OVERSEER COURSE LESSON SIXTY-ONE

LAY PREACHING

Introduction to lay preaching

Henry Epps
founder

HARVEST LIFE
GLOBAL NETWORK
Overseer Course Lesson 61
 Lesson Sixty-One
Introduction to lay preaching

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By the Committee of the Evangelical Lay Preachers' Association

The Decay of Lay Preaching in the Churches, and How to Effect a Revival
A LACK of live Lay Preachers and a plenitude of Pastors without preaching power. The Churches
are continually chafing under this crying complaint.
A Blunt Statement of Fact
will do no harm to God-sent ministers of the Gospel, and a little plain speaking from the Lay
Preacher's point of view may serve to stimulate a cause which needs championing as surely as did
the cause of Missionary enterprise by William Carey and Andrew Fuller, the cause of Methodism
by John Wesley and George Whitefield, or the cause of Congregationalism by Henry Barrowe,
John Greenwood and John Penry. The profusion of ecclesiastical failures is fast becoming as
marked a feature in present-day religion as it was in pre-reformation times, when useless friar,
monk and priest formed in some neighbourhoods a large item in the population.
Pastorates, and other paid offices in the Churches are eagerly sought after. The supply from the
colleges must of necessity be constant, and the standard of excellence being raised high by the
Churches, as of course it should be, it is no wonder that so many young men starting out with high
ambitions are stranded among ecclesiastical icebergs.
The supply goes on while still
The Great Minister Manufactories

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are engaged in pouring into the Churches highly educated men itching to exhibit their abilities
before cultured audiences. Many college professors possess but little power in preaching, and
surely if book-learning makes the successful preacher they of all others should be successful. It is
patent to all but those bound by the spells of the great ministerial unions, that in very many cases
the colleges turn out "book-full blockheads "more than earnest soul-savers, and that with very
many well-meaning young men learning has proved a means of hindrance rather than a help, and
what has been acquired at the academy has been found useless for the pulpit. We believe the true
place for culture is where G. E. Morgan, M.A. places it (see Chapter VII. of this book). We would
not sneer at it nor could we do without it, but the preaching of the Cross of Jesus Christ is a quantity
quite apart from it, for the gift of true preaching is often found in men who possess little of such
culture (see Henry Thorne, Chapter XVIII). Here are passages from leading ministers which prove
that there is general dissatisfaction with regard to the ministry, and the means of filling it.
A leading Congregational minister declares:—"Often young men of distinct natural piety are
anxious to become ministers, wishing to give up everything for the sake of Christ, as they say, who
are the last men who should be encouraged in any such ambition. Now a proportion of these young
men do get into the ministry, and it may be safely said that they are
"Fore-Ordained to Failure.
"The pity is that they compromise themselves, go too far to turn back easily before they or their
friends know whether they have any preaching gift or not. I am not now blaming the young men.
'If a man seeketh the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.' Nor am I blaming the college
committees that lacked knowledge or heart to reject such young men.
"I Blame the Entire System From Beginning to End.
"It is only by the overruling mercy of God that we have so large a proportion of able and devoted
men in our ranks.... The solution of the difficulty is to amply and adequately test our men before
permitting them to think of entering the regular ministry. That of course, necessitates
"The Resuscitation of Lay Preaching.
..."Our aggressive movements in towns, our evangelization of the villages, as well as the internal
work of our churches generally, are all suffering through the decay of lay preaching amongst us.
"There is no difficulty when an adequate corps of Lay Preachers is organized by a church, or group
of churches, to find men of prominent ministerial gifts, having the capacity of interesting
congregations, sympathy with men's lives, and a tender anxiety for their spiritual welfare. These
are the men who by natural pre-eminence are called to the public ministry, provided that in other
respects there is no barrier... The question of the ministry has sometimes been put as a question
between trained and untrained men. What is really required is efficient men.
"The Man Who Lacks Academical Training May Be Efficient;
the man who has enjoyed the highest collegiate advantages may be inefficient. I do not see myself
why an educated minister who has cost the denomination, say, £500 for his training, but who lacks

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pulpit power and pastoral aptitudes, should be regarded with so much more complacency than an
equally inefficient man who has cost the denomination nothing."
A leading Baptist minister says:—"The popular clamour for what is called 'an educated ministry'
DOES NOT CARRY WITH IT MY ENTIRE APPROVAL. I need not stop to say, of course, I am
not pleading for an uneducated ministry. Bat education in the technical sense—much or medium—
so far as the happiness and abiding success of a man in the ministry are concerned, these are matters
which in connection with any ordinary pastorate are of as much higher importance as the heavens
are higher than the earth. And I respectfully ask you to note, these are
"Matters of Which College Professors and College Committees—Till the Die Is Cast—Can Know
Next to Nothing.
"There is a young man who wishes to enter the ministry. Apart from not ignoring his intellectual
qualifications, is it not right and reasonable, before we encourage him to go forward, that we should
be resolved on some such points as these: Are his motives quite pure? Has he given unmistakable
evidence of a genuine enthusiasm for the work? Is it a case of 'Woe is me, if I preach not the
Gospel'? Or have we reason to fear, in any individual case, that the chances of a 'rise' in the social
scale are not without their attractions for him? Then again, there is what has come to be called 'the
enthusiasm of humanity.'" (Cant phrase!—Committee, E.L.P.A.) "Is it not wise to ask, Has he got
it? And has he got it 'badly'? In the language of an older day, is he a passionate lover of souls?" (If
this language is becoming obsolete in the churches, it is time we had another Whitefield to kill the
craze for high-sounding religious expressions, and re-instate old-fashioned Scriptural talk!—
Committee, E.L.P.A.) "And yet once again, does he in some degree, at least, understand life and
men?... These are
"Things Our Colleges, with All Their Devotion and Learning, Are Impotent to Impart;
and yet is it not along such lines that most ministerial failures come? And with them many a sorry
sight, best not spoken of here. Do the churches sufficiently realize the pathetic gravity of these
words—
" 'A Ministerial Failure'?
"I know that in every trade and calling in life a man—speaking roughly—has to take his chance;
but if, from whatever cause, the chance has gone against him, I know no man who is reduced to a
more forlorn condition than is a really unsuccessful Christian minister. Those who have seen or
only have heard of more than one brave life which might have done valiant service for the Master
in other directions, brought by failure to a premature close, should be reasonably well sure of their
ground before they encourage any young man to abandon his secular calling for the Christian
ministry."
A leading Wesleyan minister writes—"We are disposed to think that
"The Methodist Pulpit Is Suffering
more from lack of originality, of force and enthusiasm, than from lack of education. It must be
confessed that fervour is not an outstanding feature in Methodist preaching to-day. 'Coolness of

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intellectual survey,' says The Sword and the Trowel, 'seems now the Methodistic ideal—formerly
it was fire.' There is only too much truth in this criticism. The ministers are largely responsible for
the change, but the new fashion has certainly affected local preachers also. Sermon-reading is
spreading on every hand, and as it spreads congregations decrease, and as congregations decrease
all kinds of more or less sanctified 'dodges' are resorted to. If it be possible let us have more
training, but by all means let us have more fire—the baptism of fire."
In other branches of the Christian Church the cry is just the same, and we feel sure that
The Cause of Much of the Mischief Is Found in the College System.
We cannot do without our "schools of the prophets," but surely some better means can be devised
for training the men who, to the exclusion of the secular calling, give their whole attention to the
ministry of the Word! Whilst training, could not "the blood and the fire," more than the acquisition
of book knowledge, be made the dominating influence?
It is not now our province to touch this matter as deeply as we should like, but as it directly leads
up to the subject of an
Unpaid Ministry,
which is to supplement, not oppose, the paid ministry, we need not apologise for any
outspokenness.
Those of us who have prayed and worked side by side with earnest young men, and who have with
them delighted in winning souls for Christ; have seen them enter college, have watched their
career, and with pain have noted
The Collegian's Metamorphosis:
have seen the once earnest man become proper, soft-felt-hatted, ultra-dignified and important,
equipped with fine sentences, manuscript, and the latest theology—can well afford to be indignant
at such a Juggernaut soul-crusher as the ministerial college often proves to be. The world is not to
be won for Jesus Christ by superfine cream-laid discourses. The gentleman who took the egg-
whisk, nap-brush, butter cooler, &c., to the starving poor when engaged in aristocratic
philanthropy, was not more mistaken than the man who thinks literature and philosophy will bless
the souls of unsaved people.
The End of True Preaching
is the "signs and wonders following." Those who have worked in an after-meeting, have heard the
cries of seekers after God, have-mixed their tears with those of the penitents, know what we mean
when we speak of a soul-saving criterion in preaching. Soul-saving preaching in the power of the
Holy Ghost—that is the kind of preaching which needs reviving! Some pastors excuse their
Want of Success in Soul-Saving
by declaring that they have not the gift for evangelistic work. The man who closets himself all the
week with his books, by that very habit disqualifies himself as preacher; and he who is nothing but

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a body of divinity, a censor of religious opinions, or a storehouse for new-made scientific gospels,
may perhaps adorn the academy, but he should have no place in the Christian pulpit. A minister of
the Gospel, above everything else, should have an insatiable hunger for souls, and the reason why
so many churches are cumbering the ground is because conversions are never sought;
consequently, any additions must always be made, not from the world, but from the new arrivals
in the neighbourhood, or from the perverts of other churches. There is little need for new churches
that are to be built up of proselytes; but for churches that shall win their members from the unsaved
world, there is not only plenty of room, but for such there is an imperative demand. The whole
force of experience shows that those who place soul-salvation above all other considerations are
the purest, the strongest, the happiest, and the most united of churches. It is impossible, therefore,
to escape the line of argument we are now pursuing, and the inevitable consequence of a level-
headed consideration of the evils of the system we are criticising cannot fail to be other than a
reconstruction of the means of educating our pastors and preachers.
Students Preparing for Leadership in the Christian Church Should by Their Education First Be
Inspired to Yearn More Fully After Souls—The Study of Books Should Be a Secondary Matter
It follows, therefore, that students should spend more of their college course upon the former which
is essential, than upon the latter which is optional. Education in matters directly touching soul-
salvation should command more of the students' time than education in mere book knowledge.
First should come the training in spiritual matters, then the literary training should follow. Were
this the order of things, only a small percentage of students might perhaps become "learned men,"
but a far higher percentage would become "great soul-savers." The very reverse of this order is
practised in almost every theological college, and everywhere there is a zeal for culture of intellect,
while the zeal for souls is quite overlooked.
As medical students walk the hospitals; as legal students spend the greater portion of their day in
law office and law court; as accountants' students spend most of their time among account books
and figures in the office of flourishing merchant or liquidating company; as apprentices work at
the board, use the hammer and the lathe, and train themselves by giving most of their energies to
their trade; so should ministerial students—pastoral apprentices—spend the most part of every day
in working upon that profession, that cure of souls, which is to be their life work.
College Students Should Spend Most of Their Time in Practising Upon the Souls of Men
They should be set to work in the slums; as often as possible they should preach to open-air
congregations (open-air work is to a large extent eschewed by present-day college students); they
should organize religious movements for reaching the lost; should visit lodging-houses,
workhouses, and prisons; should go in all directions stirring up enthusiasm for Jesus Christ; should
solace the sick, and take every opportunity of visiting the dying; should attend at the graveside,
and take the Gospel wherever impression is likely to be made; should not despise colportage, tract
distribution, and conversational dealing—in fact, every method of spreading the Gospel in a vital
manner should be practised daily by the students. Let them meet together early every morning for
one hour's rousing prayer, followed by one hour's Bible study; then let the students tell their
experience of the previous day for the encouragement of each other; let bright songs of Zion be

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interspersed. Next, for two hours, such handbooks of living Christianity should be studied as would
best equip the workers; then a short time might be given to the study of our own language, with
the addition of New Testament Greek, but the dusty heathen classics, if admitted, should occupy
a strictly subordinate position. After a hearty meal, the students should spend the rest of the day in
earnest work for Jesus Christ. Thousands of houses in every part of London might be visited in the
course of a year, handbills might be distributed helping some cause the churches have in hand, and
words of love from a pardoning Jesus should always be spoken. The students might themselves
take in hand theatre and music-hall services, might turn public-houses into mission-rooms, might
translate dust-begrimed empty churches into happy, flourishing centres of Gospel light.
This sounds like an ecclesiastical Utopia rising out of a layman's dream,
But Can the Suggested System Be Tried?
Run your mind through the list of London and country colleges—would they ever try it? There
would have to be some stooping, should they ever be induced to bend their ponderous scholastic
proportions. The seats of learning would be indignant at ever being asked to consider such a
scheme. The system proposed runs full tilt against what the Scriptures term "the flesh," and as in
the Saviour's time most of the opposition to "the Spirit" came from the schools, and as in
Reformation times the war was nearly always with the school-men, so to-day, if any revolution
that is to touch the training of our religious leaders is to be accomplished, it must come despite the
colleges.
The Remedy for the Existing State of Things Is, We Feel Sure, to Be Found in the Establishment
of a Lay College,
at which men can be educated for church leadership along the lines proposed. Let us return to
Apostolic Methods, and we shall mould Apostolic Characters. Let the churches educate their
leaders in the way we suggest, and the finest pastors and preachers will be the consequence. Men,
they will be, who have been tried by fire; who have been persecuted, and have worked against
violent opposition; who know and feel Gospel power, and have in fighting "resisted unto blood."
They will not be intellectual or theological ninnies who tweedledum over velvet cushion, deftly
turning the product of nearly six days' toil—the paper of poetic, classic and religious allusions
often called a sermon.
Let the students have, before anything else,
A Thorough Grounding in Practical Gospelizing,
and the men produced will be greatly superior to any equipped under the present system. When
brain-fag is lessened, the minds of the students will turn with pleasure from physical exertions for
Christ to mental exertions for Him, and so a glorious blending of the practical and theoretical will
be the result of each day's work.
The curriculum finished (it need not be of longer duration than twelve months), and
The Men Will Not Be So Proud of Their Learning That They Cannot, if Necessary, Return to Their
Business Callings Again.

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In fact, a part of the work of the college should be to assist many of the students to settle in some
part of the world where they can continue a secular calling while acting as religious leaders.
Given first of all a Christ-like life, evangelical enthusiasm and an aptitude to lead and teach, and a
year's training would fit many "sons of the people" (we might suggest—with the "John Burns"
type of genius, fully sanctified) to shepherd the hundreds of our churches expiring for want of
pastoral care, yet too poor to pay a college-fitted minister.
Many of our great politicians are business men, and they never find business interferes with
political earnestness and constant devotion to a national cause. They never take payment for their
political services, and spend a part of almost every day in many weeks of the year in the Houses
of Parliament and among their constituents.
What an M.P. Does for Politics, Much More Should a Preacher Do for Christ
A poor church calls a layman trained at the lay-college. Let him take into account, in
Considering the Call,
the likelihood of his being able to earn his bread in the neighbourhood of the inviting church, then
in accepting the call he would in faith "throw himself upon God." Going forth "in faith," the Lord
would never allow that man to want. Let him minister to the poor people, and their love for him
would never mean an empty larder. In "settling down" in a small village, the central association
might give him assistance, and with his trust in God and his willingness to work with his hands,
the man who goes out in the name of Christ would more surely succeed in his work than ever a
minister with £1,000 per annum salary paid by a large secularized church. In Germany, students,
hungry for knowledge, tramp the country earning their Bread as they go; the lay evangelist or
pastor called to an impoverished sphere does not risk more in going than do these German students.
Thousands of men emigrate to foreign countries every year with no certain income when they land
on the distant shore. The lay pastor or preacher would do no more than they in
Giving up a Certain Employment for an Uncertain One,
but his object, that of spreading the Gospel, opens up to men desiring a life given up solely to
Christ's service a far nobler means of consecration than that of entering a ministerial college and
giving up the secular calling. Missionaries (especially of the China Inland Mission) mostly go forth
to what might seem to the world an uncertainty, and all the Reformers went forth in the same way.
To be thrown on one's own resources often throws us upon the resources of God.
This System Would Encourage Faith
in God, humility of spirit, intensity of purpose, independency of speech, devotion to the people,
fearlessness of opposition, freedom from caste and clericalism, and a thoroughly unhampered and
forceful mode of life. The world might then say: "See how these Gospel ministers practice what
they preach." Not: "See how these parsons enjoy themselves in their fine houses and with their
comfortable incomes."

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Lay preaching could also be revived not only by bestowing pastorates upon capable laymen, but
by making
Provision in the Ordinary Sunday Services of Every Church for Laymen to Take a Part
Why should this not be? Surely, without falling into any of the errors of the Plymouth Brethren,
competent Lay Preachers might with effect be allowed to "speak by two or three." Why should
one man monopolize all the service? The pastor, acting as conductor, might use his discretion as
to the order; and trained men, having qualified themselves by courses of practical and theoretical
evangelizing in connection with the lay college, might share the exercises. The courses would
probably have been passed through during spare time in the younger years of the men, and would
not necessarily have been similar twelve months' special courses, which it is hoped would fit lay
pastors for their spheres.
"Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are diversities of ministrations,
and the same Lord. And there are diversities of workings, but the same God, who worketh all in
all. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal. For to one is given
through the Spirit the word of wisdom; and to another the word of knowledge, according to the
same Spirit; to another faith, in the same Spirit.... The one and the same Spirit, dividing to each
one severally as he will." (1 Corinthians 12:4-11.) There can be little doubt that more than one
man ministered to an Apostolic Church every time it met, and the return

THE LAY PREACHER IN PISIDIA, A.D. 45.

by the churches of to-day to this plan would be immensely beneficial. Interest would be aroused
by the church utilizing more fully the different "members of the body."
The old-time Jewish synagogue furnishes an example of
The Mixed Ministry
The disciples "went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down. And after the reading
of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Brethren, if ye have
any word of exhortation for the people, say on. And Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand
said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, hearken." (Acts 13:14-16.)
There are lay pastors working to-day throughout the country, but many of them are isolated and
considered "speckled birds" by the theological academician.
The Lay Ministry Needs Organizing and Uniting,

and this cannot be done except by the laymen themselves. Many of our present pastors have not
the desire to encourage lay preaching, covertly believing in an academical monopoly; but many
there are, and among them the ministerial contributors to this volume, who earnestly wish to assist

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us by giving advice drawn from their own valuable experiences, and in other practical ways. Their
prayer is:
"Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon
them! "but our pastors can do little beyond helping us "in the spirit." The atmosphere in which
some of them have been brought up, has its effect upon them to-day; the air of the schools has
entered into their blood, and their constitutions can never be entirely freed from that influence. The
result is that out-and-out sympathy with lay preaching cannot be expected until it has more to
commend itself to their notice than it possesses at present. The paid ministry has more intellect
than "fire", the lay ministry has more "fire" than intellect—better the latter than the former, but
when the Lay Preacher is properly trained at the Lay College, then will be the time when he can
more fittingly command the respect due to his office.
The Term "Lay Preacher"
may perhaps be taken exception to, as a priest-applied term, intended by the parson to signify an
order of aspirants for pulpit honours—a class of "would-be's"; but it is in this volume used with
no invidious sense—it is the only substantive we can find which conveys anything like a true idea.
We wish the syllable "Lay" to express our intention to work in the churches and not altogether
outside them, as is done by many classes of preachers (in fact the churches offer so few
inducements to preachers, that their best field is outside—numbers of our most earnest men find
scope in the Salvation Army or in the splendidly consecrated societies represented by many of the
writers in this volume). We do not like the term "Local Preacher"—it is colourless; and, looking
at the preferred term, we see nothing to prevent its continuance amongst us. "Lay" is generally
used to signify the reverse of "Clerical," and that is what we understand when we apply the term
to the preacher. The Lay Preacher "makes
The Gospel Without Charge,"
The clergyman "lives of the Gospel,"—both these preaching offices are Scriptural.
In one of several good articles recently published in a denominational journal, Thomas Henson,
Baptist Pastor, says, "Lay Preachers" are "godly men, who, while labouring in business for their
daily bread, have devoted themselves, and are fitting themselves by preparation, self-culture,
study, and prayer, to the understanding and exposition of God's Word, that they may feed souls
with the bread of life." This is a good definition, and the men outlined are the men who must be
brought together in one strong brotherhood to assert their right to minister inside the churches as
well as outside, in the pulpit as well as on the platform, and the means to that end will be the
founding of a proper college for their training.
In the Interests of the Ministers at Present Occupying Pastorates, We Advocate the Curtailment of
the Existing College System
We wish to stem the flood of ministerial candidates, to lessen the chances of ministerial failure, to
narrow down the paid ministry, to broaden the lay ministry, and to prevent young men entering
college "fore-ordained to failure." Surely all God-sent ministers will support our aims? There will
be less compunction where "bread and cheese" is not concerned, and where a stipend is not in

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question, in refusing credentials to the man who, after all is done for his training, still remains
unfit; and the present existing colleges and the large churches would profit by the drafting of the
best men from the Lay College, through the literary-theological college, into pulpits where learning
is deemed essential.
These pulpits, we believe, are very few. A leading evangelist recently said to one of our number,
"Some people say that rich and highly educated people don't like straight talk. I have found quite
the reverse, having worked among them in West-End halls. They come in crowds to hear the simple
Gospel." More evangelistic fervour in the well-to-do churches would work just as well as in the
poorer churches. People engaged all the week in employment requiring great brain exertion, need
some relaxation on Sunday, and simple, earnest words about Christ, His revelation and His work,
followed up by a stirring appeal for salvation and consecration, would come to them as refreshment
by the wayside.
Why Should the Denominations Spend Thousands of Pounds Per Annum in Supplying the
Churches, in Many Instances, With Intellectually-Minded "Duffers"?
Let them spend a part of this money on a less expensive system. The present college, after all is
said, is simply an institution bestowing charity (often drawn from churches deeply in debt) upon
individuals who, in many instances, afterwards prove that such charity was wrongly bestowed. Let
the churches invest a few hundreds per annum upon a Lay College, and we feel sure the return will
be more satisfactory.
The great, all-absorbing ambition of a number of earnest men is to get into the pastoral ministry—
for years they will leave no stone unturned in striving to attain this end. Those who persist the
longest, as a rule enter college, pass through it, and come out of the ordeal more or less parsonified;
if they have not learnt cant and caste they have obtained culture, but how many find what a mistake
they have made, and yet are unable or are too proud to turn their attention to a secular vocation
again. The ruined causes throughout the land will testify to this.
There are more applicants to the colleges who fail, than who succeed in entering. Among those
who fail are some hundreds of capable men,

EXPERIENCE, NOT CULTURE, WILL HELP A PREACHER TO DEAL WITH SUCH AN

AUDIENCE AS THIS
most certainly called of God to preach. Many of these men fall in love with some earnest "sister,"
get married, or are in other ways distracted from the ministry; promotion in business or financial
success will often for a time divert men from persevering in their intention of entering college. The
consequence is that by self-tuition, reading and general smartness, they "get on"; after a season of
retirement from preaching-life they often rally, settle down, and become excellent preachers, their
past experience greatly assisting in imparting humility, freshness and earnestness. These men, from
their great knowledge of human nature, are well able to minister to a regular congregation, should
they be called upon to do so. Then there are thousands of bright, earnest Gospel preachers whose

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spare time is given to preparation for preaching, but who need guidance by more experienced
preachers. These men would often be spoiled by a college training. They most capably occupy our
mission platforms, and it needs something which a college book-training cannot give if a preacher
is to quell by his presence the characters depicted by the artist in the sketch on page 21. Such are
the preachers to whom the Lay College would prove serviceable.
Our aim for some years has been to reach these men, and to purposely turn their minds from the
glamour of the colleges by pointing out a more "excellent way" than that—which is the lurking
ambition of very many who enter college—of preaching fine sermons to large audiences. The
object of this volume is to give such laymen a guide-book dealing more with the directly spiritual
than the bare homiletical side of preaching, and which should be varied, bright and invigorating.
We hope that the advent of the book will give an impetus to the Association whose constitution
follows this Introduction.
The Evangelical Lay Preachers' Association
will serve as a basis for further operations, and in introducing it to town and country preachers, we
would bespeak their hearty support. If there is to be a new era of Pauline preaching, it must come
by following Pauline methods, and by re-establishing the old modes of evangelizing. There is great
need for a central body to take up the wires leading from the country lay associations. Lay
Preachers are scattered, and are without union in the churches. A rendezvous is necessary, a
training home, a centre for holding evening classes.
Let Us Unite
with the object of taking more of the Power of Jesus Christ into the midst of our churches, let us
get together to pray for the Holy Spirit and for souls, let us break through formality and
highmindedness in the churches, let us fight for a ministry unstrangled by college and collars. The
Evangelical Lay Preachers' Association calls for your support—will you give it? We wish to plant
new soul-saving stations, cottage-meetings, mission-halls, theatre services, and village churches;
we wish to help all present-existing institutions, to create a bond of union for soul-saving church-
members with the intention of influencing the churches from the inside. For this we must have
funds, and we now appeal to every earnest member of Christ's Church to supply us with the
munitions of war. Please send subscriptions to the Honorary General Secretary, at the address as
below.
A book has long been needed which shall give an incentive to clearer spiritual aims in the
preacher—which shall "fire" more than "homiletically equip"—we hope this book will fill the gap;
the topics are mostly of the "go-ahead" type, and
We Trust That the Pattern in This Mosaic May Be Seen by All to Be the Cross of Our Lord Jesus
Christ.
S. H. Ablett
(Honorary General Secretary).
E. W. Adeney

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 (Honorary Preaching Supply Secretary.)
C. J. Andrews. Committee of the
G. A. Angus. Evangelical Lay Preachers'
W. H. Golding
(Chairman). Association.
W. J. Newman.
J. Sharpe.
A. Shiner.
W. J. Stevenson.H. Worrall
(Organizing Secretary).

17, Farringdon Street (next to the Memorial Hall), London, E.C., 12th May, 1896.
The Lay Preacher's Guide.

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