The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-20
church Facts From The Census.

Church Facts From the Census.
1 II all the people in this country were
1 to decide 10 go 10 church at the same time
| they could not be accommodated in the
| churches. The total seating capacity Of
! all the churches in the United States, ae-
cording 10 the census enumeration, is just
a little short Of 100000. The Catholic
churches make the most remarkable show
ing in the matter Of lack OF accommoda-
tons, the total seating capacity Of the
church edifces OF that denomination be-
ing placed at a little above 3.37i000. while
the Catholic hurch membership is more
than 6,25O.O0O. It is apparent. therefore,
why several services a day are held In the
Catholic churches in the larger cities.
Even the magnificent ST. Patrick's Cath
edral in New York is not large enough 10
accommodate all Of its communicates al
one time.
Another striking fact with regard TO the
Catholic denomination is that nearly two
ffths of the church members in the coun-
try are Catholics. that church leading all
Of the others, with a membership of $751;
81. The other of the more important &c
nominations follow in proportional
strength of membership in this order:
Methodists, Baptists. Presbyterians. Lutn-
Grams. Episcopalians and Jews. At the
very end of the list stands the Church
Triumphant, with a total membership Of
2O5 in the whole country.
II may be the common idea that the term
Methodist" describes and includes all Of
the Methodists. But the census shows
that such is not the case. 1t says that
there are seventeen different kinds OF
Methodists, sixteen different kinds OF
Lutherans. thirteen different kinds of Bap-
lists. twelve different kinds of Presbyte-
rians, twelve different kinds of Mennon-
ties, seven different kinds of Catholics and
several different kinds of Jews. In the
whole of the country there are 143 dis
tinct religious denominations When the
pilgrims came to this country in or
der to be able to worship God according to
the dictates of their own consciences, they
probably had no idea that conscience ran
in so many and such diverse channels.
The preponderance of the Protestant de-
nominations in the south is remarkable
Louisiana, Texas, Florida, Kentucky and
West Virginia are the only southern states
that show any considerably proportion Of
Catholic church membership. Louisiana
is more than half Catholic, which may be
accounted for by the antecedents of the
settlement. Alabama, Arkansas. Georgia,
Mississippi, the two Carolinas, Tennessee
and VIRGINIA ra en- baa.yffv- pro4as+an+ +bo,
the Catholic denomination is not given
separate classification on the chart illus
trating the proportional strength of the
churches. but is classed with "all others
after the three great Protestant denomi-
nations. The explanation Il this condi-
ton is undoubtedly to be found in the fact
that the first settlers of the southern
states were Protestants, that their descen-
dants have followed them in that faith,
and there has been comparatively little
immigration to this section. How immi-
grafton changes the religious status of the
population may be illustrated by reference
to the case of Massachusetts,, which was
settled by straght-laced Protestant pill
grims Massachusetts is now nearly two
thirds Catholic. All of the New England
states are heavily Catholic in the prepon-
derance of UNCONVENTIONAL church mem
bership, and most of the western states
are so likewise. This would seem to show
that the south has changed less in the
character of its people since the early days
of the republic than any other section of
the country. The Methodists and Baptists
proponderate overwhelmingly in the south.
in this state and Alabama and the Caro-
linas forming nearly seven-eighths of the
church membership.