The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-12-26

tOii, anu lie CuOSe TIE .ClukOLSS VI W
neighboring larger suburban towns. both
having manufactures and a large city-go-
ing resident population. as the scene of his
labors. He began to attend first the Sun
day services of the Protestant churches.
taking each denomination separately and
in turn. He noted the essential facts as 70
the attendance and the preaching. He took
| account of the size of the audiences and
| the proportion of men to women and Of
| children to both. He noted the essential
character of the preaching as to its doc
| trinal or homiletic purpose, its intellectual
rretension, its evident learning, its use or
cisuse of notes or manuscript, its emo
tional or its argumentatve nature and
SO on:
When Mr.. Cooke had done this for all
| the Protestant churches in two suburban
cities, he proceeded to do ii for the Catholic
churches, attending early mass, lO O'Clock
and IL o'clock mass, vespers, and so on.
Throughout the whole proceeding he oper-
ated on a perfectly cold and scientific basis
without any sectarian s~ide-taking whatever
though in his study of the Catholic
| churches he has, of course, avowed that he
observed as a Protestant.
RESULTS OF HIS STUDY.
His observations MI. Cooke has embodied
In a seriees of rather long newspaper ar
ticles, which have been published from
| Saturday to Saturday in the Boston Tran
script" They nave led to an immense
amount of discussion in the press and in
the pulpit, and have given Mr.. Cooke ex-
traordinary prominence In the churches
here. The most remarkable thing about the
matter is that the ministers of no de-
| nomination have accused Mr.. Cooke OF any
inaccuracy or misrepresentation, but all
have invited him to appear before their
ministers meetings or other denomina-
tional organizations, to relate with more de-
tail his experiences in his study of their
| particular bodies and to advance any sug-
g~estions which he might make as to the
cure OF the evil of diminishing attendance
and lack Of interest in the church services
on the part OF men and the young, Mr.;
perhaps honestly aware OF the advertising
value TO a literary man of such appear
ances. has gone about from one denomina-
tional assembly to another, relating his ex-
periences in a perfectly frank way, and
giving each one of these bodies his best
advice as to the means of filling up their
churches.
For Mr.. Cooke certainly found a rather
alarming state of things in these cnurcnes.
1t is TO be remembered that he has not
taken up the city congregations at all,
where exceptional conditions often prevail,
and where the gifts of the well-paid preach
er may gather a large congregation from a
whole city and from numerous suburbs.
He has sought the normal and average
things of the country and the suburban
community, where people, If they go 10
church at all. go because it is the church,
the house of God, and not because they are
lured there by the hope of hearing or see
ing something new or strange.
All the services Of the suburban and
country Protestant churches Mr.. Cooke
found to be thinly attended, and by about
one-half as many men as women. Some
times the proportion of men to women was
smaller than 80 per cent. 1t was evident
that, as soon as the boys became old enough
so that they can no longer be constrained
70 On fn ohrIrnh fhaU naoaa 70 GO - The
mass OF people attendance at church has
evidently ceased 10 be a delight and has
become a bore. More women than men. for
psychological reasons, retain an interest in
the preaching or the worship.
Is the character OF the preaching respon-
sible for the decline of attendance? Mr..
Cookies revelations are not conclusive on
this point. In some of these thinly-attend-
ed churches he seems to have heard good
preaching, and In others very poor and
weak preaching. Weak preaching. not adj
dressed to the logical or reflective facul-
ties, was rather the rule than the excep-
ton. Strong, old-fashioned. evangelical
preaching was almost undiscoverable. In
the majority Of cases the weakness OF the
discourses would have gone far toward
accounting for the small number OF men
who go to these average churches. Women
do not seem to demand thoughtful or able
sermons as much as men do, judging from
the larger attendance Of the
number OF women who habitually go 10
church must be small in comparison with
the number who don't go. Furthermore, 1t
is to be noted, as / have said, that the
good, strong. reasoned preaching which Mr..
Cooke noted in several of the churches
that he attended did not result in any
large attendance.
IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCHES.
He reserved the Catholic churches for
the last. Here he found the attendance
much larger, at the forenoon services, tina
In the Protestant churches. He found the
attendance Of men larger in proportion,
though still inferior to that of the women.
1t was almost everywhere In the proper
ton of about three men to five women.
Somewhat to his surprise, for he had been
informed that he would find the sermons
preached at the Catholic churches shallow.
he found the preaching very good.
AS a rule II was quite simple and well
adapted to the comprehension of simple
people, but IL was none the less intelligent
or suggestive on this account. Most of the
preachers heard were young men. Their
sermons were Biblican and distinctly evan
gelical. In one case he listened TO q SER
mon, from an elderly Catholic priest, in a
country parish, OF subtleness. close reason
ing and learned thoughtfulness. He heard
the scriptures read and expounded with
congregations more reverent than the Prot
estant congregations during the prayers
and general worship; their attitudes. in
49,, iS'e.ch, sinCc thty hneel
where Professionals often sit bolt upright.
but this apparent superior reverence he
thought was in the attitude rather than In
the attention of the mind and thought.
On the whole, he found much less differ
ence between the services and sermons in
the Catholic churches and the Protestant
churches than he had expected TO find.
Some explanation OF the superior attend
ance in the Catholic churches. he thinks.
may be found in the report that some de-
gree OF constraint and pressure is exercised
upon the people TO get them TO go to mass.
They are free TO go to vespers or not, as
they please; and the vesper services are at
tended by a very small number.
The moral of IL all Il as yet a little hard
to get at. No means is pointed out OF COM
polling people to go 10 church. They must
be interested-not bored. or in some way
a distinct and strong sense OF the duty OF
church-going must be incuicated I'm them.
But that duty has been taught them quite
faithfuily-and yet they do not so.