Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1902-11-26

look for balance ard complete sanity. IN
all ages, Christianity has been thorough
~ ''discreditod' by those Who did not nc
cept it. \ Latinized worl need not con-
fuse, when plain ADglo-Saxon term
makes the situation pia;n.
Nevertheless. if an there is of Chris
tianity be in churches. their adherents
have distinct cause for disquiet. If rhe
prosperity of the religion of Jesus rests
either upon the number of church ihem-
bers or the rate of increase, then the
cause of the founder shows signs of at
least temporary weakness. In the Church
of England, though The statistics OF the
year book have rosy hue, they are, upon
analysis, disappointing. In the decade
past, the number of combinations va a
year has fallen, with some fluctuations,
from PA. 730 TO 1868. and decrease
during the last five years has been contin-
uous and rapid. The same phenomena
are seen in the Sunday schools, in the
number of baptisms, and more strikingly
in the field of total abstinence. Compare
these figures, gloomy as they look. with
the increase in population, and the reason
for deep searchings of heart in England
are even more manifest
American churches tell the same story.
Analysing the material furnished by The
United States census, we find that,
though the statistics of church member
ship look very cheerful the actual gain,
as compared with the population, is very
small--not per cent. The rolls swell,
but the rate decreases. The number of
names given in individual church reports
10 h.. min
the average, show close accuracy. If the
names of those dead, absent or non-at-
tendant, or of the myriads whose letters
of dismission will lie in their trunks, were
erased, there would be veritable Black
Friday in shrinkase. If anything seems
certain, it is that ret gain in church
memberships is small whsle decrease in
its rate is certain. Whether ritualistic
or With plain service, ORTHODOX" or lib
eral," IF Dives with social prestige, or
of Lazarus ever in constant need of help,
the churches tell the same story.
What is the reason for this state Of
affairs? Is Christianity declining? Are
there discernible causes of the lack of
growth in church membership-that is.
of numerical Christianity? Do we listen
to the doctors and experts? We are
charmed or dismayed by their disagree
ment. The decay of preaching, the de-
cline of pulpit ability, lowering Of per
sonality in the clergy, the poor qualit. of
the music, the lack of artistic resourt es,
the hideous ugliness of the editices or the
STIFFNESS of the air in them the defects
of sections, the stupidity of church Off
GERS, are causes assigned. The ordinary
| Protestant church, as to form and spirit
| is alleged to be survival, village meet
| ing house in great city. Furthermore
| the ideals of the preacher are non -stren.
| uous-they appeal to the feminine rather
than to the masculine mind and taste. Or
| the church is monopolized by the rich.
The workingman can find no food for his
| soul here. The people are cold and proud,
there is no social atmosphere nor win
some personality, etc, etc, and so ON to
the end Of the chapter.
No reasonable man can deny the force
of these and other criticisms. Preachers
are no longer eminent as scholars-pyra-
mids of learning amid vast levels of ig-
norance. The brains are now in the
| pews. The clergy are not the ideal, but
only the average of educated men. For
ability in pulpit and at altar, we must
depend upon what the fathers and moth
ers of each generation can furnish. Yet
even now the people can make the parson
far more than they imagine, and in .,ener-
al the congregation can have very much
the sort of minister it wants. Undoubt-
eddy music and art have in many COM
munions far larger part to play than
in the past. Without a doubt, also, the
ology is too mHyh the product Of monas-
|. tic. .pediaeyal and scholastic ages. in
stead of the real message of the living
Christ. Men of today cannot live upon
''cut straw 500 years old" They long
for the juicy pasturage which blooms
perennially, with every new springtime,
in the Gospel records. There is certainly
a hiatus between the life of Jesus, the
outdoor teacher, and his commandments,
direct, forceful, human, divine. and the
ecclesiastical verbiage with which men
are asked to feed their souls. 1t can
not be denied that most of our preaehing
satisfies women more than men, The
church seems to be place for bonn cts
and fine dress. rather than for thinkers
and devout worshipers. Often from the
pulpit there is almost a morbidly fcmi-
nine outlook upon life. Reviyalism. which
roots it's success in emotion, has been
the bane of popular religions The vast
Majority of converts thus made are WON
en- and girls The crop of 'burnt-out' or
hardened fathers. who talk before their
children in a way that does not breed re-
spect for the churches, Is large The
clerical standard Of conduct seems mega
tive rather than manly. Religion is meas
ured more by what girl will not, than
what a boy may do. Hence, the male
goes where he is respected and invited
to the lodges, clubs apd athletic games
| The Sunday school works hand in hand
with the church, and the ideal of relig-
ious life is rather a sweet young girl who
will not do anything rough. In general,
1t is the mother and not the father who
Is ever lovely and of good report. We
may not wonder that where the German
and Dutch are spoken in our American
churches, the men crowd them, for here
no such morbid ideal prevails. That
wealth and social ambition dominate
many churches, keeping out the wage
earners, cannot be denied. The working
man has notion that the chief supp Jrt-
| ers of Protestant churches are those
| prominent in the corporations, which are
souiless to a proyerb. Perhaps all viii
( agree that the rapid and almost unprece-
denied multiplication Of amusements, the
multifarious attractions and luxuries
which come in the wake of national pros
! perity, and the phenomenal revival Of
outdoor sports and recreations have much
to doewith the decline Of the churches.
Yet, granting all the facts, there Is as
I yet no sign of decay of the influence #
! Jesus, nor of any real Iessening If the
! inexhaustib'e fertility of Christianity.
ST~bat vr.o coo is ,,,o-oI,- a.. A~a,,..4 rE sy