The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-05-24
Religious NetOs Of
 Montgomery
MINISTERIAL RELIEF
'RnPoRT TO PREsBYTERIAN GENER- AL ASSEMBLY,.
eerkctnry Sweets, of Executive Commit tee, Submits statement of Work t4 Dene to Aid the Preachers.

8 Greensboro. N. C.. May 23-l &Thfough it's Secretary, Henry H. sweets. the Executive Committee of *Mipfsterial Education and Keller pre- &ok1ted to the General Assembly or the Rreshyterian Church its annual report
 ID it's fnenoIaI statement the com, | mittee savs th-.. Il received from all aunrces for Milisterial Education. Tn E tifa last year $24,93O; for Ministerial Relief. S2I.45I; and for the Endowment tEohd of Minister al Relief $44,206. The a2kreEate receipts were $lO0,oeS: fT Kinder the tontc of Ministerial Edu- cation the report says that the death rate among the Assembly's Ministers from 1891 to 1907 was thirty per year. Wlasle an average of eleven were rHtir- ed each year en account of sickness 3of old age
 one in each fl. of the church member ship. Stree 1gp1 there has heen slow but steady increase in the number ot candidates for the ministry. Last year tlta Presbyteries reported to the Gen eral Assembly SSa and in the fall to the various svnods, 35s candidates. Nine Presbyferies. with 2s5 churches and 1s.2S0 members. reported no can didates under their care. The import apea Of providing additional ministers is pointed out by the committee report
 'sIn our church are 1.051 organiza- fiDns that have nc one to lead them. Some of them are hard fields. Thought
  aht. In some of these from three to six must be grouped together, and with the aid of home mission funds. they can offer support to about 200 pas-
 9These churches are the most fruit fnl sources of ministerial supply. One- half of the candidates. 1S0 young men, now. preparing themselves for this work, came from small churches. where services were held only monthly or seEni-monthly. John k. Mott has well
 
 he'd and transformed into towers Of strength for Christianity
 The church Is constantly losing by deeth her ministers of marked intel lecfual and spiritual ability. Their places must be filled by men of learn ing. of love, and of faith. At no other age, to few other people has ,;iod God EiyeS hfighter prospects for their solution. tnAn He has given the South. The wHyss of infidsiity and doubt. dSv of mater, oyer Europe and many parts of the North are beating more insistingly uppn our borders. The hordes of for oigners confined for years almost ex- ciasiveiy to the North and West, are now coming, in ever increasing nun. hefe. into the midst of us.
 Great Negro Problem.
 The great negro problem to which tlN first General Assembly of our cA2rch, in the noise and confusion of a tasA ibie war. gave her sympathetic and denying and gifted men to assist those | mtkn Of God, Dr. Snedecor and John | Ltffle, and a few men and women over | the church who have heard the sad appeal of this poor, superstitious peo-
 sYour committee has taken the care | men and women from Presbyterian | homes at our State institutions of | higher learning. We have secured re- | parts from presidents of seventeen of Er@ 401, Aa Pfrl1F rnV1f of 12.22s students. Of these. 15 per cent or 1884. are Presbyterians, 13S young women and 1,696 young men.
 TtWhile the committee of Schools and !. Colleges are -endeavoelng to maintain a pare, religious atmosphere in our own ifIstitutions. and 70 commend them to tAis large bQdy of young men should net be overlodked. The Synods of Ala bama, North Carolina, South Carolina aAd Virginia, have selected men with peculIar gifts, have supplemented their salaries and have placed them as pas tdrs at these ever-growing seats of leRrning. Tn institutions where the scientific 1 eeurse Is much more prominent than the classical, the aim Is apt to be to | teach men to make a living. rather | this materialistic age. great care | should be exercised in shaping the | cotrse of study. 4ssWe are rendering aid to 24O can didates this year as against 22S last | year. The amount forwarded these | was $24.365 as against $22.O77 last year. This is the largest amount, by more | than $2,000, that has been used in the | history of the church in any year. This maximum amount of appropriation con tinues at $10o per year to each candi- date who needs that amount
 @-Of the 240 candidates enrolled, nine- tx-five are in the theological semina rEes and 145 in the colleges" The committee recommends that 1t | be granted by the General Assembly | authority to loan money to candidates, i as some of them express desire to | borrow rather than to accept the money | as a gift. Credits on these notes may | be given from time to time to the mis- sion work done by the candidates for | which they now receive compensation. |
 Distress of Ministers. Under the general head of "Ministe- rsal Relief" the committee reports that | it has made great progress in the last three years in relieving distress in the l homes of Presbyterian ministers. Tn rfous benefciaries in the performance o9 this work. It is pointed out that many ministers of the church receive less in salary than thousands of day iSborers in our land. and yet on their 41feagre resources numerous and seri ops calls are made. On the roll of benehciartes there are forty-four min isters, 140 widows and twelve orphans Tn these homes are eighty e;ght :ath- erless children under IA years of age | forty-six of whom are not ten years
 n the last year three ministers and aMe widows have been removed from fNn roll by death. The average age of rr1faisters who are benefcaries is 65 wears and they have served the church 1 an average of thirty-six years.
 AyThe manual adopted by thhe Assem- blr" says the report. provides that ai1v minister over 70 years of age. who aa In need. and whD has served less ffian thirty years. shall be entitled by srsch service to draw from the Com nilatee of Ministerial Relief an annual sum for his support without the neCes- therefor by the Freely tery. We have