CHAPTER X FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF THE THE success of foreign missions largely depends upon the financial support it receives and upon the candidates available for appointment. The investigation by this Commission reveals the fact that there is not a leading Missionary Society in Europe or America that is properly supported. In the judgment of the officers of all of these Societies, work that ought to be done is left undone, open doors are unentered, and even what has been begun is often disastrously neglected because of the insufficiency of the financial support. This is a condition that confronts the great Missionary Societies of the world to-day. In order that there may be no misunderstanding, it should be stated at this point that there is no Missionary Society which believes that success depends wholly upon financial support. There is a universal expression of opinion that it is through the Divine Spirit that missions will and must succeed. No matter how abundant the funds, or how many the worthy candidates for appointment, unless the work itself is owned of God and the workers at home and abroad are under His direct guidance, the work will fail. With this statement at the outset we can return to the discussion of the financial side of the question, which is indeed an important element in the operations of every Missionary Society. It has been characteristic of the foreign missionary enterprise as a whole that it has been carried on to a large extent by Societies within the Church rather than by the Church itself acting through its official machinery. Even where foreign missionary work has been conducted by a Committee appointed by the recognised ecclesiastical authorities, as in Scotland, interest in the work has been confined to a comparatively limited circle of people and has not characterised the Church as a whole. Until the Church realises its missionary obligation to evangelise the world, and until it enters upon the fulfilment of the same with all its corporate strength, it will never attain full power upon earth as the living body of its Lord. APPORTIONMENT PLAN A movement has recently been started in America in several denominations which, if successful, will put responsibility for the support of the foreign missionary work upon the Church as a whole. It is called the Apportionment Plan. The plan contemplates 1. A decision on the part of the denomination as to what its immediate responsibility is for the support of its foreign missionary work. 2. The apportionment of that responsibility among the local churches in the different civil or ecclesiastical areas. 3. The subdivision of this apportionment among the individual churches, so that each church will know its assigned share of the amount to be raised for the support of foreign missions for any particular year. In favour of this plan is the fact that it answers the question so often raised by local churches when asked to contribute to the foreign work, "What is our share? " There is a feeling on the part of some that they do not wish to give more than a legitimate proportion, while wishing to give all that they should give properly to support the denominational missionary work. This plan is meeting with some opposition, but upon the whole with unexpected success. Under the plan many local churches at the beginning of the year officially decide that during the year they will raise a certain fixed amount for the support of the foreign missionary work of the denomination, and then plans are inaugurated for securing from the congregation the amount thus voted. In estimating the amount to be raised for the support of the missionary work of any communion, the plan has not been generally adopted of making an appeal to the denomination to provide the total amount which the Missionary Society ought to have in order fully to occupy the field abroad for which it is responsible. One strong advocate of the plan of a full and comprehensive statement of the actual needs claims that progress has been greatly hindered by the lack of a comprehensive policy and a clear statement of the amount which, in the judgment of those who are most familiar with the field, would be adequate for the accomplishment of the task of evangelising the world. On the other hand, there are many who believe that the statements which Missionary Societies would thus furnish would appear at once to be so far in advance of what is possible that it would tend to paralyse effort. Many claim that the plan would appear so ideal and impracticable that it would discredit the missionary work in the eyes of many leading contributors, if not of Christians generally. In the United States and Canada several denominations have made announcement of the amount of money they require each year to accomplish the task of evangelisation to which they have set their hand. These represent from two to six or seven times the total present receipts of the respective Societies. Other Societies have declined to issue such comprehensive statements. At the same time, all the Societies freely declare that they need a better and more liberal support in order to carry on their work abroad. In Great Britain one leading Society asks its constituency for an increase of some 20 per cent. to support its work, while it declares that "adequately to meet the needs in the fields for which it is responsible it ought to have a sixfold increase." Another great Society in England is confident that it should have, in order to fulfil its obligations, a fivefold increase. Neither of these organisations, however, is putting these maximum figures before its supporters and calling upon them for that large advance at once. Those Missionary Societies that have endeavoured to determine their maximum annual needs hope to reach the end they have in view by a proportionate increase each year. The Apportionment Plan above referred to, which is at the present time being widely adopted in some of the denominations in America, is meeting with marked success. This plan puts the responsibility for its missionary work upon the Church as a whole, while at the same time it assures the Missionary Societies of certain fixed amounts for their future work. Many local churches under the inspiration of this plan have more than doubled their regular contributions for the support of the work, and have done this without apparent difficulty. The plan has brought into the support of foreign missions many who have hitherto stood aloof. It has made the contribution for the foreign missionary cause no longer dependent upon the moving character of the address given on the day the offering is made, or upon the weather affecting the attendance at that time. The money pledged is collected during the year by different methods, according to a plan devised by each local church, the one thing constantly kept to the front being that the amount decided upon at the beginning of the year is to be secured. In most local churches a missionary committee is organised which has for its object the seeing of every individual connected with the congregation, and soliciting from each a contribution towards meeting the obligation for world evangelisation that has been accepted. EVERY MEMBER A SUPPORTER In recent years in both Europe and America the idea has been suggested of securing from every member of every parish or congregation a contribution for the support of foreign missions. There are a few individual instances in every denomination in which that ideal has been nearly reached, but they are comparatively rare. But all agree that effort should not be relaxed until all members or communicants have a share in the support of a work the responsibility for which belongs to the Church as a whole, and should not rest upon a comparatively small number. It must be evident that missions cannot reach the height of their success until every member of every local church or parish contributes to this work to the extent of his ability. Until such general interest and support is secured, the Church as a whole will not be doing its duty in carrying the Gospel of Christ to the nations of the earth. While many Missionary Societies have set before them the ideal of securing an adequate gift, not only from every congregation, but from every member in each congregation, this standard has not been reached or even approached. In some of the denominations in the United States from one-tenth to one-third of the local churches have no share in the foreign missionary work of the denomination. In considering this statement we must not lose sight of the fact that in America there are many congregations recently planted in the newer sections of the country which are still themselves receiving financial assistance in the conduct of their own work. Even these aided churches should, for their own sakes, have a substantial share in the larger work, although many, as yet, are non-contributors. One of the extreme cases, which is acknowledged to be unusual, is the case of a single denomination containing 21,291 congregations, of which 10,118 gave nothing last year for the support of the foreign missionary work. It is not surprising, therefore, that the average giving per capita for foreign missions for that entire denomination last year was only $22, or less than one shilling. There are also in the United States, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Danish, and other |