How To Pay Church Debts And How To Keep Churches Out Of Debt | by Rev. Sylvanus Stall
This book is the outgrowth of an earnest desire to afford aid to the thousands of churches to-day burdened with debt, and to the thousands more which are struggling to meet current expenses. In these pages we have sought to show, not how we would do this work, but how the most successful pastors all over this country have done, and are doing it. We have had no pet theory to advocate, but have sought to bring to all who are entrusted with the financial management of churches such information and suggestion as would enable them to perfect a system already in use, or to substitute such a one as would help in advancing them in their return to the only perfect method - the ordained law of the tithe.
| Title | How To Pay Church Debts And How To Keep Churches Out Of Debt |
| Author | Sylvanus Stall |
| Publisher | Tress Of Knapp & Finch |
| Year | 1881 |
| Copyright | 1881, Tress Of Knapp & Finch |
| Amazon | How To Pay Church Debts And How To Keep Churches Out Of Debt |
Price, $1.50, Net,
How To Pay Church Debts
And
How To Keep Churches Out Of Debt.
By Rev. Sylvanus Stall, A. M.,
Author Of "Pastor's Pocket Record," "Ministers' Handbook To Lutheran Hymns," Etc.
"Owe No Man Anything." - Rom. Xiii: 8.
New York: I. K. Funk & Co., 10 And 12 Dey Street
1881.
Tress Of Knapp & Finch, Easton, Pa.
Preface- This book is the outgrowth of an earnest desire to afford aid to the thousands of churches to-day burdened with debt, and to the thousands more which are struggling to meet current expenses. In these ...
- Chapter I. Church Debts
- Hinder The Gospel - Should Return To God's Method - Not Of Heathen Origin - Not Sanctioned In The Bible - The Paralyzing Effect - Attracting Outsiders A Delusion - The Greatest Sufferers In The Chur...
- Church Debts. Continued
- Another and very sad result of church indebtedness is the great distrust which it begets in a community. Claims presented remain unpaid and the church falls into disrepute. Persons untaught in these m...
- Chapter II. How Churches Get In Debt
- Injudicious Expenditures Of Church Officers - Unguarded Action Of Collective Bodies - Accumulation Of Small Debts - Undue Extravagance In Erecting Some Churches - Inefficient Building Committee - Adop...
- How Churches Get In Debt. Part 2
- The policy of another class of over-prudent officers is to assume the unprovided-for debts, without submitting them to the congregation for payment. This course, although slower, accomplishes the disa...
- How Churches Get In Debt. Part 3
- It is most necessary, therefore, for each committee to avail themselves of the experience of others. Churches similar in size and construction to the one to be erected should be examined, and useful ...
- How Churches Get In Debt. Part 4
- When any one complained because the work was not hurried forward, it was suggested that money would do the work, and as fast as it was at hand it would be applied. All were allowed time to pay their s...
- How Churches Get In Debt. Part 5
- XI. Unpaid subscriptions are the cause of some church debts. Not unfrequently is it the case, that after subscriptions are made, they are forgotten, or the payment neglected. In these cases blame a...
- Chapter III. How To Pay Church Debts
- Difficulties In The Way - Preaching On The Subject A Wrong Policy - The Pastor's Part In Prosecuting The Work Stopping The Evil - Choice Of Plan The Subscription Plan Disadvantag...
- A Wrong Policy
- Many pastors pursue a ruinous policy. They think that all contributions for benevolent work at home, or the spread of the gospel abroad, should be merged into the fund for local support. The heathen m...
- Stopping The Evil
- After the debt has been paid, the first thing to be done, says Rev. William Ramsey, is to prevent any further increase of the evil. If the churches which are now involved in debt should be relieved...
- Choice Of Plan
- No one plan is equally well suited to meet the requirements of all parishes. Each pastor, or committee, must select such a one as comes nearest to meeting their wants, and then modify until all diffic...
- Subscription Plan
- Perhaps no plan has been more generally used in this century than the well-known form of subscription. It has some advantages and some disadvantages. The principal trouble with the subscription plan i...
- Selecting A Committee
- Where the method to be used is such as to require a soliciting or canvassing committee, the greatest care is to be exercised in the selection. They should be of such (a.) as are willing to inconvenien...
- Making Collections
- On the subject of collecting the subscriptions, Rev. James Porter, D. D., very aptly remarks: We advise, also, that payment be kindly and promptly demanded as in every other business, and of each ...
- Note Subscription Plan
- For some years past the note subscription plan has largely superseded the old form of general subscrip-tion. In some respects it is much to be preferred. 1. It suffers but a very sma...
- Suggestions
- All subscribers should have a clear understanding of what disposition is to be made of their notes. If the trustees, or the parties to whom they are made payable, propose to sell the notes, or use the...
- Tax-List Plan
- In paying a debt, some congregations have resorted to the assessor's book, or the amounts fixed in the tax list in order to secure an equitable division of the entire amount among the various parties ...
- Apportioning Plan
- A plan, kindred to the tax-list plan, and a modification of it, might be called the apportioning plan. It consists in selecting a judicious committee, whose duty it shall be to acquaint themselves, by...
- Share Plan
- The plan of dividing the entire amount of the debt into equal portions, and calling them shares, has worked well in many parishes. This may be illustrated by an example or two. A Presbyterian church i...
- Envelope Subscription Plan
- This plan differs from the regular subscription, in that the payments are made weekly, or monthly, in envelopes, instead of the entire amount being paid in one or two installments at greater intervals...
- Free-Will Offering
- From Contributed toward the liquidation of the church debt. Enclose the amount REGULARLY, seal, and place in the collection basket. This plan may be combined with the regular envelope system ...
- Sinking-Fund Plan
- Where a congregation is composed of such as have no accumulated property, but are dependent upon their daily labor, it is well to use a sinking-fund plan. This consists in the appropriation of an annu...
- Helping Plan
- Rev. William Ramsey, in considering how weak, struggling congregations may be enabled to pay their disheartening debts, suggests the following: It can be done in a short time, by a number of Chris...
- Pastoral Letter Plan
- Where the people are fully awake to the duty of giving, no easier, more convenient, or efficient plan can be used than the printed circular, or pastoral letter plan. It does away with all undue pressu...
- Mortgage Donation Plan
- This may or may not be a good plan, according to circumstances. If the congregation is absolutely so poor as to be unable to pay the debt, or any part of it, then it is a most excellent plan. But if t...
- The Defrauding Plan
- Congregations have been known to borrow money on trustee notes, to give a first, second, and even a third mortgage on the church building and lot, and then in an hour of financial pressure have been k...
- Church Entertainment Plan
- After the Church of Rome had preached against the God-ordained law of the tithe, it found itself in the pitiable plight of poverty. To escape from the sad but inevitable consequences of its sin, it so...
- Can The Debts Upon The Churches Be Paid?
- Three years ago the recorded loans to the various churches, secured by bond and mortgage, not including loans obtained upon notes and other securities, in the city of New York alone, amounted to the e...
- Chapter IV. Bow To Keep Churches Out Of Debt. (Established Churches.)
- Advancing Toward The True Method - The Pew System - Pew Renting - Arguments In Favor Of-Against - Modes Of Renting Pews - At Auction - From Schedule - Sittings For The Poor - Rental Agreements-Notices...
- The Pew System
- Seats in churches are a somewhat modern convenience, nor are they even now in use in most Roman Catholic countries. Among those earliest mentioned we find them in the churches of the Normans, made of ...
- Against Pew Renting
- Some of the chief arguments urged against the renting of pews are: 1. That it leads to a disparagement of the very class of persons who are the special objects of divine regard. It make...
- Modes Of Renting Pews
- One quite common method of renting pews is by fixing a special day, and after giving due notice, have all desiring to become pewholders assemble at the specified time, and then rent the pews according...
- Sittings For The Poor
- God has decreed that The poor shall never cease out of the land (Deut. xv: 11. In every age they are to be a living illustration, to the church, of the condition to...
- Seat Rental Agreements
- Where seats are rented there are usually found such as are glad to escape the payment of the same by the use of any and every unprincipled pretext. At the end of each quarter the collector is evaded, ...
- Collecting Pew Rents
- As a rule it is almost universally best to have the pew rents paid either monthly, or quarterly, in advance. Those who fail to call on the treasurer of the church and pay punctually, should be called ...
- Payment In Envelopes
- In a few churches envelopes are used for the payment of pew rents. It saves the treasurer much trouble, and the pewholder much annoyance. The idea is capital. There is but one question, however, and t...
- Tax Upon Pews Owned By Attendants
- Where churches have been built upon the joint-ownership plan, it is usually necessary to provide for the current expenses of the church by levying an annual tax upon pews owned by attendants, and supp...
- The Free Pew System
- The system of having all the pews free is, unquestionably, the true system. It is the only custom which is accordant with the principles of the Biblical method of church support, and the one which mus...
- Voluntary Contributions
- Many churches which are using a sort of give what you please, or as little as you please system, try to dignify the same by the scriptural title of Free-Will Offerings. This is a misnomer, a perve...
- Annual Subscription
- There still are a goodly number of congregations in rural districts and new fields, which seek to provide for the support of a pastor and current expenses by circulating a subscription at the end of e...
- Permanent Subscription
- The permanent subscription does not of necessity suffer all the disadvantages of the annual subscription. If it does not leave the time and mode of payment optional with each subscriber, but affords s...
- The Envelope System
- During the past decade, the old system of pew rentals has been largely superseded by a system of regular offerings, placed in envelopes, and at short and regular intervals deposited in the collection ...
- A System Uniting The Local And Foreign Work
- As some pastors prefer a system which will provide for both the home and foreign work, we present in full a system introduced by Rev. W. T. Wylie, and known as The Bellefonte Method. There are two ...
- What I Will Do For Jesus
- I will (God prospering me) give weekly at least the sum set against my name for the objects mentioned below (reserving, however, the right to cancel or change this pledge at any time, by due notice to...
- The Treasurer's Book
- Procure a book properly ruled, with space on the left-hand margin for register number, a second space for the entry of names in alphabetical order, a third space for amount of subscription pledged, an...
- The Scriptural Method
- God would not, and most assuredly did not, establish his church upon earth making no provision for its perpetuation and support. In the very beginning God instituted the giving of tithes for that purp...
- Conclusion
- Rev. George Harris, in presenting a system of weekly contributions now in quite general use in the State of Rhode Island, urges the necessity of a system and meets some of the objections in the follow...
- Chapter V. How To Keep Churches Out Of Debt (New Enterprises.)
- Danger In New Enterprises-Practical Suggestions-How To Proceed - Where To Build - PlansSpecifications And Contracts - How Much Money To Invest - The Final Cost - The Scriptural Method Th...
- Where To Build
- When once it has been determined that a new church is to be erected, one of the first things to be considered is a proper site. A good location ought by all means to be secured. In a city the s...
- The Plan, Or Draft
- Unless you have an abundance of money at command, and desire to erect something different from the seventy-five thousand church edifices in the United States, we would recommend that you beware of exp...
- Specifications And Contract
- When the proper model has been selected, in most instances it will be found advisable to secure an architect to give an accurate draft of every part of the building, giving, also, such specifications ...
- How Much Money To Invest
- Invest all the money you can raise, but not more. Build as beautiful and costly a church as you can pay for,* but in making your plans, if you would be on the safe side, make a full allowance for unre...
- The Scriptural Plan
- The first account we have in the Scriptures of any building erected for the worship of God, is the taber-nacle. The account (Ex. xxxv.-xl.) is briefly this: When on the mount, Moses received from the ...
- The Sinking Fund Plan
- When a congregation foresees the approaching necessity of repairing or rebuilding their church edifice, they would do well to follow the method pursued by Jehoiada, Joash, Josiah and all others who pu...
- The Pastoral Letter Plan
- This plan has already been presented on page 87, and it remains only to present a specimen adapted to securing money for new enterprises, and to add a word as to its advantages. The following lette...
- Joint-Ownership Plan
- The joint-ownership plan consists in an agreement upon the part of those interested to subscribe to the building fund, with the condition that the value of the subscription be returned, upon the compl...
- Joint-Stock Plan
- Had it not been for that which was meant for temporal wisdom, but which is everlasting folly, no such devices as the joint-ownership, joint-stock and other plans would ever have been known of. The nec...
- A Catholic Priest's Plan
- Father Maguire, of the Roman Catholic Church, gathered a congregation in North Albany, N. Y. In two years the little temporary chapel was no longer able to contain the audiences, until one Sunday, aft...
- Other Plans
- As much that relates to the subject of how to keep new enterprises out of debt has already been presented in Chapter III., on How to Pay Church Debts, we refer the reader to that department of our s...
- Chapter VI. How To Raise Money For Missions, And Benevolent Work
- The Requirements - Need Of System - Giving To Christ, Not To Societies - Where Most Methods Fail - Results Of System In Giving - Annual Collection Plan - Annual Subscription - Quarterly Collection - ...
- Giving To Christ, Not To Societies
- To the great mass of contributors the blessedness of giving is entirely lost. They are caused or permitted to feel that they contribute to maintain some struggling enterprise of Christian work. They d...
- Where Most Methods Fail
- The failure of most methods is due to the fact that they fail to reach the masses. When large revenues are to be secured in any government, it is done by imposts and duties so levied as to reach all c...
- Results Of System In Giving
- In presenting some of the results of system in securing the contributions of the churches, let us consider - I. The effect upon the cause, and II. The good which results to the individual contributor...
- Annual Collection Plan
- Some congregations have such an awful sense of the local needs of their church, and such a horror of collections for general church work, that what little conscience they have left as to their duty in...
- The Annual Subscription
- The annual subscription is a modification of the annual collection plan. Annually the subscription is circulated among* the congregation on Sabbath, or a solicitor goes from house to house during the ...
- A Quarterly Subscription Plan
- We append a plan which has overcome many of the difficulties of the usual quarterly basket collection. On the Sabbath appointed let the envelopes be placed in each seat, or distributed by the deaco...
- Raising Money For Missions
- The cards are not to be inspected by others, but the pastor will keep a complete record of all contributions, and admonish such delinquents as neglect or but partially use this means of Christian grow...
- Monthly Contribution Plans
- The superior principles of the monthly plan, after what has been said on the foregoing plans, requires no comment. We append a number of forms and methods: *The cards and envelopes, printed and rea...
- Weekly Contribution Plans
- The weekly contribution method, connecting the offertory with each public service, possesses many excellent features. When, in 1842, the Free Church of Scotland was by a quick stroke cut off from gov...
- Weekly Contribution Plans. Continued
- For an envelope system uniting the current expenses of the church with the benevolent contributions, see the Bellefonte Method, page 146. Another Form. - Some persons may like the following form, b...
- Plans For Daily Offerings
- During the past few years a system has been in successful operation in many of the Presbyterian congregations, which is known as the Foundation-Fund Plan. - The plan is this: (a.) Each communicant who...
- Directions To Collectors
- 1. Collect in the first week for each month, at the rate of one cent a day. and mark the amount paid in the proper column. 2. If any one wishes to give more than at the rate...
- The Box System
- Some years ago a box system was introduced among the churches of the General Synod of the Lutheran church. It consisted of a neat little box with an opening, into which a regular offering was to be pl...
- Private Treasury For Offerings
- The most liberal and at the same time the most cheerful contributors are those who statedly lay aside into a private treasury that portion which they design for the support of the gospel and benevolen...
- Pledge Or Covenant
- The biography of eminently pious and useful men since the Reformation shows that great numbers of them have recognized the obligation statedly to devote a portion of their income to charitable uses. ...
- Chapter VII. The Sabbath Collection
- How Giving In Worship Is Profaned - The Term Penny Collection - Announcements Of No Collection Gratifying A Covetous Few - Luther's Three Conversions - The Irreverent Manner Of Gathering The Off...
- The Sabbath Collection
- The liberal deviseth liberal things; and by libe-ral things shall he stand. Charge them that are rich in this world - that they do good - that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willi...
- Chapter VIII. The Tithe, Free-Will Offering And Alms-Giving
- The Tithe A Perpetual Memorial Of God's Sovereignty - It Was Required From The Beginning - It Is Universal And Perpetual Tithes Under The Clearer Light Of The Jewish Dispensation - Various Tit...
- The Tithe, Free-Will Offering And Alms-Giving. Part 2
- And Melchizedek, King of Salem, brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and ...
- The Tithe, Free-Will Offering And Alms-Giving. Part 3
- IV - The Fourth Tithe. Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer ...
- II - Free-Will Offerings
- To arrive at a clear understanding of the difference between tithes, offerings, and free-will offerings, it will be necessary to state them connectedly. The tithe is the one-tenth (as the name indicat...
- Advertisement. Pastor's Pocket Record. Undenominational
- Arranged By Rev. Sylvanus Stall, A. M. It is a neat little book of 200 pages, bound in lavant morocco and stamped in gold, affording space for the recording of 69 church officers, 575 members and 5...
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