Year: 1869

OFFICE OF SUsTENTATIoN,


Columbia, s. G., Dec. 18th, '69.


To the Ministers, Elders, Deacons, and


Members of the Church.:
Respected Christian Brethren The time
appointed by the General Assembly for TAX
ing up the annual collection for the cause of
Sustentation is near at hand, and it becomes
my duty to- call your attention to the condi-
ton and wants of this great cause. 1t should
be borne in mind that there are three dis
tinct objects of benevolence to be provided
for in this general collection, viz: lst.
Help to enable feeble churches to maintain
the preaching of the Gospel. 2nd Means
to carry on the missionary work of the
Church at large 3rd. Aid in the erection
of church buildings. There are facts con-
nected with each of these departments that
deserve your particular and earnest atten-
ton.


In relation to the first, aid for feeble
churches, it may be stated that there will
probably be more than two hundred churches,
or union of churches, that will need assis-
tance to bring up the salaries of their pas
tors to $3.50, the sum recommended by the
Assembly as the minimum amount that every
laboring minister should receive. 1t is graf
flying to know, that the great body of our
churches have made considerable progress,
during the past two years, in the matter of
ministerialsupport; and that had the minimum
salary been continued at $500, it is probable
that the number of applicants for assistance
the coming year, would not have exceeded
one hundred. But it seemed imperatively
necessary that the standard should be raised.
1t was not possible for ministers, especially
those of them that had families, to live on
$500 year in any part of the country
But what was matter of simple justice to
ministers, was equally necessary to the pre-
servation of the churches themselves. A
very large number of our ablest and most
efficient ministers have been compelled to
give up their pastoral charges in order to
find support for themselves and their families
elsewhere, or in other employment. The
losses sustained in this way, as well as re-
movals by death, have, for two years past,
greatly exceeded the number of recruits
furnished by our Theological Seminaries
during the same period. So greatly has our
ministerial force been reduced by these
causes, that the churches themselves are
being aroused to the stern fact that it is now
no easy matter for them to obtain ministers,
even where they can offer them sufficient
support. 1t imperatively necessary, there
fore, that something should be done to arrest
this draft upon our ministerial forces, and
| thus save multitudes of our feeble churches
from utter extinction. We cannot at the
present time speak with precision, but so far
as our knowledge of existing facts goes, it
will require at least $25 600 to bring up the
salaries of all our laboring ministers to $3.50,
the minimum proposed.


In relation to the missionary work, it is an
encouraging sign,. and speaks we'll for the
future of our beloved Church, that almost
every Presbytery within our bounds seems
to be thoroughly aroused to the duty and
Importance of cultivating all the waste places
within its own bounds. There is scarcely
one of them that has not already, or is not
about to make arrangements, to employ one
or more evangelist in this important work.
In some cases, these evangelists will draw
their support entirely from the fields in
which they labor; but in the great majority
of cases, they will have to look to the Cen
trail Committee for assistance. To meet these
missionary demands will require at least
$4,000.


In relation to aid for church erection, it
is perhaps sufficient to state that there are
now before the Committee fourteen applica-
tions for assistance, to not one of which can
a single dollar be appropriated. These cases,
as well as others, will come up again in
January, and it is earnestly hoped that the
Committee may then have the means to rem
der them aid. To meet all these demands,
even in small sums, will require at least
$1,000 The aggregate, then, that will be
needed for all these various objects will not
be less than $45,OO0. This will require an
advance upon the contributions of the past
year of something like fifty percent. Is it
unreasonable to ask or expect this much
Does not the improved condition of the
great body of our Christian people warrant
the expectation that they will do as much as
this? Can this be regarded as burthen
laid upon the Church when the aggregate sum
would not be more than an average of fifty
cents to. each church member Let every
} church, even the feebest of them, aim tC
raise as much as this, whilst those that are
more favored do the best they can, and there
will be ample means to carry out all our be-
nevolent enterprises.


j. LEIGHTON WILSON,
Secretary of tSustentation.
4 On behalf of the Executive Committee O
e Sustentation.


OF ALL THE LESSONS that humanity ha
to learn in life's school, the hardest is to earr