Newspaper Page Text
striking line of advance? In the new
spirit that animates the best modern
business. The Golden Rule seems to
be recognized more widely each year
as the best principle of trade, and the
'business which i8 most truly success
ful today is the one which Is most
efficient in serving its public.
Church Membership.
Our conclusion that Christianity has
gained ground is borne out by the
figures of actual Church membership.
In 1812 only 1 American in 14 was a
member of the Protestant Church;
today the percentage is 1 in 4. in
spite of our enormous increase In
e. the Protestant Church has been
growing three and one-half times as
fast as the population. If we include
in our figures the members of the
Catholic Church and the other relig
ious organizations. we find that today
??mer,can8 out of evei*y 5 (4o(ooo -
000 out of our 100,000,000) are
CHr'rr"- Thi8 ^vance of the
Church is also reflected in a growing
in th ?J, the Pan ?f yOUI,g men
t? ?roblem8 of organized religion.
1812 only l college student in 10
was a church member; today the
18 1 to 2. This change is re
sponsible in part for the remarkable
fhirtv ?f the m,nIstry in the past
thirty years. In that time the num
n?r.a vmeVn ?Ur theological semi
naries has doubled, and the number
of clergymen in the country at lar*e
has more than doubled. Neither the
legal nor the medical profession can
is ar tv BlmiIar g&ln- ThIs growth
>s ali the more remarkable when we
"Zrl" """J0 the8? Very veara
W ?. . ' ot theo
logical students has been doubling, fhe
number of theological students both
cutTnh!!?1 ?Dd ?ermanjr ha8 been
cut in half. But while there is much
ChriaMft86 faCtS t0 makG Amerlcan
withf proud' we must realize that
within the past few years four great
a?v w?8Tm0re 8erI?US P?rhaP8 than
any we have yet faced? have been
forcing themselves on the attention of
the American Church. The European
tion ntSth a t,me delayed the solu
tion of these problems, but once peace
]!?? ?? th6y WlU demand imme
of th^ U 18 ,n the greatness
of these issues that our danger as
well as our opportunity lies.
Church Unity.
of Fph? ?i a11, there 18 the problem
of Church unity, or, as we might
more accuracy say, Church harmony.
y this we do not mean the formation
of a single new church to supplant
e present ones; we mean the prob
em of persuading the different relig
ious organizations now at work to
friend* ?ther &S prosPective
Withfn ,?ther than actuai rivals.
^ ithln the past few years some pro
tlmnlT b6en made ,n thIs direction,
thanks to two forces that are at work
alT Thi "fc ?ne 18 th6 rea,lzation that
thP ? churches are working toward
ih. h8r/ oa,^to bring men ,n touch
Christ tr 18 revealed ,n Je8us
? * When we Pre88 below the sur
th?! ?Ur denominations we find
rhw t{ 6 18 one common type of
Ch rfSi eXperience- which all true
Mathews 9hare' Dr ShaIler
? 7' commenting on this funda
TnenL y ?f a11 true Chri8?an
xperience, points out that our hymns
were written by me, of a?
"In in ^WaS a Un,tarian who wrote
roL V 8 of Chri8t 1 glory"; a
a Cone *?1,C' "Lead kIndly light";
ft, ? ?nall9t' "Je8U8' thou Joy
div n ^ hftart8"; a Methodist, "Love
"He l 1 excel,inS": a Baptist,
"There ui m6": a? EP,8c<>Palian,
blonn ? a founta,n fl?ed with
yparsold*"? a Pre8byter,an *97, ten
y -arsoW, Jesus, and shall it ev& be a
mortal man ashamed of thee?" When
*ne?,are aU tbus WorkIn& toward the
goal and sharing the same ex
perience, how can we regard each
other as rivals or heretics?
The other force that is working for
Church unity today is the common
sense of the Christian business man,
who realizes that it is a waste of time
and money to multiply rival means
for bringing the kingdom of God. As
Washington Gladden says: "What
possible need have we for 13 differ
ent kinds of Baptists, 12 kinds of
Mennonites, 11 kinds of Presbyterians,
17 kinds of Methodists, and 23 kinds
of Lutherans?" When one sees
such competition ? even within single
denominations ? one is tempted to
agree with Cardinal Gibbons, who, in
commenting on this situation, writes:
"The multiplicity of Protestant sects,
with their mutual recrimination, is the
scandal of Christianity, and the
greatest obstacle to the conversion of
the heathen." The reunion of these
scattered branches of the Church in
a spirit of friendly co-operation is the
first great problem of the American
Church.
Evangelization of the Unchurched
Masses.
The second problem is the evangel
ization of -the unchurched masses
within our own borders. We have
already spoken of the encouraging
growth of the Church within the past
century; but what an appalling fact
it is that 3 Americans out of evey 5
(60,000,000 out of our 100,00,000)
reported themselves to the last census
as having no connection with any
church, either Catholic or Protestant.
In our own State of Pennsylvania
the last census reports that 25 per
cent of the population is Protestant,
17 per cent Catholic, and that 57 per
cent is connected with no church
whatever. There are only six States in
the Union where even one-half the pop
ulation is affiliated with any church.
In five of the six (Connecticut, Louis
iana, Massachusetts, Rhode Island
and New Mexico) it is the Catholic
Church which Is responsible for this
showing, and in the sixth State (Utah)
it is the Mormons who have brought
the total over the 50 per cent mark.
In not a single State where Protest
antism is dominant has the Protestant
Church succeeded in bringing even
one-half the populataion to Join any
kind of religious organization. The
estimates of church attendance bear
out this conclusion that the Church
Is reaching only a fractiton of the
population. Naturally it Is impossi
ble to make anything more than an
estimate on this point, but Dr. Josiah
Strong, who has given the matter
careful study, reports that he Is led
to believe that out of every 100 Ameri
cans, 30 attend some church regularly,
20 attend once in a while, and 50
never go near the church at all. The
need for evangelism in foreign lands
may be picturesque, but is it not time,
in the face of such conditions, to ask
whether the land of the Pilgrims and
the Quakers Is really Christian?
Religious Education.
The third problem the Church is
facing, and the one which demands a
speedy answer, Is the problem of re
ligious education. A generation or
two ago it was safe to assume that
the average American child received
some training in religion and moralB
at home. There is an Interesting pas
sage In the diary of Cotton Mather
telling of the way he taught his lit
tle daughter, then four years old. "I
took my little daughter Katy Into my
study and there I told my child I am
to die shortly, and when I am dead
she must remember everything I now
say to her. I set before her the sin
ful condition of her nature, and I
charged her to pray In secret places
every day that God, for the sake of
Jesus Christ, would give her a new
heart." You and I smile at the no
tion of poor four-year-old Katy pray
lng for a now heart, yet with all our
modern Ideas about chlld-rellgion,
must we not admit there has been a
sad decline in the religious training
the average American home gives to
its children? Cotton Mather may
have been misguided, but how many
American parents do you know who
are trying to do for their children what
he tried to do for Katy?
This fall the Pennsylvania State
Sabbath-School Association report*
that the Catholic and Protestant Sun
day-schools together are reaching 60
per cent of the children in Pennsyl
vania who are of school age ? that Is,
between 5 and 20. We may assume
that these children are getting some
systematic training in religion and
morals. What about the other 40 per
cent, more than a million of the fu
ture citizens of this State? We can
hardly believe that the parents who
will not Bend ? to say nothing of
bring ? their children to Sunday
school are enough interested in re
ligion to give these boys and girls
training at home. Some of them may
get It there, and others may get it
elsewhere, but what a commentary
it is on our Christian foresight that
while we Insist that every child re
ceive a secular education, we actually
allow 40 children out of every 100 to
go out lqto life with little or no sys
tematic training in religion and mor
als! One can discover the present
result of such a system by asking
the average school boy a simple ques
tion about the fundamentals of Chris
tianity; what the result of this sys
tem will be a generation or two from
now one does not like to Imagine.
The Social Problem.
The fourth problem the Church of
our day must face and answer Is the
social problem. Even a superficial
study of the facts shows that there
has been an enormous Increase in our
national wealth within the past few
years. The census of 1910 reports
that the people of the country are Bav
ing $9,000,000 per day, and that be
tween 1900 and 1910 our savings
bank deposits Increased $1,680,000,
000. If you want a more picturesque
account of the same situation you will
find that, whereas In 1885 there were
only 28 millionaires in New York
city, there are today well over 200.
But this growth in our national wealth
has not been accompanied by a pro
portionate decrease in poverty. Our
means of production seem to be
highly efficient, but something is de
cidedly the matter with our means
of distribution and "division." It is
easy to collect harrowing stories of
American poverty, but the way to a
solution of the problem lies rather
In the direction of a scientific study
to the extent and causes of this mis
ery. How widespread actual need is
in this country can be seen from a
study of any one of the recent books
r
Best Books for Boys and Orb
"SWYFT FAWN? THE LITTLE
FOUNDLING"
By MARY H. WADE
A white child captured by Indiana and
adopted as one of them, Swift Fawn has
many adventures and the story id told in
the inimitable style of the author.
"TIMID HARE? THE LITTLE
CAPTIVE"
By MARY H. WADE
Being the further adventures of 8wift
Fawn. It deals with her capture by the
powerful Dakotas, who learn to love her
because of her gentleness and beauty. To
know how she is recognised as the white
child who wn3 lost many years before, you
must read the book. J'
Each book is illustrated with eight won
derful color plated by Louis Betta. Cloth
binding. Size, 9)^x6
CHOICE, 50c, POSTPAID
Order from
PRESBYTERIAN COMMITTEE OF
PUBLICATION
Richmond, Va., Texarkana, Ark. -Tex.
on poverty. One of the best of these,
taking as its definition of poverty
"the inability to provide a sanitary
dwelling and sufficient food and cloth
ing to keep the body in working or
der," shows that in fairly prosperous
times no less than 10,000,000 people
in this country are in poverty, and
that in the cities this proportion rises
as high as 20 per cent of the total
population. Certainly the Church can
not feel that its work is done when
such conditions persist among us.
Cannot organized Christianity bring
about a more equal enjoyment of the
fruits of our unprecedented prosperi
ty?
The Remedy the Church Offers.
In attempting to meet this situation
the Church does not blame the men
who have become rich by honest
methods, nor does it excuse those
whose vice and laziness have kept
them poor. The Church does not pro
pose to enter the field of econmics or
politics to such an extent that it will
lose sight of its real work develop
Stephenson Seminary
A Christian home school for girls. Lit
erary course, music, art, languages, phy
sical culture. Session opsna BepL St,
191*. Send for catalog.
Mary Baldwin Seminary
Established fen 1842.
For Young Ladies. Staunton, Va.
Term begins September 14, ltltf.
Located in the beautiful and historic
Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Un
surpassed climate, handsome building*
and modern appointments. Student* {
past session from 35 states. Course*:
Collegiate ( S year*) ; Preparatory
(4 yeare), accepted by leading col
leges. Small classes and thorough
work. Music, Art and Domestic Sci
ence. Modern equipment In all de
partments. Send for catalogue.
MaHanna P. HUqrfns. PrtaetpaL *
LUCIA GALE-BARBER School of Rhythm and Correlated Arts
A SPECIAL SCHOOL FOR GIRLS OF ALL AGES
(The Original School for Rhythmic Training)
Day School ? Regular city grades with the addition of Rhythmic Training,
French or Spanish, and Handiwork.
Specials ? Music. Expression, Fine and Applied Arts (including Interior Deco
ration and Sculpture), Languages, English
Studio Classes ? Health, Corrective, Artistic and Normal Training courses in
Rhythmic Training, the greatest new thing in education. Scholarships for Normal
course.
Boarding Department ? Girls 8 to 15 years and older special students.
Highest endorsement.
MRS. MARY GALE DAVIS. Ph. D., Principal
1814 Belmont Road, Washington, D. C.
Educators, physicians and others who are interested are invited to visit the school.
1776
Hampden-Sidney College 1914
"The Ideal Southern College." Thorough work. Healthful location.
Christian Influences. High Ideals. Choice associations. Expenses moder
ate. 14 unit entrance requirement. Co nfers B. A., B. S. M. A., B. Lit. New
gymnasium. Large athletic field. Tennis courts. Running track.
Session begins September II, ltl?.
For 04talorut tddraa
nUBBTDKlfT ML tfcikr graham, d. d,
f, Vm*