The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-01-18
N TIKI. EAST
rs WELL rs NEST
There are Methodist Ministers
in Poor Parishes.
SOME OF THEIR HARDSHIP
Faithful Work of the Men on
the Frontier.

raise fund OF s.. 900 600 for Methods,
clergymen who exist on starvation sal
aries has served to attract attention tc
the privations and hardships which fail
TO the lot OF the preachers whom con-
ferences assigns TO sparsely settled dis
tricts in the far west.
As secretary of the commission which
gathered together the S200ae. 0coo Metho-
which was announced in thos city New
Years eve, DIR. Mills acquired the full
confidence of the Bishops of the Metho-
dist Episcopal Church in the United
States. and his latest plan will prob
ably be favorably acted upon at the next
Methodist General Conference. which
meets in 1904. provided the Bishops of
the church do not take up the matter
sooner.
The s5.o00.000 fund. If raised will be
more lasting monument TO the Metho-
dist Church than the s2a0O0oeO thank
Offering, as the new fund will probably
be kept intact. only the interest being
used, while the 10000 600 has already
been disintegrated. the largest benefi-
ciary being Syracuse University. which
received little more than s1.0l0coo
THE proposition has several phases. -
said DR.. Mills TO an interviewer. IN n
general way my idea would be to &C
quire a fund for conference claimants
the Methodist designation of its worn
out preachers.
Il admit, of course that the plan has
its objections SUCH. for instance. as the
nf vi Of Aa
among conferences which have not done
their part in assisting 10 raise the So
100000. BY doing their part / mean
contributing according to ability
This objection is merely a matter OF
detail The Methodist Church has hun
dreds of worn out servants, men OF in
tellect ond ambition. who have given
TO its services the active years of their
lives 1t seems TO me. as it must TO any
fair-minded person, that the Church has
a duty TO perform by these men. whose
sacrifices have been of the highest type.
1T is cruel to cast aside these faithful
servants, and equally cruel to frecquire
them year after year their best efforts
Of mind and body for a mere pittance.
University men are laboring with enthu-
siasm in isolated western towns for sal
aries of $500. $3.50 and 500
Away from the comforts of civiliza-
ton, denied the advantages of associa-
ton with other university men. these
servants labor faithfully year after year
1t is no light task physically and is far
removed from a round of afternoon calls.
being lionized and having the latest
MAGAZINES al ones dieDOsaI
The frontier preacher must be able to
adapt himself to conditions He does
not complain at a drive Of ten or fifteen
miles to a funeral, which must be fol-
lowed by hours of study preparatory for
the services in the little church or the
schooi-house which answers for "A place
of worship If there is no church. 1t is
mistaken impression that study is not
needed to prepare sermons in new SETTLE
ments. On the contrary. the hardest
kind of mental application is necessary.
as it is not an ordinary congregation
which listens 10 the preaching. and the
sermon, il carefully prepared. would fail
of accomplishing its purpose
THE frontier preacher must expect to
be his own man-of-all- il his con-
gIegation. and in any case to subsist on a
very ordinary bill of fare. lie must not
mind if the snow Sits through the roof
and falls on his couch. and hem ust be
willing &c respond 10 the exigencies OF
any public occasion.
Working away on starvation wages.
oftentimes with little ones to feed. the
Methodist preacher in the far west who
ministers TO small flock of people
whose circumstances are so champed as
his own little chance 10 get ahead
in the generally accepted. sense % the
term. When the active years are over !
his plight is indeed pitiable. Why doesn't /
his church assist him? is asked. II
does il it Is able. but suppose the church
is unable TO pay an active preacher ex- I
ce2t by the aid OF conference.-the then !
are the chances of the superannuate for
assistance?"
Exempliications OF the strenuous con-
ditions pointed out by DR.. Mills are fur
nished by the annual report OK the Colo
RADIO Conference. The Methods: church 1
at Evans. Col. which has eishty-three
members. pays its minister 20 and pro-
vides a $50 parsonage. Brighton. which
]
out parsonage. There are fhirty-fhree
Afethodists at Lafayette. and the Meth
odist minister receives S59e. Pleasant
View has forty communicates ard the
minister receives s. week The salary
Of the Methodist minister at De Beque
Is $50, at Del Norte ss50 and a - par
sonage; at Sheridan Lake Ssso and 81
parsonage. Even less satisfactory e The
lot Of the Methodist minister wfo l. ez-
pected 20 preach at three or four mis-
sions and receives less than 300 a year
from each mission
Low salaries are b. no means confined
10 the Colorado Conference They are
rue OF other western conferences. and
wen IN New England there are sfetso-
list cie-gynen receiving salaries rang +
Eg from sssa 20 s5ro Tia eastern cor
'trences are much better able to pro
jde for their INDECENT clergyman than
he western states
The methods that would b taken -
-zise TIE g. 90 CO. are uncertain The dis
,ositscl Of the fund 50 IS % procure The
arEes: income consistent with safe t. :
-esfne1t vii furnish 8 6uzociai prob
en- Of rsagzitrde- ard The aEDortio--
neat - fhe income snong fte various
VII require rare strsomacT
The raising e ss.ess So means Ie-
= rsts tax % about g o The reuise-- 6
hfD q .he cAurrh 81 fhe Tinted tsfe- / I
Re mercy. - procure5. ziTi Constitute z
NJ % ,ss is-xss; limp ss-ns n shs ros- :
esSfca q zry rel.<iosls eezonnsrztio- =
Re void, snA re iaro-e. with fez o
- i !