TITTLE TATTLE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 26 November 1936, Page 3

TITTLE TATTLE

By “TATTLER” “WHO WOULD BE A PARSON?” “Who would be a parson?” is a question I felt impelled to ask myself when, a few days ago, I read this in a Church periodical:— It is sometimes asserted that “a clergyman has nothing to do except on Sundays.” The following extract from a letter of the late Dr. Gott may therefore be of interest. Dr. Gott was Bishop of Truro, but the record of the busy day belongs to the time that he was Vicar of Leeds: “To-day I have not even had time to open my letters. First came some young clergy to see me; then a lady about a case she was interested in; then two of about their affairs. Then at 10.30 an important meeting in my Institute Room to discuss and settle a second Leeds Mission. Immediately afterwards, my own Chapter met me about Parish Church work. Then a Leeds clergyman wanted to see me about . As soon as I got home to lunch a Bradford clergyman wanted to consult me about an important living that had been offered him. Then lunch with several men who had come in on business. Immediately afterwards a meeting in the library of a Diocesan Conference. .. . Then off to church. ... In the vestry a clergyman came about a legal difficulty and a marriage case, then another marriage case, then a person wanting direction. Then off to see a typhoid case. . . . Now I am going to see an ex-Dissenter who is to be confirmed to-morrow. . . Seen her and another. . . . Go to a young men’s meeting; see a dying man; see a. clergyman in difficulties; and then, I hope, home to bed.” * * * How, young man reader, do you fancy the picture? Does it appeal to you? Do you experience an inward urge to devote your life to such purposes? If you do you can consider that you are “called” to a life of service and self-sacrifice for God and His creatures, * * * What qualifications should a young man have w'ho aspires to the conduct of a church and to be the shepherd of his flock, be it Anglican or Nonconformist? Not long ago the Bushop of Rochester outlined the principal qualifications of a clergyman thus: (1) Pastoral zeal;' (2) Sound common sense , with a sense of humour : (3) General business instinct; (4) Preaching ability. * * * It seems to me that exactly the same qualifications should be the possession of every aspirant to become a Nonconformist pastor. Particularly would I stress for young curate and young minister alike the necessity of a sense of humour. Give me a vicar or a minister who can not only see a joke, but who can quip with the members of his congregation—a man who is not ashamed to indulge in a real guffaw, if he feels that he must. A clergyman or minister who lives on the sunny side of life’s road, who does not find it difficult to see the good in people, and who, aware of the temptations to which we are subject, and conscious of our frailties, our trials, and worries, who sympathises, heartens and helps, is the man for me; Better far a rotund happy face, a smile, a hearty hand grip* and a cheery greeting, and helpful chat, than a long smileless face, the feel of a cold flabby hand, and an off-hand “How d’ye do?” with an attitude which would seem to indicate that it matters not to the sayer how you are faring. There is more humanity and Christianity in the smile of some ordained men than there is in the whole frame and spirit of others.

Now let us see what the Rev. P. H. Ditchfield has to say about the parson and his work in his delightful book, “The Old Time Parson” (1920). As with other men, the parson has his detractors. Either he rules too vigorously or he does, not rule at all. He is too officious or too lazy. “His duty calls him to ‘reprove,

rebuke, exhort,’ and touchy folk do not like to be exhorted, much less found fault with. They do not care to have a ‘moral policeman’ always watching over them ... If he were always popular I am afraid that he would not be a very good parson. There must be times in his life when, if he- would do his duty, he is bound to make a stand for righteousness and do the right thing in spite of the opposition of a cantankerous squire or an ignorant flock . . But, really, the people are very fond of their parson. They know that in him they have a friend to whom they can always go when they are in trouble, or perplexity, or when they want a character. If he is ill, or suffering some grievous sorrow, he knows that he has the affectionate sympathy of everyone in the parish.”

And so on. Now a modern parson—Canon “Dick” Shepherd. A parson, he says, is not a man—unless he is a complete dud —who thinks himself better than his neighbours. He is not a man who desires to lord it. over his fellow-men. He is not a man who is automatically reserved from religious doubt and from the temptation that assails the flesh. A parson is not a saint. He is not one whose business is to find fault is his neighbour, but one who is engaged in finding good. He offers what he holds respectfully and courteously to all alone. Ideally, the parson should be the friend and adviser, when asked, of all among whom he lives. There is no job so humble or inconspicuous, or so apparently secular that a parson may not tackle it if by so doing he can serve his neighbour in the spirit of Christ. The parson is a man who is travelling hopefully. He is within the crowd, not outside it. “He is a pilgrim with all other pilgrims on the'road, and not a cocksure and confident little guide going on and disap-

pearing in the distance.” That, readers, is what a well-known parson thinks of his job, and the job of all who are "called” to the Church.

In one of my scrap collections 1 find the qualifications of a clergyman or pastor defined thus: He must have The strength of an ox, The tenacity of a bulldog. The daring of a lion, The patience of a donkey, The industry of a beaver, The versatility of a chameleon. The vision of an eagle, The meekness of a lamb, The hide of rhinocerous,

The disposition of an angel, The resignation of an incurable, The loyalty of an apostle, The heroism of a martyr. The faithfulness of a phophet, The tenderness of a shepherd. The fervency of an evangelist, The devotion of a mother. How many parsons, I wonder, are so strikingly equipped, physically, mentally, temperamentally? A man’ possessing all the foregoing qualifications would, indeed, be a superman, and a superman is a very rare creature!