The evangelist arrived. Royally received by the Elders and the inner
circle, he was escorted in triumph to the Strong mansion, which was to
be his home during the meeting, and within the hour began his
professional duty of "setting the church in order, and gathering a
mighty harvest of souls."
This evangelist was a good one, of his kind. His kind is that type of
professional soul-winner evolved by the system whereby the church pays
for the increase of its flock at so much per head, inasmuch as the number
of his calls, and the amount of his hire depend upon the number of
additions per meeting to the evangelist's credit. A soul-winner with
small meetings to his credit receives a very modest compensation for
his services, and short notices in the church papers. But the big
fellows--those who have hundreds of souls per meeting, come higher, much
higher; also they have more space given them in the papers, which helps
them to come higher still. Souls may have depreciated in value since
Calvary, but one thing is sure, the price of soul-winners has gone away
up since the days of Paul and his fellow ministers.
Preaching every night and conducting afternoon meetings, calling at the
homes of the people, directing the efforts of the members of the inner
circle, sometimes with Dan--oftener without him--fully informed and
instructed by the Judge, whose guest he was and to whom he looked for a
larger part of his generous salary, the evangelist made himself no small
power in the church of Corinth.
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