Milford chronicle., 1915-12-10
The WILMINGTON
CONFERENCE ENDOWMENT

1 euOfL 10 place lIS aged ministers aDOl
want. Men of sense and appreciation
to say nothing of grace, have Ion
wondered why he, who gave his Iii
to a great ivine-humanitarian Caus
should, when enfeebled by age, /
permitted by those who represent an
have benefited by that cause, to di
a veritable object of charity. In thi
particular the church has been derC
lict beyond description; and canHC
claim to have reflected either the trut
of the Bible or the spirit of her Lore
The so-called soulless corporation
an institution wholly secular in it
ends-has far outstripped the churc
in responding to a high sense of dut
to its aged servants. And the fac
that the church has become restles
under the comparison argues that sh
is at last awakening to realize tina
she has taught the world high princi
pies which have heretofore not beer
adequately applied in her own rela
tionship with her ministers. Thi.
failure has not been due entirely tC
unwillingness, but to such absorption
in other important matters as crowd
ed this to the background. But We
/ are GOuAlAB uOM " nCG AA4eAA AAAI AsAA
full place of this great interest is not
the background, but the foreground
that the church can no longer consist
emily go ministering to the poor while,
in her own secret closet, lies an aged
minister of God hungry and unfed.
In the Youths Companion for Oc-
tober 21st, 1915, the following editor
ial appeared under the heading:
The Old Minister.
One morning not long ago a re-
porter, looking over the advertise
ments of situations Wanted" found
one application from man who was
willing to do any kind of clerical
work, and another from a woman who
offered to do fine laundry work He
was struck by the fact that both ad-
vertisements bore the same address.
and being curious, he made an inves-
tigation. The man was an old min
lister, forced by retirement and power
ty to take anything he could get and
was competent to do The woman
was his aged wife
There is but little that is peculiar
about the case except that it came
to light. Thousands of other old
anu AAAEAA WANGo NAAAANA s0A
fer in silence or become dependents |
upon some form of more or less grudg |
ing charity. The fact, indeed, is so |
we'll known that it would seem unnec- |
essary to speak of it, were it not for |
the further fact that better conditions |
are coming.
One of the special occasions of the |
Francisco Exposition
was Church Pension Congress Day,
which gave the Protestant laity the |
first definite information it has had
about the generous plans that the
churches are making for the care of
their superannuated clergymen.
Among other denominations, Pres
byterians, Baptists. Disciples of Christ
EpiscOpalians, Lutherans, COngrega-
tionalists, the Methodist Episcopal
Church and the Methodist Episcopal
Church (SOuth), are all working, each /
in its own field, to raise such funds
as will provide sufficient income TO
keep their old ministers in comfort
and decency The Methodist EpiscO-
pal church has set its figure at $751;
100000; the Presbyterian Church at
510,000,000; the Baptist at S10,000,000;
he Episcopalians at $5,000,000; the
COngregationalists at 100000. All
he funds together, when completed,
will aggregate at least $67 100000.
For many years the churches have
lad small funds that they used for
he purpose, but those funds have been
'itifully inadequate. Now they are 5
.oing to apply the most modern and !
ficient methods to increase them and
0 administer them.
1t is, of course, a time-worn truism =
D speak Of the shamefully small av- a
rage salary that most Protestant h
minister's get. We all know that it is 2
,ss than skilled mechanics-less, Of Il
N, than ty-hodcarriers-rece a
ut it is not so trite to think of what "
e ask of them and what they give.
The relations of the minister to
an who has any religious interests =
all are closer than those of anyone
sc outside the mans own family.
is the minister who baptizes him,
ho joins him in marriage to the v
oman of his choice, who speaks such a.
Ords of comfort as are possible to .
imam beings in time of bereavement II
id who cimmits the bodies of his 81
ad to their everlasting rest; yet "
ere are men who make no contribu- ITr
IN to the minister's income except -
cir annual pew rent, and that, di- r
led by fifty-two, would not buy two ~ ~
ats at any good theatre et Ia
There is something sardonically hu- p p
)rOus in calling a man shepherd -
souls" and pastor of his flock" 4i
d then, in his old age, turning him ~
to a pasture that his more world
minded sheep have cropped close n
the ground. We are glad there is
ing to be a change.
Few men in Methodism are poorer
IN many of her retired ministers.
ere are, therefore, few who cannot,
1 ought not to, contribute to the
dowment being raised for their bet
care. Those more able should give %
gely. The day is past for thinking
dollars when we ought to think in
ndreds; or for thinking in hundreds