Six Thousand Country Churches Part 1

Six Thousand Country Churches.

by Charles Otis Gill.

INTRODUCTION

In 1913 Mr. Gill and I published, under the authority of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, the results of an inquiry into the condition of the country church in two typical counties--Windsor County, Vermont, and Tompkins County, New York. The disclosure of the conditions in these two counties and the conclusions to which they pointed led to the creation of the Commission on Church and Country Life of the Federal Council. Under the direction of the Commission, it was resolved to extend the investigation of the country church to an entire State. For the reasons given hereafter, the choice fell upon Ohio.

For the plan whose execution and results are here set forth, Mr. Gill and I are jointly responsible. It was submitted to, and revised and approved by, the Commission on Church and Country Life, in whose name and under whose direct supervision it was carried out. The field work was done entirely by Mr. Gill or under his immediate direction as Secretary of the Commission, and he also worked up in the office the result of his work in the field. As in the case of "The Country Church," I am responsible for the final revision of the ma.n.u.script for the press. It is now published with the approval of the Commission on Church and Country Life, and as a report of its work.

In the introduction to "The Country Church," I said and I desire to repeat,--"Mr. Gill's peculiar fitness for the work of this investigation arises in part from his long and intimate personal acquaintance with the problem of country life. For fifteen years he has been a country minister.

One of his tasks was to establish a church in a country community in Vermont which had been without one for more than twenty years. When Mr.

Gill came to it, the moral and social laxity of the whole community was flagrant. Disbelief in the existence of goodness appeared to be common, public disapproval of indecency was timid or lacking, and religion was in general disrepute. Not only was there no day of worship, but also no day of rest. Life was mean, hard, small, selfish, and covetous. Land belonging to the town was openly pillaged by the public officers who held it in trust; real estate values were low; and among the respectable families there was a general desire to sell their property and move away.

Then a church was organized. The change which followed was swift, striking, thorough, and enduring. The public property of the town, once a source of graft and demoralization, became a public a.s.set. The value of real estate increased beyond all proportion to the general rise of land values elsewhere. In the decade and a half which has elapsed since the church began its work, boys and girls of a new type have been brought up.

The reputation of the village has been changed from bad to good, public order has greatly improved, and the growth of the place as a summer resort has begun. It is fair to say that the establishment of the church under Mr. Gill began a new era in the history of the town."

It was with this record of practical success in the country church, supplemented by the very unusual experience as an investigator which he acquired in collecting and a.n.a.lyzing the material for "The Country Church," that Mr. Gill approached the task whose results are here set down. The task of ascertaining with accuracy the conditions of the country church in other portions of the United States still remains. The remedies are yet to be applied.

GIFFORD PINCHOT.

Milford, Penna.

Aug. 26, 1918.

SIX THOUSAND COUNTRY CHURCHES

PART I

CONDITIONS AND REMEDIES

SIX THOUSAND COUNTRY CHURCHES

CHAPTER I

HOW THE FACTS WERE GATHERED

The Commission on Church and Country Life of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America conducted the work whose results are summarized in this book. Several thousand persons a.s.sisted in collecting the data here given. Lists of churches were obtained from correspondents in every township in Ohio, and township maps were sent to them for marking the location of the churches. Ministers, clerks, and other officers of churches, district superintendents, and other denominational leaders gave indispensable information.

The very important material gathered by the Ohio Rural Life Survey, including country church maps of twelve counties and many data for seventeen other counties, was placed at the disposal of the Commission.

Invaluable a.s.sistance has been rendered by State, County, and Township Sunday School a.s.sociations. In about half of the townships, officers of the township a.s.sociations supplied needed information. Miss Clara E.

Clemmer, Secretary of the County a.s.sociation, gathered nearly all the data for Preble County. The Rev. C. A. Spriggs, a Missionary of the American Sunday School Union, furnished most of the facts used in making the map of Pike County.

In a few counties, superintendents of public schools either gave desired information themselves, or supplied the names of others who did, and in some cases the agricultural agents lent a hand.

County atlases were consulted, and verifications and corrections were obtained from many sources. The topographical maps issued by the United States Geological Survey gave the locations of certain churches. The Year Books of the various denominational bodies were in constant use for verification and reference, as were the United States Census, the Ohio Statistical Reports, and other Government doc.u.ments.

In the different sections of Ohio Mr. Gill made extensive investigations on the ground, while large numbers of country ministers and church members were consulted personally. Specific information has thus been collected in nearly every township, while at country church inst.i.tutes and conferences in various parts of the State, many facts were secured from the discussions on rural church conditions. Not only has information, therefore, been received from very many people intimately a.s.sociated with the churches of rural Ohio, but also, and very widely, from personal observation on the field itself.

In spite of all the care that could be taken, after the work on the township maps was thought to be finished, a few other churches were discovered. If, in the future, still other churches should be found which are not on the maps, the number of them will be insignificant. Their discovery will doubtless in no wise affect the conclusions which have been drawn as to the country church situation in Ohio, nor their omission impair the general usefulness of the maps.

In the constructive work of the Commission and of the Ohio Rural Life a.s.sociation for rural church betterment, as well as in the survey, the Ohio State University, under Dr. Thompson, has always given free and valuable cooperation.

For all this kind a.s.sistance the Commission and the a.s.sociation are deeply grateful, and here express their hearty thanks.

CHAPTER II

THE RURAL CHURCH MAPS OF OHIO

In Part III of this volume are 88 country church maps, one for each county in the State of Ohio. The making of these maps was part of a program adopted in 1914 by the Commission on Church and Country Life of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. It seemed to the Commission that an attempt ought to be made to test the possibilities of rural church improvement through interdenominational cooperation in some one State. Ohio was chosen because of its geographical location, because of the variety of its church conditions, and because in a number of its counties a country church survey had already been made. This survey had indicated a widespread need for the readjustment of church life to community welfare in rural Ohio.

It was therefore determined, if possible, to complete a series of maps for the entire State which would summarize the facts. In dealing with so many churches in so large an area, it was of course feasible to collect only a very small number of facts concerning each church. Accordingly the facts to be gathered were limited to the location of every rural church, its denomination, its present membership, whether it is gaining or losing in membership, whether it ordinarily has a resident pastor, and if not, what part of a minister's service it receives.

The collection of such facts was necessary, first, to impress upon the church officials and others the actual urgency of the situation, and second, to provide a basis for a workable policy of interchurch cooperation and reciprocity in influencing or directing the redistribution of ministers and churches.

While the making of the church maps appeared to be the least amount of preliminary work that would open the way for effective action, it was evident that nothing adequate could be done for rural church betterment without interdenominational, or undenominational, organization. Therefore, when the branch office of the Commission on Church and Country Life was opened in Columbus, Ohio, in August, 1914, at the same time the Ohio Rural Life a.s.sociation was formed to cooperate with the Commission in its work in the State. Soon afterward a Committee on Interchurch Cooperation, consisting of executives in charge of the country churches of eleven denominations, was organized. The principles which it adopted to govern its action mark a forward step of real importance. (See page 235.)

The chief burden of making the church maps has rested upon the Commission on Church and Country Life. Its paid executive and office force have done the main part of the work, but valuable a.s.sistance has been rendered by the Ohio Rural Life a.s.sociation. Much of the work was done in its name.

Incidentally, the cooperative work of these bodies has by no means been confined to the making of surveys. Country Life Inst.i.tutes have been held, and an educational propaganda in the interest of the rural church has been continuously carried on, with the result that in Ohio more than in any other State has the country church gained ground in its command of public interest. As a subject for addresses and discussion the country church has a place in a large number of farmers' inst.i.tutes, and in nearly all Sunday school conventions, while during Farmers' Week at the State Agricultural College, conferences on no other subject have attracted more people or provoked more animated discussion.

Inasmuch as the collecting of the data extended over a period of more than three years, the maps do not all represent the exact situation at the same moment. While they were being made some of the churches were being redistributed in different circuits, and membership rolls were increasing or decreasing. Since the map for their county was completed some churches have federated, or their members have all united in a denominational union church. But while the maps do not const.i.tute a snap shot of the entire State, the changes which have taken place are too few in any way to invalidate the conclusions drawn. The total situation is indicated with sufficient correctness.

These maps should supply the indispensable basis for the readjustment that is obviously required. We hope that the publishing of them will not only register a stage of progress in the State of Ohio, but that in other States also similar work will be undertaken, and that the forward movement in rural church life will be strengthened and accelerated throughout the nation.

CHAPTER III

SUMMARY OF RESULTS