Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 300, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 December 1916 — CHURCH BUSINESS METHODS [ARTICLE]

CHURCH BUSINESS METHODS

Cempsnie* Which Lend Church#* Money —How Their Income# Are Raised. , The business end of the modern church is managed in various^' ways. Most of the denominations have a central organisation society, such as the Church Extension Society of the Methodists or the State Church Association of the Congregattfnalists, to which they contribute and through which they may either lend or borrow money. There in a British cotnpany Which loans only to churches, says the Bookkeeper. There is a Canadian company which loans money on Catholic property at one-half of f per cent less than to any other denomination. In England individual churches and societies and boards of trustees have large poWers in the administration of trusts created by legacies or other gifts. The, established churches in England hold millions of pounds in such trusts. Some of these are several hundred years old, and having invested in inalienable real estate derive their income from ground rents on ninetynine year leases which have been several times renewed. Many Nonconformist churches hold similar trusts. In this country there are naturally no such safeguards unless the case of Trinity parish, New York, with holdings beyond $500,000,000, two thirds of which as distinctive church property is not taxed, may be re* garded as a parallel. Enormous sums of money lost in churches which have died or disbanded has led to the movement for the consolidation of financial interests. And as the Congregationallats have been large losers they are perfecting one of the best business systems for the avoidance of euch catastrophes in future. In frnfxm*ten^/lone $2,000,000 was buried in defunct churchof thi3 section. The medium employed to - disburse the sum left in the treasury when the church is discovered to be moribund has hitherto been one of three: First, it might be divided among the members; second, the minister might be continued in office until the funds are exhausted —in one instance $50,000 was used up this way, providing an ample income for the lucky incumbent; third, the property pi'Sht be sold and the proceeds turned over to another church. With these shining examples before them the National Council of Congregational Churches at vrnce set about a remedy. A committee on church property has succeeded in having introduced into every theological seminary of the sect regular lectures on church administration, which give special attention to legal and bus iness matters. Andover and'Yale have a course on “Legal Knowledge Important for the Working Pastor.’’ Atlanta has, lectures by laymen, and Chicago numbers among her lectures an architect, the president of a manufacturing company and several attorneys, at one time including the Governor of Illinois.

The Congregational Church hat a Territorial Association in Hawaii to accumulate church property in trust, and two years ago the American board secured permission from the Turkish Government to hold in trust the property of its churches, schools and colleges in that country. Until then individual missionaries had been the only possible holders. In the matter of church income there is still much division of system evidenced. W hile the majority of churches lean to the rental of the pews there are some like the Methodist Episcopal Church, still deeply op posed to this source of revenue. There are in New York city only three or four churches of this denomination which are “pewed," and the pew enterprise in that church entire in the United States is no more than 5» years old. Among the Jaws, on the contrary, not only, is the pew rental practically mandatory hut is is considered advisable to keep a mortage on the property, since it is an essential ele ment in their Relief that the people should be given a burden which all may share, that may he carried over from one generation to another. The departure fronl this idea in a synagogue in Newport, R. 1.. where the worshippers are'Vealthy and the building endowed, has shown the Boundness of the reasoning, for with ’ the absence of the need for effort interest has steadily declined. On the other hand the Jews have no missions in foreign countries. They believe it unnecessary to proselytize. Once a year, however, they send money to Palestine as a gift offering the tribute of sentiment Nor hag, the large synagogue any dejfend enciea. It stands alone, with no mission chapels to claim its help. Among the New Thought cults like the Ethical Culture Society and the Christian Science bodies the church to fulfil its purpose must be without encumbrance. The Scientists in this have followed in the path of the Catholic churches and no building is consecrated until it Is fully paid for. The revenues of churches- differ largely according to the sect The in come of St Patrick's Cathedral parish of New Tork, the most Important Catholic see in the United Stater With the exception of Baltimore, the ■eat of Cardinal Gibbons, reaches no higher figure than $75,000 annually, while Grace Church can count on about $160,000 a year. ,