i. choice of a field.
the choice of a field, especially of the first field, is a matter of much moment, as it is sometimes decisive in its influence on subsequent development and usefulness. a young man, however, should beware of undue anxiety respecting it. a divine call involves not only an appointed work, but also an appointed field of work. the subject should be made, therefore, a special matter of prayer, and the opportunities providence may open for making the acquaintance of churches should be faithfully improved. the lord will then direct by the leading alike of his spirit and the heart and of his providence in external events. several suggestions, however, may here be important:
1. carefully consider the question whether duty does not call to a missionary field. no one should evade a full, fair consideration of this, for success and comfort in one’s life-work depend, not on obtaining what is termed an eligible settlement, but on occupying the post god has assigned us. all parts of the world are now opening to the gospel, and in our own country vast populations are gathering from other lands, sent hither to be evangelized. evidently, [p. 22] many of the young men now called to the ministry must be designed by the master for work among the destitute. eminence among ministerial brethren is a proper object of ambition, but it is a mistake to suppose that the choice of a mission-field, either east or west, will prevent this. a much larger proportion of our foreign missionaries rise to eminence in their work than of ministers at home. the men who are recognized as christian leaders in the west are mostly men who went there to struggle with the difficulties of a new country and a small salary. by roughing it at the outset they developed manhood and power. some of the ablest and most eloquent men of this age developed in pulpit power at the west. it is true in the ministry, as everywhere, that he who for christ’s sake will lose his life shall save it. a sacrifice and a struggle for christ in earlier life give development and momentum to all the elements of power in a man. there is here wide room for a venturesome faith; and nothing is more certain than that many, by seeking at once great things for themselves, dwarf their after-life.
2. if different fields offer, that is ordinarily to be preferred which affords the highest incentives to exertion and the widest room for expansion. few things are more chilling to a young man than to find his church hemmed in, with no possibilities of future growth. this is often the fact in old and decaying communities overcrowded with churches. seek, therefore, not so much an old church or a large salary as a center where population is gathering, so that the field will grow with your growth. this was the apostles’ plan. they went where the people were, and gave their lives to the work where the largest numbers could be reached. still, duty may call to a field where these elements do not exist. in that case, do not fear. a man’s gift, faithfully used, will make room for him. in [p. 23] any field it will take time to grow so as to fill it, and the experience will be valuable; and when one has grown to the full measure of his field, and is still advancing in power, other and wider fields will be sure to open before him.
3. the call should ordinarily be unanimous, at least so far as to ensure that no important influences are opposed to it. on this account sufficient time, if possible, should be spent with the church to study carefully the elements of which it is composed and form an intelligent judgment of its characteristics and tendencies. many mistakes might be avoided by care to secure a thorough acquaintance between the candidate and the people before a call is accepted—mistakes which are sometimes most unfortunate alike to the minister, in rendering his pastorate a failure and embarrassing him in forming another relation; and to the church, in hindering their union and weakening their effectiveness.
transcriber’s note: this next point includes the word “niggardly,” which is a fine word, meaning “stingy,” “grasping,” or “miserly,” but, to those who are unfamiliar with the word or who are not paying strict attention, it can sound like a racial slur. when presenting this material, please strongly consider the substitution of a synonym.
4. the salary should be adequate for a comfortable support, and should be fairly proportioned to the pecuniary ability of the congregation. the minister will be expected to live in a manner at least equal to the average style of life among the people, and the salary should enable him to do so. a “donation,” as a part of the payment of ministerial service, is to be avoided if possible. it is perhaps a necessity in some localities from long-established custom; but it is essentially unjust to the minister, because it calls that a gift which is really a debt, and its effect is to foster in the people false ideas of ministerial support. the new testament declares that “the laborer is worthy of his hire” (luke x. 7), and it is injurious alike to the self-respect of the pastor and to the respect of the people for his office to make his support a matter of gratuity. it is better, in my judgment, to accept a smaller salary, the payments of which are fixed and regular, than [p. 24] to insist on a larger one, a part of which comes in the uncertain form of a “donation.” in the matter of salary, however, a true pastor will always tenderly regard the circumstances of his people; and in a congregation composed chiefly of the poor, or in times of financial depression and disaster, he will be ready to suffer with them, cheerfully accepting a smaller stipend and practicing a more rigid economy. a selfish, niggardly, parsimonious spirit is nowhere more offensive than in a christian pastor.
5. all business arrangements with a church should be made with business definiteness. it may not, indeed, be necessary or desirable to insist upon a formal written contract, but it would save many a painful misunderstanding if the chief features in the agreement were always in writing. properly, the call of the church should specifically state the chief points agreed on; but, whether this is done or not, the letter of acceptance should specify them distinctly. the points to be thus specified are: the time at which the pastor will enter on his work, the amount of salary and the times of payment, and the vacation to be allowed. this should ordinarily not be less than four weeks and should be understood as fully releasing the pastor during that time from all responsibility for the pulpit and from all pastoral service.
6. the minister, in all his relations with a church, should exhibit a delicate sense of honor. he may not encourage a call when there is no serious probability of its acceptance. a church call and its declination may gratify a man’s vanity and give him a temporary publicity, but such ministerial coquetry is destitute of christian honor, and in the end reacts disastrously on him who practices it. it is no light thing thus to trifle with a church of the lord jesus christ, and to dishonor the ministerial office before the world.
[p. 25] ii. obligations assumed in becoming a pastor.
in accepting a call to the pastorate of a church, the following things are understood: 1. that the pastor accepts as scriptural the doctrine and practice of that church, and places himself under obligation to teach and defend them; for this is obviously a chief duty in the office of a pastor. if his convictions do not permit him to uphold the doctrine and practice of the church, he is untrue to himself and to it in accepting the office. and if, while occupying the pastorate, his views of doctrine and practice undergo a change, he is, indeed, entitled to full freedom of personal conviction and action, but he is under obligation to resign his office; for an essential condition on which it was conferred on him has ceased to exist, and every consideration of honor requires him to withdraw from it. it is difficult to conceive a more dishonorable position than that of a pastor who, after having accepted the sacred office of teacher and defender of the doctrine and practice of the gospel, as understood by the church, and having subsequently undergone a change in his own convictions, shall still retain that office only to subvert the doctrines he had placed himself under solemn obligation to defend. 2. it is understood, also, that he accepts the care of the souls of that congregation as a sacred trust from christ, to devote himself without reserve in labor and prayer for their salvation. the one great work of his life, to which all the faculties of his being are to be consecrated, is the salvation of those souls and the edification and perfection of that church. if he accepts the office for its emoluments, for the literary position it gives him, or the stepping-stone to some other position; or if he shall, while pastor, allow himself to become absorbed in other interests, so as to divert his [p. 26] chief energies from this sacred trust in the care of these souls, he is false to the pledge involved in assuming the pastorate, and is guilty of a dishonorable act. 3. it is further understood that he will maintain his post amidst the adversity as well as the prosperity of the church, as the shepherd to whom christ has entrusted the care of that flock. our lord makes fidelity to the flock in danger the test of a good shepherd: “the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. but he that is a hireling, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep and fleeth; and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep” (john x. 11, 12). the trials which may meet a church, so far from justifying the pastor in leaving it, may be only an additional evidence of his duty to remain. he may not abandon, in a time of perplexity and danger, the flock the lord committed to him.
iii. ordination.
church officers, according to new testament usage, are chosen from members of the church. no church, therefore, can properly call a council to ordain until the person to be ordained is a member of it. hence, the first step, after a contract of settlement, is the transfer of membership.
when the council is organized the candidate is expected to relate his christian experience and his call to the ministry, and to submit a statement of his views of christian doctrine, of church organization and discipline, and of the ordinances. this statement may be either written or unwritten. in any case, it should be clear, orderly, and full. the manner of its presentation should be arranged between the moderator and the candidate. it is usually found expedient to make the statement complete, without interruption, and at its close submit to such [p. 27] questions as the council may have noted and may propose, the moderator calling up each topic separately and in order, for that purpose. the candidate should also be prepared to submit to the council, if called for, his license to preach, his certificate of graduation from the seminary, and any other papers that may show his standing and attainments. those who officiate in the ordination are usually nominated in part by the church and candidate and in part by the council, but all receive their formal appointment from the council. for the sermon and such parts of the service as require elaborate preparation, a previous designation perhaps ought ordinarily to be made by the church or the candidate, if the ordination immediately follows the examination. in selecting persons to officiate it is evidently appropriate, as well as desirable, that most of those chosen should be pastors of churches in the vicinity, with whom the person to be ordained will be most nearly connected in his work.
ordination constitutes one of the chief epochs in a minister’s life. it should, therefore, be preceded and attended with much self-examination and prayer, and to be marked as a point of new and higher consecration to christ and his church. the obligations then assumed in the care of souls are the weightiest that can rest on man, and the vows then taken are made not only to man, but also to god.
