It was with interest that I read of the financial hardship faced by many clergy (Clergy struggling to pay bills turn to charities and payday lenders, 7 September).
As a member of a rural North Yorkshire congregation, I am well aware of falling numbers and unrealistic workloads which are not alleviated by suitable financial remuneration.
This is not new. In his book Yorkshire Oddities, the Rev Sabine Baring Gould (composer of Onward Christian Soldiers) wrote about the case of Rev Mr Carter, curate of Lastingham, North Yorkshire.
With a family of 13 children and a stipend of £20 a year, he struggled to make ends meet. He supplemented his income by selling fish, which he was skilled at catching, to the local gentry.
The main thrust of the story, however, is that Carter’s wife ran a pub that parishioners were encouraged to attend to sustain them on their long journeys home after the service, and in which he would entertain them on his violin.
The story centres on the visit of the archdeacon, who was alarmed at reports of events in Lastingham and Carter’s defence of his actions. In the end the archdeacon acknowledged the propriety of the arguments and complimented the curate.
Perhaps Baring Gould has shown a way to solve two of the crises facing our rural communities – the pitifully low pay of many of our clergy and the remorseless march of the closure of rural pubs.
Peter Allen
Cawton, North Yorkshire
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