The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1899-04-07

This subject, which was assigned TO
me by our worthy Lecturer, ia difficult
TO deal with because there Ia 30 little data
aG hand from which you can work out
any definite conclusions. Do as many
people attend the churches now as one
year ago. i've years ago, 10 years ago, Or
90 years ago? How can we tell? Do the
peOpie support the churches as well as
I aey did ID former years? How can we
learn? do not know where 60 lind the
statisEics which alone can tell the story.
What might be true OF Une community
or one church might not be true OF an
other. 1t may be true that less number
OF people attend the churches than for.
merly and yet this less number may be a
larger per cent OF the population in the
town or in the parish than ever attended
at any previous time. The church is not
necessarily abandoned because few peo-
pie attend Ii, In q particular place, or In
many places, because there may not be
many to attend it. IL we knew what
per cent OF the population OF this coun-
try, or of this state, or of this town at
tended the churches 10 years ago, and
how large the per cent is that attend them
now we could tell with some certainty
whether the church is being abandoned
or not. Nothing but complete census,
taken at different periods, and furnishing
the essential points for comparison can
give conclusive answer to the question.
Taking our own town for example, we
do not even know the present population,
on which TO base our Investigations. In
1890 the number of people IN Newtown
was 8, $50. Assuming the population TO
be che same at present, find that of this
number the pastors OF all the churches
in town report that about 2,481 persons
are enumerated as belonging in some
sense to the several parishes. In other
words, little more than 20 per cent of
the supposed population are connected
in some way with the churches in the
town. OF this humber enumerated as
included In the parishes the pastors esti
mate that the average attendance ct
church, for the year, is about /, ,180, or q
little less than 48 per cent, or little
more than 80 per cent OF the whole num-
ber OF the people taken as the basis Of
calculations. But, in this method of fig.
uring we have not taken into account the
remaining 1,058 persons, a large per cent
OF whom may attend churches in other
towns. Moreover, in getting our average
OF attendance we cannot tell just how
many different persons may have been to
church within the year. The average
number In attendance may be much less
than the whole number of attendants.
Some members of families may 90 one
Sunday and others the next. Some may
be able to 60 but few times within the
year, but they 60, and have not by any
means abandoned the church.
What shall be the standard by which
we are 60 judge? What per cent of the
population can reasonably be expected
TO attend church? / have heard It claim
ed that in the great cities the churches
could not accommodate 25 per cent of the
population at any one service. IL that is
true we may fairly claim that our town
does not fail of church privileges nor OF
church going.
Again, taking the figures of the year
books as complied by the Independent
for last year, for the whole country, 1t
appears that the net gains in 1898, were
15,0l7 ministers; 6,337 churches; S62,-
800 members.
These figures do not indicate that the
church at large Is becoming abandoned
i'm this great country; but, In order to
settle the matter with any degree Of Ger.
tain5y we need the statistics of series
of years for comparison. Whether tbs
per cent OF increase last year was 81
great IS in other preceding years, OF
whether the increase In the church equals
the increase in the population Of the
country do not know. Besides the nei
gain In members may have been less thar
the gain In attendance and personal In
terest. It may have been greater.
The general summary of 1898, as giveI
by the Independent, January 5, 1899, re
ports 149 1858 ministers; 1875, ,48S churches
and 27,714, ,523 members Supposing thai
the present population Of the United
States is 70, 900, 600. as has been often es.
timated within the last IL months, ther
somewhat less than 40 per cent OF thl
people are members of churches. Iftwt
in five of the population are members
the per cent of attendance must be still
greater, think. and i must conclud,
that the church is not becoming aban
doned.
My belief Ia that there never was |
time when the great body OF the people
of this country had more real interes
In the church than now. / also believ,
that there is growing interest in tn
church and in true religion. AS the In
dependent says In this connection: I'll
truth, the Church "a whole has seldom
il ever, exerted stronger or NOR
healthy IN fiuence for it's broader purpose
the establls shment of the Kingdom Of Coz
in the Earth
Now as to the other part of my sub
iect: sssome of the causes for tha weak
ening OF our country churches" A grea
deal has been said OF late years about tn
alarming condition Of the churches i
the rural communities. DIR Josiah Stroni
devotes chapter In The New Era to tn
problem of the country. He begins b.
| considering the rapid increase OF the poI
| ulatiun OF the cities and the great de
crease of the population OF the countr
communities. "This movement" b
says, ssof population from country t
city, is shown by comparison c
the Eleventh Census with the Tenth {
have Eeen remarkably general"
ssOf 25,746 townships in 80 states an
territories 10,063, or 80 per cent, los
population during the 10 years precedin
| 1907 ssOf the /. .502 townships In Me-
England 932, or 81 per cent. were more {
less depleted"
In the summers of 1889 and 1890 th
Evangelical Alliance made careful u
vestigation OF rural communities in Me-
i ork State, in five counties. "a stud
was made OF economic. moral and r.
lligious conditions. and statistics OF POI
ulati0n, churches church membershi
and church attendance were gathered,
It was learned that. aFrom one-quart,
TO one-tenth OF she population wel
found In church on pleasant Sunda.
Somewhat less than one-half Of the Pro
estant population claimed TO be churc
goers land many base such claims on q
fact that they sometimes attend funer
/ in church). In 10 villages, containing
population OF about $4,000, all In OF
county, only % per cent of the peop
were church-GOeTS.sss
In another county clergyman repo1
ed that, mot one-half OF It's childr'
have Sabbath-school privileges, and wi
stretches of country are without any I
llIgious activities =
In 1891, 1t was stated In public met
! | ing that. ssThere are SE least 20 tow