Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-05-31

EFor Sunday Reading. ::
! All Sorts of Opinions. i.
FINDS NO RELIGIOUS DECLINE
A Study of Church Statistics in 1eoo
and Now.


the statement that growth in chufch
memberships is not keeping pace WIN
1.-THE increase of population; lhal lesS
money proportionately is given to re-
Iigious causes and that spiritual con-
ditions show declining interest. me
statistics are published in the last
number of the Church Economist.
The population of the United states
has increased since 1860 nearly two ana
La hall fold. In 1860 the Congregations
! church membership was 253,i6o anH
in 1890 il was 633,349. Here is ratio
OF growth slightly greater than that
of population.
In 1860 the Presbyterians north num-
bered 2T6.306 and in 1890, 1,o25,3SS. To-
gether these two religious bodies nave
Increased a little more than three
| fold.
In 1860 there were 146,600 Episcopal
;ans and in 1900 there We're fl4,oio.
The Lutherans have increased from
2S2,7 SO in 1860 to 1.665,SlS IN l9oo.
Adding to these figures those Tor ..le
Raptists, Methodist Episcopal, the
Disciples of Christ and the Ro1llai'
Catholic churches, it viii be round tha'
the growth in church membership III
the last forty years stands 10 the M
crease in population in the fatlo "a
i 16 to 5. ~,
/ Mr.. Camp makes out an equally
/ strong argument to prove that peopie
give more to the churches proportion
lately than they did forty years ago
i Here are some of his figures; Presby-
/ terians gave TO missions in 1925 ST.
.E517. in 1850 S4O6G72, in 1875 S2,723,o6s,
land in 1900 S41S62SS. In 1850 the TO-
.Etal gifts of Presbyterians north for all
sI.nnrposes were S1462,023, in 1873 49,
i 625. 594. and in 1900 s16,33s,376. In 1S9.
Tdtberans gave to missions and be
Ineyolences 1929, 600, and in 1902 Sl,2S5,-
4 IT'S.
4 Young Mems Christian Association
work of this country cost last year
A s1u,OoO,OoO, which was s2,0o0,o0O In adj
/ vance of any previous year, and people
j gave enough to enable the year to Dc
A closed without debt
/ Take Congregational, Baptist. Meth
odlst Disciple, Episcopal, Reformed
Il anything you please-and compare to
.Ital gifts by years. All of them are
A before me as write; from the very
+ earliest days they were kept. With
out exception the increases are steady;
I they run precisely as do the Presby-
! terrain figures just given.
"As q concrete example of progress
take the building conditions in Ne"
York this spring. About $1,5O0,O0O il
planned Cor the immediate future. This
is, in addition to buildings already
under construction, which are absorb
ing, this spring alone, another $1,000
900.
"These sums are for churches ans
parish houses alone. IL allied con-
structions be included, such, for in
stance, as the new st. Bartholomew
clinic, costing 100000; the Nava
Branch Y. NJ. c. A., costing 100000
and the Roman Catholic Orphan Asy,
Ilum. costing $53O,O00, the total is i'm
. mensely swelled.
Then debts are being paid as never
before. Methodists of the country have
raised $16,O0O,0O0 Within the last twt
years--a performance never before Sc
, down to the record of any religious
body The income of Episcopal, United
t Brethren, Presbyterian, Baptist, Meth
:, odist. Congregational, Reformed ane
; Roman Catholic, mission funds steadi
lily increase, year ny year.
Peters Pence from America thi
year will equal that from all the worlt
together in previous years. New Yorl
province alone sends $4T5,000. Thu
voluntary contributions for church
purposes in the church of England TO
the year ending last Easter wer
$39, $50, 900.
Taking New York again in thu
good old times when people We're sait
to be giving as they are not now
churches abandoned the lower part o
Manhattan Island. all save the Roman
Catholic, and it abandoned the well-to
do residence section. The lower par
of the island was abandoned by Prot
estant churches because their sup
: porters moved away, and. lacking al
income, the churches had to do tn
same.
In these later times. when it i
claimed people do not give, Protestan
churches have raised $4,0000OO as an
Choir funds-endowments. The Epis
copal retreat stopped long ago On
parish, endangered in the minds O
some, has received $4,000 within
few weeks to end any possible alarm
: "Presbyterians have, within tw,
years, demonstrated their ability for
ever to prevent further retreat, an,
| could easily name q line of wha
may be called frontier, or picket, par
ishes, that are going to stand for al
] time.
This list could be increased to wear
mess. But two points must be made
one is that while people may be car
' ried off their feet by clever religion
beggars-these beggars are, by TIL
5 way, being suppressed in all churche
I as never before-people do not Civ
2 year after year, in increased amounts
to objects in which they are not inter
] ested. If you think they do, try run
ming some charity.
4 THE other point is that, while TIL
fashion of the moment-there is fash
ion in giving, as in bonnets-is to civ
outside the churches, after the patter1
4 set by Mr.. Andrew Carnegie, yet tn
: income of church causes is not de
q Ginning. Look at the great gifts to ed
e rest.
6 "Thts year is going to be record
: breaker Mr.. Pierpont Morgan give
:, $l,000,000 to a Boston hospital, MI
), Rockefeller $1,000,000 to southern ed
: ucation, Miss Helen Gould $1,000, 90
:, this year thru the Y. M. c. a. B
: good enough to note that these an
II almost everybody known as liberia
o givers are church people.
a Yet | happen to know that tn
h three persons named are giving NOR
>. to strictly church causes than the