Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-03-20
PASTORS SALARIES
DON'T MEASURE UP
TO COST OF LIVING
Some Methodist Episcopal
Churches Will Increase Minis
terial Support This Year.
NOW FAR FROM ADEQUATE
snn.lnl p,.nalcn 10 ENcry ENcnine

MOwhraN, superintendent Oh inc boNci
district of the Wilmington Nj. T.. Con
ference, submitting his annual report to
The conference today, touched on the
question OF ministerial support Several
charges have Indicated intention to m
crcas,, pastors salaries. and ''wC are
thankful for the evidence OF increasing
hhcralitv among the laymcn, he said,
"1ct We arc IN NO adequate measure keep
mo psc, with the swiftly soaring price OF
Tho ,yst of living Or. Nowhray report
follows.
With profound gratitude to our Heaven
X Father for health and ability towork, We
come again from the fields oi toll 10 tell
of some of the things which have been
dnnr m His name and for His sake.
II Is caIiS, Tor rejoicing that the working
ranks uf the ministers on dover district
have not been broken 10y death this
Year We are AL here.
Tho brethren today are coming up
from fields " hich have been storm swept,
~nov blocked and ice bound To an un-
1i,tiaI degree \oi IN the memory oi the
oldest uhahitant have these untoward
conditions existed for such a protractcd
pcriod We have seen aS much snow
and experienced colder weather, but Tor
day- and weeks, Yea, even months. con
,litions have been such that not even a
single service has hccn held IN many OF the
country churches. and the town churches
I..lc had hard rowing They could get
to church but scarcity oi iucl lpr. Gar
5i,Id- orders which strangely cnjoIncd on
churches to conserve fuel by having fewer
church scr,lrc> and allowing saloons full
tin4,. broken ,uwn or frozen up heating
systems. practIrallv pat the town churches
our If the running The tide water see
non. where thCN depend largely on what
comes out oi the water for their living,
bi> been paralylcd for weeks on end.
If results are not ZIP tu the high water
mark there's j reason ! ndcr these
conditions the brethren have met well
nigh lns5Iruountahlc difficulties Il wilI
nj hc surprising il there shall come from
fhc-,. rlaec~ stories ii unpaid salaries
and bcrcvolrnccS ii the minimum
Chaucc~ on Che Adjournment ot last
conferences ". found our~clyc, without
s.tfl.scr' force - man The district ~Ca-
fond Circuit va> lcit - hc supplied and q
a., pr tNo after that CraPo w:tS left
without pastor I'M fhn transfer q Rev
W / Matthews. Ell hl~ own request. q
Car,l,N. On aston district Rcv ] NJ
hcl>o III Pennington Wa ~ carly Juno
tr1n,frrrcd ta Crapa aud Rc> L ;.
y ID =
~tliuie UA~ appolntc! III supply Farming
ton Scaford CIr9ut VAS hlled II Tho
transfer % Rev Hugh >tTain from AUS
fin. Central Pennsylvania Conference
In November. Roy 4 G. Smith. who vaS
appointed II last conference ~ Rladc~.
decided % part company with II. leaving
the charge on November ~ RcN + "
Mills. 4 local preacher of Crapo, has been
tlIarcd In charge of that work. Governor
I 4 Townsend appointed Rcv Howard
DAVIS. pastor ~ WIr church II Bridge
willie a. chaplain ~ I'D First Delaware
Regiment. and Rev I 1 Ferry. ono q
our highly esteemed retired ministers,
has since hron taking carc g. the interests
al Bridccvllc Brother Terry proposes q
MAKE his future home with hcsc delight
ful people
>;l.ric@ The matter # ministerial
support has received con>I lcrahlc .ttc8-
tiur th.- wear. but the results arc not Ett
uhat tn, ought % i, Ihtr" h.lyc been
increase more ~ less H. several charge. a~
follow Milford hc..d~ tho H., With AZ.
lncrc.-, et 500 Dover Harrington.
>,iior,l Circuit and Rchoboih. ctch 500,
Houston and Nagnolia $3.50 each Bcthct
Camdcn Felton, Csle~toWu l.CNyc~.
VI, Ilra-8r' ~caiord and MI
.ul-lulrc caca >lo0 Hooper I-lani
auI Lpar S10ca.h maknC tot,I increase
+ e 81 several charges have Indicated
t',..- intention ~ ulaH" Increases nCAt
,cuf
While ,he~, arc considerable and wc
.r, thankful fof the evidence of Increased
libcralitr among the layucn. Yet W arc
d. no adequate measure kecpln" pace
vlth tho swiftly soaring pr'cc of The cost
n living
More than u month ago government
statistics declared that the cost of living
had increased So per cent since 1914,
and >lncC those statistics were gwen out
There has been an additional increase
which viii easily bring II up 10 100 nar
cent That is "a sal:T1 of 500 would buy
"a much t. supply the living needs III 1914
~ q 600 VIII buy now and yet there arc
u.rl charges On tn, diStric' which arc
paving the same salary they did twenty
wear, ago These places are asking the
minister to do all tire sacrificing they fully
content 70 III ~mue with their drowsv
con-cicncc~ while thc'I pastor must do I'll
~uri~ q. thing Ia order - keep Qua Of
fb.r debt | have ten charge ON this
dI>trirt which are paying o. proposing 70
;rN 5000 or lc-e m0StlA lcs~-io their
naster'> support ard thc>T men arc facing
Tie problem 81 keeping Themselves. their
fimih,- feeding d horse or buying gasoline
H. order - properly look after their work
Ou, brother who must keep . horse told
Iuc That hc WI. paying s. ln bu>hcl for
corn aud So per ton for h1v and his
~tEr, j. $500 IcSIdc~ tins hc has him
>-lf nd Nllr 10 feed aud clothc VIII
some lol- headed bu~inc>- layman figure
'uat out pIca-e without an entry on
dcbll sd, u tho ledger
In some Instances This condition seems
vcll nigh inevitable because the country
elurch,S arc being depleted and the folks
Who were one time their support IN both
attendance and material things arc going
u the towns. or elsewhere, on Sunday
through the increased means Of transporta-
tior sunday is q gala day and gasoline
receives the contribution which once went
into the Lords treasury and the people
VINO filled the pews are on the go. This is
NJ complaining note nor yet Is If fairy
tale, but stern and solemn fact which
confronts Us and the rural church The
Board of Home Missions and Church
Iu5enslon allows 10 me on this district
the sum Of S57. with which 10 supplement
these inadequate salaries ii these hard
pressed missionary fields
improvements great things have
been done this year IN the way Of inn
proving church property The condition
of the country, being al war, IS perhaps,
in part responsible for this The long
delayed work Of rebuilding the church
at Glendale was begun in the late fall
and was being pressed with vigor, but
II was too late to complete the work IN
"A -