The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-02
NO CHURCHES. .LEFT1N 2OO8
 SAYS REV. A. c. AIKEN
Rockefeer Pastor Points Out Decline In Membership and Influence as Due to Wrong Methods and Indicating
 Early Extinction of Religious Organizations

New York. August 1.-(Special) )-For John D. Rockefeller to attack the con- duct of the oil business or for John D., Jr. to expatiate on uselessnesss of Bible classes would be hardly more surprising than for the pastor of the ultra-conserva- tive Rockefeller church, Rev. Charles F. Aked, to critcise Christianity as prac ticed in the churches of today, and to as sert that the churches themselves are doomed to extinction unless the present course of events changes Yet this is ex- actly what has happened and instead of repenting his rashness the man who has the distinction of being religious perceptor to the richest man In the world pro- poses to follow up his first attack, which appears in Appletons Magazine, by series of articles to continue for a year or more in which he will tell other un- comfortable truths about the failure of the churches and the need of a decided change In their spirit and methods If they would avoid being completely wiped out by the attack of dry rot from which they are suffering.
 ''I didn't want to do it, said pr. Aked when asked as to his reasons for attack ing the methods of existing organizations for religious work and thus laying him self open to the charge of "muck-raking' the chthe churches. "I have been more or less a storm center ever sincetI entered the ministry and had planned for quiet and rest. Besides it occurred to me that 1t might be felt that my Americanism was of too recent an origin to entitle me to the role of critic. But" and the gaze of the famous Fifth avenue preacher wandered out of his study window which overlooks the greenery and the glimmer- ing lake of Central Park from the top of big apartment hotel-"but the word had to be spoken and the opportunity to speak 1t in a way that would reach a host of thinking men and women throughout the country came to me, and so I am try ing to perform the task that seems to be absolutely necessary to the salvation of Christianity" He swept the air with a wide gesture, indicating the extent of the field to be covered, and paused to see if he was understood.
 The pause gave an opportunity to study this man who has startled the religious conservatives out of their comfortable somnolence on more than one occasion since he came over from England to take charge of the Fifth Avenue Baptist church-the church which Is celebrated the country over by reason of it's Rocke- feller connection through the fact that John D. Is its most prominent member and sometimes passes the plate of Sun day morning, and that John D., Jr., or ganized and conducts its famous Bible class. At first glance one would set down the Rev Dr. Aked as a quiet. studous individual, lover of books and think CT of thoughts, rather than a man of de- termined action. But when he begins to speak the squareness of jaw reveals itself more prominently; the firm lips curve away from the well-set teeth and the keen gray eyes hold one with the tensity of their expression. As he moves about the slender figure reveals the well-knit proportions of the man of athletic habit There is dynamic force behind the ut terances that makes them strike home There Is something Rooseveltian about the set and action of the jaw as 1t cuts of the words. It is easy to understand his casual mention of the fact that he has been "storm-center" during his pulpit career Though preacher of the gospel of peace, Dr. Aked is a man of strenuous thought and with the courage of his con- victions as is shown by his ministerial record.
 "The question of the decreasing mem- bership and waning influence Of religion the churches-is not denominational question:" continued pr. Aked. "It Is not a national question. It Is a question as wide as Christianity itself. Conditions in America are broadly speaking, the same as in England and in England as in the rest of Europe. I can see the diff ference in this country since first visited the United States, 15 years ago. The danger is not from direct attack on re- ligion. The denial of belief, that is, atheism, has spent Its force. What the churches have to fear Is a more insidious danger-indifference. The man in the street says the church Is back num- ber.' He feels that he can do without it. If you asks him whether he believes in God, in the existence of an infinite pow CT superior to man the chances are that he will say 'yes.' But questions of dogma, distinctions of creed do not interest him and he refuses to concern himself about them. He had made up his mind that he can get along without religion-that Is religion as it has been expounded to him. But that does not mean necessarily that he Is irreligious.
 Tt seems to me that this indifference is more pronounced In America than in England. just as orthodoxy is more strictly defined and more unyielding over here. And where there is indifference to the church I can form no other conclu- sion than that the church itself Is to blame. Yet the need of religion never hes been greater in any age or country than in this country and in the day we ilVo In. NjuuTCHeB exlSI dIu predCHeTS are maintained to remind men and na- tions of the eternal laws they must obey and the eterrsl love in which they may rest. And in the United States they may yet be needed as the mainstay of social order. Either the churches have got to live up to the task of keeping the soul of the nation alive or they will perish"
 Do you think that members of the ministry generally agree with your views?"
 'The facts speak for themselves. Sta tistcs gathered by pr. Josiah Strong show that the gain of the churches in membership in proportion to the gain in population is steadily and rapidly falling off. In the past 20 years 1t Is less than half what 1t was in the preceding 20 The trouble is that too much of our religion, both as it is preached and as it is prac- tised. lacks life. The attitude of vast number of persons toward it is like that of the New York banker who said to a certain preacher at the conclusion of his sermon: This is the first time I ever knew that religion had anything to do with living. I thought it had to do only with dying and going to he'll"
 But don't you think that many church. men will disagree with you and claim that you are attacking religion itself?'
 'very likely. Differences of opinion are certain to exist among living men. It Is only in a cemetery that you will find unanimity All the evils of contro- versy are temporary; all It's benefits are |, permanent This is one respect in which religious thought in England is in ad-