Religion: The Poor Parson

Of all the Protestant ministers in the U.S., two-thirds are in debt, and a large percentage of ministers' wives have to take outside jobs. The U.S. Protestant minister's average cash salary comes to $4,432 a year for a 60-to 80-hour week (New England ministers, the lowest paid, get only $4,018). Automobile expenses largely come from the ministers' own pockets—their average travel allowance is less than $300 a year.

These depressing statistics are part of a survey by the National Council of Churches that will be published in full next fall. Editorialized last week's Christian Century: In the old American view, the parson was "the representative 'person' of the community, partaking of its representative lot—economically as well as otherwise. The lady of the manse, as helpmeet to her husband, was a sort of stewardess of the steward of the mysteries of God; she raised children as olive plants at his side . . .

"In modern America's 'money world' Mr. Parson clings to the lower rungs of the economic ladder. He is often dependent on gratuities and tips to make ends meet. Either through necessity or through too casual adoption of alien moral norms, he has become a poor credit risk; the family is deeply in debt. Mrs. Parson? She's on the nine-to-five shift, earning money to keep the children in nursery school so she can earn more to salt away for their college education—or their clothes . . ."