The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1932-02-08
Official City. State and County
Newspaper)
Foreign Representatives
SMALL. SPENCER. LEV1NGS
6s BREWER
OncorporateO
I1CAGO NEW YORK BOSTO
Cify Folk and Churches

re City Folk and Churches
M A nice question as to whether city
Kite affects the religious attitude OF
Che people and their church attend
hence may be solved by QUESTIONABLE
mvhich has been sent out to some $780,
moo American churches by commits
Dion Of which Roger w. Bahson is
hartman.
of The QUESTIONABLE is designed to
inhrow light upon the subject Of church
attendance which has occupied the
n:roup since 1880. Preliminary inves-
igation has disclosed that the attend
asnce at religious services tends to de-
cline as cities become larger.
+ Some Of the conclusions reached on
he basis Of data already available
rVould seem to show that cities, liter
lily, are more Goddess than the rural
communities and small towns. Re-
ports from 1000 churches show that
n unincorporated areas and in vii
lagos with population under $500,
he churches have an average attend
vince of II per cent;
In villages of $500 to 5000, the av-
rage attendance was 66 per cent;
: In towns Of 5000 to 10000, the av-
rage attendance was 46 per cent;
In cities of 10000 to $4,000, the az
rage attendance was AZ per cent;
In cities over $4,000, the average
attendance was 30 per cent.
The commission has had churches
n all states throughout the country
cooperating in its study by reporting
che actual count of the attendance
at each Sunday morning service since
January l, 1880. In comparison of
,'egions the lowest average attendance
was found in the urban middle Allan
TIC states from New York to the Dis
trict of Columbia. The average at
tendance of a group OF selected
churches in places of all sizes in these
states was SO per cent. The highest
average attendance was In the rural
southeastern states where the per cent
vas Is.
While the figures appear astonish-
Ing, they bring home to us something
Ehich we always have sensed. This
IS the fact that the people on the
farms and in the smaller communi-
Ties have a closer kilship with the
eternal than is possible to a man
whose days and nights are spent IN
the hurry and hustle, the worry and
heedlessness of a city.
The city dweller loses that kinship
with nature which sets up in every
breast the yearning for the infinite.
He has no time to think the thoughts
which enable men to best develop
the spiritual qualities within them
selves. Probably, If the analysis is
carried far enough, we may find that
the bulk of city churchgoers are folk
who first began the practice while
living on the farms and in the small
q towns Of the country.
There may be handicaps in living
In rural communities and, at times,
sermons given in the rural churches
may be dull, but who will say that
the country man, when all Is said and
done, hasn't little the best Of it
in a spiritual way? He has taken his
share Of hard knocks and knows the
meaning Of adversely, but he has
preserved in his heart the teachings
which must form the firm foundation
pt our nation if it is to survive. He
has retained the faith Of his fathers.
Is it any wonder that the bulk Of
the nations leaders come from the
ANAL towns and the farms?