Evening star., 1937-03-07
By Vesfa Cummings and
William Bell.


~ R1TICS OF contemporary youth
frequently work themselves
\ into q lather over the alleged
Indifference of young people
to spiritual matters, and often's the
occasion when remark is heard to
the effect that:
"The youngsters don't 90 to church
any more, as they did in my time
They Just don't give q hang nowadays" :"
Has religion lost its appeal for those
on the borderline between adolescence
and adulthood? Is there to be a sue
cession Of generations to whom re-
ligious duties are matters of small i'm
portance. Will the children of the
young people Of today grow up in the
belief that it's "all right" to omit
Sunday school and church?
In an effort to appraise the attitude
of modern young people toward re-
igion, as that attitude Is reflected In
church and Sunday school attendance
and in the interest which youth cur
rently manifestS In church affairs, the
authors interviewed 13 Washington
clergymen representing 10 denomina-
tions. Their observations indicate it
is Q mistake to surmise that there has
been any substantial detection Of re-
hgious interest among boys and girls,
young men and young women, from Is
to n years old.
Latterly much has been done to en-
courage interest of young people in
the church. but aside from such
enlistment" endeavors there have
been forces in life, according to
clergymen, which have inspired an
increased attention to spiritual mat
ters. These include the depression,
widespread and worldwide changes
in conceptions of government, threats
of war and a reaction against dis
illusionment-the kind of disilluSion-
ment that produced the flaming
youth" of the years just after the
World War.
A MONG the questions asked the
= clergymen were: Has church at
tendance Of young people been increaS-
ing or decreasing, do the young people
Of today seem more devout than were
those Of, say, 10 or IS years ago; Is
their interest in church affairs active
or are they more or less Indifferent; /;
to what do you attribute the increase
or decrease in attendance and general
interest; have you done anything in
particular to attract youth to your
congregation?
With one or two exceptions, the 13
clergymen replied that the interest OF
the young in religion was waxing. not
waning; that their congregation in
cluded a heartening number OF per-
sons between 16 and 81.
DR.. william S. Abernethy, pastor
Of the Calvary Baptist Church, said:
IF It were not for the young people
my Sunday evening service wouldn't
amount to much"
Although acknowledging that the
movies and the radio have become
strong competitors of church services.
DR.. Abernethy finds that "a large pro-
portion of our Sunday evening audi
ences are made up of people from ID
to 30" He cannot account for this
condition other than to say that the
service is slightly more informal
than others; that it is somewhat
shorter, and that there Is more music.
DR.. Abernethy said he frequently
asks young people to assist IN the ser
vices, to participate in the opening
exercises or perhaps to speak briefly
on a topic Of current interest.
Sunday evenings" he said. "the
church and the Sunday school rooms
are packed"
The Baptist Young Peoples Union,
. national organization, arrangeS sup
pers and hikes and has "get-ac-
quainted" tea every Sunday at pm,
In addition, there is church basket
ball team which competes in one OF
the city-wide amateur leagues.
A QUARTER Of century Of clerical
"A service enabled Rev. c. T. Warner
of St. Adams Church to make some
revealing comparisons. He SAID MS
Sunday schools were six or seven times
larger than when he entered the pull
nit. This condition exists, he added,
despite the fact that IS years ago
there was no place to 60 on Sunday
except church, while now there are the
movies and the radio"
"In the past" DR.. Warner continued,
"all religion and speaking was left to
clergymen, but today there is trend
to have young persons participate in
the services, which is one of the rea-
sons there may be better attendance
The youngsters have things to do
themselves instead Of just listening
to others"
DR.. Warmers church has six men,
bers, 10 to 30 years old, who teach
Sunday school classes.
TT would have been practically i'm
possible" he said, ito get that number