Clifford Thies is Durell Professor of Money, Banking and Finance at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia.

Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847) was ordained in the Church of Scotland in 1803. In his first ministry, in Tron parish of Glasgow, Chalmers quickly developed recognition as a great speaker from the pulpit. A Calvinist, he was deeply impressed by the importance of faith, as distinguished from good works, for salvation.

In 1819, he was appointed minister of St. John’s parish, the largest and the poorest in Glasgow. In this position, he got permission to completely substitute church charity for public welfare, and achieved great success both in relieving poverty and in reducing the cost of relieving poverty.