his safest and wisest counselors, his most loyal sup- 
 porters and his most devoted workers. 
 
 5. He should respond cheerfully to their calls for 
 assistance. 
 
 The busy pastor is apt to become impatient under 
 frequent interruption of his studies. Cultivate the 
 habit of doing cheerfully and not grudgingly. Re- 
 member Paul's words, ''Help those women." (Philip, 
 iv, 3.) 
 
PART II 
 
 THE PASTOR 
 
 IN RELATION TO THE CHURCH 
 
 COURTS 
 
PART II 
 
 LECTURE XVI 
 
 THE PASTOR IN THE SESSION 
 
 The general subject of the lectures in Pastoral 
 Theology for this part of the seminary year will be 
 The Pastor in His Relation tO' the Church 
 Courts. The subject of to-day's lecture is The 
 Pastor in the Session. 
 
 The Pastor of the Congregation is, Ex Officio, the 
 Moderator of the Session. 
 
 1. Because the office of the ministry is, in its 
 nature, superior to the office of the eldership. 
 
 It is admitted that there is parity of ruling power 
 vested in ministers and ruling elders. But there is 
 not parity of office. 
 
 This is evident : 
 
 a. Because the minister's ordination to office 
 is by a higher court. 
 
 Ministers are ordained by presbytery, elders by 
 session or presbytery. 
 
 b. There is difference in the form of ordination. 
 The minister is ordained by the imposition of the 
 
 hands of ministers only; ruling elders by the imposi- 
 tion of the hands of both ministers and elders. 
 
 The Book of Discipline makes this distinction 
 157 
 
158 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 clear: ''The power of ordering the whole work of 
 ordination is in the whole presbytery. Every minis- 
 ter of the Word is to be ordained by the imposition 
 of hands and prayer, with fasting, by those preach- 
 ing presbyters to whom it doth belong." Again: 
 ''Preaching presbyters orderly associated either in 
 cities or in neighboring villages are those to whom 
 the imposition of hands doth appertain for those con- 
 gregations within their bounds." — Book of Discipline^ 
 pp. 45; 46-4; 47-10; 52-8; 106-4, 5- 
 
 c. They differ as to the court before which they 
 can be brought for trial. 
 
 A minister cannot be placed on trial before a ses- 
 sion, but an elder can be. 
 
 Dr. Hodge, in his Church Polity, says: "Where 
 an elder is to be tried, he is arraigned before the ses- 
 sion; but process against a gospel minister must al- 
 ways be entered before the presbytery. Why is this, 
 but that a man is to be tried by his peers? If so, 
 then the elders are not the peers of the minister ; they 
 are not officially his equals." — Hodge's Church Polity, 
 p. 275; U. P. Government and Discipline, p. 600; 
 Art. n, i; Art. HI, i. 
 
 2. In vacant congregations, presbytery appoints 
 a minister to moderate the session. 
 
 If a session had power to elect its own moderator 
 and to choose one of the elders to the place instead 
 of the pastor, then there could be no occasion for 
 elders in a vacant congregation applying to presbytery 
 to supply them with a moderator in order that they 
 might constitute for business. Book of Discipline, 
 page 122, Rule 6, says: "A certificate shall be 
 deemed regular when signed by the moderator and 
 clerk of session ; or when signed by a majority of the 
 elders, if a congregation be vacant, and there has 
 been no opportunity to make an appointment in con- 
 stituted session." This clearly implies that, where 
 
THE PASTOR IN THE SESSION 159 
 
 there is no pastor, the elders have no power to con- 
 stitute the session. The vacant congregation receives 
 its moderator at the hands of the presbytery. 
 
 3. Presbyterian law recognizes the pastor as ex 
 officio moderator of the session. 
 
 The Form of Church Government of the Presby- 
 terian Church says : "The pastor of the congregation 
 shall always be the moderator of the session, except 
 when for prudential reasons it may appear advisable 
 that some other minister should be invited to pre- 
 side; in which case the pastor may, with the con- 
 currence of the session, invite such other minister as 
 they may see meet, belonging to the same presbytery, 
 to preside in the case. The same expedient may be 
 adopted in the case of the sickness or absence of the 
 pastor." — Presh. Form of Govt., Chap. IX, Sec. 3. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church has, in one or more in- 
 stances, chosen a ruling elder to preside in its Gen- 
 eral Assembly ; but it lays it down in express terms in 
 its Book of Government that the pastor shall always 
 be the moderator of the session, with an exception 
 made in such terms as to strengthen the rule. 
 
 That this is regarded as ex officio is made more 
 evident by a concrete case, as follows: 
 
 The Presbytery of Erie memorialized the assem- 
 bly, presenting this question: ''When a minister has 
 accepted a call to a congregation, said call having been 
 placed in his hands by the presbytery, is he, ex officio, 
 moderator of the session of that congregation previous 
 to his installation?" 
 
 Evidently the presbytery of Erie had no doubt as 
 to his relation after his installation, and they supposed 
 that it might even belong to him as pastor-elect, while 
 awaiting installation. 
 
 The committee to which the question was referred 
 recommended the following answer: "A pastor- 
 elect is not moderator, ex officio, as he has no official 
 
i6o PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 connection with that church, but he may become 
 moderator (if he is a member of that presbytery 
 under whose care the church is) by invitation of the 
 session or by appointment of presbytery." 
 
 In adopting this recommendation, the general as- 
 sembly decided that a pastor-elect is not, ex officio, 
 moderator of the session, but a pastor installed is. 
 See Moore's Digest, pp. 481-482. 
 
 The Book of Government and Discipline of the 
 United Presbyterian Church is specific on this point. 
 
 It says : '*The pastor of the congregation is the 
 standing moderator of the session." — U. P. Govt, and 
 Discipline, Chapter I, Art. V, Sec. 2. 
 
 This is sufficient to show that this is Presbyterian 
 law, on well-established principles; and while it is 
 not expressed in such explicit terms in our Book of 
 Government, it is necessarily implied and has always 
 been observed as common law. 
 
 When, therefore, in the good providence of God, 
 you are inducted into the pastoral relation, you are 
 to assume at once your position as moderator of its 
 session. It would only be an element of weakness 
 to submit your official position to the vote of the 
 session when you had already received it from the 
 hand of the presbytery. 
 
 II 
 
 The Duties of the Pastor as Moderator of Session. 
 
 I. To convene the session. 
 
 If the session adjourns without fixing a time and 
 place for meeting, it is the duty of the moderator to 
 convene the court when necessary. *'A session is not 
 dissolved though it adjourns without determining on 
 a future meeting. A meeting of the session is always 
 in order at the call of the moderator, and this may 
 
THE PASTOR IN THE SESSION i6i 
 
 be made by public intimation or by notice sent to 
 each member." — Book of Discipline, pp. 99, 100. 
 
 No one except the moderator has power to issue a 
 call for a meeting of session. 
 
 The law of the Presbyterian Church as to a quorum 
 is, that "two elders, if there be as many in a congre- 
 gation, shall be necessary to constitute a quorum." — 
 Form of Govt., Chap. IX, Art. 2. This seems to 
 imply that, however large the session may be, two 
 elders and the pastor constitute a quorum; but, if 
 there be only two elders, they must both be present; 
 if there be but one elder in the congregation, he, with 
 the pastor, will have power to transact business. 
 The United Presbyterian Book provides that "in all 
 ordinary cases, two elders with a minister, or three 
 elders in the absence of a minister, shall be necessary 
 to constitute a quorum." — Govt, and Discipline, 
 Chap. V, Art. I, Sec. 7. 
 
 2. To constitute the session. 
 
 Church courts act in the name of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ and by His authority. When the hour arrives 
 at which the session has been called to meet, the 
 pastor, in the chair, rises promptly and announces 
 that "the hour has come to constitute the session, and 
 the members will come to order." He then en- 
 gages in prayer constituting the court, in substance 
 as follows : 
 
 "Be present with us, O Lord, and bless us as a 
 court of Thy house, when in the name and by the 
 authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only King 
 and Head of the Church, we constitute ourselves into 
 a juridical capacity as we hereby do." 
 
 The exact formula of words is not essential, but 
 it is important that the court shall be formally consti- 
 tuted in the name of Christ. 
 
 The court is also adjourned by a like form. This 
 is sometimes done by an elder. So important is this 
 
i62 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 act of constituting and adjourning the court by prayer, 
 that it must be noted in the minutes of every meeting 
 that it was so done ; and any failure to so record, sub- 
 jects the minutes to criticism by the higher court as 
 being "contrary to the law and order of the Church." 
 — Book of Discipline, p. 98. 
 
 The pastor's further duties as moderator are: 
 
 3. To state the business before the court. 
 
 4. To keep the members to the question. 
 
 5. To maintain order. 
 
 6. To decide points of order, but not questions of 
 law. 
 
 7. If requested, to sum up the argument before 
 taking a vote. 
 
 8. To vote on a call of the ayes and noes. 
 
 9. To give the casting vote when the ayes and noes 
 are equal. 
 
 Ill 
 
 The Order of Business in Session. 
 
 1. The calling of the roll by the clerk. 
 
 2. Devotional exercises. 
 
 Not all sessions hold devotional exercises regularly, 
 but many do so, and with profit. 
 
 3. Unfinished business. 
 
 It is the duty of the clerk of session to have a re- 
 port of the items of unfinished business ready to place 
 in the hands of the moderator at the opening of the 
 meeting. This he makes up from the records in his 
 hands. The report on unfinished business will in- 
 clude: (a) Reports of all special committees previ- 
 ously appointed; (b) Special items referred to the 
 standing committees; (c) Items of business left un- 
 finished at former meetings. If business once insti» 
 tuted is passed over for one or two meetings, see that 
 
THE PASTOR IN THE SESSION 163 
 
 the fact is noted in the records of each meeting, so 
 that it may not be lost sight of. 
 
 4. New business. 
 
 This includes the reports of standing committees, 
 and anything which these may bring forward for ac- 
 tion. Any member of session is entitled to present 
 new business. It is the special duty of the modera- 
 tor to see that nothing requiring attention is over- 
 looked. He should make a note of matters as they 
 occur to him and bring them forward at a suitable 
 opportunity. 
 
 5. Adjournment by motion and with prayer. 
 
 IV 
 
 General Rules for the Guidance of the Moderator. 
 
 1. He should recognize that each elder is equal 
 to himself in ruling power. 
 
 The fact that the pastor is, ex oificio, moderator of 
 the session does not change the other important fact 
 that he has no superiority in ruling power over the 
 elders. It is very offensive to independent men if 
 the moderator in any arbitrary way attempts to con- 
 trol the action of the court. Elders have their re- 
 sponsibility as rulers in the house of God and must 
 be upheld in their rights. 
 
 2. If the moderator has settled convictions as to 
 the decision which ought to be reached, he 
 should use discretion to prevent elders from 
 taking grounds against him. 
 
 It is often difficult even for good men to yield 
 when once they have declared their position. The 
 tact of a pastor is displayed in preventing them from 
 getting into an attitude of antagonism toward him- 
 self or toward one another. Occasionally you find 
 two members of session who are constitutionally op- 
 
i64 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 posed to each other. Whatever one proposes, the 
 other instinctively opposes. In such cases, the pas- 
 tor needs to have the skill that disposes. If the op- 
 position is toward himself, he may control the com- 
 bative members the way the wife manages her 
 husband, i. e., by seeming to give up to him, while 
 she gently leads him her way. 
 
 3. The pastor must not exceed his authority in 
 opposing what he feels to be wrong, but yield 
 to the decision of the majority. 
 
 4. If the case is one in which he cannot conscien- 
 tiously yield, he may request them to ask ad- 
 vice from presbytery ; or he may enter his 
 protest against the action of session on the rec- 
 ords. This brings it to the attention of pres- 
 bytery in its review of the records. 
 
 5. There may be cases where fidelity will compel 
 him to complain to presbytery of the action 
 of his session. 
 
 Dr. Thomas Sproull gave the following advice: 
 "When there is likely to be a difference of opinion 
 in session, and the moderator's mind is made up, it 
 is often best for him to give his view first and then 
 call on the one most likely to agree with him, and 
 then the next most favorable, thus shaping the course 
 to harmony." 
 
 The strength of the Covenanter Church lies in her 
 eldership, but it takes a wise pastor to direct that 
 strength in a straight line. 
 
LECTURE XVII 
 
 THE RECEPTION OF MEMBERS 
 
 Having spoken of the relation of the pastor to 
 the session, and, in general, of duties which belong 
 to him as moderator, it follows, naturally, to con- 
 sider the several departments of sessional business 
 in which the pastor is called upon to bear a leading 
 part. First among these is the reception of members 
 into the Church, and this will be the subject of to- 
 day's lecture. 
 
 The Different Classes of Applicants, and Hozu Each 
 Class is to be Received. 
 
 I. Members from sister congregations of our own 
 Church are received by a motion to accept the 
 certificate and place the name on the roll. 
 a. Certificates, to be regular, must have the sig- 
 nature of the moderator and clerk of the 
 session issuing the same. 
 The regular form of certificate is found in the 
 Book of Discipline, p. 134. It reads as follows: 
 
 ''This certifies that A. B. has, till this date, been a 
 member of the Reformed Presbyterian congregation 
 
 of ; is in good standing in the Church, and free 
 
 of all grounds of censure as far as is known to us; 
 and is hereby dismissed at his (or her) own request, 
 
 to be united with the congregation of . 
 
 165 
 
i66 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 "Certified by order of session, this day of 
 
 , 19—. 
 
 "Moderator, . Clerk, — ." _ 
 
 When an applicant presents a certificate in this 
 form, all that is necessary is that a motion be made 
 to accept the certificate and place the name of the 
 applicant on the roll of members of the congregation. 
 It is not essential that the applicant be present. 
 
 b. If a length of time has elapsed since the is- 
 sue of the certificate, inquiry should be made 
 as to the cause of delay in presenting it. 
 
 c. A member from a sister congregation should 
 not be received without a certificate. 
 
 This is a matter of good order and of respect 
 due to the session from whose care the member 
 comes. 
 
 d. If the certificate is not at hand, the party 
 may be admitted to communion while await- 
 ing the certificate. 
 
 In that case, he communes simply as a visitor from 
 a sister congregation. 
 
 e. Circumstances may arise where an applicant 
 whose certificate has been delayed should be 
 admitted to membership with the understand- 
 ing that the certificate will be secured. 
 
 In such case, the facts should be noted on the min- 
 utes; and, when the certificate is received, that fact 
 should also be noted. Such a case may occur in or- 
 ganizing a new congregation. 
 
 f. If the certificate contains any exceptions to 
 the good standing of the applicant, the session 
 must investigate the case before admitting 
 the candidate. — Book of Discipline, pp. 62 — 
 2; 63 — 6. 
 
 g. In all cases, the record should contain the full 
 name of the applicant and of the congregation 
 from which he comes. 
 
THE RECEPTION OF MEMBERS 167 
 
 h. If the member received be the head of a 
 family, it is well to record the names of all 
 the minor children of the family who are 
 not yet in full communion. 
 The reason for this is that God includes children 
 with their parents in the Church covenant; and when 
 the parents are received the children are also taken 
 under the care of the session and should be enrolled, 
 as connected with the flock. Their names cannot ap- 
 pear on the roll of communicants, but may very prop- 
 erly appear in the minutes of session. 
 
 2. Applicants from sister denominations are re- 
 ceived by certificate and examination. — Book of 
 Discipline, p. 62 — 2. 
 
 a. The applicant should meet with the session. 
 In the case of members from our own Church, this 
 
 is not essential (though desirable) if the certificate 
 be regular; but in all other cases the candidate must 
 appear before the session. 
 
 b. The certificate of any evangelical denomina- 
 tion covers all the points of agreement be- 
 tween that denomination and our own. 
 
 c. The examination of the applicant should 
 cover all the points of difference. 
 
 For instance, an applicant from the Reformed Pres- 
 byterian Church, General Synod, would be examined 
 on the position of political dissent and the use of 
 instruments in the worship of God; a United Presby- 
 terian, on dissent, instrumental music, and secret 
 orders ; a Presbyterian, on the same, and also on the 
 use of uninspired songs in worship, and on open 
 communion; a Methodist, in addition to all these, 
 would be examined on Calvinistic doctrines and 
 church government; and a Baptist on the mode of 
 baptism also, and the right of infants to be baptized. 
 
 d. An applicant from the Roman Catholic 
 Church requires to be rebaptized. 
 
i68 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 Our Church recognizes the validity of the baptism 
 of all evangelical churches, including those baptized 
 by immersion, but rejects Romanism as an anti- 
 Christian system, and denies the validity of its ordi- 
 nances. 
 
 3. Applicants who are baptized members of any 
 evangelical church are received into full com- 
 munion on examination and profession of 
 their faith. 
 
 Children of professing parents are born in the 
 Church and are entitled to the initiatory rite of bap- 
 tism. To speak of persons already baptized in our 
 Church as ''joining the Church" when they are re- 
 ceived into full communion, is not strictly correct and 
 is productive of error, because it leads such persons 
 to regard themselves as free from all covenant ob- 
 ligations until they make a public profession. The 
 truth is, that they are children of the covenant, and, 
 if they refuse or neglect to make a public profession, 
 they despise their birthright and become covenant- 
 breakers. 
 
 N. B. — The record as to their reception should dif- 
 fer from that taken in from the world. It should 
 state distinctly that they were baptized members of 
 the Church, and were admitted into full communion 
 on examination and profession of their faith. 
 
 4. Converts from the world are received on ex- 
 amination, and profession of faith, and by bap- 
 tism. 
 
 This of course refers to those who have never 
 been baptized in any evangelical Church. Valid bap- 
 tism is not to be repeated. — Book of Discipline, page 
 
 The examination of those received from the world 
 is the same as that of children born in the Church, 
 with the exception made in the Book of Discipline, 
 page 63, which reads: "The measure of knowledge 
 
THE RECEPTION OF MEMBERS 169 
 
 necessary for admission depends, in some degree, on 
 the capacity and opportunities of improvement which 
 the applicant may possess; but no one should be ad- 
 mitted who is ignorant of the first principles of the 
 system of grace, or holds any sentiments contrary to 
 the declaration and testimony of this Church." — Book 
 of Discipline, p. 63 — 4. 
 
 This statement meets, and completely answers, the 
 objection so often heard that our Church maintains 
 such a high standard that it is impossible to bring 
 in converts from the world. The session is not re- 
 quired to maintain a high standard of knowledge and 
 to enforce a fixed rule as to attainments, regardless 
 of the circumstances and opportunities of the appli- 
 cant. The absolute requirements are simply two. 
 
 (i) They shall admit no one "who is ignorant 
 
 of the first principles of the system of grace." 
 
 (2) They shall admit no one "who holds any 
 
 sentiments contrary to the declaration and 
 
 testimony of this Church." 
 
 Who would ask anything broader than that? How 
 
 reasonable are such requirements ! 
 
 5. May one be admitted to membership in our 
 
 Church who does not fully endorse all the 
 
 Church's positions? 
 
 For reply to this question, see Testimony, Chapter 
 
 xxii, Sec. 2, Error 6; Book of Discipline, p. 63, Sec. 4. 
 
 A study of these passages will reveal the following 
 
 principles : 
 
 a. The candidate should be sufficiently ac- 
 quainted with the doctrines and usages of the 
 Church to intelligently endorse them. 
 The Book of Discipline says: "Every one who is 
 able to read and to understand the terms of com- 
 munion and the documents to which they refer, must 
 give evidence that he has diligently read and that he 
 doth approve them." The formal act of having read 
 
170 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 the documents is not absolutely essential, provided 
 the candidate is in possession of the necessary knowl- 
 edge. 
 
 b. A candidate should not be received into the 
 Church, who, being acquainted with her posi- 
 tion, is conscientiously opposed to any of 
 her doctrines or usages. 
 
 The Testimony specifically condemns it as an er- 
 ror, "that any person may be admitted to communion 
 who opposes any of the terms of Church fellowship." 
 Testimony, Chap, xxii, Error 6. 
 
 This is manifestly right. Church vows are of the 
 nature of a covenant with God, and no one can sin- 
 cerely covenant with God on a basis which he regards 
 as contrary to God's word. 
 
 c. If a convert gives evidence of being a true 
 believer, and an honest inquirer after the 
 truth, the session should take into account 
 his capacities and opportunities in deciding 
 the question of his admission. 
 
 The Book of Discipline says: "The measure of 
 knowledge necessary for admission depends, in some 
 degree, on the capacity and opportunities of improve- 
 ment which the applicant may possess." 
 
 d. No one should be admitted to full commun- 
 ion in the Church who will not promise to 
 conform his life to the teachings of the 
 Church while making further diligent inquiry 
 concerning their truth. 
 
 That any one should claim the privilege of violat- 
 ing his public profession of faith on the ground that 
 he is in doubt as to its Scriptural warrant, is absurd. 
 If he is in doubt, he must give the Church whose 
 privileges he seeks to enjoy, the benefit of the doubt. 
 He has no right to live in the practice of doubtful 
 things while professing obedience to Christ. 
 
THE RECEPTION OF MEMBERS 171 
 
 II 
 
 Hozv to Conduct the Examination of Candidates for 
 Church Membership. 
 
 1. Endeavor to set the candidates at ease. 
 Unless you have a vivid recollection of your own 
 
 experience in appearing before session, you will 
 hardly be able to appreciate the extreme diffidence, 
 and even dread, experienced by persons, young and 
 old, in appearing before the Church court for exam- 
 ination. It is well to introduce the service with 
 kindly and assuring words calculated to secure pres- 
 ence of mind and the use of their faculties to the 
 persons to be examined. 
 
 2. Make the examination simple, and on essential 
 gospel truths. 
 
 It is an entire mistake to suppose that the object 
 of the service is to measure the full capacity of the 
 candidates. It is merely to determine whether they 
 have sufficient attainments in knowledge and grace 
 to make a credible profession. 
 
 3. Examine carefully on the distinctive princi- 
 ples of the Church. 
 
 It is important that the profession be made in- 
 telligently. A skillfully conducted examination will 
 greatly assist those whose knowledge is imperfect. 
 It is a great mistake to pass lightly over points on 
 which the mind of the candidate is supposed to be 
 hesitating. Let the moderator, if he formulate his 
 questions in such a way as to instruct the candidate 
 what his answers ought to be, see to it that his ques- 
 tions are not being answered without being under- 
 stood; rather, he should let the questions be so 
 clearly understood that a christian conscience cannot 
 hesitate to answer correctly. 
 
172 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 4. Deal tenderly and yet closely with them as to 
 their religious experience and habits of life. 
 
 The instruction on this point in the Book of Dis- 
 cipline is exceedingly judicious. It says: 
 
 ''Great prudence and delicacy are necessary in ex- 
 amination of an applicant's piety, as no man can as- 
 certain whether another is really a believer; but the 
 Church is a holy generation and cannot consistently 
 admit any one evidently destitute of piety, or who 
 professes to be unregenerate. Every member must 
 give satisfactory evidence of his living in the practice 
 of secret prayer and family religion ; and must intel- 
 ligently profess both respect for experimental godli- 
 ness and acquiescence in the plan of salvation revealed 
 in the Holy Scriptures." — Book of Discipline, p. 63. 
 
 Caution should be used in questioning persons as to 
 their habits of secret prayer and reading of the Bible, 
 not to tempt them to any prevarication. It would re- 
 quire great integrity and moral courage for a young 
 person to confess his neglect of these duties in 
 the presence of the session after other young per- 
 sons had declared their observance of them ; and 
 especially if their admission to the Church was under- 
 stood to depend on their answering in the affirmative. 
 It is sometimes better to put it in another form, e. g., 
 "Do you recognize the duty and the privilege of secret 
 prayer and engage to attend diligently upon this means 
 of grace daily, morning and evening?" 
 
 5. Make clear the duty of a complete and unre- 
 served surrender to God. 
 
 One, in addressing young converts, said: "Getl 
 wholly into Christ ; get wholly in ; you will find it 
 hard to live a Christian life if you do not get 
 WHOLLY IN." This truth should be emphasized 
 at such a time. Do not permit applicants to rest in 
 the fact that they are getting wholly into the Church 
 without getting wholly into Christ. 
 
THE RECEPTION. OF MEMBERS 173 
 
 6. Explain and impress the nature of covenant 
 vows and obligations. 
 
 There is a fearful and alarming disregard of these 
 in the Church. The apparent ease with which even 
 ministers of the Gospel cast off their vows to the 
 Church and to Christ is a sad commentary on this 
 truth. An aged minister having been sent by pres- 
 bytery to inquire into difficulties which had arisen in a 
 certain congregation reported as follows: "I just 
 found two things the matter with the people of that 
 congregation: First, an utter disregard of their 
 covenant obligations ; second, a doleful lack of grace." 
 It was a strong indictment. These two things are 
 sure to go together. 
 
 7. Give the members of session an opportunity to 
 advise and counsel the candidates. 
 
 This will come in appropriately on a motion to re- 
 ceive them into full communion, but guard against 
 tedious and commonplace exhortations. 
 
 8. Close the service with a brief prayer and as 
 moderator of the session, welcome the candi- 
 dates with the right hand of fellowship. 
 
 9. A formal reception may be given in the pres- 
 ence of the congregation. 
 
 a. Have the candidates come forward. 
 
 b. Propose to them the terms of communion. 
 
 c. Close with a brief address and give them 
 tokens of admission to the Lord's table. 
 
 10. Announce the names of new members to the 
 congregation and commend them to the prayers 
 and fellowship of the church. 
 
 An appropriate time is Saturday before the com- 
 munion and should include all received since the 
 previous communion. May the Lord, through the 
 ministry of each of you, add to the Church daily such 
 as shall be saved. 
 
LECTURE XVIII 
 
 THE ELECTION OF OFFICERS 
 
 The purpose of to-day's lecture is to give in- 
 struction in conducting the election of elders and 
 deacons. 
 
 What is the Province of the Session Prelinvinary to 
 the Election of OMcersf 
 
 I. To decide when there shall be an increase in 
 the number of officers, and to determine the 
 number to be chosen. 
 
 A. The people may petition the session for an 
 election. 
 
 B. The board of deacons may request the session 
 to provide for an increase of the board. 
 
 C. It belongs to the session to decide upon the 
 necessity for an election. 
 
 D. In case a session persistently declines to ar- 
 range for an election, a petition may be pre- 
 sented to presbytery. — Book of Discipline, p. 
 103, Chap. VII, Sec. i, and p. 104, Sec. 4. 
 
 It requires great prudence on the part of the session 
 to determine when an election of officers is desirable 
 or necessary. They should be careful not to thwart 
 the right of the people to choose additional officers, 
 and the people should move very cautiously in going 
 over the heads of the session to secure their supposed 
 right from presbytery. 
 
 174 
 
THE ELECTION OF OFFICERS 175 
 
 2. To fix the time and give sufficient notice to 
 the people. 
 
 A. Usually it is best to set the time not very 
 far ahead. 
 
 The tendency is to put forward candidates and to 
 engage in electioneering, if too much time elapses be- 
 tween the announcement and the election. Pastors 
 generally prefer to have little discussion beforehand, 
 and, for this reason, they make the time as short as 
 is permissible. However, we should not err on the 
 other extreme. 
 
 B. About ten days is a reasonable time. 
 
 The Book of Discipline specifies ten days' notice 
 in case of the election of a pastor, and then says, as to 
 the election of elders and deacons: "The same shall 
 be publicly intimated to the congregation a sufficient 
 time before the election takes place." — Book of Disci- 
 pline, p. 103, Sec. 4. The United Presbyterian Book 
 fixes the time at ten days. 
 
 C. Notice should be given from the pulpit, or 
 in all the societies in case there is no public 
 worship. 
 
 3. The session or any member of the congregation 
 may propose the names of candidates to the 
 people. — Book of Discipline, p. loi, 5; and 
 104, 6. 
 
 The Book provides that any member in regular 
 standing may, on the day of the election of a pastor, 
 propose a candidate, and this seems to be implied in 
 the case of the election of other officers where it is 
 said that "as far as applicable, the same rules shall 
 apply to them." 
 
 The United Presbyterian Book says: "If the ses- 
 sion has previously agreed upon suitable persons, it 
 shall nominate them to the congregation; yet this 
 shall not preclude the nomination of others by any 
 member of the congregation." 
 
176 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 It is very seldom that any of our sessions take the 
 responsibiHty of naming candidates. When votes are 
 widely scattered they may advise the people to con- 
 centrate on those receiving the highest vote. That 
 is about as far as they can venture to influence an 
 election. The pastor must be exceedingly careful 
 not to interfere in any way with the freedom of 
 choice. 
 
 n 
 
 The Order of Exercises in Conducting an Election 
 of Officers. 
 
 1. The pastor should preach an appropriate sermon. 
 The following themes will suggest others equally 
 
 suitable : 
 
 A. The Sacredness of the Church, her Institu- 
 tions and Officers. 
 
 B. The Qualifications of Church Officers. 
 
 C. The Responsibility of Electors. 
 
 D. The Need of Divine Guidance. 
 
 E. The Glory of God the Supreme Motive. 
 Use every effort to drive out a spirit of levity or of 
 
 acrimony and to quicken the spiritual natures of the 
 people. 
 
 2. Constitute the session. 
 
 The election is held in constituted court. The 
 whole procedure is under direction of the session. 
 Questions may arise which require a judicial decision. 
 
 3. Appoint two persons of respectable character, 
 not members of the congregation, to act as 
 judges. — Book of Discipline, p. loi. Sec. 4. 
 
 The duties of the judges are : 
 
 A. Not to decide on the voters, but on the votes. 
 The session alone determines the qualifications of 
 
 electors, and furnishes the list of those qualified to 
 vote. 
 
 B. One judge reads the ballots; the other assists 
 
THE ELECTION OF OFFICERS 177 
 
 the clerk of session in keeping the tally. — 
 Book of Discipline, p. loi, 2, Sec. 10. 
 C. The judges count the votes and certify to the 
 moderator how the vote stands. 
 4. Take the vote. 
 
 A. The roll of those entitled to vote is made up 
 beforehand, and consists of all members in 
 full communion. — Book of Discipline, p. loi, 
 Sec. 8; p. 102, Sec. 10. 
 
 The rule is specific. The session should be care- 
 ful to have the roll correct and complete. No one 
 is to be permitted to vote who would not be admitted 
 to the Lord's table; and no one to be excluded who 
 would be allowed to commune, provided he is a 
 member of the congregation. 
 
 B. Three ways are prescribed in which the vote 
 may be taken. 
 
 a. By uplifted hands. 
 
 This method supposes the nomination of candidates 
 and is seldom employed, except in cases where one 
 who is already ordained is to be chosen for installa- 
 tion ; or in other cases where the choice is a foregone 
 conclusion and the election a mere formality. The 
 principal argument in favor of this method is the 
 quickness with which it can be done, and this has 
 little weight when compared with the importance of 
 the service. 
 
 b. By calling the names of the members. 
 This is better than the first method, but not so good 
 
 as the third, which is, 
 
 c. By ballot. 
 
 The advantages of this method are — 
 
 (i) It gives dignity to the service. 
 
 (2) It avoids unnecessary wounding of the 
 feelings. 
 
 (3) By its secrecy, it gives greater free- 
 dom to the electors. 
 
178 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 C. How to conduct the ballot. 
 
 a. Name one or two tellers for each aisle of 
 the church to collect the ballots. 
 
 b. Let the clerk of session call the roll as 
 previously prepared. 
 
 c. Instruct the voters how many names are 
 to be placed on the ballot. 
 
 d. As each voter's name is called, let the mem- 
 ber rise and answer ''here"; and the teller 
 nearest, present the ballot box; then, as 
 the ballot is deposited, announce distinctly 
 the word, "vote," when the clerk of ses- 
 sion checks off the name, and the judges 
 tally the vote. 
 
 D. Proxy votes. 
 
 a. The party sending a proxy vote should 
 prepare it himself. 
 
 It is not proper that a member of the family in 
 attendance, or any other, should prepare proxy votes 
 for absent members, even if morally certain how the 
 absent one would vote if present. 
 
 b. Proxy votes should be sent in sealed enve- 
 lopes. 
 
 c. The name of the voter is not to be signed 
 to the ballot, but to be written on the out- 
 side of the envelope. 
 
 The object of this is to identify the voter and yet 
 preserve the secrecy of the ballot. 
 
 d. The envelope should be addressed to the 
 session. 
 
 e. When the name is called, the person hav- 
 ing the proxy in charge places it in the 
 hand of the moderator, who takes it from 
 its envelope and, without reading the bal- 
 lot, drops it into the ballot box, announcing 
 "proxy vote." The judges tally it on a 
 separate list as a proxy vote. 
 
THE ELECTION OF OFFICERS 179 
 
 f. Proxy votes can be counted only on the 
 first ballot. — Book of Discipline, p. no, 
 Sec. 10. 
 
 5. Count the ballots. 
 
 A. Count the ballots in the box to see that the 
 number corresponds to the tally sheet. 
 
 B. One of the judges reads the ballots aloud in 
 the hearing of the electors. 
 
 C. The other judge and the clerk of session re- 
 cord the vote. — Book of Discipline, p. loi, 
 Sec. 10. 
 
 6. Announce the result. 
 
 A majority ballot is necessary to a choice. The 
 usual method of announcing is — 
 
 A. The whole number of ballots cast. 
 
 B. The number necessary to a choice. 
 
 C. The number received by each candidate. 
 
 D. The names of those elected. 
 For example — 
 
 a. The whole number of ballots cast for 
 three members, 100; making 300 votes. 
 
 b. Necessary to a choice, 51, i.e., one more 
 than half the ballot. 
 
 c. John Doe received 90 out of the 300; 
 Richard Roe 85 ; John Smith 49 ; the rest 
 scattering; or you may read the number 
 to each one in the list. 
 
 d. John Doe and Richard Roe, each having 
 received a majority of the ballot are 
 duly elected. If no one candidate re- 
 ceives a vote on a majority of the voting 
 slips, the announcement will be : "No 
 candidate having received a majority, 
 there is no election." 
 
 7. In case there is no election, the session deter- 
 mines whether there shall be a second ballot. 
 
 8. Fix a time for the examination of the candi- 
 
i8o PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 dates-elect, and, if there is no further business, 
 adjourn. 
 It is not usually wise to question the candidates as 
 to their acceptance just at that time, 
 
 HI 
 
 Contingencies Which May Arise in Connection zvith 
 an Election of Officers. 
 
 1. It may be prudent for session, after the first 
 ballot, to reconsider their action fixing the num- 
 ber to be elected: either, 
 
 A. To stop with the number elected on the first 
 ballot; or, 
 
 B. To increase the number so as to include 
 those whose votes are then equal or nearly so. 
 
 2. It may be necessary to adjourn the election to 
 another time. 
 
 In such cases, there must be no ground for the 
 suspicion that the session, foreseeing that further 
 balloting would result in the election of some one 
 undesirable to them, resorted to this measure in order 
 to defeat the will of the people. 
 
 3. The persons chosen may at once decline to 
 serve. 
 
 Usually it is not best to accept their declinature at 
 that time; because (a) they have not sufficiently con- 
 sidered the matter; (b) it may be difficult to secure 
 others. 
 
 IV 
 
 A Word of Caution. 
 
 Presbyterian government is popular government. 
 See that the will of the people is not defeated. To 
 this end, make sure that they understand the method 
 of voting, and make every effort to have a full vote. 
 
LECTURE XIX 
 
 THE ORDINATION AND INSTALLATION 
 OF OFFICERS 
 
 The setting apart of men to office in the Church 
 of Christ is a service of pecuhar solemnity, and the 
 pastor should prepare for it with great care, and con- 
 duct the services with gravity and decorum. 
 
 Note the Distinction Betzveen Ordination and In- 
 stallation. 
 
 1. Ordination is that ceremony by which the per- 
 sons duly elected are inducted into office. In- 
 stallation is the act by which the relation is 
 constituted between the officer and the congre- 
 gation. The first clothes the man with office; 
 the second qualifies him to exercise his office 
 in a particular field. 
 
 2. Ordination of an officer is never repeated, for 
 ordination is not made void by the dissolution 
 of the relation constituted by installation. An 
 ordained officer, when called to office in a new 
 field, is not re-ordained, but is installed anew. 
 
 3. An installation is conducted the same as ordi- 
 nation and installation, with the exception of 
 the act of ordination itself. — Book of Disci- 
 pline, p. 107, Sees. 7, 8. 
 
 181 
 
i82 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 II 
 
 Exercises Preliminary to Ordination. 
 
 I. The examination of the candidates, 
 (i) This is done in constituted session. 
 
 In a recent case, the review of sessional records 
 brought out the fact that the moderator of the ses- 
 sion had examined the candidate at his home, and 
 reported to session, and that the examination was ap- 
 proved. The presbytery condemned this course as 
 being "contrary to the law and order of the Church." 
 
 The Book of Discipline, p. 104, Sec. 5, says: "A 
 time is then fixed by the session for the examination 
 of the candidates." This clearly implies that the 
 session will conduct the examination. 
 
 The form of the edict reads: "Messrs. A., B., 
 etc., having been chosen to the office of ruling elder 
 by this congregation, and being examined by session 
 and judged qualified to take the office," etc. — Book 
 of Discipline, p. 133. 
 
 Furthermore, the law for the reception of members 
 is specific: "The minister shall examine in the pres- 
 ence and with the help of the elders of the church 
 in a constituted session, all applicants for admission 
 to the church." — Book of Discipline, p. 63, Sec. 3. 
 No one will say that the examination for officers 
 should be less formal and authoritative than the exam- 
 ination for membership. 
 
 The United Presbyterian law is specific: "Before 
 the ordination of ruling elders and deacons, the ses- 
 sion shall meet to examine the persons elect as to 
 their acceptance of the office, their views in under- 
 taking it, and their qualifications for it." — Book of 
 Govt., Chap. VII, Art. 2, Sec. i. 
 
 (2) What should the examination include? 
 a. Their knowledge of the doctrines of grace. 
 
ORDINATION OF OFFICERS 183 
 
 This is necessary, especially in the case of the 
 elders. Their duties include the instruction of the 
 youth, family visitation, the visitation of the sick, 
 the examination of applicants for membership : all 
 of which require acquaintance with the truths of 
 Revelation. 
 
 b. Their soundness in the faith and practices 
 of the Church. 
 
 It is highly important that office-bearers not only 
 should know, but that they should conscientiously be- 
 lieve, the doctrines of the Church, and approve of all 
 its practices. It is a great misfortune to a congre- 
 gation to have officers who are half-hearted in their 
 profession. It is like having disloyal commanders in 
 an army. It is likely to result in a betrayal of the 
 cause. The examination should, therefore, cover all 
 the distinctive principles of the Church. 
 
 c. Their Christian character and deportment. 
 The officers are to be ensamples to the flock; and 
 
 they stand before the world as chosen representatives 
 of Christianity. They ought to be like John the Bap- 
 tist, who was "a burning and a shining light" ; burn- 
 ing with zeal, and shining with purity. 
 
 Under this point comes the question which Synod 
 has directed to be asked of all candidates for office 
 in the Church : i. e., Do you use tobacco ? Some- 
 times the objection is made that until this is made a 
 term of communion it should not be made a condition 
 of office. But the objection is not well founded. 
 The New Testament lays down a special standard for 
 office-bearers in the Church. 
 
 d. Their acquaintance with, and qualifications 
 for, the office to which they are to be or- 
 dained. 
 
 It is possible for one to be an intelligent Christian 
 and living an exemplary life and yet be deficient in 
 qualities necessary to official trust. It would be a 
 
i84 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 delicate matter to refuse ordination to one whom the 
 people had chosen, on the ground that he lacked fit- 
 ness for the office. The examination, however, fur- 
 nishes an opportunity for imparting instruction as to 
 the duties of the office, and this should not be over- 
 looked in the examination. If it does nothing more 
 than to reveal to the candidate his need for greater 
 endowments, and for a careful study of the nature 
 of the office which he is about to undertake, it will 
 have done much. 
 
 2. Fix a time and place for hearing objections. 
 The session, having examined the candidates and 
 
 judged them qualified, is then to give opportunity to 
 the people to bring forward any reason known to 
 them, why the ordination should not take place. 
 With such exceeding care has the Church guarded 
 the rights of the people as to their rulers. 
 
 A. The weight to be attached to objections will 
 be determined — 
 
 a. By the character and standing of the ob- 
 jectors. 
 
 b. By the nature of the objections. 
 
 c. By the manifest, or probable, motives in 
 presenting them. 
 
 B. It may be prudent for a candidate to give 
 way to the opposition, even where he does 
 not admit its justice. 
 
 3. Direct the edict to be read. 
 
 The form of the edict is found in the Book of Disci- 
 pline, p. 133. It is the same for elder and deacon, 
 except the name of the office. It is well to write it 
 out, filling the blank for the names, so as to use the 
 exact phraseology. The edict is to be read for two 
 Sabbaths before the ordination. — Book of Discipline, 
 p. 105. 
 
ORDINATION OF OFFICERS 185 
 
 III 
 
 The Order of Exercises in the Ordination Serine es. 
 
 1. Convene and constitute the session. 
 
 2. Read the edict. 
 
 This is the opening act of the ordination service. 
 The rule is specific. ''And on the day of ordination 
 immediately before the services commence, the edict 
 shall be read. This is done by order of the court 
 which meets and constitutes in some convenient place 
 shortly before the services are to commence. An 
 edict shall be served in the same manner before the 
 ordination, or admission, of ruling elders and dea- 
 cons." — Book of Discipline, pp. 105, 106. 
 
 This requirement to convene and constitute the ses- 
 sion beforehand is not always observed; and, where 
 the preliminaries have been regularly attended to, it 
 may not be necessary. In reading the edict for the 
 last time, change the last sentence to read, "Which is 
 now constituted." 
 
 3. Preach the ordination sermon. 
 
 This should be appropriate to the occasion and 
 should not exceed thirty minutes in length. Suitable 
 subjects are: The Church: Her Organization and 
 Laws; The Duties and Responsibilities of Church 
 Officers : The Grace and Support Promised ; The 
 Steward's Accountability to God; Watching for 
 Souls. 
 
 4. Call the court to order and invite the candi- 
 dates forward. 
 
 It is very important to explain to the candidates 
 beforehand what they will be expected to do. Make 
 clear to them the several steps, even to the minutest 
 particulars. 
 
 5. Give a brief narrative of the previous steps. 
 Write this out so that you can say the exact thing. 
 
i86 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 This narrative will relate that at its meeting on such 
 a date the session resolved upon an increase of offi- 
 cers ; that such a time was fixed for the election ; that 
 due notice was given to the congregation ; that the 
 election was regularly conducted according to the 
 prescribed order ; that the persons now before the con- 
 gregation were duly elected ; that they have already 
 been examined by the session and judged qualified to 
 undertake the office to which they stand elected; that 
 the edict has been properly served on three several 
 occasions, and that no objections having been made 
 (or sustained) the session has now resolved to go 
 forward with the ordination. 
 
 6. Propose the prescribed queries in Book of Dis- 
 cipline, pp. 117-119. Testimony, pp. 251, 252. 
 
 7. Take the engagements of the parties. 
 Question the candidates as to their willingness to 
 
 undertake the office in this congregation and the con- 
 gregation as to their acceptance of these as officers. 
 
 In ordaining ministers, the Form of Church Gov- 
 ernment provides that: ''After the sermon, the min- 
 ister who hath preached shall in the face of the 
 congregation demand of him who is now to be or- 
 dained . . ." Here follow his engagements. Again : 
 *Tn all which, having declared himself, professed his 
 willingness, and promised his endeavors by the help 
 of God, the minister likewise shall demand of the 
 people concerning their willingness to receive and 
 acknowledge him as the minister of Christ, and to 
 obey and submit unto him, as having rule over them 
 in the Lord, and to maintain, encourage, and assist 
 him in all the parts of his office." — Book of Discipline, 
 p. 52, Sees. 6, 7. 
 
 It is evident that the design of this part of the 
 service is to take the mutual engagements of the par- 
 ties to each other. It is not taking a vote whether 
 they will or will not, which would be equivalent to a 
 
ORDINATION OF OFFICERS 187 
 
 reelection; it is simply taking their engagement that 
 they will. It is like the engagement of parents in 
 receiving baptism for their children, or the vows of 
 husband and wife in entering into the marriage rela- 
 tion. The queries are to be audibly answered in the 
 hearing of the congregation. 
 
 It is customary to carry out the same idea in the 
 ordination and installation of elders and deacons. 
 See United Presbyterian Govt, and Disc, Chap. VII, 
 Art. II, Sees. 8, 9, 10, and Presbyterian Book of 
 Govt., Chap. XIII, Sees. 4, 5. 
 
 N. B. In some copies of the Book of Discipline 
 there is an error in Query 5, p. 118, where the phrase, 
 "And from the unity of the Christian Church," is 
 made to read: "And form the unity of the Christian 
 Church." 
 
 8. The candidates kneel for the ordination prayer. 
 The arrangements for this should be carefully made, 
 
 and in such a way that there shall be no difficulty pre- 
 sented to the members of the court in performing the 
 ceremony of the imposition of hands. 
 
 One who has been ordained does not kneel for in- 
 stallation. 
 
 9. The ordination prayer. 
 
 The pattern for this is given in Book of Discipline, 
 p. 53. Prepare carefully for this prayer, noting two 
 things : 
 
 (i) The act is performed in the name of 
 
 Christ. 
 (2) There is a proper moment for the impo- 
 sition of hands. 
 It is not necessary that the hands should remain 
 upon the heads of the candidates until the close of 
 the prayer. 
 
 10. The members of the court extend the right 
 hand of fellowship both to elders and to dea- 
 cons. 
 
i88 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 11. Address to the officers. 
 
 12. Address to the congregation. 
 
 These addresses should be admonitory, encourag- 
 ing, and affectionate. Do not mar the occasion by 
 rebukes and severity for past remissness on the part 
 of the old officers. Strive to make the service up- 
 lifting to the soul and pleasant to the memory. 
 
 13. The officers sign the terms of communion, and, 
 if elders, take their places at once as mem- 
 bers of the court. 
 
 Do all things in order. 
 
LECTURE XX 
 THE EXERCISE OF DISCIPLINE 
 
 The parable of The Tares and the' Wheat is fre- 
 quently quoted as opposed to the exercise of disci- 
 pline in the Church. Does not our Lord say : "Let 
 both grow together until the harvest ; lest, while ye 
 pull up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with 
 them ?" 
 
 Fortunately our Lord expounded the parable. 
 "The field is the world," He says. It will not do, in 
 the face of His declaration, to say, "The field is the 
 Church." And if the field is the world, and the 
 harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are 
 the angels, then the parable is not spoken with refer- 
 ence to the exercise of Church discipline, but refers 
 to God's providential government of the world. 
 
 "Discipline is the exercise of that authority with 
 which the Lord Jesus Christ has clothed the officers 
 of His Church, to deal with offenders according to 
 the laws which He has given in His word." — United 
 Presbyterian Book of Govt, and Disc, Chap. I, Part 
 III. 
 
 Murphy says : "This is, of all duties devolving 
 upon pastor and session, the most difficult and un- 
 pleasant; and yet it cannot be ignored without bring- 
 ing the Church into contempt, and seriously injuring 
 the cause. The purity of the Church, the honor of 
 the cause of God, the value of the privileges of mem- 
 bership, the good of offenders, even the existence of 
 an organized body of believers, demand that it shall 
 be sometimes exercised." 
 
 189 
 
190 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 It is therefore important that painstaking instruc- 
 tion be given to candidates for the pastoral office in 
 regard to this difficult and yet necessary department 
 of their work. I am happy to confess to you, young 
 men, that I have less experience in this line of pastoral 
 duty than in any other of which I have spoken to you 
 in this course of lectures. 
 
 Let us consider: 
 
 The Objects of Church Discipline. 
 
 1. To vindicate the honor and authority of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 Ezek. xxii, 26. (R. V.) — "Her priests have done 
 violence to my law, and have profaned my holy 
 things: they have put no difference between the holy 
 and the common; neither have they caused men to 
 discern between the unclean and the clean; and have 
 hid their eyes from my Sabbaths ; and I am profaned 
 among them." 
 
 Ezek. xliv, 6-8. (R. V.)— "And thou shalt say to 
 the rebellious, even to the house of Israel, thus saith 
 the Lord God: O ye house of Israel, let it suffice you 
 of all your abominations, in that ye have brought 
 in aliens, uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised 
 in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to profane it, even 
 my house when ye offer my bread, the fat and the 
 blood, and they have broken my covenant to add unto 
 all their abominations." 
 
 The passages show how Christ is wounded in the 
 house of His friends when the most sacred mysteries 
 of His holy religion are thrown open to the profane 
 and to the unclean. 
 
 2. To maintain the truth: 
 
 The Church is "the pillar and ground of the truth." 
 
EXERCISE OF DISCIPLINE 191 
 
 The Church at Ephesus received high commendation 
 from her Lord for her fidelity in the exercise of disci- 
 pline for the maintenance of doctrine. Rev. ii, i, 2 — 
 "Unto the angel of the Church of Ephesus write: 
 These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in 
 his right hand, he that walketh in the midst of the 
 seven golden candlesticks: I know thy works and 
 thy toil and thy patience, and that thou canst not 
 bear evil men; and didst try them which call them- 
 selves Apostles, and they are not, and didst find them 
 false." 
 
 On the other hand the Church at Pergamos is se- 
 verely rebuked for the lack of discipline for false 
 teaching. Rev. ii, 14. (R. V.) — "I have a few things 
 against thee, because thou hast there some that hold 
 the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast 
 a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to 
 eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornica- 
 tion. So hast thou also some that hold the teaching 
 of the Nicolaitans in like manner." 
 
 All trials for heresy are for the defense of truth. 
 Rom. xvi, 17: "Mark them which cause divisions 
 and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have 
 learned; and avoid them." 
 
 3. To preserve the ordinances in their purity. 
 Rev. xi, I, 2: "And there was given me a reed 
 
 like unto a rod ; and the angel said. Rise, and measure 
 the temple, and the altar, and them that worship 
 therein." The angel who gave this instruction is the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, the Angel of the Covenant. He 
 is the only King and Head of Zion, and He here 
 directs that the standard of the word of God shall be 
 applied to His church in her constitution and govern- 
 ment, her worship and the character of her wor- 
 shipers. This is the use of the discipline of the 
 Church to preserve the purity of her ordinances. 
 
 4. To exclude the unholy from sealing ordinances. 
 
192 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 Ezek. xliii, 10-12: "Thou son of man, shew the 
 house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed 
 of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. 
 And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, 
 shew them the form of the house and the fashion 
 thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings 
 in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordi- 
 nances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the 
 laws thereof, and write it in their sight, that they 
 may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordi- 
 nances thereof, and do them. This is the law of the 
 house. Upon the top of the mountain the whole 
 limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, 
 this is the law of the house." 
 
 This passage is applied to the service known as 
 debarring, or ''fencing the tables" ; but it is also a 
 warrant for the exercise of discipline to restrain the 
 unholy and profane from approaching the holy sacra- 
 ment impenitently. 
 
 5. To reclaim offenders. 
 
 I Cor. V, 4, 5 : 'Tn the name of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, 
 with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ: To deliver 
 such an one unto Satan, for the destruction of the 
 flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the 
 Lord Jesus." 
 
 Here the ends of discipline, so far as the offender 
 is concerned, are clearly stated. It is for the destruc- 
 tion of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved. It is 
 an exceedingly difficult thing in these days to con- 
 vince the subjects of Church discipline that they are 
 being dealt with for their own good. Experience has 
 proved the efficiency of this means of grace. Men 
 can be made both moral and religious by law. 
 
 6. To deter others from sin. 
 
 I Tim. V, 20: "Them that sin, rebuke before all, 
 that others also may be in fear." Deut. xiii, 11: 
 
EXERCISE OF DISCIPLINE 193 
 
 "And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no 
 more any such wickedness among you." See Book 
 of Discipline, Chap. Ill, Sec. 4. 
 
 II 
 
 The Spirit in Which Discipline is to he Exercised. 
 
 One of the most important, as well as the most 
 difficult, of things, is for the pastor to keep himself 
 and the session in the right frame of mind. So many 
 things occur to arouse wrong feelings and to warp 
 the judgment. 
 
 The proper exercise of discipline demands : 
 
 1. The spirit of pray erf illness. 
 
 When Samuel was sent to reprove Saul, we are 
 told that ''he cried all night unto God." That is the 
 kind of preparation the pastor needs when entering 
 upon a case of discipline. Dr. Wilcox, in The Pastor 
 and His Flock, says : "Never let the process of disci- 
 pline degenerate into a cold, technical trial of charges. 
 Commence every session held in the course of it with 
 earnest prayer. Suffuse the whole with a devout and 
 tender spirit." 
 
 2. The spirit of humility. 
 
 The very fact that there is a call for the exercise 
 of discipline should humble the pastor. A member 
 of his flock is out of the way. Is it through his own 
 remissness in teaching or warning or guiding his 
 people? The fact that we are clothed with authority 
 over the lives of others is used by the adversary to 
 foster pride, and nothing could be more detrimental 
 to the good results of discipline than any display of 
 this spirit before those who are the subjects of disci- 
 pline. Gal. vi, I : "Brethren, if a man be overtaken 
 in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one 
 in the spirit of meekness ; considering thyself lest thou 
 also be tempted." 
 
194 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 3. The spirit of wisdom. 
 
 It requires discretion to determine when a process 
 of discipHne is absolutely necessary. We may err 
 either in being too hasty or in being too reluctant in 
 taking up a case. And not only when, but howf 
 The sad consequences which may result from our 
 blundering may well evoke the cry, ''Who is sufficient 
 for these things ?" James i, 5 : "If any of you lack 
 wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men 
 liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given 
 him." James iii, 17: ''But the wisdom that is from 
 above is fii'st pure, then peaceable; gentle, and easy 
 to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, with- 
 out partiality, and without hypocrisy." 
 
 4. The spirit of firmness. 
 
 All exercise of authority calls for this quality. A 
 weak vacillating policy only excites the contempt of 
 the people. If you touch a nettle, grasp it firmly. 
 If proper caution has been exercised in entering upon 
 a case, firmness and fidelity in carrying it forward 
 will command respect. 
 
 Ill 
 Who May Be Subjects of Discipline by the Session. 
 
 1. All the officers of the congregation except the 
 pastor. 
 
 Book of Discipline, Chap. Ill, Sec. 2, p. 70, ^ i : 
 "The presbytery, in the case of ministers ; and the 
 session, in every other case, is the competent author- 
 ity to commence and finish a process for scandal, 
 unless a reference or appeal be made to the superior 
 judicatory." 
 
 2. All church members capable of committing 
 such offenses as are proper subjects of disci- 
 pline. 
 
EXERCISE OF DISCIPLINE 195 
 
 Book of Discipline, Chap. Ill, Sec. i, H 3: ''All 
 church members capable of committing such offenses 
 are liable to discipline, whatever station they may 
 occupy in life. Even minors, after they shall have 
 arrived at the years of discretion or after having been 
 admitted to the Lord's table, are, in all respects, 
 equally with those of more advanced years, subject to 
 corrective discipline." 
 
 3. Baptized children of the church, though not 
 in full communion. 
 
 Doubts have been expressed on this point, but the 
 language of the Book is specific. 
 
 Book of Discipline, Chap. Ill, Sec. i, p. 69, ^ 3: 
 *'As the criminal diffidence and neglect of those young 
 persons who do not choose to make an early profes- 
 sion of the Faith cannot invalidate the obligation 
 arising from the divine law and their own baptism, 
 so it is not to prevent the application to them of that 
 discipline which the Redeemer has appointed for His 
 family." 
 
 The United Presbyterian Book of Government and 
 Discipline, Part III, Chap. I, Sec. 5, says : ''All bap- 
 tized persons, being members of the church, are under 
 its care and subject to its authority and discipline; 
 and, having attained the years of discretion, are bound 
 to perform all the duties of church members." 
 
 IV 
 
 Offenses Which Require the Exercise of Discipline. 
 
 1. Offenses may be either private or public. 
 
 a. Private offenses are such as are known only 
 to an individual; or, at most, to a few. 
 
 b. Public offenses are such as are generally 
 known; or are known to many. 
 
 2. Offenses may be either personal or general. 
 
196 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 a. A personal offense is a wrong done to an 
 individual, or to individuals. 
 
 b. A general offense is any heresy or immorality 
 having no personal relation, or apart from 
 it. — United Presbyterian Govt, and Disci- 
 pline, Part HI, Chap, 2. 
 
 These distinctions are important, because the pro- 
 cedure will vary in some respects in reference to 
 these several classes. 
 
 3. Offenses may relate to either Doctrine, Char- 
 acter, or Conduct, 
 a. An offense in Doctrine is called Heresy, 
 h. An offense in Character is called Immorality. 
 
 c. An offense in Conduct is called Contempt, 
 
 Who May Prefer Charges f 
 
 1. Any person of good character, whether a mem- 
 ber of the church or not. — Book of Discipline, 
 Chap, n. Sec. 2, p. 70, U 3. 
 
 a. No one not of good fame can be an accuser. 
 
 b. No one who is himself under process for 
 scandal. 
 
 c. Charges should be cautiously received from 
 an accuser who is not under your jurisdic- 
 tion. 
 
 The reason for this caution is that the person bring- 
 ing a charge is liable to censure if he fails to sub- 
 stantiate it; but if he is not under your jurisdiction 
 he cannot be held to account in this way. Hence a 
 session must guard its members from outside perse- 
 cution, — See Book of Discipline, Chap. HI, Sec. 2, ]f 3. 
 
 2. In private or personal injury the complainant 
 should be the prosecutor; but no person can be 
 compelled to become an accuser (Sec. 3). 
 
EXERCISE OF DISCIPLINE 197 
 
 3. In public scandals, the session may be compelled 
 to become prosecutor. 
 
 ''All processes on account of scandals originally 
 private and belonging to the class of personal tres- 
 passes must be pursued in the name of the com- 
 plainer ; but, if the scandal becomes public, the Church 
 judicatory is bound to commence the process against 
 one or both parties, rather than tolerate the evil with- 
 out applying the remedy." — Book of Discipline, Chap. 
 Ill, Sec. 2 and Sec. 4. 
 
 VI 
 
 Preliminaries to Process. 
 
 1. Use all possible endeavors to adjust the case 
 without process. 
 
 On this point Murphy says: ''It is extremely diffi- 
 cult at the present time so to conduct a process of 
 discipline as to impart to it any value either to the 
 offenders or to the Church; and when not so con- 
 ducted it will do harm rather than good. On this 
 account a process of discipline should never be en- 
 tered upon until it is seen to be absolutely indis- 
 pensable. Every possible effort to reclaim the offender 
 should first be made in private. It is hardly ever 
 wise for a pastor to encourage the prosecution of a 
 member of his church when the matter is one which 
 is personal with himself." 
 
 This last sentiment I would underscore. Pastors 
 have been permanently injured in their usefulness by 
 well-meant prosecutions undertaken in defense of 
 their good names. 
 
 2, Not every fault is a censurable scandal. 
 
 The Testimony, Chap. XXXI, Sec. 2, says: "A 
 scandal is not everything which is sinful or dis- 
 
198 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 pleaseth, but something in a professor's carriage 
 which, either in itself, or from its circumstances, may- 
 tempt others to sin, expose the Church to just re- 
 proach, or mar the spiritual comfort of saints." 
 
 The Book of Discipline suggests great caution on 
 this point. It says: 'The process which is intended 
 to remove scandal, frequently, from the misguided 
 zeal or passion of the parties concerned, generates 
 new scandal demanding Church censure ; and in no 
 case is more prudence and delicacy required on the 
 part of the Church officers, to maintain order, to dis- 
 criminate and to administer promptly due censure 
 with an amiable severity." 
 
 "Due censure with an amiable severity'' is good, 
 
 3. Even violations of Church law often can be 
 settled without formal process. 
 
 The parties may be invited to appear before session 
 without citation, make their own statement in refer- 
 ence to the offense, and submit to the judgment of 
 session, based upon their own statement of the case. 
 As a pastor I secured the settlement of many cases 
 of that kind in that way. I had cases of sitting on 
 juries, and of voting; but I had also cases of ante- 
 nuptial fornication, and of drunkenness, all satisfac- 
 torily adjusted without formal process; and two 
 decades have proved that the repentance was sincere 
 in every case. Of course, such settlements are not 
 to be made at the expense of the laws of the Church, 
 but by the parties voluntarily submitting themselves 
 to the authority of the session without formal trial. 
 
 4. Parties may be required to submit financial diffi- 
 culties to an arbitration. See Minutes of 
 Synod, 1893; ^' P- & ^v P- 249. 
 
 With all these precautions as to beginning process, 
 bear in mind that discipline is a divine institution for 
 most exalted and noble ends ; that its proper exercise 
 is not to be shirked, but that it is to be employed with 
 
EXERCISE OF DISCIPLINE i99 
 
 implicit faith that God will bless his own ordinance 
 to the honoring of His name and the salvation of 
 His people. "It is impossible but that offenses will 
 come, but woe unto that man through whom the 
 offense cometh." 
 
LECTURE XXI 
 
 INSTITUTING PROCESS 
 
 When all efforts for private settlement have failed 
 and it finally becomes necessary to enter upon the 
 judicial investigation of a case, it is of much impor- 
 tance that the session proceed in an orderly way. 
 Instructions on this point will occupy the present 
 lecture. 
 
 I 
 
 Preferring Charges. 
 
 I. In the case of personal offenses. 
 
 a. The accuser must submit his charge in writ- 
 ing. — Book of Discipline, Chap. Ill, Sec. 2, 
 
 Us- 
 
 This requirement is specific and the reasons are 
 obvious. Before the matter can go any further the 
 session must determine whether the case warrants the 
 framing of a libel, and must have the charge in writ- 
 ing in order to pass upon it. If the accuser does not 
 submit his charge in writing, he may afterwards com- 
 plain that the session did not frame the libel in ac- 
 cordance with his charge. Always insist, therefore, 
 on compliance with this rule. 
 
 b. He must specify the offense, and the time 
 when, and the place where, it was committed. 
 
 It will not do to take up some general charge of 
 conduct unbecoming a Christian. Some definite act 
 
INSTITUTING PROCESS 201 
 
 must be specified and the time and place designated, 
 so that the accused may have opportunity to know 
 what he has to meet, and how to prepare his defense. 
 Besides, charges are not admissible after a certain 
 period has elapsed. 
 
 c. He must give the names of all his witnesses. 
 The session cannot judge whether the evidence is 
 
 sufficient to make the charge capable of proof, until 
 they know who are to be called to substantiate the 
 charge. The accuser, therefore, in making the 
 charge, must name his witnesses. 
 
 d. He must show that he has complied with 
 Christ's rule. 
 
 Matt, xviii, 15-17: "And if thy brother sin 
 against thee, go show him his fault between thee and 
 him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy 
 brother. But if he hear thee not, take with thee one 
 or two more, that at the mouth of two witnesses, or 
 three, every word mav be established. And if he 
 refuse to hear them, tell it unto the church." 
 
 The Church insists upon obedience to this rule. — 
 Book of Discipline, Chap. HI, Sec. i, If 5. The ses- 
 sion should always inquire whether or not it has been 
 observed; and, if it has not, they should refuse to 
 listen to the accuser until he has complied with this 
 requirement. 
 
 The United Presbyterian Book says : "In cases of 
 personal offenses, the injured party, whether the of- 
 fense be public or private, must use the means pre- 
 scribed by our Lord for bringing the offender to a 
 sense of his error and effecting a reconciliation, before 
 he can be admitted as a prosecutor. Failure to com- 
 ply with our Lord's direction, by any one lodging an 
 information against another, is itself an offense sub- 
 jecting the informer to censure." — United Presbyter^ 
 ian Book of Govt, and Discipline, Book II, Chap, 2, 
 Sees. 3, 4. 
 
202 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 And the Preshyterian Book is still more emphatic. 
 It says: "Those who bring information of private 
 and personal injuries before judicatories, without 
 having taken these previous steps, shall themselves 
 be censured, as guilty of an offense against the peace 
 and order of the Church." — Presbyterian Book of 
 Govt., Book n, Chap. 2, Sees. 3, 4. 
 
 H this law is rigidly enforced many cases will 
 never go any further. The Scripture warrant for it 
 is so specific that no Christian can reasonably object 
 to its enforcement. 
 
 2. In the case of general offenses. 
 
 a. An individual may be accuser and prosecutor. 
 Because offenses are either general or public, it does 
 
 not follow that the charges cannot be preferred by a 
 private individual. Anyone who is competent to 
 bring a personal charge is competent to prefer a 
 charge for a general offense. There are cases where 
 it may be a most sacred duty to do so. 
 
 b. An individual may be the informer, and yet 
 he may decline to be the prosecutor. Book 
 of Discipline, Chap. Ill, Sec. 2, |fTf 3, 4. 
 
 If the offense is personal, the informer must be 
 the prosecutor ; but, if the offense is general, he may 
 simply submit his information to the court, and leave 
 it to the judgment of the session whether they will 
 take up the case or not. 
 
 The United Preshyterian Book contains a very wise 
 provision for cases of this kind: 'Tn cases taken 
 up on information, the name of the informer may be 
 withheld at the discretion of the court; but if the in- 
 nocence of the party accused is clearly made out, 
 the court shall inquire whether the informer acted 
 through malice, or imprudence, or otherwise; and 
 deal with him accordingly." United Preshyterian 
 Book of Govt, and Disc., Chap. Ill, Sec. 2. 
 
 You will find it a not uncommon thing for a person 
 
INSTITUTING PROCESS 203 
 
 to come to the pastor with a complaint against a 
 brother for a general offense, accompanied with the 
 request that the informer's name shall not be dis- 
 closed. Let him understand that you will not bind 
 yourself not to disclose his identity, that you have 
 discretionary power as to that, and that, even if the 
 namic is not disclosed at first, the accuser will be 
 held to responsibility for the truthfulness of the 
 charge. 
 
 c. The court may prefer a charge on the ground 
 of common fame. 
 
 In order that a prosecution may be begun on the 
 ground of a fama, the following conditions must be 
 found to prevail: 
 
 (i) The session must be satisfied that a fama 
 really exists. 
 
 (2) The fama must specify a particular of- 
 fense. 
 
 (3) The fama must be widely spread. 
 
 (4) The fama must be accompanied with rea- 
 sonable presumptions of truth. 
 
 (5) The fama must not be transient, but per- 
 manent. 
 
 These provisions are all so reasonable as to re- 
 quire no argument. The Book says : ''Great caution 
 should be exercised in presenting charges on this 
 ground. Church officers must be especially careful 
 not to create the fama which they make the basis 
 of their prosecution." — Book of Discipline, Chap. Ill, 
 Sec. II, T[ 7. 
 
 d. One knowing himself to be the subject of 
 an injurious rumor may request a judicial 
 investigation for his vindication. 
 
 Our Book does not especially provide for such a 
 case, but both the United Presbyterian and the Pres- 
 byterian Books make such provision. 
 
 The United Presbyterian Book says : ''As, how- 
 
204 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 ever, a rumor may exist not amounting to common 
 fame, affecting the character of an individual, the 
 person affected thereby may request a judicial in- 
 vestigation for his own vindication and it may be 
 proper for the court to grant the request." — United 
 Presbyterian Book of Govt, and Disc, Part HI, Chap. 
 HI, Sec. 6. 
 
 The Presbyterian Book is even stronger. It says: 
 'Tt may happen, however, that in consequence of a 
 report which does not fully amount to general rumor 
 as just described, a slandered individual may request 
 a judicial investigation, which it may be the duty of 
 the judicatory to institute." 
 
 It seems reasonable that a member of the Church 
 should be allowed to invoke the authority of her 
 courts to protect his good name. This must be recog- 
 nized as a correct principle; however, the occasions 
 for its application are comparatively rare. It is es- 
 pecially rare in the case of a rumor against the pas- 
 tor. Be too busy for rumor to attack you, and not 
 busy enough to create rumor. 
 
 II 
 
 Framing a Libel. 
 
 1. It belongs to the court to frame the libel. 
 
 No matter by whom the charge is preferred, the 
 framing of the libel, in sessional cases, belongs to the 
 session. 
 
 2. A formal libel is not in every case necessary. 
 The Book says: ''When the judicatory commences 
 
 a process without any particular accuser, it is upon 
 the ground of faina clamosa, and the charge may be 
 presented in more general terms, but in every other 
 respect the same rules apply as in the case of a spe- 
 cific libel." 
 
INSTITUTING PROCESS 205 
 
 3. In difficult cases the court should proceed by 
 libel. 
 
 In all kinds of judicial procedure, the orderly way 
 is usually the shortest and best. If a case cannot be 
 settled without proceeding to trial, it is usually be- 
 cause the accused intends to contest every point. In 
 this case it is much easier for the moderator to pro- 
 ceed under a libel. The points of law and order are 
 more readily perceived. 
 
 4. The accused party may demand a libel. 
 
 The party placed on trial is entitled to all the ad- 
 vantages, in making his defense, which the law pre- 
 scribes ; and, if he believes that a formal libel will 
 be better for him, it is his privilege to insist upon it. 
 
 Ill 
 
 The Form of the Libel. 
 
 1. It must be specific as to the offense charged. 
 
 2. It must state when and where the offense was 
 committed. 
 
 3. It must set forth wherein the offense violated 
 Scripture and the standards of the Church. 
 
 The language of the libel is : ''Contrary to the 
 word of God and the profession of the Reformed 
 Presbyterian Church founded thereon." 
 
 a. After the phrase, ''Contrary to the word 
 of God," reference should be made to the 
 particular passages of Scripture which con- 
 demn the sin specified. 
 
 b. After the phrase, "And the profession of the 
 Reformed Presbyterian Church founded 
 thereon," reference should be made to the 
 particular statements in the Confession of 
 Faith, Testimony, Covenant, Catechisms, or 
 
2o6 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 Terms of Communion which condemn the 
 sin charged. 
 
 4. The Hbel must bear the signature of the prose- 
 cutor, when made by a private person ; and of 
 the moderator and clerk when the session is 
 the prosecutor. 
 
 5. It must bear the names of all the witnesses. 
 
 6. If new witnesses are afterwards discovered, the 
 names must be furnished to the accused and 
 additional time given to prepare for trial. 
 
 Book of Discipline, Chap. Ill, Sec. 2, ^ 6. 
 
 Book of Discipline, pages 134, 135: Form of Libel. 
 
 IV 
 
 Serving the Libel. 
 
 1. The libel is to be placed in the hands of the 
 accused, or left at his residence. — Book of Dis- 
 cipline, Chap. Ill, Sec. 2, jf][ 6, 12. 
 
 2. It is to be accompanied by a citation signed by 
 the moderator and clerk to appear and answer 
 to the libel. — Idem supra. After the first cita- 
 tion only the signature of the clerk is neces- 
 sary. — If 10. 
 
 3. The citation should allow the accused at least 
 one week to prepare for trial. — ^ 6. 
 
 Both the United Presbyterian and the Presbyterian 
 Books allow ten days to the accused. It is best to 
 allow him all the time he reasonably can ask, in order 
 that there may be no excuse for delay when the time 
 arrives, or ground of complaint when the trial is 
 over. 
 
 4. If the first citation is not obeyed, the session 
 must order another in the same form. 
 
 5. The time allowed after the second citation is 
 discretionary with the court. 
 
INSTITUTING PROCESS 207 
 
 6. The second citation should contain an intima- 
 tion that the trial will proceed, whether the ac- 
 cused appears or not. 
 
 7. If the person cited declare on the first citation 
 that he will not obey it, this shall in no case 
 hinder the issuing of a second citation. There 
 should be no discussion of the matter. The 
 second citation should simply be served. 
 
 8. If the second citation is not obeyed, session 
 may either proceed with the trial in the ab- 
 sence of the accused, or it may suspend him 
 for contempt of court. 
 
 In most cases the latter course is preferable; it is 
 very much the easier, and it is so manifestly just 
 that it leaves no ground of objection on the part of 
 the accused; while a trial conducted in the absence 
 of the accused is not likely to be satisfactory. 
 
 If, however, the session has already some evidence 
 that the accused is guilty, it may be better to take 
 the testimony while it is available and include in the 
 sentence of condemnation, the act of contumacy as 
 well as the original charge. 
 
 9. If the accused present a valid reason for his 
 neglect to obey the citations, then the citation 
 shall be repeated de novo. — Id., ^ 12. 
 
 10. Citations may be served by any one compe- 
 tent to attend to it. — Idem Supra, Ij 10. 
 
 11. The person serving the citations must certify 
 that fact to the session. — Idem Supra, 1j 10. 
 
 V 
 
 The Citation of Witnesses. 
 
 I. All citations of witnesses, both of the prose- 
 cutor and of the accused, are issued and signed 
 by the clerk of session. 
 
2o8 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 2. Each party cites his own witnesses. 
 
 In case the session is the prosecutor, the clerk 
 usually attends to serving the citations. But, when 
 the prosecutor is a private person, it is his business 
 to cite his own witnesses. It is always the business 
 of the accused to cite the witnesses for the defense. 
 The clerk of session must furnish the citations for 
 both parties. — Idem supra, If lo. 
 
 3. Any one may serve the citations of witnesses 
 who will furnish a certificate to the court that 
 he has so done. 
 
 4. Members of the Church can be required to at- 
 tend when cited as witnesses, under pain of 
 Church censures for contempt of court, if they 
 refuse. 
 
 5. Those not members of the Church can only 
 be requested. — Book of Discipline, Chap. Ill, 
 Sec. 2, T[ 19. 
 
 It is not always easy to secure the attendance of 
 witnesses. People dislike to appear in court, and 
 many who have been talking freely become dumb sud- 
 denly when proceedings are begun. An effective way 
 to check a garrulous gossiper is to produce your note- 
 book and begin to take down his name and address, 
 and his statements, and intimate that he may be called 
 on to recite his story in court. The refusal to tes- 
 tify when properly called upon by a church court 
 is not only contempt of the court, but is a violation 
 of the ninth commandment which requires: 'The 
 maintaining and promoting of truth between man and 
 man, and of our own and our neighbor's good name, 
 especially in witness bearing." — Testimony, Chap, 
 xxvii, Sec. 3. 
 
 6. In case important witnesses cannot attend, their 
 testimony may be taken by delegates sent from 
 the court. 
 
 The accused should be notified in order that he 
 
INSTITUTING PROCESS 209 
 
 may be present to cross-question the witness. No 
 step should at any time be taken which does not con- 
 serve the right of the accused to meet his accusers 
 face to face. A man's character and good name are 
 so sacred that a church court is under obHgation to 
 afiford him every opportunity to defend them. 
 
 7. The session may request some other judicatory, 
 or competent authority, to secure testimony not 
 otherwise obtainable. 
 
 When testimony is taken in this way, the judicatory 
 should use its discretion in determining how much 
 weight is to be attached thereto. — Book of Discipline, 
 Chap. Ill, Sec. 2, H 18. 
 
LECTURE XXII 
 CONDUCTING A TRIAL 
 
 The Opening of the Case. 
 
 1. Ascertain whether the libel has been prop- 
 erly served and the witnesses cited. 
 
 When the court assembles at the time and place 
 appointed for trial and has been regularly consti- 
 tuted, before beginning the trial, it is necessary to 
 know that the preliminaries have been regularly at- 
 tended to, and that the parties are present in answer 
 to your citation. Then the moderator announces that 
 the session will proceed with the case. 
 
 2. The moderator reads the libel, explains the 
 nature of the charge, sets forth the ends of dis- 
 cipline and the present duty of the accused. — 
 Book of Discipline, Chap. Ill, Sec. 2, ^ 15. 
 
 This part of the action should be performed with 
 gravity and solemnity. The accused should be made 
 to feel the seriousness of his position when sum- 
 moned before a court clothed with Christ's authority, 
 to answer for conduct inconsistent with his Christian 
 profession. Care should be taken to remove from 
 his mind all mistaken views as to the ends of Church 
 discipline, and to show him how it is related to the 
 honor of Jesus Christ, to the purification of the 
 Church, and to the salvation of the accused; and he 
 should be appealed to as Joshua appealed to Achan: 
 "My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God 
 
 210 
 
CONDUCTING A TRIAL 211 
 
 and make confession unto him." At the same time 
 let him understand his rights as a member of the 
 Church to a fair and orderly trial. Never take ad- 
 vantage of the ignorance of the accused to place him 
 in an unfavorable position for his defense. 
 3. Test the admissibility of the charges. 
 
 (i) The accused has a right to be heard on 
 this point. 
 When the charges are first laid before the session, 
 before the libel has been framed, the session con- 
 siders the question of their admissibility. But the 
 formulation of the libel and the citation of the wit- 
 nesses may develop new questions affecting its ad- 
 missibility; and, more especially because this is a 
 point on which the accused has the right to be heard, 
 it cannot be regarded as finally settled until this point 
 is reached. 
 
 (2) The matters which affect the admissibility 
 of the libel are: 
 
 a. The character of the accuser. 
 
 If it can be shown that the accuser is himself of 
 untrustworthy character, or is under charges or cen- 
 sure of the Church, he cannot prosecute the case. 
 
 b. The admissibility of the testimony. 
 There are questions affecting the competency of 
 
 witnesses, which will be considered later; but objec- 
 tion may be raised on the ground of the incompe- 
 tency of the witnesses. 
 
 c. The indefiniteness of the charges. 
 
 The law requires that the charges be specific, and 
 the libel may be thrown out on account of the gen- 
 erality of the charges. 
 
 d. The date of the commission of the crime. 
 The libel must state the date at which the crime 
 
 was committed, and, if more than one year has elapsed 
 since the facts on which the charge is founded be- 
 came known to the accuser, the libel must be dis- 
 
212 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 missed as inadmissible. — Book of Discipline, Chap. 
 HI, Sec. I, II 7. 
 
 e. Want of a sufficient number of witnesses. 
 The law says : ''Testimony must ever bear a pro- 
 portion in weight and clearness to the improbability, 
 the magnitude, and the consequences of the scandal; 
 and no person shall be convicted upon the testimony 
 of a single witness however pointed and clear it may 
 appear to be." — Book of Discipline, Chap. HI, Sec. 
 2, Iflf 16-19. United Presbyterian Book, Part HI, 
 
 Chap, vn, If 5. 
 
 Any one of these five grounds is sufficient to de- 
 stroy the admissibility of the charges. If the libel 
 be declared inadmissible, all further proceedings cease. 
 
 4. Test the relevancy of the libel. 
 
 (i) The question to be determined under this 
 is whether the charges if proved are cen- 
 surable. 
 
 The libel affirms that a certain thing is a heinous 
 sin and scandal, "contrary to the Scriptures and the 
 profession of the Reformed Presbyterian Church 
 founded thereon" ; and then it proceeds to charge 
 that the accused is guilty of this sin because of cer- 
 tain specific acts, committed at a certain time. The 
 question raised as to relevancy is, whether, if these 
 specified acts be proved by competent witnesses, they 
 will sustain the general charge contained in the libel ; 
 and whether, the general proposition being true and 
 the specifications being proved, the ofifense is neces- 
 sarily censurable. 
 
 For instance, the libel might read as follows: 
 
 "Whereas, living in an incestuous relation is a 
 grievous sin and scandal, contrary to the word of God 
 and the profession of the Reformed Presbyterian 
 Church founded thereon ; yet, true it is that you, John 
 Doe, are guilty of the scandal above stated, in so 
 far as you, the said John Doe, were, on the first day 
 
CONDUCTING A TRIAL 213 
 
 of November, 1907, united in marriage to Jane Roe, 
 your deceased wife's sister, which being found rele- 
 vant and proven against you, you ought to be pro- 
 ceeded against by the censures of the Lord's house." 
 Is this Hbel relevant? This involves two inquiries. 
 First: Is living in an incestuous relation a heinous 
 sin and scandal? This is necessary because some of- 
 fenses are not scandals. It being decided that incest 
 is a censurable offense, the second question is: "Is 
 marrying a deceased wife's sister incestuous?" If it 
 were proved that the accused had married his de- 
 ceased wife's sister, would he thereby be convicted 
 of living in an incestuous relation? In other words, 
 the general proposition that incest is a heinous sin 
 and scandal being admitted; and the specification 
 under it that John Doe had married his deceased 
 wife's sister being proved: is John Doe subject to 
 censure? 
 
 (2) On the question of relevancy, the accused 
 has the right to be fully heard. 
 
 (3) In opposing the relevancy of the libel, the 
 accused is not permitted to make a plea 
 against the principles of his public pro- 
 fession. — Book of Discipline, Chap. Ill, Sec. 
 
 This third provision is very important. Suppose 
 that in the above case where the specific charge is 
 marrying a deceased wife's sister, the accused denies 
 the relevancy of the libel, claiming that the principle 
 laid down in the Confession of Faith and in the 
 Testimony, viz, "That a man may not marry any of 
 his wife's kindred nearer in blood than he may of his 
 own," is not Scriptural; and suppose that the accused 
 proposes to appeal from the lower standards to the 
 supreme standard, the word of God: he cannot be 
 permitted to do so, because, in his public profession, 
 he has declared his belief that these subordinate 
 
214 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 standards are agreeable unto and founded on the 
 Word of God. When he is hbeled for violation of 
 his public profession, he cannot deny the relevancy 
 of the libel on the ground that the profession is un- 
 scriptural. 
 
 This principle received a striking elucidation in con- 
 nection with our Church troubles in 1891. See re- 
 view of a speech of Dr. J. K. McClurkin by Prof. 
 James Dick, R. P. and C, April and May, 1891. 
 
 In cases of trials for heresy or for following di- 
 visive courses, the relevancy of the libel cannot be 
 challenged by an appeal from the subordinate Stand- 
 ards of the Church to the Scriptures as the supreme 
 standard. 
 
 The question of the relevancy of the libel should 
 always be carefully weighed and the Book says : 'Tf, 
 on careful consideration, the charges be found not 
 relevant, all further proceedings must terminate." 
 
 5. Interrogate the accused as to the matters of fact. 
 
 This refers to the specifications in the libel. The 
 moderator calls upon the accused to stand up, and 
 then questions him as to whether he did the things 
 which are charged in the libel. 
 
 (i) If the facts are admitted, the way is open 
 
 for a decision. 
 (2) If the charges are denied, the judicatory 
 shall proceed to trial. 
 
 II 
 
 Taking the Testimony. 
 
 I. The judicatory or either of the parties may re- 
 quire the witnesses to be sworn. 
 
 It is not always necessary, but there should be no 
 hesitancy either on the part of the court or of the 
 witnesses to employ the oath if it is desired. "An 
 
CONDUCTING A TRIAL 215 
 
 oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife." 
 (i) The moderator administers the oath. 
 
 (2) The witness stands and raises his right 
 hand. 
 
 This is the Scriptural attitude for taking an oath. 
 Kissing the Bible is expressly condemned in our Tes- 
 timony. It says : ''On no account should he con- 
 form to the superstitious practice of kissing the 
 Book." — Testimony, Chap. XXVII, Sec. 3. 
 
 (3) All persons present should stand during the 
 administration of the oath. 
 
 The solemnity of the act needs to be deeply im- 
 pressed in its administration. 
 
 2. The accused may impeach the character of the 
 witnesses. 
 
 (i) The court must hear the objections and put 
 
 them on record. 
 (2) The judicatory must receive legitimate proof 
 of their truthfulness. 
 If the case should be carried up by complaint or 
 appeal to a higher court, these will form proper mat- 
 ters for review. 
 
 3. The competency of a witness may be challenged 
 on the following grounds : 
 
 (i) Want of proper age. 
 No certain age can be fixed by law, and the age at 
 which one would be competent to testify would be 
 affected by the nature of the fact to be proved. 
 
 (2) Want of the senses necessary to a knowl- 
 edge of the crime charged. 
 
 A blind person could not testify to that which is 
 known only by sight; or a deaf person to that which 
 is perceived only by hearing. 
 
 (3) Weakness of intellect. 
 
 (4) Infamy of character. 
 
 (5) Malice toward the accused. 
 
 In regard to this latter, it is expressly provided 
 
2i6 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 that, if required, witnesses, before giving their testi- 
 mony, are to be, on their oath, purged of all malice 
 against the accused. 
 
 H the accused do not challenge the witnesses, it 
 is usually better for the court to admit all, and then 
 judge of the value of their testimony. — Book of Dis- 
 cipline, Chap. HI, Sec. 2, ^^ 19-20. 
 
 4. The examination of witnesses. 
 
 (i) The witness must state all he knows but 
 cannot be compelled to incriminate himself. 
 (See Part HI, Sec. 2, J]} 2, 3.) 
 
 The method, so common in civil courts, of swear- 
 ing the witness to tell the whole truth and then re- 
 fusing to allow him to state fully what he knows of 
 the case, must have no place in the courts of the 
 Lord's house. 
 
 (2) The examination is all conducted through 
 the moderator. 
 
 (3) Either party may object to points in the 
 testimony, and the objection must be placed 
 on the record. 
 
 The law says: "Either party may object to the 
 course pursued in examining witnesses, or to a par- 
 ticular question. If the objection is not sustained 
 by the moderator, an appeal may be taken to the 
 court ; if not sustained by the court, this fact, with 
 the objection, shall be entered upon the record." — 
 Book of Discipline, Chap. HI, Sec. 2, ^ 24. 
 
 (4) The entire testimony must be written down 
 as given; then read, corrected, and signed 
 by the witness. 
 
 It may not be essential always to write down the 
 questions, but the answers are to be recorded ver- 
 batim, and the questions if clearness demands them. 
 
 (5) A witness may at any time amend his tes- 
 timony by a postscript, signed as before. 
 
 (6) Hearsay testimony is never admissible, 
 
CONDUCTING A TRIAL 217 
 
 (7) The testimony of a deceased person who 
 would have been a credible witness may be 
 received if proved, but does not have the 
 full weight of direct evidence. — ^ 28. 
 
 (8) A member of the court may be a witness 
 and yet sit on the case. — ^ 29. 
 
 (9) No private knowledge possessed by mem- 
 bers of the judicatory may be allowed to 
 influence their decision. 
 
 No such private knowledge should exist. The 
 judgment must rest entirely upon the evidence before 
 the court, and it is the duty of every member of the 
 judicatory to make known to the court, as a witness, 
 everything that he may know that is relevant to the 
 case, or that may tend to a righteous decision. — |f 29. 
 
 (10) Documentary evidence, whether written or 
 printed, must be duly authenticated before 
 it is used. 
 
 Ordinarily it should be certified by the affidavit 
 of the proper person, witnessed by an official as sealed 
 instruments are attested. 
 
 (11) Extracts from the minutes of sister ju- 
 dicatories are authenticated by the signa- 
 ture of the clerk. — U 25. 
 
 (12) A husband or wife shall not be compelled 
 to testify where the other is on trial. — Tf 20. 
 
 (13) Witnesses should be examined in the pres- 
 ence of the accused. 
 
 (14) They are to be examined by the party 
 introducing them, and cross-examined by 
 the other party. 
 
 (15) Rebutting testimony may be offered by 
 either party. 
 
 By rebutting testimony is meant testimony intended 
 to set aside, or modify, the testimony given by wit- 
 nesses on the opposite side. 
 
 I have advised you to use every possible means 
 
2i8 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 to avoid the necessity for judicial process. My ad- 
 vice now is, that, when you are forced to enter upon 
 the investigation of a case, you sift it to the bottom; 
 and let it be distinctly understood that there will be 
 no favoritism, or partiality, or whitewashing, but 
 that you will use every means in your power to get 
 at the facts of the case by legal evidence. The courts 
 of Christ's house are brought into deserved contempt 
 when judicial procedure is not conducted in an or- 
 derly and effective way to a definite result either of 
 honorable acquittal or of just condemnation. 
 
LECTURE XXIII 
 
 ISSUING A CASE 
 
 In the last lecture we followed the steps in a ju- 
 dicial trial to the point where the witnesses have been 
 examined and the evidence is all in. Taking up the 
 subject where we left off, let us consider: 
 
 Hearing the Parties, 
 
 1. The parties speak alternately, each speaking 
 twice. 
 
 2. The prosecutor opens, and the accused closes. 
 
 3. In the first speeches both parties confine them- 
 selves to the record. 
 
 4. In the second speeches each one must confine 
 himself to a rejoinder to the remarks of the 
 other. 
 
 These reasonable regulations should be strictly ad- 
 hered to. The most difficult things are: 
 
 a. To prevent the parties from traveling beyond 
 the record in their first addresses. 
 
 b. To prevent them from introducing new mat- 
 ter in their second speeches. 
 
 This is especially true if there are facts in their 
 possession which they have not been able to prove by 
 legal evidence, or if any part of the testimony has 
 been ruled out. The attempt to drag it in is almost 
 sure to be made in the hearing. The moderator 
 
 219 
 
220 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 should be very careful to see that the parties under- 
 stand clearly the limitations under which they are to 
 speak before they begin, or there will be complaints 
 of unfairness when they are unexpectedly called to 
 order and refused permission to follow their intended 
 line of remark. 
 
 5. The parties may be questioned by the members 
 of the court. 
 
 The object of the questioning of the parties is 
 to elicit a clearer understanding of the points of their 
 argument. But the moderator must restrain the mem- 
 bers of the court from injecting an argument into 
 their questions. — Book of Discipline, Chap. HI, Sec. 
 2, If 27. 
 
 II 
 
 The Removal of the Parties. 
 
 1. This is done by motion. 
 
 When the parties have been fully heard in com- 
 ment on the testimony, and the members of the ju- 
 dicatory have asked all the questions they desire to 
 have answered, a motion is made ''that the parties 
 be now removed." 
 
 2. The passing of this motion takes the parties 
 from the floor of the court. 
 
 The terms have a technical signification, i. e., that 
 the parties are now deprived of any further part in 
 the proceedings. They cannot claim the floor for any 
 purpose, unless recalled by motion of the court. 
 
 3. The parties may even be required to retire from 
 the room. 
 
 The accused always has the right to be present 
 during the taking of testimony and to meet his ac- 
 cusers face to face; but in canvassing the testimony, 
 the members of the court are acting both as jurors 
 
ISSUING A CASE 221 
 
 and as judges and they are entitled to deliberate in 
 seclusion if they deem it more conducive to a just 
 decision. 
 
 Questions may arise in settling the value to be at- 
 tached to the testimony of certain witnesses, or where 
 there has been conflicting testimony, in which cir- 
 cumstances the session should be alone. No injustice, 
 therefore, is done to the parties, when they are asked 
 to retire from the session room after they have been 
 fully heard. 
 
 The law on this subject is not explicitly laid down 
 in our book, and, as no digest exists of our judicial 
 procedure, I cannot refer you to specific cases. But 
 the Presbyterian Book is explicit. It says : "The 
 judicatory shall then go into private session, the par- 
 ties, their counsel, and all other persons not memlDcrs 
 of the body, being excluded ; when, after careful de- 
 liberation, the judicatory shall proceed to vote on 
 each specification and on each charge separately; and 
 judgment shall be entered accordingly." — Moore's Di- 
 gest, p. 626. A number of instances are cited to show 
 that the rule for the "removal of the parties" is con- 
 strued literally, not metaphorically. — General Rules 
 for Judicatories, Presbyterian Form of Government, 
 Nos. 38, 39. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Weighing the Evidence. 
 
 I. Points of order are to be decided by the mod- 
 erator; points of law by the court. — Book of 
 Discipline, Part III, Chap. 3, Sec. 2. 
 It may occur, that, in applying the law to the evi- 
 dence in order to reach a decision, questions will 
 arise as to the interpretation of the law. The court 
 itself must determine this. A mere point of order 
 
222 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 the moderator is competent to decide, but here, as 
 elsewhere, his decisions are subject to an appeal to 
 the court. — Book of Discipline, Rules of Synod, No. 
 ip, p. 125. 
 
 2. The judgment must be based on the testimony 
 before the court. 
 
 The rule says: "No private knowledge possessed 
 by members of the judicatory shall be suffered to 
 influence the decision, as that must be based entirely 
 upon the evidence before the court." — Book of Dis- 
 cipline, Chap. HI, ^ 29. 
 
 This rule is right, but it is difficult of application. 
 It is not always an easy thing to divest one's self 
 of preconceived opinions as to the guilt or innocence 
 of the accused. It may compel a court, for the want 
 of legal evidence, to acquit one whom they are mor- 
 ally certain is guilty. 
 
 3. Where there is moral certainty of guilt, but not 
 legal evidence to convict, the decision should 
 be: ''Not proven." 
 
 When you cannot conscientiously say, "Not 
 guilty," you may say, conscientiously, "Not proven." 
 
 4. The court, in weighing the testimony, takes ac- 
 count of the credibility of the witnesses. 
 
 (i) The uncontradicted testimony of unreliable 
 witnesses does not necessarily convict the ac- 
 cused. 
 The accused is held innocent until proved guilty; 
 and credibility cannot be injected into the testimony 
 of incredible witnesses by increasing their number. 
 Twice naught is nothing, and ten times naught is no 
 more. 
 
 (2) Can the accused testify in his own case; 
 
 and, if so, what weight is to be given to his 
 
 testimony ? 
 
 I do not find anything in our book which expressly 
 
 determines whether or not an accused party may tes- 
 
ISSUING A CASE 223 
 
 tify. But Synod has taken action bearing on the 
 question. In the Minutes of Synod of 1867, Report 
 of the Committee of Discipline, we find the follow- 
 ing: 
 
 "No. 16 is a memorial from some members of the 
 Church under the jurisdiction of the Illinois Pres- 
 bytery. 
 
 "They ask Synod to appoint a commission to re-try 
 a given case passed upon by the presbytery. The 
 chief ground on which they rest their petition is the 
 alleged fact that the accused was admitted to testify 
 in his own case, and that his testimony formed equally 
 with that of other witnesses the basis on which the 
 verdict was rendered. The presbytery, we under- 
 stand, conceded the allegation to be correct. It is 
 the judgment of the committee that on this point the 
 presbytery essentially erred. It is not allowed in our 
 form of process ; and, in a criminal case like the pres- 
 ent, we are not aware that it is admitted in either 
 civil or ecclesiastical law. 
 
 "The committee recommend that a commission be 
 appointed to whom the case shall be referred for ad- 
 judication." 
 
 Signed 5'. 0. Wylie, J. L. M'Cartney, A. Wright. 
 
 The report was adopted and the commission ap- 
 pointed. R. P. and C, 1867, p. 227. 
 
 The Minutes of Synod of 1868, and R. P. and C, 
 p. 205, contain the report of this commission. It 
 contains the following language: 
 
 "Two days were occupied in the investigation of 
 the case, and the finding was substantially that, in 
 so far as the charge of rape was concerned, the ac- 
 cused was not guilty; and, in so far as the charge of 
 adultery was concerned, the evidence was not sufficient 
 to justify a legal conviction. 
 
 "The want of sufficiency lay in the fact that, whereas 
 there were but two witnesses in the case, the commis- 
 
22.\ PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 sion were not satisfied as to the credibility of one of 
 them. The testimony of the other witness was direct 
 as to acknowledgment of guilt upon the part of the 
 accused, and the commission saw no ground to ques- 
 tion the veracity of the sworn statement." 
 
 The commission, therefore, recommended Synod to 
 hear the testimony and pass upon the case, which 
 Synod did. — R. P. and C, 1868, pp. 209, 210, 217. 
 
 In the year 1869, the report of Lakes Presbytery 
 says: "Some of our number insist that our Discipline 
 is inconsistent with the Bible rule, in neither allowing 
 or requiring parties to give testimony in their own 
 case. Synod's deliverance is asked on this matter." — 
 R. P. and C, 1869, p 230. 
 
 The matter was referred to the Committee on Disci- 
 pline, which reported as follows : 'Tn reference to 
 the request of the Presbytery of the Lakes for advice 
 concerning the admissibility of testimony from parties 
 in their own case, we recommend that this Synod 
 declare that it lies in the discretion of inferior 
 courts to admit such testimony, giving it the weight 
 to which in their judgment it may seem entitled. See 
 Book of Discipline, page 76. The judicatory must 
 avail itself of every kind of information accessible to 
 it, the members using their own discretion in impar- 
 tially and minutely weighing the nature of the testi- 
 mony before them." 
 
 This recommendation was not adopted but was laid 
 on the table till next Synod. — R. P. and C, 1869, p. 
 210. 
 
 In 1870, it was again laid over; but in 1871 it was 
 adopted. — R. P. and C, 1871, page 200. 
 
 It would seem therefore that our Synod regards it 
 as competent for parties to testify in their own behalf, 
 the court to decide as to the value of such testimony. 
 This, however, may be modified by the rule contained 
 in the Book of Discipline, Chap. Ill, Sec. 4, ^ 7. "In 
 
ISSUING A CASE ^25 
 
 extreme cases where proof is wanting, an oath of 
 purgation may be admitted, but not urged." The 
 form of the purgation oath constitutes it the sworn 
 testimony of the accused in his own behalf. It is as 
 follows : "I, A. B., now under process before the 
 
 , for the sin and scandal of charged against 
 
 me, for ending of said process and giving satisfaction 
 to the Church of Christ, do most solemnly declare, 
 before God and the court, that I am innocent and free 
 of said sin; and hereby call the living God, the judge 
 and avenger of all falsehood, to be the judge and wit- 
 ness against me in this matter if I be guilty ; as I shall 
 answer to God in that day in which He shall judge the 
 world, by Jesus Christ, and as I hope to be partaker 
 of His glory in heaven." — Book of Discipline, pp. 136, 
 137. You will observe that this purgation oath is 
 only to be admitted ''where proof is wanting," and 
 then only at the discretion of the session. 
 
 5. Circumstantial evidence may have great weight, 
 but cannot be regarded as conclusive. 
 
 It is a fact that, in some cases, circumstantial evi- 
 dence seems stronger than direct testimony, but it is 
 not sufficient to stand alone. According to the law, 
 even the direct testimony of a single witness, how- 
 ever clear and pointed it may appear to be, is not suffi- 
 cient to convict. 
 
 The United Presbyterian Book contains also the fol- 
 lowing provision : 'Tf the testimony taken during a 
 trial proves a sin properly denominated by another 
 name than that designated in the libel, while the spe- 
 cific charge of the libel must be found 'not proved,' 
 the accused may be found guilty of that which appears 
 in proof ; but sentence shall not be passed until further 
 time shall be given him for defense, if he demands it 
 and justice requires it." — United Presbyterian Book, 
 Part III, Chap. IV, \ 14. 
 
 The principle here laid down is no doubt correct; 
 
226 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 but the orderly method would seem to be that, when 
 the libel is found to be thus defective, the court should 
 arrest proceedings and amend the libel; and, if neces- 
 sary, give additional time to the accused; and then 
 issue the case. 
 
 IV 
 
 The Judgment or Decision. 
 
 1. The accused may be acquitted, or found guilty 
 in whole or in part. 
 
 The libel may contain several counts ; in this case 
 the decision should be made on each count separately. 
 
 2. The judgment should be fully entered on the 
 records. 
 
 3. The records should embrace the reasons for all 
 decisions, except on questions of order. 
 
 The importance of a full and complete record is 
 seen in the fact that, when the higher court comes to 
 review the case, it is guided entirely by the record. — 
 Book of Discipline, Chap. HI, Sec. 2, ff 30. 
 
 V 
 
 Fixing the Degree of Censure. 
 
 If the accused is found guilty, the next prerogative 
 of the court is to determine the degree of the penalty. 
 The Book says: "It must be committed to the dis- 
 cretion of ecclesiastical judicatories to apportion cen- 
 sures to scandals. Were a specific censure appointed 
 to each offense, it might tend to prevent the end of 
 discipline by showing to every one who is tempted to 
 sin the price at which he may procure indulgence. 
 
 "Cases may also frequently occur, especially when 
 
ISSUING A CASE 227 
 
 the process is conducted in the name of individual 
 accusers, in which the offense, although real, may 
 have arisen more from infirmity than criminal de- 
 sign, and in which correction is better obtained by 
 conciliation than reproof. 
 
 "The process which is intended to remove scandal, 
 frequently, from the misguided zeal or passion of the 
 parties concerned, generates new scandal demanding 
 Church censure; and in no case is more prudence and 
 delicacy required on the part of Church officers, to 
 maintain order, to discriminate, and to administer 
 promptly due censure with an amiable severity." — 
 Book of Discipline, Chap. Ill, Sec. 4, ljj[ 5, 6. 
 
 1. Five kinds of censure are prescribed, 
 (i) Admonition. 
 
 (2) Rebuke. 
 
 (3) Suspension. 
 
 (4) Deposition. 
 
 (5) Excommunication. 
 
 2. Deposition applies only to officers ; all the others 
 apply equally to officers and members. 
 
 3. There are degrees of severity in the administra- 
 tion of the different kinds of censure. 
 
 (i) Admonition and rebuke may be adminis- 
 tered, 
 
 a. Once or more frequently ; 
 
 b. In private or publicly; 
 
 c. With severity in proportion to the scandal. 
 
 (2) Admonition and rebuke differ in their na- 
 tures : 
 
 a. Admonition consists in tender reproof, 
 warning, exhortation ; 
 
 b. Rebuke consists in setting forth the char- 
 acter of the offense with a sharp reproof 
 for it. 
 
 (3) Suspension may be for a definite time, or 
 until there is evidence of reformation. 
 
228 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 4. The nature and effect of these different kinds 
 of censure, and the form of their administration 
 are set forth in the Book of Discipline^ Chap. 
 HI, Sec. 4; Chap. IV, Sees, i, 2, 3. 
 
LECTURE XXIV 
 REMOVAL OF A CASE TO A HIGHER COURT. 
 
 One of the distinguishing characteristics of Pres- 
 byterian government is the subordination of the lower 
 courts to the higher. Every decision of any Church 
 court, except the highest, is subject to the review of a 
 superior court; and the humblest member in the body 
 may have his case finally adjudicated in the highest 
 court of the Church. 
 
 Proposition: There are five zmys by which a case 
 may come under the judgment of the higher courts. 
 
 I 
 By Reviezu and Control. 
 
 I. It is the duty of all inferior courts to present 
 their records to the next superior judicatory, for 
 review, at least once a year. 
 
 This is a universal law. If any lower court neglects 
 or refuses to send up its records, the higher court 
 may issue an order requiring it to do so and fixing 
 a time. 
 
 Sessions are apt to be careless about forwarding 
 their minute books to presbytery. This is a disregard 
 of an essential principle of Presbyterianism. I charge 
 you, therefore, as pastors to be punctual in submitting 
 the records of your sessions to presbytery. In this 
 way all the judicial proceedings of session come under 
 the review of the presbytery; and those of the pres- 
 bytery come under the review of the Synod. 
 
 229 
 
230 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 2. Matters of review. 
 
 In reviewing the records of an inferior court, it is 
 proper to examine : 
 (i) Whether the proceedings have been consti- 
 tutional and regular. 
 
 (2) Whether the record is full and accurate. 
 
 (3) Whether the minutes are properly authenti- 
 cated by the signature of the moderator and 
 clerk — a matter of frequent correction. 
 
 3. The superior court as a court of review and 
 control may: 
 
 (i) Express disapprobation of the proceedings 
 of the lower court and enter the same on 
 its own minutes and on the book reviewed. 
 
 (2) It may require the lower court to review 
 and correct its own proceedings. 
 
 (3) It cannot by the power of review and con- 
 trol reverse a judicial decision of a lower 
 court. 
 
 (4) If the records of a lower court show un- 
 faithfulness in the exercise of discipline in 
 the case of scandalous sins, the superior 
 court may cite the inferior court to answer 
 for such lack of fidelity. — Book of Disci- 
 pline, Chap. Ill, Sec. Ill, 1f|[ i, 2, 3; United 
 Presbyterian Book, Chap. XII, Art. i. 
 
 II 
 
 By Reference. 
 
 A reference is a judicial representation in writing, 
 made by an inferior court to the next superior, of a 
 matter not yet decided. 
 
 I. Proper cases for reference. 
 
 (i) Cases which the inferior court feels itself 
 incompetent to decide. 
 
APPEAL TO HIGHER COURT 231 
 
 a. Because of the fewness of its members as 
 compared with the gravity of the case; or, 
 
 b. Because of the relation of members of the 
 session to the parties ; or, 
 
 c. Because of the indefiniteness of the law in 
 its application to the case. 
 
 (2) Cases which are new and with no precedents 
 to guide in ordering. 
 
 (3) Cases that are peculiarly delicate and diffi- 
 cult. ■ 
 
 (4) Cases, the settlement of which may estab- 
 lish a precedent of extensive influence. 
 
 The influence of a decision may extend far beyond 
 the bounds of a congregation and affect other congre- 
 gations of the presbytery, or over the whole Church. 
 Such was a recent reference to Pittsburgh Presbytery 
 to determine whether membership in a certain organi- 
 zation is in violation of the Church's testimony as to 
 fellowship with secret societies. 
 
 (5) Cases on which the members of the lower 
 court are divided. 
 
 In such a case the decision of the lower court would 
 fail of its moral effect, and might do more harm than 
 good. It might involve some principle which the mi- 
 nority would feel constrained to carry to the higher 
 court by complaint or appeal. The lower court might 
 unanimously agree to refer it to the higher court rather 
 than to issue the case and have it appealed. 
 2. The objects sought by reference. 
 
 (i) It may be simply advice. 
 When this is the object, the case still remains in 
 the lower court, but the progress of the trial is ar- 
 rested until advice is obtained from the superior court 
 as to how to proceed. 
 
 (2) At any stage of the trial the entire case 
 may be referred to the superior court for 
 final decision. 
 
232 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 a. By such reference the lower court relin- 
 quishes all control of the case. 
 
 b. In any case of reference the members of 
 the lower court retain all their privileges 
 in the superior court. 
 
 (3) Written notice of reference should be given 
 to the parties interested. 
 3. The duty of the superior court in a case of 
 reference: 
 (i) Usually it should give advice when re- 
 quested. 
 
 (2) It is not bound to give a final judgment in 
 a referred case. 
 
 (3) It may remit the whole case, with or with- 
 out advice, to the court from which it was 
 referred. 
 
 Our Book does not encourage frequent use of the 
 privilege of reference. It says: ''Such references 
 should be made sparingly and only when absolutely 
 necessary or highly expedient. Ordinarily inferior 
 courts should complete whatever comes before them." 
 — Book of Discipline, Chap. Ill, Sec. Ill, jfTf i, 2, 3, 4; 
 United Presbyterian Book, Chap. XII, Art. II, fl 1-6. 
 
 Ill 
 
 By Protest and Appeal. 
 
 1. An appeal is the removal of a case, already de- 
 cided, from an inferior to the next superior 
 court. 
 
 2. Either of the parties may protest and appeal. 
 The Book says expressly that none hut parties can 
 
 appeal. The United Presbyterian law, however, pro- 
 vides that : 'Tn all cases where the purity of the 
 Church and the interests of truth and righteousness 
 
APPEAL TO HIGHER COURT 233 
 
 are injuriously affected by a decision, any member of 
 the court may appeal." — United Presbyterian Book, 
 Chap. XII, Art. Ill, Sec. 3. 
 
 3. The protest may be against the whole or any 
 part of the proceedings or of the sentence. 
 
 4. The fact of the appeal and the reasons for it 
 must be made known as soon as the party is 
 notified of the decision. 
 
 A case may be decided in the absence of the ac- 
 cused. In such a case he is not to be deprived of his 
 right to appeal, provided he gives notice as soon as he 
 is informed. 
 
 5. The appeal must be delivered in writing to the 
 clerk of the court within two weeks after notice 
 of appeal. 
 
 6. Parties are entitled to such extracts from the 
 minutes as are necessary to make out their 
 papers ; these extracts to be made by the clerk. — 
 Book of Discipline, Chap. Ill, Sec. Ill, U 3, 
 Nos. 1-3. 
 
 IV 
 
 By Complaint. 
 
 1. A complaint is a statement made to a superior 
 court by a member, or members, of an inferior 
 court ; or by any other person, or persons, re- 
 garding a decision by which they are aggrieved. 
 
 2. The same rules as to time and reasons apply 
 as in the case of appeals. 
 
 3. It may result in censure upon the inferior court, 
 or in a reversal of the decision complained of. 
 
 4. In most cases the members of the inferior court 
 are entitled to act in the final decision in the 
 superior court. 
 
234 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 5. If the complaint charges the lower court with 
 injustice and wrong, its members cannot vote 
 on the question of sustaining the complaint. 
 
 The rule reads as follows : "Here, and in cases of 
 appeals, the members of the inferior judicatory are 
 entitled to act in the final decision of the case. This 
 shall not apply to complaints charging the lower court 
 with injustice and wrong." 
 
 On this point our law differs from both the Pres- 
 byterian and the United Presbyterian laws. 
 
 The Presbyterian Book says: "Members of judi- 
 catories appealed from cannot be allowed to vote in 
 the superior judicatory on any question connected with 
 the appeal." This law is repeated in the same terms, 
 as applying to complaints. — Book of Govt., Chap. VH, 
 Sec. HI, 1[ 12, and Sec. IV, If 7. 
 
 The United Presbyterian Book says : "Where a 
 matter is transferred in any of these ways," (i. e., re- 
 view, reference, appeal, complaint and declinature) 
 "from an inferior to a superior court, except in the 
 case of reference, the members of the inferior court 
 shall have the right to sit and deliberate, but not to 
 vote." — United Presbyterian Book of Disc, and Govt., 
 Chap. XII, ^ 3. 
 
 Previous to 1863, our own Book of Discipline also 
 excluded the lower court. By our present Book, the 
 only member of the higher judicatory who is excluded 
 from voting on an appeal is a member who may be 
 appointed by the court or requested by the appellant 
 to act for him, and who does so act. 
 
 The amended rule is cle^ly right. The underlying 
 principle is that the lower court, in conducting a case, 
 even where the court is the prosecutor, is not to be 
 considered a party, merely, but is also judge and jury; 
 and for many reasons they may be more capable of 
 forming a correct judgment in the case than the other 
 members of the supreme judicatory. To rule them 
 
APPEAL TO HIGHER COURT 235 
 
 out of a participation in the final decision might thwart 
 the very ends of justice. 
 
 But there is an exception to the law permitting them 
 to deliberate and vote on the case when transferred 
 to the superior court. It says : "This shall not apply 
 to complaints charging the lower court with injustice 
 and wrong." 
 
 This, again, is manifestly right, because, if the lower 
 court has been guilty of injustice and wrong, they are 
 thereby disqualified for sitting on any case, and this 
 is a question which should be submitted to the decision 
 of their brethren. 
 
 But here, again, the general complaint of ''in justice 
 and wrong" is not sufficient to disqualify them; but 
 the complaint must set forth wherein the injustice and 
 wrong consisted ; and, if it is such as, if proved, would 
 call for censure on the lower court, then the members 
 should be excluded from voting, because they have 
 now become a party on trial, and are brought to the 
 bar of the superior court. But if the complaint did 
 not specify anything involving censure if sustained, 
 but simply an error in judgment, they have as good a 
 right to sit on the case as any other members of the 
 superior court. 
 
 For a very clear and able discussion of this subject, 
 I refer you to an editorial by Rev. J. C. K. Milligan in 
 Our Banner, 1883, p. 271. An appeal had been brought 
 before Synod from action of the New York Presby- 
 tery. The moderator ruled that New York Presby- 
 tery could not deliberate or vote on the case. Appeal 
 was taken from the moderator's decision, but Synod 
 denied the appeal and sustained the moderator's de- 
 cision. Afterwards this article appeared, and the 
 moderator, after reading it, was convinced that his 
 decision had been in error. 
 
236 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 By Declinature or Interlocutory Appeal. 
 
 1. Any one concerned in a trial may decline the 
 authority of the court and appeal to the next 
 higher court. 
 
 2. The grounds upon which such declinature may 
 be made are : 
 
 a. That the court has no cognizance of the case. 
 
 b. That the court is acting illegally. 
 
 c. That the court is evidently partial. 
 
 If a session proposed to put the pastor on trial be- 
 fore itself, he could decline, on the ground that the 
 session has no cognizance in the case ; if it attempted 
 to proceed to trial without deciding on the relevancy 
 of the libel, the accused could decline its authority 
 because the session was proceeding illegally; or, if 
 the session were evidently partial, having prejudged 
 the case or being too closely related to one of the par- 
 ties, either party could decline its authority. 
 
 3. The declinature does not necessarily arrest the 
 process. 
 
 The inferior court may, if it sees fit, proceed to 
 issue the case subject to the annulling of its proceed- 
 ings if the declinature is sustained. 
 
 4. If the declinature is not sustained, the party de- 
 clining must abide by the decision of the lower 
 court without appeal. 
 
 It is usually much the safer and better course to 
 allow the lower court to proceed; and, instead of 
 making the objections the ground of declinature, to 
 make them the ground of appeal or complaint. — Book 
 of Discipline, Chap. Ill, Sec. Ill, ^][ 1-3. 
 
APPEAL TO HIGHER COURT 237 
 
 VI 
 
 Miscellaneous Remarks. 
 
 1. Besides these ways of judicial procedure, every 
 member of the church has access to the superior 
 judicatories by petition for redress of griev- 
 ances. 
 
 2. All petitions, complaints, appeals, and remon- 
 strances addressed to a superior court must be 
 laid before inferior courts for transference. 
 
 3. The moderator and clerk must certify on the 
 document that it has been regularly transferred. 
 
 4. If an inferior court refuse to transfer a peti- 
 tion or other lawful paper, the party has a right 
 to protest against the refusal, and, by virtue of 
 his protest, it proceeds to the higher court. — 
 Book of Discipline, Chap. Ill, Sec. II, IJlf 5-10. 
 
 5. It is the duty of the moderator to inform par- 
 ties of the steps necessary to carry up a case. 
 
 Of course, a pastor would much prefer not to have 
 cases carried from his session to presbytery. When 
 he feels that the session has acted righteously and 
 judiciously he may seek to dissuade parties from com- 
 plaint or appeal. At the same time he should recog- 
 nize their rights, and, in case they desire to exercise 
 these rights, he should, if requested, inform them of 
 the orderly course of procedure. 
 
 6. The party carrying up a case must abide by the 
 decision of the lower court until it is reviewed 
 by the higher court. 
 
 The failure to do this renders the party liable to 
 have his case dismissed by the superior court for con- 
 tempt. However certain he may be that the lower 
 court has erred, he cannot take on himself to set aside 
 its decision. The synod of 1891 acted on this princi- 
 ple. — R. P. and C, 1891. 
 
238 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 7. No professional counsel is permitted to conduct 
 a case before an ecclesiastical court. 
 
 All the Presbyterian books agree on this, and their 
 courts have enforced the rule. In some cases a mem- 
 ber of the court may be appointed to represent a party 
 who is not capable of conducting his own case. The 
 member thus employed cannot sit or vote on the case. 
 
 It would be interesting to follow a case into the 
 superior courts, but the limits of time will not permit 
 us to pursue the subject further. There are usually 
 experienced members in these courts who will take the 
 lead in conducting judicial cases. Precedent is a 
 strong law, and precedent may be studied in the 
 Church records. Make your cases strong in the ses- 
 sion and in the presbytery and they will not be carried 
 higher. 
 
 Let me close, young gentlemen, by reminding you 
 of the exalted purposes for which Christ, the Church's 
 Head, has appointed her discipline ; that its exercise is 
 not to be feebly set aside, but is to be maintained with 
 a dignity and sobriety becoming to the courts of the 
 Lord's house, 
 
 'The elders which are among you I exhort who 
 am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of 
 Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be 
 revealed : Feed the flock of God which is among you, 
 taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but 
 willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; 
 neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being 
 ensamples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd 
 shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that 
 fadeth not away." — I Peter v, 1-4. 
 
LECTURE XXV 
 
 THE PASTOR IN THE HIGHER COURTS OF 
 THE CHURCH 
 
 The minister, by virtue of his office, is a constituent 
 member of Presbytery and Synod. It will be the pur- 
 pose of this lecture to discuss his duties in his relation 
 to these superior courts. 
 
 The Minister Should Regularly Attend All the Church 
 Courts of Which He is a Member. 
 
 1. He is bound to this by his ordination vows. 
 One of the queries put to candidates for ordination 
 
 is : "Do you promise in the strength of divine grace 
 . . . to attend punctually the meetings of the session 
 and of the superior judicatories when called there- 
 unto, judging faithfully in the house of God?" This 
 promise is to be as faithfully kept as any other of 
 these solemn engagements. Murphy says : ''The rule 
 of regular attendance should be laid down as inviola- 
 ble. . . . Duty to God, duty to the Church, and duty 
 to himself, all require the pastor to do his part." 
 
 2. Because he has a relation to the whole flock. 
 The minister's relation to a particular congregation 
 
 depends upon his installation as its pastor; but, by 
 virtue of his ordination to the office of the ministry, 
 he has a pastoral relation to the whole Church. 
 
 Some question the right of ministers who are not 
 239 
 
240 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 pastors, to sit in the higher courts ; and intimations 
 are not infrequently made that professors in the Col- 
 lege and in the Theological Seminary, unsettled minis- 
 ters, and missionaries, home and foreign, are not 
 properly constituent members of the courts. 
 
 The Minutes of Synod, 1849, P- I3i> contains the 
 record of a motion to erase from the roll of the con- 
 stituent members of Synod the name of one of our 
 ministers, for the reason that he had never been in- 
 stalled by any court of the Lord's house to exercise 
 rule. This motion was negatived and the name of the 
 minister was kept on the roll. The facts were that 
 the minister had been ordained by Pittsburgh Presby- 
 tery at the request of the Board of Foreign Missions, 
 to l3e sent out as a missionary to Syria. 
 
 The objection to ministers who have been regularly 
 ordained, but who are without pastoral charge, is 
 utterly without foundation. The ruling power be- 
 longs to the ministerial office. By virtue of his rela- 
 tion to Jesus Christ, who is the chief Shepherd, the 
 minister is pastor of the flock. 
 
 There are good reasons why presbyteries should not, 
 unnecessarily, ordain men to the ministry, sine titulo, 
 i. e., without a call to a particular charge ; but, when 
 the court decides that special circumstances warrant 
 such ordination, it is unreasonable to deny the or- 
 dained one his right to exercise the functions of the 
 office with which he has been clothed. Our Synod has 
 always adhered to this view of the office. 
 
 3. He cannot do his duty as a pastor if he neglects 
 the superior courts. 
 
 The pastor is the connecting link between the con- 
 gregation and the higher courts. It belongs to the 
 presbytery and the Synod to map out the public work 
 of the church. Her educational institutions ; her mis- 
 sionary enterprises ; her reform measures ; her benevo- 
 lent schemes: all these public interests are under 
 
HIGHER CHURCH COURTS 241 
 
 control of the presbyteries and the Synod. And, be- 
 sides these, the higher courts exercise supervision over 
 the congregational life in the matter of Sabbath 
 schools, young people's societies, the exercise of disci- 
 pline and the services of worship. 
 
 Now it is not only the duty of the pastor as a con- 
 stituent member of these courts to bear the full meas- 
 ure of his responsibility, but it is his duty as a pastor 
 to carry back to his people a full account of the plans 
 and purposes of the Church; and, more than that, to 
 translate these plans into the actual life of the people 
 of his charge. A pastor who neglects attendance upon 
 the higher courts cannot be a good pastor in this 
 regard. 
 
 The custom of many of the best pastors is to take 
 the first service after returning from Synod to lay 
 before the people a full account of the important busi- 
 ness of Synod, preaching from such texts as Psalm 
 xlviii, 12-13: "Walk about Zion"; Isaiah xxxiii, 20: 
 ''Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities" ; Isaiah 
 liv, 2 : ''Lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes.'' 
 
 4. The pastor needs it for his own personal good. 
 
 Pastors who have always lived in the central places 
 of the Church, where they have frequent meetings with 
 brethren, do not realize what advantages they derive 
 from this companionship; and those living in the 
 regions beyond do not know the extent of their losses. 
 But regular attendance upon Church courts is needful 
 for all. The money spent on the traveling fund is not 
 wasted. 
 
 II 
 
 The Minister Should Aim to he Present During the 
 Whole of the Sessions of the Court. 
 
 Murphy says : "Connected with this matter of at- 
 tendance is another which ought not to be passed over 
 
242 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 without a word of notice; namely, that of staying to 
 the close of the sessions. This caution is rendered 
 necessary by the conduct of many who come in per- 
 haps after the opening services, and then, in an hour 
 or two, or at least long before the session's close, go 
 away and leave their brethren to finish the business 
 as best they can. They might almost as well not come 
 at all. The result of this habit is to leave the greater 
 part of the business to be hurried through at the close 
 by a mere handful of the members." 
 The following suggestions are made: 
 
 1. Never withdraw from a Church court without 
 leave of absence. 
 
 To do so is in violation of a specific law. Book of 
 Discipline, p. 130, Rule 46: "No member shall retire 
 from the judicatory without leave of the moderator; 
 or withdraw from it to return home without the con- 
 sent of the judicatory." A member may slip out with- 
 out being noticed by the moderator or by any member 
 of the court, but if he does he is in disorder. 
 
 2. Never, unnecessarily, ask to be excused. 
 
 Even if you are assured that the court will grant 
 your request, that does not justify your action. You 
 have solemnly vowed that you will attend to these 
 duties; do not break your vow, even by leave of the 
 court. 
 
 3. Never withdraw from a Church court in order 
 to show your dissatisfaction with its proceed- 
 ings. 
 
 One of our old ministers, now departed, was noted 
 for his practice of leaving Synod before the close of 
 its sessions. On one occasion he arose, as his custom 
 was, and asked to be allowed to return home. Being 
 asked to state his reasons he replied that he had rea- 
 sons "both positive and negative" for desiring to be 
 excused. The request was granted and he passed out. 
 Later, when asked what he meant by "positive" and 
 
HIGHER CHURCH COURTS 243 
 
 "negative" reasons, he explained: '1 have an excel- 
 lent wife and children at home and I long to be with 
 them ; that is the positive reason ; I am disgusted with 
 the Synod, and want to get away ; that is the negative 
 reason." 
 
 Leaving a Church court for negative reasons is 
 wholly unwarranted. There are regular methods of 
 expressing your dissatisfaction with the course of pro- 
 cedure. In all but the supreme judicatory you can 
 protest and complain to the next superior court. And 
 in the highest court you can enter your dissent on the 
 records, with your reasons for it. But to express your 
 disapproval by withdrawing from the court is unjus- 
 tifiable in any ordinary circumstances, and is in its 
 nature revolutionary. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Every Minister Should Accept His Share of the 
 Onerous Labors of the Church Courts. 
 
 I. He should accept the position of an officer of 
 the court when duly called thereunto. 
 
 It is unseemly for a minister to seek his own pro- 
 motion, but to shirk all responsibility is unfaithfulness. 
 I recall a scene in our presbytery when a young minis- 
 ter was reelected clerk after having served one term. 
 In a very abrupt manner he resented it as an impo- 
 sition. Another was named for the place and he 
 peremptorily declared that he had served his term 
 and would not take it again. Another and yet another 
 were nominated with like result. Then the aged pas- 
 tor of the congregation where the court had met arose 
 and said that if all these young ministers regarded it 
 as such an imposition to be asked to keep the records, 
 he had several excellent old women in his congregation 
 that could do it very well and he would call in one 
 of them. There was no further declining. 
 
244 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 The young minister should seek to acquaint himself 
 with the duties of the several offices, and then, when 
 duly called thereto, undertake the work cheerfully and 
 execute it faithfully. — Book of Discipline, pp. 121-130, 
 Rules. 
 
 2. He should not decline the chairmanship of im- 
 portant committees on account of the labor 
 involved. 
 
 There are certain regular committees in presbytery 
 and Synod that impose heavy tasks upon the chairman. 
 A new member naturally shrinks from this position. 
 There may be good reasons for one's declining, but 
 not simply on account of the labor. A young minister 
 might decline to act as chairman of the committee of 
 discipline if he knew that intricate cases or difficult 
 questions were to be referred to it immediately. So 
 with the committee of supplies, on account of his lack 
 of acquaintance with the congregations and mission 
 stations, or the laborers to be assigned; or the com- 
 mittee of finance, because of his ignorance of the finan- 
 cial operations and methods of the Church. In such 
 cases a young minister may ask to be relieved of the 
 chairmanship, though willing to serve in a subordinate 
 place on the committee. But he must not decline on 
 account of the labor; there is ample compensation in 
 the knowledge acquired by serving on such committees. 
 
 The duties of the chairman of a committee are : 
 (i) To take charge of all the papers or items 
 referred to his committee. 
 
 It is the duty of the assistant clerk to place these in 
 his hands ; but it is also his duty to look after them. 
 
 (2) To analyze the matters so as to be able to 
 submit them to the committee. 
 
 (3) To call the committee together for consul- 
 tation and to agree on the general terms of 
 the report on each item. 
 
 (4) To formulate, and to write out, the report. 
 
HIGHER CHURCH COURTS 245 
 
 (5) To convene the committee to hear, amend, 
 and adopt the report. 
 
 (6) To submit the report to the court, and, if 
 necessary, to explain and defend it. 
 
 (7) He should be careful not to overlook the 
 elders on the committee. 
 
 3. He should not refuse duties because they are 
 in their nature unpleasant. 
 
 There are, occasionally, peculiarly unpleasant duties 
 to be performed. The faithful minister will not re- 
 fuse to act on account of their unpleasantness. Some 
 one must attend to them, and, if you refuse to bear 
 your share, it implies that you do not love your neigh- 
 bor as yourself. 
 
 Among the most common of the unpleasant duties 
 may be named : 
 
 (i) Commissions to investigate scandals, or 
 settle troubles, in congregations. 
 
 It is usually difficult to secure persons who are will- 
 ing to act on such commissions. The position is un- 
 desirable. Not all of the members are going to be 
 required to go into it. In these circumstances it is 
 unseemly for ministers to take very modest views of 
 their fitness to perform these duties. Such diffidence 
 carried to an extreme becomes a sin. 
 
 (2) Acting as prosecutor in cases of discipline. 
 When the court becomes the accuser, it is usual to 
 
 appoint one or more of the constituent members to 
 act as prosecutor. It is an unenviable position. The 
 person that fills it almost invariably incurs the tem- 
 porary displeasure of the accused party and his friends. 
 One may be called upon to prosecute a most intimate 
 personal friend. 
 
 (3) Defending the action of the lower court 
 before the higher court. 
 
 This is a peculiarly trying position, especially where 
 the matter involves personalities; and in trials for 
 
246 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 heresy ; or involving questions on which the Church 
 is divided. The person selected in such cases to rep- 
 resent the inferior court, becomes, for the time being, 
 the target for the shots of the opposing forces ; and, 
 if vital issues are involved, the responsibility of the 
 position may be almost overwhelming. I can only say, 
 when such a duty is put to you, stand up to it. Do 
 not study how to evade it, but how to meet it. Such 
 duties demand high qualifications — such as : 
 
 a. Acquaintance with the doctrines, and pres- 
 byterial order of the Church. To be a good 
 presbyter the minister must be familiar with 
 the principles of Presbyterianism. 
 
 b. Independence of men, begotten by the true 
 fear of God. No one devoid of this quali- 
 fication should ever be appointed to deal 
 with serious cases of discipline; especially 
 where the faith and practice of the Church 
 are to be defended. 
 
 c. A peace-loving spirit. ''Blessed are the 
 peacemakers, for they shall be called the 
 children of God." I put this last because 
 this is the divine order: "First pure, then 
 peaceable." 
 
 The purity of the Church is more sacred than her 
 peace. One who w^ould flinch under fire and who 
 would sacrifice purity for the sake of peace has not 
 the highest qualifications for filling these difficult posi- 
 tions. At the same time it is essential that he be a 
 lover of peace. The man who eagerly accepts these 
 duties just because he delights in conflict, is one who 
 is eminently disqualified for their right discharge. 
 
 I therefore counsel these three things: 
 
 A. Cultivate those high qualities which are 
 necessary for the discharge of these diffi- 
 cult, important, and yet unpleasant duties. 
 
 B. Use every right endeavor to avoid the ne- 
 
HIGHER CHURCH COURTS 247 
 
 cessity of their being performed by any 
 one. 
 C. When they become necessary and you are 
 lawfully called thereto, accept them as 
 from Christ, perform them in His fear, 
 and depend on His strength for success. 
 
 IV 
 
 The Minister Should Participate Actively in the Dis- 
 cussions and Decisions of the Judicatory. 
 
 It is a misfortune that the business of Church courts 
 is so largely transacted by a small minority of the 
 members. 
 
 1. Members should give constant attention to the 
 matters before the court. 
 
 It is often remarked to the discredit of our state 
 and national legislatures that the members manifest 
 the utmost indifference, even when matters of great 
 importance are pending. Such an attitude in Church 
 courts is inexcusable. It is very aggravating when 
 members engage in conversation or reading until a 
 motion is about to be put, and then spring to their 
 feet with : ''Mr. Moderator, please state the motion," 
 or peremptorily : "I call for the reading of the paper." 
 
 2. A member should not speak unless he has some- 
 thing to say. 
 
 This certainly does not need to be argued, but ex- 
 perience proves that it does need to be said. 
 
 3. The converse of that is not true. 
 
 Even if you have something to say, it does not fol- 
 low that you should speak. If you have already 
 spoken on the subject, give others an opportunity. 
 Perhaps some one else will say it and make it unneces- 
 sary for you to rise a second time. It is particularly 
 offensive when a young minister, just after being ad- 
 
248 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 mitted to the Church courts, assumes direction of the 
 business. 
 
 4. One should be deferential to the rights of others. 
 It is always becoming for a young member to yield 
 
 the floor to an aged member who may rise at the same 
 time with himself. The same is true when an elder 
 wishes to speak. It looks well for the minister, who 
 is a constituent member of the court, to give way to 
 the elder, who but seldom has the opportunity and 
 who usually is diffident about claiming the privilege. 
 It is in unusually bad taste for one who has spoken 
 several times on a motion to call out, ''Question, ques- 
 tion," when others who have not spoken at all are 
 desiring to be heard. 
 
 5. When one knows beforehand that he is likely 
 to speak, he should make careful preparation. 
 
 You will soon observe in Synod that there are a few 
 men who always receive careful attention and another 
 few who can scarcely obtain a respectful hearing. In 
 both instances it is a case of reaping what has been 
 sown. A deliberative body soon avenges itself on the 
 member who habitually delivers a harangue or a dia- 
 tribe in place of an address. 
 
 Dr. S. O. Wylie was noted for his ability to sway 
 the decisions of Synod. I have heard it affirmed that 
 one secret of his power was his skill in choosing his 
 time to speak. If he knew beforehand that important 
 subjects were to be discussed he prepared with great 
 care and then aimed to make the opening address. If 
 questions were sprung on him unawares he remained 
 silent, carefully noting the arguments on each side, 
 while he prepared himself to make the closing speech. 
 
 It is doubtful whether he was conscious of any such 
 deliberate plan, but his faithful attendance upon the 
 Church's interests and his wisdom and skill as a de- 
 bater resulted in such a command of his resources ; 
 and he always knew when to speak. There is a sug- 
 
HIGHER CHURCH COURTS 249 
 
 gestive Scripture passage which may cross your minds 
 even when sitting in a church court : "O that ye 
 would akogether hold your peace! and it should be 
 your wisdom." 
 
 As a Presbyter, the Minister Should Keep Constantly 
 in Viezv the Great Interests of the Church and 
 Kingdom of God. 
 
 Our Church courts are too much occupied with 
 tedious discussions of comparatively insignificant mat- 
 ters. This is greatly to be deprecated. Presbyteries 
 and synods should give prominence to the following 
 subjects: 
 
 1. The promotion of Christian life and activity in 
 all our congregations. 
 
 This will lead to discussions on the state of religion ; 
 on the efficiency of the Sabbath-school work ; on the 
 proper direction and control of the various societies 
 and organizations of the church ; and to helpful con- 
 ferences on evangelistic work. In all these depart- 
 ments presbytery should exercise its supervision. 
 
 2. The cultivation of the territory over which the 
 presbytery extends. 
 
 fi) By nurturing the weak congregations. 
 This is too much overlooked. Feeble congregations 
 are left to themselves. Instead of asking for needed 
 supplies, they send requests for fewer appointments. 
 Too often presbytery permits them to pursue an en- 
 tirely mistaken policy of retrenchment, and they starve 
 themselves to death. Such congregations should be 
 the objects of constant solicitude. 
 
 (2) By keeping a constant outlook for new 
 localities. 
 Changes should all serve the Church. The develop- 
 
250 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 ments in business create new centers of influence 
 where people congregate and should be cared for. 
 Presbyters should be alert and quick to discover the 
 new spiritual needs and to provide for them. 
 
 3. Faithful testimony against public sins and in 
 behalf of reforms. 
 
 The multiplication of reform societies outside of, 
 distinct from, and independent of, the Church, is a 
 reproof of Church judicatories for their neglect of 
 this important part of their work. It is my opinion 
 that such organizations should be in vital connection 
 with God's great redemptive agency, the Christian 
 Church. When Christians of different denominations 
 desire to unite and cooperate for reform, the organiza- 
 tion should be effected by the Church judicatories and 
 should report their work directly to such Church 
 courts. 
 
 VI 
 
 The Minister Should Carefully Maintain Christian 
 Deportment in the Courts of the Lord's House. 
 
 1. He should be reverential during seasons of 
 worship. 
 
 Things to be avoided are such as : 
 
 a. Absence during prayers constituting or ad- 
 journing the court; 
 
 b. Attending to matters of business during devo- 
 tional exercises ; 
 
 c. Retiring with committees during time set 
 apart for worship. 
 
 2. He should be dignified in speech and behavior. 
 Presbyters should walk worthy of Christ when they 
 
 are transacting business in His name. Let us bear 
 in mind the words of Paul the aged to his son Timo- 
 thy: "That thou mayest know how thou oughtest 
 
HIGHER CHURCH COURTS 251 
 
 to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the 
 church of the Hving God, the pillar and ground of the 
 truth."— I Timothy iii, 15. 
 
 3. He should be courteous. 
 
 This is an ornament of grace to the minister of the 
 Gospel everywhere, and is nowhere more becoming 
 than in Church judicatories. Murphy speaks at 
 length on this subject and says: "We make this sub- 
 ject very emphatic because we feel that there is great 
 need for awakening special attention to it. Scenes 
 are sometimes witnessed in Church courts which are 
 a shame and a scandal to religion and which do incal- 
 culable harm." Young gentlemen, that is enough. 
 
 VII 
 
 General Remarks. 
 
 1. Always see to the regular and timely appoint- 
 ment of the elder who is to attend presbytery 
 or synod. 
 
 This appointment should be made long enough be- 
 forehand to enable him to fill the appointment without 
 unnecessary inconvenience. 
 
 2. See that the certificate of the delegate is regu- 
 larly made out and forwarded in due time. 
 
 Disregard of this rule on the part of pastors and 
 sessions causes a needless waste of time in making up 
 the roll. See Book of Discipline, p. 134, Form of 
 Certificate; p. 122, Rule 6, — very important. 
 
 3. Send in promptly your statistical reports, as re- 
 quired by the superior courts. 
 
 Carelessness on this point is the fruitful source of 
 many just complaints and censures on the part of 
 clerks of presbyteries. Let all things be done in time 
 as well as "decently and in order." 
 
252 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 vni 
 
 Particular Comment on the Pastor's Relation to His 
 Presbytery. 
 
 I have reserved for this place of emphasis what I 
 have to say on a phase of our Church government 
 which has been overlooked. I refer to the duties 
 and the responsibilities of the presbyteries. 
 
 If the young ministers of ten consecutive classes 
 graduating from this seminary could be impressed with 
 a sense of the position of the presbytery in the Pres- 
 byterian order of government much would undoubt- 
 edly be done to restore to the presbyteries throughout 
 the Church that prestige which inheres in them essen- 
 tially ; and, as a natural result, the Synod would be 
 freed from much of that business and supervision and 
 deadening routine which stifle the spirit, shorten 
 the vision, and thwart the power of many of our 
 meetings of Synod. In the matter of Church govern- 
 ment, young gentlemen, what is wanting is more vim 
 in the presbyteries. And when the business there is 
 pressed with vigor, Synod will reflect the dignity and 
 peace of the Church's highest court. 
 
 That you may understand the importance of the 
 presbytery, let me read you Sections 3 and 4, Article 
 II, of the United Presbyterian Form of Government: 
 
 "The presbytery is the essential court of the Church 
 in administering its general order. ... It belongs to 
 the presbytery, by virtue of the official authority of its 
 members, to hear and issue complaints and appeals 
 from Church sessions, and references for advice or 
 adjudication; to admit and have the care of students 
 of theology ; to examine and license candidates for the 
 holy ministry ; to ordain, install, remove, and try min- 
 isters of the Gospel ; to examine and approve or can- 
 
HIGHER CHURCH COURTS 253 
 
 sure the records of Church sessions ; to visit particular 
 churches for the purpose of inquiring into their state 
 and redressing evils which may have arisen in them ; 
 to organize, unite, or divide congregations; and, in 
 general, to order whatever pertains to the spiritual 
 welfare and prosperity of the churches under its care." 
 
 There is no doubt as to the scope of presbyterial 
 duties and authority. In a former lecture (First 
 Series, Lecture V) in treating of the ''Call to the Pas- 
 torate," reference was made to the authority of the 
 presbytery in this matter of the call. In order that 
 you may be fully cognizant of the relation that exists 
 between pastor and presbytery, let me quote from the 
 Book of Discipline: "Presbytery judges of the neces- 
 sity of removing a minister from one congregation to 
 another." (Page 108.) The United Presbyterian 
 Book is still more specific : "Presbytery constitutes 
 the relation of pastor and people, acting in the name 
 and by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 presbytery alone can dissolve it." Again, "If the 
 presbytery deem it for the good of the Church," a call 
 coming to a settled minister may be presented to him. 
 This, of course, implies that presbytery may refuse to 
 present the call, and this prerogative is frequently 
 exercised. 
 
 On the other hand, a minister cannot be removed 
 from one field to another without his own consent.^ 
 
 1 As presb)rtery cannot constitute the relation without the 
 consent of the parties, neither can it dissolve it by a mere 
 exercise of authority. {Book of Discipline, pp. 108-9.) Both 
 the pastor and the congregation are entitled to be heard be- 
 fore a call from another congregation is presented to him. 
 Hence, in the case of a call on a settled pastor, the question 
 is always asked whether his present congregation has been 
 duly notified. The United Presbyterian Book requires that this 
 notification be read from the pulpit two weeks before the 
 meeting of presbytery at which the matter is to be heard. It 
 also provides that *'the presbytery shall always enter upon its 
 
254 PASTOR AND CHURCH COURTS 
 
 This then sums up the relationship between a pastor 
 and his presbytery, and nicely exemplifies that fine 
 balance existing between the authority of the govern- 
 ment and the will of the governed, in a Presbyterian 
 form of government. Everything depends upon a 
 rigid adherence to the forms of procedure, and no- 
 where can this be accomplished so well as through the 
 presbyteries. 
 
 What is needed, then, is a live leader in every pres- 
 bytery throughout the Church. Not a busybody, but 
 a spirit-filled, devoted worker, one who has intelli- 
 gence enough to understand the prerogatives of Pres- 
 byterian government and tact enough to bend the wills 
 of the members to an orderly procedure in all the 
 minor business that comes to hand. And when the 
 presbyteries are conscientiously bearing the burden of 
 routine government, the meetings of Synod will be an 
 uplift and an inspiration to the whole Church. 
 
 God grant you, young men, a view of the majesty 
 of the court of God's house and give it you to serve 
 Him there with grace and with power. 
 
 minutes the reasons for translating a minister ; and, when the 
 act is likely to give much dissatisfaction to his people, a copy 
 of these reasons shall be sent to them by their commissioners." 
 
 END OF SECOND SERIES 
 
THE THIRD SERIES 
 
 "The Covenanter Vision" will be divided into three 
 parts: (i) The Pastor in Relation to the Whole 
 Church and to the Kingdom of Christ; (2) The Pas- 
 tor in Relation to the World; (3) Distinctive Cove- 
 nanter Principles, or, Reasons for the Existence of 
 the Covenanter Church. 
 
 Included in this volume will be a sermon on Cove- 
 nanting, "The Covenanter Vision." 
 
 255