The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1885-07-03
IS CHURCH ATTENDANCE ON TIE
DECLINE2

1t is becoming common for the sec u
lar press to consider moral questions;
there is propriety in this, for the
press, professedly at least, claims to be
on the side of public morality. The
question is raised whether Sabbath at
tendance at church is diminishing?
Public journals have commented on
the subject and assigned reasons for
the falling off of church-goers It is
charged ministers have not kept pace
with the advancement Of intelligence,
butare content to follow in the old beat
en- track, preaching the WORKOUT dogmas
enunciated generations ago; that they
are too timid to give any new inter
pretations Of divine truth. which
closer study of the scriptures. aided by
the lights of science, have re vealed
that for these reasons people of thought,
who respect the church, excuse them
selves from attendance on the Sabbath
services These criticisms have show
of FEASIBILITY but are not just. There
are ministers in the different denomin-
ations who keep abreast with the
times. They preach no new gospel,
but divest il of the traditional creeds
by which it has been hampered, there
by adapting it more to the reason and
comprehension. The christian world
has been bound to creeds with hoops of
iron; a departure from formulated
articles of faith, which altno ugh of
only human devising, subjects the free
inquirer to the charge of heresy. In
ecclesiastical councils convictions for
heresy have been found on the charge
of departure from the creed, rather
than from the teaching of the Bible,
thus placing the authority of the creed
above the scriptures.
It is doubtless true that many pulpits
are not supplied with the grade Of
talent adapted TO intelligent audiences.
This is q deficiency which theological
institutions Of learning are attempting
to remedy. 1t does detract from the
interest of church services for a min
lister to appear before an audience
| without proper preparation. A labor
ed attempt to prove Congratulated
and self-evident truth is about as profit
less us to spend half hour in demon
strating that five and four make nine
The suggestion has frequently been
made in the religious press, that min
listers, or at least portion of them
would do more effective service if they
, preached but one sermon on Sunday
and put their efforts into that one, in
stead of into two; one we'll prepared
, sermon is better than two or more
, poorly dlgested discOurses. Still there
, are hundreds of ministers who arr
capable of preparing two instructive
, sermons weekly for series of years
d These criticisms on clergymen, i
such they be called, are. nothing NOR
than have frequently appeared in tn,
religious papers. In justice to clergy
Y men of different creeds, it must b.
said that no class Of men labor NOR
zealonsly in their calling. A writer il
g the North american discusses yer,
t ably the question of the decline 0
, church attendance on Sunday services
: It is evidently true that there is
diminution of Sunday church-goers il
some districts of the country, bat the
, writer proves from reliable statistic
a that the church has kept steadily il
advance Of the growth Of population
, and with increasing ratio through sew
q eral past decades.