Unity Pulpit Volume 6

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1884 Excerpt: ... A WORD WITH THE PEW, OR HELPING THE MINISTER. The pew in these modern days is quite ready with its advice to the minister; quite ready to tell him what his shortcomings and failures are, how he ought to preach, how long he ought to make his sermon, how he ought to treat his theme, what the objects should be at which he should constantly aim, --quite ready, in short, to point out his faults and failings, and tell him how the work ought to be done. But, generally, so far as my experience is valuable, the pulpit is quite conscious of all these things before being told of them, and is only anxious to find something more helpful than fault-finding, more efficient than ordinary good advice. And if somebody in the pew would only take the work out of his hands, and do it better, he would be thankful. If somebody in the pew would only take his place and illustrate how it ought to be done, he would listen with a great deal of gratitude, and would try to follow the example just so far as his ability would allow. But there are some things wherein the pew itself needs to be instructed as to the attitude that it should maintain toward the pulpit, as to how it may help the minister in the various departments of his thought, his life, his work, so as to make efficient that which he so poorly and lamely attempts. In order, then, to lead the way to a consideration of some of those things, I wish to recur to the true ideal of a church. The church, according to my thought of it, is not by any means a lecture association. It is not a place where you are simply to go to hear what the minister will have to say, and then go away and forget all about it in the days that follow. If you have paid your pew rent promptly, filled your place on Sunday morning, listened attentively, --provi.