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16 THE
Ecclesiastical
MINISTERIAL EDUCATION AND
RELIEF.
Abstract of Fifth Annual Report.
The Executive Committee of Minister
rial Education and Relief respectfully
presents to the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church in the United
States its annual report for the year,
from April 1, 1908, to March 31, 1909.
This is the fifth annual report of the
consolidated committee, comprising the
forty-eighth annual report of the Executive
Committee of Education for the
Ministry, which was organized in 18G1;
and the eighth annual report of the Executive
Committee of Ministerial Relief,
which was organized in 1901, to take
up the work of the "Invalid Fund,"
which had been in the charge of the
Home Mission Committee since 1867.
Financial Statement.
From April 1, 1908, to March 31, 1909,
the receipts at our office were as follows:
Ministerial Education, $26,706.61;
Ministerial Relief, $35,034.71; Endowment
Fund of Ministerial Relief, $36,524.62.
The receipts for all causes for the year
were $98,265.97.
While our work has been continually
expanding and bringiig tetter returns i:<
every way, it is a matter of great ideaslira
t r% t-Ati r? nyxmmifta/v #$%?** ^ ?
ui V I.V j v/ut wutunikcc l?ai UJC UUIC<J
expenses have not been materially increased.
The office expenses for toth
causes for the year have been 8.1 per
cent of the receipts, making the average
cost to each cause a little more thtn four
per cent.
(Sod is hearing and answering the prayers
of His church. Last May the Presbyteries
reported to the General Assem
ui> o<a uunaiaaies lor me ministry, an
Increase of forty over the previous year.
January 1. 1909, the stated clerks reported
to us 422 candidates, a further
increase of forty-seven over the report
to the Assembly in May, 1908. 4
The need is still very great. In 1891
we had one candidate to every 447 of
our members; in 1901. one to every 797;
in 1908, one to every 716. While the Improvement
since 1901 is gratifying, it is
far from what is desired or demanded
l>y our ever-increasing responsibility fo'h
at home and abroad.
Last year eleven Presbyteries with 333
churches and 22,240 communicants reported
to the General Assembly, no candidates
for the ministry.
Aid For Prospective Medical
Missionaries.
Leing advised by the Executive Commit
toe of Foreign Missions that tho-e la
urgent need for an increase in the rumber
of those who are preparing themselves
to serve ihe church as nif-dical
missionaries In foreign land?, and having
received request from one of our Pre>
hyteries to aid a young man who had
been examined and received as a candidate
for the ministry, but who in'end ;
In na n mnHInn 1 ? ? *
nitlteo irade a lean of $100 tc. him tn th?
same ccnd'tions that loans rre r.ow mrdo
to candidates.
We request the As>emblv for 'n'ormation
to guide us in answering future
ronuc?-ts for aid to prospective medical
missionaries who have the endo-co ; e it
hi "
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOUTt
of Presbyteries and the Executive Committee
of Foreign Missions.
The Number of Candidates.
Ijast year the Presbyteries reported t3
the General Assembly 3T5 candidates fo(_ .
the ministry, an increase of forty over
tlie previous year. January 1, 1009, the
stated clerks reported to us 422 candidates,
a further increase of foity-seven
over the report of the Assembly it. May,
190S. We have teen able to secure Infoimation
concerning 414 cf these.
Of the 414 candidates, 137 are in the
seminary, 190 in college. 33 in schools
and academies, while 54 for the present
are at work.
Of the 137 In the theological semina,i?D
AO iui.j
..vj, -i - aic in- in*; iii 11 ii vear class, ?JO
in the second, and 59 in the first.
Of the 190 in college, 3 are post graduates,
46 are in the senior class, 30 in
the junior, 59 in the sophomore, and 52
in the freshman.
Whence They Come.
We liave learned the occupation of the
fathers of 392 of our candidates. Of
these, 197 have fathers who are farmers,
56 are the sons of ministers. 34 of mer
chants. 18 of laborers, 12 of carpe nters, 8
of physicians, S of manufacturers, 8 of
traveling salesmen, 7 of professors, 6 of
lawyers, 5 of bankers, 4 of druggists, 4
of mill men, 3 of insurance men, 3 of
railroad men, 3 of newspaper men, and
3 of real estate men, while the remaining
13 are the sons of men engaged in
11 different occupations.
Country Churches.
The important bearing of the country
church on the problem of ministerial supply
is clearly revealed by the investigations
of your committee.
Of 392 candidates now enrolled in our
Presbyteries, more than one-half (197)
are the sons of fanners. This is a matter
of remarkable significance when we
remember that our church is not a church
of the country, but rather of the towns
and cities. Of 410 candidates reporting,
185 came from country churches and 107
from churches where services were conducted
only twice a month, and 79 only
monthly. One hundred and seventyseven
of these candidates came (rem
churches with a membership of one hun
dred members or less.
The Synods of North Carolina and Virginia,
which have a much larger proportion
of rural churches than any of the
other Synods, reported to the last Assembly
143 candidates, which was 38 per
cent of the number reported from the
whole church (375). We find that of 1,183
ministers of our church whose names
and places of nativity appear in the Ministerial
Directory of our church, published
in 1898, Virginia, North and South Carolina
furnished .37 per cent.
Tn view of these fafte il la >
for grave concern that more than 600
of the feeble churches of our Assembly
are now pastorless. Reports which have
come to our office, reveal the fact that
200 vacant fields, composed of from 1 to 7
churches, which are able with the aid cf
Preshvterial, Synodlcal or General A&rembly's
home mission aid to support a
jiasioi , nave no one to minister to them.
Of 410 candidates enrolled in the
Presbyteries at this time, 287 decided to
enter the ministry before they entered
college. - *
Of 412 candidates, 19 were admitted
to communion at ten rears of age or
under. 243 between the years of eleven
[. May 12, 1909.
and fifteen, inclusive, 103 between sixteen
and twenty,-13 between twenty-one
and twenty-five, and 4 between twentysix
and thirty.
Of. 410 candidates reporting, IS feb
the call of God to the ministry and decided
to give their lives to the work under
tbe age of ten years, 3n between
eleven and fifteen 9.?* imtivoon >!>>"?
and twenty, 39 between twenty-one and
twenty-five, 21 between twenty-six and
thirty, 7 between thirty-one and thirtyfive,
and 3 between thirty-six and forty
years.
Of 83 candidates of our church who
dec'ded while in college, to enter the
ministry. 58 were in our own Presbyterian
colleges, 6 in colleges under Presbyterian
influence, 2 in Presbvterian cni
leges, U. S. A., 2 in Melhodist, 2 in nonsectarian,
1 in Lutheran and 1 in Reform,
while 16 were in state institutions.
A pure Christian atmosphere is also
greatly to be desired in order that the
decisions formed at home may be maintained.
Often the influence of college
life tends to draw away from the purposes
formed in the more congenial atmosphere
of the home.
The State Institutions.
Complying with the direction cr the
last Assembly we have given careful attention
to the Presbyterian students in
the state colleges and universities.
We find that in 26 state institutions
scattered throughout all of our Synods,
there are 13,325 students of whom 2,179
are Presbyterians or prefer the Presbyterian
Church. Twenty of these institution1}
have been visited by the secretary.
In all of them, with two ?ppn.
tlons, the claims of the ministry have
been presented the past year.
The presidents, many of them active
officers in one of the evangelical
churches, seem deeply interested in the
spiritual welfare of the students.. Most
of the faculties are composed of men of
high Christian standing?many of them
officers in our ov.n church.
One danger confronts our. church in
the course of study, which Is becoming
so popular in the high schools and colleges
of the land?the substitution of the
scientific for the classical course. In a
very few instances, the chair of nhiloso
yiiy is filled by men of rather rationalistic
views.
Financial Assistance.
We are furnishing aid this year to
268 candidates, as against 240 last year.
This is the largest number of candidates
assisted by our church in any previous
year In her history. The next greatest
number received aid in 1893, when 261
were on our rolls.
The amount forwarded this year was
$26,473.70, as against $24,365.12 last year,
ivh'.rli *1 ?? ?
.?.>.vu ?>ii/ui c man in excess or
any amount paid previous to that time.
The maximum amount of appropriation
continues to be $100 per year to each
candidate who needs that amount. Almost
every candidate requested the full
amount. This is due in part to the fact
that living expenses have been greatly
Increased, and irany of the students were
unable to secure profitable employment
last summer.
We earnestly urge each candidate who
has a sufficient income 6r whose parents
aro able to pay the full cost of his prei>aration
not to call upon the committee
for aid.