Presbyterian Troubles

On other matters the Presbyterian General Assembly heard some gloomy, some heartening statistics:

>Since 1929 there has been a net gain of only 9,000 Presbyterians; congregations have had to put six members on the suspended list for every seven received.

> Church debts, however, have been reduced by over $6,000,000 in the last four years, now total about $21,000,000.

> Presbyterian foreign missions have been hard hit--307 missionaries are in Jap-controlled areas. But the Assembly voted to recruit 500 new missionaries to send to areas now war-blocked the moment peace comes. Meanwhile Presbyterians are doing more in Latin America.

> Presbyterian ministers are dying faster than they are being trained--in the last decade, for every four ordained, five pastors died.

> Like other churches that require their clergy to have full college and seminary training, Presbyterians are now faced with the possibility of getting no more ministers for the duration because the draft will get them first. The Assembly pointed out that Presbyterians are handicapped "because some other denominations with lower standards of education [e.g., Baptists and Methodists] are able to ordain ministers at an earlier age than our own; and because some other churches [e.g., Roman Catholics] are able to segregate men as seminarians before they reach draft age." Presbyterians were told to back their ministerial candidates in applying for deferment, if necessary to appeal adverse local-board decisions. Certified pre-seminarians were told to register at their prospective theological schools as early as "sophomore year in college."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.