If the culture two centuries ago was more favorably inclined toward the church, more familiar with the Bible, and well accustomed to the acknowledging—if not the proper observing—of the Christian Sabbath (Lord’s Day)—all of which were certainly the case—how much more today must our ministers expect to endure costly sacrifices and severe sufferings in laboring for “the glory of God in the salvation of perishing sinners”?

An oft-heard reference to the ordinary means of grace includes the emphasizing of the “word and prayer.” But as some point out, including a trusted pastor I know, in Acts 6 as the first deacons were selected we read that the apostles sought to “devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.” Of course, none will deny the indispensable nature of either of these means of grace, but the apostles in this case chose to mention prayer first. Calvin seemed to share the same priority, writing that prayer is the chief exercise of the Christian faith. Even if a believer lacks access to the scriptures in a given moment, he may pray, confident that “You will pray to Him, and He will hear you” (Job 22:27).

Perhaps this perspective may provide encouragement for church members today as they seek to pray for their pastors as well as for those young men preparing for what our forefathers called the holy ministry or the sacred office. Given the serious erosion of the Christian influence and the dysfunctionalities of our culture—true of the West generally—who will deny the importance of faithful prayer for those brothers and fathers whom the Lord has raised up, and is raising up to preach the words of life to the present generation and the next.

Two centuries ago, nestled within the minutes of the mainline Presbyterian Church’s Synod of Virginia—the court above the presbytery and below the general assembly—is the following succinct, beautiful, and biblically grounded summary of the qualifications and perspective best suited for the holy ministry:

The gospel ministry seems to be the most important, as well as the most sacred office in the world. And correspondent to the nature ought to be the qualifications of the men to whom it is committed. It is not, however, indispensably necessary that a Christian minister should be a man of superior mental endowments. Moderate talents, in a state of proper cultivation, may, under the influence of divine grace, be very useful in the church. Whereas superior geniuses, dazzled by their own splendour, & confident in their own strength, prove, not unfrequently, a great detriment to the cause they have undertaken to support.

To a student of divinity just ideas of the ministerial office must be of obvious importance. For the best information in this respect, he must be referred to the holy scriptures; & at the same time, some of the best treatises upon the subject ought to be put into his hands. He should be assured that it is not an office of worldly emoluments, ease, or dignity, that it requires the greatest self-denial, the most unremitted exertions, &, in many instances, very costly sacrifices; that its object is nothing less than the glory of God in the salvation of perishing sinners; & that for the accomplishment of this great object no labours should be thought too great, no sufferings too severe.[1]

The Synod of Virginia was among the most influential of its day and was the most important Presbyterian body in the South. The Rev. John Holt Rice, D. D., pastor of First Presbyterian Church (Richmond), editor-conductor of several religious periodicals, and later the president of Union Theological Seminary, was among its leading members.

Presbyterians were well known for their emphasis on high educational requirements for the ministry which they were convinced must be based on the Bible as the guiding intellectual framework and ultimate authority. But notice that they discountenanced “superior mental endowments” as a requirement for the ministry; rather, they viewed a man of moderate talents properly cultivated and above all “under the influence of divine grace” as most likely to be “very useful” in Christ’s church.

Further, the experienced Presbyterian ministers of Virginia recognized the importance of ensuring that younger men preparing for the ministry understood very clearly that they were entering upon a charge that carried with it “self-denial, the most unremitted exertions, &, in many instances, very costly sacrifices.”

If the culture two centuries ago was more favorably inclined toward the church, more familiar with the Bible, and well accustomed to the acknowledging—if not the proper observing—of the Christian Sabbath (Lord’s Day)—all of which were certainly the case—how much more today must our ministers expect to endure costly sacrifices and severe sufferings in laboring for “the glory of God in the salvation of perishing sinners”?[2]

Surely, those truly belonging to Jesus Christ must see the need for—and cultivate the practice of—praying for their ministers and those being called of God to the sacred office.

Forrest L. Marion is a ruling elder in the First Presbyterian Church (PCA), Crossville, Tennessee.

[1] Minutes, Synod of Virginia, Oct. 1816 (Union Presbyterian Seminary, Richmond, Va., formerly Union Theological Seminary).

[2] Even in a generally friendly culture, in the 1810s an example of the world’s partiality against the church was witnessed in the Virginia legislature’s refusal to grant a charter to the trustees of the infant seminary at Hampden Sidney College; see Minutes, Synod of Virginia, Oct. 1816.