Six Thousand Country Churches Part 10

No. churches reporting whose members.h.i.+p is from 76-100 647 13 73 16 720 13 No. churches reporting whose members.h.i.+p is 101-150 757 15 62 14 819 15 No. churches reporting whose members.h.i.+p is from 151-200 375 8 32 7 407 8 No. churches reporting whose members.h.i.+p is more than 200 458 9 32 7 490 9 Calculated number of churches whose members.h.i.+p is more than 200 561 9 40 7 601 9

In 313, or 27 per cent, of the strictly rural towns.h.i.+ps, no church has a resident minister (see Table III); in 575, or 39 per cent of the villages, no church has a resident minister; and in 4,007, or 66 per cent, of the churches, there is no resident minister. Only 982 churches, or 16 per cent, have the full time service of a minister; 1,581 churches, or 26 per cent, have one-half the service of a minister; 5,026, or 83 per cent, have one-half time service or less; 3,445, or 57 per cent, have one-third time service or less; 2,320, or 39 per cent, have one-fourth time service or less; while 721, or 12 per cent of the 6,060 churches in the strictly rural towns.h.i.+ps have no regular service of a minister at all.

The percentages do not materially differ in the suburban towns.h.i.+ps. In the combined total of 1,343 rural towns.h.i.+ps and suburban towns.h.i.+ps which contain sections of open country and villages of less than 2,500 inhabitants, we find that 335, or 25 per cent, of the towns.h.i.+ps have no churches served by a resident minister; that in 634, or 40 per cent, of the villages there is no resident minister; that 4,431, or 67 per cent, of the churches have no resident minister; that only 1,065 churches, or 16 per cent, have the full time service of a minister; that 1,766, or 27 per cent, have one-half the service of a minister; that 5,521, or 84 per cent, have one-half time service or less; that 3,755, or 57 per cent, have one-third time service or less; that 2,518, or 38 per cent, have one-fourth time service or less; while 755, or 11 per cent, of the 6,642 country churches of Ohio, have no regular service of a minister at all.

TABLE III

AMOUNT OF MINISTERIAL SERVICE BY TOWNs.h.i.+PS, VILLAGES AND CHURCHES

Key: 1 _Rural towns.h.i.+ps_ 2 _Per cent_ 3 _Other rural sections_ 4 _Per cent_ 5 _All rural sections_ 6 _Per cent_

1 2 3 4 5 6 No. towns.h.i.+ps whose churches are without resident ministers 313 27 22 12 335 25 No. villages which have a resident minister 901 61 54 48 955 60 No. villages without a resident minister 575 39 58.5 52 634 40 No. churches with resident minister 2,053 34 158 28 2,211 33 No. churches without resident minister 4,007 66 424 74 4,431 67 No. churches with full time service of a minister 982 16 83 14 1,065 16 No. churches with 1/2 time service of a minister 1,581 26 185 32 1,766 27 No. churches with 1/2 time service of a minister or less 5,026 83 495 85 5,521 84 No. churches with 1/3 time service of a minister or less 3,445 57 310 53 3,755 56.5 No. churches with 1/4 time service of a minister or less 2,320 39 198 34 2,518 38 No. churches with no regular service of a minister 721 12 62 11 755 11 No. churches with 1/3 time service of a minister 1,125 19 112 19 1,237 19 No. churches with 1/4 time service of a minister 970 16 96 16 1,066 16 No. churches for which data are not available 52 1 4 1 56 1

Of the 6,060 churches in the wholly rural towns.h.i.+ps, 3,253, or 54 per cent, are in villages whose inhabitants number from 51 to 2,500 persons, while 2,807, or 46 per cent, are in the open country. (See Table IV.) In the suburban rural towns.h.i.+ps 198, or 34 per cent, of the churches are in villages containing from 51 to 2,500 persons, while 384, or 66 per cent, are in the open country.

Of the 6,642 country churches in Ohio, therefore, 3,451, or 52 per cent, are in villages containing from 51 to 2,500 inhabitants, and 3,191, or 48 per cent, in the open country.

In the strictly rural districts, 1,207, or 20 per cent, of the churches are in villages or towns of moderate size, having from 501 to 2,500 inhabitants, while 2,046, or 34 per cent, are in small villages of from 51 to 500. No less than 4,853, or 80 per cent, of the churches in the strictly rural districts are either in the open country or in the small villages of 500 inhabitants or less. In addressing ourselves to the rural church problem, therefore, we are almost exclusively concerned with the smaller villages and the open country.

TABLE IV

NUMBER OF CHURCHES IN VILLAGES AND IN THE OPEN COUNTRY

Key: 1 _Rural towns.h.i.+ps_ 2 _Per cent_ 3 _Other rural sections_ 4 _Per cent_ 5 _All rural sections_ 6 _Per cent_

1 2 3 4 5 6 No. churches in villages containing from 51 to 2,500 persons 3,253 54 198 34 3,451 52 No. churches in open country 2,807 46 384 66 3,191 48 No. churches in villages or towns having from 501 to 2,500 inhabitants 1,207 20 76 13 1,283 19 No. churches in villages having from 51 to 500 inhabitants 2,046 34 122 21 2,168 33 No. churches in open country and in villages having less than 501 inhabitants 4,853 80 506 87 5,359 81

We have a.s.sumed 50 persons as the line which separates a small village from the open country, just as the United States Census has a.s.sumed 2,500 persons as the lower limit of the town. In rural Ohio there are 1,477 villages whose inhabitants number 51 to 2,500 persons. (See Table V.) Of these, 673, or 46 per cent, have from 51 to 200 inhabitants; 487, or 33 per cent, have from 201 to 500 inhabitants; while 317, or 21 per cent, have more than 500 persons.

Of the smallest villages, or those of 51 to 200 persons, 234, or 35 per cent, have one or more ministers living near the church he serves and 270 ministers in all; while 440, or 65 per cent, have no resident ministers whatever.

In the 487 country villages whose inhabitants number from 201 to 500 persons, 360, or 74 per cent, have one or more ministers and 527 ministers in all, while there are 127, or 26 per cent, without resident ministers.

Of the 317 villages whose inhabitants number more than 500 persons, 308, or 97 per cent, have one or more resident pastors and altogether 896 ministers--(which is 53 per cent of the whole number of ministers living in villages), while only 9, or 3 per cent, are without any ministers at all.

Of the 1,477 country villages of all sizes, 901, or 61 per cent, have one or more resident ministers and in all 1,693 ministers, while 576, or 39 per cent, of the villages have no minister living in them.

These 1,477 villages have only 3,253, or 54 per cent, of the churches, but they have 1,693, or 82 per cent, of the ministers; while the open country, with 2,807, or 46 per cent, of the churches, has only 360, or 18 per cent, of the resident ministers. More than 87 per cent of the open country churches, or 2,447 of them, are without a resident minister.

In addition to the ministers here included, there are about 350 who do not live near any one of their churches, but for the most part in the cities and towns. This number includes many student preachers.

On Map 26, page 117, the distribution of the villages is represented graphically.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MAP 26 VILLAGES AND CITIES]

TABLE V

RESIDENT MINISTERS IN STRICTLY RURAL TOWNs.h.i.+PS, IN THE OPEN COUNTRY, AND IN VILLAGES

Key: 1 _Villages of 51-2500 persons_ 2 _Per cent_ 3 _Villages of 51-200 persons_ 4 _Per cent_ 5 _Villages of 201-500 persons_ 6 _Per cent_ 7 _Villages of 501-2500 persons_ 8 _Per cent_ 9 _Villages of 201-2500 persons_ 10 _Per cent_ 11 _Open country_ 12 _Per cent_

1 2 3 4 5 6 No. of villages 1,476.5 100 673 46 487 33 No. of villages with ministers 901 61 233.5 35 360 74 No. of ministers 1,693 (31) 270 16 527 31 No. of villages without ministers 575.5 39 439.5 65 127 26 No. of churches 3,253 54 984 16 1,062 18

7 8 9 10 11 12 No. of villages 316.5 21 803.5 54 No. of villages with ministers 307.5 97 667.5 83 No. of ministers 896 53 1,423 (69) 360 8 No. of villages without ministers 9 3 136 9 No. of churches 1,207 20 2,269 37 2,807 46

It has not been possible to collect full data as to the length of the rural minister's service. But the Conference Records give these data for the ministers of the Methodist Episcopal churches. The terms of service of these ministers are not more brief than those in most of the other denominations.

In the Methodist Episcopal Church in Ohio there were, at the time of the Annual Conference in the autumn of 1917, 664 pastors of country churches (see Table VI); 490, or 74 per cent of them, were about to begin their first or second year's service in their charges; only 174, or 26 per cent, had had two years' acquaintance with their parishes; 318, or 48 per cent, were beginning their first year of service in their charges; 172, or 26 per cent, were beginning their second year; 110, or 16 per cent, were beginning their third year; while there were only 64, or less than 10 per cent, who had been as long as three years in the parishes they were serving. Only 8, or a little more than 1 per cent, had served as long as five years in their parishes, while only one man had served more than seven years.

TABLE VI

TERMS OF SERVICE OF METHODIST EPISCOPAL COUNTRY MINISTERS, 1917

Key: 1 _State of Ohio_ 2 _Per cent_ 3 _Ohio Conference_ 4 _West Ohio Conference_ 5 _Northeast Ohio Conference_

1 2 3 4 5 Total number of ministers 664 100 144 226 294 No. beginning 1st or 2nd year of service in their charges 490 74 115 161 214 No. beginning their 1st year of service in their charges 318 48 78 97 143 No. beginning their 2nd year of service in their charges 172 26 37 64 71 No. beginning their 3rd year of service in their charges 110 16 20 37 53 No. who have been two years or more in their charges 174 26 29 65 80 No. who had served three years or more in their present charges 64 10 9 28 27 No. who had served four years or more in their present charges 18 3 3 2 13 No. who had served five years or more in their present charges 8 1 2 1 5 No. who had served six years or more in their present Less charges 3 than 0 0 3 one No. who had served seven years or more in their present charges 1 " 0 0 1 No. who had served eight years or more in their present charges 1 " 0 0 1

In Table VII it appears that in 2 of the 1,170 strictly rural towns.h.i.+ps there is a church for each 99 persons or less; that in 227 towns.h.i.+ps there are from 100 to 199 persons to a church; that in 446 there are from 200 to 299 persons; that in 270 towns.h.i.+ps there are from 300 to 399; that in 122 towns.h.i.+ps there are from 400 to 499; that in 53 towns.h.i.+ps there are from 500 to 599; and that in 45 towns.h.i.+ps there are 600 persons or more to a church.

In other words, in 675, or 58 per cent, of the towns.h.i.+ps, there are less than 300 persons, men, women, and children, to a church; in 945, or 81 per cent, of the towns.h.i.+ps, there are less than 400; in 1,067, or 91 per cent, there are less than 500; while in 103, or only 9 per cent, there are more than 500 persons to a church.

TABLE VII

AVERAGE NUMBER OF PERSONS TO A CHURCH IN 1,170 RURAL TOWNs.h.i.+PS

Average No. of persons No. of Per cent to a church towns.h.i.+ps 1-99 2 Less than 1 100-199 227 19 200-299 446 38 300-399 270 23 400-499 122 10 500-599 53 5 More than 599 45 4 Towns.h.i.+ps without any church 5 Less than 1 Less than 300 to a church 675 58 Less than 400 to a church 945 81 Less than 500 to a church 1,067 91 More than 500 to a church 103 9

In Table VIII a comparison is made between city and country. According to the United States Census of 1910 the population of Ohio numbered 4,767,121, the churches 9,890, or 482 persons to a church. According to the data gathered in this survey in the 1,170 strictly rural towns.h.i.+ps the churches number 6,060. In 1910 the population in these towns.h.i.+ps numbered 1,693,894. a.s.suming that there has been no change in the population since 1910, there is now one church for each 280 persons. But from 1900 to 1910 there was a decline of more than 3 per cent in the population of these towns.h.i.+ps. If we a.s.sume that this decline has continued since 1910 there are to-day on the average less than 280 men, women, and children, church people and non-church people, to give and do all that must be given and done for each country church in Ohio. In such a state of facts, poverty and weakness are inevitable.

Upon the same a.s.sumption of no change in population or number of churches since 1910, there are in the 173 suburban towns.h.i.+ps 342,077 persons and 582 churches, or 587 persons to a church, while in the large towns and cities there are 2,731,150 persons and only 3,248 churches, or 841 persons to a church.

As compared with the city church the country church obviously has a very much smaller opportunity to enlarge its attendance and increase its support and members.h.i.+p until some method of combining country churches shall have been put into successful operation.

TABLE VIII

AVERAGE NUMBER OF PERSONS TO A CHURCH

Key: 1 _State of Ohio_ 2 _1,170 strictly rural towns.h.i.+ps_ 3 _173 suburban towns.h.i.+ps_ 4 _Large towns and cities_

1 2 3 4 Population 4,767,121 1,693,894 342,077 2,731,150 No. of churches 9,890 6,060 582 3,248 No. of persons to a church 482 280 587 841

Complete data for ministers' salaries are not available, but the amount of the minister's pay is indicated by the figures in the official records of the two denominations which have the largest number of rural churches.