The Detroit times., 1915-11-27
Income Millions a Day,
Yet Slipshod Methods
Prevail
PREACHERS ARE
POORLY PAID
Church Rambler Pre-
sents Some Interest
ing Statistics
~ the RELIGIOUS RAMBLER

H,{ ~ THE RELIGIOUS RAMBLER
with . billion-and-a-hslf Of dollars
1nvestsd In its plant and with an
y (ncoms for ell religious and benev-
o2ont purposes OF something over
<UtIlion dollars q day. the Christian
S 1hurch In the United States is and
M Itself under FIRE for its shipshod
4 mothods In the local church. While
nt once the biggest business enter
.Dsise IN the land and the most wide
~ distributed, the church Tin which
15ord all denominations are included)
4 ri taxed with having the least system
nd efficiency In the administration
k&& It, local branches. Steady pres
ure 10 being applied from various
Mes TO remedy q condition which
~ deemed intolerable In the light of
nodern methods of conducting other
Dnoiness. Tho Laymen's movement,
oow under way In this country, has
<o1n Z potent force for better meth
10 Of work. and the influence OF the
oon and Religion movement Is still
VI; while many Of the denomina-
1cuu themselves have commissions
Ia efficiency and systematic finance.
yhat II called "the every member
Honvass." has done much to put the
nancial Affairs OF the churches on
9usiness basis.
while religious statistics are no.
oricusly unreliable, estimates often
6EIng the place OF accurately tabu-
oted reports. II Is generally agreed,
With the 1905 government census as
kHosie, that the totals are about as
<1xa are thirty-seven and a quar-
nul16n enrolled members In the
W.T. Of the country. This en-
rnlso the Catholic churches.
Aooe. dgures take In all baptized
n1erx Of the parishes. and 50 In
~ children. More than half the
1nIstion Of the country are count
TN ~Adherents" OF the church:
~ ies they have some more or less
1uous connection with local con-
DGAtious. and attend services more
less regularly.
The seating capacity OF the
Marches OF the land is ffty-eight
"a onc-half million persons. The
Dnbor Of church buildings was. at
NJ report. 192,7s5; since those fs.
~ are old, II Is probably safe to
~; h the general terms that are
too loosely used In religious sta
Dtics, that there are 100000 church
11Gings IN America. The member
- OF the average church Is CON-
LA - l57 persons.
HE property investment Of the
sohss. parish houses. parsonases.
ot 4 uses, aside from strictly edu-
1bual purposes, is a billion-and-ar
No Of dollars. This takes IN
riches. parish houses .parsonages,
1Gay School buildings, etc. In the
fogate. the church certainly does
Sn1g business" that would I'M
1tet. The much-discussed loan 20
~ 4. only onethird OF the amount
Ne church's permanent invest
eo& ~ w may At ths pennies
0 nickels put into the collection
- The fact remains that the
pch people In this country pay
something over a million dollars
~ Tor various purposes. There
- fcrm Of benevolence anywhere
en- compare In magnitude with
ms Of church members.
y addition 20 local church sup
tAere are gifts TO missions,
- end foreign, to ministerial pen
- 20 colleges, to Bible distribu-
- hospital and orphanage
u1onance, TO the relief OF the
D, and to variety of other al
ne causes. The tendency which
4Atmsn's movement has fostered
1oon to divide gifts on a f,fty-ff-
Deeis--half for self tthe local
40h). and half for the other per-
(lnjssions. etc).
M an this vast income. II would
~ - n the ministers should be
paid: but the reverse Is the
-. CIerGymen's salaries are no
Duoly small In one denomins-
y the average Is t334 q year A
r)Btion made two years ago
MD that. outside OF the cities,
soverage salaries OF ministers in
known varieties of the IT'S Prot
% denominations were as fol.
1clhern Baptist. tsss: Northern
ut, os8s; Disciples Of Christ.
uodthcrn NJ. f.. 1851; North.
~. e7tf: Southern Presbyter.
9e67: Reformed Church. 1923;
&orn Presbyterian. $s77: Prot.
~ Episcopal. sso4 Unitarian.
1nto. various religious agencies.
~ the Home Mission council
6C6 church federations. have
y work to secure more definite