CHURCH FINANCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 204, 27 August 1881, Page 4

CHURCH FINANCE.

In the "New South Wales Independent " is an excellent paper by the Rev. Warlow Davies, M.A., on " Chocch Finance," of which the following are the leading features in an abbreviated form: — The splendid illustrations of public spirit which the world has witnessed iD the last few years— of Peabody and of the Crossleya of Halifax — are not likely soon to be forgotten. Nor must ihe fact be ignored tbatj.be aggregate amount raised annualiy towardawortny objects is counted by millions. The scale on which Christian enterprises are conducted in these times will appear from that which is done in one department done— that of foreign missions— over a million beiDg annually raised for (hat noble object. A<id to this the suma raised for a thousand benevolent purposes, and the mind becomes impressed with the magnitude, energy, and splendor of the philanthropy of these days— a philanthropy whiah not only throbs in the heart of the church, bat flowß far and wide, through the numerous arteries— commercial, social and political — of the public life of our time. Thus far, however, is only the bright side of the question, There is another aide, alas, dark enough. For can it be said that even now Church finance is in a healthy state ? Is it ■pervaded by a religious spirit ? Is it j based on sound principles ? Is it embodied in wise methods ? Are we not met at every turn by faota which ought to fill us wifh pain and sorrow. Leas than £10,000,000 towards all purposes, religious, or closely connected with religioD, and £70,000,000 over the counter for drink, The inference is foil of humiliation. Christian Churches are everywhere burdened tvith debf. Institutions deserving support to the extent even of sacrificp, are languishing for want of funds. Ministers of religion even in these prosperous colonies sometimes eat their hearts out with anxiety as to Low to make both ends meet. Well-to-do people honor the service of God by contributing the rsmallest coin which bears the colour of jireepeciability. The "unmUled gentry," |a 8 an Episcopalian brother once terraei 'ihem, muster in the platts to the contusion of their solitary bigger brethreu. Ladies in rustling silks contribute their ;" mites "to the offertory. Jewelled condescend to bestow that ;on the cause of the Redeemer cf the -world which they would soora to offer ! in exchange for the first vanity that took their fancy. There can be: ft o doobt that the wearisome complaint of debt which one meets everywhere, the constant pressure for money, and the strange methods employed in raising it have made the Christian name, in too many instances, a by-word and a reproach amongst those who are without — a oless It ia the duly and d»aire of •those who seek ihe ealvation of their teliowmen to convince and conciliate. The principal blotß which disfigure the Church finance of these dayu'seexn to ua to be these; unjustifiable outlay; questionable modeß of raißing money; and, which is the root of the evil, a wide departure from the spirit, the principles, and methods of primitive Chriatiantiy. Let it be borne in mind thnt there cannot be one morality for the Church and another for the world, that it ie the Church's business to keep bafore the world the loftiest example of morality. Let Churches grasp and act upon the same principles which are acknowledged to be bindiog on the individual conscience, and we shall hear no more of intolerable burdene, fioaneißl emburrassmente, desperate shifts and expeuioniß, in order to keep the ship afloat. Pew rents area poor method of sustaining Church finances, as

they involve social distinctions, and keep the humbler classes from attending Divine worship. Then there are bßxaitri and other methods of obtaining ©oney which are equally objectionable. Are thsy mot incentive! to extravagance and display, and occasioni when giddineis and frivolity ocay rim riot under the sanction of religion ? Are not practices introduced at such timei which religions people pronciOEce to be elsewhere a delusion and a scare ? Can we imagine the daughters and matrons of ancient Christianity paying the part which our fair saleswomen at religious bazaars are sometimes expected nowadays to take ? Are there not heavy sacrifices made when all is over, and much time and toil, and money thrown away, s little of which would have made a handsome donation. Would it not be bptter to avoid " all appearance of evil," than to ekow how cloge to the world Christian Churches can tail when oneaeion serves ? What is given through literary or social entertainment, &<s., or left at s bafzaar, or paid as rent for a pew, is rather an act of exchange, than of worship, has more of barter than devotion in it ; and as it ie not the gift that is required at oar hand*, $o neither does it enrich, exalt, sod purify the soul as a true sacrifice does. The pith of the whole matter is here — not in the giving, but in the storing ; not in the contribution, but in the consecration. What we want is not some new method, but that the consciences of the people should be enlightened, quickened, tnd stimulated to do their work. If Christian men could but be aroused to a sense of their duty and privilege in this matter of consecrating a definite proportion of their substance to the service of God, the weekly offering alone would produce all that is needed. We should hays no more to complain of fine structures burdened with debt ; of religious enterprises abandoned for want of funds ; of ministers pining in want ; of hopeless inonmbrances ; of desperate ahiftejand degrading expedients to raise money for the support and spread of the Gospel. As of old, the coffers would again overflow with the freewill offerings of the people whose hearts " the Lord had touohed."