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history |
During the 18th and 19th centuries the stipends of minister were insufficient to allow them to make provisions for their widows and orphans, as insurance might have, and so instead they sought to do so by means of a friendly arrangement among themselves. The consequence of this was the establishment of ministers friendly societies, and the earliest of these was the Friendly Society of Ministers in Connection with the Relief Synod, which was first constituted in 1792. The society was run by the Synod on a purely voluntary basis, deriving its funds from annual payments made by all members and also from congregational collections. Upon the union of 1847 the society was renamed the Friendly Society of Ministers in Connection with the United Presbyterian Church. In 1797 a second ministers friendly society, by the name of the Friendly Society of Dissenting Ministers, was established and this society consisted of ministers of any denomination, the first members being drawn from the Secession Church, then from the Burgher and Antiburgher Churches, the Reformed Presbyterian Church and the Original Secession Church. In 1892 the two aforementioned friendly societies were united together under the name of the United Presbyterian Minister's Friendly Society, and the organisation continued under this name until 1963 when it was dissolved, and all assets and liabilities were transferred to the Scottish Mutual Assurance Society. |