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THE MINISTER A MAN 
 AMONG MEN 
 
 WITH A 
 
 Biographical Sketch of 
 Rev. Charles F. McCauley, D.D. 
 
 REV. RUFUS W. MILLER, D.D. 
 
 Secretary, Publication and Sunday School 
 Board of the Reformed Church 
 
 HEIDELBERG PRESS 
 
 FIFTEENTH AND RACE STREETS 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
 

 Copyright, 1917, by Rufus W. Miller 
 
 Steinman & Foltz, 
 Lancaster, Pa. 
 
 JUL -3 1917 
 ©CI.A470253 
 

 
 To 
 
 The McCauley Family 
 Whose devotion to their parents and 
 to their Church presents an 
 inspiring example 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 Foreword 9 
 
 Chapter I. 
 Life of Rev. Charles F. McCauley, D.D.. . . 17 
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 The Minister's Personality and Manners. . . 69 
 
 Chapter III. 
 
 The Minister as a Man in his Relation to and 
 with Others 119 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 
 The Minister as a Man in Relation to the 
 Church 165 
 
"There is a land where a man, to live, must 
 be a man. 
 
 "It is a land of granite and marble and por- 
 phyry and gold — and a man's strength must 
 be as the strength of the primeval hills. It is 
 a land of oaks and cedars and pines — and a 
 man's mental grace must be as the grace of 
 the untamed trees. It is a land of far-arched 
 and unstained skies, where the wind sweeps 
 free and untainted, and the atmosphere is the 
 atmosphere of those places that remain as God 
 made them — and a man's soul must be as the 
 unstained skies, the unburdened wind, and the 
 untainted atmosphere. It is a land of wide 
 mesas, of wild, rolling pastures and broad, un- 
 titled valley meadows — and a man's freedom 
 must be that freedom which is not bounded by 
 the fences of a too weak and timid convention- 
 alism. 
 
 "In this land every man is — by divine right — 
 his own king; he is his own jury, his own counsel, 
 his own judge, and — if it must be — his own 
 executioner." 
 
 From "When a Man's a Man." 
 
The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 Foreword 
 
 TN THE winter and spring of 1915 
 * the writer gave by invitation the 
 first course of lectures under the Rev. 
 Charles F. McCauley Lectureship, Theo- 
 logical Seminary of the Reformed Church, 
 Lancaster, Pa. The members of the fac- 
 ulty and others kindly suggested the 
 publication of the lectures, with a bio- 
 graphical sketch of the late Rev. Charles 
 F. McCauley, D.D. 
 
 The occasion of the establishment of 
 the Rev. Charles F. McCauley Lecture- 
 ship on "The Minister as a Student of 
 Human Nature, Clerical Manners and as 
 an Executive," it is fair to say, arose 
 from the fact that Dr. McCauley fre- 
 quently said in the home circle that he 
 wished theological students were required 
 (») 
 
10 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 to study "Miller on Clerical Manners." 
 This statement had reference to a book, 
 long since out of print, entitled "Letters 
 on Clerical Manners and Habits/' ad- 
 dressed to a student in the Theological 
 Seminary of Princeton, New Jersey, by 
 Samuel Miller, D.D., Professor of Eccle- 
 siastical History and Church Govern- 
 ment in the said seminary, published 
 1827. 
 
 During the latter years of Dr. Mc- 
 Cauley's life this subject of Clerical 
 Manners was frequently discussed in 
 connection with the practical work of 
 the ministry among the young and es- 
 pecially the modern Sunday School and 
 Young People's Societies. This lecture- 
 ship is, therefore, a beautiful and ap- 
 propriate memorial which the daughter 
 of Dr. McCauley has established, grow- 
 ing out, not only of the conversation of 
 the home circle, but also of the life and 
 character of Dr. McCauley himself. 
 
Foreword 11 
 
 Dr. McCauley was a noble, stately 
 figure among us. There was a certain 
 old-world grace and courtesy reflecting 
 the strength and dignity of his soul. In 
 the family circle, among the homes of 
 his parishioners, in the congregation and 
 Sunday School, in the wide sweep of the 
 community and in the church at large, 
 Dr. McCauley was known for his cath- 
 olicity of mind, his comradeship of man- 
 ner, his considerateness for others and 
 his charity in the discernment of others' 
 opinions. 
 
 It was the writer's privilege to be 
 intimately associated with Dr. McCauley 
 during the last years of his life, both 
 as pastor's assistant and as a member 
 of his home. Speaking from personal 
 knowledge and the gracious influence of 
 his personality, the writer aims to present, 
 from the standpoint of his example, a 
 few thoughts on the general subject of 
 "The Minister A Man Among Men." 
 
« * * * By a g ne gentleman, I mean a man 
 completely qualified as well for the service and 
 good, as for the ornament and delight, of so- 
 ciety. When I consider the frame of mind 
 peculiar to a gentleman, I suppose it graced 
 with all the dignity and elevation of spirit that 
 human nature is capable of. To this I would 
 have joined a clear understanding, a reason 
 free from prejudice, a steady judgment, and an 
 extensive knowledge. When I think of the 
 heart of a gentleman, I imagine it firm and 
 intrepid, void of all inordinate passions, and 
 full of tenderness, compassion, and benevolence. 
 When I view the fine gentleman with regard 
 to his manners, methinks I see him modest 
 without bashfulness, frank and affable without 
 impertinence, obliging and complaisant without 
 servility, cheerful and in good humor without 
 noise. These amiable qualities are not easily 
 obtained, neither are there many men that have 
 a genius to excel this way. A finished gentle- 
 man is perhaps the most uncommon of ail the 
 great characters in life. Besides the natural 
 endowments with which this distinguished man 
 is to be born, he must run through a long series 
 of education. Before he makes his appearance 
 and shines in the world, he must be principled 
 in religion, instructed in all the moral virtues, 
 and led through the whole course of the polite 
 (13) 
 
arts and sciences. He should be no stranger to 
 courts and camps; he must travel to open his 
 mind, to enlarge his views, to learn the policies 
 and interests of foreign states as well as to 
 fashion and polish himself and to get clear of 
 national prejudices, of which every country has 
 its share. To all these more essential improve- 
 ments he must not forget to add the fashionable 
 ornaments of life, such as are the languages 
 and the bodily exercises most in vogue; neither 
 would I have him think even dress itself be- 
 neath his notice." 
 
 (14) 
 
LIFE OF REV. CHARLES F. 
 McCAULEY, D.D. 
 
 , 
 
CHARLES F. McCAULEY 
 
 rpHE life of Rev. Dr. Charles Firey 
 * McCauley illustrates the truth of 
 Emerson's saying: "We work as much 
 by antagonism as by inspiration." 
 
 From his youth he encountered for- 
 midable hindrances. His life began in 
 a peaceful country home in Ringgold's 
 Manor, ten miles south of Hagerstown, 
 Maryland, where he was born January 5, 
 1816. His early education was secured 
 in a country school of his native district 
 and in the Reformed Church High School 
 at York, Pa. His parents were pros- 
 perous and prominent people in that 
 section of the country, but by reason of 
 the untimely death of his father and, 
 subsequently, the second marriage of his 
 mother, he was thrown upon his own 
 resources. 
 
 He entered Yale College and graduated 
 from that institution with high honors, 
 
 (17) 
 
18 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 in 1838. After his graduation he taught, 
 for two years, a family school at Natchez, 
 Mississippi. This work proved of great 
 service to him from a literary point of 
 view. Later, he studied in Princeton 
 Theological Seminary and then in the 
 Theological Seminary of the Reformed 
 Church at Mercersburg, Pa., graduating 
 in 1843. His attractive and forceful per- 
 sonality, enriched by his natural endow- 
 ments, and his thorough preparation for 
 the ministry, attracted the attention of 
 the Rev. Dr. John W. Nevin, President 
 of the Seminary, through whose influ- 
 ence and advice the young minister was 
 ordained and installed pastor of the Re- 
 formed Church at Mercersburg, Pa., 
 June 11, 1843. Indeed, by special per- 
 mission of the authorities of the Sem- 
 inary, Dr. McCauley began his ministry 
 in the Mercersburg Church prior to the 
 time of his graduation. Here he at once 
 manifested evidences of indefatigable zeal 
 
Charles F. McCauley 19 
 
 and singular ability. During his short 
 pastorate the congregation increased 
 largely in numbers and made preparation 
 for the erection of a new church building. 
 
 On November 1, 1845, he became pas- 
 tor of the Reformed Church at Middle- 
 town, Maryland, and continued in this 
 position until December 6th, 1855, when 
 he entered upon the pastorate of the 
 Second Reformed Church in the city of 
 Reading, Pa. 
 
 His pastorate at Middletown was 
 marked by an unusual intimacy between 
 pastor and people. This was evidenced 
 by the fact that when he resigned the 
 congregation sent a protest and a large 
 delegation to the Classis and for hours, 
 on the floor of this judicatory, made an 
 earnest effort to prevent the dissolution 
 of the pastorate. His strong conviction 
 of duty, however, led him to go to Read- 
 ing, in the face of the fact that the Mid- 
 dletown people offered, if he would re- 
 
20 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 main, to pay him a salary twice as large 
 as that which he would receive in Read- 
 ing. 
 
 A significant feature of his Middletown 
 pastorate was the erection of a separate 
 building (1846) for the use of the Sunday 
 School, and the maintenance of a paroch- 
 ial school — a school with a very extended 
 curriculum, organized and carried for- 
 ward by the congregation, under the 
 general direction of the pastor. During 
 this period, also, the church building 
 was remodeled and the country congre- 
 gation at Burkittsville was constituted 
 a charge by itself. As late as 1893 the 
 pastor of the Middletown congregation, 
 Rev. T. F. Hoffmeier, wrote concerning 
 Dr. McCauley: "He was held in high 
 esteem not only by the members of his 
 own church but by members of all 
 churches, and by persons of no church. 
 It may perhaps be said that no minister 
 ever resided here who was so universally 
 beloved as Dr. McCauley." 
 
Charles F. McCauley 21 
 
 In those days he frequently visited 
 his people on horseback. Members of 
 the church who were little children dur- 
 ing his pastorate have given illustrations 
 of his attention and kindness to them. 
 They relate how, in the home, he would 
 speak to them, sometimes playing games, 
 such as marbles, with the boys, and how, 
 quite often, he would invite children 
 to ride with him on horseback. After 
 church service he would frequently lift 
 little children into the carriages of their 
 parents. 
 
 Dignified in appearance and manner, 
 he was kind and gentle in his bearing, 
 always a real gentleman in the best sense 
 of the word, and never too formal to 
 draw to himself the little ones of the 
 flock. That he was a faithful and fear- 
 less watchman upon the walls of Zion 
 is evidenced by a stirring address on the 
 subject of Temperance which he deliv- 
 ered at Middletown, Maryland, in 1846, 
 
22 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 on the occasion of the presentation of a 
 Bible by the ladies of Middletown to 
 Catocine Division No. 30, Sons of Tem- 
 perance. By request, the address was 
 published. It is an eloquent and fearless 
 arraignment of the liquor traffic and of 
 the attendant evils of intemperance. It 
 commends the use of the Bible as a chart, 
 and its principles and teachings as the 
 only security for individuals and the 
 state. Here is a passage worthy of proc- 
 lamation from every pulpit: 
 
 "Rush, then, O! rush to the rescue 
 of suffering humanity. Save the drunk- 
 ard from the disgrace that awaits him. 
 Open his eyes to the appalling exhibition 
 of misery which is seen in his own family; 
 unstop his ears to the plaintive cries 
 that come from the broken heart of the 
 wife, whom, on the bridal eve, he swore 
 solemnly before men and in the sight of 
 Heaven to protect, to honor and to love, 
 and soften his feelings that he may once 
 
Charles F. McCauley 23 
 
 more become capable of sympathetic and 
 natural affection. Dash the scarlet gob- 
 let untasted from his thirsty lips and 
 frown upon the bacchanalian priesthood 
 who minister to his vitiated taste! Yes, 
 frown upon them until they quail be- 
 neath your withering glance — for al- 
 though their service is authorized by the 
 law of God and man, from what strange 
 and unheard-of principle is it that a man 
 finds no mercy when he administers 
 poison to his neighbors, but must be 
 rewarded for his labor when he presents 
 the intoxicating bowl, a slower but no 
 less certain poison? 
 
 "Should any one pick your pocket in 
 this crowd, he is indictable for an offense 
 against the State. Whence thus is it, 
 that he has done a meritorious act who 
 has stolen away the reason of some un- 
 fortunate creature? 
 
 "We have laws to punish him who is 
 accessory to the injury to property — 
 
24 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 how then shall we define the conduct 
 which sends forth the drunkard, reeling 
 through the streets at the dead of night, 
 with a lighted cigar, to wander amid the 
 combustible materials that are often 
 found in every village and city? But 
 worse, far worse than all, by grogsellers 
 the torch of discord and contention is 
 applied to our domestic relations and, 
 instead of joy, peace and harmony, dis- 
 sension, bickering and sorrow mingle to- 
 gether around the fireside. And to close 
 the scene, insanity and death are by them 
 spread broadcast in the land. 
 
 "Arise, then, and resist the enemies of 
 Temperance, the enemies of man, and 
 that you may do so with the utmost 
 efficiency, take this holy Book as the 
 chart by which to steer your course." 
 
 Illustrating the affectionate relations 
 which should subsist between pastor and 
 people, as well as the tenderness, humil- 
 ity and gratitude of Dr. McCauley, the 
 
Charles F. McCauley 25 
 
 closing paragraph of his farewell sermon 
 to the Middletown congregation, deliv- 
 ered December 6, 1855, is well worth 
 reading. The text was 2 Peter, Chapter 
 1, Verse 15, "Moreover I will endeavor 
 that ye may be able, after my decease, 
 to have these things always in remem- 
 brance." 
 
 "But Heaven seems to beckon me 
 away. O, may she give me strength, 
 as this gloomy day seems in sympathy 
 with my saddest heart. How severe the 
 trial as I at this moment look back upon 
 the past. For more than ten years I 
 have had freely extended to me and 
 mine, amid many sorrows, the kind at- 
 tention of my faithful physicians and 
 from farmers, mechanics, merchants, men 
 of business, laborers, all, favors that 
 bind me with a power to you that noth- 
 ing can overcome. To one and all I feel 
 bound by the ties of friendship. But, 
 brethren and sisters, the parting hour 
 
26 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 has come, and we who have lived so long 
 in the sacred intercourse which holds 
 between pastor and people must now 
 clasp each other's hand for the last time, 
 in this capacity, to meet again as wit- 
 nesses at the bar of God. 
 
 "If this intercourse has ever been 
 marred by an unholy feeling, if in the heat 
 of excitement our infirmity has appeared 
 in 'hasty words uttered,' or rash acts 
 committed, let this day, whose fleeting 
 hours are closing over the grave of our 
 intimacy, quench every burning thought, 
 bury in oblivion every unf orgiven wrong, 
 that no shadow may rest on the memory 
 of our fellowship, that no throb may rend 
 the heart, when we learn that one whose 
 frailties we never forgave can no longer 
 be affected by our contrition, nor reached 
 by our friendship. Let all hearts burst 
 the chains of selfishness and commingle 
 in pure union in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
 
Charles F. McCauley 27 
 
 "Beloved, our pilgrimage as pastor and 
 people is over. More than ten years of 
 Christian intercourse have bound round 
 our hearts the bonds of friendship and 
 love. The ties have been interwoven 
 with our very being's growth — ties which 
 here are seemingly severed, yet ties by 
 which we shall find ourselves indissolubly 
 bound together even in the eternal world. 
 Though one in Christ wherever our lot 
 be cast, yet how hard to wrench our 
 hearts asunder for a little while, until 
 the weary wanderings of earth are over — 
 how harsh that word, farewell: 
 
 'A word that must be and hath been, 
 A sound that makes us linger; yet — 
 farewell!'" 
 
 Dr. McCauley entered upon his duties 
 as pastor of the Second Reformed Church, 
 Reading, Pa., December 16, 1855. This 
 was two months and a half after the 
 resignation of Rev. Moses Kieffer, who 
 
28 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 had accepted the call to a Professorship 
 in the Theological Seminary at Tiffin, 
 Ohio. The congregation extended Dr. 
 McCauley a call before hearing him 
 preach. It was promptly declined. Af- 
 ter earnest solicitation he preached before 
 the congregation October 21, 1855, but 
 expressed from the pulpit his determina- 
 tion not to accept a call to become the 
 pastor. The following day the Consis- 
 tory acquainted him with the dangers 
 which threatened the congregation and 
 appealed so strongly to him that he 
 finally yielded, to become the leader of 
 what seemed to be a forlorn hope. 
 
 The history of the Second Church il- 
 lustrates the difficulties which occasion- 
 ally attend the transition from the Ger- 
 man to the English language. People 
 feel most strongly on the subject of their 
 religion and of their racial and national 
 characteristics. It required great tact 
 and wise leadership to meet the situation. 
 
Charles F. McCauley 29 
 
 Rev. John Casper Bucher, pastor of the 
 First Reformed Church, Reading, sought 
 to introduce English preaching with the 
 German. He was of the conviction that 
 that old church should send out a colony 
 to establish a purely English congrega- 
 tion. He was partly successful in his 
 efforts, for twenty-five members of the 
 First Church, along with a few others, 
 organized the Second Church in July, 
 
 1848. Rev. Dr. Thomas C. Porter was 
 the first pastor of the Second congrega- 
 tion, conducting services in a public 
 school building. After a short pastorate, 
 
 1849, Dr. Porter accepted the Professor- 
 ship of Natural Science at Mercersburg 
 and the congregation returned for worship 
 to the old church, but retained its organi- 
 zation. Later, a building was erected 
 and dedicated amidst many anxious hopes 
 and fears. 
 
 Embarrassments of the most trying 
 character now succeeded each other. 
 
30 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 The struggle for existence of the new 
 church, during both the later period of 
 Rev. Mr. Kieffer's pastorate and the 
 beginning of Dr. McCauley's, is marked 
 by a zeal and self-denial creditable in the 
 highest degree to the worthy Christian 
 men and women with whose tears it was 
 baptized. Other denominations made 
 overtures to it to pay the debt and con- 
 tribute six hundred dollars a year to 
 the support of the pastor, on condition 
 that the congregation transfer denomina- 
 tional relationship. The propositions 
 were promptly declined. 
 
 Dr. McCauley began his ministry on 
 a promise of a salary of seven hundred 
 dollars per year. The little congregation 
 of one hundred and twenty members was 
 frequently dilatory in payment of the 
 salary. The people were generous but 
 they were struggling to liquidate a heavy 
 church debt. The mother church failed 
 to render the assistance promised. There 
 
Charles F. McCauley 31 
 
 were many who did not look favorably 
 upon an exclusively English congregation. 
 In a letter to the Consistory of the 
 First German Reformed Church, as it was 
 then known, the statement was made that 
 "the necessities of the congregation were met, 
 for the most part, by a voluntary increased 
 taxation assumed by the members of the con- 
 gregation and others, and that, by putting 
 forth every ability to the utmost and the exer- 
 cise of the strictest economy and self-denial, 
 the interest was paid and the debt reduced 
 considerably, but, under the embarrassing influ- 
 ence of the late pecuniary crisis and the loss of 
 some of the pillars of our church, by death, we 
 feel that God has hedged up our path and 
 there seems to be no way to go forward without 
 aid from abroad, and, sustaining the relation 
 to you of a daughter to a mother, we naturally 
 turn our eyes homeward first, and this we do 
 the more cheerfully because we hope that in 
 our early home the parental heart still beats 
 affectionately and that our wants will elicit 
 a corresponding sympathy. With a church debt 
 upon us we are not able to accomplish our 
 mission for reasons which you can appreciate. 
 
32 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 Our own efforts to remove it are proving greatly 
 injurious to the prospects of the congregation. 
 With us, individual power has been exhausted 
 and what to do, we know not. But rest assured 
 that no stone shall remain unturned if thereby 
 we may perform the work assigned us and 
 promote the interests of the German Reformed 
 Church in this city. To remove the debt by 
 turning away our home and severing ourselves 
 from present ecclesiastical relations and friends 
 would be to us distressing beyond measure. 
 Of this you have ample assurance in our past 
 refusal to do so, a refusal which has cost us 
 a large amount of money but with which we 
 are well satisfied if, in the end, our self-denial 
 be no loss to our beloved Zion, which God and 
 the Church forbid. 
 
 "To you we now look for aid in our extremity. 
 We come as a daughter to a mother and tell 
 our difficulties and dangers, confident in the 
 expectation that your wisdom and piety will 
 direct a proper course of action whilst holding 
 ourselves in readiness to answer any questions 
 or make any further explanations. We anx- 
 iously await your reply. 
 
 "In behalf of the Second Church." 
 
Charles F. McCauley 33 
 
 An unfavorable answer was made to 
 this appeal. Then an appeal for aid 
 was made through Synod, which resulted 
 in only a single contribution. Personal 
 application was at last found necessary. 
 There was danger of foreclosure on the 
 property. In the midst of a snow-storm 
 and under discouraging circumstances, 
 Dr. McCauley went on this mission, Feb- 
 ruary 16, 1860. From the first effort 
 $3192.95 was collected without any 
 expense to the congregation. The total 
 sum collected by him and paid over to 
 the treasurer of the church amounted to 
 $7256.27. His letters in the "Reformed 
 Church Messenger," acknowledging the 
 receipt of individual gifts from various 
 congregations and giving his experiences, 
 make interesting reading. In his first 
 letter, speaking of presenting himself, as 
 circumstances allowed, at the door of the 
 church, asking aid for immediate relief, 
 he says: "Had I consulted inclination I 
 
34 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 would have declined the undertaking, but 
 the pressing demands of the congregation 
 render it necessary for me to be forgetful 
 of personal feeling." 
 
 From time to time during a period of 
 three years, Dr. McCauley visited con- 
 gregations in Pennsylvania and Mary- 
 land. He made frequent acknowledg- 
 ment of the kindness and sympathy he 
 received from pastors and people, and 
 of the formation of friendships. He gave 
 interesting accounts of the progress of 
 the congregations visited and referred 
 more than once to incidents calculated 
 to cheer the heart and illustrate personal 
 and congregational piety. Evidently his 
 visits to the home and his public ad- 
 dresses touched the hearts even of chil- 
 dren. Preaching in his former field at 
 Middletown, on one of these trips, after 
 having received from the congregation, 
 a few years previously, a large contribu- 
 tion for the church debt, he obtained a 
 
Charles F. McCauley 35 
 
 second liberal offering and, as he was 
 leaving the church, had the following 
 interesting experience: "A little friend , 
 Maggie Smith, with smiling counten- 
 ance, placed an apple in my hand whilst 
 bidding me a cordial welcome. Subse- 
 quently, I presented it to a female friend 
 who, in connection with several others, 
 concluded that such an appropriation of 
 it, as private property, would be a viola- 
 tion of my trust, and hence they deter- 
 mined to sell it for the use of the Second 
 Church. The issue of the matter was 
 that, after passing hands a number of 
 times, they paid me $15.36 as the pro- 
 ceeds of the sale. It brought as much as 
 $3.50 in a single instance." 
 
 While soliciting in Allentown, where a 
 number of liberal subscriptions were 
 made, a little girl who had been taught 
 to give to all benevolent causes, after 
 hearing a statement of the condition of 
 the Second Church, expressed her regret 
 
36 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 that her savings-box contained only 20 
 cents, and at the same time her intention 
 to give what she had. Her mother sug- 
 gested that the sum was too small to 
 offer, but the girl remained unchanged 
 in her purpose, and said that she wished 
 to give, not only to aid the present neces- 
 sity, but that in case of her future re- 
 moval to Reading, she might be able 
 to find a house in which to worship God 
 in the erection of which she had borne 
 a part. Dr. McCauley significantly 
 
 added, "Would that all God's people 
 felt as that little girl does. Then no 
 good cause would be permitted to lan- 
 guish for want of funds." 
 
 At Carlisle, speaking of the delightful 
 hospitality of the people and the kindness 
 of the pastor and elder, he said: "By the 
 way it may not be out of place to mention 
 a pleasing little incident which occurred. 
 Master Stephen R,. Huyett, having 
 learned that a collection would probably 
 
Charles F. McCauley 37 
 
 be taken in our behalf during the Sabbath 
 service, prepared himself with a dollar 
 of his savings as a contribution, but, no 
 such collection being taken, he embraced 
 the first opportunity to hand it to me in 
 person and he did it with a gracefulness 
 and modesty that would have done honor 
 to an older member of the church. 
 Whilst he is the youngest confirmed 
 member, he is, if I may judge from what 
 I see and hear, all things considered, one 
 of the most liberal." 
 
 Dr. McCauley in after years often 
 referred to his series of journeys extend- 
 ing over 4500 miles and occupying weeks 
 at a time. It was a difficult task, done 
 at great personal sacrifice, illustrating 
 also the singleness of purpose, the devo- 
 tion and the persistent energy of the 
 man. 
 
 The successful establishment of this 
 English congregation had a profound in- 
 fluence upon the mother church, and, 
 
38 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 by the wise suggestion and influence of 
 Dr. McCauley, was the means of bring- 
 ing Rev. Dr. Benjamin Bausman to 
 Reading, as pastor of the First Church. 
 During the long pastorate of Dr. Mc- 
 Cauley, the Second Church became noted 
 for its benevolent giving. It grew strong 
 and influential. 
 
 Frequently its annual contributions 
 for benevolence exceeded the amount of 
 its own current expenses. It returned 
 many-fold the generous support accorded 
 it in its time of stress and struggle. 
 
 On the occasion of the thirty -fifth anni- 
 versary of Dr. McCauley's pastorate, 
 an address was made by Dr. Bausman. 
 He said it was through Dr. McCauley's 
 activity that he came to Reading, and 
 at a time when he was an invalid at 
 Chambersburg and not expected to sur- 
 vive many years. Dr. Bausman's friends 
 at Chambersburg tried to persuade Dr. 
 McCauley not to take a supposedly dy- 
 
Charles F. McCauley 39 
 
 ing man from Chambersburg, when he 
 replied: "Reading is as near Heaven as 
 Chambersburg is and if he dies I will 
 guarantee him a proper funeral." During 
 those days when Dr. Bausman looked 
 to Dr. McCauley as his chief counselor 
 and friend, their souls became knit to- 
 gether in the bonds of brotherhood. The 
 nature of this intimacy Dr. Bausman 
 strongly expressed in these words: 
 "Twice Dr. McCauley has knelt at my 
 bedside in prayer when I was supposed 
 to be dying. Twice I have passed 
 
 through a similar ordeal at his bedside/ ' 
 Rev. Dr. James I. Good, who also 
 spoke on this anniversary occasion, said 
 he was a Sunday School scholar when 
 Dr. McCauley first came to Reading 
 and that the good Doctor was always 
 a friend of the children. He, himself, 
 had gone out from the Second Reformed 
 Sunday School into the ministry, as 
 others have done, and he willingly bore 
 
40 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 testimony to the efficiency of the pastor's 
 work. 
 
 Confirmatory of Dr. Good's reference 
 to Dr. McCauley's kindness to children 
 may be mentioned the testimony of an- 
 other minister who was a son of the 
 Second Church. He relates that as a 
 boy he would run several blocks in order 
 to have Dr. McCauley speak to him. 
 
 In an editorial in the Reading "Tele- 
 gram" there was expressed the high 
 esteem in which he was held and the 
 character of his work as pastor of the 
 Second Church. The editor said: 
 
 "A pastor for thirty-five years, a record of 
 remarkable trials and experiences crowned by 
 a success due to an untiring industry and per- 
 sonal zeal and fidelity to the cause in which 
 he was engaged; that is its own brilliant com- 
 parison. 
 
 "The masterly executive ability which gave 
 an unpropitious project a place among the 
 foremost achievements is not the only measure 
 of merit. From the pulpit there came the 
 
Charles F. McCauley 41 
 
 finished words of scholarship, profound Bible 
 lore and practical thoughts on the duties of 
 Christians. These efforts were perhaps never 
 more effective and popular than now, for they 
 are presented with apostolic authority and are 
 like richest gems set in classic beauty and of 
 rare value." 
 
 Dr. McCauley was in a real sense the 
 father of the Reformed Church Extension 
 in Reading. The place of leadership, 
 however, is willingly accorded Dr. Ben- 
 jamin Bausman, but the two men were 
 inseparably associated in every forward 
 movement. Both men were remarkable 
 for their modesty and humility of char- 
 acter; both were of marked courage and 
 unselfishness in the performance of duty. 
 
 The relationship between Dr. Mc- 
 Cauley and his people was most intimate. 
 The congregation was devoted to its 
 pastor and was mindful of his self-sac- 
 rificing labors and his large, noble per- 
 sonality. As the infirmities of years 
 came upon him the congregation was 
 
42 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 glad to lighten his labors by giving him 
 an assistant. In September, 1886, Rev. 
 Rufus W. Miller was ordained and for- 
 mally inducted into the office of Assistant 
 to the Pastor. He continued as assistant 
 until the resignation of Dr. McCauley. 
 It may be well to note that Dr. Mc- 
 Cauley, during these five years of associ- 
 ated service, usually preached once a 
 Sunday, and entered heartily into the 
 plans and activities of his assistant. 
 
 Always a wise counselor, he never, 
 by word or suggestion, checked youthful 
 enthusiasm. He approved of the new 
 methods of organization, such as the 
 Home Department of the Sunday School, 
 established in May, 1887, the grading of 
 the Sunday School, Young People's So- 
 cieties, special work for young men, etc. 
 He joined heartily in the advocacy of 
 the Brotherhood of Andrew and Philip, 
 which was started in the Second Church, 
 May 4, 1888. 
 
Charles F. McCauley 43 
 
 The congregation grew most rapidly 
 and prospered greatly the last five years 
 of Dr. McCauley's pastorate, because he 
 was so wise and tactful in associating 
 with himself a young assistant and 
 worked with him in such complete unity 
 and harmony. Three hundred members 
 were added during these five years and 
 $30,000 given to benevolent objects. 
 
 During the thirty-six years of Dr. 
 McCauley's ministry in Reading the 
 number of Reformed churches in that 
 city grew from two to twelve. The last 
 year of his ministry was marked by the 
 erection of a building for Faith Reformed 
 Church, the money for which was given 
 by members of the Second Church under 
 the leadership of Dr. McCauley and his 
 assistant, Rev. Rufus W. Miller, D.D. 
 Indeed this spirit of church extension 
 served to hasten the resignation of Dr. 
 McCauley as pastor. The necessity of 
 taking care of Faith Church as a mission, 
 
44 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 because of its character and location, 
 along with the large and growing work of 
 the Second congregation and the failing 
 health of Dr. McCauley, made his retire- 
 ment imperative in order to meet the 
 new situation. He presented his resig- 
 nation and was made pastor emeritus for 
 life. 
 
 In his farewell sermon, given Novem- 
 ber 26, 1891, he said: 
 
 "Sorrow and joy have been my lot and death 
 has three times entered my household. God has 
 given me his repeated benediction and many 
 favors have I received from you. I thank God 
 for having counted me worthy to be put into 
 the ministry, although more lucrative pursuits 
 and enjoyments were held out to me when I 
 began. But to me this is a sad day for it severs 
 ties which bind my heart strongly to you. It 
 is entwined with the cradles of your children 
 and the coffins of your dear ones. Ties which 
 take hold of your sick beds and bind me to your 
 social hearth, blazing with the fires of kindness. 
 
 "I bespeak a welcome for my successor but 
 I ask, for the pastor who has been permitted 
 
Charles F. McCauley 45 
 
 to pilot you for thirty-six years of the best 
 years of his life, that you may keep a chair 
 by the hearthstone which the old Scotch re- 
 served for worn-out parents. 
 
 "Why do I retire when so essentially bound 
 to you and yours? Failing strength reminds 
 me of my inability to do what must be done 
 in our enlarged work. I would retire grace- 
 fully when our work is most flourishing and 
 in a condition to still further advance. 'Ye 
 are my crown and rejoicing."* 
 
 Dr. McCauley did not long survive his 
 active pastorate. He died June 19, 1892, 
 aged seventy-six years, five months and 
 fourteen days. In his last hours, in his 
 delirium, he was apparently engaged in 
 pastoral labors, in preaching and an- 
 nouncing hymns. He repeated the hymn, 
 "Jesus, Lover of my Soul" and the 
 Twenty-third Psalm and his warrior 
 spirit left the body with the last words 
 upon his lips: "A few more struggles and 
 the battle will be won." Just before, 
 he had spoken and quoted to his daugh- 
 
46 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 ter: "The Lord is my Shepherd" and 
 "I Know that my Redeemer Liveth." 
 
 Yes, the Lord is "a very present help 
 in time of trouble." 
 
 It is well never to forget that the 
 success of a pastor's life is conditioned 
 largely by his family and especially that 
 of his helpmeet — his wife. Dr. Mc- 
 Cauley was blessed with a wife fully 
 devoted to his work. Mrs. Maria Mc- 
 Cauley was one of seven daughters of 
 Adam Hoke, born in Mercersburg, Pa., 
 January 17, 1825. Adam Hoke was a 
 man of substantial means and large in- 
 telligence, a member of the Mercersburg 
 congregation. Several of his daughters 
 married ministers. On May 2, 1844, 
 while Dr. McCauley was pastor at Mer- 
 cersburg, they were united in the bonds 
 of matrimony. Eight children, three 
 sons and five daughters, were born to 
 them, as follows: Martha Ellen, who 
 married Mr. William M. Fox, Reading, 
 
Charles F. McCauley 47 
 
 Pa.; Charles A. H., who graduated with 
 distinction at West Point Military Acad- 
 emy in 1870 and served the government 
 continuously for forty-three years, being 
 retired with the rank of Colonel and 
 Assistant Quartermaster General U. S. A. 
 He served with distinction in this country 
 through several Indian campaigns and 
 in the Philippine Islands; Edwin B., who 
 was engaged in the iron business; Harriet 
 Olivia, who, after the death of her mother, 
 became his housekeeper and after her 
 father's death married Hon. Andrew R. 
 Schnebley, Mercersburg, Pa., and by her 
 will established the Rev. Dr. Charles F. 
 McCauley Lectureship in the Theological 
 Seminary in the Reformed Church, Lan- 
 caster, Pa.; Emily A. M., who married 
 Luther A. Yarrington, connected with 
 the Reading Iron Works; Clara, who 
 taught for several years in the Allentown 
 College for Women; Katharine Louise, 
 who married Rev. Rufus W. Miller, 
 
48 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 D.D., Secretary, Publication and Sunday 
 School Board of the Reformed Church, 
 Philadelphia, Pa.; Harry Weber, who 
 graduated with distinction at Yale Uni- 
 versity, 1888, fifty years after his father's 
 graduation, and who is Captain in the 
 Artillery Department of the United 
 States Army. 
 
 As illustrating the faith of Dr. Mc- 
 Cauley and the truly Christian life of 
 the home circle, there is given herewith 
 an extract from a letter written to his 
 daughter while on a visit to her aunt at 
 Mercersburg, Pa.: 
 
 Reading, Pa. 
 July 22, 1881. 
 Dear Daughter, 
 
 We thank you for your daily letters & postals 
 as they prevent unnecessary anxiety. We are 
 so glad you seem to be improving & hope for 
 the best results from your visit now that you 
 have gotten over the overexertion you made in 
 the journey. Please tell uncles Andrew & 
 Henry & Aunt Hally how very much we are 
 
Charles F, McCauley 49 
 
 indebted for their kindness, and especially do 
 we feel thankful to uncle & aunt for the great 
 care they have shown for you. I am sure they 
 have the smiles of your dear sainted mother for 
 all their manifestations of love. Aunt Hally 
 had no greater friend living than your mother. 
 She felt friendly to every one but her love for 
 your aunt knew no bounds. She spoke so to 
 me on the last night of her life & I know that 
 death has not broken that love for it was a love 
 cemented by the blood of our dear Redeemer, 
 & no power, neither life, nor death, can break 
 that kind of attachment. It is the love of 
 your mother that is bearing so rich a harvest to 
 you now — And I know you will properly appre- 
 ciate the kindness shown by uncle & aunt. It 
 is hard to give up so good a mother but God does 
 all things well yet it is very difficult to realize 
 this comforting assurance. Still by faith we 
 may rest assured of this fact. We may believe 
 in the presence of a divine artificer sitting at the 
 loom of what men call chance or fate, & weaving 
 a fabric out of unseemly material that will be 
 both precious & beautiful. "All things work 
 together for good" to God's people. Yes, they 
 so work now. Not some things, not joyous 
 things but all things. You take unseemly 
 
50 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 colors, discordant & jarring notes, separate 
 wheels, or cogs, or parts of wheels, & there seems 
 nothing in them worth notice. Yet mingle the 
 colors, properly placed on the canvas, combine 
 the notes, & arrange the wheels, and what a 
 beautiful picture, what a soul-stirring anthem, 
 what a perfect & admirable machine is the 
 result — We see so small a segment of the grand 
 cycle of God's providence that we can not judge 
 of the ultimate results. Could we see a greater 
 segment many times we would no doubt rejoice 
 where now we weep. Our only comfort is that 
 God is our Father, infinitely wise & infinitely 
 kind, and we may trust him with unwavering 
 confidence. "What he does we know not now, 
 but we shall know hereafter." Our afflictions 
 must be interpreted in this light. He allows 
 sorrows to overtake us often as the fruit of our 
 own impudence or ignorance for our benefit & 
 his glory. We know not at times how to read 
 these dealings but if we try prayerfully to live 
 near the Lord he will show his meaning in the 
 end. 
 
 Now "we study, always failing! 
 
 God can read it, we must wait; 
 Wait, until He teach the mystery, 
 
Charles F. McCauley 51 
 
 Then the wisdom-woven history 
 Faith shall read and love translate. 
 
 Leaflets now unpaged & scattered 
 Time's great library receives; 
 When eternity shall bind them, 
 Golden volumes, we shall find them, 
 God's light falling on the leaves." 
 
 Try to live near the Master & thus may we 
 through grace hope to meet our loved one in 
 peace & blessedness. 
 
 Mrs. McCauley, during thirty-five 
 years of the ministry of Dr. McCauley, 
 stood by the side of her husband. She 
 was well known to many ministers of the 
 Reformed Church. She excelled in hos- 
 pitality and took peculiar pleasure to 
 bestow kindness upon the clergy and to 
 welcome them to her home, but to her 
 husband she was especially a benediction. 
 In seasons of severe labor she cheered 
 him with words of encouraging approval. 
 At times when clouds hung over his soul 
 
52 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 she reminded him of the sun that was 
 sinking behind the clouds. When agon- 
 izing over souls or the faithlessness of 
 his hearers, she helped him to wrestle 
 with God in their behalf, and when 
 grieving over his supposed inefficiency, 
 she pointed him to the unfaltering arm 
 of our Father in Heaven. 
 
 In quietness, in uncomplaining patience, 
 she bore her burdens. Dr. Bausman 
 wrote of her: 
 
 "In works of charity and religion her heart 
 and hands were ever eager to do and devise 
 for the glory of God. In summer's heat, in 
 winter's storm, she walked through our streets 
 in quest of the poor and afflicted. Often she 
 visited the hut of poverty alone, when affliction 
 made walking painful to her, and brought com- 
 fort to God's poor. All this she did at a sacri- 
 fice. I know whereof I affirm when I say that 
 she deprived herself of not a few comforts 
 in order to relieve the wretched. Possibly, 
 sometimes, she may have been compassionate 
 at the expense of discriminating judgment. 
 
Charles F. McCauley 53 
 
 'Oft pity gave ere charity began.' But far 
 better fail in that direction than not give at all." 
 
 How eminently appropriate and sug- 
 gestive of the remarkably helpful relations 
 and work of Dr. and Mrs. McCauley, is 
 the fact that Dr. George F. and Emily K. 
 Baer, who became members of the Second 
 Church during the period of the pastorate 
 of Dr. McCauley, placed a large and 
 most beautiful memorial window back 
 of the pulpit to the memory of Dr. and 
 Mrs. McCauley. 
 
 With the Inscription: 
 
 "To the Glory of God and in memory of Rev. Charles 
 Firey McCauley, D.D., the beloved and honored Pastor — 
 From 1855 to 1892 by George F. and Emily K. Baer." 
 
 A brief reference to Colonel Charles 
 A. H. McCauley, the eldest son, is per- 
 tinent. Colonel McCauley beautifully 
 illustrated the close, loving relations of 
 the members of Dr. McCauley's family. 
 He never failed to write daily to his 
 father, and he was continually planning 
 
54 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 pleasant surprises in the way of gifts, etc., 
 to his sisters. Colonel McCauley served 
 in the Quartermaster's Department of 
 the United States Army, and in that 
 capacity lived in a number of cities 
 throughout the land, as well as in the 
 Philippine Islands. 
 
 In every place he identified himself 
 with a local church, either of his own or 
 of some other denomination, and became 
 active in Christian work. He retained 
 his membership in the Second Reformed 
 Church, Reading, Pa., and was always 
 a liberal contributor. Indeed, he be- 
 came known throughout the Reformed 
 Church for his generous gifts to churches, 
 to the Boards and institutions of 
 the Church. And like his sister, Mrs. 
 Schnebley, he made liberal bequests in 
 his will. His wife, Mrs. Olive Lay Mc- 
 Cauley, and the three children who sur- 
 vive Colonel McCauley are continuing 
 his benefactions. 
 
Charles F. McCauley 55 
 
 Colonel McCauley carried on an exten- 
 sive correspondence with friends and 
 others whom he had met in various 
 places; numerous testimonies have come 
 since his death, of the wide influence 
 for good which he exerted in this way. 
 
 Colonel McCauley enjoyed an enviable 
 army record. He wais an author and 
 at one time a member of several societies 
 devoted to educational research. He 
 issued several treatises upon various 
 subjects, volumes of which now occupy 
 the shelves of the libraries of the leading 
 geographical societies in this country and 
 abroad. He was a Fellow of the Ameri- 
 can Association for the Advancement of 
 Science, a member of the Academy of 
 Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, a member 
 of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, Cam- 
 bridge, Mass., and the National Geo- 
 graphical Society, Washington, D. C, 
 a man of large spirit, broad sympathies, 
 intensely patriotic, and a noble Christian 
 gentleman. 
 
56 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 Dr. McCauley's Larger Work 
 
 Dr. McCauley was preeminently a 
 pastor who gave his chief time and atten- 
 tion to the work of his congregation 
 always with a view of enlisting his con- 
 gregation in the welfare of the community 
 and the work of the Church at large. 
 He never forgot the timely aid rendered 
 to the Second Church by the people of 
 the denomination scattered throughout 
 the country. He inculcated a spirit of 
 benevolence and established the ideal 
 plan of having all public offerings go to 
 the cause of benevolence. Every collec- 
 tion lifted in church services was placed 
 in the hands of a treasurer of benevolence 
 and administered for the missionary and 
 other benevolent objects of the denomi- 
 nation and for the cause of charity. 
 This plan was followed by the Second 
 Church many years before the subject 
 of systematic benevolence was empha- 
 sized in the churches. Naturally, there- 
 
Charles F. McCauley 57 
 
 fore, the congregation never failed to 
 meet its financial obligations and to go 
 beyond the sums apportioned by the 
 Classis or Synod. 
 
 For a period of forty-four years of the 
 forty -nine of his ministry, Dr. McCauley 
 was a member of the Board of Visitors of 
 the Theological Seminary of the Reformed 
 Church. He served as a member of 
 the Board of Home Missions of his de- 
 nomination, was President of the Synod 
 of the Reformed Church in the United 
 States, October, 1873, and in 1872 received 
 the degree of D.D. from Franklin and 
 Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa. He 
 was among the first, in 1878, to endorse 
 and encourage the new movement of the 
 church in behalf of Foreign Missions and 
 he never relaxed his efforts in behalf of 
 that most important cause. While pass- 
 ing through the many years of the dis- 
 cussions in the Reformed Church pertain- 
 ing to the question of doctrine and cultus, 
 
58 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 though having decided convictions, he 
 never became a heated champion of either 
 tendency. He was a man of peace, a man 
 of large charity and tolerance for the 
 views of others. He engaged freely in 
 union services, and especially in his later 
 life advocated cooperation and united 
 efforts with other churches. He used 
 the stated forms in the conduct of worship 
 and yet varied them as the circumstances 
 seemed to demand. He depended upon 
 the careful instruction of the youth, be- 
 lieved in educational religion, yet he was 
 sympathetic toward various forms of 
 evangelism. 
 
 Characteristics 
 
 In person, Dr. McCauley was tall and 
 slim. His presence was impressive and 
 pleasing. He had hazel eyes, which often 
 seemed to be brown, red hair in youth, 
 which became brown as he grew older, 
 features of serious import. He was a 
 beautiful type of the faithful minister. 
 
Charles F. McCauley 59 
 
 A man intensely human, with a loyal, 
 loving heart. He ministered not as a 
 lofty-minded official from his pedestal of 
 prelatical isolation, not in a patronizing 
 or perfunctory manner, but as a brother 
 among the children of our common 
 Father. Dr. McCauley sometimes called 
 himself a Scotch-Irish Pennsylvania- 
 Dutchman, combining in himself three 
 nationalities. 
 
 His father was of Scotch-Irish extrac- 
 tion and his mother from a German 
 ancestry. This combination counts for 
 certain traits of his character. He pos- 
 sessed the robust grit of the Scotch, the 
 impulsive vivacity, willing-heartedness 
 and wit of the Irish, and the indefatigable 
 industry and thoroughness of the Ger- 
 man. Rev. Dr. Benjamin Bausman, for 
 years his intimate friend and colleague, 
 in his sermon preached at the funeral of 
 Dr. McCauley, gave a true portraiture 
 and analysis of the man and his work. 
 Among other things he said: 
 
60 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 "He possessed an ardent temperament; his 
 character and convictions were singularly in- 
 tense. He was intense in his likes and dislikes; 
 an ardent leader of the good and an intense 
 hater of the evil. His ministry was character- 
 ized by conscientiousness and consecration. 
 By nature and by grace our brother seemed 
 to have received a blood anointing. In what- 
 ever he undertook he was in blood earnest. 
 This could be seen in the privacy of his home, 
 in his intercourse with friends, as well as in 
 his pulpit and pastoral ministrations. He 
 wrought the rich appeal of the Gospel into his 
 sermons. Nature and art contributed from 
 their treasures to his ministry. Even his mis- 
 fortunes were turned to fortunate issues. His 
 diseases and bereavements became an education, 
 published for the saving of souls. His active 
 mind, vivid imagination, wealth of illustration 
 and fervid utterance gave him peculiar power 
 as a preacher of the Gospel. His sermons 
 
 usually were vigorous and impressive. He was 
 remarkably apt as an illustrator of dark and 
 difficult questions. With discriminating skill 
 he would draw illustrations from daily life as 
 well as from history and the natural sciences. 
 By means of parable and familiar speech, he 
 
Charles F. McCauley 61 
 
 taught even the unlettered hearer to grasp 
 profound truths. 
 
 "He excelled as a spiritual counselor, a 
 comforter of souls distressed and of minds 
 distressed. Practically he could put himself 
 into their place, and see through their eyes. 
 The grief of his people he often took upon him- 
 self, and their joy made his life more sunny. 
 He knew the path to every home, and found the 
 way to hundreds of hearts. Into homes of 
 culture and huts of want he was welcomed as 
 a Christian gentleman, no less than as a Christ- 
 ian pastor. 
 
 "There was a time when he was familiar 
 with every court and alley of this city. In the 
 uninviting homes of the poor he sat and listened 
 to their sad story. To many he was the best, 
 the only earthly friend they had. He was the 
 father of the fatherless, the friend of the widows. 
 Into his heart of hearts many laid burdens 
 confided to none but God and their pastor. 
 The moans of their sufferings sighed through 
 his prayers, and the music of their joy rang 
 through his devout praise. To a marked degree 
 his sermons were mirrors, in whose reflection 
 the unreported home and heart life of his people 
 was brought to view. The children on the 
 
62 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 street hailed him as a loving father and plucked 
 his coat to share the good man's smile. 
 
 "Thus, year by year, acquaintance deepened 
 into friendship, and friendship ripened into 
 affection. The pastor became endeared as a 
 spiritual father around whose grave hundreds 
 drop their filial tear of bereavement. His sensi- 
 tive nervous temperament felt the slightest 
 touch of kindness and of wrong. It caused 
 him many a pleasure and many a pang. Thereby 
 the life of his people pulsated in his life. Souls 
 that went astray gave him personal pain. Often 
 he groaned and wilted under the reaction of 
 severe conflicts for the good of others. For 
 their sakes he often could not eat by day nor 
 sleep by night. This keen, sympathetic touch 
 with the conduct of his people sometimes gave 
 him a gloomy, pessimistic view of life. 
 
 "The bereavements of his later years left a 
 shadow over his heart which was lifted only 
 by death. First his beloved wife, then a daugh- 
 ter and a son, were borne to their burial. It 
 was the Lord's doing which he bore with Christ- 
 ian resignation, but the unhealed hurt he bore 
 with him to the end. Thereafter, his heart 
 was divided between the home on earth and 
 the home in heaven. How often he stood by 
 
Charles F. McCauley 63 
 
 his three graves in the cemetery, in deep reverie, 
 as though through their gateway he might 
 possibly get a glimpse of those gone before. 
 
 "These bereavements brought the eternal 
 world very near to him. An over-powering 
 sense of the preciousness of our Saviour, and 
 of the soul's perishing need of Him; of the 
 pressing importance of helping people to find 
 and accept Him at once, seemed to be constantly 
 on his mind. He would not rust out but wear 
 out, was his saying. To my mind, one of the 
 pathetic things in this brother's ministerial life 
 was his intense passion for preaching Christ 
 and saving souls, after being physically disabled. 
 Then, more than ever, he longed to tell others 
 what a friend we have in Jesus, what a father 
 we have in God. 
 
 "Thanks to the considerate kindness of his 
 people, this ardent longing of his waning life 
 was at least partially realized. The pastor 
 emeritus died in the harness, as he had often 
 wished to do." 
 
 Dr. John S. Stahr, President and Pro- 
 fessor in Franklin and Marshall College 
 for many years, was intimately associated 
 with Dr. McCauley and the two were 
 very warm and dear friends. He writes: 
 
64 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 "Dr. McCauley was a man of strong con- 
 victions and a highly sensitive organization but 
 with modesty and self-restraint he held himself 
 in check so that he never lost control of himself 
 or was drawn into doing an imprudent thing. 
 He would not only refrain from saying an unkind 
 word to his members, but more than that, he 
 would not allow others to say an unkind word 
 if he could help it. He had keen insight into 
 human nature. He knew when to speak and 
 when to keep silent. He understood when and 
 how to approach those who needed his minis- 
 trations and, although he could reprove and 
 rebuke if the occasion called for it, yet when he 
 did so it was 'the faithful wound of a friend.' 
 
 "Perhaps his strongest trait was his warm- 
 hearted sympathy, the glow of which was felt 
 by all who came under the spell of his person- 
 ality. Dignified in appearance and manner, he 
 was kind and gentle in his bearing. In society 
 generally, a real gentleman in the best sense 
 of the word, but in his congregation he was even 
 more than this — he was the warm-hearted, 
 sympathetic friend. With great delicacy and 
 tact he never tried to force himself into the 
 confidence of his people but he drew their con- 
 fidence as naturally as the sun draws the tender, 
 
Charles F. McCauley 65 
 
 growing plant or the cup of the open flower, and 
 in the confidential relations thus established he 
 could help those in distress. He could counsel 
 and suggest. He could open the way for the 
 beneficent work of the Gospel in the hearts of 
 those to whom he ministered. 
 
 "In the church at large his influence was 
 always widely felt. Modest and self-contained, 
 he shrank from putting himself forward but 
 he was not afraid to speak out strongly when 
 the occasion required it, with a result commen- 
 surate with the strength of his personality." 
 
 Dr. McCauley may be regarded as one 
 of the great out-standing characters 
 which the Reformed Church in the United 
 States has thus far produced. He was a 
 man among men, a faithful pastor with 
 breadth of view and devotion to the 
 Kingdom of Christ. His personality 
 made him a force in his congregation, 
 in the community, in the Church at large, 
 and his gracious influence is still felt. 
 
 He was a man who was faithful in the 
 every-day relations of life and his mem- 
 ory will abide. 
 
66 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 "There is no end to the sky, 
 And the stars are everywhere, 
 And time is eternity, 
 And the here is over there, 
 And the common deeds of the common day 
 Are ringing bells in the far away." 
 
THE MINISTER'S PERSONALITY 
 AND MANNERS 
 
 Thou must be true thyself, 
 
 If thou the truth wouldst teach. 
 
 Thy soul must overflow, if thou 
 Another's soul wouldst reach. 
 
 It needs the overflow of heart 
 To give the lips full speech. 
 
 Think truly, and thy thoughts 
 Shall the world's famine feed; 
 
 Speak truly, and each word of thine 
 Shall be a fruitful seed; 
 
 Live truly, and thy life shall be 
 A great and noble creed. 
 
 "God had but one Son, and He made Him a 
 minister." — Thomas Goodwin. 
 
THE MINISTER'S PERSONALITY 
 AND MANNERS 
 
 Lecture One 
 
 We need ever to remember the funda- 
 mental truth — that the work of the 
 ministry depends primarily upon per- 
 sonality. Dr. Fairbairn, in his Pastoral 
 Theology, has put it forcefully: 
 
 "As the Christianity which should per- 
 vade and distinguish the membership of 
 the Church is emphatically a life, so the 
 Christian ministry, in which it may be 
 said to culminate, must be regarded as: 
 in the first instance a life, and secondarily 
 a work. It has to do primarily with a 
 condition of being and a course of be- 
 havior, and only afterwards with the 
 ministrations of service. Not only must 
 the two so exist together, but they must 
 stand related to each other in the manner 
 now indicated; the life from the first 
 takes precedence of the work and 
 
 (69) 
 
70 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 throughout must hold the place of pre- 
 eminent importance." 
 
 The demands and responsibilities of 
 the ministry challenge us to develop to 
 the utmost the capacities and the best 
 qualities of mind and heart. No other 
 calling has within itself such possibilities 
 of development and fosters such vital 
 relationship of the work to the worker 
 as the ministry. That Great Heart of 
 the past generation, Bishop Brooks, well 
 said: "The Christian ministry is the 
 largest field for the growth of a human 
 soul that this world offers. In it he 
 who is faithful must go on learning more 
 and more forever. It is a continual 
 climbing which opens continually wider 
 prospects. It repeats the experience of 
 Christ's disciples, of whom our Lord was 
 always making larger men and then 
 giving them the larger truth of which 
 their enlarged natures had become capa- 
 ble." 
 
The Minister's Personality 71 
 
 Now it is the expression of personality 
 which has to do with the minister's 
 manners. We are to vitalize, enlarge, 
 develop our personalities by the influence, 
 not only of the spirit of God from above, 
 but also by learning from others and 
 from the accumulated experiences and 
 wisdom of human society. Let us not 
 despise or misunderstand the meaning 
 of the term "Good Manners." After 
 all, they simply represent the real Christ- 
 ian life and charity which ministers, 
 above all others, should possess. Dr. 
 Witherspoon in his "Letters on Educa- 
 tion," while strongly urging the utility 
 and importance of polished manners, re- 
 marks: "True religion is not only con- 
 sistent with, but necessary to, the per- 
 fection of true politeness," and fortifies 
 his opinion by "a noble sentiment," as 
 he calls it, of the Prince of Conti; namely, 
 "That worldly politeness is no more than 
 an imitation or imperfect copy of Christ- 
 
72 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 ian charity, being the pretense or outward 
 appearance of that deference to the 
 judgment, and attention to the interests 
 of others, which a true Christian has 
 as the rule of his life and the disposition 
 of his heart." 
 
 Let us at once remove the misappre- 
 hension which seems to lodge in the 
 minds of many. They have heard so 
 much of the hollow, insincere system of 
 artificial manners, the false pretensions 
 of politeness, that whenever the subject 
 is mentioned they take for granted that 
 the subject aimed at is that courtly 
 polish and punctilious adjustment of 
 smiles, bows, dress and minute attentions, 
 which form so large a part of the Chester- 
 fieldian Code found today generally in 
 modern society. 
 
 This is not the thing here suggested. 
 The customs of polite society, however, 
 include many precepts and suggestions 
 which are worthy of the attention of 
 
The Minister's Personality 73 
 
 even ministers. It may be true, as some 
 one has said of Lord Chesterfield's "Let- 
 ters to his Son," that they include "The 
 morals of a prostitute and the manners 
 of a dancing master" but this is no reason 
 why we should be prejudiced against 
 a subject which associates with it the 
 traditions and treatment of an unworthy 
 life, and yet a subject which is so impor- 
 tant to one's usefulness. Rather we are 
 to consider those qualities of heart and 
 mind, those graces of the Christian life, 
 out of which flow those manners which 
 become the Christian gentleman. It is 
 easy to look with a sort of contempt on all 
 rules of behavior, to affect singularity of 
 manner, and to assume that ministers 
 are above the ordinary laws of social 
 intercourse. Good men sometimes put 
 themselves in absurd positions when they 
 defy public sentiment and undervalue 
 every code of rules whose object is to 
 make men act like civilized people. This 
 
74 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 prejudice and affectation, as well as the 
 neglect of the amenities of life, are often- 
 times due to the obscuring of the fact 
 that the growth of Christian life and 
 principle in the individual heart is a 
 gradual process and not a superhuman or 
 spontaneous matter. 
 
 The development of personality 
 through right living and the exercise 
 of the largest influence for good requires 
 unceasing effort. It calls for self-denial, 
 prayer and watchfulness. It includes 
 numerous duties which cannot be fulfilled 
 in all their relations and aspects without 
 being made the object of intelligent and 
 daily attention. The office of the min- 
 istry does not remove from a man pride, 
 vanity, selfishness, envy, irritability, the 
 habit of slovenly dress, and indolence. 
 
 Another fact to be kept in mind is, 
 that the influence of our personality 
 cannot be properly brought to bear upon 
 others unless we have some knowledge 
 
The Minister's Personality 75 
 
 of the world. We must take account 
 of the laws of social intercourse. We 
 must see and study man as he is. The 
 book of human nature must be studied 
 as well as the Book of revelation. 
 
 We must study men. We should know 
 their differences and varieties of tem- 
 perament and point of view. We need 
 to discern the different motives and the 
 many types of character with which we 
 have to deal: the slow-witted man, 
 following others like a sheep; the man 
 with open mind, quick to catch visions 
 and to exercise good judgment; the genial 
 man, the bilious, the sanguine man, the 
 old man and the young, the man bearing 
 the heat and burden of the day, the 
 obstinate man, the conservative and the 
 radical. 
 
 These varied types will probably be 
 found within the circle of every congre- 
 gation. We will need their cooperation. 
 How important then the study and the 
 
76 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 acquisition of those traits of character 
 which will qualify for leadership and 
 make us "wise as serpents and harmless 
 as doves." 
 
 This study is important because the 
 world judges the character of a man by 
 his manners. Simple, manly manners 
 are the indication of a manly and straight- 
 forward character. Tennyson was right 
 when he wrote: 
 
 "For manners are not idle but the 
 fruit of loyal nature and of noble mind." 
 And Emerson well said: 
 
 "I have seen manners that make a 
 similar impression to personal beauty." 
 
 The average man looks quite as much, 
 if not more, to manners as to solid worth. 
 He may be a poor judge of talents, 
 learning and even religious profession, 
 but of easy, mild and genial manners 
 every one is a competent judge and, of 
 course, is capable of being favorably 
 impressed by them. 
 
The Minister's Personality 77 
 
 It is difficult for merit to secure a 
 hearing and to enter the open door of 
 usefulness if clothed with the skin of a 
 porcupine. Men of ordinary attainments 
 and of limited information but of fas- 
 cinating and agreeable manners often 
 succeed, where men of far higher quali- 
 fications, both intellectual and moral, 
 but without attractiveness of bearing, 
 frequently fail. Is it not also true that 
 that which is of intrinsic worth appears 
 doubly attractive when presented in a 
 pleasing manner? We all recognize that 
 the very same words uttered by one 
 person may prove offensive and yet when 
 spoken by another may be agreeable and 
 acceptable. An action performed with 
 an assumption of spiritual superiority 
 may bring forth denunciations on the 
 part of good people and curses by the 
 worldly, while the very same action, when 
 performed by another of even less talent, 
 but with greater suavity and more tact, 
 
78 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 is approved and exercises large influence. 
 Edmund Burke puts it strongly, "Man- 
 ners are of more importance than laws. 
 Upon them, in a great measure, the laws 
 depend. The law touches us but here 
 and there, and now and then. Manners 
 are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, 
 exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, 
 by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible 
 operation, like that of the air we breathe 
 in. They give their whole form and 
 color to our lives. According to their 
 quality, they aid morals; they supply 
 them or they totally destroy them." 
 
 We all recognize the value of "personal 
 magnetism." But, after all, what is per- 
 sonal magnetism but only another name 
 for readiness and considerateness and the 
 application of the Golden Rule and the 
 law of love in our dealings with others? 
 Personal magnetism is the product of 
 the cultivation of these qualities of mind 
 and heart and of their translation into 
 
The Minister's Personality 79 
 
 words and actions. Some one has pointed 
 out that the very word "Parson" means 
 "persona," a person who represents the 
 church, in whom its ideal is embodied 
 or its character illustrated. 
 
 Recognizing the importance of the 
 minister's personality and manners, the 
 practical question is: "What can we do 
 to attain these high ideals and exercise 
 the proper influence as ministers of the 
 gospel among men?" 
 
 First, by giving attention to the culti- 
 vation of those elements of character 
 which make for spiritual growth and real 
 manhood. Second, by culture of the 
 soul for service. Third, by communion 
 with God. 
 
 May I remind you that the pastoral 
 epistles lay stress upon the minister's 
 life? In the letters to Timothy and 
 Titus, nearly all the directions given as to 
 qualifications that should be sought have 
 respect to character. Indeed, out of the 
 
80 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 thirteen or fourteen different qualities 
 mentioned, only one has distinct refer- 
 ence to the gift of teaching, virtually 
 implying that character is the most 
 essential thing. 
 
 For the sake of definiteness and brevity 
 may I suggest to you the A. B.C. elements 
 which make for the proper growth of the 
 minister, in clerical manners? A — Adap- 
 tation, B — Brotherliness, C — Courtesy, 
 D — Dignity, E — Enthusiasm, F — Fear- 
 lessness, G — Gentleness. 
 
 A — Adaptation 
 
 The modern science and art of teach- 
 ing make much of the principle of adap- 
 tation. The courses of study in the 
 Sunday School are planned from the 
 standpoint of the child's spiritual needs 
 or the adaptation of scriptural material 
 to the growing intelligence of the child. 
 
 The principle of Adaptation empha- 
 sizes the necessity of proceeding from the 
 
The Minister's Personality 81 
 
 known to the unknown, of meeting the 
 pupil on his own plane of understanding. 
 Is not this very thing needed on the part 
 of the Christian minister in his dealings 
 with men and women? Does not the 
 great apostle suggest that the thoughtless 
 and inconsiderate life of the minister is 
 a grievous stumbling block and does he 
 not lay down the rule: "All things are 
 lawful for me but all things are not ex- 
 pedient"; "All things are lawful for me 
 but all things edify not." A large part 
 of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians 
 deals with this question of adaptation 
 and the principle thus laid down is of 
 very wide application. It bears upon 
 the intercourse of the minister with the 
 world, on his tactful dealings with men, 
 on the question of recreation and amuse- 
 ments and on the far larger question of 
 meeting men on their own ground, look- 
 ing at questions from the other man's 
 point of view. Here it is well to follow 
 
82 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 the maxim: "Brethren, be not children 
 in understanding, howbeit, in malice be 
 ye children, but in understanding, be 
 men." 
 
 B — Brotherliness 
 
 By this I mean human sympathy, sin- 
 cerity, unselfishness which will lead a 
 man to deny himself the pleasure of the 
 study or of interesting literature for the 
 sake of humble service to individuals. 
 It is easy nowadays to make a fetish of 
 the word "Brotherhood"; to set up an 
 idolatry of books, of ideas and theories of 
 social service, and yet forget and deny 
 the ties of humanity. It will not do to 
 have simply a vague enthusiasm for 
 humanity. We must have a growing 
 interest in the individual man. The 
 minister must further guard against the 
 vice of professionalism, of examining and 
 criticizing conditions in the cold dry light 
 of intellectualism or of a morbid senti- 
 
The Minister's Personality 83 
 
 mentalism. Brotherliness can only de- 
 velop through genuine interest in others. 
 The best guarantee of its growth is 
 human-heartedness. "I used to think," 
 writes Hawthorne, "I could imagine all 
 passions and all feelings and states of the 
 heart and mind but how little did I know. 
 Indeed, we are but shadows. We are 
 not endowed with real life, and all that 
 seems most real is but the thinnest sub- 
 stance of a dream 'til the heart be 
 touched. That touch creates us. Then 
 we begin to be. Thereby we are beings 
 of reality and inheritors of eternity." 
 
 When there was a smallpox epidemic 
 in Reading, Pa., years ago, Dr. McCauley 
 showed the genuine brotherliness of a 
 minister of religion when, at the risk 
 of his life and of his family, he ministered 
 to all sorts and conditions of men, scores 
 of whom were not even connected with 
 his congregation, who were taken down 
 with the dread disease. 
 
84 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 Little wonder that after several genera- 
 tions have passed by his name is still a 
 household name in hundreds of homes 
 and held in reverence by the city of 
 Reading. 
 
 Another pastoral side in his life re- 
 veals the meaning of brotherliness. In 
 a home of luxury, for several years a 
 child was bedfast. Week in and week 
 out the pastor visited in that home and 
 prayed with the child and the parents, 
 likewise in the poorer sections of the city 
 was he found in loving personal touch 
 and sympathy with a family where sick- 
 ness and poverty prevailed for more than 
 a year. These are typical instances of 
 his faithful pastoral labors. As the late 
 Dr. Charles S. Home of London points 
 out, the need of the day is not Elijah, 
 the uncompromising individualist, re- 
 mote, inaccessible, ascetic, but Elisha, 
 the homely, friendly man whose place 
 was in the hearts and homes of the people. 
 
The Minister's Personality 85 
 
 This is the new order of the ministry! 
 The human, social, sympathetic minister 
 who knows how people live, who enters 
 into their joys and shares their occupa- 
 tions; who instinctively discerns their 
 privations and will not see them de- 
 frauded of their rights. 
 
 C — Courtesy 
 
 If courtesy is politeness springing from 
 kindly feeling, it should be so cultivated 
 as to become an habitual attitude of the 
 minister. 
 
 Courtesy is the ozone of ministerial life. 
 It is that air and manner which is more 
 expressive than words. It is the practice 
 of civility, of putting one's self in place 
 of the other man and so interpreting and 
 ministering to life. An eminent business 
 man, the son of a former Professor in this 
 Seminary, whose training has been in the 
 greatest mercantile establishment in this 
 country, has said: "I have learned that 
 
86 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 courtesy is the first law of trade and that 
 it implies and includes politeness, atten- 
 tion, solicitude, sympathy, kindness, pa- 
 tience, cheerfulness, earnestness, loyalty, 
 faith." If this be true in the world of 
 business, how much more is it true in 
 the work of the ministry. 
 
 Above all men, the minister must be so 
 courteous and affable that he is easily 
 approachable; possessing that happy fac- 
 ulty of placing every one at ease with him 
 in conversation. The minister must visit 
 from house to house, he must meet all 
 classes of persons on the most important 
 of all subjects. To him come the per- 
 plexed, the doubting, the timid, the 
 tempted, the ignorant and desponding. 
 As counselor and guide, as friend and 
 companion, as the steward of the myster- 
 ies of grace, as an under shepherd, as a 
 watchman upon the walls of Zion, giving 
 the message of warning as well as of cheer, 
 the minister soon discovers that in all 
 
The Minister's Personality 87 
 
 these relations gracious and genuine 
 courtesy wins. It is not so much the 
 great crises of life, as the daily experi- 
 ences, which go to make up the sum of 
 the minister's usefulness. The poet has 
 well said: 
 
 "Hail! Ye small, sweet courtesies of life, 
 For smooth do ye make the road of it." 
 Do not make the mistake of assuming 
 that the courteous, tactful man, like the 
 poet, must be born and cannot be made. 
 Doubtless, temperament has something 
 to do with the development of courtesy, 
 but it is not true that it is always innate 
 and never an accomplishment. The 
 
 grace of God includes the possibility of 
 the gift and large use of tactful courtesy. 
 It is a question of requisite care and cul- 
 ture. We can well agree with Dr. J. H. 
 Jowett, who says: "I believe that clumsy 
 people can become tactful and that folk 
 who are brusque and morbid can become 
 gracious and courteous and that the in- 
 
88 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 different and inconsiderate can become 
 thoughtful and sympathetic. There is 
 no excuse for our tactlessness and if 
 even, temperamentally, we are tactless, 
 it is our urgent duty to change it by the 
 ministries of discipline and grace." 
 
 D — Dignity 
 
 We often speak of some one as a "gen- 
 tleman of the old school." Does this not 
 express the happy combination of cour- 
 tesy and dignity so eminently becoming 
 to the minister? There are men who 
 think the secret of social success is found 
 in being a "good fellow"; who are always 
 joking, telling funny stories, turning 
 everything to wit. Of course, humor has 
 its place. Without it, the seriousness of 
 life which constantly confronts the min- 
 ister would be a burden sometimes too 
 great to be borne, but ministerial wit 
 comes dangerously near to moral weak- 
 ness. Let there be plenty of laughter 
 
The Minister's Personality 89 
 
 and a genuine, childlike enjoyment of 
 the proper things of life, but never a loss 
 of reverence, never a ridicule of the 
 scriptures by unseemly jokes; never the 
 telling of stories with a double meaning. 
 Here again, Dr. McCauley, with his 
 Scotch-Irish wit, at times indulged in 
 pleasantries which lightened and lifted, 
 but there was always a dignity of manner 
 which never for a moment caused one to 
 lose respect for the man, there was in 
 him a happy commingling of gracious 
 courtesy and noble dignity. 
 
 True dignity means habitual self-con- 
 trol. It excludes uncontrolled outbreaks 
 of temper. Perhaps ministers may be 
 said to be peculiarly exposed to the 
 temptation of losing their tempers in 
 controversy. They feel deeply when 
 their opinions are questioned or attacked. 
 So much the more is there need for a 
 double guard. No one loses more in 
 the esteem of others and in his influence 
 
90 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 for good than a minister when he lowers 
 the dignity of his office by loss of self- 
 control and self respect. 
 
 E — Enthusiasm 
 
 Let us remember that the word ety- 
 mologically means "Having God within." 
 Maurice speaks of the Christian enthu- 
 siast as the "God intoxicated man." 
 One's experience with God is the meas- 
 ure of one's power with men. You re- 
 member that two of the three Hebrew 
 words which are translated "prophet" 
 mean "To see." The man who has 
 spiritual insight and a vision of the thing 
 to be done will have a sustained enthu- 
 siasm which makes it possible, amidst 
 trials and difficulties, to persevere and to 
 accomplish something worth while. 
 
 I suppose that at the time of ordina- 
 tion the sense of conviction of a divine 
 call and the greatness of the task before 
 the minister arouses enthusiasm. Now 
 
The Minister's Personality 91 
 
 it is this enthusiasm which must be main- 
 tained and kept fresh through the long 
 years of ministerial work. We have a 
 noble example in St. Paul, who main- 
 tained the enthusiasm he had at his call, 
 as is evidenced in the Acts of the Apostles, 
 and from the contents of every letter 
 that he wrote. Reading his life and 
 words one is impressed, not only with 
 his sense of responsibility which con- 
 tinues always to be fresh and keen, but 
 also with his abiding possession of divine 
 help and strength to meet new and con- 
 stantly changing circumstances. Paul 
 brought his enthusiasm to bear upon 
 every detail of ministerial work, whether 
 it involved doing something for Onesimus, 
 as in his letter to Philemon, or writing to 
 the church at Rome; whether visiting 
 from house to house or counseling the 
 elders at Ephesus he acted as if he felt 
 he was obeying a divine call. 
 
92 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 Here is one secret of enthusiasm, viz. : 
 recognizing the greatness of the task and 
 the importance of its details, together 
 with throwing all our energy into it. 
 Another secret is— the conviction and 
 assured confidence of divine guidance 
 and strength in persevering effort. From 
 this point of view faith cannot be sep- 
 arated from enthusiasm. Indeed, en- 
 thusiasm is faith in action. It is letting 
 God work in us and working as if every- 
 thing depended upon us. Paul expressed 
 it writing to the Philippians, when he 
 said: "I can do all things through Him 
 who constantly strengthens me." And 
 to Timothy, referring to his first defense 
 and the fact that he was forsaken, he 
 said: "The Lord stood by me and 
 strengthened me." 
 
 Years ago I had the good fortune to 
 hear Bishop Phillips Brooks speak in Bos- 
 ton. His sincerity and enthusiasm car- 
 ried conviction to each one in his audi- 
 
The Minister's Personality 93 
 
 ence. He had a good thing. He believed 
 in it with his whole heart. His enthusi- 
 asm was contagious and he made one 
 feel that he had tested what he was talk- 
 ing about and that one wanted what he 
 had. His intense and sustained enthu- 
 siasm made him the great preacher and 
 teacher. In personal conversation and 
 bearing, enthusiasm alone will carry 
 conviction and persuade to action. 
 
 The minister has a task that challenges 
 all his powers and if a vision of the work 
 grips him, he cannot fail to be enthusiastic 
 and bring every faculty of his being into 
 action. We need constantly to recognize 
 the truth that God works in and through 
 our human personalities and that, with 
 Him, we can conquer, and yet that the 
 growth of His kingdom is conditioned by 
 our activity. 
 
 "Move to the fore. 
 God himself waits, and must wait, till thou 
 come. 
 
94 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 Men are God's prophets though ages lie dumb. 
 Halts the Christ-Kingdom, with conquest so 
 
 near? 
 Thou art the cause, then, thou man at the 
 
 rear. 
 Move to the fore." 
 
 F — Fearlessness 
 
 The quality of courage is indispensable 
 to the minister. We need not despair 
 if we are naturally of a timid disposition. 
 If we let the grace of God take hold 
 of our souls we can become fearless. Dr. 
 Charles Sylvester Home in "The Ro- 
 mance of Preaching" gives us a portrait 
 of John Knox. He united in himself 
 the statesmanship of Calvin and the fiery 
 eloquence of Savonarola. Dr. Home 
 says that Knox insisted that he was a 
 coward. There is no doubt that he was 
 drawn into his eventful work against his 
 own will and inclination. Could there 
 have been a more heroic soul in holding 
 out for God's cause against a crafty 
 
The Minister's Personality 95 
 
 hierarchy, a turbulent nobility and an 
 insidious theology? The destiny of Scot- 
 land was in the scales and, under God, 
 its freedom depended upon the fact that 
 John Knox was no sentimental and 
 effeminate champion of the new doctrine. 
 We are all familiar with the clever and 
 insistent efforts of Queen Mary; her 
 flattery, her shrinking, her laughter, her 
 tears. But she could not move the fear- 
 less Knox. History has it on record that, 
 as John Knox passed out from the royal 
 presence, the whisper went around: "He 
 is not afraid." Whereupon he replied, 
 with a reasonably merry countenance: 
 "Wherefore should the pleasing face of 
 a gentlewoman affray me? I have looked 
 upon the faces of many angry men and 
 yet have not been affrayed beyond meas- 
 ure." It was like Knox to pray: "O 
 God, give me death or give me Scotland." 
 And what an appropriate sentiment for 
 his grave — "Here lies one who never 
 feared the face of man." 
 
96 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 You can be sure that you will be 
 tempted to be cowardly, to yield an easy 
 acquiescence to the dominating will of 
 some financial magnate of the congrega- 
 tion or to the persuasive wiles of some 
 prosperous, luxurious and ease-loving 
 family. Fidelity to your trust requires 
 fearlessness to proclaim the message, to 
 stand by Christian principles and to 
 yield neither to stern looks nor to soft 
 speeches. 
 
 I well recall the fearlessness of Dr. 
 McCauley in the Prohibition Campaign 
 in Pennsylvania, 1889, when it required 
 courage to take a stand in the congrega- 
 tion where the majority of the men were, 
 by their environment and by their habits 
 of life, opposed to the cause of temper- 
 ance. Dr. McCauley stood for the prin- 
 ciple of total abstinence for the individual 
 and Prohibition for the State and de- 
 clared his convictions both in public and 
 in private; and long before that, in the 
 
The Minister's Personality 97 
 
 year 1846 in his pastorate in Middletown, 
 Maryland, he spoke courageously in 
 behalf of the Temperance cause. 
 
 To be a leader requires the courage of 
 one's convictions. You must lead in 
 thought and in your attitude to great 
 reform; you must be in advance of the 
 crowd, and be aggressive in pulling down 
 strongholds of evil. The Bible is full 
 of appeals and demands for this fearless 
 life. "Be not fearful, but believing." 
 "Fear not, for I am with thee; be not 
 dismayed for I am thy God." 
 
 To do this you must set a steadfast 
 face against sin and fear nothing but 
 God. You must apply the antiseptic 
 treatment by keeping your spiritual life 
 in good condition. Falling below par 
 in spiritual things will make you sus- 
 ceptible especially to the bacteria of fear 
 and evil. The old phrase runs: "The 
 Christian's doubt is the Devil's oppor- 
 tunity." 
 
98 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 G — Gentleness 
 
 Closely allied to Fearlessness is the 
 spirit of Gentleness. The divine word is : 
 "Thy gentleness hath made me great," 
 and the Apostolic injunction reads : "The 
 Lord's servant must not strive, but be 
 gentle towards all, apt to teach, forbear- 
 ing, in meekness correcting them that 
 oppose themselves." 
 
 This Christian grace is in contrast to 
 the contentious insistence on one's rights, 
 for the natural man is always ready to 
 assert his rights, rather than to obey 
 the law of love. The minister is an 
 official but his office is that of servant 
 and brother, rather than an officer clothed 
 with human rights. 
 
 What is the story of the medieval 
 Church but a narrative of the tyranny of 
 clergymen who, for hundreds of years, 
 little by little, compacted themselves into 
 a hierarchy, developing into the most 
 appalling, intolerable despotism that the 
 
The Minister's Personality 99 
 
 world has ever known. Laymen were 
 crowded out of the place appointed them 
 by the great Head of the Church. They 
 were allowed no voice whatever in the 
 government of the Church. These min- 
 isters were men of like passions with our- 
 selves. In their hearts was many a noble 
 aspiration and in their lives they did 
 many noble deeds, but ambition, pride 
 of place, lust of power, darkened the light 
 of their ministry and made it easy for 
 them to formulate plausible policies and 
 present specious reasons as a vindication 
 of their acts. 
 
 We surfer today from the despotism of 
 the past and Protestantism is not exempt 
 from the pride of office. Dr. Charles E. 
 Jefferson well says: "If one were to go 
 up and down our Protestant world, not- 
 ing carefully the sins of clergymen, would 
 he not write in his list such as these: 
 autocratic manner, imperious temper, 
 consequential air, dictatorial disposition, 
 
100 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 self-assertion, hankering for distinction, 
 ambition for higher place, arrogant pre- 
 sumption, refined but earthly worldliness? 
 Every man has in him the elements out 
 of which Rome built a despotism which 
 enslaved the world." 
 
 Peter, in writing to the pastors in his 
 day, said: "Tend the flock of God, not 
 as lording it over the charge allotted to 
 you, but making yourselves examples to 
 the flock." In other words, our power 
 is given us to use in the path of service 
 and in the spirit of humility. It was this 
 truth which our Lord constantly empha- 
 sized in his teachings and in his relations 
 with the twelve. But we need ever to 
 remember the dangerous ground upon 
 which we stand when we find that it is 
 possible to have the mind filled with 
 thoughts of self-abnegation and unselfish- 
 ness, and at the same time, as a result of 
 sin, be dreaming of pre-eminence and 
 power. 
 
The Minister's Personality 101 
 
 Many a time you will be tempted, when 
 attacked, to defend yourself; when mis- 
 represented, to explain. Better not apol- 
 ogize nor explain but let your life speak 
 for itself. For the sake of the growth 
 of your denomination or the kingdom 
 you may be put in a position where you 
 should help to start other churches and 
 allow credit to be given even to others. 
 There is no grace which you will need to 
 exercise more than that of humility and 
 the royal rule of seeing or doing nothing 
 which would make any one uncomfortable. 
 
 Dr. McCauley began his pastorate in 
 Reading, when there was decided and 
 out-spoken opposition to an English con- 
 gregation and when the mother church 
 repudiated her promises of financial sup- 
 port, but he led his people on peacefully 
 and there was never a quarrel between 
 the two congregations. 
 
 He aided in securing as pastor of the 
 First Church Dr. Bausman, and for more 
 
102 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 than thirty years these two brethren, 
 differing greatly in temperament, lab- 
 bored together as brothers and most 
 intimate friends. In a very real sense, 
 Dr. McCauley was the father of Reformed 
 Church extension in Reading, which led 
 to the establishment of thirteen con- 
 gregations before his death. And yet 
 he cheerfully accredited the place of 
 leadership to another. By his coopera- 
 tion, his self-denial and self-effacement, 
 in sending out hundreds of his members 
 to new congregations, he manifested the 
 true spirit of the Christian minister, and 
 in it all his gentleness made him great. 
 
 Summing up all these elements of 
 character : Adaptation, Brotherliness, 
 Courtesy, Dignity, Enthusiasm, Fear- 
 lessness, Gentleness, we find that they 
 fuse together into one great motive power 
 of the ministry. 
 
 Do we not see this in the teaching of 
 St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians? 
 
The Minister's Personality 103 
 
 Chapters 12, 13, 14 have one subject — 
 viz. : The endowment of the Church and 
 its purposes. Indeed, in the twelfth 
 Chapter, the unity of the Church is as- 
 serted, coupled with the prevailing 
 thought of the diversity of gifts and 
 endowments, services and activities. The 
 fourteenth Chapter refers to speaking 
 with tongues and the understanding, 
 prophecy, praying with the spirit, etc., 
 but while Paul magnifies the gift of God 
 and our responsibility for the right use of 
 diversified gifts and talents, he gives the 
 heart of his message in the thirteenth 
 Chapter when he says: "I proceed to 
 show you a way, by all comparison the 
 best" — and that way means a determin- 
 ing and impelling and controlling prin- 
 ciple and motive. 
 
 The wonderful thirteenth Chapter is 
 an inspired definition of love. Surely if 
 ministers of the gospel were to read and 
 give themselves to meditation daily on 
 
104 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 this pathway of supreme excellence and 
 power, their lives would be transformed 
 and the work of the Church would be 
 immeasurably advanced. 
 
 The second method enriching person- 
 ality is suggested by the general term 
 "culture." I recognize that the elements 
 of character which we have been discussing 
 have reference to the culture of the soul 
 and are included in the general idea of 
 culture, but I desire to call your attention 
 to an aspect of culture not included in 
 that which we have already considered. 
 It goes without saying, that there are 
 great intellectual demands made upon 
 the minister and that, for the purpose 
 of an efficient ministry, "as iron sharp- 
 eneth iron," so great books must be read 
 to quicken the mind and put iron into 
 the mental constitution. Idea and illus- 
 trations must be acquired by a wide range 
 of reading. 
 
The Minister's Personality 105 
 
 No man can remain long in the pas- 
 torate, particularly in any one field, 
 without giving attendance to reading 
 and without being a student in the real 
 sense of the term. 
 
 Dr. McCauley could not have remained 
 thirty-six years in one pastorate, preach- 
 ing to a congregation whose membership 
 included at times as many as twenty 
 lawyers, had he not spent hours of toil 
 in his study. It is a simple record of fact 
 to say that with the cares of a large family 
 upon him he found it necessary, in order 
 to secure quiet and hours of study, to 
 labor constantly late at night. 
 
 While we dare not neglect this intel- 
 lectual culture, I wish rather to say a 
 word in behalf of "Culture for Service." 
 The message of the pulpit, the hours of 
 study, the activities of the week, must 
 ever aim at mental and spiritual un- 
 selfishness. There is great danger in the 
 intellectual life of ministers, under the 
 
106 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 plea of a great and holy work, to be lovers 
 simply of themselves. College and sem- 
 inary education easily engenders intel- 
 lectual pride and the exclusive taste of 
 a cultivated class, and many a minister 
 follows his taste and seeks companionship 
 in his books or associates almost exclu- 
 sively with people who love books and 
 have tastes in common with him. 
 
 How easy to pursue truth for itself 
 without any regard for its effect upon 
 men. Beware of becoming more inter- 
 ested in books than in lives, in theories 
 and speculations about the truth than 
 in truth as a food of life. Rather by 
 far nurture your soul by the strength 
 developed in exercising your knowledge 
 for the good of others. 
 
 Is it not a significant fact that every 
 truth of revelation has its practical bear- 
 ing? A fair test of truth is its ability, 
 upon being preached and taught, to 
 quicken, comfort and purify the souls 
 
The Minister's Personality 107 
 
 of men. Without this, all intellectual 
 efforts are mere speculations of the study, 
 idle theories of mental gymnasts. 
 
 7 plead for spiritual culture for service. 
 
 Let us recognize that the test of spir- 
 ituality is service and that service is the 
 logical and lofty means to spirituality. 
 
 In the fifteenth Chapter of John's 
 gospel our Lord unfolds the relation of 
 intimacy in which he would remain with 
 his disciples. It is an organic relation — 
 vital, like that of the vine to its branches. 
 
 The striking fact in that passage is that 
 almost every verse tells us that the 
 branches are in the vine for the sake of 
 the fruit and are allowed to remain there 
 only on condition of fruit-bearing. 
 
 We are God's disciples and His joy 
 is in us only in proportion as our lives 
 are enriched for the sake of others. 
 
 Work, whether in the study, search 
 for truth, whether in the written Word of 
 revelation or in God's great outdoors — 
 
108 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 Work, in the homes of people, in the 
 community, in the influences everywhere 
 set in motion — Work! This is health 
 and growth and life! 
 
 And may I add that the richest experi- 
 ence and development of spiritual culture 
 come in ministering to the individual. 
 Here our knowledge must be personal, 
 experimental and practical. Here we 
 discover that intellectual endeavor does 
 not necessarily lead to right conduct. 
 We soon learn the fact that our conduct 
 and the conduct of others is far below 
 the plane of our thought. We know, 
 vastly better than we do, the things that 
 are right and true. Thus, in dealing 
 with the individual and in developing 
 constant interest in individuals, we learn 
 the function of good teaching; viz.: 
 The cultivation of the feeling powers of 
 the soul. 
 
 Our pulpit methods will change. We 
 will learn the mistake of making the 
 
 . 
 
The Minister's Personality 109 
 
 appeal simply to the intellect; we will 
 discover that we must touch the heart 
 and the conscience in order to secure 
 right action. 
 
 Jesus taught that it is not what we 
 know or feel but what we do that makes 
 life worth while. And so in the culture 
 of the intellect, the feelings and the will 
 for service among others do we attain 
 the right character for ourselves. 
 
 Lastly, but first in importance, and 
 first as a method of personal enrichment, 
 and helpfulness for others, we come to 
 consider the question of communion with 
 God, or personal and intercessory prayer. 
 
 For the Christian minister, character 
 and culture are conditioned by his fellow- 
 ship with the unseen. The secret of 
 power, of the achievement of a genuine 
 saintly character, is the same in every 
 age. It is with God. Men of all ages, 
 who have done great things, and men of 
 today who are doing great things, disclose 
 
110 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 to us that their fellowship is in the secret 
 place of power. Dr. Jowett in suggesting 
 how to avoid the perils of the preacher 
 indicates our possible enrichment. He 
 writes "By studious and reverent regard 
 to the supreme commonplaces of the 
 spiritual life, we must assiduously attain 
 to the culture of our souls. We must 
 sternly and systematically take time for 
 prayer and for the devotional reading 
 of the Word of God. We must appoint 
 private seasons for the deliberate and 
 personal appropriation of the Divine 
 Word, for self-examination in the pres- 
 ence of its warnings, for self-humbling 
 in the presence of its judgments, for 
 self-heartening in the presence of its 
 promises, and for self -interrogation in the 
 presence of its glorious hopes." "We 
 are great only as we are God-possessed; 
 and scrupulous appointments in the upper 
 room with the Master will prepare us for 
 the trials and hardships of the most 
 
The Minister's Personality 111 
 
 strenuous campaign. We must, there- 
 fore, hold firmly and steadily to this 
 primary principle, that of all things that 
 need doing, this need is supreme, to live 
 in intimate fellowship with God." "Let 
 us steadily hold a reasonable sense of 
 values and assign each appointed duty 
 to its legitimate place, and in any ap- 
 pointment of values this would surely 
 be the initial judgment, that nothing 
 can be well done if we drift away from 
 God. Neglected spiritual fellowship 
 means futility all along the road." 
 
 Meditation should be associated with 
 prayer. Meditation is an invigorating 
 heart tonic. It is both a medicine and 
 a food. It is the strong and steady grasp 
 of eternal truths, holding them up in their 
 relations and their sweep, holding them 
 before the mind until they become vivid, 
 all-possessing realities. The spirit be- 
 comes serene and transfigured when we 
 spend moments on the mount. 
 
112 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 This discipline of the soul gives us the 
 vision glorious and only as we have 
 "the light that shone never on land or 
 sea" can we become a blessing in our 
 ministry. Perhaps the great peril and 
 temptation that besets us in the changed 
 conditions of our times is the failure 
 to give large enough place to prayer and 
 the devotional study of the Word. We 
 meet it in the home and we meet it in 
 the study and personal life of the min- 
 ister. 
 
 As a theological student I shall never 
 forget the sense of shock I experienced in 
 attending, for the first time, a large 
 church body and in being placed in the 
 same room in a hotel with two or three 
 ministers, to notice their failure to kneel 
 in prayer night and morning. Some one 
 may say they had prayer aplenty in the 
 church, but this very insidious and uncon- 
 scious appeal of the minister's work must 
 be reckoned with. 
 
The Minister's Personality 113 
 
 Nothing can take the place of daily, 
 personal prayer and of intercessions in 
 secret. This highest culture requires pur- 
 pose and method and regularity. It is 
 tremendously difficult but its rewards 
 are in proportion, for as John Eliot, the 
 great apostle to the Indians, said long 
 ago: "Prayer and pains through faith 
 in Jesus Christ, can accomplish any- 
 thing." Of our Master we read: "In 
 the days of his flesh He offered up prayers 
 and supplications with strong cryings and 
 tears." 
 
 We cannot enter into the triumph of 
 the ministry unless through fellowship 
 with Christ. "That I may know Him 
 and the power of his resurrection and the 
 fellowship of his suffering," says Paul. 
 "Our fellowship is with the Father and 
 with his Son, Jesus Christ," says John. 
 
 If we are to fill our place among men 
 as the representatives of Christ, his 
 witnesses sharing his life, we must keep 
 
114 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 in daily and constant association with 
 Him, and so will courtesy, patience, 
 courage, gentleness, considerateness, for- 
 bearance and good temper and love and 
 all the strong and attractive graces grow 
 in us. For they are fruits, the natural 
 and spontaneous growth of communion 
 with the Lord. 
 
 Let us have and aim to attain high 
 ideals of the ministry and then we will 
 be able to fulfill that description of the 
 work of the ministry which President 
 Woodrow Wilson set forth several years 
 ago: 
 
 "What is it that the minister should 
 try to do? It seems to me that the 
 minister should try to remind his fellow- 
 men in everything that he does and in 
 everything that he says, that eternity 
 is not future but present; that there is 
 in every transaction of life a line that 
 connects it with eternity, and that our 
 lives are but the visible aspect of the 
 
The Minister's Personality 115 
 
 experiences of our spirits upon the earth; 
 that we are living here as spirits; that 
 our whole conduct is to be influenced 
 by things that are invisible, of which 
 we must be constantly reminded lest our 
 eyes should be gluttonously filled with 
 the things that are visible; that we should 
 be reminded that there lurks everywhere, 
 not ungraciously and with forbidden 
 mien, but graciously and with salvation 
 on its countenance, the image and the 
 memory of Christ, going a little journey 
 through the earth to remind men of the 
 fatherhood of God, of the brotherhood 
 of men, of the journey that all spirits 
 are taking to the land that is unseen 
 and to which they are all to come." 
 
THE MINISTER AS A MAN IN HIS 
 RELATIONS TO AND WITH OTHERS 
 
 A Pastor 
 (Dr. John G. Holland) 
 He knows but Jesus Christ, the crucified. 
 Ah, little recks the worldling of the worth 
 Of such a man as this upon the earth ! 
 Who gives himself — his all — to make men wise 
 In doctrines which his life exemplifies. 
 The years pass on, and a great multitude 
 Still find in him a character whose light 
 Shines round him like a candle in the night; 
 And recognize a presence so benign 
 That to the godless even it seems divine. 
 He bears his people's love within his heart, 
 And envies no man, whatsoe'er his part, 
 His church's record grows, and grows again, 
 With names of saintly women-folks and men. 
 And many a worldling, many a wayward youth, 
 He counts among the trophies of his truth. 
 O, happy man; There is no man like thee 
 Worn out in service of humanity. 
 And dead at last, 'mid universal tears, 
 Thy name a fragrance in the speaker's breath, 
 And thy divine example life in death. 
 
 The test of a minister is his ability to save souls. 
 This is the di vines t work in the world. No other 
 calling lends itself so readily to the winning 
 of souls. "He that winneth souls is wise." 
 
THE MINISTER AS A MAN IN HIS 
 
 RELATIONS TO AND WITH 
 
 OTHERS 
 
 Lecture Two 
 
 Some time ago an article appeared in 
 the American Magazine entitled "Is the 
 preacher a Molly-Coddle?' ' In the 
 course of the article the writer makes the 
 following statement: "Among strong, 
 steadfast, manly business men, as well 
 as among the athletes of the baseball 
 and football field, there is a kind of belief 
 or feeling that all preachers belong, in some 
 measure, to the 'Molly-Coddle' class." 
 
 We recognize that this is an extreme 
 statement and that oftentimes the man 
 of the world regards anything beyond 
 his own material circle or outside the 
 range of his experience as belonging to 
 the effeminate and weak side of life. 
 Nevertheless, it is worth while to ponder 
 such a statement, even though we finally 
 discard it as unfair and extreme. 
 
 (119) 
 
120 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 Current criticisms of ministers contain 
 some measure of truth. On the one 
 hand, the ministerial training and the 
 fact that ministers are not called upon 
 to give an "accounting" of their work, 
 in the business sense of the term, has a 
 tendency to make them lax, flabby, leth- 
 argic and impracticable. On the other 
 hand, the calling of the ministry offers 
 the finest opportunity for that combina- 
 tion of strength and gentleness which is 
 the fruit of the finest piety and a char- 
 acteristic of genuine manliness. 
 
 The minister of today, as never before, 
 can bring a world of heavenly ideals and 
 inspirations into the life of the common 
 day. The demands made upon him put 
 iron into his blood, vision into his ideals, 
 energy into his activities and greater 
 determination into his will. The words 
 of Kipling surely apply to the preacher: 
 
 "Go to your work and be strong, 
 Halting not in your ways, 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 121 
 
 Balking the end half won, 
 
 For an instant dole of praise. 
 Stand to your work and be wise, certain of 
 
 word and pen, 
 Who are neither children nor gods, 
 
 But men in a world of men." 
 
 For the minister to be a man among 
 men and to sustain the proper relations, 
 it is important 
 
 First, that he sternly apply himself 
 to the problem of self-discipline. He 
 must conscientiously set before himself 
 definite aims and a standard of action 
 and efficient study of human nature. 
 These aims and standards will help him 
 to form correct habits and to make his 
 work increasingly effective. 
 
 A study of the lives of successful men 
 of affairs and of efficiency in business 
 shows the value of putting down in 
 definite form, maxims and guides of action 
 for the formation of right habits and the 
 development of character. You remem- 
 
122 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 ber that General Washington compiled a 
 code of morals and manners, which still 
 exists in a manuscript in his own hand- 
 writing, entitled: "Rules for behaviour in 
 company and conversation." Note a 
 few of them: 
 
 (1) Every action in company ought to 
 be with some sign of respect to those 
 present. 
 
 (2) Be not hasty to believe evil reports 
 to the disparagement of any. 
 
 (3) Speak no injurious words, neither 
 in jest nor in earnest. 
 
 (4) Scoff at none although they give 
 occasion. 
 
 (5) Speak no evil of the absent for it 
 is unjust. 
 
 (6) Be not angry at table whatever 
 happens and if you have reason to be 
 so, show it not. Put on a cheerful coun- 
 tenance, especially if there be strangers, 
 for good humor makes one dish of meat 
 a feast. 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 123 
 
 (7) Labor to keep alive in your breast 
 that little spark of celestial fire called 
 conscience. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin might have become 
 the man he was without the elaborate 
 rules and maxims which he laid down for 
 his guidance. But they helped instead 
 of hindered, and the sayings in Poor 
 Richard's Almanack, applying to every- 
 day life, exercise an influence even to this 
 day. 
 
 That prince of merchants who has 
 revolutionized business methods is fond 
 of summarizing, in the form of brief rules 
 and statements, correct principles and 
 methods which lead to success. Not 
 long ago Mr. Wanamaker, in one of his 
 editorials in a newspaper advertisement, 
 made some admirable statements which 
 apply to the minister who desires to be 
 a genuine man and a true merchantman 
 of heavenly goods: 
 
 "An unsuccessful clerk or business 
 man does not need to look far for the 
 
124 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 cause of his trouble. It is generally in 
 himself or herself. It may be one of 
 this dozen of little things that are not 
 little things: 
 
 1. He forgets that his worth is mani- 
 fest by what he produces in management 
 or sales. 
 
 2. He finds excuses for not doing 
 instead of finding ways to do what should 
 be done. 
 
 3. The world goes ahead in almost 
 every direction, and he keeps on the 
 humdrum turnpike where somebody will 
 have to pay the tolls. 
 
 4. He is not observant, accurate or 
 thoughtful. 
 
 5. He is sailing by the broken compass 
 of chance. 
 
 6. He flatters himself by comparing 
 himself in his own mirror instead of 
 with others that have passed him in the 
 race. 
 
 7. He thinks nobody notices that he 
 has fallen behind. 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 125 
 
 8. He does not love his work as he 
 used to, and therefore his enthusiasms 
 have been lost. 
 
 9. He puts off too many things until 
 tomorrow. 
 
 10. He is unconscious of being idle 
 much of his time, and lets the day go by 
 lacking results he could have attained. 
 
 11. His lack of thoroughness blocks 
 his leadership. 
 
 12. However honorable, he fails to 
 realize that his example affects others." 
 
 You remember the description which 
 St. Paul gives of himself both as a Christ- 
 ian minister and as a Christian man: 
 "Not that I have already obtained or 
 am already made perfect but I press on, 
 if so be that I may lay hold on that for 
 which also I was laid hold on by Christ 
 Jesus." 
 
 In the ministry, contentment with 
 ourselves or our achievements is fatal. 
 St. Paul's description is a perfect picture 
 
126 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 of the strenuous life and to that life we 
 are pledged. Goethe's line is "Who 
 grasps the moment as it flies, he is the 
 real man." 
 
 Note briefly a half dozen factors which 
 are fundamental for personal character 
 and one's influence on others: 
 
 1. Decision of character is necessary 
 to successful accomplishment either in 
 study or in action. 
 
 The college educated man, if he has 
 profited by disciplinary studies, has cul- 
 tivated the power of habitual concen- 
 tration of mind on any one subject that 
 may be presented to him. Decision of 
 character is not simply courage and 
 perseverance in the accomplishment of 
 one's subject but it is also that ability 
 to give one's self unreservedly to the 
 work of the moment, turning neither 
 to the right nor to the left. It means 
 firmness, constancy of purpose and clear- 
 ness of vision as well as the courage of 
 one's convictions. 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 127 
 
 Decision of character will prevent a 
 man from "dawdling," as Sir Walter 
 Scott used to call it; wasting of time, 
 whether in idle reading or in doing unnec- 
 essary things or in constantly postponing 
 a decision. "Ever learning and never 
 able to come to a knowledge of the truth." 
 
 I have never forgotten a conversation 
 with the late Geo. F. Baer, President 
 of the Philadelphia and Reading Rail- 
 road. It occurred in the first year of 
 my ministry. Speaking of the large 
 number of subjects which come up for 
 consideration before business men and 
 the need of giving instant direction, Mr. 
 Baer said: "Come to a decision quickly, 
 after you have looked at the subject 
 from various points of view, then stick 
 to your decision and go ahead." 
 
 The minister is to be enterprising, 
 alert, decisive — surrendering himself to 
 the work. This calls for a happy com- 
 bination of knowledge, zeal and dis- 
 
128 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 cretion, wide sympathy, keen but cool 
 judgment, alertness and a spirit of hope- 
 fulness and enthusiasm which convinces 
 and persuades. 
 
 Decision of character will lead you to 
 stick to the right; to choose between 
 higher and lower values, between the 
 less important and more important thing. 
 Your work, like the proverbial woman's 
 work in the home, is never done. It 
 is a question of choice in the doing of 
 a multitude of things and the man who 
 is firm and sympathetic, persevering 
 and energetic, deliberate and wise in 
 plans and indefatigable in execution, will 
 secure results where the timid, irresolute, 
 procrastinating man will fail. 
 
 2. Punctuality. Closely allied with 
 decision of character is the habit of being 
 punctual. This means promptness in 
 keeping engagements and in attending 
 to work. On many a business man's 
 desk you will find the motto: "Do it 
 now." 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 129 
 
 For five years I was associated with 
 Dr. Charles F. McCauley. This fellow- 
 ship began when he was seventy years 
 of age. During that period of time a 
 marked characteristic of his was a careful 
 planning so as to meet every engagement 
 promptly. He was always on hand to 
 see that the church services began on 
 time. If a call came to visit the sick 
 or information was given concerning a 
 new family, the duty was attended to 
 promptly. Notwithstanding the infirmi- 
 ties of age, his correspondence received 
 prompt attention. 
 
 In these later years I have had large 
 experience in a general church position 
 with hundreds of ministers. It may be 
 surprising to you, but nevertheless true, 
 that you can often determine the secret 
 of a man's efficiency and his ability to 
 do a large amount of work by his prompt- 
 ness in answering letters. The man who 
 is constantly putting off things, instead 
 
130 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 of attending to them promptly, develops 
 a weakness of character which inevitably 
 leads to loss and inefficiency. Coopera- 
 tion, or, as it is called in college and busi- 
 ness circles, "Team Work," is essential 
 in the conduct of the church's work and 
 unless one is prompt in attending to his 
 work and in keeping his promises, and 
 punctual in meeting his engagements, he 
 cannot hope to inspire others with con- 
 fidence or to secure their activity in the 
 cause in which he himself is interested. 
 
 The manifold duties of a minister's 
 calling make it impossible for him to 
 wait upon moods or states of feeling for 
 doing his work. It is only by prompt 
 and continuous application to the duty 
 of the hour that the minister can hope 
 to be a "workman that needeth not to 
 be ashamed." 
 
 3. Personal Habits. The minister's 
 relations toward others are affected by 
 habits of cleanliness, dress, eating and 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 131 
 
 often of sleeping. It is our duty to be 
 physically fit, to apply rules of health 
 to our daily living, to appear in such 
 clothes as are fit and becoming and to 
 give such personal attention to our ap- 
 pearance as will not be the cause of 
 stumbling or the occasion for remarks 
 on the part of others. 
 
 The minister is a public man and he 
 is likely at any time to mingle with his 
 parishioners in the store, in the office 
 or in the home. We all know individual 
 ministers who become very negligent in 
 matters of dress and ordinary cleanliness. 
 They may be able ministers of the gospel 
 but very often when their names are 
 mentioned, their slovenly dress and little 
 mannerisms to the exclusion of their 
 nobler qualities of mind and heart like- 
 wise suggest themselves. In these things 
 we need to remember, as Emerson has 
 said: "Good manners are made up of 
 petty sacrifices." 
 
132 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 As our habits are the reflex of repeated 
 actions, in the study and in the home, 
 and in our social contact with others, 
 it is necessary to have standards and 
 plans and at certain times take an inven- 
 tory of our habits, just as a business 
 man takes an inventory of his merchan- 
 dise. 
 
 The minister of today must be an 
 executive, an office worker as well as 
 a student in the study. He needs fixed 
 hours of study and freedom, so far as 
 possible, from interruption. From this 
 point of view experience shows that it is 
 desirable to have the study of the min- 
 ister and his office in the church rather 
 than in his home. The danger in the 
 home is that the minister may give too 
 much time to little duties which are 
 important but oftentimes should be per- 
 formed by others, and he may be inter- 
 rupted too frequently by those who are 
 thoughtless as to the value of his time, 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 133 
 
 or as to the ill results that follow from 
 constant and petty interruptions. 
 
 4. Complaining Habit. Avoid the 
 constant habit of speaking of your bodily 
 health. A certain minister got so much 
 in the habit of saying, whenever his 
 members spoke to him, "I am tired," 
 that it became a joke in the congregation. 
 This same minister would frequently 
 speak from the pulpit of his family, 
 sometimes saying that he could not 
 preach very well today because he had 
 taken care of the baby last night. This 
 complaining habit grew upon him and 
 finally was one of the causes of his resig- 
 nation. Better not speak about your- 
 self or talk about your complaints. 
 
 5. Covetousness. Dr. Charles E. 
 Jefferson, in his book on "The Minister 
 as Shepherd," calls attention to the two 
 temptations of the minister, against 
 which our Lord and two of His apostles 
 uttered special and repeated warnings. 
 
134 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 They are the love of gain and the love 
 of power — covetousness and ambition. 
 The experience of nineteen hundred years 
 has shown that these two temptations 
 are the most insidious, most constant 
 and most fatal. St. Peter, speaking of 
 false teachers, says: "And in covetous- 
 ness shall they, with feigned words, 
 make merchandise of you." And in 
 another place: "Having a heart exer- 
 cised in covetousness." 
 
 Paul says : "Put to death covetousness. 
 It is idolatry." 
 
 Let us remember that covetousness 
 means more than the inordinate love of 
 money. Ministers, as a rule, are not 
 abnormally fond of money. I do not 
 believe there is any set of men in the 
 world who think so little about it and 
 care so little for it. It is true, of course, 
 that a man may be grasping and stingy 
 even though he has but a small income, 
 but the covetousness against which a 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 135 
 
 minister must guard himself is an exces- 
 sive desire for anything which gratifies 
 one's own cravings, personal gratification, 
 and an unlawful love of authority. This 
 may show itself in the use of his time, 
 in his attitude toward his people and the 
 general work of the church. 
 
 He may act as if the church existed 
 for him rather than he as the minister 
 for the church. Some men use the min- 
 istry as a stepping stone to something 
 else and the salary of the pastor as a 
 base of supplies for other work. It is a 
 sad reflection on the ministry when men 
 go into the lecture business, act as teach- 
 ers or instructors in the public schools 
 or institutions of learning, to which they 
 are giving their chief time and at the 
 same time are drawing their salaries as 
 pastors. In exceptional cases dire neces- 
 sity may compel a man to hold a dual 
 position. 
 
 Covetousness shows itself in conceit 
 and in an exaggerated idea of one's worth. 
 
136 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 Such men feel that they have not been 
 recognized as they should be. They 
 criticize men who occupy influential 
 pastorates. They do foolish things and 
 become pessimistic and destroy their 
 spiritual life. 
 
 Covetousness also shows itself in ne- 
 glect in visiting the sick, in looking up 
 outsiders, in speaking with young people 
 who are facing great temptations. The 
 covetous man thinks so much about 
 himself that he does not have sufficient 
 time to give thought to others. He suc- 
 cumbs to this subtle temptation because 
 his pastoral neglect may not be brought 
 to the surface and no one reprove him 
 for failing to do his duty. 
 
 You can also notice the spirit of covet- 
 ousness in men who are cowardly. The 
 covetous man will not face moral issues. 
 He is afraid to show his colors. In 
 matters of church benevolence covetous- 
 ness shows itself. Many a minister is 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 137 
 
 afraid to present the great missionary 
 causes of the church because of the 
 pronounced opposition of some influ- 
 ential man. The covetous man, as the 
 Saviour described him, is a hireling and 
 not a shepherd and he flees at the sight 
 of a wolf. You can be sure that the 
 occasion will arise which will open your 
 eyes to the sin of covetousness and to its 
 subtle, deceitful character. Our Christ- 
 ian faith and oftentimes the Christian 
 faith of earnest men in the congregation, 
 may be in danger of destruction from 
 the spirit of covetousness. The test is 
 in the man's motives and actions. If 
 the minister is working for himself, rather 
 than for the welfare of his congregation 
 and the kingdom of Christ, his selfish 
 spirit of avarice, whether it be shown in 
 the seeking for money or education or 
 fame or power, will destroy his usefulness 
 and influence for good. 
 
 Let us never forget that the minister's 
 salary is not payable in money. He gets 
 
138 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 that which represents the value of money 
 — happiness, that which money cannot 
 purchase. With all its poverty and its 
 difficulties, the minister's is the happiest 
 of vocations. If his heart is in his work 
 he has the most congenial of tasks. He 
 is busy with large concerns worthy of the 
 best energies of the best men, with the 
 supreme desire to bless his fellowmen. He 
 is the minister, the servant in the most 
 glorious service of the divine Master. 
 His reward is in the affections of his 
 people and in the soul enrichment of 
 genuine altruistic work. Unless he has 
 inherited money he will always be com- 
 fortably poor, but rich in the treasure 
 house of memory, in the gratitude of 
 people to whom he has ministered and 
 in the consciousness of fellowship with 
 his divine Lord and joy in the doing of 
 the work, contented with the wages of 
 simply "going on." 
 
 Second. It is important to have clear 
 and definite views of the minister's rela- 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 139 
 
 tions as a man and an official to the com- 
 munity. We have considered standards 
 of action and the patient study of human 
 nature for the purpose of forming correct 
 habits which will help us to influence 
 our fellowmen to the higher life. These 
 characteristics will, of course, apply to 
 the minister's relations in the life of the 
 community, but the minister, both as 
 a man and because of the office he bears, 
 sustains a unique relation to the com- 
 munity. It is a relation which receives 
 emphasis in the terms of social service, 
 in the church as a community force, 
 and in the varied movements and agen- 
 cies which are the fruitage of the teach- 
 ings of the church and the associated 
 activities of Christians. 
 
 We do well to recognize that the Christ- 
 ian minister is a worker for the kingdom 
 of God. This involves the social work 
 of the ministry and of the church. We 
 are using new terms for an old truth. 
 
140 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 From a study of St. Paul's conception 
 of the kingdom you will find that with 
 him the kingdom is ethical in character. 
 Take the fourteen instances mentioned 
 of the kingdom, by St. Paul, and in every 
 one except two (2nd Timothy), the 
 emphasis and satisfaction of a distinct 
 ethical condition is asserted or implied. 
 The laws of the kingdom are the eternal 
 laws of human welfare. The object of 
 the church and so with the minister of 
 the church, is the extension, victory and 
 abiding supremacy of the kingdom. The 
 so-called "social problem" is an ethical 
 problem. It is one of character. There- 
 fore, the social message of Christianity 
 is not incidental but essential. 
 
 The two fundamental questions of the 
 Bible are "Where art thou?" and "Where 
 is thy brother?" 
 
 Man's relation to God and man's 
 relation to his fellows. Therefore, relig- 
 ion and morality, the new life of the 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 141 
 
 individual and the application of that 
 life in relation to others, are inseparable. 
 They never can be safely divided. 
 
 We can rejoice that the relation of the 
 minister to the community and to the 
 people now is vastly more human and 
 less ecclesiastical than in the past. While 
 the teachings of our Lord have the per- 
 sonal note, yet his law of love which 
 He lays upon every conscience, the enthu- 
 siasm for humanity with which He would 
 fill the heart, makes Christianity a 
 missionary and an energizing force for 
 the transformation of the community 
 and the uplift of the lowest. 
 
 The Church exists for the community 
 and not the community for the church. 
 If this be true, the churches in any one 
 community must get together. The par- 
 ish system, so far as possible, through 
 community grouping of churches and 
 federation, must be restored in Prot- 
 estantism, for the supreme message of 
 
142 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 the Church to the inner life and to per- 
 sonal morality cannot be brought home 
 to individuals in the community unless 
 the minister and his congregation know 
 the religious affiliation and develop a 
 constant religious census and oversight 
 of the individuals and families of the 
 community, just as the tax assessor or 
 the political ward leader knows his facts 
 in relation to every voter. But the 
 community, as a group of people, whether 
 as citizens congregated in the city or 
 hundreds living pleasantly in a village 
 or the scattered families in the country- 
 side, has community problems which, 
 fundamentally, are questions of human 
 relations and, therefore, are moral prob- 
 lems. The varied interests of the com- 
 munity, its sane government, its business 
 and industrial organization, its educa- 
 tional interests, the forces of religion, 
 various organizations representing relief, 
 child welfare, social life, the elimination 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 143 
 
 of vice and crime and of the saloon — 
 these all are intimately related to the 
 happiness and welfare and liberty of 
 people in the community. Ministers 
 must take their part in the consideration 
 of these problems and lead their people 
 to see that these community relations 
 are as truly a part of the work of the 
 church as are its other activities. The 
 congregation that lives for the community 
 will discover that what were formerly 
 vexed problems of congregational exis- 
 tence, such as the congregational expenses, 
 the improvement of the church building 
 and the petty jealousies of individuals, 
 will disappear. The congregation finds 
 itself in losing its life for others. 
 
 The religion of Jesus Christ means the 
 redemption of the whole life of man and 
 the minister's duty and privilege is to 
 use his influence in all the varied relations 
 of community life. The church that 
 develops in its people a community spirit 
 
144 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 and does neighborly parish work will 
 find that its influence will not only grow 
 but its own life, in point of numbers 
 and in spiritual uplift, will be greatly 
 enlarged. 
 
 If you wish to have a vision of what 
 the minister can do and of the actual, 
 practical work of a church in relation 
 to the community, study the little book 
 entitled "The Church a Community 
 Force," by Rev. Worth M. Tippy, pastor 
 of the Epworth Memorial Church, Cleve- 
 land, Ohio, published by the Missionary 
 Education Movement, New York. 
 
 The new vision of community service 
 immeasurably enlarges the work of the 
 minister and restores to him more than 
 the old-time influence of the minister 
 as the educated man in the community. 
 This vision prevents the local congrega- 
 tion from existing as a religious group 
 or club. It removes selfishness and re- 
 ligious isolation, it strikes the evangelistic 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 145 
 
 note; it means that the minister and 
 church must study its own community 
 problems and let the light of the church 
 become the light of the community. It 
 calls for a study of one's neighborhood 
 and the possibilities of the local congre- 
 gation, and from the experience thus 
 derived it will be found that the open 
 country, the rural town, the small city, 
 are as rich fields for community service 
 as the large cities. 
 
 This is an heroic age for the men who 
 will be men, who will fight entrenched 
 evil and who will bring the gospel of 
 peace and goodwill to bear upon the 
 community and upon the times in which 
 they live. Richard Watson Gilder gives 
 the truth in his poem on the Heroic Age : 
 
 "He speaks not well who doth his time deplore, 
 Naming it new and little and obscure, 
 Ignoble and unfit for lofty deeds. 
 All times were modern in the times of them, 
 And this no more than others. Do thy part 
 Here in the living day, as did the great 
 
146 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 Who made old days immortal! So shall men, 
 Gazing long back to this far-looming hour, 
 Say: 'Then the time when men were truly 
 
 men; 
 Though wars grew less, their spirits met the 
 
 test 
 Of new conditions; conquering civic wrong; 
 Saving the state anew by virtuous lives; 
 Guarding the country's honor as their own, 
 And their own as their country's and their 
 
 sons' : 
 Defying leagued fraud with single truth; 
 Not fearing loss and daring to be pure.'" 
 
 Third. The minister in his relations 
 to the community, in social service, in 
 teaching and in all other movements of 
 the church must never fail to give the 
 supreme message which is Jesus Christ 
 and Him crucified. The redemption of 
 society is through the redemption of the 
 individual by the new life of the Saviour, 
 his Lord and the Lord of society. 
 
 The preeminently rewarding work of 
 the ministry is the personal work in 
 soul-saving and this work is fundamental 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 147 
 
 to the well-being of the community, and 
 the nation. I believe with all my heart 
 in social service but I agree with Dr. 
 Charles E. Jefferson, who at a great 
 convention of his church called attention 
 to the fact that in America "we have 
 suffered a heart-breaking disillusionment. 
 We expected great things from liberty 
 and education, and have found that they 
 are broken reeds. Neither our wealth 
 nor our science has given us either peace 
 or joy. The four wizards — liberty and 
 education and wealth and science — have 
 performed their mightiest miracles under 
 our flag; but they cannot do the one thing 
 essential, they cannot keep the conscience 
 quick, or the soul alive to God. Our sins 
 are as scarlet and our vices are red like 
 crimson, and we need prophets to turn 
 the nation to the God who will abund- 
 antly pardon." 
 
 And so I wish to emphasize, in particu- 
 lar, individual work for individuals. The 
 world, as well as Christians generally, 
 
148 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 looks to the minister as the one trained 
 worker who can deal with individual 
 souls. If he fail at this most vital point, 
 his ministry will be shorn of the power 
 which inspires and makes real and human 
 his preaching and teaching and all social 
 service activities. The minister who 
 learns from the teaching and example of 
 our Lord the immeasurable value in the 
 Father's eyes of each single soul gained 
 for his kingdom and how its recovery 
 repays the utmost pains or sacrifice it 
 may cost, that minister will learn how 
 to do personal work. 
 
 Charles G. Trumbull, Editor of the 
 Sunday School Times, who has given us 
 perhaps the most practical manual on 
 individual soul-saving in the book entitled 
 "Taking Men Alive" considers three 
 truths in reference to such work. He 
 says: 
 
 "1. The work of individual soul-saving 
 is the greatest work that God permits 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 149 
 
 men to do. 
 
 "2. It was Christ's own preferred 
 method of work, as it is his preferred 
 method for us today, for it is always 
 the most effective way of working. 
 
 "3. It is the hardest work in the world 
 to do and it always will be the hardest." 
 
 Mr. Trumbull's book is a study in the 
 principles and practice of individual soul- 
 winning, based on his father's book 
 entitled "Individual Work for Indi- 
 viduals." A record of personal experi- 
 ences and conviction. 
 
 This book on "Individual Work for 
 Individuals" by Dr. Henry Clay Trum- 
 bull is a classic on the subject. His own 
 conversion came about as a result of a 
 letter from a friend and of his appeal to 
 him to become a Christian. Mr. Trum- 
 bull was surprised that this friend, who 
 had taken his stand for Christ during a 
 revival, did not say anything to him on 
 the subject, but later the friend wrote a 
 
150 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 letter which was the turning point in 
 his life. As soon as Mr. Trumbull had 
 come to the point of Christian decision 
 for himself, he says that he looked about 
 him for another man. He spoke to an 
 associate in the office who was also a 
 fellow-boarder with him. They were 
 accustomed to walk together to and fro 
 from the boarding house to the office 
 and were constantly thrown into contact 
 with each other. As they walked to- 
 gether, Mr. Trumbull told his friend of 
 his new decision for Christ and urged 
 him to make a like decision. The answer 
 burned in the lesson of the need and 
 neglect of individual work. "Trumbull, 
 your words cut me to the heart. You 
 little think how they rebuke me. I've 
 long been a professed follower of Christ; 
 and you have never suspected this, 
 although we've been in close association 
 in house and office for years. I've never 
 said a word to you for the Saviour whom 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 151 
 
 I trust. I've never urged you to trust 
 Him. I've never said a word for Him. 
 And now a follower of his, and a friend 
 of yours, from a distance, has been the 
 means of leading you to Him. And here 
 are you, inviting me to come to that 
 Saviour of whom I have been a silent 
 follower for years. May God forgive 
 me for my lack of faithfulness!" 
 
 It is well worth the while of every 
 theological student and minister to study 
 the two books I have named. May I 
 call to your attention several matters 
 in Mr. Trumbull's experience which we 
 need to keep constantly in mind? One 
 is the answer to the question on the 
 dangers of personal evangelism. Of a 
 certain experience in the army he wrote: 
 "That experience with my first convert 
 encouraged me with my individual work 
 for individuals. I saw that it were better 
 to make a mistake in one's first effort at 
 a personal religious conversation and 
 
152 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 correct that mistake afterwards, than 
 not to make any effort. There can be 
 no mistake so bad in working for an 
 individual soul for Christ, as the fatal 
 mistake of not making any honest en- 
 deavor. How many persons refrain from 
 doing anything lest they should possibly 
 do the wrong thing just now. Not doing 
 is the worst of doing. "Inasmuch as 
 ye did it not, . . . depart from me," 
 is the foretold sentence of the Judge of 
 all. In another place the author says: 
 "The devil's favorite argument with 
 a believer is that just now is not a good 
 time to speak on the subject. A lover 
 of Christ and of souls is told that he will 
 harm the cause he loves by introducing 
 the theme of themes just now." 
 
 Dr. Trumbull's book on Individual 
 Work was written after its author was 
 seventy years of age. He testifies that 
 it is his honest belief that he did far more 
 good in his dealing with individuals than 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 153 
 
 he ever did in his long years of work as 
 editor of the Sunday School Times, speak- 
 ing every week to hundreds of thousands 
 of people, or in his books — and they were 
 many, which he published, on vitally 
 important subjects, some of them having 
 a large circulation. He also has this to 
 say as to the "ease" in doing personal 
 work which his long practice had brought 
 him : "From nearly half a century of such 
 practice, as I have had opportunity day 
 by day, I can say that I have spoken with 
 thousands upon thousands on the subject 
 of their spiritual welfare. Yet, so far 
 from my becoming accustomed to this 
 matter, so that I can take hold of it as 
 a matter of course, I find it as difficult 
 to speak about it at the end of these years 
 as at the beginning. Never to the present 
 day can I speak to a single soul for Christ 
 without being reminded by Satan that 
 I am in danger of harming the cause by 
 introducing it just now. If there is one 
 
154 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 thing that Satan is sensitive about, it is 
 the danger of a Christian's harming the 
 cause he loves by speaking of Christ to 
 a needy soul. He (Satan) has more than 
 once, or twice, or thrice, kept me from 
 speaking on the subject by his sensitive 
 pious caution, and he has tried a thousand 
 times to do so. Therefore, my experience 
 leads me to suppose that he is urging 
 other persons to try any method for souls 
 except the best one." 
 
 The minister who has a catechetical 
 class, and who keeps in close touch with 
 the young people in his Sunday School 
 and Young People's Society, has an easy, 
 natural method of approach in dealing 
 with individuals. Catechetical class in- 
 struction can be directed to meet the 
 situation which conversations with the 
 members of the class disclose. Indeed, 
 the richest experience of the ministry 
 is in personal conversation and prayer 
 with the young people and the individuals 
 preparing for membership in the church. 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 155 
 
 Through the many years of his pas- 
 torate Dr. McCauley arranged either at 
 his home or in the church to meet indi- 
 vidually every member of his catechetical 
 class for personal conversation and 
 prayer. He used personal efforts not 
 only in soul-winning but in influencing 
 others for his Master's work. A prom- 
 inent minister in the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, for whom Dr. McCauley was 
 guardian, tells with the deepest feeling of 
 his personal conversations with Dr. Mc- 
 Cauley. Always before the young boy 
 would go away to school the faithful 
 guardian would call him into his study 
 for personal conversation and prayer. 
 On one occasion he said to this lad of 
 seventeen: "You know a minister has 
 many problems and great burdens of 
 souls to carry and I would be very glad 
 if I could know you were praying for me 
 every day," and the lad, through all the 
 years of his preparatory school and college 
 
156 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 life and on to the day of the death of 
 Dr. McCauley, never failed to pray for 
 this man of God. No wonder this young 
 man, when he wrote out, in his applica- 
 tion for admission to the seminary, some 
 answers to questions relating to his life, 
 said: "If I ever amount to anything in 
 this world I owe it to the Rev. Dr. Charles 
 F. McCauley who was my guardian for 
 six years." 
 
 One of the prominent ministers of the 
 Reformed Church told me recently that 
 years ago when he was but ten years old, 
 Dr. McCauley was a visitor in his father's 
 home. He had a pleasant talk with the 
 young lad and suggested that he might 
 some day become a minister and after 
 his return home he wrote a three-page 
 letter to the little boy on the subject of 
 his becoming a minister. 
 
 If I may be pardoned, speaking out of 
 my own experience, it may be worth 
 while to mention the fact that the Broth- 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 157 
 
 erhood of Andrew and Philip came into 
 being in part as a result of talking to 
 six young men on the subject of taking 
 a stand for Christ and uniting with the 
 church. Each of the six was in the 
 pastor's Bible Class and agreed to take 
 the step if all would take it together. 
 This evidence of the influence of one 
 young man upon another had much to do 
 with the organization of the Brotherhood. 
 It is fair to say that literally hundreds, 
 if not thousands, of men have united 
 with the church through the individual 
 and associated efforts of Brotherhood 
 men, the influencing of one man by an- 
 other and oftentimes the lateral and 
 combined influence of groups of men 
 one upon the other. 
 
 The ways of doing personal work are 
 as varied as are individuals, but if the 
 supreme importance and necessity of 
 individual work is kept in mind it will 
 be discovered that sermons and Bible 
 
158 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 study and prayer meetings as well as the 
 work of church organizations, like the 
 Ladies' Aid Society, the Missionary Soci- 
 ety, Sunday School and Class Organi- 
 zations, etc., can all be utilized and 
 directed and made effective for indi- 
 vidual soul-winning. One illustration 
 perhaps will indicate possibilities. A 
 certain doctor and his wife attended the 
 Sunday evening service. A little per- 
 sonal conversation revealed the fact that 
 the wife was the daughter of a Methodist 
 minister and the husband was brought 
 up as a Presbyterian, but neither had 
 ever made a confession of religion. Sev- 
 eral sermons were preached, directed 
 toward them, as a result of conversations. 
 Several long walks were taken with the 
 doctor. His spiritual difficulties were 
 discovered. Dr. Philip Schaff's book on 
 "The Person of Christ" was loaned to 
 the doctor and within a few months 
 the minister had the joy of receiving 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 159 
 
 both into the membership of the Christian 
 Church. 
 
 Personal work in soul-winning is the 
 finest of Christian arts and Paul has 
 given us the principle underlying the 
 work: "If though I was free from all 
 men I brought myself under bondage to 
 all that I might gain the more." "I am 
 become all things to all men that I may 
 by all means save some." It was our 
 Lord who said: "Follow me and I will 
 make you to become fishers of men." 
 The successful fisherman embodies the 
 characteristics which every soul-winner 
 should have. They are, as has been well 
 stated, "patience, knowledge of the inter- 
 ests of his fish, knowledge of the bait 
 that would attract fish, faith in things 
 not seen, skill, delicacy of touch, refusal 
 to be discouraged, unlimited persever- 
 ance, conviction that he has not yet 
 exhausted the possibilities of his art. 
 All these, and more, make a true fisher- 
 
160 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 man and it is important to note that 
 not a single one of these essentials is 
 beyond the power of any one to attain. 
 If one is not "born" a fisherman he can 
 learn how and he ought. Christ's de- 
 mands are always reasonable. He never 
 enjoins impossible things without making 
 them possible. The all-important thing is 
 to get a passion for souls. The love of 
 souls keeps us from professionalism, from 
 cant, from excessive zeal and from 
 strengthening simply an ecclesiastical 
 institution. It is love, love for Jesus 
 Christ and our f ellowmen, that will enable 
 us, as ministers, to crucify self, form 
 correct habits of life, throw ourselves 
 into the work of the community, and 
 spend our time in loving, personal min- 
 istry to individual men and women. 
 
 How did McCheyne preach, it was 
 asked? "As if he wanted to save your 
 soul," was the reply. The true minister 
 of the gospel of Jesus Christ can be sure 
 
The Minister in Relation to Others 161 
 
 that he sustains the right relations to his 
 fellowmen when he shows that he loves 
 other souls and goes about doing them 
 good. 
 
THE MINISTER AS A MAN IN 
 RELATION TO THE CHURCH 
 
 The Christian minister can never be pro- 
 vincial or parochial in his tastes or ambitions. 
 The kingdom of Christ has no boundary or 
 limitation and "no end." 
 
THE MINISTER AS A MAN IN 
 RELATION TO THE CHURCH 
 
 Lecture Three 
 
 The minister of today is called to be 
 preeminently a headmaster of religious 
 instruction. He must be an executive. 
 In the pulpit and out of it his teaching 
 work must bulk large. He is called to 
 exercise evangelistic gifts and, to use a 
 phrase of a modern manufacturing plant, 
 he is, or ought to be, an "Efficiency 
 Engineer." 
 
 The overwhelming responsibilities of 
 the minister's office in these respects 
 cannot fail to be felt if one recognizes 
 the fact that the local church or congre- 
 gation must be a community church, a 
 force to work with, not a field to work 
 in. The call to the modern church is to 
 keep in view all the interests of all the 
 people both from the standpoint of the 
 here and the hereafter. In short, it is 
 to serve the people and to extend the 
 
 (165) 
 
166 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 kingdom of Jesus Christ the world over. 
 It is not simply to build up the local 
 congregation, although that follows. 
 Splendid buildings, good equipment, bills 
 paid at the end of the year, a fair atten- 
 dance, some contributions toward the 
 work of the denomination — these do not 
 justify the existence of the local church. 
 The church is sent on the same errand 
 as its divine Master and Head who said: 
 "The son of man came not to be minis- 
 tered unto but to minister and to give 
 his life a ransom for many." In the light 
 of these statements let us consider 
 
 1st. The relation of the minister to 
 the local congregation. Note briefly 
 what may be called a comprehensive and 
 constructive program, the spirit or the 
 proper atmosphere of the minister and 
 his church. 
 
 2nd. His relation to the judicatories or 
 bodies of the denomination to which his 
 congregation belongs. 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 167 
 
 3rd. The minister's relations to the 
 benevolent causes and agencies. 
 
 4th. His relations to interdenomina- 
 tional agencies and cooperative or federa- 
 tive bodies. 
 
 In the first place, a comprehensive and 
 constructive program for the minister as 
 a leader and an executive requires the 
 recognition of an organizing principle. 
 The minister and his congregation must 
 know where they are going, and what 
 they are purposing to do. The minister 
 should put these questions to himself 
 when he enters upon the pastorate and 
 in the light of them examine his work 
 at stated intervals. In the business 
 world the past twenty-five years a study 
 of business conditions and needs and 
 opportunities has resulted in what is 
 called "Scientific management as a work- 
 ing philosophy of business." It is the 
 application of the efficiency test to busi- 
 ness. Mr. Frederick W. Taylor, one of 
 
168 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 the two chief representatives of the 
 system, states that scientific management 
 is not mere "speeding up" but is a prac- 
 tical philosophy destined to replace hap- 
 hazard, traditional methods. It sets up 
 a normal and standard method of per- 
 forming a task by the observation of 
 those actually performing the task. It 
 is the wisdom of experience mixed with 
 brains and definite purpose. 
 
 Four underlying principles of manage- 
 ment, according to Mr. Taylor, are 
 
 1. The development of a true science. 
 
 2. The scientific selection and training 
 of individual workmen. 
 
 3. The cooperation on the part of the 
 management, with the men, so as to 
 insure that all work is done in accordance 
 with the principles of the science which 
 has been developed. 
 
 4. Intimate, friendly cooperation be- 
 tween the management and the men, the 
 management taking over work which it 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 169 
 
 is better fitted than the workmen to 
 perform and planning the workmen's 
 tasks in detail. 
 
 Dr. Shailer Mathews has summed up 
 the essence of Efficiency Management 
 in business under the following heads: 
 
 1. The centering of attention upon 
 operation. 
 
 2. The standardizing of operation in 
 terms of function rather than of com- 
 petition and "speeding up." 
 
 3. The division of labor by which the 
 planning and the performance of tasks 
 are separated and each is highly special- 
 ized. 
 
 4. The education of those performing 
 the specialized task, as to their functions 
 and precise duties. 
 
 5. The adjustment of all plans and 
 tasks into perfect cooperation, through 
 an appeal to cooperative rather than 
 competitive self-interest. 
 
 6. The use and, when needed, the 
 invention of appropriate equipment. 
 
170 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 7. The appeal to motives which will 
 induce workmen to submit to the direc- 
 tion and control involved in the entire 
 plan. 
 
 Is it practicable to apply such efficiency 
 tests or scientific management to the 
 local church as a working organization? 
 If we keep in mind the fundamental 
 differences between a great business cor- 
 poration and a church, it would seem 
 to be feasible to do so. The real tests 
 of efficiency in the church are spiritual. 
 "The fruits of the Spirit" must appear 
 both in the minister and members if the 
 church is fulfilling its functions. Its 
 fruits cannot be measured, tabulated or 
 always made concrete. Then the church 
 has to deal with voluntary and, for the 
 most part, unskilled workers. In indus- 
 try the workers are picked and under 
 control because they are paid wages or 
 salary. Superintendents or heads of de- 
 partments can issue orders and increase 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 171 
 
 the force and equipment in a way that 
 is not possible in a church. Men at the 
 head of business establishments sustain 
 vitally different relations to their working 
 force compared to that of the minister 
 as leader in the congregation. The 
 
 appeal to motive is radically different. 
 Making allowance for these differences, 
 it nevertheless seems true that the funda- 
 mental functions of the church, expressed 
 in terms of service and life, can be tested, 
 not by any rigid standard of efficiency 
 but rather by the definite tasks to which 
 the church sets herself — tasks resulting 
 from the exercise of the graces and life 
 of the Christian, in attempting to meet 
 the needs of the people and the command 
 of her great Head. It is the business 
 of the minister to secure a proper organi- 
 zation of the church so as to develop the 
 membership and to use them as a force 
 in doing the work for which the church 
 exists. 
 
172 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 The modern business organization has 
 its great departments, such as the Manu- 
 facturing Department, the Sales Depart- 
 ment, the Publicity Department, etc., 
 and a proper division of labor; so the 
 Christian congregation is coming to see 
 that the work of the minister is not so 
 much to serve the individual church 
 member as to help and train him in 
 service for others. Even the gospel 
 itself goes into the heart of the Christian 
 by the application of the principle: "We 
 learn by doing." " Self -activity is the 
 law of growth." And so the church 
 members must work. They must find 
 their spheres of usefulness, in the social 
 uplift of the community, in the winning 
 of new members to the church and in 
 educating themselves to specialized, def- 
 inite lines of activity. 
 
 It is not possible to consider, within 
 the limits of this chapter, a comprehen- 
 sive and constructive program in the 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 173 
 
 work of the local church, but a few 
 factors of efficiency may be mentioned 
 which deserve special attention in the 
 light of the changed conditions in habits 
 of living, in the industrial order and in 
 the needs of the hour as they relate 
 themselves to the church and the con- 
 sequent necessity for readjustment of 
 church methods. 
 
 (A) The local church should keep 
 proper records. It goes without saying 
 that it is the duty of the pastor to see 
 that there are kept, by the proper officers, 
 complete minutes of meetings, records 
 of members baptized and confirmed, 
 their attendance upon communion, etc.; 
 but records which the church must have 
 today in order to do its work intelli- 
 gently, and not in the dark, are applica- 
 tion blanks for membership which cover 
 pledges to render service, cards for the 
 assignment of particular tasks, blanks 
 to report services rendered, stated reports 
 
174 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 from the organizations within the con- 
 gregation to the consistory. There must 
 also be careful supervision through stand- 
 ing committees of the activities of the 
 congregational agencies, an administra- 
 tive committee, with the pastor an 
 ex-officio member, and careful records 
 of the financial and benevolent operations 
 of the congregation and of its affiliated 
 organizations arranged for comparison 
 from year to year, also stated printed 
 reports to the members of the congrega- 
 tion, issued weekly, monthly, quarterly, 
 or, at least, annually, giving in detail 
 items of receipts and expenditures and 
 summaries of the various lines of activity 
 of the members and the agencies of the 
 church. 
 
 But you say this would seem to make 
 the church something of a business estab- 
 lishment. Exactly. That is what should 
 be the case. Our religion is one of light 
 and knowledge and if we have been 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 175 
 
 regarding the church as capable of per- 
 forming its possible services to the com- 
 munity and to the kingdom without the 
 most elementary means of administra- 
 tion, it is time we come to see our mistake 
 and remedy the situation. 
 
 (B) A Church Budget. The budget is 
 a statement of the probable revenues and 
 expenses for the ensuing year. The 
 church budget is a detailed statement 
 prepared by the church treasurer or 
 finance committee of the several sums 
 that can reasonably be depended on to 
 constitute the church's total income and 
 of the items that may be expected to 
 enter into its total disbursements. A 
 budget sets before a church a definite 
 goal. It prevents the making of appro- 
 priations for which there are no prospec- 
 tive funds. It helps the church to detect 
 unwise and disproportionate appropria- 
 tions and it often stimulates the members 
 to make larger offerings for objects that 
 
176 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 have not been provided for as they 
 deserve. 
 
 The budget plan is workable in a 
 small as well as in a large church, in the 
 country as well as in the city or small 
 town. The budget plan should include 
 not only estimated receipts and estimated 
 operating expenses for the congregation, 
 such as pastor's salary, pulpit supplies, 
 music, Sunday School or schools, sexton, 
 fuel, light, printing, etc., but the budget 
 should also provide opportunity for the 
 members to give to definite, benevolent 
 causes and philanthropic enterprises — 
 contributions to missions of all kinds; 
 education, Sunday School work, minis- 
 terial aid, hospitals, relief of the poor 
 and a score of similar agencies usually 
 designated by the collective term 
 "Church benevolences." There should 
 be a separate treasurer for "church 
 benevolences"; or in any event the re- 
 ceipts for current expenses of all kinds 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 177 
 
 and the receipts for benevolences should 
 be kept separate and apart and the one 
 should not borrow from the other, or, 
 as is sometimes the case, appropriate 
 money received for benevolence — for 
 use of current expenses. This is rank 
 dishonesty and a breach of trust. 
 
 An ideal method for raising both the 
 church and benevolent budget is on the 
 basis of the weekly offering, collected 
 either weekly or monthly. The weekly 
 offering plan is the application of the 
 budget to the individual church member, 
 and experience shows that it is a wise 
 and feasible method, productive of larger 
 results than any other method of church 
 finance. Of course, the weekly budget 
 plan implies a dependence upon system- 
 atic training in mission study, community 
 service, regular presentation of the benev- 
 olent causes, an annual canvass by 
 informed, enthusiastic canvassers and, 
 in addition, provides for special thank 
 
178 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 offerings and the presentation of extra- 
 ordinary needs or obligations of the 
 church in relation to its own work, the 
 community or the denomination to which 
 it belongs. 
 
 The minister should make it a rule to 
 have his church officers make all an- 
 nouncements regarding current expenses 
 and offerings for benevolence. The min- 
 ister can do his part in presenting causes 
 and principles of giving in sermons and 
 printed announcements. 
 
 ( C) Religious Education for the Young . 
 A study of the budget indicates the low 
 estimate placed upon the work of the 
 Sunday School in religious instruction. 
 Protestant churches in the last fifty years 
 have been giving an insignificant place 
 to the teaching function and this not- 
 withstanding the fact that eighty-three 
 per cent, of the additions to church mem- 
 bership come directly from the Sunday 
 School; practically the Sunday School is 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 179 
 
 left to shift for itself and receives only 
 an insignificant fraction of the funds of 
 the church. Its supplies for its specific 
 work of religious education, besides being 
 stinted, are often the cheapest in the 
 market, and in the case of many Sunday 
 Schools a large part of the contributions 
 is diverted to outside enterprises such 
 as interest on church debts, which, if 
 worthy, are usually not nearly as much 
 in need of support as the school itself. 
 Of course, the pupils should be trained 
 to consider interests other than their own 
 and it is a distinct educational advance 
 to have Sunday Schools give to missions 
 and other benevolent causes and phil- 
 anthropic objects, but the Sunday Schools 
 should be supported through the church 
 funds, at least in part. More than this, 
 if we are to be true to the idea of educa- 
 tional religion and to meet the imperative 
 needs of the hour — the importance of 
 religious education for the children must 
 
180 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 be magnified. All the agencies of the 
 congregation, as well as of the Sunday 
 School, intended for the younger children, 
 should be developed with the aim of 
 nurturing and training the children dur- 
 ing the most impressionable years of life, 
 centering in the instruction of the pastor 
 or of the catechetical class. Unless the 
 congregation, through volunteer teachers, 
 through pastor and trained deaconesses 
 or Christian workers, establishes in the 
 church or Sunday School building, either 
 for the individual congregation or for 
 groups of congregations, stated periods 
 for week day religious instruction, we can- 
 not expect the Protestant churches to 
 hold their own. We surely are not true 
 to the real meaning of educational relig- 
 ion. Educators over the land are coming 
 to recognize more and more that the 
 real test of efficiency in the local church 
 is the preparation made for the religious 
 nurture of the children of non-school age 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 181 
 
 and the instruction in religion and morals 
 for the children between the ages of six 
 and fifteen. The Sunday School is mak- 
 ing marked educational advance but the 
 Sunday School alone is not sufficient. 
 The time devoted to it is not enough, 
 the conditions under which the instruc- 
 tion is given are not favorable, the teach- 
 ers, as a rule, are not thoroughly equipped, 
 the lessons have not been studied by the 
 pupils, the home has not reinforced the 
 importance and value of the work. Ade- 
 quate results, under such circumstances, 
 cannot be reasonably expected. May I 
 give a single illustration? Here is a boy 
 who attends Sunday School for ten years, 
 from six to sixteen, a longer period than 
 the average. He does not devote as many 
 hours to the study of the Bible as the 
 same boy gives to a single year's course 
 in the High School on Shakespeare. 
 What knowledge of arithmetic would a 
 child in the memory age from nine to 
 
182 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 twelve acquire if given a half hour's 
 instruction once a week for the three 
 or four year period? Is it not plain 
 that the lack of continuity, of systematic, 
 consecutive teaching, the lack of serious 
 time and attention, are the fundamental 
 reasons for the comparative failure of 
 the modern Sunday School and constitute 
 a strong argument in favor of revising 
 our present methods by giving more time 
 and attention to the religious instruction 
 of the young? The reform must begin 
 with the minister who at present is giving 
 ten or twenty per cent, of his time to the 
 ripest harvest field of the church and 
 eighty to ninety per cent, of his time 
 to the cultivation of the soil where rocks 
 and thorns abound, where the cares and 
 riches of the world choke the word, and 
 where, according to the teaching of our 
 Lord Himself, only a small percentage 
 of the seed sown comes to fruitage. 
 
 (D) Adequate Efficiency Methods call 
 for the cooperation of the home. The 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 183 
 
 family is the unit in the church and state. 
 The influences that play most profoundly 
 upon human life center in the home. 
 Philanthropists and the State recognize 
 this, as is evidenced by laws on housing 
 conditions, child welfare and by the 
 efforts of educators in the organization 
 of Home and School Leagues to link the 
 home and the public school together. 
 Does not this point a moral for the 
 church? Fundamentally, a successful 
 rule laid down and applied to every 
 method proposed in the Sunday School 
 or congregation is — nothing done for the 
 child in which the home does not have 
 a part. Parents' Classes, the Cradle 
 Roll, the Home Department, are illus- 
 trations of tendencies in the right direc- 
 tion. 
 
 (E) Evangelism. Because the church 
 has failed to give chief time and attention 
 to the children, in accordance with the 
 idea of educational religion, because of 
 
184 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 the large alien populations in our country, 
 because of the massing of people in town 
 and city, and because of the practical 
 indifference of multitudes of adults and 
 the need of bridging over the chasm 
 between the unreached adults and the 
 church, we cannot fail to recognize the 
 necessity of what is called "Evangelism." 
 This means that evangelists have their 
 place and function. The evangelistic 
 note must be sounded by the minister 
 in his relation to the local church. This 
 will call, not only for united effort at 
 times on the part of the churches of the 
 community, but also for the readjustment 
 of religious services and the application 
 of proper publicity methods to enlist the 
 interest and attendance of non-church- 
 goers and the unsaved through the per- 
 sonal efforts of the members of the 
 church. Perhaps the safest form of 
 continuous evangelism is in the system- 
 atic work of the Organized Adult Class 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 185 
 
 and Church Brotherhoods like the Broth- 
 erhood of Andrew and Philip, working 
 directly upon tasks assigned by the 
 pastor. 
 
 (F) A word should be said respecting 
 the minister's relations with his official 
 board. Always exalt the noble dignity 
 of the office of elder and of deacon. Show 
 your reverence and careful regard for 
 church officers. Let every man feel that 
 no greater honor will ever come to him 
 than his appointment to service in the 
 church of his divine Lord and Saviour. 
 The ordination and installation of officers 
 affords a splendid opportunity to cause 
 them to recognize their high calling of 
 God in Christ Jesus. A personal word 
 spoken to the officers on the subject is 
 helpful, 
 
 Dr. McCauley's lifelong habit was to 
 write on important subjects, to his church 
 officers, to consult them privately, to 
 place upon leaders in his consistory the 
 
186 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 responsibilities for presenting subjects of 
 importance. Even when away on vaca- 
 tion, Dr. McCauley would write fre- 
 quently to members of his official board. 
 It is profoundly important that the 
 minister should be intimate with his 
 church officers, respect their differing 
 personalities, study their idiosyncrasies 
 and by suggestion and attitude magnify 
 the duties of their office. All important 
 actions should have a practically unani- 
 mous vote in a consistory. Never move 
 with small majorities. Never ignore the 
 duties placed upon the officers and always 
 be careful, by example and word, to 
 stimulate every interest in the work of 
 the congregation, denomination and king- 
 dom. 
 
 (2) The minister as leader must ever 
 remember that the atmosphere and spirit 
 in which the business and work of the 
 church is done determine its real quality 
 and value, and more than this, it is the 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 187 
 
 minister who is supremely the creator 
 of atmosphere and the one who incarnates 
 the real spirit of the church. 
 
 " 'Getting into the spirit of it,' we all 
 know," says Troward, the English phil- 
 osopher, "the meaning of that phrase in 
 our everyday life." "The spirit is that 
 which gives life and movement to any- 
 thing. In fact, it is that which causes 
 it to exist at all; the thought of the 
 author, the impression of the painter, the 
 feeling of the musician, is that without 
 which their works could never have come 
 into being, and so it is only as we enter 
 into the idea which gives rise to the work, 
 that we can derive all the enjoyment and 
 benefit from it which it is able to bestow. 
 If we cannot enter into the spirit of it, 
 the book, the picture, the music are mean- 
 ingless to us; to appreciate them we must 
 share the mental attitude of their creator. 
 
 "This is a universal principle; if we do 
 not enter into the spirit of a thing it is 
 
188 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 dead so far as we are concerned; but if 
 we do enter into it we reproduce in 
 ourselves the same quality of life which 
 called that into existence." 
 
 Applying this to church organization, 
 it is the personality or individuality of 
 the minister which dominates, but it, in 
 turn, is determined by personalities of 
 others. There is a reciprocal action. 
 One acts upon the other. Your indi- 
 viduality, as minister, acts upon the 
 individuality of each of your official 
 assistants and the individuality of each 
 of your assistants reacts upon you. 
 
 The result is a composite individuality 
 which becomes the spirit of the organiza- 
 tion, and in the case of the church this 
 spirit of the organization is influenced and 
 made vital by the living Spirit of God. 
 If this spirit of the organization flows 
 freely from the minister it will develop 
 his greatest power and efficiency, but the 
 individual minister must never lose sight 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 189 
 
 of his relation to the universal spirit of 
 the church organization. If he says, "I 
 must assert my own individuality, my 
 own personality, in that lies my strength," 
 he is correct, and yet in that lies his 
 weakness also. Our individuality and 
 strength grow only as they are merged 
 with the common or universal spirit and 
 mind and strength of those with whom 
 we are associated. It is humbling our- 
 selves that the work may be exalted. 
 It is expressing ourselves in terms of the 
 institution rather than of the individual 
 point of view. It is "team work," bear- 
 ing one another's burden and always 
 cooperating for the highest end. This 
 is the spirit of leadership which lives 
 and breathes and acts the sentiment, 
 "each for all and all for each." It is this 
 universal spirit of service which wins 
 in the minister's relations to his church. 
 II. Judicatories. What has been said 
 with reference to the minister's relations 
 
190 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 to the congregation applies practically 
 to his relations to the judicatories of his 
 denomination. Says Troward: "Here 
 we can cooperate with our fellow-work- 
 ers." In relation to the church at large, 
 as in life, there is only one proviso at- 
 tached to the forwarding movement of 
 the spirit in the world of our surroundings 
 and that is that we shall cooperate with 
 it and this cooperation consists in making 
 the best use of existing conditions, in 
 cheerful reliance on the spirit of increase 
 to express itself through us and for us, 
 because we are in harmony with it. 
 
 It is the duty of the minister, according 
 to his ordination vow, to be loyal and 
 obedient to the actions of his church 
 judicatories. In the deliberations of 
 those bodies it is proper for him to 
 express his views and to put forth the 
 utmost effort to have them accepted, 
 but when the judicatory passes an action 
 there should be not only cheerful acqui- 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 191 
 
 escence but active effort to make real and 
 effective the action. 
 
 This relation to the judicatory places 
 solemn obligations upon the minister. 
 
 Here everything that he says and does 
 may exert an influence, not only in his 
 denomination but far beyond it. It may 
 have a bearing on the happiness of his 
 brethren, his own usefulness and the 
 salvation of others, to an extent which 
 no one can measure. 
 
 In the church judicatory the minister 
 is called continually to act with others, 
 as well as for others. My duties in the 
 church at large have led me to be in 
 attendance upon judicatories of every 
 character in various parts of the country 
 and it would seem that many ministerial 
 brethren regard lightly the obligations 
 resting upon them. They absent them- 
 selves frequently, waste time in sight- 
 seeing and social enjoyments during the 
 sessions. 
 
192 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 The time limit of church judicatories 
 is an important fact. Unlike legislative 
 bodies of state or nation, church judica- 
 tories cannot continue to sit beyond a 
 very few days. Every moment, therefore, 
 is doubly precious. Every unnecessary 
 speech, every trivial interruption, every 
 failure to attend punctually and faith- 
 fully, every neglect or piece of carelessness 
 in committee work, may have serious 
 results. 
 
 Church judicatories form an essential 
 feature of church government. Atten- 
 dance upon them and faithful attention 
 to the work of the judicatory is as much 
 a duty as preaching or visiting the sick 
 or any other duty of the ministry. 
 Doubtless the method of procedure and 
 of conducting business in our church 
 judicatories is susceptible of large im- 
 provement. It would seem plain that the 
 laymen should be given larger responsibili- 
 ties. Much of the work should be pre- 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 193 
 
 pared long in advance of the meeting 
 and the spirit of forbearance and of 
 Christian love should more fully rule. 
 There should be fewer resolutions, more 
 enthusiasm, more earnest endeavor to 
 carry out the measures proposed and 
 approved. Christianity is a religion of 
 love, and ministers, with their lay breth- 
 ren in church judicatories, ought to be 
 most zealous for order, united action, 
 open-minded judicial attitude, freedom 
 from prejudice or passion and a vision 
 which looks away and beyond the view- 
 point of personal predilections or simply 
 congregational conditions. 
 
 (3) The spirit of cooperation and of 
 whole-hearted interest should manifest 
 itself in the minister's relations to the 
 benevolent causes and agencies and insti- 
 tutions of the denomination to which he 
 belongs. It is his duty to be thoroughly 
 familiar with their work, for their work 
 is his work. Let it never be forgotten 
 
194 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 that the Missionary Boards, for instance, 
 of a denomination, are simply the agents 
 appointed to administer the work for 
 the churches. It is a partnership affair. 
 It is doing by proxy that which the 
 minister or the members of his congre- 
 gation cannot do for themselves but which 
 they are obligated to do by the terms 
 of the gospel they profess. 
 
 The Boards are the creation of the 
 church judicatories; therefore, they offi- 
 cially represent the local church. This is 
 true, likewise, to a greater or less degree, 
 of educational institutions, orphans' 
 homes and other agencies of a denomi- 
 nation. Ministers make a most grievous 
 mistake and do incalculable harm when 
 they publicly or privately at the wrong 
 time and place criticize or decry the 
 work of the Boards. There are many 
 congregations whose official Board and 
 members are prejudiced against great 
 causes of the church because of the atti- 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 195 
 
 tude of the ministers. More than once 
 have I talked with ministers who have 
 experienced, coming into a new pastorate, 
 the ill effects of such unwise contact. 
 In a certain congregation the minister 
 would allow, in his brief pastorate, offer- 
 ings to be taken only for the cause of the 
 Orphan. To this day, some of his prom- 
 inent and well-to-do members are opposed 
 to missions and other benevolent causes 
 because of prejudice and foolish state- 
 ments regarding Boards and institutions 
 of the church made by that minister. 
 Another minister poisoned the mind of a 
 liberal-hearted elder against a great Board 
 of the church because of personal feeling 
 against the Secretary of that Board and 
 the pastor of that elder found that a gift 
 of a thousand dollars or more was lost 
 because of the prejudice lodged in the 
 mind of the elder. 
 
 Is it not plain that to develop the 
 Christian virtues of fairness and courtesy 
 
196 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 it is important for the minister to try to 
 see things as others see them, to speak 
 and act with a view to the feelings of 
 others, as well as of himself, to look 
 through the eyes of those charged with 
 responsibility for the general work of 
 the church and in all things to be char- 
 itable and always ready to cooperate to 
 the extent of his ability? 
 
 (4) There are many interdenomina- 
 tional agencies such as the local, State 
 and International S. S. Association, the 
 local Associated Charities and hospitals 
 and multiform other agencies for com- 
 munity uplift, with which the minister 
 must sustain a friendly and sympathetic 
 relation. There are the community 
 
 Inter-church Federation and the great 
 federative bodies such as the Federal 
 Council of the Churches of Christ in 
 America, etc., the Council of the Re- 
 formed Churches in America holding the 
 Presbyterian System. These movements 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 197 
 
 are full of promise for the larger activities 
 and unity of the church of Jesus Christ. 
 We cannot separate ourselves from them 
 without personal loss, and injury to the 
 membership of the church as well. In- 
 deed, the efficient minister and church 
 will give specialized tasks to the member- 
 ship so as to relate the activities of the 
 individual members to these various 
 agencies and uplift movements. Par- 
 ticularly is it true that in the present 
 divided state of Protestantism, coopera- 
 tion on Christian principles instead of 
 competition on business principles is 
 one of the most urgent needs of the 
 churches today. Cooperation econom- 
 mizes effort. It prevents over-lapping 
 and over-looking. Cooperation stimu- 
 lates effort. Intelligent cooperation in- 
 volves system and the systematic effort 
 to reach the entire community. It 
 
 stops competition. Churches cease 
 hindering one another and begin help- 
 
198 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 ing one another. Cooperation secures 
 mutual acquaintance which is fruitful 
 in Christian confidence and helpfulness. 
 The organic union of families of churches 
 must come not through discussion, but 
 through cooperative effort. Cooperation 
 localizes responsibility. It makes possi- 
 ble, for instance, the restoration, through 
 church federation, of the parish system 
 of Protestantism. A group of commun- 
 ity churches, whether in the country or 
 town or city, by working together, can 
 adequately cover their field, can chal- 
 lenge, in the light of actual knowledge, 
 men and women and children to come 
 into proper relations with the church and 
 its work. Let us not forget that in the 
 sweep of these larger movements the 
 minister and his congregation, through 
 the denomination to which he belongs, 
 through the great missionary and benevo- 
 lent causes and agencies and institutions 
 of the churches, and through the great 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 199 
 
 interdenominational federative move- 
 ments of the day, comes into the larger 
 vision and real accomplishment of faith 
 and hope and love which makes the life 
 of the Christian a reality and a blessing 
 here and hereafter. The minister's work 
 is unique. It has no length or depth or 
 height. It covers time and eternity. 
 
 The minister has a gospel and does 
 a work directly and specifically to man 
 as a mortal and an immortal being. He 
 addresses man as a son of God who is 
 an heir of eternity. He trains the indi- 
 vidual to prepare himself for an earthly 
 and for a heavenly citizenship. The 
 larger horizon of the church in its relation 
 to the community, the church at large, 
 the nation and the world as one great 
 family, develops the spiritual faculties 
 and makes it easier for the church mem- 
 ber to throw upon the landscape of this 
 world a new light that shines far beyond 
 the common day and reveals the immortal 
 
200 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 life. The great world tasks of the church 
 brighten and lift up the common round 
 of life, and the hope of the immortal life 
 lends strength to the arm and inspiration 
 to the motive making possible the 
 achievement. 
 
 Thus it seems to me it is the minister's 
 glorious privilege, in his relation to the 
 church, to find himself and others in the 
 great workshop and training school of 
 our Father's house. Here we actually 
 have a part with the divine Architect, 
 Teacher and Pilot of the church, the 
 ark of safety. 
 
 Have you ever read one of the most 
 delightful tales Kipling ever told, which 
 illustrates the point which we have been 
 endeavoring to make in this lecture? I 
 refer to his tale "The Ship That Found 
 Itself" in Kipling's "Stories and Poems 
 Every Child Should Know." Be sure to 
 read it and as you read it think of the 
 minister and the King's business and 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 201 
 
 the finding of this business by the joint 
 activity of the minister and his church. 
 The ship Kipling tells about was sailing 
 on her maiden voyage. The owner's 
 daughter, having just christened the 
 boat, remarks to the captain, in her joy, 
 that now she is a real ship. But the 
 captain, with his larger experience, replies 
 that it requires more than christening 
 to make a ship; that she has first to find 
 herself. And then the ship goes to sea — 
 to "find herself." The sailing is smooth 
 so long as the sea is smooth. Then a 
 storm appears. The waves mount higher 
 and higher. The ship begins to creak 
 and groan, and "to talk," as Kipling 
 expresses it. The various parts of the 
 ship talk to each other — the capstan, the 
 deck-beams, the deck-stringers, the 
 frames, the plates, the rivets, the screw, 
 the engines, the cylinders, the piston — 
 even the steam, which gives much fath- 
 erly advice to them all. Some of the 
 
202 The Minister a Man Among Men 
 
 parts cry out for more room — more play. 
 The rivets retort that they are placed 
 where they are to hold tight, and they 
 are going to do it! 
 
 But even the rivets soon find that they 
 can't hold absolutely tight, and they 
 give a little — and then all the parts of 
 the ship are eased up. Finally, one calls 
 out that they should pull together. The 
 cry is taken up — "pull together, pull 
 together." The ship is finding herself. 
 Every part of her gives and takes a little. 
 Soon all the parts begin to learn that 
 they must give and take together, that 
 they must work in unison, that even 
 though each must render a different 
 service, they all must work together for 
 the good of the general service. And 
 when the ship finally comes into the 
 harbor, buffeted and battered by the 
 waves, she has not only found herself, 
 but more important still : each individual 
 piece in the ship has found itself. 
 
The Minister in Relation to the Church 203 
 
 So gradually may we all learn the truth 
 expressed by the poet, 
 
 "Nothing useless is or low, 
 Each in its place is best; 
 What seems but idle show, 
 Strengthens and supports the rest." 
 
 "Now ye are the body of Christ and 
 members in particular, and all the mem- 
 bers are necessary" and must work 
 together. 
 
 
 

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