Year: 1879

Our report Of the church attendance


upon Sunday mornings IS scarcely
complete enough Is vet 20 afford .


definite idea Of the actual number ui


rIurciI-gOeTs IN Philadelphia, but ~


hInk that We have collected sufficient


evidence TO contradict the assumption


That the churches are generally De-S-
Iectesl. There are about five hundred
sliI iitty places Of worship of nil kinds
within the city limits. We have found


that siNty-iive of these have IN aggre-
gate attendance upon SUNDAY mOra-


ing Of 1856, and if anything like the
| same average were maintained
throughout the whole number. il would
| give Us abOus five hundred Thousand


l'eOple in church out Of u population Of


5 ~ eight hundred and lifty thousand
men. women and children y -. de-
! duct the Infants who Csinuus 20 to
/ church, the sick, and those III charge
| Of our hundred Thousand dwellings. it


IS doubtful If more than five hundred
/ thousand OF our population could be


expected TO attend church at one time.
which Is the number indicated by our
! returns. OF course it Is not likely
/ that there l. any such universal
| churclI-gOing as this. Though the con-
| gregatiOns that have been counted are
| believed to be fairly representative,


they are nearly all city congregations,


and their average is necessarily larger


than can he looked for in the numer-
GUS suburban churches and chapels


that are included in the total we have
mentioned. Nevertheless these figures
certainly indicate Il much larger pro-


portion of church-gOing people out


OF the whole population that is
generally assumed. We have son


fined our count to the attendants.
Still there are very many who


stay at home for one reason or an
| other in the morning and go to hear
their faYOrite preacher ut night, who
who would not wish to be included
among the churchleSs, and these must
| also be considered in estimating the


influence of our religious teachers.
Although we think the Times statis-


ties are sufficiently encouraging to the
preachers, and they are certainly sulli-
| cienLly interesting to repay the trouble
they cost.


Before we can discuss the question


why people do not go To church, it is


necessary first to determine why they


do go, or why they should be expected


to go. The ready answer is that they


should go to church to worship Col.


the idea of worship including the pub
lie acknowledgment of allegiance to


God rs duty of every Christian, apart
from or added to that individual trib-


ute Of praise and prayer which he may
render in his own home. Now it Is plain
that wherever this duty is accepted us 4


matter of faith, no personal consitle-
rationS of any kind will stand in the
way of the believers attendance upon
public worship. But it will not lie
disputed that i'll the commonly accept
ed view Of churoll-gOing, the iCea of


woFship, in any such sense rs this, is
much less prominent than that of "cdi-
ilcatiOn;" we are expected to go to
church, not so much to make an offer
ing of praise and prayer IS TO hear
something that may interest and in
stTuct US. 1t becomes, therefore, a
question which each man may decide
for himself, whether he can gain more
instruction in christian faith and duty


by listening to the nearest minister, or by
reading at home the sermons of some
famous preacher, the works of some
great writer, or the able discussions
upon religilna topics to be found in
kAlN Ab1ACm0 anu llltl,sALllAIo anu
i'm the newspapers. The multiplication
of books and the development of the
periodical press have made
the average man or woman
nearly as well informed as the
average preacher, and il men are asked


to 60 to church fur the purpose of hear
ing sermons, IT cannot be surprising
that many of them should prefer to-
- nf hrarRan nraI rood MO slf. ranf cnN


that his is a correct view for man to
take of his religious duty, but it is one
that ought TO be considered. There


was time when men got all of their
instruction, not only in religion but in


politics but in many things besides, or
ally direct from the lips of eloquent


teachers. The printing press, as we
know has changed all this. Men de
rive instruction now, not from public
orators, but from books and magazines
and newspapers, and it is 4 question
not to be avoided whether the pulpit
es as the forum, and whether mere
preaching can, except in the rare in
stances of men of conspicuous power,
claim the importance or expect the in
fiuence that it formerly had.


If there is any force in these SuggeS-
tiOns we may not wonder at the largp
number of people who dc hot so 90
church on SUNDAYS. On the contrary,
we should rather wonder that so many
do 60, since their going must signify
something more than desire to hear
what they could, usually, Rs well
read for themselves, 1t is, indeed.
whether intended or not, an acknOwl-
edgment of the duty of public worship,
of hearing public testimony to their
faith, and we think the statistics will
show that the attendance ut church is
largest where this idea is most prOmi- |
nent. We have no wish, however, to |
touch upon any points that may i'll
vOlve ecclesiastical controversy, and
We must leave these suggestions fOr
the preachers tG consider among them |
selYba.-I5htla. Times.