Southern Baptist Convention Release: A.M.?~, Office of the Press Representative Tuesday, May 13, Mr. Albert McClellan Miami -- 19-52 E'VERYDAY WITNESSING By James N, Morgan (Quotes) Proverbs ll:3Ob; Psalms 126: -6 Acts 20:20-21. ffVJhen the figures were added up at the close of the year 1950 there were 4,156 churches that did not show that they had won a soul to Christ for baptism during the entire twelve months, I'm sure that many of these churches were small and in a rural area. Dr, C, E. Matthews tells me that when the figures were added up at the close of the church fiscal year 1951 there were 4,631 churches that did not show one soul having been won to Christ for baptism, Think of it -- think of it, Oh, how tragic it is, How tragic it is. 16.4% of our churches in the Southern Baptist Cocreation with no soul -- not one -- won to Christ for baptism during 1951. Now we have 28,289 churches in our convention. We have more than 25,000 pastors, There are approximately 25,000 of our total number of churches that have a membership of less than 500, Neuly 2000 with from 500 to a thousand and a little over a thousand churches with a membership of 1000 plus, We have more than 15,000 full-time churches vrith around 12,500 that are either three - quarter time, half-time, OX fourth-time, But I want to throw out a little challenge to all of us. However, I do not feel th,?t I have been called upon to champion this cause, I just want to say it for what it will be worth, Suppose that every pastor in the Southern Baptist Convention would set out to win one soul a month, That ~~louldbe 300,000 won to Jesus in a years time, Ttde have approximately 500,000 Sunday School, workers throughoub OUT Southern Baptist Convention -- approximately 140,451 Training Union workers with approximately 20,000 Brotherhood workers and approximately 100,000 IJ#M.U, leaders and an estimated 200,000 deacons. We have in the neighborhood of one million people holding p1:ces of leadership. If we should lump off half of the number perhaps because there is an over- lapping in the positions, I'm sure we could find 500,000 people through- out our Southern Baptist Convention in places of leadership, Let's suppose thzt they could get on fire to win sould to Christ, Why if they won only one a year --- there s a half million and they won one a month that would be six million, and if they won one a week that would be 26 million souls to Christ. I say to you that we need to get down on our knees and cry out to God for fire in our souls thct would cause us to go 'JJitness Dailyo Remember the Word. "Re that Goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him," James N. Morgan, pastor of the North , Fort \,J(x:th Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Texas, is a native Texan and a graduate of Baylor University and an alumni of Southwestern Seminary, He had the D.D. degree conferred upon him in 1950 by his alma matex, He has been an active Texas pastor since 1935 and served as chairman of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Crusade in Fort IVorth in March of 1951, Southern Baptist Office of the Pk, Albert McClellan ririami -- 1952 THE PASTOR AS COUNSELOR By Gaines S. Dobbins Dr. Gaines S. Dobbins is professor of religious education and church administration at the Southern Baptist Seininary in Louisville, Kentucky. He is a native of blississippi and a graduate of Mississippi Colle&c, Southern Seminary and Columbia University, He is the author of fifteen or more books on religious education, church administration and bible study, IIPastor, we are planning to be married and we want you to perform the ceremony. lie not only want a pretty wedding, we want our marriage to succeed, Will you help us?!] tlPastor, our liiarriage is going on the rocks. E~iaybe we should get a divorce. Will you talk it over with us?a t1Pastor, I'm having in-law trouble. It threatens to wreck my home. What do you think I ought to do about it?ll "Pastor, my husband is drinking heavily. I have scalded and cried and threatened, but nothing seems to do any good. I can't go on this wayc Youtve just @ti,to help met 11 IlPastor, our boy is breaking aur hearts. He's been drinking and now we think he is taking dope. He steals everything he can get his hands on, We are desperate. Isn't there some thing you can do711 "Pastor, our daughter has us worried. She is acting strangely, claims that she hears voices, and thinks she has committed the unpardonable sin. She seems to be unbalanced over religion. What ought we to do?n And so it goes day after day - life for the rnodesn pastor is just one problem after another, This is inescapably true because the lives of his people are beset by difficulties and temptations vhich are beyond their powers to meet. lde confidently proclaim that NChrist is the answer,!] but Christts answer to lifets needs must often be so~~ghtand found through inquiry and sharing, through struggle and prayer, often through repentance and tears. The only way of escape from dealing with such hurnan problem is to be like the Scotsmant s minister, whom he described as being l1six days in the week eenveesible and on the seventh eencompreheensible ,n The Pastor iduktst Be A Counselor ItIuch is being said today about pastoral counseling, of ten giving the im- pression that it is something new. As a alatter of fact, counseling is the original pastoral function, The prophets and shepherds of Israel were counse- lors of their people, witness the rnxistry of such men as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, rilicah, Hosea, on to Malachi at the end of the list. Isaiah described the coming iicssiah as one upon whose shoulders would rest responsi- bility for the people, whose name would be called IWond~rful, Counselor, liIighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peacell (Isaiah 9:6). ljhcn our Lord came he fulfilled perfectly the function of Counselor. Those wholii he appointed to be his ministers were not only trained to be preachers and teachers but also to be skilled and successful counselors, Aside from Christ, the greatest counselor of a11 was his interpreter, Paul. The high peaks of Christian history were reached when men of God were wise and spirit-led counselors of the people. Today the imperative call is for pastors who are skilled and effective counselors, The question is not whether the pastor will or will not be a counselor, The question is whether he will be skilled or unskilled, a master of the art or a bungler, a helper or a hinderer as he deals with people and their problems. If the minister complains that this type of service takes too mch of his time, the answer is twofold: first, there is no other way in which he can spend his time to batter advantage; second, he must train others to help him in this task just as he must in other phases of the mrk of the church, (more) Address - Gaincs S. ins IlT1-lc r';:;.!r,r '1; C0l.lfi3~ 101"lt As in any other difficult art, the burden is lightened and, may bconie a joy with the achievement of a high order of ability. If the oJdes ninister shies away, saying I1You can't teach an old dog new tricks,ll the obvious reply is that the minister is not a dog but an intelli~entservant of Christ, and counseling is not a trick bt is a basic pastoral function. The simple fact is that no man can be good pastor who is not a skilled couns=ilor. The very call to the Chris- tian ministry is a call to compassionate: concern for people and their problems, a concern that must express itself in the intelligent effort to help them solve their problems. The Counselor Needs More Than Good Intentions A pastor, after having listened to a hcart-rcnding story of family troubles, said in effect: "1 am deeply sorry for you. I advise you to pray constantly, to read your Bible every dayS and attend the preaching and prayer services re- gularly. ITrust in the Lord, and wait patiently for him; cease from angern and forsake wrath: fret not thysclf, it tendeth only to cvil doinget Let us prayrll Cartainly this was good as far as it went, but did it go for enough? The minis- tcr might rrell have turned to these words of wisdom from the practical Jms: IltJho is wisc and understanding among you? Let him show by his good life his works in ine~knessof wisdom. But if ye have bitter jealousy and faction in your heart, glory not and lie not against the truth.,.for where jealousy and faction are, there is confusion and every vile deed. But the wisdom that is from above is first purc, then peaceable, gentle, eesy to bc entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, mithout variance, without hypocrisy, And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for tlicrn that make peacell ( Jcms 3: 13-10) . Good intentions arc not a substitute for the employment of our best inklli- gence, nor for an understanding of the sources of human conflict, nor for an evaluation of human motives.