RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Pastoral Theology
and conceit, intellectual error and error of conscience, superstition and unbelief; it ministers to the need of a deeper grasp of Evangelical truth, and tries to counteract doubt in its 10. Didactic multiplied forms. Here transition is or Instruct- made from the special cure of souls to ive Cure of the general (preaching), and the latter Souls. is concerned mainly with opposing unbelief and doubt (see Homiletics). For the difficulties which disturb the one who does not yet believe and the one who no longer believes, as likewise the refractory believer, the wrestling one, the one doubting because of his very need of faith, as well as the irreligious one coquetting with his doubts, will only seldom confront the special spiritual adviser, deriving, as they do, from spiritual perturbations universal in their nature and rooted in very ancient problems, though modern in form. As they actually arise, however, they are for the most part so distinctive and have originated so largely out of the most minutely specialized sciences or the great aggregate of polite literature, that the didactic spiritual adviser can operate on solid ground only within very restricted limits. But that manner of preaching the Gospel which takes into account the grade of culture and the known needs of the congregation; the upbuilding of Christian personalities in the congregation who shall reveal the power of the Gospel in speech and conduct, in character and action; these are forces which have waxed wholesome for all unbelief and doubt.
E. C. Achelis. II. The Parish and the Minister: For the history of the parish see Parish and Pastor. An ecclesiastical body or authority, in permitting a candidate for the ministry to pass as approved by it, gives its verdict upon his fitness for the servi. The ice. That verdict is endorsed by the Candidate, call of a church and congregation to the candidate to become their pastor, or, in case of the episcopal churches, by appointment to a charge. The call of a church and congregation, when accepted, involves reciprocal obligations. These obligations are represented, but can not be fully expressed, much less can they be limited by the terms of the call; for the church and congregation owe the pastor, and the pastor owes them, more than can be put into any writing. The call made and accepted is a contract, but it is more than that. Not only must it be fulfilled on both sides with businesslike fidelity, but it must be fulfilled in the largeness of the spirit of mutual Christian love.
The true minister will never be a place-seeker. Absolute personal consecration to Christ and to his kingdom is fundamental to the true idea of an Evangelical ministry. Considerations of adaptation and of family ties must have weight; but always should predominate the question, " Lord, what will thou have me to do ? "
Once settled in a parish, the pastor needs, not only power in the pulpit, but also power to reach and sway men by personal contact and influence. Preaching prepares the way for pastoral work; and pastoral work inspires and guides and warms the preaching, and gives it practical adaptation
and power. The true pastor finds the themes of
his sermons among his people, rather than in his
own tastes and tendencies; and so he preaches, not
for himself, but for his hearers. If
2. Relations for preaching, talent is first, and tact of Pastoral is second, for pastoral work, tact is
Work to first, and talent is second; piety being Preaching, equally necessary in both relations. Tact is defined as " a finer love ": it is of the heart; and, other things being equal, the heart that is the warmest will have the most of that address, facility, and skill which we call tact. The large and general relation of the preacher to his congregation as a whole becomes in the pastor a personal and an individual relation to each member of the flock, without regard to condition or character. This involves the dealing with a great variety of natures, each one of whom is a separate and a sacred responsibility to the pastor. The work is endless. There are always some souls in need of personal ministrations. Men are reached and saved one by one, and not in mass. The preacher must be a pastor to gather in one by one the souls to whom he has spoken from the pulpit the words of truth. As the pastor goes among the people, what he is will condition what he says: his character and life will help or hinder his work. " The visible rhetoric " of the minister's daily conduct is more decisive in influence than the audible rhetoric of his sermons. Clerical affectations and assumptions can no longer deceive or awe the people: there must be in the pastor a simple, transparent manliness sanctified by the love of Christ, and yet only the more intensely human because Christly. Scholarly tastes and habits must be watched, lest they disqualify for genial and effective converse with the common people. The scholarly must be qualified by the Christly, then the small courtesies, which are of such value in the commerce of society, will not be neglected, and love will make the pastor a gentleman, welcome to every household and heart. Meanwhile the course of preaching should correspond with the course of pastoral labor, beginning at the center of the church, and working outward toward those who are farthest from the truth. There will be morbid Christians, given to too much introspection, who make the radical mistake which Hamman has characterized as " the attempt to feel thought, and to comprehend feeling." Such spiritual egoism can be cured only by Christian work. The morbid Christian must stop feeling his own pulse, and go out into the vineyard, and try to win souls for Christ: there can be little spiritual health and vigor without such work. Hence that pastor will be the most successful, who, instead of trying to do all the work of the parish himself, strives to enlist and stimulate the members of the church to work with him as their appointed leader.
There is an old saying, as trite as true, " A housegoing minister makes a church-going people." The work of pastoral visitation should
3. Pastoral be systematized. A " calling-book " Visits. should be kept, in which, with the
name of each family, the names of the children should be recorded. The date of each call should be entered, so that the pastor can learn at
Pastoral Theology