The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-09-08
CHURCHES ARE TO BLAME
THEY MAKE NO APPEAL TO WORK
ERS, SAYS REV. MR.. HUNTER.
He Declares Workfngmen Are Out of
Joint with Religion Because
Churches Exhibit Glass Spirit.

The Rev. Austin Hunter, of the North
Park Christian Church. discusses the at
titude of laboring men toward churches
with great frankness. It Is true, he points
out. that laborers seem to be falling away
from churches more and more. and that
congregations seem to be made UP Of the
rich more and more The cause he finds to
be more in the manifestation of Christian
ity as seen in the churches. He says the
church is too often on the side of capital.
and needs more of the brotherhood of man
in its composition. He said:
The papers have been filled recently
with discussions concerning the relation
Of laboring men to the churches The
fact that there is a general alienation of
wage-earners from the churches to-day is
beyond question. A careful investigation
by Washington GLADDEN., in Columbus, O.,
revealed the fact that only about one-third
of the wage-earners attend church, many
of these being Catholics, while 55 per cent.
or what might be called moneyed people
are members, and II per cent. regular at
PENDANTS. Four leading churches of Brook
lyn, n. Y, the membership of which ag-
gregates over 2,2O0, are said not to have a
single member who could properly be
called workingman. Josiah Strong says
working, none of whom were Catholics,
only six attended church even occasionally.
In another shop out of no Protestants.
tells us that the same conditions prevail
in England, there being not per cent of
the working people who are regular or
even occasional church attendants.
CAUSE OF ALIENATION
I'VE are confronted at once with the
| question, What Is the cause of this striking
| alienation? The cause must be found in
one or more of three places. 1t is in Chris
tianity itself. in the workingmen them
selves or in the manifestation of Chris
tianity in the present day church That the
| cause does not lie in Christianity itself is
generally conceded. If the Christian re-
| ligion shows any preference between the
moneyed man and the working man that
preference Is doubtless to the working man.
Christ was a carpenter by trade and was
| In deepest sympathy with the sons of
ship was the fact that the poor have the
| gospel preached to them The early con-
quests of Christianity were chiefly among
| lie primarily in the workingmen. 1t may
| partly lie there. There Is in many a sensi-
tiveness that Is uncalled for; a wounded
as well as some others, that may keep
| some laboring people away from the
church; but these are only minor causes
| Those same things existed in other DAYS
when working people as a class were not
alienated from the church A few are
affected by such causes. but not the
masses. me chief cause Is to be found in
| the manifestation of Christianity as seen
in the church to-day.
Il have several letters from workingmen
| In answer to the question: Wherein does
| the church fail to do her duty to the
| workfngman? And the answers boiled
| down, are practically this: The church
| fails to manifest the spirit of human
| brotherhood, which is the very essence of
| the Christian religion One writer tells
OF an address to laboring men, In which
| the mention of Christ was cheered. while
the mention Of the church was Kissed.
Ihat there has grown up aristocracy in
many churches is not questioned by any
| serious thinker. A class church is wrong,
| whether 1t be of moneyed men or wage
I, earners- A workingman's church, such as
| has been proposed at Marion, is Just as
/ wrong as church composed of exclusively
| wealthy people. The rich and poor must
| worship together. The workingman has
| felt that in the severe strife between capt.
| tai and labor the church has more often
been on the side of capital than of labor.
| One labor leader said the church was not
just enough to be neutral What is needed
to solve the difficulty is a most practical
| manifestation on the part of the church
| of the spirit OF human brotherhood. of the
peace and good will to men, that
| our Savior came to teach. Then IL NAV
be said. as at the beginning the common
people heard Him gladly"