.
One old man, probably sixty-five, said that this was the first time he had
ever been asked to give to the support of a church. He added that he often
felt he would like to give. Many a man said he would double the amount of
his gift if it was necessary."

A well-educated minister who has rendered nine successive years of
effective service in one community has been secured as pastor, and there
is now a most encouraging prospect of improvement in religious, moral,
social, and economic life. The increased giving in Greene Township has
also influenced the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in North
Bloomfield. They have pledged $800, instead of the former $500, for the
support of their minister, and expect to raise $1,000. Bloomfield Township
also hereafter will have the undivided service of a minister.

As a result of this movement in Greene Township, therefore, four of the
churches of these two townships will hereafter pay from $2,300 to $2,500
for the support of the ministry instead of $1,100 as hitherto, while two
communities will each have the full time service of a resident pastor. The
significance of this increase in the money support of the church will be
apparent to those who have studied modern rural church problems. The
failure of the rural churches to give a living wage, much less a working
salary, to their ministers has been one of the most discouraging facts in
the rural church situation.

If the three churches of North Bloomfield should federate as those of
Greene Township have done, doubtless their people could raise $1,500 for
the support of the ministry. Again, if all the churches of both North
Bloomfield and Greene should federate it would be possible to employ a
single pastor of even higher grade with an assistant. An automobile could
be used effectively to cover both townships. In some cases, as in
Benzonia, Michigan, one minister with one or more assistants has been able
to get better results at less expense. The plan is worth trying.

_Aurora_

In the year 1913 in the village of Aurora, Portage County, there were two
churches, the Congregational and Disciples of Christ. They were small in
attendance and membership, and it was hard to get adequate support for the
ministers. The usual results of underpaying the ministry were not wanting.
As a preliminary step in the improvement of this situation an organization
of the men of the churches was formed to promote the general community
welfar