The Pastor's Manual

James R. Hobbs

• Publisher: B&H Books
• Year: 1925
• Print ISBN: 9780805423013
• eBook ISBN: 9781433670121
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

Suggestions for performing the various tasks of the pastor. Includes vital information and examples for all types of services and ceremonies.

Poetry
General

THERE IS NO DEATH

There is no death! The stars go down
To rise upon some other shore,
And bright in Heaven's jeweled crown
They shine for evermore.

There is no death! An angel form
Walks o'er the earth with silent tread;
He bears our best loved things away,
And then we call them “dead.”

He leaves our hearts all desolate;
He plucks our fairest, sweetest flowers;
Transplanted into bliss, they now
Adorn immortal bowers.

—John L. McCreery

CROSSING THE BAR

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning at the bar
When I put out to sea.

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep,
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell
When I embark.

For though from out our bourne of time and Place,
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face,
When I have crossed the bar.

—Tennyson

THE HOLY SPRINGTIME

The flowers that bloom through the summer,
In the autumn will be dead;
And all winter long 'neath the cover of snow
Their beauty will be hid.
But when the bright springtime comes,
To waken them from their sleep,
Their hidden beauty again will appear,
Their soft petals again will be sweet.

So it is with the people:
For when God sees best,
After their summer of ceaseless bloom,
He will give them a winter's rest.
He will cause the autumn winds
To make them droop and die;
And we will long for those beautiful flowers,
As the winter days go by.
But the springtime, too, will come to them,
And God will waken them all;
O, then, how pure and sweet and holy,
They will bloom to answer his call!
God will be the Gardener,
In that Great Garden of Flowers,
And all the time of eternity
Will be filled with bright springtime hours.

—Grace Welker Dowling

SOME OF THESE DAYS

Some of these days all the skies will be brighter;
Some of these days all burdens will be lighter;
Hearts will be happier, souls will be whiter,
Some of these days!

Some of these days, in the deserts upspringing,
Fountains shall flash while the joy-bells are ringing;
And the world—with its sweetest of words—shall go singing,
Some of these days!

Some these days! Let us bear with our sorrow!
Faith in the future—its light we may borrow;
There will be joy in the golden tomorrow—
Some of these days!

—Frank L. Stanton

SONG OF IMMORTALITY

Arise, arise! O Soul, and sing!
The Lord of Life hath come in might;
And all the world is blossoming
Beneath his kiss of love and light!
The hills doff robes of rusty brown,
And, draped in living tapestries,
With sunshine for a golden crown,
Return the smiles of cloudless skies.

The air is full of winged delight,
A-thrill with joy the dullest clod,
The trees, all hung with garlands white,
Breathe smokeless incense unto God.

And thou, O Soul, with eyes to see,
And ears that like fine harps are strung,
With heart that thrones Divinity
And knows Love's universal tongue,

Shouldst voice a rapture all divine,
And fair as any flower be
The garments that about thee shine,
Thou heir of immortality!

—Elizabeth Loe Watson

FRIEND AFTER FRIEND DEPARTS

Friend after friend departs;
Who hath not lost a friend?
There is no union here of hearts,
That finds not here an end;
Were this frail world our only rest,
Living or dying, none were blest.

Beyond the flight of time,
Beyond this vale of death
There surely is some blessed clime
Where life is not a breath,
Nor life's affection transient fire,
Whose sparks fly upward to expire.

There is a world above,
Where parting is unknown;
A whole eternity of love,
Formed for the good alone;
And faith beholds the dying here,
Translated to that happier sphere.

Thus star by star declines,
Till all are passed away,
As morning high and higher shines,
To pure and perfect day;
Nor sink those stars in empty night;
They hide themselves in heaven's own light.

—James Montgomery

BLESSED ARE THEY THAT MOURN

Oh, deem not they are bl...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title
• Full Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• The Pastor's Manuel
• Notes on Conducting a Funeral
• Funeral Services for General Purposes
• Funeral Service for a Child
• Funeral Service for a Young Man
• Funeral Service for a Young Woman
• Funeral Service for Man or Woman in Middle Life
• Funeral Service for an Aged Man
• Funeral Service for an Aged Woman or Mother
• Funeral Service for Non-Christian
• The Funeral Service of the Protestant Episcopal Church
• Texts for Funeral Addresses
• Poetry
• Weddings
• Marriage Ceremony
• Marriage Ceremony
• Marriage Ceremony By J. J. Taylor, D.D., LL.D.
• The Episcopal Marriage Service
• The Church
• Church Covenant
• Officers of the Church
• The Church
• Administration of the Ordinance of Baptism
• Administration of the Ordinances
• Notes on Laying Cornerstone for Church Building
• Laying a Church Cornerstone
• Dedicating a House of Worship