It was agreed, on the motion of the Rev. D. Beaton, that the following Church Committees be appointed:—Financial Committee, Mr. Angus Clunas, Convener, Revs. J. R. Mackay and Neil Cameron; Canadian Committee, Rev. E. Macqueen, Convener, Rev. D. Macfarlane and Mr. Alexander Gray, elder; Theological Committee, Rev. D. Beaton, Convener, Rev. Andrew Sutherland and Mr. Duncan Crawford, elder; Sustentation Fund Committee, Rev. J. R. Mackay, Convener, Rev. J. S. Sinclair and Mr. Neil MacKinnon, elder; Foreign Mission Committee, Rev. Neil Cameron, Convener, Revs. J. R. Mackay and D. Beaton, and Mr. John Auld, elder; Mission to Fishermen Committee, Rev. Alex. Macrae, Convener, Revs. E. Macqueen, Duncan Mackenzie, and Neil MacIntyre, and Mr. John MacDonald, elder; Magazine Committee, Rev. J. S. Sinclair, Convener, Revs. Neil Cameron and D. Beaton, and Messrs. John Campbell and Duncan Crawford, elders.
FINANCIAL REPORT.
Mr. Angus Clunas, Treasurer, presented the annual report of the Church funds. Rev. J. R. Mackay, in moving the adoption of the report, submitted the following motion:—”That the Synod adopt and approve of the Financial Statement, thank the Treasurer and the Auditors for their services, order the Abstract of Finances to be published in the August number of the Church Magazine, beg the present Auditors to accept re-appointment, and, above all, make acknowledgment of the kind Providence which has ordained that among a comparatively poor people Gospel ordinances should be supported with such liberality.” Mr. Mackay, in supporting this motion, said that it was a matter worthy of note and acknowledgment that for some years now all
our ministers had been paid at the rate of £140 per annum. The salaries of missionaries and catechists were no doubt small, yet he thought, in proportion to our ministers’ salaries, it could not be said that their interests were not carefully considered. As a matter of fact, nearly half as much as went to the support of the regular ministry went to the support of our missionaries and catechists. He was not in a position to speak of the increase or decrease of our Church members, but it was evident that the Church funds were on the increase. A simple way of showing that was by a reference to the totals in the years 1908, 1909, 1910, and 1911, for which one found the figures to be £2598, £2696, £3060, £3113 respectively. One was glad to find also that in all the most important of our Church schemes—as the Sustentation Fund and Foreign Mission Fund—the balance at the end of March, 1911, was better than that of March, 1910. Personally he could not help saying that he felt obliged to the congregations of the Church for the response that the appeal on behalf of the Missionaries and Catechists’ Collection, made shortly before last Whitsunday, met with. Very few indeed of our congregations failed to respond, and some of the congregations that are without pastors did nobly. Although the facts stated show that the schemes of the Church are, generally speaking, in a healthy way, and ought to be grounds of thanksgiving, it was essential that the congregations should maintain the same amount of interest in the Church’s finances, and especially in the Sustentation Fund. At present thirteen ministers are on the equal dividend platform. It was a pleasure to hear that Harris was about to have a minister placed over them in the person of the Rev. Donald MacLeod, who had recently served the Church so well in Canada. This, at the same time, would mean that the drain on the Sustentation Fund would be greater, and it were much to be desired that all congregations having pastors placed over them should aim at being self-supporting. One would be unwilling, as long as it could be avoided, to mention names, but if a congregation before receiving a minister promised to contribute £100 to the Sustentation Fund and afterwards seemed to content itself with less than half that sum, it raised serious problems for the Sustentation Fund Committee.
Rev. D. Macfarlane, in seconding the motion, said that it was satisfactory that the funds were being kept up, and that although the ministers were increasing in number, the funds allowed the same salary. At the same time it was necessary that congregations which did not contribute to the amount promised should be reminded of their duty. Revs. D. Beaton and D. Mackenzie also spoke in support of the motion, which was unanimously agreed to.