The deep tones of the organ voluntary melted into a soft harmony as the elders of the church filed onto the rostrum and knelt in devotional prayer. Bright winter sunlight filtered through the amber windows, suffusing the interior of the church with a luminous golden glow, and a spirit of reverence and worship rested upon the waiting congregation.
Among the preliminaries to the message of the hour was the report of the nominating committee, presented by the secretary somewhat on this order: "For church elders: President Brown, Elder Smith, B. A. Green, Professor George Black, and Brother White. For deacons: Professor King, Doctor J. O. Jones, Mr. Will Martin, Charlie Boswell, Dean Williams, and Brother Johnson, Jr."
What a hodgepodge it seemed, with its gross violation of the principle of parallelism! Here we had "president," "elder," "mister," "doctor," "brother," "dean," and plain "Charlie"! Need such a bungling of the niceties of language be tolerated?
Since all church officers are elected on the basis of a spiritual fraternity, reports presenting lists of names would be more dignified if all business, scholastic, and official titles were omitted, and simply the initials and the surname given. On such a basis, the report rendered above would be given on this order: "For elders: L. P. Brown, A. R. Smith, George Black, B. A. Green, M. A. White. For deacons: E. O. King, J. O. Jones, William Martin, C. N. Boswell, H. F. Johnson, Jr."
Our God is the author of method and system. He surely cannot be pleased with a heterogeneous classification of rank, title, and degree in men elected to positions of responsibility in His service, such as frequently appears in the reports of nominating committees in our larger churches and institutional centers. Then, again, to a man's closest friends he may be familiarly and appropriately known as "Charlie" or "Jimmie," but such colloquialisms are hardly befitting when applied at a public service to a veteran in the cause, whether in a formal report or a public introduction. There is need to be more mindful of the proprieties of language in matters of public worship.
Berrien Springs, Mich.
