The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-01-30
SOCIOLOGICAL THOUGHT.
souE r,rEaEsTIs0 DATA 4 SER
uOy-YACTs AND rIGURIs.
~<.,.r Church News of January's Last sab-
hath Day-Ihe Episcopal Convention
Meets to Elect Bishop Wednesday,

>.r is the time for the consideration
~. enc sort OF warnings voiced by the N'''
pounman. from the pulpit On sun
corning. In these days OF feverish I
-, when labor troubles are constantly
,...t,ns ou, here and there, as the sepa-
..,,r OF lines Of aristocratic foundation /
,, the large masses OF working people !
o more distinct each day. it may he
.r 10 stop ANA consider the question OF
80. &c the best means TO bring the
,.t'le people into closer toucn Win cav"
other A.. ..e
...h must he used as the great lever
e., hring about a more democratic spirit
a. and among the people. lie voices the
IN, repeated warning, that the very poor
'.oir are gradually drifting away from
ne church-going ana consequently are
g-sV.lng more restless and depressed.
e,fe took for his text Ephesians ", %.
.,.brist is the head OF the church; Christ
also loved the church and gave himself
for IT,
want 10 bring before my hearers
something Of The Divine nature and origin
ar the church. } want 90 ask why is To-
s,y the church's weakness so apparent
,,hv has she lost 50 much Of her power
sna Influence over the masses. ana II ",
question can De satisfactorily answered.
!. ,ru al any rate point out Tor ms inc
,oth OF duty, And in me outset ie' me
an your attention 60 book lately Pun
flehol called The Ncw Era TO /
ru Indebted Tor certain facts anu s''''@
Tics which will be given
~ov first Of AN. the text tells us that
christ is the head OF the church. ln me
,.ortiou Of the Ephcsians where we hhu
,nese words the apostle is writing OF the
,siaf,onship between husband ana Wile'
.rd 10 II he lkcns that between Chllse
md the church. The typical union De
,o,e.n husband and wife Is enc OF l"c
r,vsterles OF our nature. How one man
and one woman. born perhaps or diI'er-
at nations. widely separated from each
other. viii some day meet and form ne
tween themselves "a bond OF such char-
meter that ~ 10 breaks, IT is Ike the soihH
out OF the life Of one or the other, Is 70
make for the time being desert ana 70
rob existence Of pleasure surely lha'
81 and must ever remain
The Apostle knew Of no higher loNe than
mis-. I once knew OF an old couple. and
rerhaps some 81 You also knew them
who had passed more than three score
y.ers together. Their love was OF that
,vpical Kind. that when one Of then
slckened and died. the other in appare ltly
excellent health. never rallied from the
niow ana i'm ten days they were together
,u death. the cause was given as that
o. a broken heart.
Vow I am not telling you anythins
new when 1 say that In our day there IL
s. tendency among many 10 separate
christ from the church. You hear IL said
sometimes by people "Oh, yes. l believe
in Christ, bat not In the church. ] can
DE- saved without being a member Of tho
church, II is necessary 10 be-
Neve in Christ. men say, TO be
saved. but 10 Ia not necessary
% be a member of the church. No"
there Is mo- such separation as this ol
Christ from his church, either ga Scripture
or reason. and the man who believes ~
Christ. if the faith be according 20 knoWl
edge VIII certainly unite with the church
and De- may find the test of the sincerity
Of his faith in the fact that his faiti
drives him 10 union with the church.
But this separation Of Christ from The
church in the minds and actions of Tho
men SIS so widespread that there must be
some cause FOR IL. In the book referred
o. there are many interesting facts anc
statistics which are y0uched for by fe-
liable men and which ought TO cause u'
grave and serious thought. The autho
saws "That in one OF the New Engian'
states forty-fOur towns believed 10 ID
above the average were carefully can
Vassed and 10 was found that but ~ pe
churchgOers. Five counties in New y or
were canvassed and those reporting
themselves nOn-attendants were about tA
same as in the New England States bu
the same thing was found TO be true %
the people In the South And then th
author says: III the many towns an'
cities which have been investigated u
various states are fairly representative
of the whole country. We may infer tina
less than 80 per cent Of our population
are regular attendants upon churches
that perhaps 30 per cent are irregular at
tendants. while fully One-half Of the peo
Die in the United States. more than -,
10000 never attend any church ser
vice. Now close and careful Observation
that Il is upon the working people Een
orally speaking that the church ma
lost its hold Go into any Of the churche
Of our large cities on sunday morning
Ind SIC find lawyers, physicians and bust
ness men generally. pnt how few work
ingmen are % De f0und-hOw few of III
very poorest people.
The extremes here are not as great q
they are elsewhere but still there is caus
for considering it even here. and thi
condition of things in The country q
large VIII Doe such as TO be felt seriousl.
by us as well as by others Says III
New Era" THE Massachusetts Con
greeational Church Association sent on
circulars TO about - state and lOca
labor leaders TO hnd out the causes q
TIE absence OF the working people iror
church. Many did not reply at all, man
sent short refusals TO reply. others re
turned blank circulars. Most of thos
which did reply expressed The opinio
That the working people had been aiienat
a. from the church; that the church an
the people who attended them were OF
pfessors OF the poor AT a labor mee
mg i'm one of the large cities. the nam
u Jesus Christ WAS applauded and cheer
a. and the name Of the church Kissed.
N.V we all know that this disregard i1
ana antipathy to the church Is Wtel
ly without cause. The church to-da
s. doing more for the poor than any othf
organization under Heaven. and those u
dudual acts IF bcncNcencc are almo'
~ done by men and women who belon
20 the church. But we cannot shut on
eyes 10 the fact that the church IS 70
great extent responsible for the aiena
ton Of people and especially workin
people from her. Let us be honest wit
ourselves: LET us face the truth. IN
whole trouble is sociological. That
20 say that the world has reached tha
state when people are divided into IVY
great bodies. the rch and the poor, IN
classes and the masses"
Then he went 20 the heart Of mis- subjec
by showing how such conditions ha
arisen Space does not permit to prin
the whole sermon, but those present wi