Presbyterian Church

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 103, 2 May 1941, Page 9

Presbyterian Church

STIPENDS OF MINISTERS Furthering the campaign of the executive set up by the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand at the last General Assembly for the maintenance of the ministry, a meeting of laymen was held in Palmerston North on Wednesday evening, the delegates being drawn from parishes in and surrounding the city. There was an attendance of over fifty', Rev. J. Hubbard presiding. Rev. T. W. Armour, of Knox Church, Christchurch, convener of the committee, gave an outline of'the aims of the executive, which were moulded on evidence produced before the General Assembly, that the income of the church had increaser materially in the last 30 years, whereas the stipends of the ministry had not been correspondingly increased, nor had they increased with due regard to the appreciation in the wealth of the community. In certain cases, reductions in stipends undertaken in the depression period had not yet been restored and there -was, further, a general condition in that due recognition had not been taken of the rise in the cost of living. It was pointed out that necessarily led to the lowering of the finer cultural standard presented to the Church, througli a reduction of the amenities required to maintain the pulpit on a high level. Mr. J. C. Young said that the Church was fortunate in having a man of the knowledge and background of Mr. Armour to present the claims of the ministry. The layman’s viewpoint was that the standard of the ministry should be maintained, otherwise not only the Church but the national life would suffer. Mr. J. B. McKinney, of Auckland, who is accompanying Mr. Armour in a series of visits to the various districts of the Church, pointed out that the Church was undertaking a particularly comprehensive work which had increased in recent years, involving a ! heavy responsibility for the ministers. Notwithstanding this fact, the comparative stipend over the last 30 years had not been maintained. The soundness of the finance of the Church had been shown in recent years by the response made to a number of appeals, among them being the Centenary appeal, by which over £250,000 was raised. This had relieved the Church of a large annual charge for interest, the money for which could now be directed to other channels. Tho meeting passed n resolution, moved by Mr. J. Murray, thanking the visitors for their exposition of the Assembly proposals, approving of them, and undertaking to make every possible endeavour to secure their fulfilment. A committee was appointed to attend to the area of the presbytery concerned, the following being the members: Messrs. G. Ball (convener), C. Campbell, H. Voss, H. A. McEwon and A. C. Buist.