The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1900-02-02
REV. 4. p. HERBRUCK
Makes Answer Co Some Presentations Made
About Church Attendance.

Editor News Democrat:
We have been reading with interest
and amusement the discussion of THE
Decline of Church Attendance" in you"
columns. Efforts have been made to
explain the causes of the same and some
remarkable conclusions have been
drawn. 1t seems to us that before phil
osophizinz about this decline it would
be well for some one to establish the
fact of the decline. Is there any reli-
able authority for saying that church
attendance was on the wane? 1t is not
simply matter of opinion? And IL 50,
is not one mans opinion Just as good
as another's? One opinion is that
church attendance is keeping pace with
the growth of our population. There
may be localities where for special rea-
sons this is not the case but taking the
country as a whole we believe that
church pews are as fully occupied as
ever before. We know that church
membership has been increasing much
more rapidly than the population of the
country and this would hardly be the
case If church attendance were falling
off. AS proof of this let me ask you to
reprint a recent editorial from the New
York Independent, one of the fairest
and most reliable papers in the country.
There is no better authority on church
statistics than this publication. It's
figures are based on the annual official
reports of the churches and indicate
the most vigorous kind of religious ac-
tivity. Until these figures are disproven
it is certainly a waste of ink to write
about the decline in church attendance
or any other form of church life. To
the mind of any unbiased person the
subjoined article with it's official sta
tistics is worth more than whole flood
of opinions and assertions:
Are the American churches losing
ground? Every little while we hear
complaints of the decline of faith and
the gradual overwhelming of the church
by the world. Statistics do not tell the
whole story, but their contribution to
the discussion is interesting. In 1890,
the census gave as the total population
of the country 62,622, ,250 gain during
the decade of about 10000, 00O Any
figures for the present year must be es-
Inmates, but they are not supposed gen.
orally to go over 70,000,00O, gain of
100000, or about thirteen per cent. The
census of 1900 gave us the total of
church membership 20,612, 1906. The
tables printed in this issue, and which
certainly are within the truth. show
27,710,004, a gain OF over 100000 or
about thirty-four per cent. Even should
there prove to be as great gain in
population in this decade as in the last,
it would not exceed twenty per cent.
and still the churches would be fourteen
per cent. ahead. So far as figures of
population are concerned, the record is
one of steady even rapid, advance.
There Is another class of figures, un-
fortunately very incomplete, which tell
an even brighter story, the figures of
benevolences. Judged by the amount
given not merely for church expenses.
missions-home, city and foreign, but
for the support of charities of various
kinds, there has been a marked increase
in the expression of the Christian feel
ing which manifests itself in deeds of
kindness to the unfortunate. So far as
works are any proof, and the Apostle
James is good authority, not yet hav-
ing been discredited by the higher crit
icism, faith is very much alive. The ar
ticles which we print this week from
representative men in the different de
nominations give a very uniform testi
mony as to the energy with which their
branches of the Church are taking up
the needs along the lines of practical
Christian work. Missionary societies
have been relieved of debt: wider plans
for church activity have been adopted;
there is. an increasing demand for
Christian literature; educational insti-
tutions under the direct influence or
control Of the religious bodies are re-
ceiving more of attention and support,
while others, distinctively secular, are
feeling the pressure of Christian iniu-
ence. L. p. H.