Novel Way of Paying Church Debts

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 16, 18 April 1907, Page 13

Novel Way of Paying Church Debts

The numbers of bazaars and sales of- work which are held- annually to- pay the interest, on mortgages, etc., -due on Church property ; without ever reducing the capital debt bring to mind (writes "a correspondent of the Edinburgh ' Catholic Herald '), a suggestion made a good many years ago by six gentlemen, iroeroJhers of a congregation of a city church, who agreed to in-sure there lives ?or £1000 each, and to pay Me annual premiums on saimie, VL -?£ j J hat their Particular church would benefit at their death by the above sum, and tlie church would then be free from debt. Of course, they would assign the policy to the then rector or his successors. th'6ught e at 'Sit WaS nOt aCCepled ' aS '•" waS r It Would 'be Trafficking, in Men's Lives. At. the time of writing four of the six >have died,, and the original debt would, if the offer had been accepted, 'have been reduced to a very small sum. Could

this way of reducing church debts not come into force, as there are nci doubt members of various con- ' gregations who would not be able to beqwatih such a large sum, but by paying a small annual premium, would be a>ble~ to accomplish the good work they have at heart?' , '• Our representative interviewed a distinguished clergyman of Birmingham, and one who has had a' great deal to 'do with .reducing a large debt on a church-, who gave his opinion on our correspondent's " letter as follows :—: — , - ' The proposal to make provision from the very beginning for the extinction of mission debts is most important. Nothing -kills the enthusiasm and generosity of a congregation so effectively as the heartbreaking .task of raising annual .inteiest for fifteen or ■ twenty years on • , A Debt wl.»xoh Never Grows Less. The insurance idea has been run very successfully and on a large scale in the United States. It is perfectly simple -and quite mnab jectionable, proVided the right sort of benefactors can be found to undertake the extra burden in addition to their share" in the ordinary expense's of the mission. _ ' Another Idea is to borrow as' municipalities do, that is, for. a definite number of years, paying interest at a higher rate so as to extinguish principal arad interest together at the end of thirty or -fifty years. , -„. ' To be successful, a scheme of this kind should be diocesan. It is said that something of the sort is" working we'll at the present time in the diooese cf ' Liverpool. '