The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-10-27

social life and entertainment
new building is being planned
Tor the church which vii be used
seven days week and VIII call for
m outlay in money of between
S25o.oo9 and 100000, These plans
are now under way. but they are not
ready to be revealed yet
DR.. zumbrunner said in part, as
The final question for considera-
t'oh Is thar at the program ana
equipment What should be the
program Of church in this down
town community in the light OF the
1&cls and conditions disclosed BY tn
survey? In consideration of the
facts already presented. namely:
That it Is adjacent 10 the main
shopping and business centers of the
city that 1t Is near the downtown
junction Of the clty's railway sys-
TEN, which daily brings 140, 900 peo-
PIE INTO this section, according to
the statement OF the vice president
of the Virginia Railway and Power
company. in the light of the fact
that 364,925 guests were accommo-
Gated at the hotels in the commu-
NIFTY, 100, 900 persons attended the
theaters and moving pictures week
~ 500 men enter the pool halls
each week. and 5000 people room
ana board in the community. and
mat conditions in the roominr and
boarding sections are as has been
previously presented; 6,7q1 peonte
are attending schools within the
immediate community, 1889 pa
uents We're treated last year in the
hospitals, the majority of which arc
within three blocks Of the church
@,"Oo working girls room and live IN
me community IS per cent of the
houses are boarding and rooming
houses that 1uNanile delinquency is
The greatest, immortality most pre-
d'E ir Ea3absiTg NJ ~@ KIT Gus tSie 5IR
the community. That recreationa(
facilities are entirely inadequate to
meet the needs ard the greater part
OF IL Is provided Tor by moving pic
tCre SHOWS and the streets; that
l,9of people were discovered to De
the eNangelistic responsibility Of tho
Broad Street church.
1t viii be noted that the churches
nave total mem bership of 1886,
sunday school enrolment of 5.95S,
seating capacity of 11,750; an
average attendance of 10,425: and a
gross addition OF SAT the last year
Property valued at Sl.354,500. an
annual budget Of $311,695 Some
OF these statistics are worthy Of
further consideration, 1t will be re-
Inemhered that the estimated popu-
lation or the community is less than
The membership of these churches
This is TO be explained by the fac.
that all of them have members out
side Of the bounds of the cornrnu-
hltY. The Broad Street church is
probably typical in that respect and
hos members. on its roll residing N
every section OF the city The table
indicates that 10 f25, or a number
equal To the population of the whole
munity, attend services in these
churches every Sunday. This is ac-
counted for in the same way that
the mem hership is. by people with
out the bounds OF the community
coming into 1t to attend the serv-
ices of these churches There was
gross increase in membership last
year of per cent. but there is food
for thought in the fact that there
was gross increase OF per cent
on profession of faith. This state
ment has points to it when ii is OBJ
served that these churches carry an
annual budget of s31l.6S5, or that
nearly each convert costs the
churches in this community on an
average of nearly 81 900.
Another matter that was care
fully investigated respecting these
churches was the activities that were
carried on by them. II the first
table in this chapter Ia studied il
VIII be noted only part OF them hal
paid workers other than the pas
tors This In itself is Suggestive Of
tho unlimited scope of their activl-
ties. These buildings represent an
Investment of 1855 and are
being used very rarely, except on
sunday and one hour for the mid
week prayer meeting services. DC
eaAlonally social gathering Is held
or convention of one of the or
carnations of the church, but no
attempt was being made as far as
the author WAS able to discover 10
make an economical use OF this
large Investment, They havo no
recreational facilities. no compre-
hcnsiVe social program was being
attempted by any OF them. simply
the old time routinue services were
being carried on. None of the vital
problems growing out of the social
conditions surrounding II were IN
any comprehensive and vital way
being grappled with, IL they were
conscious that there were any prob
lens they were not in any way max
ing an effort to solve them.