Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-11

Today the 42O00,O0 Lutherans OF the
world will unite IN celebrating the 426th
anniversary OF the birth Of Martin Luther
More h any other man responsible for
the reformation, Of which wyoliffe had
been the morning star" the Protestant
world today looks upon Luther as the
"liberator Of modern thought" While his
direct following in the United states is not
as large as that Of Wesley, nor as strong
as the Baptist bodies. taking the whole
world no other Protestant BODY can com
pare with the great army which marches
under the banner Of Lutheranism. The
Anglican church is second, with a mem
bership OF over 10000, 900.
The Lutheran church in the United states
now has nearly 2,2J0,OO communicate In
the sixteen year period OF religious ac-
tivity recently reviewed by the census bu-
reau, beginning with 1890. It was found that
the Lutheran church was the only one OF
the four leading Protestant bodies which
had a greater relative membership at the
close of the period than It had at the be-
ginning. The Baptists, the Methodists and
the P%resbyterians had a smaller percentage
Of the total church membership in the
United States in 1906 than they had in 1890.
Only the Lutherans were able to hold their
relative position among the big four
Protestant bodies. They advanced as much
from their position in 1890 as the Baptists
and Presbyterians went back. Scandinav-
ian immigration was largely responsible
for this growth, as southern Europe i'm
migration is responsible for Catholic
growth.
1t is interesting to note thai there are
only three important Protestant denomina-
lions which held a larger percentage Of the
total church membership Of the United
States In 1905 than they held in 1890. These
three are the Disciples Of Christ, the Luz
therans, and the Protestant Episcopal
church. The fight for primacy in relative
growth has been a close one between the
Disciples and the Lutherans. Guaged by
communicate membership the Disciples
stand a little ahead of the Lutherans. In
the sixteen year period the Disciples had
a growth In membership amounting to 7S.2
per cent. The increase enjoyed by the Luz
therans amounted to 716 per cent, while
that shown by the Protestant Episcopal
church was 66.7 per cent. No other prln-
cipal Protestant church showed an increase
above 56.4 per cent.
The reason the Protestant churches have
found IL so hard to hold their relative posi-
ton as compared with the whole body Of
Christian people is because of the phe-
nominal growth of the Catholic church.
During TIE sixteen years that organization
made a gain in membership amounting to
more than SO per cent. Added to this is
the growth Of Christian Science, Spiritual
ism and other like sects, which recruit
their ranks from Protestant soil in far
greater proportion than from Catholic
sources. Only five Protestant bodies have
been able to show as great a relative pro-
portion of the total church mem. ship of
the United States at the close OF the six
teen year period as they showed in 1890,
and of these only the Disciples, the Luth-
Grams and the Episcopalians advanced. The
others merely held their own.
1t is a strange coincidence that the two
church bodies which show the greatest
growth should show the opposite extremes
of subdivision. The Disciples of Christ are
divided into only two bodies, while the
Luthorans are separated into twenty-four
distinct and independent organizations.
Furthermore, the Disciples represent the
purely congregational form Of government.
while the Lutherans approximate the pres
byterian form of church polity. The third
OF the advancing bodies represents the
third form of church government the
episcopal form. Likewise, in doctrinal
matters these three church bodies represent
the three extremes Of Interpretation. 1t
would appear, therefore, that their rela-
tive advantage can be ascrlbed neither to
doctrine nor to system of government, but
rather to the missionary seal Of those who
constitute the several bodies, Neither do
the statistics point out the advantage or
the disadvantage of subdivision.
1t is not only in the number OF m
cants that the Lutherans, Disciples and
Protestant Episcopal churches a k leader
ship of all Protestant bodies, but also In
the increase of congregations, church
buildings and the value OF church property.
The complaint of the Protestant world
today is that there are too few men in the
church. Less than forty out of every 100
/ Protestant church member are men. But
this complaint does not lie with such force
against the Lutheran church as a whole.
More than forty-six out OF each 100 Of it's
members are men. No other Protestant
denomination except the Quakers shows
Z as great a proportion Of male cummunl-
eants as the Lutherans. The Baptists have
less than thirty-nine, the Presbyterian
less than t~hirty-nine, male communicate
out Of each 100 members, the Methodists
less than thirty-elght, the Episcopalians
less than t~hirty-six, and the Reformed
Church less than forty-three. In the