The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1869-11-26
CHRISTIAN POSITION AND ACTIVITY.


of the First congregational Church of
Aurora, Illinois, and furnished for pub
LEGATION in the Beacon, OF that city. 1t
contains information of value to every
Christian and friend of education:
While thus every consideration of Glu-
ty impels us to faithful and Jealous Ia
Dor for the evangeliZatian of the land,
we may labor hopefully. Great facts,
which run through a term of years and
outliYe the operations of a Christian
people, are full of encouragement. *Let
me cite some OF these facts which have
fed my hope and courage.
Our educational system is the out
growth of our Christian idea of the
value of man. 1t is in point, then, as
showing the development of Christian
civilization, to give some facts concern
ing our schools. The census of 1860
reports the number of public schools at
| l06,915, with 4,917,552 scholars. The
average number of pupils was one in
six of the entire population, and the
average income per year for each pupil
| was S6.27. OF higher institutions there
were 6,636 academies, with 10000 stu
dents, and 445 colleges, with 1869 stu
dents; making the whole number of
colleges, academies and schools in the
country at ll3,O06, in which were en-
ployed 1872 teachers, with 5,4l1. $50
scholars, while the annual expenditures
amounted to S33.990, 1872.
So high an estimate is put upon edu-
cation that the people as nation have
wrought for its advancement. The
| largest grant ever made by any govern
ment at single time for educational
purposes was that of our Congress, in
the midst of war. of 1000 acres of land
to each State for each of its Senators
and Representatives i'll Congress-the
proceeds to be applied to the founding
of institutions for the promotion of az
riculture and mechanical education.
This grant, restricted as it was to the
loyal States. made donation of 1920
600 acres, which at the government price
gave the sum total of SS,775,000.
Never have private donations to the
cause of education been so liberal as of
late. Within the past eight years no
less than SS,000.000 have been given to
| various institutions of the land. Old
institutions have thus been set forward
into larger opportunities of usefulness.
and new institutions have been started
fully equipped for high service. These
facts reveal a spirit aud activity harmo-
NOUS and cooperative with distinctive
ly Christian effort.
But let us turn to other facts.
The Methodist Episcopal Church has
$4,000 preachers and a membership OF
over two millions. No church in the
country is moving onward with Il more
definite aim or larger plans. The Bap-
fists have 1920 churches, and l,6S9,S45
members. The Presbyterian church re-
port 1922 ministers and n membership
of about 100000.
:. THE Congregationalists = churches,
2.7S0; ministers, 2,9l9; members. 267,-
453. Including Canada, there are 2,90G
churches, 1909 ministers, 272,974 mem
bers. The gain in 1866, the year before
T these statistics were gathered, was 6t
churches, 3,9l3 members, and % minis
tiers. Of the churches, ], 5lS are in New
England.
E The Lutheran church numbers, iii all
| L.644 ministers, 2,9l5 congregations
, 323,S25 communicates. The Protestant
Episcopal church has Al bishops, 2,4lt
priests and deacons, 2,305 parishes, and
e 16l PA COMMITMENTS. The Reformed
: Protestant Dutch Church churches
e Al; ministers, 46l communicates, 81
$40. German Reformed Church has
, 1,l62 churches, 109,25S communicates
The United Brethren in Christ have
t 1855 preaching places, and 9l,5T0 mem
/. bers. The Quakers number $4,000.
The Roman Catholic Church has 4.
bishops. 1896 churches, 2,317 clergy
men, and membership of about foul
e millions-much less than the immigFa
. ton of Catholics with their natural in
crease. The Unitarians have 2S9 socie
ties and 800 ministers; of the societies
III are in Massachusetts,. The Unfver
:, salists number about six hundred thou
t sand.
r AS simple matter of fact, the larges
development and increase of Christian
ity in the nineteenth century has beer
found in the United States. The Meth
e o3ists have increased in communicate
e from 1900 to about 100000; the Bap
lists from $4,000 to about 100000; til,
Presbyterians from 10000 to 100000
' the Congregationalists from 10000 K
5 275, 600 the Lutherans number over 300,
900; the German Reformed more thar
:. 100000. And each of these churches
reaches a population about four time
:. as large as its church. members. A
e least three quarters of our entire popu
t. lation are under the dominant infiuenc'
+. of the chief protestant churches.
The increase in church membership
= has outrun, in spite of the influx of for
e eign population, the relative increase o
:. the population. The ratio in 1900 wa
o one communicate to about fifteen of TIN
population; in 1882 it was one to ten
: i'll 1860 it was one to six. While tn
i membership Increased more than four
@ teen fold and this Notwithstanding tn
fact that, during the last period (fron
. 1882 to 1860 the number of aliens arriv
i ing at our ports was over five millions
:. and Texas, New Mexico and California
n were added to our territory. This esti
:, mate does not include the Roman Cath
oiics who number about four millions
La 1860 there were 81 900 church edi
y fees in the counfry-au average of on
church 10 ga persons. The total churel
e accommodation was 1876, 1l9, or abou
one sitting to every two and q half o
the entire population. These churche
h were erected wholly by voluntary con
a tributions. at an estimated value o
p 1881, 432.
The contributions of the churches t,
= various philanthropic and missionar,
II associations have greatly increased
o within the past few years. The aggre
/ gate receipts of about twenty-five o
these associations were two and quar-
|, ter millions in 1860, and over five mil
e tributed over fifteen millions of dollars
during the last fifty years, for eyangel
iZing purposes, of which about tire
millions were for foreign missions. Th
Methodist Centenary collection amount
/ ed to about four million dollars. Othe
Q denominations have contributed liber
!. ally. Most of the figures should b
q much increased to meet the facts OF to
: day.
e Enough has been cited to show that
= amid the intense activities of our ag
9 and land, Christian zeal has not bee
q wholly wanting. and its successes hav
e not been inglorious.
n For these facts am indebted TO the .-TepoFt
\ the Evangelical Alliance for 1851
], DIR Randall axnrassas. In the Rar0