Metropolis weekly gazette., 1917-02-02
RELIGIOUS
DepIorss Drlft From Churches.

Deplores Drift From Churches.
Statistics showing the tendency OF
large numbers Of Americans 70 ignore
the church were presented by the Rev.
James Gordon Gillley in an address
entitled THE Immediate Problems of
the American Church. delivered in
the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian church,
at Bryn Mawr. Pa.
Declaring that evangelization of the
unchurched masses within our borders
was one of the most pressing problems
confronting the church Mr. Gilkey
said three Americans out of every five.
or GO0OO000 out of 100000,000, re
ported themselves at the last census as
having no connection witifany church..
either Catholic or Protestant In
Pennsylvania, he said, the census
showed that % per cent of the popula-
ton is Protestant II per cent Chtho-
lie and 81 per cent is connected with
no church whatever" Moreover, there
are only six states in the Union where
even one-half of the population lis af-
filiated with any church, Yhe said In
not a single state misunderstanding
is dominant he said, has ''the Protes-
tant church succeeded in bringing even
one-half of the population to join any
kind of Il religious organization.
The estimates of church attendance4
bear out this eonclusion-that f. the
Fchurrh is reaching only fraction of
the population, asserted the preacher.
who quoted DR. Josiah Strong as say,
ing that "out of every 100 Americans
thirty attend some church regularly,
twenty attend once in awhile and fifty
never go near the church at all"
Another problem confronting the
church. according to Mr.. Gilkey, is
that of religious education lie goes
on to shoN that. according. to. stdtis-.
ties compiled by the Rennsylyania
State Sabbath School association. tile
Catholic and Protestant Sunday
schools. are reaching.60; per cent of the
children of Pennsylvania between five
and twenty years old, but Ifes asks
What about the other 40 per. cent
| more than 1.00G.O00. of the future CHI
zens of This state:"" nl'ts.:&,
Speaiing of the problem, of. lhlpeh
.unitE,.Mr. Gillley said that "some prog
ress' has been made and asserted the
movement lis being helped ,.sBy{ the
eoilliaoii.' } sense pI, t1ei Christian bust
ness man. who realizes that 1T is a
waste of time and money ito ,nyltin1y
rival means for bringing the kingdom
Of Cod" WITH Washington 1Csladaefi
3le asks,"AYhat possible need have we
for thirtee4t different kinds of Bap-
lists twelve kinds OF Ifennohites. efeyl
en- kinds Of. Presbyterians. seventeen
kinds of Methodists and twenty-three
! kinds of Lutherans?" And he said,
one lis tempted to agree with Cardi-
nal Gibbons, who said that the null
/ tiplicity of Protestant sects. with their
mutual recriminations, is the scandal
Of Christianity and the greatest obsta-
Gle to the conversion of the heathen.' -
Considering the social problem"
which eonfronts the church of TODAY,
AIf. Gilkey pointed out that despite our
increasing prosperity and the fact that
whereas in 1885, there were twenty
eight milionaires in New York city,
there are today more than 1000 this
growth .tof national wealth has not
been accompanied by a proportionate
decrease. of poverty He cited sta
tistics to show that in fairly prosper
Gus times there are no fewer than TO-
100000 people in this,country in power
ty and that in cities this proportion
rises to as high as 20. per cent. of the
total population"
| Commenting upon the advance made
by Christianity, he said that whereas
in 1872 only one American in fourteen
was member Of the Protestant
church today tire percentageeis zone 20
four. During the same period the. per-
cehtage of college students. who have
been church members has increased
from one to ten in 1912 to a ratio of
one to two at the present time.