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

1872.] FINA~CE5 OF THE CHURCH. 345
lead him always to give cheerfully and systematically, as the
Lord bath prospered him; so that information in relation to
any particular canse is needed not to shmulate, bnt to guide
him in his gifts.
Appeals b~sed upon the wants or embarrassments of the
Boards, or even of the missionaAes, by repetition lose their
power. We see this clearly exemplified this very year. "The
frantic cries for help," uttered by all the Boards, had little
effect on the contributions of the chnrches. The Church must
be stirred by the higher motives of worshipping God and honoring and obeyin0a Christ, by our gifts. The oftener these
are appealed to,-the more they are pressed,-the more will
their force and obligation be seen and felt.
What has been said of the method of presenting inform ation shonld also be said of the gathering of the offerings for
church work. They should be gathered for church work as a
whole, with the fact distinctly before the people that the
amount will be divided among the several Boards and Cornmittees, in the proportion determined by the Assembly, or by
the Committee on Benevolence and Finance, under its direction. In cases, however, where a donor specifies a particular
object, let his direction be followed, and let the utmost liberty
of choice in this respect be accorded to all.
It makes a deep impression to say to a congregation who
bave been made acquainted with the field and the work these
numbers represent, "The Board of Forei~~n?\Lii
ssions needs
for its w~ork this year five hundred thousand dollars; the
Board of Home Missions four hundred thousand; of Church
Erection two hundred thousand; of Education one hundred
~nd twenty thonsand; of Ministerial Relief one hundred thousand; of Freedmen one hundred il~ousand; of Publication
eighty thousand; and of Sustcntaticn fifty thousand. What
we give to-day will go thi~ug~ each of these channeLs, in the
proportion before stated, to honor Christ and to save lost
men."
Those who have tried this plan holding up
in connection with it the doc~'rine that givil)g to the Lord is
worship, have found that in no other way can they get so