The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-02-14
CHURCH DEBT nxrING UIsHIyG.
An Interesting Essay by New Haven
 Pastor.

An Interesting Essay by New Haven
 Pastor.
 At the seventy-first meeting of the New Haven District Methodist Minis ters' association, held in Waterbury, closing yesterday, a very able essay was given on "The Pastor and Finance" by the Rev. Rufus T, Cooper, pastor of the Epworth M. E. church of New Haven. The Waterbury Republican says: "The paper was not only de- cidedly original, but instructive, as showing a comparison and in some sense an affinity between clergymen of the Methodist and the Roman Catho- lie churches as regards the part they take in the financial matters of the churches under their charge"
 In the course of the essay MT. Cooper, who, though a young man, has 8 repu- tation second to none in the conference as wonderfully successful church debt extinguisher and church builder and who is therefore specially qualified as an authority on the subject, said
 "Methodism is now in the midst of
 
 near future one of the disciplinary ques- tions asked by the bishops at the an- nual conference to young pastors seek ing admission Will be, Are you endowed with sufficient grace to enable you to build churches? The answer will be, I trust that I am thus endowed Up to the present generation a person travelling into almost any community could readily single out the Methodist church, owing to the plainness and uncouth style of the architecture but within the present generation, at the instigation of ambitious presiding eld- CTS and glory-seeking pastors, Method ism has been taking a new departure by the erection of magnificent churches encountered in too many instanees with crushing debts until she has quite lost sight of John Wesley's injunction, Build plain churches and pay for them The recent issue of the min utes of the New York East conference showed that within the bounds of the conference are located 282 churches, of which 127 or nearly 50 per cent. are in debt"
 After drawing a terse and vivid pie | ture of the work which usually con- fronts financial pastors or pastors who beside discharging the other duties of ! a pastor are expected to raise a great l deal of money for the church, MT. | Cooper said
 Two great churches, Methodism and | Romanism, look to their pastors to be I the Headers in all financial enterprises, | while the other denominations look | largely to the laymen to perform the I work. But Romanism rewards success ful wor.1 by advancement. How is it | with Methodism? How often is it that l the ungrateful officiary of hard work ing and successful financial pastor seek a private interview with the presiding elder, deplore the lack of preaching abil- ity of their pastor and suggest as the financial work of the pastor is about completed a change of pastor is desira- ble? The writer has no personal feeling in this subject, as he always has been fortunate enough to resign before the dear official brethren could make such a. request of the presiding elder To put it tersely, many, of the Methodist churches Of to-day expect their pastors to preach like angels, sing like seraphs and visit like doctors for the wages of a messenger boy. It is not matter of wonderment that here and there a bright and aggressive put doWntrodden Methodist pastor forsakes Methodism for more inviting Congregational or passionate. It is marvel that so many remain to slavishly sub init to receive the inferior appointments of the conference, while the pets of the bishops and the presiding elders are be- ing constantly promoted, not on account of their great achievements, but because nc Al years ago were prominent in the con ference and also because their marriage relations and social ties demand the pull pits of the larger churches. Perhaps l some may imagine that the writer has