The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1873-03-26

OUR BENEv0LENr sgHEMES; THEY
MUST BE SUPPOgsEn. BUT HOW?

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people will neither groy = in well doing
nor weary of the man ride = shey
t them the way. In a! m
to keep "the sinews t,ss tinance
in vigorous efisit. Is Of first impor
tance. 1t is SO in th ass of the Ciure]
militant. To every Ch 5stian, therefore, th'
question how to proyii the needful fund
for urging on this ty war for Christ
against the kingdom o. darkness, instead o.
annoying, should posses, ~ absorbing interest
Of course it is not fo sotten-let it never
be-that without the eessing of God, anC
the influences of the I.ely Spirit, to infuse
a divine life into all Il our operations, We
shall effect nothing. Let all our efforts
therefore, to raise money for the furtherance
of our Lords cause e .imbued with the
spirit of prayer.
The writer has some suggestions TO make
to which he invites csaaid and careful con.
sideration. The plal, which one of our
Presbyteries is this yer acting upon, of ap-
portioning among its churches the amount
estimated to be necessary for Sustentation,
at the rate of cert'Ga per cent. upon the
salaries respectively p id to their ministers,
has suggested the POS Ible wider application
of the principle, in 5 ier to set clearly be-
fore the minds of an ffesbyteries, cOngre-
cations, and individu what the exigencies
of the cause from to year demand of
them.
1t is Of course I'd that the burden (f it
be burden, Acts S5) of carrying on
the Church's work should be distributed
among its members ding to their ability.
The rule of giving God has prOspered
each one, if compli 9Th, would of course
answer every purp The present sug-
gestions are only il eo way of helping TO
apply that rule, ani. obviate the error into
which many fall, ttieg their responsi
bility at, FOG lr-. fsosa seeing it
Stated that certain snail average amount
from each member, would raise the sum
necessary.
What we are driVilg at can best be un-
derstoOd from direcs application of it to a
case in hand. Last year, of the 1904
churches of our body (nOt including the mis-
sionary Presbyteries of Indian and Sac
PaulO) the SIS which reported on this point
paid salaries to their ministers aggregating
1882, 2,05O. Of the remaining $50, many were
vacant, but should be included in the present
estimate; since vacant churches are expected
to contribute, and both the General Assem-
bly, and the Presbyteries have taken order
for having them applied to for their contri
buttons, along with the rest. The salaries
paid by the SIS churches averaged $3.50
from each one. But the non-reporting
churches are generally among the smallest
and weakest, many of them very weak. 1t
would not be safe, perhaps, to put their
average strength for pastoral support at
much over $l00. We should then have, in
round numbers, say $5OO,OOO as the salary
basis Of our estimate.
The wants of our several schemes of be-
nifcence for this year sum up about $685.
900, which is 33 per cent. on $500 600 To
ascertain how much of this $l65, 900 given
Presbytery should contribute, we have but
to look to the statistical tables appended to
the Minutes of the General Assembly, and
see the amount of the salaries paid last year,
adding for the nOn-reporting churches at the
proper average rate for them, and calculat
ing the 33 per cent. on the sum. A Pres
bytery, for example, whose strength for sup
porting the gospel in It's own congregations
is thus found to be 5000, would have
So, 800 to raise. And .pplying the rule to
the several churches, congregation that
pays it's minister $500, would be expected
to contribute, as its quota, $165, and a fam
lily whose subscription to the pastors salary
is $50, would find their proportion to be six
teen dollars and fifty cents.
In practice it would be necessary, of
course, and very easy, to ascertain the per
cent. for each of the several objects. The
Executive Committee of Foreign Missions,
needs this year, for example, 100000, OR
u per cent. on the $5OO,OOO. The proper
ton of this amount for a $4,000 Presby-
terry is therefore 81, 200; for $500 church
$50, and for $50 subscriber Sc. The
Committee of SuStentation needs, for Sus-
tentation proper, at least $4,000, so that
the contributions to this cause should be at
least per cent. on the amount of subscrip-
tons to salary. The Invalid Fund and
Evangelistc Fund should each get not less
than $40, 900, which would in each case re-
quire contributions at the rate of 2 per cent.
on salary figures. The Committees of Edu
cation and Publication want $4,000 each
(the latter in part to complete the needed
endowmeDt,) or contributions at the rate Of
5 per cent. for each on salary sums,