The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1855-05-18
Religious Denominations of the q. s.

we often hear II SAID, that, II there wor(
fewer religious denominations in the United
States, there would be sufficient church &C
commodatons for everybody. This argu
ment is particular favoritc with certain
class Of persons, when they are solicited to
subscribe for the erection of houses Of wor'
ship, but in the face of this round assertion
there are, in the entire country, with its
population of 26, 900 900, church accommo.
dations for only 100000. Allowing g.,
600, 900 for children too young to 60 to
church, 1t follows that one.third Of the en-
tire population have no church to 90 to,
even il they are so disposed.
The number ofreligious sects in the United
States, are twenty, without counting the
Chinese Budhists IN California, or sundry
minor Christian denominations. The whole
number Of odifces Of worship is about &c..
600, capable of accommodating, as We have
seen, 100000 Of people. The total value
of the church property, held by these TWEEN.
ty denominations, Is nearly 100000, 900,
in exact numbers $50, 500. The aver.
age value Of each church and its nppur.cnccs
is $1,000. These facts, which ore derived
from oincial tavics vr ''.O- oo"vus, vApiv'io
another false notion, which is, that there is
too much wealth in American churches.
The most numerous sect in tho United
States is the Methodist, the second the Bap.
list, and the third the Presbyterians. The
first has church accommodations for over
100000 of worhippcrs in other words,
the Methodists have houses of worship for
onc-sixth of the population. The Bnptists
have accommodations for more than 3,000,-
600, and the Presbyterians for more than
100000. The fourth sect, in the extent
Of its accommodations, is the Congregation
al, the ifth Episcopalan, and the sixth Ro.
man Catholic. The number Of churches be-
longing to the three leading denominations
does not always follow this proportion, how.
ever. The Methodists for example, wbilo
they can accommodate but twice as many
worshippers as the Presbyterians, have three
times as many churches. The Roman Cath.
olics-thOugh sixth on the list as regards
accommodations, stand seventh in the mum.
Der Of their churches. or the principle
sec,s, tha, which has smallest cdifccs for
worship, is the Methodist, and those which
-,;,s,t h:rr tic LARGEST, are the UnitGLian>- anC
Dutch Reformed. Tho smallest dcnomina
ton is the Swedenborgian, and the next thC
: Mennonite. There are no less than City
two Tuukcr churches, and $4,000 worship
pers. Tho Friends, so numerous in this cit!
have accommodations for about 100000 o
but little moro than ono hundredth Of tn
entire population Of the United States.
The richest denomination is the Methodist
which is set down in the census tables q
! l4,936,G7l. The next is tho Presbyterian
which is rated at sl4,3G9,Ss9. The Episco
pal, which in number Of churches stand
fifth, ranks third for its church property be
ing estimated at sl3,26l,07O. The fourtl
is tho Baptist, slO93l, ,3S2; and the GIL
the Roman Catholic, Ss,973,s3s; and tn
sixth the Congregational, 81 ,973.962. o
these various sects, the two which sympa
thize the most in doctrine,ar Congregation
alists and Presbyterians-bo,h adhering Il
the Westminster Catechism, and differing
only in their form Of Government, the on
being Republican, tho other Democratic. =
Together these two sects have over 6,OGt
churches, can seat nearly 5000, 900 Of wor
shippers, and hold church property to th'
value Of more than SO, 100000,
Tho sec. whose avcrasc'valuc cfpropcrty
ranks highest, !, the Unitarian. Next comes
the Dutch Reformed, and the next the jew
ish. The Swedenborgians, Roman Catholics
and the Episcopalians follow 10 tho order
named. or the leading denominations, the
Mcthodists stand the lowest on the list, and
the Baptists next while the Presbytcrian'
and Congrcsalionalis,s hold middle place.
-Phh Ledger. ...
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