The Natchitoches enterprise., 1920-04-01
RURAL SURVEY Of
VITAL IMPORTANCE:
Religious Statistics Are Securec
FROM County To Be Used By
Local Churches
HEARTY COOPERATION ASKED
Information To Be Gathered In Every
Part OF The County According To
communities VIII Have LARGO
Significance

Interchurch World Nov ment ba
been organized to assemble informa.
ton and analyze conditions from =
rehsious standpoint in every county y
the state, according to F. R. Cholerto3.
hural survey Supervisor for the ste =,
o. LOUISIANA. with headquarters at TIE
LOUISIANA College. Alexandria. La.
III order for the churches Of a c11,.
mun.,y to cay OF their work
eVangelizing the territory in wb,t,
'neE are situated and to contribu ,
'helr share toWards the comDlr..
eFangellzation Of the world, which +,
the ideal in every Christian heart !,
IS necessary that the actual core.
uons which exist in each county la
discovered, Because Of he vital i'm.
portance Of this work, tho movement
is calling upon the pastors of all do.
nominations and others Who are t,.
formed relative to religious condition.
10 render all the assista ice possibl,
towards the completion of the wort,
| rms information. after being tab;..
lated by experts. is taken back to IT,,
counties. where the several Protestort
J denominations with churches in tb,
! county comparatively study it and de-
I cue on the county's church need
Il Recommendations are made by tho
county churches of each denomina.
uon That so desires, to the denor,i.
hatlonai nome mission, Sunday school
ana other boards so that these board:
can cooperate intelligently and efrec.
uVeiy with the local county church
organizations
Inc lnterchurch World Movement
is attempting to do its work on
democratic basis. 1t is neither dictat.
Ing nor attempting to dictate to am
cnurcn Or denomination what shall b,,
done. The denominations in each
county must decide unanimousIv
among themselves on any, joint coun
" program for church betterrnert bo
lore II Is adopted or undertaken witl,
: the cooperation Of the Intercburch
world Movement. The survey depart.
ment is designed to help build up and
meet the needs of the local churches
through the local and county denomi.
national interests.
An Interchurch World Movement
survey OF county develops facts as 10
the, county's geographical location and
the general character of its agricr,.
tural. commercial and Industrial lie.
lts road system and means OF inter.
communication. public school svstem
and other educational institutions vel.
rare and benevolent institutions, ether
organizations and individuals eneag.
ed in public service for the entire
county.
accompanying general survey Of
county Is more detailed survey OF
each community, community beinp
regarded as unit of territory ard
population characterized by common
economic and social experiences and
interests.
The community survey desie-atc,
the outline and location of the cora.
munlty on information acquired from
storekeepers. bankers and other II.
formed persons. Territory nor ded.
nitely included within the u~nits ot
connection with the communities to
whlch 1t Is contiguous and to which
1t IS most closely related. Thus ro
area Is omitted in the enumeration Of
population and other statistical in.
formation The survey takes accoun.
OF the community's economic condi.
uons, such as natural resources. chic,
sources OF income, soil, climate and
market conditions, relations of farm.
ers and business men. Industrial data.
etc. The social life and organizations
Oh the community are covered in d.
tan, together with other information
TO throw light on the state of the so.
cal mind
The third link in the survey ch.;,
is the survey OK each church in each
community. This sets out the Ioca.
tlon, denomination, minister. date Of
organization, descriptive data as to
buildings and equipment, membership.
regular and special meetings and tan.
uiated results thorefTom, statistic q.
to area covered by the parish. nnr7,.r
OF FAMILIES reached, parish prob,er;
and other data to give a corDfcl,e,.
siVe vision OF the parish, ard gu3,lc.
mented by Information as to tho p~n.
gram OF work outlined for the cuurc,
ny the pastor and the official board.
The triple surveys-county. com.
munity and church--assemb!e au il.
formation that may be needed to al
the individual clutches ard denon:.
nations In working out their pro c3.
problems and future programs Of d.
so that wasted effort r,2y
be eliminated and unproductiye ac.i
tivities Of each denomination NAV -
transferred to productive fields.
The need Of such a systematic st~d
Of church conditions is apparent b,
the results CT investigation alrea.,
made In some sections Of the South.
II the churches are to accomplish tsa
greatest possible amount OF good. Til,
conditions found to exist in son,
quarters are rather startling In on,
county in the South, for instanc,.
there qr" II chucches, of which !.
az ieau -4... only Is of which. ma.r..
ain SUNDAY SChuuiR