STIPENDS OF CLERGY.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16654, 15 October 1919, Page 5

STIPENDS OF CLERGY.

VIEWS OF BISHOP JULIUS. « In the course of his presidential addross to the Diocesan Synod yesterday, Bishop Julius, referring to the business done at last General Synod, said: — "At an early stage of the proceedings the lav members of tli ■ leave to meet apart, end later on presented a report on the stipends of the clerpy. The report was ordered to be orinted and sent for presentation to all Diocesan Synods, with a recommendation that corves thereof should be sent on to every Parish Vestry. At the request of our own Ommitt n e I wrote a letter, in the early part of the year, to the churchwardens nnd vestry of every parish and parochial district, begging them to take* this matter into c-sn~" : " r 'y rit th« annual meetin.tr of the I pointed out to that while the cost of living had incronsod by at lor>st thirtyfive per rent., the stipends of the clergy remained as they wero before the war. To this appenl a considerable response was made. Twenty-five cures gicrnnteed an amounting in all to coven hurd-ed'and twenty pounds. Of; the remaining thirtv-five* cures, some were already paying a reasonable stipend, of-hor.s found or thought themselves tmnhle to mfke an increase, pud the remainder ignored my appeal altopother. A Church which allows, and almost- expects, its rlorpry to marry ought it least to provide a living wage. I wish that the lay members of this j Synod would follow the exnmple given j by those of the General Synod, and +nl-« in+r> own h"nds." Tn another pnrfc of his addres3, Bishop Jul'ii« said:— "There are many vacant cures which we scarcely know how to fill. Other dioceses are ; n th? same case; J can"ot 'drnw from them, even if I would. Mv hope must be for some small share of tbe retimed soldiors now training for Holy Orders in England." BISHOP SEDGWICK'S VIEWS. (PftBSS ASSOCIATION TIT/BORAH.) NAPIER, October 14. At the Anglican Synod the finding of, the committee set up to deal with the question of stipends of the clergy was as. follows:— (1) That the scale of stipends now paid in_ the majority of cases is wholly insufficient for the services rendered, and that they are quite inadequate for the support of the clergy; (2) That the stipends paid to the Maori clergy are so low as hardly to amount to payments at all. It is impossible for these men to live without supplementing their income by farming and other pursuits. In lus address, Bishop Sedgwick said: There is a scarcity of clergy throughout the province. Wg bewail the fact that so few of our yolng men are offering, themselves for Holy Orders. Cannot one of the reasons be found here ? While no one with a sense of vocation would consider for one moment what he could make out of the ministry, he might reasonably hesitate to enter a profession in which it would be impossible to support adequately a wife and bring up a family. The larger portion of/tlie stipends remain wholly inadequate." The* Rev. C. A. D© Lautour moved that the report be forthwith taken into consideration and be referred to all parishes in the diocese for immediate remedial action; that the case of the inadequate payment of the Maori clergy should be rectified, and that Svnod should request the Bishop. to refer the matter for redress to the. Mission Board, or take such other steps in the matter as he should deem exredient. The motion was carried unanimously.