The Medina sentinel. [volume] (Medina, Ohio) 1888-1961, 1920-04-02


hon is found due to ovsrchurching Of
communities, and In others It repre-
ssnts an actual decline Of interest In
religious matters. One county has u
abandoned churches, another nine, an
ether 10, another eight. another seven.
In one community Of S45 population
seven churches have been abandoned,
leaving three in operation today.
Decline in church influence in rural
districts is attributed by church work
srs to these causes, among others:
Nonresident pastors, inadequate
buildings and equipment, competition
between churches, failure to provide
adequately for religious Instruction q
children, lack of provision for social
activity, ineffective evangelistic meth
DDS, underpaid minister's
Full-TIme Pastor Rare.
"A church can hardly hope to s1z'
vive with nonresident PASTOR" says
D. L. Lamb, interohurch survey super.
visor for Ohio. Yet the rural church
with full-time resident minister is
found to be exceedingly rare. In one
county fewer than one.half the rural
churches average as high as one serv.
ice week, and the people are practi.
cafly without pastoral services other
than occasional preaching. Hundreds
of churches all over the state are
without ministers and have services
only at rare intervals when preacher
happens to be available.
The small one-room style Of archi.
lecture is practically universal for
country churches, affordins no oppor.
tunity for the development Of tho
church as . social and community
center.
Competition between churches 70
suits in many communities in the
maintenance of several weak churches,
with a total membership large enough
to support an active church If col
lected into fewer congregations Prog.
ress has been made in eliminating
such costly competition in many local.
tiles, but much remains to be done,
according to church leaders. In one
county three-fourths OF the country
churches have fewer than so members
each and one-half have fewer than 25.
Only one-fourth of this smallest group
are growing.
In the country at large 27,0co,oo0
Protestant children and youth under
rs are not enrolled in any Sunday
school. Early findings in Ohio indi.
cate that this state is guilty Of large
share Of this neglect and that thou.
sands Of Ohio children are growing
up without any contact with the
church.
Few interests For Youth.
Church organizations for yeuns
people are surprisingly weak in many
localities. In three Of the earliest
counties completed in tho survey, only
one church had an organization for
boys. Girls receive only little more
constde deration, and organizations for
met are far less numerous than those
for women.
Failure Of hundreds Of evangelistic
meetings in Ohio is indicated by sta
tistics showing that hundreds Of
- churches are stesdily declining in
membership and that only = small
fraction Of the population In many
communities belongs to any church.
In one community only 2 per cent Of
q population of 1900 are church mem
bers, in another s per cent of e70, in
another . per cent Of $40, and survey
workers estimate that when the study
Is completed for the entire state the
membership total will not 60 far
above rs per cent.
Three.fourths of the ministers Of
Ohio, 1t is estimated, receive less
than $500 a year. One-third are paid
under $1,000. Such meagsr salaries.
insufficient to support q family, are
driving many ministers into other &C.
cupations, the survey discloses, and
are discouraging promising young
men from entering the ministry.
Fuif-time ministers receiving as little
as $3.50 and $500 year have been
found in several counties Of Ohio.
Remedies suggested for the correc.
ton OF present conditions include:
Establishment of rural church centers
at strategic points, batter distribution
Of ministers to place at least one full.
time pastor in each community, uni.
fcayion Of programs Of the various
local churches, establishment Of tssin.
Ing c6nIsrenGss fos misistsrs and aay