Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-10-02

lduon OF 2,Zib the fEureS being Tor tn'
year 1908. The town of Springfield, which
proclaims itself the most rapidly growing
town in Vermont, has G6S church attend
ants out Of a Protestant population OF
3,702. The town of Weathersfield, which
may be called a typical farming town
divided into several villages and ham
let's, has 19S church attendants out OF a
Protestant population of LOIS. Weston
a mountain town, with a Protestant
population Of 622, has % people who &c
to churcl. at least on Sunday out OF
three. This Is in Christian America, In
good old Vermont, figures of only five
years ago.
But the comparison of that year with
the period 90 years before is more i'm
portant and significant. This shows that
while there has been a slight gain In to-
tai population of the county these %
years, there was "A loss in Protestant
popula ton. In church membership there
was gain of AS per cent, though both
figures are distrcssinEly small the high
est being a membership of i,SS9 out of "A
Protestant population OF 29,7S5 In church
attendance, however, instead of a gain
there was a striking loss, namely from
5000 in 1883 to 5,537 in 1905 or 81 per cent.
Figures as to attendance are more i'm
portant in the determination of the real
religious situation than any other class
of facts Any one who has had any ex-
poricucc with church rolls and statistics
of members hip from year to year knows
how unreliable and misleading they may
Doe. Mr.. Gill discovered this fact for
he found one church in Windsor county
with an average attendance by actual
count oi IS. which had an enrolled mem-
hnrship of IL of whom, only 1S6 were
Vermont or elsewhere. Year by year the
various denominations give fort statis-
tics as to gain or loss in mer bership
and similar figures are compiled for re-
,iglous bodies over the entire world. Mr.
Gills t. orough investigations indicate
that no great reliance can be placed on
these figures as to the actual sta Of
religion and the hold of the church on
their communities. 1t is the people who
attend church and who look with more
or less regularity to the church for in
huence and stimulus upon their lives who
really count in the estimate of the hold
Of the church upon the community.
There seems to he no great difference
between the several denominations as to
their ability to hold their own in the
support of their services. The loss dur
ing these 20 years in attendance upon the
congregational Churches of Windsor
county was 2S per cent. that of the
Churches p per cent. that of
the Baptist Churches 80 per cent. These
nnligG h, no .,,t1
most generally distributed through
out the county. The rniversalists lost IS
per cent, while the Episcopal Churches
gained four per cent. and the old
lnita!ian Church y per nent, the aver
age of all the churches in the county, as
before stated, being 81 per cent
1t is important to notice the salaries
)aid to the ministers and their cducation-
Al equipment for their work In five
'ear period, 1905-l909. two ministers re-
'civod Sio0 or less four $500 or less. II
900 or less, 81 S7o1 or less. 30 $500 or less.
while the average salary for 80 ministers
vas $Sll. There was an increase in ac-
ual figures over period 20 years before
IF l6 per cent, but when computed in
purchasing power through a careful com.
oarison of values in the two periods
ms ''ease was turh'd INTO a loss OF
w" per 'e"'' 'lA'S-iOur per cent Oh
"' 'i'"'S'elS VI thc county are to-day
'''4'I"S s'lar'eS OF less purchasing pow
= 'iih" were the'r predecessors OF 20
V"S "so'
AS 10 educational equipment only u of
"' ministers OF the county had com
'ict'o full college and seminary
ego or the sor,i,,,r,. ,,..nn ''', "
lad received only high school education
" less. This is in a county just across
ne river from Dartmouth College, in a
state which has three institutions of
higher learning, and in New England,
Vhere the traditions of an educated min
strN are supposed to be more fixed and
'nding than in any region of the world
II should be added that Mr.. Gill made
imilar Investigation in Tompkins county, |
sew York, of which Ithaca Is the county
eat and the only city. The results there
re surprisingly similar to those attain- |
d in our own State The loss in attend |
nee in Tompkins county was found to |
e 80 per cent. in n 2o-year neriod where.
s their rolls showed a gain in member. |
hip Of twenty per cent. The decrease
n salaries in nurchasing valuo uos
arser in the New York county and the
lumber of churches which lost In at |
endancc was also greater The conclu- |
ion of Mr.. Gill from his investigations
'XtendinE over three years in these two
sections Is that "thc vitality and mower
# the country cburch I'm tbos, ,,,,,, oo,,,,
les is in decline"
WHAT WI, >-,,,,,, -. ,
- ''i-'-D ~ hhMoN l.