The leader., 1903-09-23
COMPARATIVE STATISTICS.
A Paper Read Before the BrOOkhaven
District Missionary institute
by Rev. ISsac L. PEBBLES.

The following paper was read
before the recent meeting of the
Brookhaven District Missionary
Institute held in Summit and is
published at the request of that
body:
1t is pleasant to note the prog
less of Methodism in comparison
with other churches. This is not
done to discredit in the least the
great and good work of others,
but to emphasize the fact that God
has most graciously blessed us
and therefore expects much of US.
We should take a pleasure in
noticing the statistics of all
the churches, but that would make
this paper unnecessarily long, and
therefore the writer will limit
himself for the present to those
of the church next to the Metho-
dist, and that church is the Bap-
fist; and although it began in the
United States more than one hun
dred years before the Methodist
yet it does not measure up to the
same, as we shall see in the light
of statistics.
In 1901 it was reported that all
the different denominations Of
Baptists in the United States in
Guiding Baptists of every name,
even the Seventh Day Baptists,
etc., numbered 34,870 ministers
and 4,5S1,55S members, making
in all for them a total membership
in the United States of 4,616, 428,
provided the 1851, 558 members
did not include the 34,87O minis
tiers. In the same report the
Methodists of the United States,
including each and every branch
of the church, were numbered 49,
935 ministers and 5,966,500 men,
bers, making in all a total mem
bership of 6,005, 435 Methodists in
the United States. According to
these figures which include none
but actual members in each
church, the Methodists numbered
1889, O07 more than the Baptists;
that is 1,389,007 more communi-
cants than the Baptists. This
number does not include infants;
they are not communicates. Ac-
cording to the report of the Ecu
menical Methodist Conference
held in London in September 1901,
the Methodists in the western
section numbered $500 ministers
and 6,437, 461 members or COM
municants, making in all men,
bership of 6,525, 967. In the east
ern section the Methodists were
numbered GA, 689 ministers and L.
221,82 members, making in all
a membership of 1896, 513 COM
municants in that section. The
total of both sections was 1853, 1876
ministers and 1859, 1856 members,
making a grand total of 7,812,48
Methodists. That same report
estimates the adherents of Metho-
dism at 28,018, 10 which number
added to the grand total of mem
bers or communicates, aggregated
1881 $50 Methodists in both
sections, or the whole world
Let us now see how Methodism
compares with other foreign mis-
sionary societies in foreign work.
In order to do this, and too, to
make this paper as brief as posi-
BILE, let US compare its work With
that of the two denominations
next to the Methodists in such
work. These two denominations
are the Baptists and Presbyter-
ians; and when we say Baptists
and Presbyterians, we mean every
denomination of Baptists that is
called Baptist and every denomi-
nation of Presbyterians that is
called Presbyterians. To make
this paper briefer still, we shall
compare the missionary work of
all the Methodists in the United
States with that of all the Baptists
and with all the Presbyterians in
the United States only.
In 1902 all the Presbyterian
Foreign Missionary Societies in
the United States were reported
as having ], 155 male and female
missionaries in foreign fields;
those of the Baptists $50 and those
of the Methodists $50; and al
though the Methodists had 1919
missionaries less than the Presby-
terians and 306 more than the
Baptists, yet they (the Metho-
dists) had succeeded in advance
of either. In 1902 the Baptists
were reported as having 100, 798
heathern converts or communi-
cants; the Presbyterians so, 768
and the Methodists 202, 351, which
gave the Methodists al 1851 more
than the Presbyterians and 81,
553 more than the Baptists; or, in
other words, the Methodists had
oil heather communicates to
each missionary, the Baptists 1856
and the Presbyterians 50.
So we see from these figures
that although the Methodists have
fallen far short of what they
should have done for the heathern,
yet they have made good record
when compared with other mis-
sionary workers.
Duling one year, which includ-
ed part Of 1901 and 1902, the mis-
sionary funds of the Presbyterians
in the United States aggregated
81. 443, 483; those Of the Baptists
g906, 200 and those Of the Metho-