Don'ts for Preachers

For half a century Rev. Adolf William Meyer of St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Yonkers, N. Y. has kept conscientiously shipshape. Last week he uprose to tell 150 fellow clergymen of the Atlantic District of the United Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and other States, sitting in Manhattan, how to preach successful sermons. First he counseled them to "get a good sleep Saturday night," warned them that "a torpid liver produces a dull sermon." To this admonition spry, old Dr. Meyer added four "don'ts" for lively preachers:

"Don't give a 'goody-goody talk' but let the thoughts you express delve very deeply into life.

"Don't be like a brother I heard preach some time ago who kept saying 'Rejoice' . . . in a doleful way.

"Don't rely on ready-made material for your sermons. Anybody can open a can and warm up the contents. Have a blank book always handy to jot down thoughts. . . .

"Don't forget that your parishioners attend the movies and are accustomed to action. The pastor should listen in on the radio and should read the morning paper every day. The hearer should realize that the man in the pulpit is as much up-to-date or more up-to-date than the man in the pew."

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