YOUNG MINISTERS WIVES. ROUGH ON BOTH SIDES.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 237, 14 January 1888, Page 8

YOUNG MINISTERS WIVES.

ROUGH ON BOTH SIDES.

A gentleman who occupies, a prominent position in one of the minor Methodist J bodies in Melbourne, has stated, that owing to the dissatisfaction caused by the engage merits and marriages of many young Methb-; dist ministers, in all probability a, proposal would be brought forward at the forthcoming conference of his church t6 make a rule rendering it compulsory for the future for young ladies aspiring to be ministers' wives to qualify themselves for the position by going through a series of test examinations, somewhat similar to those passed by young ministers, and by approving themselves to the church authorities in other ways, It appears that recently the sons of God (young parsons) have been picking up with and marrying fch© fair daughters of men, or unconverted maidens, rather too frequently to give satisfaction to the older ministers and elders of the ohurch, it being a rule amongst the Methodist bodies (often ignored, perhaps, but yet a rule) that ordi- ; nary church members even, and more particularly ministers, should not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. I It is oomplained that by these marriages not 1 only are excellent and pious girls unfairly ; treated, although it is thought by the old j men that they sltould have the first chance, j but that at the same time persons entirely ' unsuited for the sacred office are brought j into it. Again, other young ministers select very pious but uneducated and unrefined girls, who are utterly incapable of leading and edifying the female portion of tho flock, and it is considered that if' a probationary terra had to be gone through, these would be unable to comply with the rcquirod conditions, and so could be kindly but firmly rejected as being not quite up •to the standard required. The proposal, if made, is likely. to meet with groat opposition, not only from the young ministers, but also from many of the older men, on 1 the ground that it is calculated to increase rather than lessen breach of promise cases, and the minor Methodist bodies have suffered quite enough from threats at least in this direction recently, for young ministers could I safely flirt with unconverted girls, , who by the way, make far more agreeable partners for even parsons to flirt with than demure religionists, knowing that they would have a loophole to escape through, when marriage was mentioned in the course, of examination referred to above, and through which their worldly charmers would not be able to paas, conversion being one of the essentials for the office. Should the proposal meet with the approval of a majority of the members of the conference and become law; we would, judge that young Methodist' ministers, would find it very difficult to obtain wives at all, for if we mistake not, there are but few young ladies either converted or uncpn-. verted who woulcl submit to, run the risk of being rejected in the way referred to above for the sake of a position which never yields very much more than £100 per annum.