write them. They will be from six to seven hundred words long, and in keeping with the intellect o f an eighth grade pupil. The pupils at some edu cational institutions send us many orders each year. Price, 50 cents a paper.” Then follows the titles o f some o f these papers — “ To Thine Own Self Be True,” “ To Be Rather Than to Seem.” How About His Integrity in the Community? How about his integrity in the com munity? Is he really pious or is it just piosity? “ He had such a sad counte nance.” “ He was so full o f pious phrases and words.” “ Does he really love the people and the Lord, or is it just a sham?” “ Does he really live his Christianity?” “ This minister shows a different personality in church and in town. He is acting.” “ The sermon and pastoral prayer count most with us. However, we checked in his own community each candidate in whom we were really interested, contacting such people as the moderator of pres bytery, YMCA officers, school board, other ministers, etc., and (which may appear odd to you) we secured, in so far as possible, financial reports on each man. We had a minister once who would not pay his bills. The trus tees did it for awhile, but we learned our lesson!” Jesus never appropriated, He was honest. Jesus never simulated, He was sincere. Jesus never imitated, He was Himself. He never imitated anyone’s voice, accent, style, mannerisms. He had no “ holy tone,” no pretense. He was natural. Said John McNeill on one occasion, “ The most natural per son is nearest the supernatural.” Above everything, the layman seems to want reality in his minister. Be yourself. How About His Spirituality? How about his spirituality? Does he seem to be spiritually minded? “ One central weakness in Protestant ism,” wrote one outstanding com mitteeman in his response, “ is the lack o f spiritual discipline among ministers and laymen. A minister gets entangled in secularism often against his will. The mild discipline o f 15 minutes meditation and prayer a day—preferably at a regular time, not devoted to reading Scripture except briefly, never to anything else— is the prescription needed from my obser vation. The next step is for the min ister to get a group in the church to enter a like fellowship. That is where power comes from and where I think most o f us miss the boat.” — Reprinted from an editorial in the Princeton Seminary Bulletin. T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
What Kind of a Minister is in Demand?
By Rev. Edward H. Roberts Dean of Princeton Theological Seminary
W HILE preparing the “ Sermon Clinic” course conducted by the writer at the Princeton Institute o f Theology during the sum mer o f 1949, a letter was sent to the chairmen o f a large number o f pulpit committees seeking pastors for their vacant churches. In the letter the chairmen and members o f the com mittees were asked to give their frank impressions, favorable and unfavor able, o f the candidates they had heard without mentioning any names. The response was over 90 per cent. Their replies were immediate, extended, in telligent, and could roughly be group ed as follows: impressions regarding the minister himself, impressions o f his church and service, impressions o f his sermon, impressions, on deeper in vestigation, o f the minister and his work. Due to the limitations of space, we shall confine ourselves to the last. How Is He as a Pastor? Very evidently committees were not satisfied with first impressions; rather, they spent a great deal o f time and effort investigating the qualifications o f the candidate in the light o f the following questions: How is he as a pastor? Does he call? Do the people love him? Has he sym pathetic understanding? Does he give real spiritual help outside the church? Does he know how to coun sel? Said one committeeman, “ I must say that we were more concerned with the getting of a good pastor than a good preacher; although, o f course, we could not condone mediocre preaching.” How Is He with Young People? How is he as a worker with young people? Do they love him and go to him? What place does he give to the children? It is an interesting and hopeful thing that the first question every committee seeking a minister asks is this: “ Is he good with young people?” How Is He as an Administrator? How is he as an administrator? Typical comments: “We find that he lets one or two members ‘pull the strings.’ ” “ Too much salesmanship. I think more than half o f the 160 men whose names have been sent to us have recommended themselves in writing, in telephoning, in calling on Page Fourteen
members o f the committee. It does not help their cause, it really hinders it !” How About His Integrity in the Pulpit? How about his integrity in the pulpit? “ He had a pulpit tone.” “ It was assumed.” “ It wasn’t real.” “ His pronunciation at times was affected.” “ His inflections were unnatural.” “ He was imitating a great preacher I could name.” “ His mannerisms were most peculiar; I believe he was try ing to act like some minister he ad mires.” How About His Wife? How about his w ife? “ She was too talkative.” “ She wore the pants.” “ His wife was a real helpmate.” It was evident from the many comments that the following principle would be a good one for ministers’ wives to adopt: Be interested in everything, try to run nothing. How About His Integrity in the Study? How about his integrity in the study ? “ It seemed to us that he brought from his study an essay on a doctrine in which he didn’t really believe.” “ He took a text and then talked in an entertaining way about things which were not near the text and he knew they were not.” “ He seemed to be very proud o f his handi work.” “ He would put a story in his sermon and give the impression it was true, when it was not.” “ He would use an illustration as though it happened to him, when it did not.” “ He is a great one for embellishing tales regarding himself or others.” “ He was guilty several times o f plagiarism.” In his letter to the Romans, Paul raises this question: “ Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?” It is startling to realize that plagiarism has now reached down even to the grade school. Not so long ago Richard C. Cabot pub lished a book entitled Honesty, in which he tells of a certain bureau in Washington offering to write ad dresses, orations, papers on any sub ject, for anyone, for a consideration. They even advertise: “We have had so many calls for short eighth grade papers that we have concluded to
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