BIG MISSIONS DEFICIT

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 5 October 1927, Page 4

BIG MISSIONS DEFICIT

WORLD;-WIDE RISE, J.N EXPENSES RES FRIVELS USED l*P. Serious financial difficulties face neu. iy a.l lit j p.u’.t mi.so uni ary sui ecu--, oi the uariistia.il churches at the p-.e- cnl cime, aim iorcign missionary eiti.it :s being hanipcicil owing to lack _ut luuds. Aggregate expendieme <.f 12 uf the la.-gcyt iiii.-,si.on,,(iy .societies approx.in.ai.es £2,000,000 a year, and the aggregate' deficit uf these bodies is estimated at something like £2ol),dub equal to 10 per cent, oi their annual expenditure. GO; .ciai.s of the societies concerned atii finite tiie financial crisis to the loli. wi ug causes : Inc .Ccioe m cost uf living. Increase iu shipping freights. i'luctuai.unx in rates of exchange. “The cast of our work in the (.Lurch A 1 issionary Society i.s almost double tin; pie-war figure,” .said an official.

“Wo estimate that .fluctuations in the rate uf exchange alone have cost our society £3<s.U(ji> in the last ten vea.i«.

“Our regular income has .shown a gratifying increase, but the obstacles have been too. big to clear away. ’ The secretary of the London Missionary Society said : “The real trouble is that, although our .subscriptions arc larger than they used to be, people do not realise that the cost qf living has increased as much abroad as it has done at home. “Another large item in our expenditure is the cost of shipping transport, which has nearly doubled since the war.”

Another cf the leading foreign mission agencies is the Baptist Missionary Society. “Most of our missionaries aie in India.” said the .secretary, “and we find the less on exchange very heavy. Our subscriptions are nearly double what they were before the mar, but we cannot make ends meet. ”

Some of the largest missionary societies have been driven, during the past few years, to fall back on the financial policy of living on their reserves. The Church M ssionary Society, which devotes nearly half a million sterling a year to its work, has thrown all its reserves, 'accumulated during many years, into the breach. It has during the past ten years absorbed £390,009 of capital in funds and propert es in this way, but despite this they still had a deficit of £IOO,OOO at the beginning of the present year. “Yv’e dare not retrench. We dare not desert our overseas churches.”

The London -Missionary Society, which expends more than £300,000 a year on its work, lias an accumulated deficit lor the past two vear.s of more than £IO,OOO. Jt was stated at a recent meeting of tiie- directors that the income must be increased by £25,000 this year, and that if this was not done it might, in two yeais’ time, he found to be impnss.ib!e to finance the society, it is hoped to _ unite with the Congregational Union in an appeal to raise the necessary funds.

A deficit of £25.000 faced the baptist. .Missionary Society at the end of last year. Their total income, for the support of 300 missionaries a.nd 2800 native workers was; £175.000. A number of other denominational missionary societies finished their last financial year with, accumulated deficits varying from £SOOO to nearly £30,000.