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
~ rHs RELIGIOUS RAMBLER

~ ~ the RELIGIOUS RAMBLER
y With a billion-and-a half of dollars
Invested In its plant. and with an
MI Income for all religious and benev.
& CIent purposes of something over a
1ni1lfon dollars day. the Christian
church In the United States is find.
lng itself under fire for its shipshod
methods In the local church. While
~ ~ once the biggest business enter
kfDfise In the land and the most wide
n. II distributed, The church Tin which
" word all denominations are included)
Y n taxed with having the least system
\ and efficiency In the administration
& ~ it, local branches. Steady pres
|,.1ore is being applied from various
Y n10es TO remedy a condition which
is deemed intolerable in the light of
+ modern methods OF conducting other
sbusiness. The Laymen's movement,
8dW under way In this country, has
Aeen . potent force for better meth
lDg Of work. and the influence OF the
len and Religion movement is still
3Slt; while many OF the denomina-
Ettons themselves have commissions
on efficiency and systematic finance
*|What Il called "the every member
<canvass." has done much TO put the
financial affairs of the churches on
\ 6usiness basis.
While religious statistics are no
&oriously unreliable. estimates often
r taking the place Of accurately tabu.
s In4ed reports, II is generally agreed,
with the 1906 government census as
r b4ets, that the totals are about as
&te are thirty-seven and quar-
NJ Hon enrolled members in the
~ OF the country. This en-
1glso the Catholic churches,
Whpee figures take in all baptized
~ nibefs OF the parishes. and so III
zl10& children. More than half the
Bopnlation Of the country are count
~ sadherents" OF the church:
xhal ~ they have some more or less
tefzsious connection with local con-
GreeAtions. ami attend services more
br less regularly.
The seating capacity of the
1hurches OF the land is fifty-eight
md 0nr-half million persons. The
XUumbcr of church buildings was, at
list report. 1875; since those fig
bnres are old. It is probably safe to
10y, In the general terms that are
H1l too loosely used in religious sta
klstics, that there are zoe. 900 church
4ildlngs In America. The member
hip Of the average church is com
rted as 157 persons.
The property investment OF the
1urches, parish houses. parsonages.
AAt e uses. aside from strictly edu-
ntional purposes, is hillion-and-a-
M Of dollars. This takes In
nurches. parish houses .parsonages,
nnday School buildings, etc. In the
vgresate. the church certainly does
big business" that would I'M,
Inlet. The. much-discussed loan TO
Niles II only one-third OF the amount
the church's permanent invest.
hat
0coR ~ we may at the pennies
~ nickels put into the collection
nte. the fact remains that the
1orch people In this country pay
II something over a million dollars
GAy for various purposes. There
~ form OF benevolence anywhere
1T en- compare In magnitude with
~ Hifts OF church members.
III addition 10 local church sup.
ri, there are gifts to missions
me and foreign, TO ministerial pen.
80, 70 colleges, TO Bible distribu
-. to hospital and orphanage
n1ntenance. to tho relief OF the
Dor. and TO variety of other al
n1otic causes. The tendency which
~ LAymen's movement has fostered
~ been to divide gifts on fifty.fif
"a basis-half for self tthe local
oDprch), and half for the other per
- Emissions. etc).
& With all this vast income, Il would
I'm a. II the ministers should be
MI paid: but the reverse Is the
<oo. Clergymen's salaries are no
E1ously small. In one denomina.
~ the average is 1894 year. A
6Qjation made two years ago
rived that. outside of the cities,
average salaries OF ministers in
-kuown varieties OF the 17s Prot.
Mt denominations were as fol.
~o(Aern Baptist. sss4. Northern
<let. $3.50: Disciples OF Christ.
~ Southern NJ. f.. 1851; North.
~. g.. e7t1. southern Presbyter-
1e57; Reformed Church se23:
Hora Presbyterian. $t77: Prot
~ Epfsoopsl. fs9t; Unitarian.
lp<e. various religious agencies
~ the Home Mission council
ronl ehurch declarations, have
work 70 secure more degnite