The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-02-09
CHURCH STATISTICS.

I Inc European war did not, apparent
| ~, seriously affect the prosperity of the
churches of the United States in 1915.
A net increase of nearly 654, 200 com
municants. says DIR. H. X. Carroll, the
| ecclesiastical statistician, speaking for
the Federal Council of Churches of
| Christ in America in a bulletin just is
sued, if not unusually large is certain
| ly not abnormally small. 1t is fairly
distributed among the larger denom-
nations. excepting the Lutherans,
who report loss of nearly 1000 for
the year, much of which may be eX
planned perhaps by faulty returns
The Catholics added nearly 1SS, 0e0 to
their numbers, the Methodists upward
of 144, 900, the Baptists nearly 131, 900,
the Presbyterians over $1,000, of
which the northern body had nearly
5000 and the southern almost $4,000.
These last are quite unusual gains.
The Protestant Episcopal church is
larger than it was by 25,64S. An in
| teresting fact is that the gains in the
south We're quite extraordinary. The
southern Baptists had an increase of
| 10000 and more, and the Southern
lMethodists of Sc. 900; adding the South
ern Presbyterians the net increase of
these three bodies was more than
100000, or we'll on to a third of the
aggregate gains for the year. The re-
turns for the Disciples of Christ for
1915 are not yet ready They would
probably add materially to the in
crease of the year. A remarka BILE
feature of DR.. Carroll's statistics is
that there has been a net decrease,
! instead of the normal increase of
churches. The actual loss is not
large, only 1853, but in 1914 there was
a gain OF over 1900. The Luther
ans quite unaccountably appear to
have lost nearly a thousand churches
during the year, partly due, perhaps.
to defective statistics. Even in the
south, which had so large an ingath-
ering of members, there was little in :
CREASE IN schurctes The southern
Baptist convention reports losses as
about offsetting gains; the Method
list Church, South, had a net increase
OF SO and the Southern Presbyterians
Of only s. The Northern Methodists
gained 1873. Several of the Presby-
terrain bodies. which enjoyed an un-
usual increase in communicates.
show a falling off in the number of
churches. The northern church, for
example, has a net loss of 1913.
Doubtless the hard times that seem to
have come upon the churches in the
rural regions, and which have led to
the closing of a number of churches
which were formerly furnishing, and
to the consolidation of many others,
accounts at least in part for the de-
crease. The grand totals of minis
tiers are 0,607, an increase of over
LOO; of churches, 225,3S4. a de-
crease of 1853; and of communicates,
| 39.3SO,718, gain of 653. $40. In their
finances the churches generally have
not suffered. The total income for
foreign missions was s1,6OO.0O0 great
er in 1915 than in 1914; that for
home missions shows a falling off
of about s73O,OOO. A very large
amount in the aggregate was con-
| tributed through the churches for
war relief of one kind or another.
The increase for the quarter century
since 1890 is very large. Denomina-
tional groups of 100000 communi-
cants and upwards, embracing all but
about 100000, have nearly doubled
their numbers. Having 19,32S.OOO in
1890 they now have 37.255,OOO. indi-
eating a net gain for the twenty-five
years of nearly 100000. or. more
than 80 per cent.