The Mode of Raising Funds for Church Work [pp. 330-351]

1872.1 FINANCES OF THE CHURCH. 339
information, and of taking the collections for the several
Boards and Committees. Bef9re noticing what are deemed
the defects of the plan in use, it will be proper to exhibit the
value oF some of its features and the great good it has accomplished.
It would be difficult to speak in too high terms of il~e
feature of this plan, which lays the responsibility of furnishing
information and of taking up the collections npon the pastors
and elders of the churches. They are the instrnctors and
leaders of the people. If they are fAthfui, they can do far
more than agents or secretaries to bring their flocks up to
the requirements of frequent and systemafic giving. In performing this duty they will themselves become thorou0~hly
acquainted with the wants of the world and the work of the
Church, because they will give careful and regular attention
to these great subjects, and their intelligence and activity
will impress themselves on the people as an ever-present and
therefore constant force.
The plan of assigning each of the eight departments of
church work to the first Snuday of a particular month, was a
great improvement on that which left this to tbe judgment
and convenience of each Session. The issue also of a circular addressed to the Sessions of all the Churches by the Board
or Committee to whom the day belonged, containing information, and reminding them of the proposed collection, was
an admirable feature of this plan. Unquestionably it has accomplished much good. It has introduced a certain degree
of system into the movements of the churches in the great
field of benevolence, and it has had a tendency to bring up
delinquents.
But this plan has a serious defect, which operates in two
directions. The one is that it confines the work of giving information to the whole congregation, on any one cause, and
the opportunity of placing their duty before them in reference
to it, to a single Sabbath in the year. The question who will
get even this amount of information depends upon the state
of the weather, and, if the collection is taken in the church by
the plate, the amount of it is equally dependent on the weather.