The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-11-16
SOME RELIGIOUS STATISTICS.
Increase in the Number of Churches
and Preachers in lhc United States
in Ten Years.
From the sun.

From the Sun.
The United States is the only coun-
try in which an official census omits
matters relating to the religious belief
of the inhabitants. In every European
country, in Canada, South America,
India, and Australia, when a census is
taken by governmental or local author
ity, inquiry is made into the religious
belief of the inhabitants, and the GUS
tom is universal to asCribe to the minor
children of a family the religious creed
of the parents or guardians. In the
United States, however, the antipathy
to any admiXture of religious with sec
ular matters has always served as a
bar against inquiries by census offic-
ials on religious matters, and the near
est approach to such information has
come. therefore, from statistics of
church SittingS. There is kept, too,
but not by any official authority, a
record of the number of ministers Of
each religious denomination, and a
comparison of the figures for the last
few years is interesting as showing
the changes which are going on in the
various denominations.
Ten years ago there We're in the
United States 3S,522 Baptist churches
and 25,377 Baptist cergymen. There
are now 45,S02 Baptist churches and
31,572 Baptist clergymen. Ten years
ago there We're in the United States
4S,263 Methodist churches and 2S,O75
clergymen Of the Methodist creed
There are now 52.236 Methodist
churches and 33,6O1 Methodist clergy
men. There are thirteen divisions
of American Baptists and seventeen Of
American Methodists, but for purposes
of ordinary computation they are
spoken of as Methodists and Baptists
| collectively. Ten years ago there We're
in the United States 69lO Catholic
churches and 1858 Catholic clergymen.
There are now 1887 Catholic churches
and 1906 Catholic clergymen. Ten
years ago there were 1892 Lutheran
churches and 4,215 Lutheran clergy
men. There are now 9,493 of the for
mer and 56S5 of the latter, the in
crease being due in considerable meas
ure to the large and steady emigration
from north Germany and scandinavian
countries TO the United States Ten
| years ago there We're returned in the
| United States 1863 Jewish synaEogues
| and 1903 rabbis occupying pulpits in
1
| turned 54S synagogues and 29O rabbis
! though obviously the latter is much
| too low, and the disparsity arises from
| the fact that there are a consider
| able number of rabbS who do not ap-
| pear in the church records as such, as
| they also follow other pursuits. Ter
| years ago there We're in the United
| States 12,437 Presbyterian churches and
| 1854 Presbyterian ministers. BY the
| last figures at hand there were IA, ,j3C
| Presbyterian churches and l3,47G Pres.
| byterian clergYmen. Ten wears age
| there We're 3,540 Episcopal churches and
| 4,139 Episcopal clergymen in the United
| States. There are now 5979 of the
! former and 4,5SO of the latter.
! All religious organizations i'm the
| United States have grown in member
ship and church accommodation dur.
ing the last ten years, but the gain, as
! the figures show, has been somewhat
| unevenly distributed.