St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-04-16
Ministers and Funerals.


A clergyman writing to the Spring
field Republican on the above subject,
expresses his mind as follows:
noticed in yOur paper recently, the
following item in the local columns
A hill-tOwn clergyman who Officiated
at the burial of q pauper child asks -
for his services, and such IA bill has re-
Gently been sent to an adjacent town,
where the child's parents have a set
Element. 1t may be correct, but it is
little unusual.
|. In reading this item | was led to
inquire Has not the time arrived when
the belief which exists among thOus-
ands of people, that minister ought
TO attend funerals without pay should
be abandoned To Officiate at the OBJ
seauies of the dead is d part of the
professional work. Therefore. as a
matter of justice, why should he not
have compensation for his labor, even
as a physician is paid for attending IA
patient, though the latter may die from
the effects of his sickness. Or, further,
why shOnld not the preacher be remu-
nerated, as much as the person who
furnishes the carriages, or the under
taker who provides the coffin for such
an occasion.
.. / know from experience that
many wrath provoking impOsitiOns are
practiced upon clergymen by multi
tudes of people who desire to employ
them to Officiate at funerals. Such peo-
pie, for instance, never pay penny for
the maintenance of public worship,
nor do they attend divine services, or
the Sabbath schools Their influence
is set against ministers and the Ordi
nances of religion, while their words
are bitterly derOgatory to them. When
any of these people, however, lose a
relative by death, they do not wish to
have the deceased person buried with
out eulOgy, or an address, or prayer
for consolation. They will hasten for
a minister to do this work. This is Il
part of the business for which the min
lister has qualified himself, by the eX
penditure of time and money. Still if
he demands pay for such work, which
is real labor, as much as is the shovel
ing of sand, or the saving of wood, or
any other kind of toll, those who EN-
plOy him will lift their hands with hOr
rOr, and utter hot words of remOn
STRANGE if he happens to ask for pay
for his services.
3. 1t might he desirable rule for Il
pastor to act upon, not to charge COM
pensation for labor ut funerals which
are held in the town where he lives.
Nevertheless, when such persons as
employ him for such a purpose pay
nothing for his support, it is difficult
to see why he should not be remuner-
member incidents in his experience
when, in order to fulfil engagements
to attend funerals out of the towns
where he was labOring, he has hired
teams. Each team would cost 81 to
SO. But after spending such an amount
fro n a not Over-plethOric pocket book ;
and after having been kept from home
half day on such business, the rela-
tives of the deceased would formally
thank him for his kindness. The idea
seemed to he taken for principle or a
fact, that minister was under moral
obligations to gratuitously Officiate mt
the funeral of everybody.
4. There is a growing sentiment in
the public mind that, as a matter of
Justice, a clergyman should be com
pensated for attending funerals, espe-
cially when the latter are among fami
lies who do not live in his town, or do
not aid i'm paying his salary. Thus, in
many towns in Vermont, the minister
is paid for such professional labor, as
he would be for performing a marriage
ceremony. However old the custom
may be of not remunerating the clergy
for such toll among those who are non
supporters of his church, or those who
reside out of his town, the venerable
ness of that custom does not prove it
to be a good one. If a new custom is
better-and it is evident that it would
be, then the long established custom
ought to be abandoned.
5. At first view, that 'hill-towD
clergyman" who charged the town 81
for attending the funeral of a pauper,
may appear to be unsympathetic, ava
riciOus, and undeniably mean in his
disposition. But pray, don't condemn
him too hastily. The writer approves
the course he pursued. If the town
pays the bills for the funeral, why
should not that minister be paid, ac-
cOrding to the same obligation by
which the undertaken will be compen-
stated for his work