The mannerisms of a minister can put a congregation on edge and make people feel uncomfortable. Excessive handling of the church bulletin and other papers, the convulsive batting of the eyes, nervous bodily movements, tapping with a pencil, and other manifestations of nervousness on the part of the presiding minister are transferred to the congregation, and can cause the people to lose much of the spiritual benefit of the service.
Another thing which congregations find quite tantalizing is the way some of us can overwork a few of our English words. Sometimes people can predict our response to almost any situation because of our very definite speech habits. I do not suggest that we use an exuberance of unusual words and bewilder an audience, but I dca say that a perfunctory use of the common words can be just as bad as the so-called big words and equally as monotonous.
Ministers should be specialists in the use of English. To them no idea should be splendid unless it glitters. No day is nice, unless it can be proved to be delicate in detail. They should not say assure for promise, transpire for happen, fix for prepare, party for person (except in a contract) or guess for suppose. Failure to use care in the choice of words disgusts, confuses, and bores the listener.
Some ministers are also guilty in their use of inaccurate material. When people hear statements that they know to be incorrect—and our church members do know a few things—it breaks down their confidence. Many times in our enthusiasm over a new bit of information we are often careless in our checking on sources. Inaccuracy of material is an earmark of poor scholarship, and should not be found among us. I remember well, as a boy in high school some years ago, how our debating coach insisted that we be sure that every single bit of information we uttered was correct. If not, he demanded that we qualify the statement as being uncertain. And in no case did he permit us to quote unless we knew that the quotation was unquestionably authentic.
Before entering the ministry, I had begun to study toward becoming an electrical engineer, and had pursued a few of my engineering subjects. One of the emphasized points was accuracy. Why? Because in electricity very small errors could result in much loss of life and property. If such great care must be exercised in secular pursuits where only temporal life is involved, what about the ministry where issues of eternal life and death are involved? Good is the advice of the apostle Paul : "Prove all things hold fast that which is good."
