The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-02-22
CORRESPONDENT NCE.
Church-Going in Toronto.

MesSrS. EditOrS,,-On the first Sabbath
of this month a census of Church attend
ance was taken in Toronto. The leading
secular newspaper, the Globe, stationed
representative in each one of the seventy
FIVE churches of the city, at both morn
ing and evening services, who counted
the number present. The tabulated state
ment, which was the result of the emu
meration, is most interesting. The total
number OF sittings is 49,660-fourteen
churches having upwards OF 900, and
three, more than 1000. The attendance
for the day (morning and evening" was
S,l94, from which a deduction of one
third is to be made for those who attend
ed twice This leaves s. 1856 as the real
attendance, which is II per cent to ac-
commodation, and Al 90 per cent to whole
population of the city 06,445) One can
only reckon this as fair From one-half
to two thirds Of the actual population
ought to be at church. One third would
probably comprise all who, through ex
treme age, or extreme youth or infrmity,
or orimperative duty, are necessarily absent
And yet, compared with some recent re-
turns from England and Scotland. To-
thanktulness. Ia Bath Hastings, and
Gloucester only, of the centres in which
enumeration was made, did the attend
ance reach so per cent Bristol is quoted
at 40 per cent, Northampton (notwith-
standing Bradlaugh) at 80, while Liver
pool sinks to 90, and Newcastle to 1873.
In Scotland, Perth and Leith give 33 per
cent while Dundee is only 2S, and Edin-
burgh 25. 1t would be of great interest
to your Canadian readers to have the
figures for some of your Northern and
Southern cities, Would not your good
city of Richmond be among the foremost?
Such an actual count gives a nearer ap-
proach than the government census re
turns, to the actual strength of the Church
in its various denominations.
Eighteen denominations have places of
worship in Toronto The Church Of Eng
land with Is churches, the Presbyterians
with r. and the Canada Methodists with
10, possess about an equal seating capac-
lty, and aggregate $4,000 out of the 49,
$50 sittings. The eleven smallest de-
nominations have accommodation in all
for only 1850, one-thirteenth of the
whole. The Plymouth Brethren have an
attendance of ZIG, the Swedenborgians
20, the Catholic Apostolic (erratic Ed
ward lrving's secD l08, the Friends 81,
the Uuitarians Stationary these twenty
years. l55. The colored people muster
so Baptists and l6O Methodists They
are most respectable citizens.
The Church of England, Presbyterians,
and Canada Methodist churches have
about equal attendance, while the Roman
Catholics, the highest in proportion to
church accommodation and population.
rank little above these The evening
attendance is larger than that of the
morning in those churches, principally
where special musical attractions are Of
tered. On the whole, the figures seem to
give no ground for the common opinion
that church going is "going out, so far
as Toronto Is concerned. But they show
that the time to rest and be thankful"
Is as far off as ever. The churches have
not yet come up to the full measure Of
efficiency. Much zeal is required to
bring in the churchless Great firmness
will be demanded also, in the near future,
if Toronto's exceptionally well-kept Sab
bath is to be perpetuated-no street.
cars, no cabs on the stands, but one in
coming and no outgoing railway train,
the steamboat traffic reduced to mini
mum, the drinking places closed.
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