THE ALMONER

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume XVII, Issue 11, 2 May 1927, Page 6

THE ALMONER

We have just received a copy of the second issue of The Almoner, an. occasional paper on Church finance. This issue appears most opportunely, as just now the question of Church finance is m so many parishes receiving the most, serious consideration. The Almoner is excellently written and one feels that parishes wh,ich are tackling the problems of the. introduction of the Duplex Envelope System, might considerably further their cause by a widespread distribution of this paper. We <juote the following passages from the leading article: — . CHRIST— THE POOR RELATION OF HIS CHURCH? A wide gulf extends between the a'cknowl edged standards of the Church on the one hand and much of its finance on the other. No one who repeats the Creed with a grateful heart and an understanding mind, can deem that these methods of Church Finance are consonant with its" assertions. No omv who m reverence worships with the Church can find m these methods of Church Finance the sacrific-

ial principle which worship postulates. No one who seeks to follow the ethical teaching of the Church can convince himself that the outward duties of our religion m respect of Finance are performed m a spirit agreeable to what Hooker calls "that affection which is unseen, " and which ' 'bearing the greatest' sway m our hearts" is tne foundation of the Christian character. There is a great gulf, moral und spiritual, fixed between' tho ■'ireed, the Worship and the Character on the one part and the Finance, on -the-, other — a contrast, a discrepancy, a discord, where each ishould easily, naturally, and of course, bear witness to the other. No one, we believe, seriously denies this. It is worth our while, theft, to find some formula which, with sufficient nearness, represents the situation, for "until it is boldly and sincerely faced, no remedy will be discovered or sought. What does it mean that 'while the standards expressing the Creed, the Worship and the Character have been m form maintained, the Finance has become .entangled m the world arid has lost its distinctive Christian savour. At this point, too, as one has well said: "The lump absorbs and overweighs the leaven. The salt has lost it's sting. The other world, is lost m this world." The watchfulness and discipline which should have repudiated this identification and preserved the reality of detachment have failed, and things have slid and slipped until reverence itself seems to be an incongruous supererogation, and we are shocked to find that much of the Finance of the Christian Church has become, m effect, the Finance of the Poor Belation. For while we keep- our best for those whom we delight to honour, Christ is the recipient of a .second best, or a twentieth best, which has no affinity with Him. Those multitudinous . presentations and testimonials, which embody the applauses we render so freely, and perhaps too often to-day — whoever heard of these being organised except by direct giving? Or our memorials of the departed — whoever thinks of "raising money" for these by indirect means, the bazaar, the dance,, the jumble sale Above all, the unnumbered and costly memor- . ials to the honour of our dead soldiers— into, how many of these was that taint of cheapness and grudging allowed to enter which so deeply poisons church finance?

Oh! yes, we still, know-how to give good, gifts to one another ; how to honour one another, how to receive honour one of another. We keep the blemished offering for the poor relation. For what is the crux of the poor relation? The matter, as it struck Charles Lamb, is described m his own words printed below, which, of course, constitute a scathing satire on the mentality of the ricli relation. That's the trouble! There is seen and felt to be a gross cliscrepency where there ought to be a natural concord and equation. And the discrepancy is resented by the rich relation! The poor relation, m our XXth Century parlance, is "unwanted;" yet can't be got rid of. In the very nature of the case, and without malevolence or .even choice on his part, he sticks a? closely as a brother. He is an intruder; yet no outsider. Not really one of us; yet nothing else more. He is always m need — aggressively ; he is ever a silent rebuke to wealth, but a very penetrating and intimate one. His needs are manifest without even a gesture of appeal on his side; yet they announce ■themselves as a very drastic demand. He is. necessary , but is suffered very sadly. Anything is good enough for such a. person thus envisaged, so it is naturally judged. For him there is no need to find the best. For him, the cheap, the cast-offs, the broken meats, the leavings, the dregs. The best for the best! Eiclies to the rich! Honour to the honourable! True, no one save the most modern and the most advanced of His critics, speaks thus of Christ m word. But a large proportion of the finance of the Church is of such a character as would be addressed to such a. person so envisaged. It bears all over if the marks of its •adaption to the claims of the poor relation. The witness ?of this finance is. to a person cheapened and depraved, not only byiow .the acknowledged standards of the Church (with which it has no spiritual affinity whatever) , but far below also the commonly accepted.'decencies of. social life.. This finance answers to, is m moral and spiritual equation with, the poor relation. It is an affront both to 'the Diety and the Humanity of Christ. In some such terms, perhaps, people may be . led to see and feel •the heinousness.of the lapse which has been suffered m Church finance. A ik'l it is no idle task, no empty taunt, to show them this, for m the

showing of it is suggested' the remedy and a way of return. Christ must be no more exhibited as the poor relation. Those who have so learnt Him by past default must be carefully considered. We can claim for Him , at once and at least, the treatment of the Most Favoured Person. The spirit of the war memorial affords a providential opportunity for reform. People have not forgotten how to be reverent where reverence is known to be due. The leaders of the Church can confidently appeal to this and claim it for our Head. And m doing so they must be loyally supported. No method of Church finance must be proposed which will not pass the Most Favoured Person test; and if proposed must not be supported. Public opinion must be directed to this. Those to whom these methods are a scandal must make their principles known and felt. So, we deem, a first firm step may be . made towards a finance more worthy, or less unworthy, oi : our Faith, our Worship, and our Ethics, and of Him m Whom finance and these things alike consist and have their one true measure.

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