Where have all the evangelists gone? The church once crawled with revivalists and evangelists crisscrossing the nation preaching for decision. They are hard to find nowadays. Oh sure, we have a slew of retired guys who do this work, but few younger folk attempt it. Why? Does it have anything to do with money?

I got to thinking about special speakers' pay recently when I discovered my father's tiny little record book. It was his 'Stall's Pastor's Pocket Record' for the years 1939-1942. In this leather-covered book he had meticulously recorded every 'Pastoral Call' on the 49 church families in Warren Pennsylvania. He only recorded 'productive' calls (meaning they were home?) listing the 'unproductive calls' separately. I was astounded to find that he averaged two calls a month for every family. (Now I know what they did before computers & church offices!)

But his calling record is not what grabbed my attention. He listed his salary too. Staring out in 1939 at $15 a week, he notched up to $18 in 1940 (a 20% increase!) then $20 in 1941 and by 1942 he was raking in a whopping $23 a week (one of the highest paid pastors in his conference at that time - I checked).

But what struck me was a l