The Alaska daily empire., 1920-02-23
UNCONVENTIONAL \
 R|vAILR|ES HURT
 CHURCH, HE SAYS
Organic Union of National Church Bodies Urged by
 New Jersey Pastor

NEW YORK, Feb. 3.-(By mali)-
 Charging that "the competitions and
 rivalries of evangelical denominations
 in the United States have resulted in
 astounding waste and inefficiency"
 and that SC per cent of the Protestant
 churches have a total seating capac-
 ity of more than 53,O000O0. or three
 times their requirement., the Rev. Dr.
 Robert Westly Peach, pastor of a
 Reformed Episcopal church in New
 ark, N. J., makes a, plea for organic
 union of g national church bodies. Dr. Peach's recommendations. to-
 5ether with others, will be discussed by The Interchurch Council on Or
 ganic Union which begins a four lays session in Philadelphia today. The Newark clergyman is one of 50 composing the Ad Interim Commi4t ,e representing various Protestant de
 ,ominations which was appo, tied
 last December upon an inyitat.cl by the resbyterian church. to ap2roye q
 plan for bringing about merger.
 tn his statement; a minority report.
 he teclared that ProteStanls hal
 built perhaps 100000 superfnous
 cE,lit hes at a cost of $1D) 00o,000.
 "Ii Lot a single church had been
 built in the past 13 years" he said,
 those standing in 1906 would accom- modate at single service every Protestant communicant of the year 1919 and every Roman Catholic in our country, baptized infants included, md, besides, every man. woman and child in Canada, Cuba and Porto Rico and there would still be much room to spare.
 These S6 per cent of our churches reported over three sittings for every oommunicant. At the same time, the Roman Catholic churches reporting had one sitting for every two and one-fourth membersa ratio of nearly seven to one in our dlsfayor The Roman churches are crowded, ours on an average less. than oneQuartel | illed-for 1t is the exceptional church
 which, at it's principal Sunday ser vice, has an attendance equalling SC per cent of it's communicant roll" The upkeep and the salaries in cident to maintaining services ir Protestant churches, Dr. Peach said
 make necessary the raising annually 0f millions of wasted dollars; make necesstary moreover, gruelling efforts to raise money. Inevitably there has arisen The Great Protestant Order of Mendicant Pastors and Sisters, un incorporated. Inevitably also has followed widespread defection oi church members, weary of continual solicitation to give outright, and tc buy tickets for suppers, entertain nents, bazaars, etc. Not the giving has repelled, in most instances,' continued Dr. Peach, for the Ameri can people are generous-but the
 needless calls for uneconomical giy ing. &4s
 Upon members who remain stead tast have fallen the heavier burdens, he said. This defection also is mainly responsible for increasing tho .wo out of three empty pews caused by overchurching ts- three out o tour. Let not the pastors and mem bers of exceptional congregations hlindly question the general validity >f these estimates. Withal, we hay, thousands of settled communitie: without a single church. In Ohio Or example, the recent Methods Episcopal survew has discovered cores of townships. six miles square without a. single resident minister To wicked waste We add woeful in efficiency.
 'In our division" said Dr. Peach 'Our people are grooming under tn, burdens caused thereby, and unde he reoroach of incompetency, no only. but the unchurched masse gnore our weakened testimony an, reject our appeal; our problems ar, multiplied, our fellowship is marred our Lord is dishonored. These ar,
 the conditions organic unity is SC to cure" As
 The Rey. William H. Black, D. D. of the Presbyterian church. Mar shall. Mo, another member of the A, Interim Committee, in minority re pert, advocated the use of the ter anthology of the United States gov ernment for characterizing the pro
 posed new united church and op posed a "restatement of the fnnda mental doctrines of Christian belief declaring that "all- evangelical churches recognize and teach tha the Holy Scriptures are the inspire, word of God and are the only, infal libie rule of faith and practice" Other suggestions and minority re
 ports which will be presented to tho