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, 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 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 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.