An essay on a lay ministry [microform] : particulary on that of Wesleyan local preachers : with observations designed to exhibit the capabilities and means of improvement and usefulness possessed by that class of ministers

Preface

The paper on “ Punctuality in attending Appointments,” was the original of the present Volume. — The idea of writing that was suggested by some instances of indefensible negligence, which at the time fell under the Author’s notice : some of the other matters on which he has ventured to write, occurred to his mind while meditating on the above subject, and the rest at subsequent intervals.

The Author sincerely avers, that he has never intended to write for the educated, and those who enjoy leisure and superior helps. But he

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PREFACE.

believes there is a class of young men, who have just entered or are about to enter the Ministry in the capacity of Local Preachers ; and whose qualifications and means of improving them are slender, to whom his humble production may not be altogether unsuitable ; or read entirely without advantage.

The numerical importance of this description of young preachers, their individual and collective capabilities for improvement and usefulness ; — the inadvertence of some of them to the extent of their capabilities, and the need which others have of some stimulus to their efforts — were the impressions under which the following work was commenced.

The writer undertook his task with a strong conviction, that a work of this specific kind, was greatly ft*, V 7 wr *

PREFACE.

V needed, — a conviction which experience and observation had combined to produce.

He is sensible that considerable learning and experience were necessary to do the subject justice ; — but while his pretensions to the former are very moderate, he is not wholly destitute of the latter ; having had to struggle with most of the difficulties he has described, and resorted to most of the expedients for their conquest which he has recommended.

W. R.

Eainton, June, 1832 .

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Contents?.

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Chapter I

General observations on the ministry of Laymen. Among the benevolent institutions which are the privilege and the honour of our country, there are some that strike us with the peculiar .simplicity pf their constructure and operations, the generally humble character . of the agents they employ, and the absence of any particular grandeur in their single effects. Of this number are the systems of imparting gratuitous instruction to the children of the poor, by means of Sabbath-schools— the diffusion of religious knowledge by the loan of tracts —and pf village preaching by the agency of laymen. Each of these forms of Christian pbilan trophy, unpretending as it is, and claiming little that is venerable in antiquity, illustrious in talent, or .powerful in influence, must nevertheless be ranked among the. most efficient of any , in existence.

It may appear surprising, that these modes of

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I doing good, which are prosecuted at so small an expense of time, property, or learning, should he so efficacious ; but it is apparently still more paradoxical that the very circumstance of their independence on these endowments should he the principal cause of their efficiency. But the fact is, their simplicity adapting itself to common faculties, secures for them an instrumentality which more than supplies by its numerical, what it lacks in individual importance. That system of benevolence which is dependent on wealth, learning, and leisure, must be necessarily limited in its efficacy, because these are talents which but few possess ; but the institutions W’e have named, can number among their efficient agents the poor, the comparatively illiterate, and the man of business ; and of these the number may be multiplied almost incalculably. These institutions, therefore, are powerful, not by the force of talent or of single efforts, but by a vast combination of talent and effort — feeble, it may be, separately considered, but mighty in their union ;• — and thus what they want in the intensity of their influence, is compensated by the amplitude of its diffusion.

In another view we may remark, that the charities in question, depending chiefly on the virtue of the middle classes of society, are much more secure of support than if resting on the virtue of the higher orders ; for it is among the former that virtue and piety are principally to be found, or found in a vigorous and influential state. ’ -

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THE MINISTRY OF LAYMEN.

These remarks, it is presumed, are strictly applicable to the system of preaching by persons in a laical capacity. The individuals thus employed, are generally allowed to form one of the most useful classes in society : but their usefulness, deriving little aid from wealth, learning, or leisure, is on that account humble and unobtrusive in its external character.

Of this auxiliary kind of ministry most Dissenting Churches at present avail themselves ; although none to any considerable extent except the Wesleyans. Among this body the system is established on a wide and regular scale, and its beneficial results are incalculably great. By means of lay preachers thousands of the “ poor have the Gospel preached to them nor could their services be discontinued without the most serious injury to the cause. The general character of the Wesleyan local preachers is highly creditable to the connexion, while numbers among them are possessed of superior talents and piety.

Dou bts, we are aware, exist in the minds of some relative to the abstract propriety, or scriptural « authority of a lay ministry. Perhaps these doubts

originate in the apprehension that the sanctity auc difficulty of the sacred office are inconsistent with its being assumed by uneducated and secular characters. •>

Now, it is not for a moment imagined, that the regular and official ministry ought, or ever will be, superseded by the occasional labours of local preachers ;* or that the latter can ever be an adequate substitute for the former. We are convinced that there ought 1 to be a‘ regular and successive supply of ministers, who are possessed of more extensive learning than men in business can ordinarily have the means of acquiring: for it* would be a reproach and an injury to religion if its professed advocates were inferior in this respect to its enemies. Add to this the multifarious and important duties connected with the pastorship and‘ superintendence of the Church can, in most cases, * only be efficiently discharged by those who are wholly devoted to the work. But all this admitted, it by no means follows, that local preachers may not be useful auxiliaries. If it can be proved that they are not ministers or pastors in the full sense of the word, still it cannot be disproved that they may occasionally discharge some of the duties of pastors. The exclusive labours of an ordained ministry furnish no more argument against the utility or necessity of the occasional labours of lay preachers,' than the exclusive appropriation of the sabbath day to sacred uses, does against the propriety and utility of holding religious services on some other days of the week.

• The term local preacher , for an obvious reason, is exclusively methodistical, arid would be absurdly applied to the lay preachers of those sects whose regular ministers are local. The author, however, will find it convenient sometimes to employ the term, and occasionally to make direct allusions to the body of men of whom it i* a distinctive and' well known appellation. Generally, however, the term is used simply as a designation of a lay preacher, and not with an exclusive reference to the Wesleyan local preacher.

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The Apostle divides the servants of the church into a variety of orders. “ God hath set some in the church, first, apostles ; secondarily, prophets ; thirdly, teachers, after that, miracles ; then gifts of healing, helps, governments^ diversities of tongues.” — 1 Cor. xii. 28. Now,- though lay preachers claim no “ apostleship,” or “ government,’’ yet they may perhaps be allowed to possess the humbler appellation of “ teachers,” or “ helps.” Helps to the regular ministry they may very appropriately be styled ; for abundantly as this highly-favoured country is supplied with evangelical ministers of various denominations, still the field of labour is too extensive for their united efforts, and very much of it remains but partially or not at all cultivated. It is certain that but for the labours of local preachers, many hundreds of country congregations would be unable to hear one sermon in the week, without being obliged to travel several miles ; and to the aged and infirm this would amount to a total deprivation.

“ But is it not,” some will ask, “ dishonourable to the sacred office, for a person to hold it in conjunction witb one that is secular, and to mix its duties with- temporal business ?” It is, doubtless, on several accounts, highly desirable that a preacher of the Gospel should be detached from business ; — and yet we have scriptural authority for believing, that this is not in every case absolutely necessary. The Apostle Paul contends for the right of ministers to support, and “ to forbear working.” “ Even so,” says he, “ hath the Lord ordained, that they who preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel.” Yet the same Apostle occasionally wrought at his trade of tent making. He did this at Corinth, as we are informed, in the eighteenth chapter of the Acts. Here he .founds a certain Christian Jew, named Aquilla, of the same craft with himself, “and he abode with him and wrought” on the week days, “ and he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath.” Necessity no doubt, compelled him to resort to his trade ; and the love of Christ, and of souls, constrained him to preach on the sabbath day ; and these are precisely the reasons on which most lay preachers act in a similar • manner.

In another place, the same Apostle, comparing the Christian minister to a soldier, says, “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life.” This general assertion, we may observe, like mauy others of a similar kind, must be understood with some exceptions. Generally speaking, soldiers are, and must be, disentangled from com-- mon concerns ; and yet in most countries there are volunteers, or a local militia, whose services, though not splendid, are often valuable in main-* taining internal peace and security. In this light? must a lay ministry be viewed. They, of course,* cannot be expected to be so expert in the use of their spiritual weapons, as those who are educated for and solely employed in the office. Yet there are posts to occupy in the warfare with sin and satan, to which their abilities are by no means unequal. If it would be imprudent in them to en-

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^3 counter a disciplined army, they may be competent to face a mob ; if they cannot go on foreign service, they can find abundant employment at home ; and, in fine, while they strengthen the grand force, they" are no encumbrance to the public revenue.

Abstractedly, there is nothing in lawful business to desecrate the holiest character or employ ment. — If business does not disqualify a person from holding converse with God in the closet, it surely cannot disqualify him for addressing his fellow sinners from the pulpit.

Our first parents, in their paradisiacal state, were possessed of a higher degree of sanctity than any of their fallen posterity; yet' they were employed in “ dressing and keeping the garden” — a mean employment according to modern taste.

Necessity is the very commanding reason of the lay preacher’s engaging in secular business ; and we are not aware of any other plea that could justify him in so doing. Those who receive a reasonably sufficient maintenance for their pastoral labours, degrade their character and office by embarking in any kind of business : but then it is not the business itself that degrades, but the grovelling, earthly-minded motive that prompts them to it — the guilt of straying from the sphere of duty in which God has placed them — the injustice of robbing the people, whose “ carnal things” they receive* of their time and attention.

Freedom from worldly business is an unspeakable advantage to a minister, and happy is he w ho duly appreciates and improves this advantage.-

Nevertheless the engagements of secular duties are not in all respects disadvantageous to a preacher. The consumption of time they occasion may prevent him from becoming skilful on doctrinal and speculative points ; but in the discussion' of practical subjects, he will often derive considerable assistance from his practical experience. In his secular intercourse with mankind, he will be enabled to see human nature in a truer light than he could do if constantly immured in the study, and rarely conversing with men except in his pastoral character, where he would see people to the best advantage, and often in a borrowed garb. In the discharge of ordinary duties also, he has an opportunity of exemplifying many virtues of a higher and more difficult character, and on a wider scale than he could do if wholly disengaged from business ; — and can therefore describe them with the precision and enforce them with the confidence which experience only can impart.

It may further be remarked, that though a lay preacher be unable to embellish his sermons with learned criticisms and classical allusions, he may be able to illustrate many of his subjects by allusions to the common facts and phenomena of the existing world, with which his ordinary engage** ments have made him familiar ; and this latter is a mode of preaching highly calculated to be useful^ and altogether conformable te the manner m which our blessed Saviour and his Apostles instructed mankind. Many of our Lord’s parables are founded on well-known customs, and the- obvious phe*

THE MINISTRY OF LAYMEN.

nomena of nature ; and in the explication of them, ■ an accurate knowledge of common things, is of far more avail than extraordinary erudition. Thus from the parable of the “sower” an intelligent farmer might preach an accurate and learned sermon ; while a professor of classical or oriental literature might feel himself greatly embarrassed on the subject.

Another advantage peculiar to a lay ministry is, that its unchargeableness permits its unlimited expansion. The multiplication of a salaried ministry, is necessarily bounded by the pecuniary means and the generosity of the people ; but these are no measures whatever of the multiplication of gratuitous labourers : and this is no unimportant matter to the poor inhabitants of many country places. It appears, indeed, to be the special business of local preachers, to preach the Gospel to the* poor ; and they ought always to give the poor the advantage of their labours, in preference to the rich ; because these can provide for themselves, whereas the other must have the bread of life literally “ without money and without price.” And as the local preacher receives no more compensation from the rich than from the poor, he can afford to preach to the one quite as well as to the other.

Now this is a consideration in which the preacher himself may be permitted to indulge a very honest satisfaction. Amidst his manifold discouragements and the neglect with which his labours are sometimes regarded by the more respectable class of hearers, he has the consolation of being acquitted ibiia both by them and his own heart of mercenary motives ; and of being assured that if they do not deem his discourses very valuable, they cannot complain that they are expensive ; that if destitute of high attractions, yet such as they are he gives them for nothing ; and that, while he can accommodate the poor, he is independent on the rich.

But while the freeness of his ministry may innocently be a source of satisfaction, it must not be a subject of boasting, or a fancied ground of superiority. He must be aware that the circumstance of its freeness is only a blessing to the poor, but none at all to those who can afford to support a ministry. The contribution of one’s property to this very rational and scriptural purpose, should be • deemed a privilege, as furnishing him with an

opportunity of testifying his gratitude for so great a benefit : it is also morally beneficial, by calling into exercise some of the best feelings of his heart ; and by identifying the success of the Gospel with his iuterest, even increasing his value for that which costs him something. Those who prefer a gratuitous ministry because they dislike to part with their money, are despicable beings ; and never likely to profit by that which they rate so cheap.

But an objection that may be thought still more weighty against the preaching of laymen, is grounded on their general want of education. It is admitted that some are to be found among them w ho are destitute of suitable qualifications — a concession which, however, must be made with reference to cverv other bodv of ministers. Cases of » 0

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THE MINISTRY OP LAYMEN.

this kind may be more numerous amongst local preachers than others: but none are entitled to so much candour and forbearance.

It is also allowed, that few among them are possessed of extensive learning ; and to this deficiency we are willing to grant its full bulk of importance. Nevertheless, with profound respect for learning, popularly so called, and a deep conviction of its utility to a Christian minister, we may venture to affirm, that it is not an essential qualification for the work of preaching the Gospel. In every art and profession, some qualifications are of essential and others only of secondary importance. The indispensable qualifications of a Christian. preacher are a true conversion to God ; the enjoyment of the Jove of God as the ruling principle of the soul ; irreproachable morals ; a sound understanding, improved by reading and study ; a comprehensive knowledge of Christian theology, particularly with the vital doctrines connected with redemption, and the work of the Holy Spirit on the heart ; an intimate acquaintance with satan’s devices and the world’s allurements, and especially with the human heart ; and finally, such a command of language and facility of utterance as will suffice to exhibit the thoughts with perspicuity and acceptance. The possession of classical and scientific knowledge, in addition to these endowments, is highly desirable and important : but, if we are not mistaken, the enumeration just given, includes every thing that is essential to constitute a Christian preacher.', Such

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were, the only qualifications of nearly all the primi-

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,ti.ve teachers of Christianity, as well-as of great numbers of the most successful preachers in every age. Every subsidiary and ornamental accomplishment should be sought by a preacher as he has .opportunity ; but none should be despised for the want of what is chiefly ornamental, if he is possessed of that which is essentially useful, and especially if his circumstances be unfavourable to improve- , ment.

Some men possess considerable genius and, great .practical talent, with very small scientific attainments. Examples of this are to be found in every profession, and every department of arts and business. Such persons must, of course, labour under considerable disadvantages : their general principles will be few and contracted, and sometimes considerably erroneous; yet it would be as absurd to affirm that the talent they possess ought not to be exercised, as it would be false -to deny its existence.

Examples in verification of this fact are to be met with amongst preachers. Many of these are desti- , tnte of classical learning, and know little of polite literature, and yet have considerable genius and practical talent ; they can preach so as to convince the understanding,. affect the heart, and arouse the conscience; and possessing thus the ability to accomplish the main end of their, calling, who will venture to pronounce them unqualified ? The value of learning is to be estimated by its practical utility. The possession of that learning that is foreign to a man's profession. or calling, is .practically useless.

THE MINISTRY OF LAYMEN.

Some men of great power and versatility of intellect attempt the acquisition of a great many branches of learning ; and though their collective acquirements may be prodigious, yet rarely are they pre-eminent in any one thing. Others with minds much inferior, and sensible perhaps of their inability to grasp many things at once, wisely direct all their faculties and efforts to excel in one science or profession ; and these often become more useful, and even more celebrated than the man of profound science and multifarious acquirements. Sir Edward Coke and Lord Bacon were contemporary lawyers, none will doubt that the latter had a mind incomparably more powerful than the former ; yet Coke, by confining his meaner powers solely to the study of law, has become a more celebrated lawyer, and the works he has left behind him, will remain an imperishable monument of his industry and correct legal knowledge. In illustration of this fact, we may observe, that there are Christian preachers, whom it would be easy to name, who have launched out into the great and wide sea of science, and become men of general and profound erudition ; yet as preachers, they are far outshone

by many who have not half their learning : — the reason is, the latter have concentrated all their faculties and endeavours in the single object of the composition and delivery of sermons.

I f these remarks be just, then they will authorize us to affirm that local preachers, of ordinary opportunities and capacity, though they cannot aspire to the rank of scholars, may not unreasonably aim at

c that of- preachers ; and that the prudent and deligent use of their time and opportunities, will enable them to become — “workmen that need not be ashamed.”

It is to be recollected also, that lay preachers form but a subordinate or auxiliary order of minis - ters, and have seldom to address persons of remarkable intelligence and refinement ; their peculiar business, as has already been stated, is, to preaeh the Gospel to the literal poor : now these people have rarely any taste for refined criticism, or elegant diction ; they have little capacity for philosophical disquisition, or argumentation long and laboured : they want plain truth, exhibited in familiar language ; they require clear ideas, delivered in short, pointed sentences. The great truths of the Gospel are few and simple ; arid as they are easy to be comprehended, so they are not hard to be stated and explained by those that feel their importance and efficacy. Indeed experience, intellectually considered, is an admirable qualification of a preacher, and an essential one in the dis» cussion of experimental subjects. To common people, experience is all important : learned discourses are lost upon them, but from a person who can do little else but relate his experience of the operations of divine grace on his heart, they will derive the most substantial edification.

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The Wesleyan lay preachers form an essential part of the Wesleyan constitution. It is the nursery and school of the itinerancy : from their ranks fresh recruits for the regulars are from time

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to time drafted. This circumstance attaches to the younger class of local preachers a peculiar importance, and should furnish them with a distinct and powerful motive to diligence in improving their talents : for the intellectual habits and attainments they acquire while in this capacity, will form the stamina of their character as itinerants, and often determine the rank they will hold in that wider and more important sphere of labour. In a word, with local preachers is placed the most efficient remedy for the disadvantages arising from the want of a ministerial education.*

* That this is a defect in the system cannot well be denied. At the same time, from the unexampled spread of Methodism, or of Christianity by its means, and the generally respectable character and talents of its ministers, we might be led to believe that the practical disadvantages resulting Irom this circumstance are not so formidable as might be supposed.

The truth is, the young Itinerant, while he has sufficient means of acquiring a knowledge of divinity and general literature, has the very best opportunity of improving his preaching talents, by his incessant public exercises. He learns to use his arms, not in the lecture room, but in the field ; and hence, though he may sometimes use them unscientifically, yet none are more rarely charged with wielding them ineffectually.

If the first three or four years of his ministry were spent in an academy, he might obtain the elements of a better education ; but it is not probable that he would thereby become a more useful, or even a more popular preacher. Many of the sciences studied at those seats of learning are but remotely connected with theology, cy: even elocution ; and perpetual application to abstract studies, if not accompanied with considerable practice in public speaking, has a tendency to impair the readiness and vivacity of conception, and the flexibility of style and ease of delivery, w hich are of the utmost importance to a public speaker.

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But passing by this ulterior reason, the lay preachers of the Wesleyan and other denominations must on account of their own labours, in conjunction with the circumstances of their great and increasing numbers, exercise a very considerable influence on the moral character of society. That influence, it is evident, will be extensive and beneficial, in proportion to their piety, their respectability of character, and ministerial talents and zeal. To promote these is the object of the present work. We have for some time looked in vain for a work on this precise subject ; that is, one professedly adapted for the benefit of this valuable class of men. None certainly need counsel and ‘ encouragement more than they : and they want counsel of a peculiar kind. The local preacher is in very different circumstances from the salaried pastor. He has difficulties to struggle with to which the latter is a stranger. He has to attend to the cultivation of his mind and the composition of his sermons amidst the bustle of traffic, the weariness of labour, and often the endless anxieties of straitened circumstances. Perhaps he lives in an obscure village, without any literary or religious friend from whose conversation and fellowship, he might derive improvement and resolution. He has probably a scanty library, with small means

Oratory, like Poetry, cannot be learned like other things ; it is the child of nature and ihspiration. The range of imagination, the glow of animation and feeling, and the pathos of delivery, may be corrected, but cannot be created by rules and systems.

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of enlarging it ; and yet scanty as it is, he may have scarcely time to possess himself of its humble lore.

That a man in these circumstances should sink under discouragement, and make small advances in knowledge and pulpit ability, is not at all surprising ; and this, in fact, not unfrequently occurs ; — and unquestionably nothing but very spiritual and elevated views, a rare moral courage and self control, united with indefatigable industry, can enable any one to overcome these formidable difficulties. But the thing has been accomplished in thousands of instances ; and what has been accomplished by one, may be hopefully attempted by another.

The benefit of young preachers in circumstances similar to those just described, is the principal object sought in the following pages. We are anxious to impress the minds of those individuals with the solemn responsibility of tlie office they have taken upon them, and the value and absolute necessity of piety and zeal, of knowledge, and the gift of utterance to the successful discharge of its duties. We seek to convince them that their few and scanty means of improvement, if carefully husbanded, will be found productive beyond their calculation ; that moderate industry, judiciously applied and steadily persisted in, will soon qualify them to be “ workmen that need not be ashamed,” and ultimately leave them but little reason to regret the want of ampler opportunities.

In a word, we wish to convince them, that ample leisure, and an ample library to occupy it, are

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neither, nor both of them, so important as an intense desire for wisdom : for when the latter exists, it will always find or invent means of achieving its object, whereas the other alone, is but “ a price in

the hand of a fool to get wisdom, who has no heart to it.”

CHAPTER II. Preparatory Qualifications •

The business of a preacher of the Gospel, generally speaking, is to expound, defend, and enforce, the sacred truths of God’s lloly Word— the doctrines and duties, the penalties and privileges, of Revealed Religion. The being and perfections of God — the apostaey and guilt of the human race — * and the degeneracy and wickedness of the human character — the divine character and redeeming work of our Lord Jesus Christ — the extent and sufficiency of his atonement — its privileges, namely, pardon, adoption, the witness of the Spirit, purity of heart, and victory over all sin, present happiness, and eternal life : also repentance, faith, and the faithful improvement of the means of grace, as the terms on which we are admitted to a participation of the blessings of Redemption : the influence of the Holy Spirit in the work of Regeneration : the necessity of practical holiness, or a conscientious regard to the moral precepts of the divine law : the solemn consideration of man’s accountability, especially in its bearing on the judgment day : the everlasting rewards of the righteous, and the interminable punishment awaiting the finally impenitent — these, with their collateral and kindred subjects, are the themes on which the Christian preacher must expatiate, and of which he is required to shew the scriptural authority, and practical bearing ; — to exhibit them to the understanding, and enforce them upon the conscience.