Editor's Table [pp. 470-480]

THE LADIES' REPOSITORY.
EDITOR'S TABLE.
CALL FROM THE MINISTRY.
AT one of the recent conference sessions,
during the roll-call of the non-effective ministers, at the announcement of one of the
names, a gentleman of some forty years old,
dressed in a gray coat and generally unclerical habit, came forward and quietly stated
his wish to resign his connection with the
body, and to cease to be any longer recognized as a minister of the Gospel. His
manner was quiet and respectful, and he
declared his entire freedom from any dissatisfaction with the Church or with any of its
members, but at the same time he affirmed
that he had fully determined to retire, and
therefore he requested his brethren not to
attempt to dissuade him, but to grant his
request by accepting his parchlments of ordination, and remanding him to the ranks
of the laity. And this, after further conversation, in which ample testimony was
given both as to his unimpeachable Christian
character and of his settled purpose to cease
to be even in name a minister, was granted.
It appeared that he had been for ten or
twelve years an itinerant minister, and menmber of the conference, laboring faithfully
and wAith fair success in his appointed fields,
and that hle had won the good will and esteem of both the ministers of the conference
and the Churches that he had served; but
some three or four years ago his health failed
him, and ever since he had been laid aside
from ministerial labor by nervous debility.
He had also engaged in business, in which
he had been moderately successful, earning
a living. He had also preached occasionally,
and acceptably, and without suffering any
great harm; but his Church work had been
chiefly in the Sunday-school, in which he
was said to be at once earnest and effective.
In short, the whole statement of the case
went to show that lie had become a good
and useful lay member of the Church at the
place where he resided.
This whole affair is provocative of reflections and inquiries. Was the course
of the retiring minister, in determining
to so act, commendable or even justifiable? And did the conference act wisely
and consistently with the sacredness of the
ministerial calling in granting him leave to
so retire, giving him in his exit a Godspeed
as he retired to the status of a layman in
the Church? The notion of a special call
from God as an essential prerequisite to assuming the office of the Christian ministry,
and which when duly made known may not be
disregarded or evaded, is an old Methodist
article of faith,- though not exclusively
Methodistic,-that has not wholly passed
away. The question is not as to the divinity of the call to the ministry, but whether
the call once given is in any case recalled?
One who has taken upon himself that office
may, indeed, become satisfied that hle has
mistaken his calling, in which case his only
wise course is a speedy withdrawal from a
false position. Such a case is, however,
quite apart from that which is here presented, which relates to the terminableness
of a genuine call to the ministry. And if
it is granted that such a calling may be terminated short of death, then what are the
evidences by which the case may be judged?
Certainly they should be as clear and indubitable as were those in favor f the original
calling, and, indeed, even mi e so. Providential circumstances must in both cases lie
accepted as factors in the l,robllem to be
solved; and in the latter not less than in the
former, the inward monitions of the divine
Spirit should be regarded as necessary to the
determination of the case. He would in
deed be a bold man who would aver that
the divine call to the ministry must ini all
possible cases extend over the whole natural
life; anid yet without at all favoring the
fancy of a special character imparted and
received in the act of ecclesiastical ordination, it must be a very clear and decided
conviction of duty that can justify a conscientious Christian in laying aside a function once accepted amoiing such sacred and
impressive conditions.
It must be remembered, too, that the
Church has made provisions for the retention of such physically disqualified persons
among her acknowledged ministers; and
there are many such in nearly all the annual
[Nov.,
470