' r 4 \ } 4w 'Jbv PASTORS OF::::::::.::: MISSIONS s. Rev. Joseph G-wynn, B. D. 1531 Jefferson w \ Baltimore, Md. ClUJMLTY TO PASTORS OF MISSIONS. yft -y''*" ' ___ i. There is perhaps no subject that should draw the sympathy of the true" Christian world more than this If this subject ft^uld be applied only to the treatment of Mission Pastors by heath¬ ens, it would not be half ho bad; but to the shame of the stronger churches and their Pastors and Officers, who are respon¬ sible for the weak churches it is even truo - in this, our own Christian America, a_land of schools, a land-Q,f humane societies that protect even the dumb brute from being cruelly treated,; a land of mission¬ ary societies, that care well for its foreign missionary pastors; a land of Brotherly or¬ ganizations that care for the sick, dying and dead; and yet a laud in which thousands of these Pastors ai# as beggars because their cruel treatment year after year. rhe conditions under which our home ini.-iMionarf Pastors have to labor are in¬ deed. pecuuap tlj^tjie present times in ' rl live. rphe Pastor receives his appointment at Coii^emje. to a charge with any number of nhnabers from 0 to 100, and maify of these he- never finds. How¬ ever,- he is sent to such a place for the sot purpose of building up Christ's Kingdom there, an<^ if in this he would CRUELTY TO PASTORS OF MISSIONS. x be successful, iu the present day, it will require his whole attention and time, and the fewer his members the more of his time it demands to speedily increase his membership, visiting from house to house, organizing the young, finding and making something for the unemployed to .do-etc. All of this and a hundred times more be must <|o, —that's right, that is what God intended and that is what the church intended; but the pastor must live and properly care for his family, and pay his debts, and be an example for the people in every respect. The Home Missionary Pastor in thou¬ sands of Gases, when he has done as much real church work as any man can do, is left without sufficient support to property clothe and feed his family, say nothing about the paying off of necessary debts. Such is the case of thfi Home Mission Pastor, while he is being patted on the shoulder and called 'My dear brother,'' by hundreds of pastors who have a plen¬ ty and to spare, and who do no more actual church work than their less favored broth¬ er, and this familiar pat on the shoulder and brotherly address together with the usual climatic reward, "you've dohe well,"- they leave their less favored- brother to return to his liome to buy food and clothes for his family and to pay off hi- debts on such money (stuff) us that. Oh for a Christ-like brother-hood that will share in a business way with the less favored brother. In speaking thus, the God sent sup¬ port, thankfully received from the M. M. Societies is not fotgotten. It is more than gladly received and that with a feeling of gratitude that c innot be express in words; still, it must be remembered that such support is only as mere tips, or f-mall gifts as compared with what ought to and can be done. Home Mission Pastors, like other pas¬ tors, need guaranteed support as much as the pastors of self supporting churches. A. salary,'-"-presents from any source are gen¬ erally good, but they are uncertain and and hence the Missionary cannot affoid to depend on them; because, wfoeu he works a whole year and only receives be- tvveen one and $200 from his church, he needs a guarantee for the balance, in or¬ der that he may pay his debts and main¬ tain his credit. More than once, already have I seen the day when I ate rny breakfast, 1 knew not from whence would come my next and was afraid to tell my wile the real condi¬ tion of things. Still I had that Church that was assigned to me to care for—to fail would be a disgrace. This is the condition of many while hundreds of others are living on the fat of the lamb, and that all in the same socalled "Brother-hood."—Where is it? Yes, it is cruel to so treat the Pastors of , Missions. They are ruled by the same laws as others; there are certain monies which they must collect for others wheth¬ er they get theirs or not; they are pun¬ ished just the same as others for failure to meefthe Connectional demands. If they fail to pay their debts, they suffer disgrace just the 6ame as others, regardless to the fact that they have been working for their Connection, but depending on the people whom they serve for pay, but the pay did not come. Such a condition can¬ not be but cruel at its best. The responsible parties. First of all, the pastor is responsible for a reasonable salary from the few he serves. The brother-hood to which he has ob¬ ligated himself, pledging to be governed by its rules, is and aught to be responsible for enough of each brother's salary to give him a respectable living or else with¬ draw its binding rules. Yes, yes, the brother-hood is the re¬ sponsible source, and it is able, and it should see to it that each brother has a Jiving salary before any one, or class of brethren is allowed a surplus thereto. It is cruel and wrong to bind two men by the same law, and demand of them equal work and give them uneaqual pay, unless there be a specification of the same in the said law, and to which the con¬ tracting parties have both agreed. It is quite gratifying to know that many of the various denomi¬ nations have already begun to thus right, fully care for their pastors of missions. There are many like my.^elf who Ike the mission work, but because of a lack of proper support n the part of their Broth¬ er-hood, the wotv of their choice often becohies the thing that drags down their ambition for spiritual work and compells them to seek secular employment to live. —Often it means reputation lost, credit gone, and family ties broken for¬ ever. Is it not cruel? N Have Faith. Faith is good, but w'.iile on earth one stays must have money at its back ; that's for what God placed the money here. He never intended that faith should take the place of money, any more than Jle does money to take the place of faith. It is mere nonsense for a broth u- who lives on the fat to say to his less ^favored brother, You must have faith " and m 6 then give him no money. We are aware of the fact, that the largest debts of our churches are dealt with by pastors who receive the extra pay, but we are also aware of the fact, that it is easier to pay $10,000 with a thousand members, than it is to pay $1000 with 50. We conceed the fact, that one man may be-s$orth more than another, but we also holcl that every pastor is worth a respectable living, or should be, anyhow, and we plead that every man should be t^hus cared for; because until this is done, in most cases, one cannot tell who is real¬ ly most deserving the extra pay. Moreover, the pastors and men who deal with the largest debts have not even as much as to ask for their extra pay, while the pastors of missions seldom, if ever, get the Set and living salary, ' even with the Missionary Money thrown in as a spe¬ cial blessing. The writer is fully convinced that the A. M. E. Church in the United States, is guilty of this treatment to her pastors of missions. The writer is a pastor of a Mission in' this denomination and is glad that he has the honor of being thus connected. He is a lover of this Child of God, but also, an out-spoken condemner of its faults. Now, dear brethren of the mission work, it is not expeeted that you will all agree with this article, but the facts set forth herein, whether you would or not, you experience, more or less. It is time that we who are in tfce mission work were awake to the fact, that we must be carnd for in a business way; and let us go to work at once; take up this question and act on it, and with God's help a real Brother-hood will be es¬ tablished and the Kingdom of God will be more successfully fostered 5y African Methodism. To whom it may concern, write me what you think. NOTE. The author of this pamphlet, which may seem to some, hostile and out of place, has thus written to remedy the most shameful situation in the great A. M. E. Church, i. e. the treatment of its Pastors of Missions. 1. He holds that he is a Pastor of un¬ questionable character in the said church, and is there to stay, until he is forced out by nnrighteousnegs. 2. He holds that the Pastors of mis¬ sions in the said church are cruelly treated. . V* " .. 3. He holds that such treatment can be and should be and must be stopped. 4. He holds that such treatment is a shame and a hindrance to the best good. _5. He holds that the facts herein may be rejected and trampled under foot, but when picked up again, they will still be as true as true can be. _6. He holds that the remedy herein mentioned and set forth will give fair treatment to all and establish a Brother¬ hood that will be pore nearly Christ like. 7. He holds that the said church is the greatest pure Negro organiztion in the world, and that its chief officers are all "great men; but if men at all, they are likely to err; and some one, great or small must correct their error; thus with firmness and facts, yet, with humility and trembling; and with venture and courage, yet with love and reverence for his Church, its Official and Members, he thus writes, praying that God may send the desired ef¬ fect. „ = ' ' ".-r 12 OUR MISSIONARY SOCIETIES. Our Missionary Societies are a bless¬ ing. All praise and be to them for the wonderful work they are doing. The writer has been cheered up by them more than once already, and has contributed to their support reguarly and praised God for their existance. ||i Still it must be remembered that our Missionary Societies have too many differ¬ ent kinds of ends to meet to do half for the Mission Pastors that is positively needed to be done, and thus they are left to beg their way and often go in disgrace because of debts, etc. If the A, M. E. Pastors be men who are able to stand alone and care, for what is committed to their care, let them strive for more pay and less pension, or pay and no pension,—pay me for what I do and I will ask no pension, save it be legally due. • ' . ' Jjw ' Our home mission work is suffering, being only about half worked up, because the Pastors of Missions ate not half paid and afe compelled to spend their time at secular work which should be spent in the spiritual, this they do to earn money enough upon which to live . ~«i ^ OUR DISCIPLINE—SILENT. Our discipline Mentions no Set Salary for Pastors of Missions. All churches or charges not paying, or being able to pay $500.00 per year to married pastors, in Disciplinary words,— "The pastor's support shall be paid by the church or churches he may serve," while in actual fact' any amount under -$500.00 the pastor can get, is paid— whether it be $100, more or less. ■ , •f- ' : ! 14 Our Discipline says, without conditions that "The salary of a married traveling s preacher shall be $500.00 each conference - year, or any greater amount the charge is *9$ able to pay, with board for self, wife, and children under fourteen years of age, and his house rent, fuel and traveling ex¬ penses." It nowhere makes any definite provis¬ ion like this for preachers, pastoring charges not able to pay the $500.00 sal¬ ary, Jet lone the extra. The pastors who are fortunate enough to get into the stronger charges are doub¬ ly provided for; they have a salary of $500 and, also as much other as the charge is able to pay, "torhich according "to. the Spirit of Christ, should go to steiigth- en the weaker churches, that their pas* tors might be paid, if possible, the dis¬ cipline salary. Our dicipline, so far as practical ends are concerned has said and is saying to our pastors of missions, "Get blood out of your turnip (charge) or perish," while our Bishops are saying to their pastors of missions, with "few exceptions, If you cannot, and do not know how to get your salary it is your own "misfortune'' and we are sorry for you. 15 It certainly proves that there is something that is very \vr mg, when it is a fact that more than one half of our pastors are receiving less than Disc, salary) while many receive it thribbled and more. In view of the fact that no provision for the most needy part of the Brother-hood has been made, save in a happen-so waj-, through the God sent Missionary Societies, let a business-like waj7 be here presented, in which the home missionary work will be cajed for and mad^ a desirable field. THE CHRISTIAN BROTHER-HOOD SALARY. ** By the Christian Brother-hood Salary is meant an equal £uid liberal salary for each brother before any one or more brethren are allowed a surplus thereto. If the A. M. E. Church and Ministry is a real Connection and Brother-hoofl for Christ, binding, as it does, each brother by the same restrictive laws, as to their labors and duties, it is both wrong and sinful to make it a law that any pastor may receive from his charge all it is able to pay that is more than the set Disci¬ pline Salary, while the most of his breth¬ ren are not receiving much more than one half of the set Disc, salary. 16 Our large and stronger churches have been made such by the Connection and not by any means have they been made what they are by the alone direc¬ tions and work of the individual pastors who receive their extra monies or favor, and which should be paid to the Connec¬ tion for the purpose of bringing every brother's salary to a living standard be¬ fore any brother receives a surplus there¬ to. In fact, if the A. M. E. Ministry be a Christian Brother-hood, in which every member is required to do all he can to build up the cause of Christ, as directed by the laws of the Brother-hood, every brother should be paid by the Brother¬ hood, and not as they are, every member compelled to work by the same rules and then, each for himself,-1- root hog or die, for a living salary, savethat one is fortu¬ nate enough to be in charge of one of the larger and stronger churches. —The mem¬ bers of the stronger churches aught to be ashame to thus keep their extra monies from the'suffering pastors of their sister churches. —Where is the Sister-hood, and the Christ Spirit? How to Establish This Salary. First, there is but little evidence that it will be done where it aught to„be done. It aught to be established, made a law 17 and enforce] by the General Conference, but this body, as to ministers. consists whole of that class who are receiving the the Discipline salary and many of them, double and thrible it; and, tlvir sympa¬ thy for their brethretj, who are l