THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL AND CIVIC LIFE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXII, Issue 7024, 12 November 1906, Page 2

THE CHURCH AND SOCIAL AND CIVIC LIFE.

TO THE EDITOR. Sib, —Tour comments under the above heading on the 3fck inst. will, by Borne, be muoh appreciated, and it is to be hoped will he productive, apparent and lasting good. Mr Monro, with his usual ability, and with the sense of responsibility upon him, could do no other than cay the things he did say, m suoh a piaoe, at suoh a time, and to such an audience- Bat after all, Mr Munro was only speaking' from the minister's standpoint. Mr Campbell Morgan was, doubtless, speaking from the church's standpoint when, m another place, he said " the world is cursed to-day not only by men who swear m the slums, but also by the people who sing m the churches. There could be no true worship on the first day of the week unless it was preceded by holy living on the other six days." But who will be, m the church, a George Eliot to give expression to the resentment of the humble ? or a Diokens to iay what the uneducated only think, or even feel ? It requires almost an inexhaustible supply of meekness to sit m the congregation and be told, m effect, that you suffer from a bad memory, when the hymns and the reading pre-supposes the text which, when announced, calls up the headings and divisions of the sermon as, m the same tone, with the same voice and \m inner, it j was before delivered; so the pew m this sense goes faster than the pulpit. If Mr ; Monro had attacked the " old horse " sys- ] tern, he would have earned the lasting gratitude of the congregations. How can a pile of sermons sufficiently thick to last throe or four years, grip a man after they have been gone through three or four times 1 And if they fail to grip the preacher, how can he expect to grip his hearers 1 Not long ago, a preacher from a distance was fulfilling an appointment m this town. Personally, I cherish a friendly feeling toward him, and it is reciprocated. He called to see me, and after the usual commonplaces, I said, " I hope you have not brought 'an old horse.'" The preacher preached. The inevitable happened. I tell you, sir, it would puzzle a Dickens ro express what is thought or felt m the congregation about the effeteness of the pulpit to-day. I could be eloquent, however, m defence of the preachers. They are the victims of a precedent. There is pessimism m the pulpit and sorrow m the pew. Someone has said that sorrow and pessimism are, m a sense, opposite things, because sorrow is founded on the value of something, while pessimism is founded on the value of nothing. I earnestly commend your remarks, above referred to, to the prayerful consideration of the preaohsrs. If they will burn their musty sermons and give out meat as fresh as we get—under the Government eye—our milk and bread, the Church will have no need to be " ashamed of her ministers," who may, if they will, prove that " the Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any twoedged c word." Bkbtie Crayon.