The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1901-09-27
HE ENTERS "a DENIAL.
! Sermon Regarding the Diminishing
OF Sunday Audiences.
Or. Talmago Presents somo Hard
Facts Showing That Church At
i, tendance I'm Amcrica liz Not ,3.8N
j M 4n Dooadenoe. E
copyright. 1901. by Louis Klopscn. N. XII
N Washington, Sept. l5.

lCopyright. 1901, by Louis Klopscn, N. Y.1
Washington, Sept. l5.
Most encouraging to all Chris tian
workers is this discourse OF Dr. Ial-
mage while denying the accuracy OF
statistioa which represent Sunday au-
dicnces as diminishing. Text, He
brews 1928, "Not forsaking the as
scmbling Of ourselves together"
Startling statements have been made
in many Of the pulpits and in some OF
the religious newspapers. 1t is heard
over and over again that church at
tendance In America Is in decadcnce. !
deny the statements by presenting
aome hard facts. No ono will dispute
the fac. that there arc more churches
in America than ever before, one de-
nomination averaging two ne"
churches every day of the year. The
law Of demand and supply is ms mex
orable in tho kingdom Of God as it is
In tho world. More churches supplied
argues more church privileges demand
cd. Moro banks, more bankers; more
factories, more manufacturers; more
ships, more importers; more churches
moro attendants.
In all our cities within q few years
churches have been built large enough
to swallow up two or three Of the old
time churches. I cannot understand
with what kind Of arithmetic and slate
pencil a man calculates when he comes
to the conclusion that church attend
anoe in America is in dccadence. Take
the aggregate of tho number Of people
Snt1, ~, l.. l>n oP Il nd
compare it with the aggregate Of The
people who entered the house Of God
rs years ago, and the present attend
ance is four to one. Tho facts arc
most cxhilarating instead Of boing de-
pressing. That man who presents the
opposite statistics must hayo been
most unfortunate in his church 40
quaintanoe.
yc" sro no: &c argue adversely be
cause hero and there a church is de-
pletcd. Churches have their day.
Sometimes merchandise will entirely
occupy neiShborhood and crowd out
tho churches and families ordinarily
attendant upon them. Sometimes a
church perishes through intcrnecine
atrife. But there are no facts to over
in regard to the increasing attendance
upon tho house Of God. Now, am
ready to admit, as every intelligent
man will admit, that there are
churches which have been depleted
and it Is high time that sermon be
preached for the benefit Of young men
who are just entering the Gospel min
istry and for tho warning Of prosper
GUS churches rs to what are the causes
Of decline In any case. If mercha isc
crowd out a church, that cannot be
helred, but under all Sthsr o!ro;isiii
atanoes decadenoe in church attend
ance Is tho fault either Of tho church
or Of the pastor.
Churches are often cleared Of their
audiences by the attempt to trans plant
tho modes Of the past into the pres.
ont. The modes and methods Of sc
years ago are no more appropriate fo1
to-day than tho modes and methods oi
to-day will be appropriate for SO years
hence. DR.. Kirk, Or. McElroy, Dir. Ma
son, DR.. Do Witt, DR.. ycrmilyea and
hundreds Of other mon just IS good
IN they were never lacked audiences
because they wcro abreast Of tho time
in which they lived. People will MOI
DO interested In what we say unles.
we understand the spirit OF the day /,
which wo live. All the woe-begonisf
atatistics are given by those who art
trying in our time to work with tn,
worn-out machinery Of the pa st time $
Such men might just az we'll throw thu
furnaces ont of our church basement!
and substitute the foot stoves whicl
our grandmot theirs used to carry Will
organs and our cornets and take the
old-fashioncd tuning fork, striking Fl
on the knee and then lifting It to the
car to catch the pitch Of the hymn
and might as we'll throw out our mod
ern platforms and modern pulpits and
substitute the wineglass pulpit ur
which tho minister used to climb to the
dizzy height Of Mont blanc solitarlness
and then go in ont Of SIGHT and shut
the door after him. When YOU can
get the great masses Of the people t.c
take passage from Albany to Buffalo
In stage coach or canal Doat in pre- fer.
ence to the lightning express train
which does It in four hours, then YOU
pie to so to a church half cen tury be.
hind the time.
The trouble begins away back in th
the ological seminaries. 1t is a shame
that larger provision is not made for
ministers Of religion, for the sick ard
the aged and the infrm who have worn
themselves out in the service Of God
Wo have naval asylums and soldiers
asylums for men who fought on land
and sea for our country when these
men have become aged or crippled, ant
It is q shame that larger provision i,
not made for the good soldiers Of Jesus
Christ who havo worn themselves out
in battling for the Lord. But lack O.
provision in that respect makes tend
ency to turn our theological seminaric.
into hospitals for sick and aged ant
infrm ministers. When man begin.
to go down, they give him the title o
d. D. by way Of resuscitation. If tha,
fails. then the tendency is to elect hin
TO professorship in some Theological
seminary. There are grand exceptions
80 the rwlc, but it Is often the casc tla
tho profcssorate in a theological sem.
mary is occupied by some minister oi
tho Gospel who, not being able tc
preach, is set to teach others how tt
preach. In more cases than one lht
poorest speaker in the faculty is TIC
professor Of elocnton. We want more
wtdd-awke, more able e-bodicd, eble
Doors Still Fighting, <.