The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-11-04

below two to three, an actual count having
been made. Counts were not made in.
all other cities, but where they were
the Louisville proportion seems 10 be
about normal, or possibly a little above
Downtown and better residence Sec
lions; OF ST. Louis were covered by the
congregations of the eighteen churches
in which figures were obtained. Inc nigh
est number found in any one church at
any. one service was lai 1here may
have been larger congregations IN the
CITY. not included in the scheduled list.
The date was October list. Eve sections
said the count showed larg attendance
this year than last. but. declared there
was no special reason. Churches in
which attendance was counted include
Methodist, Christian Episcopal. Lutheran.
Uunit, d Brethren. Congregational, and
PRESBYTERIAN South. The total number
present at the eighteen churches was
1852.
TIE CHICAGO CHURCHES.
The full assignment of twenty-five
churches was count in Chicago. Eight
churches We're found which had kept
records Of attendance on September 30th,
or the Sunday falling nearest 1t, for sew
eral years. These churches, like the
other twenty-five in the test, covered
every part of the city, ana large ana small
congregations. They also cover three
nrincipal religious bodies. Three of the
eight showed a total annual loss in five
wears of 4Ts. Local conditions were easily
seen to have affected two of them FOR
the third no apparent reason cou~ oE
found The other five where RECORDS mao
been kept for five years or more sho.,u
steady advances year by year Inc
growths were not great. the total IN d az
of them in five years footing UP 2.el..
But the annual average of all had STEADY
upward tendencies. For example the
Sixth Presbyterian church Of chicago IS
located in what appeared TO the. person
making the count to be 81 marc .-tI1it
,,npron1ising field. The morning attend
ance for 1899 averaged 81; for 1893 10 date
$50.
The evening attendance at the same
church in 1895 averaged 125: in 1886, l29;
in 1899. 2l5; and SO far this year, 20
This Sixth Presbyterian church Is an
individual case. but from list selected
without special intent. nothing was ois-
cover of an opposite character. IL
is not intended to be said that there
has been no marked falling eff in any
churches: simply that this canvass did
not discover any. figures were occurred.
among 9th rs. from St. James and the
Ep phany (EpiscopaD. the First Baptist,
Emmanuel Baptist. and the Oakland
Methodist. In the Rev Dr. ,Henson'S
church (the FIRST Baphso 1t was touhd
that the attendance was about the same
as on the same date last year; IN all
others named to Is per cent. larger.
This was the general testimony OF clerk.
sexton, pastor, and church officers. The
total number of worshippers. two services,
twenty-five churches. was $3.50. AS a
rule the larger churches of the city were
chosen for the test. This was done
because in some other cities small
churches were selected. The selection
was made. it may be Of interest to note
by a p rson in New York. who was unfa-
mil;ar with Chicago conditions, and the
local representative was required to keep
to the list Hence, while exceptional con-
ditions in individual cases may hay been
hit upon in some cases. exceptional cases
of an opposite character must have been
hit upon in other instances. Men OF w de
observation expressed the opinion that
church attendance in Chicago slowly
increases, and that no unusual condlt on
obtains. This opinion was given not only
by ministers, but by church Officials,
especially by treasurers, who are proTerb-
tally conservative.
LARGER ATTENDANCE.
For purposes OF this count St Paul and
Mimi apolis were considered as one pop
ulation centre. Special attention was
given to Lutheran churches, which are
numerous in the Northwest. Returns
4
obtained, and the total attendance at all
of them was 1925. Here, as in Chicago,
the larger churches in the two cities Were
selected. Five churches out OF the seven
teen produced evidence satisfactory TO
the enumerator that attendance upon
their services is larger this fall than last
Two admitted attendance. to be smaller,
and could give no reason beyond the tact
that the people did not come. Four
said they We're holding their own, aad
the others d d not know about attendance
records Some declared that hereafter
they would keep records for the third
Sunday in October of each year. A spe-
cia! request was made of twenty-five
church officers, in writing. for particulars
of decline in attendance. If any. One
church treasurer responded. saying there
had been :. decline. and mentioning d
cause, which was local. The Rev. L. a.
Clevenger, of Calvary Baptist church.
Minneapolis, said: after twenty years
regular attendance upon church services
and fifteen years experience in the aoas-
torate it is my conviction that the church
is gaining in its influence
Eighteen Sam Francdsco cllUrcheS,
selected at random and covering all prin-'
cipai Protestant bodies. were tested in
the usual way. The total attendance for
the day was small being oily 6,SA. but
of the eighteen nine showed the attend
ance to be on the increase. That is. it
was the testimony of the sexton that
such was the case. The striking feature
was the small proportion Of men. In a
city where the opposite had been expected
the proportion of men worshippers seemed
to DE lass than in other cities. although
no exact statistics were made on this
point.
Will. KEEP RECORDS.
1t is the intention of the association
making these records this year for the
first time 10 continue them annually, here
after. and thus be provided. with :soule-
thing with which to make comparisons.
1t bess TO point out in regard totilis years
canvas only one thing. and to leave the
reader in all othe@ things TO draw his
or her own conclusions. That one thing
is that persons making the above counts
We're, for the most part. in no way inter
ested in finding facts one way or the
other. They were in no way in COLLISION,
and reported from widely-separated CEN
tres just what they found.
Some inquiries We're made concerning
attendance at Sunday-schools5 and sun