INCREASED DEMAND ON PRESBYTERIAN MISSION FUNDS

Wanganui Chronicle, 31 October 1946, Page 4

INCREASED DEMAND ON PRESBYTERIAN MISSION FUNDS

The Missions Budget presented to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand in Wanganui yesterday showed that the expenditure last year totalled £57,335, compared with an estimated amount of £59,547. Receipts from all sources reached the record figure of £58,462, leaving a surplus on the year’s working of £1127. The surplus was due not to excess of income, however, but to under-expenditure. The giving by congregations amounted to £46,831, and while this figure was £3138 short of the £49,969 asked for, it was £lO7l higher than the amount given last year and constituted a record, the budget slated. The Church must ask for a continuance of th.s generosity if its missionary enterprise was to be eon* tinned, said Mr. T. C. Brash (Wellington), presenting the budget on behalf of the treasurer, Mr. L. B. Mushet. who. was unable to attend because of illness. ‘The costs in all our fields are increasing,” Mr. Brash added,” but in China the increase has been tremendous, and in order to enable our missionaries there to subsist, their sal aries have had to be doubled. In order to avoid a further heavy increase in the budget, the heavy cost for these salaries has been charged by the Missions Committee against the funds allocated from the Memorial and Thanksgiving Fund for Missions. Rehabilitation. ‘lt is hoped that in a year or Iwg the economic situation in China will become stabilised, and the cost of living reduced to a reasonable figure. If ihis does not. eventuate, additional funds will be needed to maintain the work in China, and until costs decrease the budget requirements cannot be reduced without curtailing the work.” The following shows the position of all funds under the budget for the year ended August 18, 1946:- Estimated requirements, £59,547; actual expenditure, £57,335; amount received from all sources. £58.462, surplus on year’s working. £1127.