The Negro's church,.

Financing Negro Churches

185

to respond on the impulse of emotions than it is to train their
members to give because of duty and because giving is a part
of worship. It was an outstanding pastor of a nationally
known church in a great city who said to another pastor in a
church rally after a visiting minister, the chief of "whoopers,"
had successfully shouted the people-"Now is the time to take
your collection."
The lack of a systematic method of financing the majority
of the churches of this report accounts for the use of methods
that are often undesirable. The long-drawn-out appeal for
five dollars more; for ninety-five cents to make the collection
even; three, four, and sometimes five collections during one
service; soliciting, selling on the streets, and deliberate emotional appeals in the sermons are all methods that defeat the
effort to train the people to give regularly and systematically.
The method often defeats its own end. It is not unusual, in
churches that have several after-collections, to hear people say
that they will give a nickel or dime this time because the plate
will be passed once or twice more. In cases of this kind, the
individual probably gives the same amount whether there is
one collection or three.
Salary of Negro Pastors
Opinions as to how well Negro ministers are paid differ
widely. Many people are certain that the average Negro
pastor receives so little that to make ends meet he must supplement his church salary by earnings from another job, or by
an income from a business of his own, or he must resort to
questionable methods of making a livelihood. On the other
side are those who believe that no men in the race are quite
as secure economically as that group of Negro ministers who
are the pastors of reasonably large churches; who receive free
rent, light and heat, and often free cars and other gifts from
their congregations.
At this point, the salaries of 588 pastors representing 599