Iowa
History Project
____________________________________
~~~*~~~
______________________
The Iowa Orthodox Quaker Ministry
In his apology for the “Principles and Doctrines of the People called Quakers”, Robert Barclay enumerated the fundamental principles of the Quaker ministry as follows:
As by the light
or gift of God all true knowledge in things spiritual is conceived and
revealed, so by the same, as it is manifested and received in the heart…every
true minister of the gospel is ordained, prepared, and supplied in the work of
the ministry; and by the leading, moving and drawing hereof ought every
evangelist and Christian pastor to be led and ordered in his labour and work of
the gospel; both as to the place where, as to the persons whom, and as to the
time wherein he is to minister. Moreover, they who have this authority may and
ought to preach the gospel, though without human commission or literature; as
on the other hand, they who want the authority of this divine gift, however
learned, or authorized by the commission of men and churches, are to be
esteemed but as deceivers, and not true ministers of the gospel. Also they who
have received this holy and unspotted gift, as they have freely received it, so
are they freely to give it, without hire or bargaining, far less to use it as a
Trade to get money by.(160)
Such was the early
Quaker conception of the ministry, and such it remained to a very large extent
even among the Friends in Iowa until the pastoral system was ushered in with
all of its attendant changes. Then came the gradual transition from a form of
religious service in which all the members of the meeting had equal privileges
and responsibilities, and where the only impelling force to vocal utterance
either minister or people was the direct leadings of the Holy Spirit, to a form
in which the pastor, as the remunerated servant of the congregation, was the
chief spokesman and religious guide on all occasions. At the present time a
strong tendency toward formality in the religious services prevails; when the
given hour arrives the minister ascends the pulpit, a hymn is announced, the
organ or piano begins to play, the choir sings, the scriptures are read, prayer
is offered the sermon prepared for the occasion is delivered, another hymn is
sung, the benediction service which is in strange contrast with the simple,
silent meetings which universally prevailed among the Friends in former days.
That it was not
intended by the Yearly Meeting in Iowa that the introduction of the pastoral
system should thus reduce its meetings for worship to a one-man ministry and a
set routing is made clear by the statement which opened the explanation
accompanying the adoption of the proposed system in 1886: “By a regular
ministry is not meant that a single person should be placed at the head of a
meeting and do all the preaching, nor that there should necessarily be
preaching in every single instance”. But the very conditions which were thus
guarded against now prevail almost universally among the Orthodox Friends in
Iowa. The religious responsibility of the individual member in the congregation
has largely been shifted to the shoulders of the pastor. Under ordinary
circumstances he is expected to preach a sermon both religiously instructive
and intellectually interesting. If the sermon approaches an hour in length,
uneasiness and restlessness is frequently observed. Periods of “waiting
silence”, once so precious to those who deemed reflection and deliberate
thought the best medium for worship, are often periods of embarrassment for
both the congregation and the minister.
It is true that
there are many meetings among the Orthodox Friends in this State where periods
of silent worship are scrupulously observed and where every encouragement is
offered for vocal prayer or testimony on the part of members of the
congregation; but there is now a strong tendency throughout the Yearly Meeting
to sacrifice this, an essential characteristic of the old-time Quaker meeting,
to the growing idea that a religious meeting, to be successful, must be kept
moving, with no long and embarrassing pauses. It has been pointed out that
there is “in the comparatively aggressive attitude we have assumed of late
years…a constant temptation to adopt methods less pure, less severely
disinterested, than those to which we are pledged by all our traditions.”(161) This breaking away from time-honored tenets and customs is one
of the greatest problems which now confronts the Quaker ministry not only in
Iowa, but throughout the entire country.
Since it is the
set policy of the Society of Friends that “Whatever may be the talents or Scriptural
knowledge of any, unless there be a distinct call to the ministry, our Society
cannot acknowledge it; and except there be a sense of the renewed putting forth
and quickening influence of the Holy Spirit, we believe it to be utterly unsafe
to move in this office”,(162) it is of interest to note the manner in which the Friends single
out those who have this divine gift, and who they are recognized as ministers.
“When a member, man or woman, has spoken as a minister…so that the meeting is
edified and spiritually helped thereby,” the ministers, elders, and overseers
of the local Monthly Meeting are to “carefully consider whether he has received
from the Head of the Church a gift in the ministry, which should be officially
recognized.” Once this local body of officers is favorably disposed the matter
is taken up by a committee purposely appointed by the Quarterly Meeting of
which the party concerned is a member, which committee is charged with the duty
of obtaining “information as to the evidence that the person has received
spiritual gifts; as to his manner of life; his doctrinal views; his mental
capacity; and his general qualifications for the ministry.” If the results of
such inquiry prove satisfactory, the Quarterly Meeting returns the request with
its consent to the Monthly Meeting from which it has come, with authority to
“act in the case according to its judgment.”(163)
Such in general
has for many years been the plan of recognizing ministers in the Society of
Friends; but as the result of long prevailing looseness in this important
matter, the Orthodox Friends in Iowa have now proposed that the Yearly Meeting
appoint five of its most responsible members to act as a “Board on Recording
Ministers” to take into its care, in the manner heretofore described, the
examination of all persons proposed for the ministry throughout the Yearly
Meeting. Under this plan it is expected that more careful and thorough
investigation will be made in each case, and thus a higher standard for the
ministry will be maintained. The Yearly Meeting itself, in open session,
becomes the final acting authority; while the persons concerned are to receive
from the hand of the Clerk of the Yearly Meeting itself, in open session,
becomes the final acting authority; while the persons concerned are to receive
from the hand of the Clerk of the Yearly Meeting “a certificate stating the
action of the meeting”.(164)
A second set of
problems which confront the Iowa Friends in this connection are those which
center around the practice of employing a paid ministry. In the light of its
traditions there is but one ground upon which the Society can justify this
practice, namely, the ground of modern economic and social necessity. In former
days the Friends repudiated the idea that men should be remunerated for
preaching the truths of a gospel message which was intended to be as free as
the air. If, however, in the adjustment of things religious to suit the
conditions of present-day society it becomes necessary for a man to devote his
entire time to ministerial duties, it is the modern view that society in turn
should see that such a person be supported, and that without embarrassment, at
his highest point of efficiency.
Until a
generation ago the Society of Friends at large was tenacious in its opposition
to an “hireling ministry”. In the early days most of the Quaker ministers in
Iowa were holders of land which they had acquired by settlement, and they stood
on equal terms with all other members of the community, sharing with them all
of the hardships common to pioneer life. They cleared their fields, harvested
their crops, and gained their livelihood as did their neighbors; and then on
Sunday morning they went to meeting to sit in silence or to speak in an
impromptu manner as the Spirit gave them utterance. This done, the duties of
their station were performed. But such is not the case with the pastoral body
of to-day. With but few exceptions, the pastors among the Friends in Iowa are a
landless class, dependent for their daily bread, at least in a large part, upon
the salary received for their pastoral labors.
That they have
been placed in this condition by modern developments is readily apparent. The
pastor of to-day is not only considered as the mouthpiece of the community on
all religious occasions, but in times of trouble or misfortune he is also
looked to as the natural comforter. When difficulties arise, he is expected to
be the adviser. When nuptial ceremonies are to be performed he is a necessary
guest. When death comes, he is called upon to perform the last rites in honor
of the departed. In all matters of uplift in the community his is the part of a
leader and guide. Under such conditions a minister’s time is entirely taken up
with pastoral duties, leaving him little opportunity to gain a livelihood by
engaging in other pursuits.
In viewing the
Iowa field in 1909 the Meeting on Ministry and Oversight of the Iowa Yearly
Meeting drew up the following statement to the conditions then existing:
Our ministers,
especially our pastors as a whole, have good educational qualifications. They
are thoughtful, industrious and helpful to those under their pastoral care. We
have just grounds, however, of fear that some of our ministers are not as
successful in soul winning, soul feeding, as possibly they might otherwise be.
And what is said of ministers and pastors may in a subordinate sense be said of
the members of our meetings on ministry and oversight.(165)
This is a
clear statement of the present situation; but for the real causes few people are
sufficiently concerned to diligently seek. In the face of an expenditure of
$20,546.69 for the maintenance of a pastoral system during the year 1910-1911,
during that same year the membership of the Iowa Yearly Meeting decreased from
9029 to 8578; and while there were but forty-one members received from other
denominations there were eighty-nine certificates of membership issued to
persons wishing to enter other denominations. Of the seventy-one meetings
reporting to the Iowa Yearly Meeting in 1912, sixty per cent had less than one
hundred members, over eighty-eight per cent fell below tow hundred, while but
one could boast a membership of five hundred persons. Moreover, about
twenty-five per cent of the members of the Iowa Yearly Meeting reside outside of
the State.
A few reasons
for this condition of affairs present themselves. In the first place, strong
leadership is apparently lacking. Twenty-five years ago the Iowa Yearly Meeting
of Friends was guided by such strong leaders as John Henry Douglas, Cyrus
Beede, and Laurie Tatum. To-day, with the exception of one or two persons who
are hampered by adverse conditions, men of this stamp are not forth-coming. In
the second place, the starvation wage upon which the ministers among the
Friends in Iowa are compelled to subsist makes it almost impossible for a man
to enter this field of labor with the fair expectation of raising a family and
maintaining a home in keeping with the average standard of living in the
community.(166) In the
third place, the system of constantly changing pastors is destructive of
permanency along the line of church activity and prevents the carrying out of
far-reaching policies by the ministry. (167) In the fourth place for the large
and permanent investment of their energies. Finally, the almost universal
scarcity of available church funds blocks at every turn the progress which
might otherwise be made by the present ministry.
These are some
of the causes for the stagnant condition of the Iowa Yearly Meeting of Friends;
and these are some of the problems which must be met and solved if in the years
that are to come Quakerism is to hold its own in this state.
160- Barclay’s An Apology for the True Christian Divinity: Being
An Explanation and Vindication of the Principles and Doctrines of the People
Called Quakers (Providence, 1856), p. 271.
161- Stephen’s Quaker Strongholds, pp. 110, 111.
162- The Discipline of the Society of Friends of Iowa Yearly
Meeting, Revision of 1865, p. 54.
163- The Constitution for the Society of Friends in America, with
Supplementary Provisions and Rules of Discipline, adopted by the Iowa
Yearly Meeting in 1902, pp. 57-59.
164- In 1910 the Honey Creek Quarterly Meeting proposed to the Iowa
Yearly Meeting (Orthodox) the new scheme of a “Board on Recording Ministers”.
The question was placed in the hands of the Permanent Board, which reported
favorably in 1912. The Five Years Meeting held at Indianapolis in October,
1912. The Five Years Meeting held at Indianapolis in October, 1912, concurred
in the proposed changes, and the matter of final adoption is now pending. See Minutes
of Yearly Meeting of (Orthodox) Friends, 1910, p. 10.
165- Minutes of Iowa Yearly Meeting of (Orthodox) Friends,
1909, p. 52; 1911, p. 13.
166- The average salary received by forty pastors in regular service
in the Iowa Yearly meeting of (Orthodox) Friends was about $465.00. Excluding
the three pastorates of Des Moines, Oskaloosa, and Minneapolis (Minnesota),
which in 1912 paid $1200, #1425, and $1800 respectively, the average salary of
the other thirty-seven pastors was about $382. See Minutes of Iowa Yearly
Meeting of (Orthodox) Friends, 1912, statistical table.
167- The average pastoral term in the Iowa Yearly Meeting of
(Orthodox) Friends is about two years. In the other Yearly Meetings in this
country the pastoral term ranges from one year, as in North Carolina, to three
or four years, as in Kansas. For a good survey of pastoral conditions among the
Friends in America see an account of the work of the “Commission on the Meeting
and its Pastoral Care” in the Minutes of the Five Years Meeting, 1912,
pp. 78-113.