Feb 12
12
The inventive and ever so practical, Benjamin Franklin, who was not a church going man, had some great insight on church growth and the seeker sensitive ministry:
“We had for our chaplain a zealous Presbyterian minister, Mr. Beatty, who complained to me that the men did not generally attend his prayers and exhortations. When they enlisted, they were promised, besides pay and provisions, a gill of rum a day, which was punctually serv’d out to them, half in the morning, and the other half in the evening; and I observ’d they were as punctual in attending to receive it; upon which I said to Mr. Beatty, “It is, perhaps, below the dignity of your profession to act as steward of the rum, but if you were to deal it out and only just after prayers, you would have them all about you.” He liked the tho’t, undertook the office, and, with the help of a few hands to measure out the liquor, executed it to satisfaction, and never were prayers more generally and more punctually attended; so that I thought this method preferable to the punishment inflicted by some military laws for non-attendance on divine service.”
The date is early 1756. The occasion is the rebuilding of Fort Gnadenhut for the defense of the inhabitants of the North-western frontier.
Franklin, Benjamin (1994-07-01). The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (p. 126). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.