COUNTRY CLERGY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 143, 14 July 1909, Page 3

COUNTRY CLERGY.

THEIR meagre stipends. By Telegraph.—Press Association. . Auckland, July 8. •lHe complaints as to the" meagre stipends of country clergy, which were h irL ' Wallis in his charge ¥0 the Wellington Diocesan Synod, we«e at one time frequently heard in Auckland. Bishop Neligan, shortly after taking charge of t"he diocese, some six years ago, commented on the fact that many of the clergy were receiving an altogether inadequate remuneration for their labors, and he announced his intention of making no further appointments to parochial districts at lower stipends than £.200 a year. This mini- I mum has since been adhered to, a*nd the position lias, to some extent, been improved. In order to obviate the irregularity in the payment of stipends which sometimes occurs in the' country districts, a sustentation fund has been inaugurated for the Auckland diocese, and this is being contributed to by tin various parishes on a proportional system of assessment. When the fund is larje enough, the stipends will probably be paid direct from it, thus obviating the financial inconvenience to which clergymen are sometimes 1 subjected through the irregular payment, as well as loss of dignity involved by the occasional necessity of the parochial authorities having to be reminded by their minister of " that little matter " of arrears in )iis salary, which in so many cases is urgently needed at the end of each month to satisfy the claims of the butcher or the baker.

There are at present several of the clergy taking part in the home mission work receiving stipends of no more than £ilso a year, with an extra allowance of about £25 for expenses. Most of these men, however, are unmarried, and as their salaries are paid regularly from the central fund they are not dependent upon the fluctuations of local church finance.