Bill For Increase In Stipends

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31805, 9 October 1968, Page 18

Bill For Increase In Stipends

By not approving a proposed 5 per cent increase in minimum stipends for the clergy and church workers, the annual synod of the Diocese of Christchurch could give a lead to the country in wage debates, said the Rev. D. I. B. B. Balfour (Aranui-Wainoni) yesterday.

Many parishes who did not pay the minimum stipends would be placed in a difficult position if the minimum were raised, said the Rev. J. A. Witbrock (Lyttelton). Before synod was a bill providing for a 5 per cent increase in the minimum stipends for vicars, assistant curates, deaconesses, and licensed women church-workers in the diocese—with the exception of an assistant curate in his sixth or subsequent year of service. It was approved at the second reading —and if approved at the third reading today will come into operation on November L

Minimum Stipend It is proposed that the minimum stipend for vicars be 52220 compared with §2115 at present. In their first three years, assistant curates will, under the proposed bill, receive $1695 a year instead of $1450, $1565, and $1615 as at present Assistant curates in their fourth year will receive $1750 compared with the present amount of $1665, in their fifth year $1970 ($1875), and in their sixth or subsequent years, $2170 ($2115). Stipends for deaconesses will range from $1525 in their first year to $1750 in their fourth year, compared with $1450 to $1665 at present The proposed stipend for

licensed women churchworkers ranges from $1415 in the first year to $1750 in the sixth or subsequent years, compared with the present range of $1345 to $1665. Mr A. F. Stott (SpreydonHoon Hay), who introduced the bill, said that stipends were the first requirement that a parish had to meet. Stipends would stop going up when the wages of other persons in- the community stopped, and when prices stopped. Mr Balfour said that by not approving the increase, the church could give a lead to the country in wage debates. Mr A. B. Harman (Fendalton) said that it had been proved overwhelmingly that the increase was warranted. Unless stipends were raised gradually, the diocese in two or three years, would reach a stage when it would have to increase them considerably to keep in step with the cost of living. Pension Increase An increase in the rate of pensions to clergy from $2O to $24 a year, and to widows from $12.50 to $15.50 for each years of the husband’s qualifying service, was approved by synod during the second reading of a bill to amend the regulations for the management of the Clergy Pension Trust Fund. If this bill is passed at the third reading, it will also come into operation on November 1.