Pastoral
Burdette quotes as follows a year's statistics of parochial work, as
compiled by a young curate:
"Preached 104 sermons, 18 mortuary discourses, solemnized 21 hymeneal
ceremonies, delivered 17 lectures, of which 16 were on secular and all
the rest on religious subjects; made 39 addresses, of which all but 27
were on matters most nearly touching the vital religious concerns of the
church, read aloud in chur
h 156 chapters of the Bible, 149 of which
were very long ones; made pastoral calls, 312; took tea on such
occasions, 312 times; distributed 804 tracts; visited the sick several
times; sat on the platform at temperance and other public meetings 47
times; had the headache Sabbath mornings, and so was compelled to appear
in a condition of physical pain, nervous prostration and bodily distress
that utterly unfitted him for public preaching, 104 times; picnics
attended, 10; dinners, 37; suffered from attacks of malignant dyspepsia,
37 times; read 748 hymns; instructed the choir in regard to the
selection of tunes, 1 time; had severe cold, 104 times; sore throat, 104
times; malaria, 104 times; wrote 3120 pages of sermons; declined
invitations to tea, 1 time; started the tune in prayer meeting, 2 times;
started the wrong tune, 2 times; sung hymns that nobody else knew, 2
times; received into church membership, 3; dismissed by letter, 49;
expelled, 16; lost, strayed, or stolen, 137."