The Church's
Ideal for its
Ministry.

JANUARY 10, 1907.

The Church has a high ideal for its ministry. The fact is attested in many ways, and by various kinds of witnesses. Adverse criticism no less than high praise is evidence of the fact.

Many a Church is perfectly satisfied with its own pastor and happy under his leadership and his ministry. But almost every church is exceedingly hard to please, when it comes to the choice of a new minister. It is not merely that the members are critical and unreasonable in their demands. They want the best. It is not pure selfishness. It is a testimony to the high ideal they have, consciously or unconsciously, for the Christian ministry.

What minister in a happy, hard-working and successful field has not had letters of inquiry from vacant churches, asking if, in his acquaintance there was some man whom they could secure for pastor, who had the following characteristics -and then submitting a list of virtues and attainments which he has never known to be combined in any one man? Some time ago a letter was published in one of the weekly periodicals, which purported to be written by the session of a Church to a theological seminary, asking if the Seminary could secure for the Church a pastor. It ran something like this: "Send us a young man who will convert our church members, revive our office-bearers, inspire our young people, save the sinners, increase the finances, popularize the Sunday night service, spiritualize the midweek prayer meeting, and bring the men into the Church; and let him add to the above, grace of person, sweetness of disposition, gentleness of speech, social ability, political inactivity, pastoral care; with a sweet and gracious helpmeet, without children, who will assist but not run either church or pastor. Let us hear when you find him, and

we will give him a call, promising him six hundred dollars, without a manse ;" and signed by the session.

There is a real truth in such satire. It is not merely that the Church is exorbitant in its demands, but that its ideal is so high. A gifted, devoted, consecrated man would in almost any case be received with a glad welcome, and enter upon a happy ministry, even if he were far from meeting every requirement of the ideal. The ideal is so high that it cannot be reduced to terms of mean proportions.

Sev

We have an interesting symposium in this number. eral laymen, representing the pew" have said very concisely and very plainly what this ideal is for their own pastor, or at least what are some of the pastors of that ideal. If you would take the trouble to make a list of the qualities, the natural gifts and the attainments which are included in these expressions of opinion, you would find them little less than the extravagant demand of the letter quoted above. And yet they are not extravagant. It is not too much to ask that a minister should be a leader in things spiritual, a preacher of the word, scholarly, sincere, tactful, sympathetic, winsome, impartial, punctual, neat, business-like in methods, economical, faithful, full of faith, a manly man. Is it too much? No, it offers a challenge to the young men of our colleges, looking for a place in which to make their lives count. To the very noblest and best of our young manhood it says: "If you are looking for a place where everything that you are, all that is best and noblest will have large use, where no gift or accomplishment, no virtue or attainment will rust for lack of using, where real worth is received and recognized at its highest value always and invariably, if you are honest and unselfish and devoted, you can find that place in the Christian ministry. Who accepts the challenge?

When are

Decisions for the
Ministry Made?

The statistics given on another page regarding the time of life at which men decide to enter the ministry and the influences bringing about this decision are worthy of note. These statistics were gathered at a convention of theological students, representatives from eighty theological seminaries in the United States and Canada of twenty different denominations. The answers given were by show of hands with no time to consider the questions and the count taken was approximate, yet the results as given seem to be substantially correct for that representative body of men.

The most significant item in the statistics is the fact that of the 350 men 225, or 63 per cent., decided before entering college that they would go into the ministry. Only 65, or 19 per cent., decided while in college, the remainder, 18 per cent., making the decision after graduation.

Taking into consideration the small aggregate of men who are going into the ministry, we see that the whole number of men in our colleges and universities who decide on the ministry as their life work is surprisingly small. How is this condition to be changed? The fact that none of the 350 men made their decision as a result of public addresses on the subject does not show those addresses to be of no value, for the facts and the need as presented in such addresses were probably in many cases a factor in forming decisions that came as a direct result of private conversation. Yet it is shown that what counts most is the private and the silent influence. The very best men in college are apt to be strongly influenced for the ministry without knowing it, where the personality of those ministers with whom they come in contact makes the ministry attractive to them.

The responsibility of pastors to fill the ranks of Responsibility their own profession is very strongly brought of Pastors. out by another set of figures. Out of the 350 present, 150 had been led to their decision by