THE POOR PARSON.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 15956, 27 October 1919, Page 6

THE POOR PARSON.

INADEQUACY OF STIPENDS,

INCREASED COST OF LIVING.

(Auckland Star.)

“Doth Job servo God for naught?” was Ihe sardonic query of Satan when asked by the Almighty to consider the virtues cf His servant. Apparently many servants of God nowadays are very nearly serving for naught, judging by inquiries made regarding ministers’ stipends by a representative of the Auckland Star. A stipend of .£2OO per annum in 1914 was worth 80s per week in purchasing value, but with the sovereign only really being worth 13s in buying value now, it will be evident that tike 80s per week is really reduced to 625. The wonder is that under such conditions young men can be found to become candidates for the ministry. Certainly they cannot be accused of being attracted by the “loaves and fishes.” It was the statement published recently that the Anglicans had in effect said that stipends of the clergy must be" increased that caused inquiries to be made as to the minimum figures paid ministers in the respective churches. The minimum is of course the important point, because after all the prizes are few, being restricted to certain big churches in cities.

At a gathering of 400 Congregational ministers in Chester, England, Mr T. A. Rigby, who entertained the-m at a garden party, appealed for a revised scale of stipends in view of the changed economic conditions. Ho added that even an increase- of 50 per cent, upon prewar standards was not equal to the advance paid in other walks of life. In New Zealand the minimum in the Congregational Church was long before the war fixed at ,£2OO per annum. The question of increasing ministers’ stipends has been receiving a lot of attention in Great Britain. The Presbyterian Church recently raised a thanksgiving fund for Peace, totalling £45,209, which is to be devoted to supplementing the smaller stipends of ministers. In New Zealand the Presbyterian General Assembly, at the recent sitting decided that in future no call from a church to a minister should bo entertained unless at least £250 per annum was offered. There is a iso usually a manse attached to the Presbyterian Churches This discussion will no doubt result in stirring up the churches where the £2OO was being paid to give the extra £SO per annum. The Methodist Church is also bestirring itself in the matter of increasing the stipends of ministers to compensate them to some extent for the higher cost of living. A committee has already met; to draft a scheme of increases which will be submitted at the approaching Synod next November. This is to be considered, and then sent on to the quarterly meetings before being finally dealt with at the New Zealand Conference, which meets next February in Auckland.

That it is high time something was done in the matter, may be judged by the fact that married Home Missioners get £2OO a year, and probationers £l6O. It should, however, not lie forgotten that in the Methodist Church there is a furnished house to fixed ministers as well as an allowance for each child.

It would appear that in some churches probationers for the ministry get less than £l6O per annum, for a business man had an application for employment from a young man who said he had intended being a minister, but found it impossible to live on £IOO a year. Under such circumstances it is not to be wondered at that there is a dearth of young men anxious to go in for holy orders. In the Wellington Diocese tho Anglican Church some time ago started a Central Fund system, which was also adopted at the last synod at Auckland. Under this scheme all salaries of clergynient are paid in to a central fund, which is augmented by donations totalling £SOOO ]>er annum. The object of this fund is to augment the salaries of the ministers in the backblocks who did a lot of hard work for comparatively little pay. A minimum of £3OO is aimed at by the Anglicans. A glance at the returns of tho Auckland Diocese under date of March 31st, 1919, clearly indicates the imperative nerd there was for such steps to bo taken. A few stipends were as low as £169, £lB3, and £196. Seventeen clergymen were in receipt of £2OO per annum, or under that sum, and another thirtygot over £203 and up to £3OO per annum. A residence, of course, is usually provided for Anglican ri.care, but not curates, and generally the vicars receive the Easter offerings, which, unfortunately, are naturally largest in the. city churches, where the clergymen get the higher stipends. In the Baptist Church the minimum was £lB5 per annum, but the recent conference decided that a tonus must, bo added, and strongly recommended a fixed increase. It is considered that in future no Baptist Church will ask a minister to take charge under at least £225 a year. Here, again, it is only the minimum that is referred to, for in the city churches the pastors receive a stipend equivalent to those paid by, other creeds. The fact remains that ministers as a whole have not had commensurate additions to their stipends to meet the higher cost of living. “How can wo be expected to preach against sweating,” asked one minister, “if the church is guilty of under-paying its parsons?” There is another point worthy of consideration by all churches, that is the pay to superannuated parsons. This, of course, was fixed long before the war on definite lines. The result is that the men who have grown old in the service of Hie various churches and have had to retire on account of age, are left with an allowance that will provide just about one-half of what the same sum would have done five years ago. While there is a movement in the various churches to improve the financial position of ministers in active service, those who have borne the heat and burden of the day in years gone by should surely not be forgotten.