03.05. V. Administering A Church Service

V ADMINISTERING A CHURCH SERVICE FOR some years it has seemed increasingly clear that I should give to the students of my own schools the Northwesterns, and such other schools as may choose to use the volume, the benefit of my long experience in dealing with the problems of the pastoral office.

There are not a few of these, as each Pastor finds; and to solve them correctly spells success, while an unsuccessful endeavor spells failure. Students will readily comprehend our anxiety for the most eminent success possible to their talents.

I speak, then, on ADMINISTERING A CHURCH SERVICE. There are certain essentials here that must be regarded: THE APPOINTMENTS

Pre-arrange the physical comfort of the congregations.—Many country churches have not salaried sextons. The work will devolve either upon some kindly member who volunteers to clean, warm and care for the church room, or it may possibly fall upon the pastor himself to perform that function. Henry Ward Beecher was both sexton and pastor of his first charge. Whether this duty is assigned to another or must be discharged by you, see to it that the House is ready for the assembly. The fires should be started before the congregation has come in, not after. On one occasion in Kentucky, I rode twenty miles on a bitter morning, my horse breaking through the ice of a small river, wetting me to the skin, and I found no fire in the building on arrival at the service hour.

Certainly fires should be built, the sweeping, if such is to occur, should be over and the dust settled and mopped, in advance of assembly. I have seen many a service badly disturbed by coal-carrying, wood-delivery, sweeping and mopping after the people were in their seats. It is a poor preparation for a profitable service.

Plan for the smooth participation of the people in the service.—Too often the part of the congregation in the service is minimized and the essentials to their eager share in the service are neglected. For instance, in a house where chairs not pews, are used, I have seen the service open with the chairs in disorder. Every new arrival, by the time he got his chair placed and himself comfortably seated in the same, had disturbed a considerable section.

Again, I have seen congregations gather, even in the Northwestern Bible and Missionary Training School room, where the number of chairs was limited, and the early arrivals promptly appropriate the back seats, and all late comers—stragglers—had to make their way to the front seats, much to their confusion, and, if visitors and strangers, to their deep embarrassment. Congregations can be trained by a little careful attention and suggestion to keep these things in mind and thereby contribute to a smooth and successful opening service.

Above all, have pianist and hymn books in place.— Many meetings are injured, in their opening, by the late arrival of the pianist, or the fact that none had been provided, and one must be persuaded to conquer her shyness, and after much coaxing come forth with great deliberation! When she reaches the piano stool, she adjusts her skirts and then looks bewilderingly around for a hymn book. Some boy, in the back of the room, finally volunteers to bring her one, by which time the congregation is far more ready to laugh than to worship. I am positive that I am not exaggerating when I say that half the time in country and village churches at least, the hymn books are distributed after the first song has reached its center, or the introductory service its middle. All of these things should be taken care of in advance. The physical comforts completed, we come to THE PREPARATION on the part of the pastor himself. There are three suggestions that are absolute.

Go from prayer to the pulpit.—There are churches where the deacons meet with the pastor for prayer previous to the morning service, and a few where they meet with him for prayer previous to each service. It is an eminently desirable custom and should be encouraged. But if possible have that meeting conclude at least five, or better, ten minutes before preaching time. The very best equipment for preaching is a private waiting before the Lord when there is no one else in the room save you and Him, and when your deepest secrets can be laid before Him and your crying desires can be poured into His ears. To preach without preceding the same by private prayer is to appear before the people without an assurance of the Spirit’s presence, and “apart from Him we can do nothing.”

Appear in the pulpit promptly.—Many times have we been in a service where the preacher would not get to the front door for five minutes, or even ten minutes, after the announced time for opening, and we have seen him, even then, go the rounds of friendly greeting and chat as comfortably, as though this time did not belong to God and to the congregation that had been called together. Only the most urgent business, that could be dispensed with a word, should be placed before any preacher between his study and his pulpit.

Many people will be lying in wait for you and will be saying, “Pastor, just a minute!” to which it will be sufficient to answer smilingly, “Pardon me; I am on my way to the pulpit; it is service time now” and after a courteous word, pass on. Dallying with the hour of opening is indefensible. Have a complete program in hand.—It is almost an unpardonable sin to enter the pulpit and sit down and commence hunting a suitable passage for the morning lesson, or turning the leaves of a hymn book in search of a hymn to be announced. That should not only be in hand, but perfectly in hand.

You will pardon an illustration that I trust will be effective and not forgotten. Recently I was thinking on this lecture, and especially revolving in my mind the emphasis I should place on this point. I arrived in a St. Paul pulpit while contemplating this very discussion. I was going to preach on “The Last Night on Earth.” I had not taken the precaution to look up the Scriptures that constitute the parable of the Rich Fool. Having preached from that text doubtless a hundred times, it never occurred to me that I could not open my Bible to the same at will, but when I rose to read the lesson my memory slipped me and I turned to Matthew 12:1-50. Not finding it, I became a little confused and looked it over again carefully to find that the text was not in it. Fortunately I had been thinking on this very point, and so told the audience that my embarrassment was a valuable illustration as I was getting ready a talk to the students of the Northwestern in which I was laying it down as the law of the Medes and Persians “that changeth not,” that the preacher when he entered the pulpit must have every hymn marked and ready, and a mark in his Bible at the place for his Scripture lesson, lest his memory fail him and confusion result. The joke was enjoyed and the point I am making was decidedly emphasized. A preacher’s confusion, an audience’s amusement—these do not contribute to the success of a service. Have the complete program in hand and be able to pass from one point of the same to another without a hitch or even hesitation. THE PROCEDURE On entering the pulpit start the service.—Don’t drag yourself into the pulpit; go in with brisk step. Let the people believe that you are alive and alert. You may be tired on arrival, having come by a long journey or from other services that were exhausting. Be careful not to communicate that fact to the audience. Summon your remaining strength, lift up your chin; be alert! In hunting, I have seen the bird dogs so absolutely exhausted with their long hot runs that they seemed almost unable to keep up with the procession, dragging along behind the hunters with dripping skin and lolling tongues, when suddenly the air conveyed to their nostrils the scent of prey—a flock of prairie chickens just to the right of the road, and instantly the mouth closed, the head was up, the motion was vigorous and as they went into the action of “a point,” you would imagine that those dogs were fresh from the kennel, so alert were they! The pulpit is the preacher’s place of “point”! His game is there, and if it is to be taken for Christ his Master, he himself must be alive and active in that endeavor.

Keep the service going constantly.—We have already emphasized having the program in hand, but that is not enough. Proceed with it from point to point, and that without hesitation. Such continuous interest requires and even demand, adequate preparation, but it must move forward. The wife of a railroad president told me that she was driving with some friends. The gentleman at the wheel, not being certain of his bearings, stopped at the corner and hailing a man there asked the way to a certain place. The man answered, “Let me see,” whereupon the man at the wheel said, “Well, if you don’t know; don’t tell me!”

There are a great many people in the world who sympathize with that sentiment. Whenever directions are asked and people giving them hesitate, don’t take them, when given. There are some subjects on which to hesitate is to be lost. The man in the pulpit is there as a director of the congregation, and if he hesitates at any point the people lose confidence and consequent interest.

Finally, end the sermon unexpectedly.—Too many men give the first point, second point, third point, fifth point, and then last point. After dwelling for some time on the last point, they say, “Now, in conclusion” so and so. Then after a few minutes more they add, “Finally, my brethren.” “And, now to end with this further word.” This is altogether too extended a process of termination. Even the swiftly moving trains will blow their whistles but three times before stopping; but I have heard preachers blow theirs half a dozen times, indicating a stop, and were yet going on. The small boy sat in the gallery and watched the preacher read a carefully written sermon. One page was laid aside after another until thirty or forty of them had been piled to the left. The youngster had watched the pile to the right decrease and had hoped and prayed for the final success of the one to the left.

When, therefore, the last leaf was carefully laid to the left, the minister lifted his face and said, “And so, my brethren, on this wonderful theme I could go on and on.” It was too much for the impatient boy, and he shouted down, “No, you couldn’t; you are out of stuff and you know it.” The impression on the part of the audience that one is out of stuff, that he has exhausted himself rather than his subject, is not desirable. The finest place to quit is at the climax of interest. An illustration that grips and lifts the people, that holds them spell-bound, with a word of application and an unexpected termination, leaves an audience alert of mind, moved in heart, ready to act. Such should be the effect of every sermon.

Then what? Some would say,—“Sing a song and pronounce the benediction”; but we dissent. The theme and purpose of a sermon will determine in large measure what should follow its delivery. If it is a sermon intended to raise mission money or funds for other purposes,—collection; if it is a sermon intended to bring Christian people to action along a definite line,—possibly a consecration service, taking the form of testimonies involving promises, or of coming to the front as a pledge of consecration to the ends sought. But, if an evangelistic sermon, then—

PULL THE NET For we should be “fishers of men.” In a recent ministers’ meeting, where many young pastors were present, the answer to no question put by them was received so eagerly as the answer to the question, “How shall we conduct an after-meeting?”

There are three essentials that we mention in this matter: Be certain you have created an atmosphere of decision.—A sermon that does not have as its objective, decision for Christ, can hardly be followed with a successful soul-winning after-meeting. A sermon that is not delivered under the power of the Spirit can hardly produce favorable circumstances.

We heard a man once read a sermon on “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” and while it was evangelical in sentiment, his slavery to the written page and his utter lack of animation made improbable any response, or even interest. The reason many ministers cannot conduct a successful after-meeting is that they do not present a fervent, evangelistic appeal. In the invitation, express expectation.—I have been in many after-meetings where the minister would timidly say, “Now is there one in this House who has decided, or will decide, for Christ? If there is one, let him lift his hand, or stand.” The minister’s tone and also his manner of speech indicated no expectation, and his use of the word “one” revealed the fact that that was the utmost of his hopes. It is a phrase that should never be employed.

Instead, a better form would be, “How many are there here who have settled this question once and forever, who truly love the Lord, who have accepted Him as Savior from sin, and who are not ashamed to openly confess Him, nor afraid; will you rise together?”

We have found that the quotations of texts in this connection are tremendously effective. Such as “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2); “Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Romans 9:33); “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32); “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7); “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).

These are more than encouraging passages; they are enlightening also, and bring to the hesitating mind the clearer conception of the importance of the step, and the assurance of acceptance.

Variety should, however, characterize the after-meeting program.—When one preaches in the same pulpit every Sunday, it is not at all wise to give the same invitation, in the same form, over and over again. You can vary it. At times, a show of hands; at other times, rising; at still others, coming forward to the front seat; sometimes combining all three in the same after-meeting. We have found also that it is extremely helpful, before asking for any show of hands or response of any sort from the unsaved or the un-churched, to exact something of the church members present:

“Will all the members of the local church stand”; and then follow with having Christians from other churches who may be visitors, rise with them; then, possibly asking all those who are residents in the vicinity, but who have not brought their letters to the church of the new home location, to rise; and lastly, those who have never made a public profession but who now desire to record themselves with God’s own, etc. In a protracted meeting it is quite advisable and effective to require the Christians to come forward and mass themselves at the front of the House at some time in the early part of the campaign, once or twice, in order to end the stiffness and formality that will hold an audience bound until the spell is broken. The answer to the question when one should begin to call for decisions, depends entirely upon church conditions. If the church has a warm, evangelical atmosphere all the time, you can begin early in the campaign; if on the other hand it is cold and formal and spiritually dead, Billy Sunday’s method of preaching to the Christians for a week or two to get them thawed out, interested and active, before making any appeal to the unsaved, was an evidence of Sunday’s wisdom.

Two remarks let us make in conclusion: First, the preparation and appointment of personal workers, who move through the audience and quietly talk with interested men and women, boys and girls, is absolutely essential. Second, do not make too easy the expression of interest. A hand at half-mast may suffice to ease the conscience of a convicted sinner and still leave him unsurrendered and unsaved. Be exacting; if the lifting of the hand is used at all, insist that it go clear up. Better yet is rising, for it carries a more definite committal. Far better than either is the demand that those who truly love the Lord, walk the aisle to the front seat in proof of the same.

Personal workers should always be ready to meet all such, attend them, teach and pray with them, until they are in the perfect light, and are ready for church membership.

One may ask, “How often should we hold after-meetings?” Circumstances must determine in this matter. It has been our lifelong practice to conclude every sermon, that was not specifically directed to another objective, with an opportunity for decision for Christ and public profession of Faith. In an evangelical and living church, decisions should be as in the First Church of Jerusalem,—“day by day.”

OUTLINE OF CHAPTER FIVE ADVERTISING A CHURCH SERVICE I. THE APPOINTMENTS a.Prearrange the physical comfort of the congregation. b.Plan for the smooth participation of the people. c.Have pianist and hymn books in place.

II. THE PREPARATION a.Go from prayer to pulpit. b.Appear in the pulpit promptly. c.Have a complete program in hand.

III. THE PROCEDURE a.On entering the pulpit start service. b.Keep the service going constantly. c.End the sermon unexpectedly.

IV. PULL THE NET a.Be certain you have created an atmosphere of decision. b.In the invitation, express expectation. c.Variety should characterize the after-meeting program.