The itinerant's guide ...

Front matter

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Preface

Some years ago the author wrote a little book entitled "Book of Forms," intended to help our young preachers in all cases of discipline, especially trials in our Church courts. This book received very favorable notice from our bishops and leading preachers throughout the Church. The following are a few of the opinions expressed:

I regard it as an important and necessary work.

Rev. M. H. Neely, D.D.,

Denver Conference.

You have done a very good thing in getting up this " Book of Forms." Rev. C. Y. Rankin, D.D.,

Pacific Conference.

I have carefully examined your form book, and like it very much. It will certainly be very useful, especially to young preachers. It is a happy conception.

Rev. H. S. Hosmee, D.D., North Alabama Conference.

I heartily approve this book. It is needed, and will do good.

North Mississippi Conference.

I am of the opinion that it will be a success. Such a book is badly needed. Rev. R. M. Powees,

North Texas Conference.

I have examined your "Book of Forms" as well as I have been able, and find nothing at variance with the law of the Church. It may be of service to many.

Bishop A. W. Wilson.

I see nothing in it to criticise adversely. It will be helpful, I think, to our peachers in charge. Bishop J. C. Geanbeey. You are doing a good work, and are doing it well.

iv THE ITINERANT'S GUIDE.

Dear Brother Allen: Your little "Book of Forms " is a good thing. The preachers in charge will thank you for it. It greatly facilitates the most difficult part of a pastor's duty — the bringing of offenders either to reformation or to trial.

Bishop J. C. Keener.

It has been used by many of our preachers in all parts of the connection, and has given satisfaction. The book, however, was published from a defective manuscript, and had errors in it which none saw or felt so keenly as the author. The edition has been exhausted, and, as there is still a slow but steady demand for it, and as it appears to the author that directions are equally needed in every department of pastoral work as well as in the execution of discipline, he has resolved not to bring out a new edition of that book, but to replace it by this work, The Itinerant's Guide, which will be a new edition of the "Book of Forms " so far as it relates to its special field, and will also cover the duties of the ministry, the call to the ministry, the preparation for the ministry, the development and delivery of sermons, pastoral visiting, and the proper management of a charge in the Methodist Church in all respects.

The greater part that appears here has been delivered as lectures to the class in theology at the Southwestern University. It will, of course, have the defects incident to such work, and I trust also the merit of direct application to parties in whom the lecturer is interested. Hoping that it will prove a benefit, especially to the immature boys and inexperienced young men who enter our ministry, and that the outcome of it may be good for our beloved Methodism, the author sends it forth on its mission. John E. Allen.

Southwestern University, Georgetown, Tex.

CHAPTER II. An Outline of the Duties of the Pastor 6

First Church Council — Prayer — Private Prayer the Source of Power — Public Prayer — Pastoral Visiting — Public Preaching — To Save Sinners — To Nurture the Church — Dignity of the Work — Joy .

CHAPTER II. Pastoral Visiting 56

1. The Preacher in the Homes: Why Needed; Prayer; How Conducted. 2. The Preacher in the Sick Room: Opportunity for Good ; Let the Doctor Alone ; Be Cheerful. 3. The Preacher in Society: Be a Gentleman; False Dignity; Conversation; Avoid Exaggeration and Levity.

SECTION I. Forms Suggested in Cases of Immorality

Form 1. Appointing a Member of a Committee of Investigation , 83

Form 2. Notice to Accused of the Appointment of Investigating Committee, and its Time and Place of Meetings . . 84

Form 3. Notice of the Same to the Accuser 84

Form 4. Report of Investigating Committee 84

Form 5. Notice to Defendant of Time and Place of Trial (to be sent by hand to Defendant, with a Copy of the Charges

and Specifications 87

Form 6. Summoning Witness 87

Form 7. Appointing a Member of the Committee of Trial . 88 Form 8. Judgment of a Church Court (see Form 4, Case B, for corresponding bill) 88

Vlll CONTENTS.

Section II

Forms Necessary in Taking Depositions. Page

Depositions 92

Form 9. Application for a Special Commissioner 93

Form 10. Appointing Special Commissioner (limited to the

case or cases named) 93

Form 11. Commissioner's Notice to Prosecutor 94

Form 12. Appointing Commissioner to Take Depositions . . 94

Form 13. Commissioner's Notice to Defendant 95

Form 14. Pastor's Notice to Defendant when Taking Depositions of One or More Specified Witnesses 95

Form 15. Pastor's Notice to Defendant when Intending to

take General Depositions 96

Chapter III

Forms Suggested in Cases of "Improper Tempers/ 9 of Heresy, and of Disputes.

Form 16. Finding of Committee in Case of Improper Tempers 97

Form 17. Finding of Committee in Case of Heresy 99

Form 18. Report of Committee in Case Growing Out of a Dispute 101

CHAPTER IV. Forms in Appellate Cases

Appeal of a Member 106

Form 19. Appeal of Defendant to Quarterly Conference. . . . 107 Form 20. Judgment of Quarterly Conference in Appeal

Cases 109

Form 21. Appointing a Committee in a Remanded Case. . . Ill Form 22. Report of a Committee in a Remanded Case 111

Chapter V

Exemplifying the Foregoing Forms 7 and Giving Some New Cases.

Form 23. Proceedings of Investigating Committee 115

Form 24. Proceedings of Trial 121

Form 25. Deposition of Witness 123

Form 26. Quarterly Conference Trying Appealed Case 127

CONTENTS. IX

Chapter VI

Miscellaneous Forms. Page

Form 27. Report on Epworth League, Sunday School, and the Instruction of Children - 132

Form 28. Report of the Preacher in Charge on the General State of the Church 133

Form 29. Report of the Preacher in Charge to a Church Conference 134

Form 30. Subscription for a Church Building 134

Form 31. Subscription for Building a Parsonage 135

Form 32. Report of the Board of Trustees to the Fourth Quarterly Conference 135

Form 33. Recommendation for an Exhorter's License from a Church Conference 136

Form 34. Recommendation for License to Preach by Quarterly Conference 137

Form 35. Form of Devise by Will 137

Form 36. Form of a Deed of Gift 138

CHAPTER VII. Forms of Official Papers

No. I. Certificate of a Member 139

No. II. Certificate of an Exhorter or Local Preacher 139

No. III. Exhorter's License 140

No. IV. Local Preacher's License . , 140

No. V. Recommendation for Deacon's Orders 141

No. VI. Recommendation for Elder's Orders 142

No. VII. Recommendation for Admission on Trial into the

Traveling Connection 143

No. VIII. Recommendation for Recognition of Orders 144

No. IX. Restoration of Credentials — Application by a Quarterly Conference 145

No. X. Restoration of Credentials — Application by Annual

Conference 146

No. XL Certificate of Location . . . 147

No. XII. Report of Recording Steward c . . . , . 9 . . 147

PART FIRST. Pastoral Duties

(xi)

THE ITINERANT'S GUIDE.

CHAPTEE I.

The Call to Pkeach.

THERE are those who, exalting the priesthood of the ordinary members of the Church, deny the divine authority for the pastoral office. The privilege of a child of God cannot be too much insisted upon. He is a king, a priest, and a prophet, or it is his privilege to be all of these. Nevertheless, the Lord, who organized his Church as the visible representative of his invisible kingdom, knew that both the sheep and the lambs of his flock needed careful attention; and the office of overseer and pastor of that flock is Godappointed.

God has always had men commissioned as ambassadors to offer terms of peace to sinners. "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." (2 Cor. v. 20.) "And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake." (1 Thess. v. 12-15.) "And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the Church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I

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came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons. . . . Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." (Acts xx. 17, 18, 28.)

The man who fills this office is not self-appointed to this divine work, but divinely selected. "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," was the original assertion as relating to the first ministers, and is a statement which is still true of every true minister.

Methodism, in common with most Churches, believes in a call to the ministry. We believe that God selects his workmen who are to advance his cause among men, and that he does not leave this to the misguided vanity of the candidate, or to the erring judgment of the Church. To every conscientious young man who feels moved to undertake this work it becomes a very important question : "Am I really called of God to preach?" The answer to this question will not be generally very easily found. It seems that it is the divine intention that there should be a conflict just here. It is best that the young man concerned should be led to earnest self-examination, to analyze his motives, and to listen earnestly for the guidance of the "still $mall voice." Without any hope, therefore, of obviating a struggle which I believe necessary, but with a hope that it may help to a wise and truthful answer to this question, I will here lay down some of the things essential to a genuine call to preach.

Pirst: There should be a clear perception of the

THE CALL TO PREACH. 6

solemnity and responsibility of the ministerial office. If this is so keen as to lead to a mighty shrinking from the responsibility, all the better. If the call is based in a vanity that desires to flourish its accomplishments in the face of admiring multitudes, or in the mere itch of oratory that yearns for a theme adequate to its powers, or in laziness that seeks for an easy method of making a living, then it is not a divine call. Alas for the man who thus unadvisedly rushes into a sacred place! and alas for the people he serves and the Church he represents! Out of this class come the sore-headed, disappointed, and sour preachers whose existence is a hindrance to the gospel and a trial to the faith of their brethren. I do not believe that anyone is really called of God who does not have a profound sense of the sacredness of this office, and of his own unfitness for it. And yet, so weak is humanity, I recognize the fact that into the solemn chorus of other genuine voices that call us to preach vanity is apt to intrude her own unwelcome notes. I do not demand that there should be an entire absence of such, but that they should be valued at their true worth as evidences against the call instead of in favor of it. So far as they enter into our own decision they are disturbing elements, and their presence at all calls for greater caution in reaching a decision. Again, I do not mean that the consciousness of peculiar aptitude for this work in the possession of natural gifts is a proof that a man is mistaken in regard to his call. This is inseparable often from those gifts. But we should be sure that we are after the good of man and the glory of God in dedicating these gifts to him, and are not moved by the lower motives of vanity and ambition.

Second: There should be a genuine experience of grace, and a yearning desire to impart the same blessing to others. This is the most essential point. I doubt not that many are impressed with the idea that they ought to preach before they are converted, but in all such cases there is (a consciousness that they ought to be converted before they yield to the call. No man is fit to preach Christ to others until he has found him himself, and no man can successfully win souls who is not filled with a burning desire to benefit them. The desire to bestow the blessings of religion upon others is peculiar to all God's children, but the man who is to proclaim his truth should have a double portion of this yearning. The Saviour says to all, " Freely ye have received, freely give," but he spoke these words to ministers especially.

Third : There should be a feeling that the Spirit impels to this work. This is the central fact, and of this all else is merely corroborative. But this direct call of the Spirit will be in accord with each peculiar temperament: clear and distinct to some, and low and indefinite to others. In every case we ought to look for such indication of the genuineness of this call as I am trying to point out. No matter how clear the divine call may seem to us, if we have not this other evidence we had better wait awhile.

Fourth: The chief corroboration,, if we possess all those previously spoken of, is the authority of the Church. If our brethren agree that we possess the gifts and moral qualities necessary to this high of-

THE CALL TO PKEACH. 5

fice, we may accept their judgment as corroborative of our own and of that mysterious voice we think we hear. If, on the contrary, the Church hesitates to confer upon us her authority, we should accept her decision for the present. If, however, the impression of our call continue, we should endeavor so to improve ourselves and so to show forth our zeal and efficiency in working for our Lord as a layman that the Church shall be brought at last to recognize and indorse our call.

If we take the opposition of brethren in a bad or impatient spirit, charging on them improper or personal motives, then we give the best possible evidence that we are mistaken as to our call. The Church ought to judge of a candidate's fitness for the ministry as though there were no such thing as a divine call, and she ought to insist on the call coming from God as though she had nothing to do with the matter.

CHAPTER II.

An Outline of the Duties of the Pastor.

IN the first council of the Church, called to provide new officers to take charge of secular affairs, we find the apostles of Christ setting forth the peculiar duties of the ministry in these words: "But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and the ministry of the word." (Acts vi. 4.) In the contemplation of these words we can obtain an outline of our duties as pastors. Considering them carefully, we find the following:

I. The fundamental obligation resting upon us as preachers is "to give" ourselves to prayer.

It is not necessary for us to stop here and discuss the nature of prayer. Those that I am now addressing are supposed to be familiar with it both in theory and practice. Our duty at this time is to define its place and importance as an element of the gospel ministry. Any acquaintance with the nature of prayer and its relation to Christian character, and with the duties devolving upon the pastor, must lead anyone to conclude that is is an absolute necessity to him. The best proof, however, to us is the word of God. In a general assembly of the Church in its inspired age, called by the apostles, inspired men, its proceedings recorded by Luke, an inspired writer, and its design to relieve the apostles of all duties except those properly belonging to the ministry, we find them placing prayer as the first remaining duty. In corroboration of its necessity — (6)

DUTIES OF THE PASTOE. 7

though God's word needs no bolstering proof — we have only to appeal to every true preacher in the ages past.

Prayer, as it relates itself to the ministry, naturally divides itself into two divisions — private prayer, and public prayer.

1. Private Prayer.

This may be again divided into two subordinate divisions: first, that act of devotion when the individual comes in the attitude and article of personal intercession with his Creator; second, that state of the soul in which, with continuous consciousness of dependence upon God, its desires, without being formulated into articulate words, are constantly going forth to him in search of support and strength. These are not two different things, but two phases of the same thing.

This private, personal prayer of the minister is the only instrument by which he can obtain that power which he must have to qualify him for his responsible task. Our Saviour, in his last conversation before his crucifixion with the very men of whom our text was uttered, and that conversation had with them in their character as witnesses of his life and ministers of his gospel, says: "Without me ye can do nothing." Ah! he puts this truth into one of his incomparable similes: "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me." Here you see the statement of the powerlessness of ministers simply as such. Christ said of certain religious teachers: "Can the blind lead the blind? shall they both not fall into the ditch? "

Thank God, brethren, over against these statements we have our Saviour's words: "I am the vine and ye are the branches; he that abideth in me and I in him, bringeth forth much fruit." "I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Then Paul says: "I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me." Powerless ourselves, with Christ working in us there is no limit to our spiritual might. Now the one great condition upon which this power is bestowed upon the ministry is prayer.

The curse of God rested upon the holy and almost blameless Moses because he dared to smite the rock without an appeal to him. So the wrath of the Most High will rest upon every minister who does not look to him for help, but dares to work in his own feebleness. The case of Moses, however, reminds me of one thing: though Moses was punished for his sin, yet God sent the water to the famished host of Israel. So God often gives efficacy to his word coming from a prayerless, perhaps a godless heart; but in that case the preacher may look for punishment, not reward.

Yes, prayer is the great preparatory work of the ministry. In the closet is the place to receive power from on high ; there it is that the angel of the Lord touches his lips with a live coal from off the altar. Nor can careful study, profound research, and great mental activity supply the place of the devotional spirit, In fact, unless study and investigation are themselves so interpenetrated and saturated with prayer as to be indivisible from it, they are worthless. All our learning, all our mental stores,

DUTIES OF THE PASTOR. 9

must pass through the alchemic process of prayer before they are ready for the pulpit. Devout meditation and research must be elements of a pastor's prayer. If he exhausts himself in clamoring to Heaven for preaching power, without using the mind which God has given him to search for truth, and to utilize the material made ready to his hands, his ministry will be a failure.

On the other hand, to substitute study for prayer is a more dangerous error, and one which the tendencies of the day are more calculated to develop. I decidedly prefer the position of our Hardshell Baptist friends, which insists on prayer and ignores study, to that modern aesthetic taste which insists on mental vigor and rhetorical beauty, but ignores the devout and prayerful spirit. I had rather be a dunce, and preach Christ in corrupt English and rude rhetoric, but with the unction of the Spirit, than a polished and gifted speaker whose eloquent sentences are as cold as the breath of our Texas northers. But I admire neither the zealous dunce nor the powerless orator, nor do I regard either as suited to fill the pulpit of the Most High God. "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth," and above, all things be "instant in prayer." Here is found the secret of the success of the fathers of Methodism. They were men of prayer. Look at that young man, unlearned, uncultured, who in the early dawn is on his knees with open Bible, praying, meditating, studying for hours at a time. What wonder that he grew to be Bishop McKendree, the unwearied and glorious leader of the Methodist hosts? When we forsake the method of the fathers we will lose their power.

2. Public Prayer.

Again, it devolves on the ministry to lead the public devotions of the Church. If a pastor is accustomed to close intercourse with God in private, if the spirit of prayer is habitual with him, he will find no difficulty in approaching his Maker in public worship. Then his prayers will be warm with genuine fervor. Otherwise, they will be cold and formal, worthless as prayers, whatever other excellences may characterize them. When a man has felt the burden of the Church upon his heart, and often carried that burden to his Master in his closet, then when he comes to lead his people in worship there is a richness and fullness to the voice of public prayer that lifts the heart of every devout listener nearer to God — so near that he hears the conversation between him and one of his beloved children. This duty of leading public worship demands serious and prayerful consideration. It is a duty which we generally depend upon the spur of the moment to perform, and therefore it is frequently done in a halting and bungling manner, or, worse still, in trite phrases which have long ago lost their meaning. I would not have you study your prayers, but I would insist upon a careful consideration of the spiritual wants of your congregation and giving those wants voice in your approach to God's throne. I do insist, further, that in approaching that dread throne we avoid all obvious faults, all mumbling of meaningless phrases, and try to put our new wants into new words. Mr. Spurgeon makes one suggestion on this

DUTIES OF THE PASTOB. 11

subject to which I wish to call especial attention: " Never compliment a brother by calling on him to lead in prayer."

II. We now come to the second duty peculiar to Christ's chosen ministers. "And the ministry of the word." The Greek expressions translated "of the word" embrace in meaning, as used here and elsewhere in the New Testament, the whole of the gospel — all that system of truth, with that "life and immortality" which Christ brought to light. The word "ministry" shows that we are to become the servants of this doctrine, the ambassadors to declare the truth.

The first duty which devolves upon us, that of prayer, is subjective in its character. It is a duty which rests between us and God, and is intended to make us suitable instruments for his purposes. The second, the ministry of the word, is objective, and is a duty which lies between us and the world. This last is the mighty gospel of the living God which has been committed to us, and we are commanded to declare it to the "uttermost part of the earth." This is our one work as far ias the world is concerned. This ministry is performed in tw r o ways.

1. In pastoral visitation and social intercourse with the people. We are told how Paul preached the word, "both publicly and from house to house." We must imitate him. A greater than Paul instructed the loving Mary in her home in Bethany, and he is our great exemplar. We go into the private circles as the ministers of God, and we ought to let our light shine both in our words and conduct. Brethren, I verily believe we talk too little of Christ and his holy religion in our social intercourse with the world. We are so afraid of casting our pearls before swine that we keep them all to ourselves. We are so afraid of wounding the refined taste of the world, and of having that hateful word "cant" thrown at us, that we run the risk of wounding Him who died for us by neglecting his work.

I know the difficulties that are found at this point, and painfully realize the delicacy of the pastor's mission; yet, my brethren, I insist that both in stated visits to our flock and in our commingling with the world we must ever be on the outlook for opportunities to preach Christ. It is not our mission to amuse and entertain. Though we may forget that we are ministers of the Lord Jesus, be assured that others never do. The levity of the minister in the private circles often nullifies his most earnest words from the pulpit. Don't understand me to recommend that sour and morose countenance which never smiles or that pharisaic dignity that never bends. The presence of Christ's ambassadors should be a benediction to a Christian home. "Kejoice evermore," says Paul, the most energetic and zealous of preachers. Our religion is full of gladness and hope to humanity, and we, its witnesses and apologists, ought to let our lives reflect its nature. But this cheerful simplicity which becomes the preacher is equally removed from the joke-loving clown and sour-visaged ascetic.

Modern advancement and civilization have added much to the equipments and paraphernalia of the pastor. The rapid publication of good books and the cheapness of religious papers increase greatly his power for good if he will utilize them.

DUTIES OF THE PASTOR. 13

2. "The ministry of the word" means preaching. Brethren, it is impossible to overstate the power and importance of this public proclamation of divine truth by servants chosen by the Master himself. "It has pleased God by the foolishness of preaching" to transform the world. u So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." This is God's chief agency in the evangelization of the world. The object of preaching is to propagate the truth of the gospel and to persuade men to accept it. In this connection I must mention some things that I do not regard as in any true sense preaching.

(1) The declamation of <a mere lecture, brilliant though it be with sesthetic gems and laudatory of moral truth, is not preaching. Our mission is not ended when we have uttered things which would equally become a Mohammedan "monloic," a Hindoo "gury," or an Indian " medicine man." What though these things come from a voice silvery as a trumpet's blasts, are conveyed in words of impassioned eloquence, and are accompanied with action worthy of a master of dramatic art? What though people hang enraptured on the speaker's lips? What though our wealthiest congregations vie with one another to obtain his pastoral services? All this may please a man's vanity, but it cannot meet the demands of the gospel upon its faithful ministry. We are to serve the Church, but we are to please the Master.

(2) The propagation of a nmn's own vague speculation is not preaching. You speculate upon who wrote the book of Job, upon the nature and destiny of Satan, or upon the varying degrees among angels, and call it preaching the word. The pulpit is the place to proclaim God's own revealed truth, not to air your own empty phantasies.

(3) It can never be the prime mission to defend the gospel of Christ. We must be "set for the defense of the truth as delivered to the saints," and when occasion serves we must repel all attacks upon it. Bat the gospel carries its own defense with it; it commends itself, when preached in its purity, directly to the intuition of the mass of mankind. It cannot be necessary, therefore, for us to cease our aggressive warfare upon sin and devote our time and abilities to parrying the puny blows aimed by presumptuous men at the immutable truth of God.

The objects of preaching are two: to save sinners, and to build up believers in the knowledge and faith of the gospel.

1. To save sinners.

In preaching to sinners we must present the positive doctrines of our Christianity. The lost state of the sinner, the "old story" of love and redemption, the dread doom of the damned, the glorious reward of the faithful, must be presented clearly and distinctly. These truths from God's word must be accompanied by a positive personal experience of Christ's "power on earth to forgive sins." There must be no sugar-coating, no keeping back of any "of the counsels of God," and yet all must be done kindly and lovingly.