images produced by ,core ,historical ,literature in ,agriculture 7,,chla71 ,cornell ,university and ,the ,internet ,archives47 ,,six ,,thousand ,,country ,,churches ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company ,,new ,,york 4 ,,boston 4 ,,chicago 4 ,,dallas ,,atlanta 4 ,,san ,,francisco ,,macmillan ,,co41 ,,limited ,,london 4 ,,bombay 4 ,,calcutta ,,melbourne ,,the ,,macmillan ,,co4 ,,of ,,canada1 ,,ltd4 ,,toronto ,illustration3 ,,the ,,country ,,churches ,,of ,,ohio ,,six ,,thousand ,,country ,,churches ,,by ,,charles ,,otis ,,gill ,,and ,,gifford ,,pinchot ,,authors ,,of ,,the ,,country ,,church ,,published ,,under ,,the ,,authority ,,of ,,the ,,federal ,,council ,,of ,,the ,,churches ,,of ,,christ ,,in ,,america ,new ,york ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company #aiai ,all rights reserved ,,copyright1 #aiai ,,by ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company ,set up and electrotyped4 ,published ,november1 #aiai ,,table ,,of ,,contents ,,page ,,part ,i ,,conditions ,,and ,,remedies ,,introduction xiii ,,chapter ,i4 ,,how ,,the ,,facts ,,were ,,gathered #c ,,ii4 ,,the ,,rural ,,church ,,maps ,,of ,,ohio #e ,,iii4 ,,summary ,,of ,,results #h ,oversupply of ,churches--,the churches small and weak-- ,attendance--,an absentee ministry--,divided effort of the ministry--,short term of minister's service--,defective overhead organization--,ministers' salaries--,educational equipment of the minister4 ,,iv4 ,,where ,,church ,,efficiency ,,is ,,lowest #ab ,v4 ,,the ,,church ,,in ,,the ,,eighteen ,,counties #ai ,,vi4 ,a ,,policy ,,and ,,program #dj #a4 ,a better program--#b4 ,a better ministry--#c4 ,better support--#d4 ,better acquaintance--#e4 ,re-arrangement of circuits--#f4 ,more resident ministers--#g4 ,interchurch cooperation--#h4 ,community churches--#i4 ,non-sectarian support4 ,,vii4 ,,federated ,,churches #ei #a4 ,greene ,township--#b4 ,aurora--#c4 ,garrettsville--#d4 ,northfield--#e4 ,federated churches in other states4 ,,viii4 ,,other ,,progressive ,,churches #ge #a4 ,a church federation--#b4 ,cooperation with other social forces--#c4 ,community service and ,christian unity--#d4 ,christian unity by necessity--#e4 ,the church as a force for righteousness--7a7 ,old ,fort--7b7 ,lakeville4 ,,ix4 ,,agricultural ,,cooperation #hh ,,part ,,ii ,,tabular ,,summaries ,,and ,,maps ,i4 ,,geographical ,,distribution ,,of ,,the ,,denominations #ic ,,ii4 ,,tabular ,,summaries ,,for ,,the ,,state #aaj ,table ,i4--,population1 average number of ,persons and ,churches1 and average number of ,persons to a ,church1 by ,townships #aaa ,table ,,ii4--,churches classified according to the number of their members #aab ,table ,,iii4--,amount of ,ministerial ,service by ,townships1 ,villages1 and ,churches #aad ,table ,,iv4--,number of ,churches in ,villages and in the ,open ,country #aae ,table ,v4--,resident ,ministers in ,strictly ,rural ,townships in the ,open ,country and in ,villages #aah ,table ,,vi4--,terms of ,service of ,methodist ,episcopal ,country ,ministers1 #aiag #aai ,table ,,vii4--,average number of ,persons to a ,church in #aagj ,rural ,townships #aba ,table ,,viii4--,average number of ,persons to a ,church in ,rural ,townships1 ,suburban ,townships1 and ,cities #abb ,table ,,ix4--,salaries of ,methodist ,episcopal ,country ,ministers1 #aiag #abc ,table ,x4--,salaries of ,country ,ministers1 ,united ,brethren in ,christ1 #aiag #abc ,,iii4 ,,tabular ,,summaries ,,by ,,counties #abd ,,part ,,iii ,,the ,,county ,,maps ,,explanatory ,,note #ade ,,country ,,church ,,maps ,,of ,,the ,,eighty-,,eight ,,counties ,,of ,,ohio #adg ,,appendix ,,action ,,of ,,the ,,committee ,,on ,,interchurch ,,cooperation ,,of ,,the ,,ohio ,,rural ,,life ,,association #bce ,,list ,,of ,,maps ,the ,country ,churches of ,ohio ,frontispiece ,,page ,map ,a4 ,where ,conditions ,demand ,missionary ,aid #bf ,map #a4 ,high ,death ,rates from ,tuberculosis #bg ,map #b4 ,high ,rates of ,illegitimacy #bh ,map #c4 ,where ,illiteracy ,abounds #bi ,map #d4 ,distribution of ,foreign ,born ,whites #cj ,map #e4 ,excessive ,over-,churching #ca ,map #f4 ,churches many but ,ministers ,few #cb ,map #g4 ,number of ,persons to a ,resident ,minister #cc ,map #h4 ,value of ,farm ,property in the ,year #aiaj #cd ,map #i4 ,increase in ,value of ,farm ,property #ce ,map #aj4 ,rich ,land and ,poor ,land #cf ,map #aa4 ,showing that in #cag or #bg per cent of the ,strictly ,rural ,townships no ,church has a ,resident ,minister #di ,map #ab4 ,farms ,operated by ,tenants #hd ,map #ac4 ,farms ,operated by ,tenants #he ,map #ad4 ,methodist ,episcopal #if ,map #ae4 ,united ,brethren in ,christ #ig ,map #af4 ,presbyterian #ih ,map #ag4 ,baptist #ii ,map #ah4 ,disciples of ,christ #ajj ,map #ai4 ,lutheran #aja ,map #bj4 ,catholic #ajb ,map #ba4 ,christian #ajc ,map #bb4 ,methodist ,protestant #ajd ,map #bc4 ,reformed #aje ,map #bd4 ,congregational #ajf ,map #be4 ,evangelical ,association #ajg ,map #bf4 ,villages and ,cities #aag ,county ,maps3 ,adams #adg ,allen #adh ,ashland #adi ,ashtabula #aej ,athens #aea ,auglaize #aeb ,belmont #aec ,brown #aed ,butler #aee ,carroll #aef ,champaign #aeg ,clark #aeh ,clermont #aei ,clinton #afj ,columbiana #afa ,coshocton #afb ,crawford #afc ,cuyahoga #afd ,darke #afe ,defiance #aff ,delaware #afg ,erie #afh ,fairfield #afi ,fayette #agj ,franklin #aga ,fulton #agb ,gallia #agc ,geauga #agd ,greene #age ,guernsey #agf ,hamilton #agg ,hancock #agh ,hardin #agi ,harrison #ahj ,henry #aha ,highland #ahb ,hocking #ahc ,holmes #ahd ,huron #ahe ,jackson #ahf ,jefferson #ahg ,knox #ahh ,lake #ahi ,lawrence #aij ,licking #aia ,logan #aib ,lorain #aic ,lucas #aid ,madison #aie ,mahoning #aif ,marion #aig ,medina #aih ,meigs #aii ,mercer #bjj ,miami #bja ,monroe #bjb ,montgomery #bjc ,morgan #bjd ,morrow #bje ,muskingum #bjf ,noble #bjg ,ottawa #bjh ,paulding #bji ,perry #baj ,pickaway #baa ,pike #bab ,portage #bac ,preble #bad ,putnam #bae ,richland #baf ,ross #bag ,sandusky #bah ,scioto #bai ,seneca #bbj ,shelby #bba ,stark #bbb ,summit #bbc ,trumbull #bbd ,tuscarawas #bbe ,union #bbf ,van ,wert #bbg ,vinton #bbh ,warren #bbi ,washington #bcj ,wayne #bca ,williams #bcb ,wood #bcc ,wyandot #bcd ,,introduction ,in #aiac ,mr4 ,gill and ,i published1 under the authority of the ,federal ,council of the ,churches of ,christ in ,america1 the results of an inquiry into the condition of the country church in two typical counties--,windsor ,county1 ,vermont1 and ,tompkins ,county1 ,new ,york4 ,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 ,council4 ,under the direction of the ,commission1 it was resolved to extend the investigation of the country church to an entire ,state4 ,for the reasons given hereafter1 the choice fell upon ,ohio4 ,for the plan whose execution and results are here set forth1 ,mr4 ,gill and ,i are jointly responsible4 ,it was submitted to1 and revised and approved by1 the ,commission on ,church and ,country ,life1 in whose name and under whose direct supervision it was carried out4 ,the field work was done entirely by ,mr4 ,gill or under his immediate direction as ,secretary of the ,commission1 and he also worked up in the office the result of his work in the field4 ,as in the case of ,the ,country ,church1 ,i am responsible for the final revision of the manuscript for the press4 ,it is now published with the approval of the ,commission on ,church and ,country ,life1 and as a report of its work4 ,in the introduction to ,the ,country ,church1 ,i said and ,i desire to repeat1--,mr4 ,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 life4 ,for fifteen years he has been a country minister4 ,one of his tasks was to establish a church in a country community in ,vermont which had been without one for more than twenty years4 ,when ,mr4 ,gill came to it1 the moral and social laxity of the whole community was flagrant4 ,disbelief in the existence of goodness appeared to be common1 public disapproval of indecency was timid or lacking1 and religion was in general disrepute4 ,not only was there no day of worship1 but also no day of rest4 ,life was mean1 hard1 small1 selfish1 and covetous4 ,land belonging to the town was openly pillaged by the public officers who held it in trust2 real estate values were low2 and among the respectable families there was a general desire to sell their property and move away4 ,then a church was organized4 ,the change which followed was swift1 striking1 thorough1 and enduring4 ,the public property of the town1 once a source of graft and demoralization1 became a public asset4 ,the value of real estate increased beyond all proportion to the general rise of land values elsewhere4 ,in the decade and a half which has elapsed since the church began its work1 boys and girls of a new type have been brought up4 ,the reputation of the village has been changed from bad to good1 public order has greatly improved1 and the growth of the place as a summer resort has begun4 ,it is fair to say that the establishment of the church under ,mr4 ,gill began a new era in the history of the town4 ,it was with this record of practical success in the country church1 supplemented by the very unusual experience as an investigator which he acquired in collecting and analyzing the material for ,the ,country ,church1 that ,mr4 ,gill approached the task whose results are here set down4 ,the task of ascertaining with accuracy the conditions of the country church in other portions of the ,united ,states still remains4 ,the remedies are yet to be applied4 ,,gifford ,,pinchot4 ,milford1 ,penna4 ,aug4 #bf1 #aiah4 ,,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 book4 ,several thousand persons assisted in collecting the data here given4 ,lists of churches were obtained from correspondents in every township in ,ohio1 and township maps were sent to them for marking the location of the churches4 ,ministers1 clerks1 and other officers of churches1 district superintendents1 and other denominational leaders gave indispensable information4 ,the very important material gathered by the ,ohio ,rural ,life ,survey1 including country church maps of twelve counties and many data for seventeen other counties1 was placed at the disposal of the ,commission4 ,invaluable assistance has been rendered by ,state1 ,county1 and ,township ,sunday ,school ,associations4 ,in about half of the townships1 officers of the township associations supplied needed information4 ,miss ,clara ,e4 ,clemmer1 ,secretary of the ,county ,association1 gathered nearly all the data for ,preble ,county4 ,the ,rev4 ,c4 ,a4 ,spriggs1 a ,missionary of the ,american ,sunday ,school ,union1 furnished most of the facts used in making the map of ,pike ,county4 ,in a few counties1 superintendents of public schools either gave desired information themselves1 or supplied the names of others who did1 and in some cases the agricultural agents lent a hand4 ,county atlases were consulted1 and verifications and corrections were obtained from many sources4 ,the topographical maps issued by the ,united ,states ,geological ,survey gave the locations of certain churches4 ,the ,year ,books of the various denominational bodies were in constant use for verification and reference1 as were the ,united ,states ,census1 the ,ohio ,statistical ,reports1 and other ,government documents4 ,in the different sections of ,ohio ,mr4 ,gill made extensive investigations on the ground1 while large numbers of country ministers and church members were consulted personally4 ,specific information has thus been collected in nearly every township1 while at country church institutes and conferences in various parts of the ,state1 many facts were secured from the discussions on rural church conditions4 ,not only has information1 therefore1 been received from very many people intimately associated with the churches of rural ,ohio1 but also1 and very widely1 from personal observation on the field itself4 ,in spite of all the care that could be taken1 after the work on the township maps was thought to be finished1 a few other churches were discovered4 ,if1 in the future1 still other churches should be found which are not on the maps1 the number of them will be insignificant4 ,their discovery will doubtless in no wise affect the conclusions which have been drawn as to the country church situation in ,ohio1 nor their omission impair the general usefulness of the maps4 ,in the constructive work of the ,commission and of the ,ohio ,rural ,life ,association for rural church betterment1 as well as in the survey1 the ,ohio ,state ,university1 under ,dr4 ,thompson1 has always given free and valuable cooperation4 ,for all this kind assistance the ,commission and the ,association are deeply grateful1 and here express their hearty thanks4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,rural ,,church ,,maps ,,of ,,ohio ,in ,part ,,iii of this volume are #hh country church maps1 one for each county in the ,state of ,ohio4 ,the making of these maps was part of a program adopted in #aiad by the ,commission on ,church and ,country ,life of the ,federal ,council of the ,churches of ,christ in ,america4 ,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 ,state4 ,ohio was chosen because of its geographical location1 because of the variety of its church conditions1 and because in a number of its counties a country church survey had already been made4 ,this survey had indicated a widespread need for the readjustment of church life to community welfare in rural ,ohio4 ,it was therefore determined1 if possible1 to complete a series of maps for the entire ,state which would summarize the facts4 ,in dealing with so many churches in so large an area1 it was of course feasible to collect only a very small number of facts concerning each church4 ,accordingly the facts to be gathered were limited to the location of every rural church1 its denomination1 its present membership1 whether it is gaining or losing in membership1 whether it ordinarily has a resident pastor1 and if not1 what part of a minister's service it receives4 ,the collection of such facts was necessary1 first1 to impress upon the church officials and others the actual urgency of the situation1 and second1 to provide a basis for a workable policy of interchurch cooperation and reciprocity in influencing or directing the redistribution of ministers and churches4 ,while the making of the church maps appeared to be the least amount of preliminary work that would open the way for effective action1 it was evident that nothing adequate could be done for rural church betterment without interdenominational1 or undenominational1 organization4 ,therefore1 when the branch office of the ,commission on ,church and ,country ,life was opened in ,columbus1 ,ohio1 in ,august1 #aiad1 at the same time the ,ohio ,rural ,life ,association was formed to cooperate with the ,commission in its work in the ,state4 ,soon afterward a ,committee on ,interchurch ,cooperation1 consisting of executives in charge of the country churches of eleven denominations1 was organized4 ,the principles which it adopted to govern its action mark a forward step of real importance4 7,see page #bce47 ,the chief burden of making the church maps has rested upon the ,commission on ,church and ,country ,life4 ,its paid executive and office force have done the main part of the work1 but valuable assistance has been rendered by the ,ohio ,rural ,life ,association4 ,much of the work was done in its name4 ,incidentally1 the cooperative work of these bodies has by no means been confined to the making of surveys4 ,country ,life ,institutes have been held1 and an educational propaganda in the interest of the rural church has been continuously carried on1 with the result that in ,ohio more than in any other ,state has the country church gained ground in its command of public interest4 ,as a subject for addresses and discussion the country church has a place in a large number of farmers' institutes1 and in nearly all ,sunday school conventions1 while during ,farmers' ,week at the ,state ,agricultural ,college1 conferences on no other subject have attracted more people or provoked more animated discussion4 ,inasmuch as the collecting of the data extended over a period of more than three years1 the maps do not all represent the exact situation at the same moment4 ,while they were being made some of the churches were being redistributed in different circuits1 and membership rolls were increasing or decreasing4 ,since the map for their county was completed some churches have federated1 or their members have all united in a denominational union church4 ,but while the maps do not constitute a snap shot of the entire ,state1 the changes which have taken place are too few in any way to invalidate the conclusions drawn4 ,the total situation is indicated with sufficient correctness4 ,these maps should supply the indispensable basis for the readjustment that is obviously required4 ,we hope that the publishing of them will not only register a stage of progress in the ,state of ,ohio1 but that in other ,states also similar work will be undertaken1 and that the forward movement in rural church life will be strengthened and accelerated throughout the nation4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,summary ,,of ,,results ,ohio contains in its area of #da1jfj square miles1 some #a1chh townships4 ,if we exclude the townships in which the population is urban1 those in which there are villages of more than #b1ejj inhabitants 7the number set by the ,united ,states ,census as separating the country from the town71 those which contain parts of1 or border on1 large town or city parishes1 there remain #a1agj townships which may be classed as strictly rural4 ,these rural townships have in all #f1jfj churches and nearly #a1gjj1jjj persons4 ,each of them has on an average a population of #a1ddh persons1 with five churches1 or one church to every #bhj persons4 ,if we include with the strictly rural townships the rural sections of townships not exclusively rural1 there are in ,ohio no less than #f1fdb country churches4 ,as these facts would indicate1 the country churches of ,ohio for the most part are small and weak4 ,according to data gathered by the earlier survey made under the direction of the ,presbyterian ,board of ,home ,missions1 the churches whose membership is less than #ajj as a rule do not prosper1 and the smaller the membership the greater the proportion of the churches which are on the decline4 ,in ,ohio more than #d1ejj1 or #ff per cent1 of the rural churches have a membership of #ajj or less2 more than #c1fjj1 or #ee per cent1 have a membership of #ge or less2 more than #b1djj1 or #cg per cent1 a membership of #ej or less4 ,the membership in these country churches is distressingly small1 but the attendance is smaller still4 ,the data available indicate that ordinarily it is less than half the membership4 ,in six churches taken at random1 it was found that the figures ran as follows3 ,membership ,average attendance #abe #cd #cjj #acf #agc #cj to #dj #aej ,less than #cj #cjj - #dj ----- ----- #a1jdh #bgj ,in one township it is reported that the average attendance in each of its eight churches is less than #be4 ,one of the most striking facts is the shortage of resident ministers4 ,while a reasonable degree of interchurch cooperation should result in the maintenance of a resident pastor in nearly every township1 yet in #cag1 or #bg per cent1 of the strictly rural townships1 no church has a resident pastor4 7,see ,map #aa1 page #di47 ,more than #d1djj1 or about two-thirds1 of the churches in rural ,ohio1 and #ci per cent of the villages are without resident ministers1 while in the open country only #cfj1 or #ac per cent1 of the #b1hjg churches have resident pastors4 ,the efforts of the ministers are so scattered over fields more or less widely separated that much of their effectiveness is lost4 7,consult the county maps1 pages #adg-bcd47 ,more than #e1ejj of the #f1fdb country churches are without the full time service of a minister2 #c1gee have only one-third or less of a minister's services2 #b1ejj have one-fourth or less2 while more than #gej have no regular service of a minister at all4 ,a large number of ministers have other occupations than the ministry4 ,moreover it is a rule of nearly universal application that ministers of country churches in ,ohio do not remain long enough in their parishes to make effective service possible4 ,according to the official records of the conferences of the largest and doubtless one of the most efficient of the denominations1 in the fall of #aiag1 #dh per cent of its rural ministers were about to begin their first year1 and #gd per cent either their first or second year of service in the fields to which they were appointed4 ,only #bf per cent had had a two years' acquaintance with their parishes1 while only #h ministers1 or scarcely more than #a per cent1 had served as long as five years4 ,this condition is no better in nearly all the other denominations4 ,because of this1 and also because the effort of the ministry is divided among various and widely separated churches1 the people who live in the rural districts in ,ohio receive too little pastoral service4 ,the short term also discourages the ministers from attempting to discover and meet the needs of their communities and from formulating and carrying out any adequate plans of community service4 ,the churches1 as a rule1 are not trained to expect such service1 nor the ministers to render it4 ,in certain extensive areas in ,ohio the country church seems to have broken down4 7,see ,chapters ,,iv and ,v47 ,in regions where it has been active for a century it has failed and is now failing to dispel ignorance and superstition1 to prevent the spread of vice and disease1 and to check the increasing production of undeveloped and abnormal individuals4 ,because of the lack of an organization to cooerdinate the work of the denominations1 and to study the field as a whole1 no one has been conscious of responsibility for such failure4 ,the conditions have not even been known by many of the church officials who were responsible1 and a situation has been permitted to develop which threatens the welfare of the whole ,state and demands the immediate redirection of the ,church's missionary activities4 ,the pay of the country ministers in ,ohio is small1 the support of the church meager4 ,according to the records of the ,conferences held in the fall of #aiag the majority of the ministers 7#eh per cent7 of the largest denomination received less than #a1ajj each1 three-fourths 7#gd4f per cent7 less than #a1bjj1 while the average amount was #heg and free use of parsonage4 ,in the denomination with the second largest number of country churches the average salary was only #ghg1 or #fhj and free use of parsonage4 ,over considerable areas a large proportion of the ministers are uneducated4 ,often they are illiterate and entirely unfitted to render service acceptable to the more intelligent part of their people4 ,in most of the ,state1 the standard of education for ministers is low4 ,it is in part due to the failure of an insufficiently educated ministry to stimulate the intellectual life of the people1 that from #a1ejj1jjj to #b1jjj1jjj people in the ,state have no public libraries4 ,unless a larger and stronger social and religious institution is created in the country districts than is now found in the country church1 the more vigorous young people will for the most part leave the country1 and an inferior class will take their places on the farm4 ,a process of reverse selection will therefore set in which must result in the general debasement of our rural population and ultimately of our nation as a whole4 ,as is well known1 this process of decadence is already taking place over very large areas in rural ,america4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,where ,,church ,,efficiency ,,is ,,lowest ,the facts summarized in the previous chapter show that in rural ,ohio the church as a whole is not adequately performing its great and difficult task4 ,it is equally evident that no institution could hope for a high degree of success unless more progressive in method and administration4 ,furthermore1 unless the urban officials or directors in charge of rural churches come to appreciate the fundamental importance of the country church problem1 address themselves more seriously to the task in hand1 and make really effective use of improved organization and available human and material resources1 the country church will continue to decline4 ,while there are very many successful churches1 and many rural communities socially1 morally1 and economically prosperous1 failures occur in equally large numbers4 ,a most striking illustration of the churches' inefficiency may be found in southern and southeastern ,ohio4 ,here1 in a region covering at least eighteen counties1 the failure of the churches may fairly be called pathetic4 ,these counties are ,adams1 ,athens1 ,brown1 ,clermont1 ,gallia1 ,highland1 ,hocking1 ,jackson1 ,lawrence1 ,meigs1 ,monroe1 ,morgan1 ,noble1 ,pike1 ,ross1 ,scioto1 ,vinton1 and ,washington4 ,in this area1 after more than a hundred years of the work of the churches1 the religious1 social1 and economic welfare of the people are going down4 ,although the churches have been here for more than a century1 no normal type of organized religion is really flourishing1 while the only kind which1 during the past fifteen years1 has been gaining ground1 the cult of the ,holy ,rollers1 is scarcely better than that of a ,dervish4 ,the churches have failed and are failing to dispel ignorance and superstition1 to prevent the increase of vice1 the spread of disease1 and the general moral and spiritual decadence of the people4 ,most of the information concerning the ,eighteen ,counties1 as for convenience1 this region is hereafter called1 was derived from personal investigation on the ground by ,mr4 ,gill1 from the testimony of two trained investigators1 and from interviews and correspondence with local merchants1 physicians1 clergymen1 school teachers1 superintendents of schools and churches1 farmers1 and ,sunday school workers4 ,information confirming what had already been received was found in the statistical reports of the national and state governments4 ,some of the results of a study of the reports of the ,ohio ,bureau of ,vital ,statistics and the ,united ,states ,census are given in ,table ,a and in ,maps ,a1 and ,maps #a to #aj1 on pages #bf to #cf4 ,in ,map ,a the heavily shaded area indicates the ,eighteen ,counties included in this region4 ,ten other counties bordering upon them are shaded more lightly4 ,many communities in these ten bordering counties are influenced by the migration of population from the ,eighteen ,counties4 ,in no less than twelve out of the ,eighteen ,counties1 the death rate from tuberculosis is excessive4 7,see ,map #a and ,table ,a1 column #a47 ,reports of the ,ohio ,bureau of ,vital ,statistics for the years #aiji1 #aiaj1 and #aiaa 7the latest we could secure on this subject71 give the average annual deaths from this disease for #ajj1jjj persons1 as #abe for the whole ,state4 ,on ,map #a1 all counties are shaded whose rate exceeds not #abe only1 but #ade4 ,of the seventeen counties in the ,state whose death rate from tuberculosis is #ade or over1 all but five are in this region1 and of the five one is a bordering county4 ,outside this area and the bordering counties1 the highest rate is in ,franklin1 of which the city of ,columbus is the county seat2 but of the ,eighteen ,counties1 seven have a higher rate than ,franklin4 ,in ,clermont ,county it is #afd1 in ,scioto #afi1 in ,lawrence #agb1 in ,ross #age1 in ,gallia #ahd1 while in ,pike it is no less than #baf1--;far larger than for any other rural county in the ,state4 ,in ,hamilton ,county1 in which is the city of ,cincinnati1 and which is adjacent to ,clermont ,county1 the rate of #bag is probably due to the large colored population4 ,it will be observed1 therefore1 that in no less than two-thirds of the ,eighteen ,counties the rate of death from this preventable disease is excessively and indefensibly high4 ,the number of illegitimate births in the ,eighteen ,counties is likewise excessive4 7,see ,map #b and ,table ,a1 column #b1 pages #bh and #cg47 ,the rate per #ajj1jjj population for the ,state is #dc4i4 ,of the #bh counties whose rate is above the average1 #ai1 or #fh per cent1 are either in the ,eighteen ,counties or the counties bordering upon them4 ,no less than thirteen1 or more than two-thirds1 of the ,eighteen ,counties have an excessive number of illegitimate births4 ,outside this area and the bordering counties the highest rate for any county is #fa1 but in ten of the ,eighteen ,counties it is greater than this4 ,whereas the rate for the ,state is less than #dd1 in ,athens ,county it is #fe1 in ,noble #fg1 in ,scioto #gc1 in ,gallia #gf1 in ,hocking and ,monroe #gh1 in ,ross #hg1 in ,pike #hi1 in ,lawrence no less than #aac1 while in ,jackson it is #abc1 or the highest rate in the ,state4 ,it will be noted that these figures cover the counties in which are the large cities as well as the rural counties4 ,but in ,hamilton1 containing the city of ,cincinnati1 the rate is only #ff1 in ,franklin1 containing the city of ,columbus1 it is #ef1 and in ,cuyahoga1 containing the city of ,cleveland1 it is only #ej4 ,illiteracy also1 in the ,eighteen ,counties1 is excessive4 7,see ,map #c and column #c of ,table ,a47 ,the per cent of illiterate males of voting age for the ,state in #aiaj was #d4b4 ,there are #bi counties in which that number was exceeded4 ,of these1 fourteen are among the ,eighteen ,counties1 and five border upon them4 ,in ,brown ,county1 the percentage is #d4c1 in ,washington and ,noble #d4e1 in ,monroe #e4d1 in ,adams #f4i1 in ,athens and ,ross #g4d1 in ,scioto #g4g1 in ,gallia #h4a1 in ,vinton #h4d1 in ,hocking #h4f1 while in ,pike it is #aj4g1 and in ,lawrence #aa4f4 ,among the remaining ten counties whose percentage of illiteracy is above the average it appears 7see ,map #d1 page #cj7 that in all but three1 the percentage of foreign-born persons is large1 and that among counties where the foreign born are few1 there are1 outside the ,eighteen ,counties1 only six for which the percentage of illiteracy is greater than #d4b1 and three of these are included in the counties which border upon them4 ,it will be noted that in this region the number of foreign-born persons is very small4 ,the percentage for the ,state is #ab4e1 whereas in the ,eighteen ,counties it is only #b4c4 ,no less than #ec counties out of the #gj outside of the ,eighteen ,counties1 have a foreign population of more than #b4c per cent4 ,in this region1 therefore1 where there is so high a percentage of illiteracy1 of illegitimacy1 and of deaths from preventable disease1 the people are more nearly pure ,americans than in the rest of the ,state4 ,they compare unfavorably with the people of counties where a large proportion are foreigners4 ,it is true that the cause does not lie in the origin of the population4 ,but the fact that these things are true in the most ,american parts of ,ohio1 where we should naturally expect to find the best situation1 greatly emphasizes the significance of the conditions disclosed4 ,it is an additional indictment against those who are responsible that in ,mahoning ,county more than #bh per cent and in ,cuyahoga ,county more than #cc per cent of the population in #aiaj were foreign born1 yet in these counties1 containing the large cities of ,youngstown and ,cleveland1 the moral and social conditions are better than in the ,eighteen ,counties--a rural section inhabited by our purest ,american stock4 ,such statistical data as are here presented are but as smoke indicating fire4 ,they do not overstate the urgency of the appeal from the unfortunate over-churched and under-ministered communities of this section4 ,here gross superstition exercises strong control over the thought and action of a large proportion of the people4 ,syphilitic and other venereal diseases are common and increasing over whole counties1 while in some communities nearly every family is afflicted with inherited or infectious disease4 ,many cases of incest are known1 inbreeding is rife4 ,imbeciles1 feeble-minded1 and delinquents are numerous1 politics is corrupt1 the selling of votes is common1 petty crimes abound1 the schools have been badly managed and poorly attended4 ,cases of rape1 assault1 and robbery are of almost weekly occurrence within five minutes' walk of the corporation limits of one of the county seats1 while in another county political control is held by a self-confessed criminal4 ,alcoholic intemperence is excessive4 ,gross immorality and its evil results are by no means confined to the hill districts1 but are extreme also in the towns4 ,adams ,county was made notorious because in the #aiaj election nearly #b1jjj persons were disenfranchised for selling their votes1 and there is convincing evidence that it does not stand alone4 ,of course there are many communities in this region where conditions are better1 such as the area immediately affected by the admirable and effective work of ,rio ,grande ,college4 ,but there is just as little question that the general deplorable condition of the ,eighteen ,counties1 ascertained through the personal investigations of ,mr4 ,gill1 and confirmed by wide correspondence and the statistical data here summarized1 is true4 ,the bad economic1 as distinguished from the moral1 conditions in the ,eighteen ,counties are largely due to sterility of soil1 and to the fact that many of its hillsides are too steep for profitable cultivation4 ,it is often contended that economic conditions affect religion and morals1 and there is much truth in that contention4 ,but it cannot be held that steep hillsides and sterile soil of themselves produce conditions such as are here described4 ,merely to state such a proposition is to refute it4 ,moral and religious poverty must bear at least as much of the blame as poverty of the soil4 7,see ,maps #h1 #i1 and #aj1 and ,table ,a1 columns #h and #i47 ,the total value of farm property falls below #ae million dollars in but #ba of the #hh counties of ,ohio4 ,of the #ba1 all but #f are among the ,eighteen ,counties4 7,see ,map #h1 and ,table ,a1 column #h47 ,in ,adams1 ,athens1 and ,monroe ,counties1 the value of farm property is only #aj million dollars each2 in ,morgan #i1 in ,meigs and ,scioto #h1 in ,gallia #g1 in ,hocking and ,pike #f1 in ,jackson and ,lawrence #e1 and in ,vinton only #d4 ,according to the ,united ,states ,census the value of farm property in ,ohio increased nearly #fj per cent from #aijj to #aiaj4 ,there were only ten counties in the ,state in which farm property had not increased more than #be per cent during that period4 ,eight of these are among the ,eighteen ,counties4 7,see ,map #i1 and ,table ,a1 column #i47 ,according to the ,census of #aiaj1 there were only #ac counties in ,ohio whose land was valued at not more than #be4jj per acre4 ,all of them are in the ,eighteen ,counties4 7,see ,map #aj47 ,in the remaining five the land is valued at not more than #ej4jj per acre4 ,it becomes impossible1 therefore1 to avoid the question whether the character of the soil determines the character and destiny of the people who are born upon it4 ,attention should be directed in passing to the fact that the low value of the land is due in part to the failure of the people who live upon it to develop and use the natural resources which are available4 ,in some of the poorest regions in the ,eighteen ,counties an occasional farmer is making a good living from the soil1 although his land by nature is no better than that of his poor neighbors4 ,as a rule the agricultural opportunities of the region are neglected4 ,for example1 little fruit is grown1 although both climate and soil in much of the region are very favorable to fruit production4 ,but it remains true that the natural conditions as a whole are not as favorable for agriculture1 as they are to the north and northwest2 and it is an unquestionable fact that the character and condition of the earth's surface has a relation to the physical1 intellectual1 social1 and moral conditions of the people who live upon it4 ,undoubtedly this is as true in southeastern ,ohio as it is elsewhere4 ,poor soil1 as a rule1 does not hold upon itself the most enterprising families so tenaciously as good soil1 and for that reason we might fairly expect the people of these districts to have less vigor and less initiative4 ,on such soil it is therefore more difficult to sustain thriving churches1 and so the moral and religious life may be more prone to decline4 ,but soil conditions by themselves cannot demoralize a people4 ,they can do so only where the church is failing to do its work4 ,the natural conditions of soil and climate are by no means worse in the ,eighteen ,counties than in many other areas where fairly good moral conditions are found4 ,they are no worse than they were in the parish of ,john ,frederick ,oberlin1 nor in many fairly prosperous ,new ,england communities of to-day4 ,even where moral1 economic1 and other conditions are bad1 communities usually respond quickly to the work of a well-equipped resident pastor1 as the experience of home missionaries abundantly proves4 ,in the first parish served as pastor by ,mr4 ,gill1 the soil and the people were very poor4 ,the moral conditions1 because of a church situation very similar to that of the neglected communities of southeastern ,ohio1 were bad4 ,but the response to the work of a church which gave good service was all that could have been anticipated4 ,even the economic conditions were notably improved as a result of the church's work1 while the moral change in the community was striking1 rapid1 and enduring4 ,men familiar with home missionary work regard such results as normal4 ,where the conditions are as unfavorable as they are in the ,eighteen ,counties1 it is unquestionably the duty of the church as a whole1 and especially of the churches of the prosperous districts1 to assist the weaker churches not only with supervision and advice1 but also by helping to provide well-trained and well-equipped ministers1 thus guarding against the ravages of an ignorant and untrained or unworthy and insincere ministry4 ,the people of southeastern ,ohio will undoubtedly be as responsive to good church work and as ready to follow good religious leadership as the people of similar regions elsewhere4 ,such work and leadership for many years1 at least1 they have not had4 7,see the next chapter47 ,their ecclesiastical and religious conditions are such as afford no ground for expecting better social1 moral1 and physical conditions than those actually found to exist4 ,surely we cannot accept these conditions as inevitable until the church shall at least have made a serious effort to test the possibilities and learn the results of carrying out a live and modern program4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,churches ,,in ,,the ,,eighteen ,,counties ,in the ,eighteen ,counties of ,southeastern ,ohio some of the older and stronger denominations are well represented1 as ,table ,c shows4 7,see page #ci47 ,no less than #ebf1 or more than one-third1 of the total number of churches are ,methodist ,episcopal4 ,nearly one-tenth are ,united ,brethren in ,christ1 another tenth ,baptist1 one-fifteenth ,christian1 and one-fifteenth ,presbyterian2 while other powerful denominations are also present4 ,it is evident that the failure of the churches in this area cannot be laid to the weakness or poverty of the denominations represented1 for they are for the most part neither weak nor poor4 ,ohio1 moreover1 is a wealthy ,state1 and its churches make large contributions for church work and church extension both in ,america and abroad4 ,it has been too commonly held in the past that missionary effort should consist largely in organizing and building churches4 ,we do not believe that proposition is sound4 ,in rural ,ohio the worst moral and religious conditions are found where there are the largest number of churches in proportion to the number of inhabitants4 ,in #ci counties out of a total of #hh in the ,state1 there is one country church for each #bge people or less4 7,see ,map #e and ,table ,a1 column #e47 ,of these #ci counties1 #ag are among the ,eighteen ,counties under our special consideration4 ,outside these ,eighteen ,counties and the counties contiguous to them1 no county has an average of less than #bbh persons to a church1 but it appears that ,washington has one church for #bbf persons1 ,monroe one for #bad1 ,pike one for #baa1 ,gallia one for #aig1 ,morgan one for #aid1 ,jackson one for #aic1 while ,vinton has one for #ahb1 and ,meigs one church for #agh4 ,in the rural sections of these ,eighteen ,counties there are #a1edb churches and #bdh townships1 or more than #f churches to a township4 ,while the fact that this region is more difficult to travel1 because more hilly1 than many other parts of the ,state might constitute a reason for having many churches1 it certainly cannot be held that the bad moral and religious conditions which exist are due to lack of a sufficient number of them4 ,nor is support here to be found for the contention sometimes made that religious work thrives best under competition4 ,the larger the number of churches in proportion to the population1 the more difficult it obviously becomes to secure1 support1 and retain resident pastors4 ,in proportion to the number of churches1 the ,eighteen ,counties have a comparatively small number of ministers4 7,see ,map #f and ,table ,a1 column #f47 ,in the ,state as a whole1 about one-third1 or #cd per cent1 of the churches have resident ministers4 ,in only three counties outside the ,eighteen is it true that less than one-fourth of the churches have them4 ,these are ,delaware1 ,coshocton1 and ,pickaway1 and the latter is one of the bordering counties4 ,but in #ac of the ,eighteen ,counties less than one-fourth of the churches have resident ministers4 ,it will be noted that less than one-fifth of the churches in ,scioto1 ,pike1 ,lawrence1 and ,meigs ,counties have resident ministers1 one-sixth in ,morgan ,county1 and less than one-sixth in ,jackson1 ,hocking1 and ,gallia4 ,in the ,eighteen ,counties the number of resident ministers in proportion to the population1 as well as in proportion to the number of churches1 is small4 7,see ,map #g and ,table ,a1 column #g47 ,there are #bd counties in ,ohio in which there are more than #a1jjj persons for each resident minister1 of which #ac are among the ,eighteen ,counties under consideration1 and three among the bordering counties4 ,noble ,county has a resident minister to every #a1bdj persons1 ,gallia to every #a1cif1 ,lawrence to every #a1dej1 ,pickaway to every #a1deh1 while ,hocking has only one to #a1fic1 or nearly #a1gjj persons4 ,here1 as in most rural sections1 an absentee ministry is necessarily ineffective4 7,see pages #ej-ea47 ,the foregoing facts afford convincing evidence that the church in this region is rendering poor service--how poor the reader may judge from the following description of the religious and ecclesiastical conditions found by ,mr4 ,gill in his personal investigation on the ground4 ,for the most part the farm people of these ,eighteen ,counties are very religious4 ,this is attested not merely by the large number of churches1 but also by the frequency of well-attended revival services1 held in spring1 summer1 autumn1 and winter4 7,in ,pike ,county1 for example1 no less than #a1ejj revival services were held in thirty years1 or an average of #ej each year47 ,yet a normal1 wholesome religion1 bearing as its fruit better living and all-round human development1 and cherished and propagated by sane and sober-minded people1 is rarely known4 ,the main function of a church1 according to the popular conception1 is to hold these protracted meetings1 to stir up religious emotion1 and1 under its influence1 to bring to pass certain psychological experiences4 ,the idea seems to be dominant in nearly all the denominations and churches that the presence of the ,deity is made known mainly1 if not solely1 through states of intense emotion which may be stimulated in religious assemblies4 ,such emotion is held to be not only a manifestation of the ,deity's presence1 but also a proof of ,his existence4 ,no man is held to be religious or saved from evil destiny unless he has had such experience4 ,it becomes1 therefore1 the business of the preacher of the church to create conditions favorable to the experiencing of these emotions4 ,officials of denominations to which more than two-thirds of the churches belong encourage or permit the promotion of a religion of the excessively emotional type1 which encourages rolling upon the floor by men1 women1 and children1 and going into trances1 while some things which have happened in the regular services of a church in one of the largest denominations cannot properly be described in print4 ,the leaders of a religious cult commonly called ,holy ,rollers seem to be most efficient in this direction4 ,the character of their services and activities produce the results desired1 according to the traditions accepted and proclaimed for generations by ignorant preachers to a nonprogressive people4 ,a ,holy ,roller movement was started in ,pike ,county in the year #aijb4 ,it has steadily been gaining ground ever since1 and has never been more flourishing than now4 ,it is the livest sect in this and neighboring counties4 ,its meetings are large and full of enthusiasm4 ,except the churches of this cult1 very few are now left in the western half of ,pike ,county which show any activity whatever4 ,in one district of #aej square miles 7in which there are #a1bjj children enrolled in the schools and in all #a1fjj young people from the ages of six to twenty7 no churches were holding services in #aiag except those of the ,holy ,rollers4 ,the seasons of protracted ,holy ,roller meetings often last for several weeks4 ,frequently they begin each day at #aj4jj ,a4 ,m4 and continue until #b4jj ,a4 ,m4 the next day1 with intermissions for meals4 ,these meetings are characterized by much singing1 with music well adapted to rythmic motions of the body1 by dancing and clapping the hands1 sometimes by shouting and joyous screaming1 rolling upon the floor1 tumbling together of men and women in heaps1 trances1 while at least one of their preachers has exercised hypnotic power over some of his followers and has put them through stunts in no way differing from those of the professional hypnotist showman who1 in times past1 for the price of admission1 has amused and astonished his audience with exhibitions of his skill4 ,in one village where ,mr4 ,gill attended a church belonging to this movement1 it was the only religious organization holding services or showing any signs of life4 ,although at this service the building was full to its capacity1 as is usual with meetings of this kind1 the church not only had no ,sunday school1 but its leaders kept the children away from one which a missionary of the ,american ,sunday ,school ,union was trying to start in the neighborhood4 ,three-fourths of the parents of the fifty pupils in the local school were adherents of this cult1 yet its leaders opposed having better day schools4 ,the school principal1 under the direction of the ,county ,school ,superintendent1 tried to hold literary meetings for intellectual and social improvement1 but under the influence of the ,holy ,roller leaders1 the parents refused to let their children attend1 and the enterprise was defeated4 ,apparently no meeting for any purpose is to be tolerated except the ,holy ,roller meetings themselves4 ,these theoretically and in fact take the place of all other gatherings4 ,the ,holy ,roller church in this community1 as elsewhere1 in its total influence promotes immorality4 ,it has a tendency to break up families and destroy the peace and harmony of the neighborhood4 ,in the judgment of the more sober-minded people1 the ,holy ,roller movement spoils the life of the community wherever it goes4 ,although the ,holy ,roller cult apparently was not started in this region until a few years ago1 it would seem that the religious activities of the older denominational churches were but a good preparation for it4 ,in fact1 good soil is found for sprouting the seed of ,holy ,rollerism in many sections of the ,state4 ,the difference in religious beliefs and ideals between the ,holy ,rollers and the preachers of other denominations in the ,eighteen ,counties too often is not easily detected4 ,denominations to which at least two-thirds of the churches belong employ many men and women as preachers who are extremely ignorant4 ,in one of its districts1 nearly half of the twenty or thirty ministers of the largest denomination in the ,state did not have a common school education4 ,it is usual to find ministers intellectually inferior to a number of families whom they are supposed to lead and teach4 ,in some districts a considerable proportion of the preachers have had no more than three or four grades of common school instruction4 ,some cannot write their own names correctly4 ,accordingly religious education is neglected4 ,the people apparently have been untouched by the general advance in religious knowledge during the past century4 ,many intelligent people in the ,eighteen ,counties deplore these conditions and would be glad to have churches of a different type4 ,but it is also very common to find among the more prosperous1 especially in the fertile river valleys1 a spirit of utter indifference towards religion1 and often of gross materialism4 ,under such circumstances it is not surprising to find that in several sections much hostility to institutional religion exists4 ,it is given expression by rural hoodlums who cut to pieces harnesses and slash tires belonging to ministers or laymen who attend religious gatherings1 while in some communities stones are thrown through the windows of buildings where public worship is being held4 ,while it is true that out of the poorest and most unfortunate districts bright boys and girls frequently emerge1 escape their surroundings1 and become good citizens1 it is none the less true that a large proportion of those who remain have no reasonable chance for wholesome development4 ,the bad influence of the ,eighteen ,counties extends far beyond their borders4 ,out of them many farm laborers have gone to communities to the north and northwest1 often with deplorable results to the social1 religious1 and moral conditions of the communities where they are employed4 7,see ,table ,b47 ,it is calculated that no less than #fa1jjj persons emigrated in the ten-year period from #aijj to #aiaj from the strictly rural districts of sixteen of the ,eighteen ,counties4 ,in ,madison1 a fertile county near the center of the ,state1 in an area sixteen miles long and from seven to eleven miles wide1 there are three closed and no active churches4 ,one of the causes of this condition is the fact that the farm laborers imported by the owners of large tracts of lands were never made familiar1 before they came1 with a normal type of religion4 ,these men come from the ,eighteen ,counties or from sections across the ,ohio ,river where the conditions are very much the same4 ,in parts of several other counties the situation brought about by similar immigration is extremely bad4 ,the ,eighteen ,counties demand missionary activity on the part of the church as a whole1 not only for the sake of the unfortunate people who live in them1 but also for the sake of the other regions whose welfare is threatened by the transfer of low standards of all kinds1 which1 like a forest fire1 are creeping away from the region where they originated4 ,among the large number of intelligent persons who know and deplore the situation in typical communities of southeastern ,ohio1 very few seem to cherish hope of improvement4 ,such pessimism appears to be unjustified4 ,good work is now being done by missionaries of the ,american ,sunday ,school ,union4 ,what is more important1 there is much promise that the trouble can be reached and cured by the modern country church movement1 which is already making real progress in ,ohio4 ,as a result of this movement1 for example1 the ,board of ,home ,missions of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church has1 for the first time1 appropriated missionary funds to be used in this section1 while one of the ,district ,superintendents of the same denomination is carrying out a radically changed program for the churches under his supervision4 ,illustration3 ,,map ,a ,,where ,,conditions ,,demand ,,missionary ,,aid ,illustration3 ,,map #a ,,high ,,death ,,rates ,,from ,,tuberculosis ,illustration3 ,,map #b ,,high ,,rates ,,of ,,illegitimacy ,illustration3 ,,map #c ,,where ,,illiteracy ,,abounds ,illustration3 ,,map #d ,,distribution ,,of ,,foreign ,,born ,,whites ,illustration3 ,,map #e ,,excessive ,,over-,,churching ,illustration3 ,,map #f ,,churches ,,many ,,but ,,ministers ,,few ,illustration3 ,,map #g ,,number ,,of ,,persons ,,to ,a ,,resident ,,minister ,illustration3 ,,map #h ,,value ,,of ,,farm ,,property ,,in ,,the ,,year #aiaj ,illustration3 ,,map #i ,,increase ,,in ,,value ,,of ,,farm ,,property ,illustration3 ,,map #aj ,,rich ,,land ,,and ,,poor ,,land ,,table ,a ,,showing ,,that ,,in ,a ,,group ,,of #ah ,,counties ,,in ,,southeastern ,,ohio ,,there ,,is ,,an ,,excessive ,,amount ,,of ,,preventable ,,disease ,,and ,,illiteracy1 ,,an ,,excessive ,,number ,,of ,,illegitimate ,,births1 ,,excessive ,,overchurching1 ,a ,,very ,,small ,,number ,,of ,,resident ,,ministers ,,in ,,proportion ,,to ,,the ,,number ,,of ,,churches ,,and ,,number ,,of ,,people1 ,,that ,,as ,,compared ,,with ,,other ,,sections ,,the ,,total ,,value ,,of ,,farm ,,property ,,is ,,small ,,and ,,the ,,increase ,,in ,,value ,,slight ,key3 #a ,average annual rate of deaths from tuberculosis of the lungs per #ajj1jjj persons1 #aiji1 #aiaj1 #aiaa #b ,average annual rate per #ajj1jjj population of illegitimate births for #aiji1 #aiaj #c ,per cent of illiterate males of voting age1 #aiaj #d ,per cent of total population who were foreign born white1 #aiaj #e ,number of persons to a church #f ,per cent of churches which have resident ministers #g ,number of persons to each resident minister #h ,number of millions of dollars at which farm property is valued #i ,per cent increase in value of farm property #aijj-aiaj #a #b #c #d #e #f #g #h #i ,for ,state1 #hh counties #abe #dc4i #d4b #ab4e #bgi #cd #hbe #ei ,adams #adg #f4i #j4e #bff #ajca #aj #af ,athens #aee #fe #g4d #e4c #bbi #ba #ajhf #aj #af ,brown #aic #d4c #a4i #aabi #ae ,clermont #afd #bdi #ad ,gallia #ahd #gf #h4a #a4b #aig #ad #acif #g #ac ,highland #ade #beb ,hocking #gh #h4f #c4e #bce #ad #afic #f ,jackson #adg #abc #i4e #b #aic #af #abbb #e ,lawrence #agb #aac #aa4f #a4h #bfg #ah #adej #e #ai ,meigs #aeh #agh #ah #ajaj #h ,monroe #gh #e4d #b4d #bad #bd #aj #ai ,morgan #ej #aid #ag #aaej #i #be ,noble #fg #d4e #c4b #bdh #bj #abdj #aa ,pike #baf #hi #aj4g #a4d #baa #ah #abji #f ,ross #age #hg #g4d #b4b #beb ,scioto #afi #gc #g4g #c #bcc #ai #abaa #h ,vinton #di #h4d 4#h #ahb #bb #d #ab ,washington #eh #d4e #b4e #bbf #ba #ajhg #ad #be ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------- ,average for #ah counties #b4c ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------- ,belmont #ee #g4a #ae4a #aajg ,clinton ,fairfield #bbb ,fayette #ee #f4b 4#g #beg #abcd ,guernsey #ee #g4h #i4b #bfi #ac ,hamilton #bag #ff #ad4c ,muskingum #dh #bbd ,perry #d4f #g4c #i ,pickaway #acj #fa #e4g #a4h #bb #adeh ,warren #bga ,,table ,b ,,showing ,,calculated ,,number ,,of ,,persons ,,who ,,migrated ,,from ,,the ,,rural ,,districts ,,of ,,sixteen ,,counties ,,in ,,southeastern ,,ohio #aijj-aiaj ,key3 #a ,population of strictly rural townships1 #aiaj #b ,excess of birth rate over death rate #c ,population of strictly rural townships1 #aijj #d ,calculated total population in #aiaj had there been no migration #e ,calculated no4 persons who migrated #aijj-aiaj #a #b #c #d #e ,total #fa1dah ,adams #bd1gge #ab4ae #bf1cbh #bi1dcb #d1fgg ,brown #bd1hcb #d4ic #bh1bcg #cj1bda #e1dji ,clermont #bi1eea #c4ha #ca1faj #cc1cgg #c1hbf ,gallia #ai1edf #b4gc #bj1igc #ba1ebg #a1iha ,highland #ag1chb #d4bb #ai1ejd #bj1bhc #b1ija ,hocking #af1icd #ab4gb #ai1ahc #ba1chj #d1ddf ,jackson #aj1iif #ab4dg #ab1jji #ac1ddd #b1ddh ,lawrence #bc1bjb #ad4hc #bd1fdd #bh1aib #d1iij ,meigs #af1afb #a4if #ah1ifa #ai1cjf #c1add ,monroe #ai1idj #ac4gc #bc1cgc #bf1cdg #f1djg ,morgan #af1jig #h4jg #ag1ije #bj1ggg #d1fhj ,noble #ah1fja #aa4bh #ai1dff #ba1fac #c1jab ,pike #ae1gbc #aa4dh #ah1agb #bj1aah #d1cie ,ross #bb1dfj #e4f #be1geh #be1hic #c1dcc ,vinton #ac1jif #i4d #ae1ccj #ae1dfd #b1cfh ,washington #bi1dji #g4d #cb1dha #cb1gaj #c1cja ,,table ,c ,,denominations ,,of ,,the ,,churches ,,in ,,eighteen ,,counties ,,of ,,southeastern ,,ohio ,key3 #a ,churches in #bdh strictly rural townships #b ,other rural churches #c ,all rural churches #a #b #c ,total #a1edb #eic #b1ace ,methodist ,episcopal #ebf #baf #gdb ,united ,brethren #ach #dc #aha ,baptist #abd #bf #aej ,christian #ig #ac #aaj ,presbyterian #if #dj #acf ,disciples #hg #ci #abf ,methodist ,protestant #fc #be #hh ,christian ,union #df #e #ea ,catholic #dc #bb #fe ,non-,progressive ,disciples #bh #c #ca ,radical ,united ,brethren #bf #d #cj ,lutheran #ba #bh #di ,congregational #ag #a #ah ,reformed #ad #af #cj ,german ,evangelical #ad #a #ae ,united ,presbyterian #aj #bc #cc ,friends #aj #ba #ca ,all others #ahb #fg #bdi ,,chapter ,,vi ,a ,,policy ,,and ,,program ,the roots of the religious and moral life of the ,nation are chiefly in the country church4 ,as in southeastern ,ohio1 so in any area where the church fails1 degeneracy begins4 ,the low and sordid moral atmosphere found in so many rural villages and communities1 not only among the ,eighteen ,counties1 but throughout the ,state 7and far beyond the boundaries of ,ohio7 is altogether unnecessary4 ,it constitutes a challenge to the church which can no longer go unheeded4 ,obviously1 whatever reforms in methods and policies may be required to enable it efficiently to perform its task must be made4 7#a7 ,a ,better ,program ,one of the chief underlying causes of the present condition of the churches is an imperfect conception of their function4 ,we recognize the fact that the effective proclaiming of the ,gospel is the essential if not the greatest and most important task of the churches1 but the impression is still very widespread in the ,ohio churches that to preach it from pulpit and platform is almost their only task4 ,that this is not enough to bring the churches to their full effectiveness has been conclusively proved by the experience of foreign missionaries during the past hundred years4 ,in proportion to the number of their missionaries1 the missionary societies which have believed that proclaiming the ,christian message is the only function of the church1 have not made as many converts nor built up as strong churches as those which engage also in the work of healing the sick and teaching4 ,the most successful missionary organizations teach not only ,christian life and theology1 but all that makes for what is best in our ,christian civilization4 ,the welfare of a man's soul may be increased by promoting the welfare of the rest of him1 and the aim of the church should be to bring every man to the highest possible development of all his powers4 ,in seeking to do so it will not only be more effective in creating a higher manhood and womanhood1 but will also make its message better understood and secure a greater number of church members and adherents4 ,for our city churches also this is as true as for the foreign missionary field1 although perhaps less obviously so4 ,the equipment of so large a number of modern city churches for various forms of social service is a strong indication that those who control their policies recognize the necessity of a more diversified field of work4 ,the success and growth of the ,y4 ,m4 ,c4 ,a4 is another indication of the truth for which we are contending4 ,this institution which is a branch or arm of the ,christian church has declared its aim to be the development of soul1 mind1 and body4 ,as a result of this policy it is now engaged in many kinds of work which should also be done more widely and generally and so on a greater scale throughout the church4 ,it receives large contributions of money from members of the churches1 and it rightly undertakes and successfully carries out large enterprises where other church organizations fail to see their duties and opportunities and lag behind or remain idle4 ,still another reason for believing in a larger function and mission of the church is found in the fact that every strikingly successful country church is found to be deeply concerned with the needs of the community1 and is carrying out a broad and comprehensive program of service4 ,this is true not only in the ,state of ,ohio1 but throughout the ,nation4 ,finally and conclusively1 it may be added that the broader program was instituted and carried out by the ,founder of the ,christian religion1 and was by ,him enjoined upon ,his followers4 ,what the new program for the local country church should be is no longer a matter of conjecture4 ,country ministers in very many widely separated parishes of the ,united ,states have worked it out independently in trying to meet the needs of their communities1 and have everywhere reached substantially the same conclusion4 ,the program is essentially the same in all places where the most successful country church work is done4 ,it has found an embodiment in the mass of country church literature which has been published during the past eight years1 and it has been studied1 tried1 and proved to meet the need of large numbers of country pastors in ,ohio and in many of the other ,states4 ,how it has been carried out in some ,ohio parishes is described in ,chapter ,,viii1 pages #ge-hg4 7#b7 ,a ,better ,ministry ,to carry out the better program for the local country church requires an educated ministry4 ,ohio has suffered greatly from ministerial quackery4 ,very imperfectly equipped ministers1 such as are found in nearly every county of the ,state1 and unsound ignorant men1 such as are so common in the ,eighteen ,counties1 cannot meet the requirements of the new program4 ,doubtless the educational requirements of the discipline of many of the denominations are set too low1 but even so1 if the rules of the discipline were strictly obeyed1 a large proportion of the present ministers would be eliminated4 ,the new program requires trained men4 ,to get better men1 better opportunity and better pay must be supplied4 ,fields of service must be created large enough1 yet sufficiently compact and free from competing rivals1 to make good work possible4 ,the farmers must be convinced that better support of the ministry is essential1 in their own interest4 ,at the same time the best young men of the churches must be assured that the new program offers a field so promising as to make it worth their while to enter the ministry4 ,the churches are wise enough and strong enough to do all this if they will address themselves to the situation and take it seriously4 7#c7 ,better ,support ,in a large part of ,ohio the farmers are able and ready to multiply the amount of money they now contribute for the support of the churches4 ,when it is made clear to them that better pay will bring a better minister1 increased support will cheerfully be given4 ,but the farmers will not give more money either for the support of an inferior minister1 or to carry out the old program4 ,they will demand their money's worth1 and this the present methods do not1 in general1 supply4 ,the increased prosperity and consequent ability of the farmers to support the church more liberally is indicated by the fact that the total value of farm property in ,ohio increased nearly #fj per cent during the ten-year period from #aijj to #aiaj4 ,but it must be remembered that increased support will not be given by the farmers unless the need for it1 and what it will bring1 is brought forcefully to their attention4 ,this the individual minister cannot do1 for to attempt it lays him open to the charge of feathering his own nest4 ,it should be done by a ,state ,federation of ,churches or by such organizations as ,the ,ohio ,rural ,life ,association1 acting through its own institutes and the farmers' institutes1 through the circulation of its literature1 and through the formation of organizations for this purpose in the churches of the different counties4 ,no matter how good work a minister may do1 ordinarily he will not be adequately supported unless some special agency does this work4 7#d7 ,better ,acquaintance ,the present system of circuits entails upon the country minister an enormous waste of time4 ,if a man tries to do the pastoral work which is strictly necessary1 he must spend a very large proportion of his working hours in driving to the widely separated points of his various parishes1 crossing and recrossing as he goes the lines of travel of other ministers engaged in the same territory upon the same work4 ,that the country minister should be called upon to waste so large a part of his life in this way is shameful because it is bad and inefficient organization1 and carries with it an utterly needless loss4 ,to understand the significance of pastoral calling in a rural community it must be remembered that isolation is as characteristic of the country as congestion is of the cities4 ,a large proportion of rural families look upon a minister who calls frequently as a personal asset of great value4 ,he supplies opportunities not otherwise available for the discussion of matters of general interest or of deep personal concern4 ,he calls attention to the things otherwise forgotten1 and brings1 or should bring with him1 the inestimable advantage of intimate contact with a wise and well-trained mind4 ,moreover1 a man full of good will to all going from house to house1 sympathetically trying to help and understand1 will inevitably modify the uncharitable and unjust public opinion which either exists or is believed to exist in most rural communities4 ,equally effective are the incidental contacts of a minister engaged in community service1 such as work with boys1 or the promotion of welfare enterprises4 ,thus engaged he will inevitably get in touch with his parishioners1 and supply the needs of individuals and of the community1 at least as fully as the minister who devotes most of his working hours to pastoral calls4 ,in such work less time is spent in the long drives or walks between houses which are necessary in systematic calling1 while the minister gets to know the men better and bothers them less4 ,without pastoral calling and community welfare work1 the country minister's service is sure to be ineffective4 ,but as a matter of fact the country ministers of ,ohio for the most part do very little of either4 ,the country people as a rule1 receive very few pastoral calls1 according to the almost universal testimony of the country ministers themselves as well as that of other persons who live in the country4 ,in ,delaware ,county1 for example1 a prosperous county in the center of the ,state1 there is an area of #hb square miles1 with more than #b1ajj people1 in which only one minister makes any pastoral calls1 and he makes very few4 ,half the townships of this county have no resident ministers4 ,mr4 ,gill found one township in the north-central section of the ,state in which the farmers' families probably had not been called on once in five years4 ,one woman had not received a call from a minister in twelve years4 ,when finally called upon she became a regular and happy church attendant1 though she had not been to church since her childhood4 ,another family was found in the same region whose house no minister had entered for nineteen years4 ,in an ,ohio ,river township1 the members of a family testified that a minister had not called on them for twenty-five years1 and still others asserted that no minister had ever entered their homes4 ,from the reports of eighteen pastors in one denominational district it appeared that on an average each one made only six calls a year upon non-church members1 although these were more than #fj per cent of the people4 ,our minister does not know the people of this community is common testimony everywhere in the country parishes4 ,the country minister's influence is still further reduced because his term of service is short--usually but a year or two1 rarely three years4 ,moreover1 his efforts are commonly divided among several communities and thus are spread too thin to produce results4 ,add to that the fact that in each community the people whom he serves are intermingled with the parishioners of ministers of other denominations4 ,under these circumstances how can he become efficient in community service1 and how can he get to know the people of his charge8 ,ordinarily he does not even attempt it4 ,under present conditions the country minister who does1 generally accomplishes little and wears himself into discouragement4 7#e7 ,rearrangement of ,circuits ,the old circuit system under which many of the denominations developed their work and which is now the system employed in nearly all the larger denominations in the ,state1 was of undoubted value in the beginning of their work in pioneer days4 ,but like many other efficient methods of early times it has ceased to be the best method for present needs1 in the form in which we now find it at work4 ,this is true except in a few instances where it appears in such a modified form as to be adaptable to present conditions4 ,under the circuit system it has often been accepted as a policy by church officials that every church must have a minister and every minister a church4 ,the advantages accruing both to the churches and ministers from a reasonably cautious and not too consistent application of such a rule are obvious4 ,but failure to use such caution and too great insistence on its universal application too often have resulted in the employment of unequipped and uneducated ministers and sometimes even of men whose character was questionable1 which in turn1 has helped to bring about a low standard of pay for the minister4 ,the pay of the skilled has fallen to that of the unskilled1 and the total result has been to cheapen the ministry4 ,the standard among farmers for the support of both church and minister1 therefore1 has fallen low4 ,we must have a greatly modified system or a better system before the ministry can be better paid4 ,under the circuit system as now applied in ,ohio the churches too often provide for but little else than preaching4 ,even the ,sunday school1 one of the most hopeful and valuable kinds of church work1 is hampered by it1 for this work needs the leadership of a trained ministry1 which the present circuit system tends to prevent4 ,the minister with a circuit can rarely attend the services of his ,sunday schools1 and the task of promoting the ,sunday school work during the week in the several communities of his charge is usually too arduous for him4 ,in times past it has been held commendable for a denomination to establish one of its churches in every community1 regardless of the number of churches already there4 ,by making use of the present circuit system1 it has been possible to establish and after a fashion to maintain a church almost anywhere4 ,hence the present unfortunate multiplication of churches4 ,when rural communities are overchurched1 as under the working of this plan in ,ohio most of them are1 competition between them necessarily results not in the survival of the fit1 but in the continued existence of an excessive number of bloodless1 moribund churches1 whose energies are almost entirely exhausted in the mere effort to keep alive4 ,when the circuit system is adopted by more than one competing denomination in a field as it is in ,ohio it helps to perpetuate interchurch competition4 ,when one adopts it all others must1 or retire from the field4 ,it cannot be held that the resulting competition helps to make more ,christians1 or that it tends to develop character or community life4 ,on the contrary1 it reduces both the power of the church as a whole and the influence of the individual churches for personal righteousness and community welfare4 ,then1 as the churches under the competitive system grow weaker1 they must be yoked in larger circuits4 ,so far has the practice gone that in one circuit in ,ohio there are actually ten churches4 ,a variation of this system is found in certain ,holy ,roller churches where an undefined number of churches together depend for their leadership on a group of itinerant revivalists4 ,frequent or occasional seasons of revival services often constitute the sole activity of these churches1 yet because of the weakness of the latter they are succeeding or have succeeded in crowding out many churches of the older denominations4 ,there is a clear instance of this in the western half of ,pike ,county1 where nearly all the churches are abandoned excepting those of the ,holy ,rollers--a striking example of reverse selection or the survival of the unfit4 ,the movement for the conservation and improvement of rural life has no greater enemy than the misused circuit system4 ,not only does it weaken the churches1 but it necessarily discourages the development of the community and of community life4 ,with his efforts divided among three or more different communities1 his parishioners mingled with members of competing churches1 the country minister cannot hope for the cooperation necessary to effective leadership4 ,his success in any work for the community1 because it would add prestige to his church1 as a rule is not desired by the members of other denominations4 ,the entire circuit situation as it works to-day in the region here under investigation whatever may be its value elsewhere tends to make the modern program of successful churches entirely impracticable4 ,escape from the deadening environment of the country church circuit is the ardent desire of most country ministers who have had any reasonable degree of equipment for their vocation1 and self-improvement as a preacher seems to be the only way out4 ,the circuit minister of such equipment naturally regards his present work as temporary4 ,he looks forward to leaving the country through promotion to a town church4 ,the city1 where he hopes to be1 and not the country1 where he is1 becomes for him the only field for success in the ministry4 ,it is evident1 therefore1 that country parishes to be successful must be more compact4 ,as a substitute for the circuit1 churches in a small community where there are too many should be united in the support of one resident minister4 ,if they cannot support him1 then other adjacent churches should join with them in a federated circuit under a single pastor4 ,such is the right use of the circuit in the country4 ,the territory thus placed under one minister may be so large as to make it desirable to employ a paid assistant to the pastor4 ,freed from the necessity of long drives to other communities1 the pastor can make many calls nearer home4 ,community enterprises1 under this system made possible1 will bring the pastor into personal touch with the people4 ,he will become their friend and they will wish him a long term of service among them4 ,and only when a minister has been two or three years in a community can he begin to render his most effective service4 ,the enlarged and unified parish1 such as that of ,benzonia1 ,michigan1 or ,hanover1 ,new ,jersey1 should be carefully distinguished from the misused circuit1 which now plays so significant a part in the church life of ,ohio4 ,parishes like these afford all the benefits of the circuit with none of its defects4 ,illustration3 ,,map #aa ,,showing ,,that ,,in #cag ,,or #bg ,,per ,,cent ,,of ,,the ,,strictly ,,rural ,,townships ,,no ,,church ,,has ,a ,,resident ,,minister 7#f7 ,more ,resident ,ministers ,while the preaching of a good pastor is an indispensable factor in the individual development of his parishioners and in the progress of community life1 that of the non-resident is by comparison of little value4 ,it is shooting in the air without seeing the target1 like the fire of artillery without the aid of air scouts4 ,there is no greater force for righteousness in a country community than a church with a resident minister1 well educated1 well equipped1 wisely selected1 whose term of service is not too short4 ,the church is the only institution which can hope to employ a man of this type to give his whole time1 as a minister can1 to the service of his community4 ,the right kind of resident minister will have a strong and intelligent desire to secure opportunities for the best development of his children and to create a favorable environment for them4 ,he will therefore take a keen interest in the schools1 in the establishing of libraries1 in play and social life1 in keeping out evil influences and promoting general decency4 ,he may fairly expect to see the fruits of his labor1 and will be all the more likely on that account to become interested in the economic betterment of the community4 ,such a man will stimulate it and help it to make use of all available means to further the general welfare4 ,a church with such a pastor is community insurance against degeneracy and decay4 ,one of the most striking examples of the service of a resident minister during a long pastorate is found in the life of the well-known ,john ,frederick ,oberlin1 a free biography of whom has recently been made available to all country ministers4 ,large numbers of modern examples may also readily be found4 ,one is given on pages #gg-hj of this report4 ,there are few more deplorable wastes than that of the church in the use of its rural ministry4 ,this waste alone is enough to account for much of the decline in country life1 because under the present system only a small fraction of the normal influence of the ministry can be exerted4 ,and it is a needless waste1 for it is fully within the power of the churches through their officials to correct it4 ,the minister must be given a field of such a character that it is possible for him to do his work1 and he must be given that adequate support which proper church administration can most assuredly secure for him4 ,only when these readjustments have been made will it be fair and right to appeal to the young men of education and ability to enter the rural ministry1 and stay in it4 ,the thing can be done4 ,we have in mind a rural township with less than #b1jjj inhabitants1 lying in a hill country1 which has six resident ministers in its five villages1 while the term of service of the minister of each of the parishes is nearly always long4 ,to establish at least one resident minister in every township is not too high an aim4 ,the people can and should be brought to understand that the value of a successful minister rises in increasing proportion with his knowledge of the community and the length of his service4 7#g7 ,interchurch ,cooperation ,to substitute cooperation for competition is an essential condition of rural church progress1 at least in ,ohio4 ,whenever the new program is adopted by a community it will discover that interchurch competition is hostile to community prosperity4 ,many rural communities already know that interchurch cooperation is desirable4 ,but the great question is how to secure it4 ,nearly every community is aware that it has too many churches1 but the task of reducing the number or securing interchurch comity is a problem beset with difficulties4 ,these difficulties1 however1 are by no means insuperable4 ,many communities have already found ways to overcome them4 ,in every community which really requires more than one church or pastor1 there should be a federation of churches2 that is1 a joint committee of pastors and delegates officially appointed by the several churches to learn and meet the needs1 religious1 or social1 which require concerted action4 ,while such federations1 which are carefully to be distinguished from federated churches1 are common in our cities1 comparatively few are found in the country4 ,one of these is in ,shiloh1 ,ohio1 a description of which may be found on page #ge4 ,there appear to be no very great difficulties in the way of bringing such federations about4 ,in communities whose compactness permits1 and whose population and resources require1 that there should be only one congregation and pastor1 but where two or more churches already exist1 the churches clearly should either be united organically in a single denominational church1 or a federated church should be formed4 ,descriptions of federated churches may be found on pages #ei-fi4 ,in a township or community where population and resources are inadequate to support more than one pastor1 but where the population is so distributed that more than one place of worship and organized church are required1 a federated circuit may well be formed and a common pastor be employed4 ,in such case the several churches should be officially represented by a joint committee which would act for the circuit not only in employing the common pastor1 but also in learning and meeting all the religious and social needs which require concerted church action4 ,in securing pastors and in other matters where assistance is needed1 the local federated churches and federated circuits should be aided by the ,state ,federation of ,churches if there is one1 and if not by such bodies as the ,committee of ,interchurch ,cooperation of the ,ohio ,rural ,life ,association4 ,both ,federation and ,association are necessary for other purposes1 and therefore no ground whatever exists for the objection sometimes made that federated churches will require the formation of new organizations to supervise them4 ,while it is true that an uneducated minister ordinarily cannot satisfy the people of various denominations1 and that usually he is sectarian in his thinking and point of view1 it is equally true that where a well-educated man is pastor1 the needs of the people of various denominations can easily be met and church unity be made possible4 7#h7 ,community ,churches ,the most successful rural church is the community church4 ,its members work chiefly not for the church itself1 but for the community4 ,its ambition is to serve every person in its neighborhood1 to create an environment favorable to the highest possible development of every person in the neighborhood1 and to stimulate other organizations and persons to serve the community in every possible way4 ,it is conceivable that there might be more than one such church in a neighborhood1 but in this discussion it is assumed that a community church is the only church in the community1 for by far the larger number of rural communities in ,ohio should have but one church4 ,since1 on an average1 there are five churches in a township and only #a1ddh persons1 the formation of community churches is evidently both advisable and important4 ,the community church may be a denominational church or a federated church4 ,it is the judgment of most of the denominational officials who are members of the ,committee of ,interchurch ,cooperation of the ,ohio ,rural ,life ,association that wherever possible churches should be united in one denominational church through the reciprocal exchange and elimination of small churches by the denominational organizations4 ,in such an exchange church members of denomination ,a would unite with the church of denomination ,b in community ,m1 while members of denomination ,b would unite with the church of denomination ,a in community ,n1 and so on4 ,a number of such exchanges have been made1 and so far as can be learned1 they have worked well4 ,but the members of the small churches frequently refuse to carry out this plan4 ,they often care more for their local church than for their denomination1 and are not willing that their own church organization should be destroyed4 ,while such exchanges will doubtless continue to be made from time to time1 it is unlikely that rapid progress will be achieved by this method alone4 ,on the other hand1 the members of a local community are usually ready to form a federated church when they understand it4 ,this has been done in ,northfield1 ,aurora1 ,wayland1 ,olmstead ,falls1 ,milford ,centre and ,huntington1 in ,greene ,township1 ,trumbull ,county1 and in many other communities4 ,a description of some of them may be found on pages #fj-fi4 ,if the officials and superintendents of the church should become as favorable to the formation of federated churches as they are to exchange between denominations1 and should actively further the movement1 they could without question bring about the unification of the churches in very large numbers of communities which stand greatly in need of it4 ,here then we have two possible methods of uniting the ,christian people in the rural communities4 ,one of them--denominational exchange--is favored by the officials but often opposed by the people in the churches4 ,the other--the federated church--is favored by the people in the churches and opposed by many of the officials4 ,it is our contention that in the majority of cases the method preferred by the people is more desirable than that preferred by the officials4 ,for a man to leave his own denomination and unite with another often involves action against the conscience4 ,in some of the denominations1 for example1 the members have been trained to think it undesirable to subscribe to a creed4 ,but creed subscription is required by the churches of many of the denominations as a condition of membership4 ,in such cases the church officials may properly hesitate to urge a part of the people to do what they believe is not right4 ,another reason which often makes it impossible for the church member of one denomination to unite with the church of another is a temperamental distaste for the idea of submission to some special system of discipline4 ,to all ,protestants this is clear so far as the ,catholic ,church is concerned4 ,to many it is just as clear in relation to some of the ,protestant bodies4 ,the official objections to the formation of federated churches involve no questions of moral principle1 but merely those of expediency and the smooth running of existing ecclesiastical machinery4 ,it is held by certain officials that the federated church tends to promote autonomy in the local congregations1 and that it will impair the authority of the denomination4 ,but this increase of autonomy has already taken place in the city churches1 which1 as a matter of practice1 whatever the denominational theory may be1 manage their own affairs4 ,there is here no loss to the denomination1 nor is there likely to be when the country churches are strengthened by federation4 ,in the long run the officials who now entertain objections to the federated church will doubtless not permit them to stand in the way of rural church progress4 ,particularly will this be true when a minister of their own denomination is to be made pastor of the federated church4 ,it would seem wise1 therefore1 for the denominational authorities to agree that when federated churches are formed the choice of pastors should be made1 so far as possible1 on the basis of interdenominational reciprocity4 ,in view of the urgent needs of the rural communities1 as a rule1 those methods should be adopted which are most acceptable to the local people whose interests are involved4 ,when the people of a community come to desire united ,christian action in promoting community welfare1 their zeal will usually be strong enough to overcome the difficulties in the way4 ,but this desirable consummation is greatly retarded where opposition is made by the denomination or its officials4 ,until the church officials and denominations are able to propose some other practicable plan for the readjustment of church life to community welfare1 a plan which can be carried out1 the demands of the situation certainly require them to help rather than hinder the movement for the formation of federated churches4 ,in any event they will not be able to stop it4 ,in the investigation striking cases were found of denominational officials opposing ,christian unity in the mistaken belief that they were acting in accord with the sentiment of their denominations4 ,it has been reported to us that a certain denominational official has tried in ten different communities to prevent interchurch cooperation1 although the local churches and the local people were for it4 ,it might in charity be contended that in nine of these it was not ,christian cooperation itself that was opposed1 but rather the form of cooperation embodied in a federated church4 ,but in the tenth community it was clearly ,christian cooperation and not the form of it to which this official was hostile1 for the people of the two local churches were merely meeting together1 in union services on ,sunday evenings1 and for an occasional communion service4 ,no federation or organic union was contemplated4 ,but the old minister was removed1 and a new minister was sent to the field with definite instructions to break up what unity there was4 ,these instructions he carried out so thoroughly that the ,christian forces in the community were greatly reduced in effectiveness4 ,in another community an official persistently tried to prevent the formation of a federated church1 although himself acknowledging that he sincerely believed it was the very best thing that could be done for the local people4 ,from two other communities it was reported that this same official was the only obstacle in the way of ,christian unity4 ,it is entirely probable that in many other communities these denominational officials have opposed ,christian cooperation1 for only incidentally did the authors hear of the cases reported4 7#i7 ,nonsectarian ,support ,to give strength to the movement for interchurch cooperation1 a strong interdenominational or undenominational backing is needed4 ,on the part of the higher leaders and officials there is no lack of genuine desire to further interchurch cooperation4 ,the same desire is shared by very large numbers of the younger ministers who are properly trained for their calling1 and by many older ministers also4 ,the movement1 however1 is often halted because of a feeling that somewhere in the denomination there is a strong sentiment against it4 ,faintheartedness is the greatest obstacle to cooperation between churches at the present time4 ,numbers of actual instances could be given if it were proper to do so4 ,what is needed1 therefore1 is an active movement between or outside of the denominations1 to strengthen those officials who hesitate to promote interchurch cooperation4 ,such a movement would finally reveal the fact that the prevailing sentiment in the denominations is really in favor of cooperation and not against it1 and many who now oppose it or refuse to help would become most valuable agents in promoting it4 ,it must not be assumed that the day of denominations is past4 ,although1 as between most of the denominations1 theological differences no longer exist1 and other differences between many of them are small1 denominational feeling is still dominant4 ,the slight differences loom large4 ,denominational officials for the most part feel that their chief duty is to their denomination1 from which they hold their official power2 and this duty is very absorbing4 ,hence it is often most difficult to gain support from denominational authorities and churches for interdenominational projects4 ,moreover1 the direction of interdenominational organization1 at the present time1 is largely in the hands of men who are responsible for denominational interests1 or the interests of other organizations which require their wholehearted and undivided support4 ,while the cooperation and combined judgment of such men is invaluable in the wise direction of interdenominational projects1 in ,ohio they fail as a driving force4 ,this is now the chief cause of weakness in the interdenominational movement for church and country life in the ,state4 ,both the work for the country church and for the promoting of rural business are rendered ineffective by lack of pecuniary support4 ,in spite of this1 however1 plans for progressive work both for rural business and rural church are well developed1 and have been tested2 and moreover1 the feasibility of progress in both these lines of endeavor has been thoroughly proved4 ,two things1 then1 are now required4 ,these are funds and federated or independent direction of their use4 ,we may well expect that adequate funds will be given for carrying on this work in the years immediately following the war4 ,after the sacrifices of war those of peace by comparison will not seem large--while the sacrifices of both peace and war are equally necessary for the realization of the high ideals which as ,americans we cherish4 ,this war as nothing else has done1 has caused men in general to realize that there are tasks for all other than the commercial enterprises of the day1 and that each of us must accept his share of the responsibility for their performance4 ,what is worth fighting for during the war is worth working for after the war4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,federated ,,churches ,there are many rural communities in ,ohio where the churches exert a vital influence in community life1 and where farm life succeeds in holding families of moral1 intellectual1 and physical vigor4 ,in some instances the communities and their churches have not been seriously affected by the modern conditions and tendencies which elsewhere are acting unfavorably upon the country church and country life4 ,in other instances1 intelligent leadership on the part of the ministers has overcome these conditions4 ,many of these ministers highly appreciate the help they have received from the modern country church movement1 while not a few have testified that without it they would have failed4 ,in a very large part of rural ,ohio the need of interchurch cooperation is keenly realized4 ,in the divided communities the people1 for the most part1 want to get together1 but they do not know how4 ,but in many communities practical methods have been found and tested1 and by these methods ,christian cooperation has been brought to pass and the rural church conditions have been greatly improved4 ,for that reason descriptions of actual successful cases of interchurch cooperation are here supplied4 ,these examples are intended to include federated churches1 church federations1 and denominational union churches1 as well as certain striking cases of the work of the church in community service4 ,the uniting of ,christian forces will not by itself alone insure rural church progress4 ,the new country church program must be added4 ,in its absence1 a real advance appears to be impossible4 ,greene ,township ,greene ,township1 ,trumbull ,county1 is situated in northeastern ,ohio1 in the ,western ,reserve4 ,in #aijj it had a population of about #hjj persons1 in #aiaj about #ajj less4 ,some of its residents are descended from the early settlers from ,new ,england1 others have recently moved in from western sections of ,ohio1 while possibly #aj per cent are of foreign birth4 ,that its people have been somewhat progressive is indicated by the fact that it was among the first three townships in the ,state to establish a centralized school4 ,greene is not a rich township4 ,it has no railroad4 ,about #dj of its houses are now vacant4 ,fields which formerly were producing good crops of wheat1 corn1 and oats are now growing up to brush4 ,the young men between #be and #cj years of age who were going into farming before the war can be counted on the fingers of one hand4 ,it is probable1 however1 that a new era in agriculture has begun4 ,quite recently drainage1 and in some cases the application of lime1 have reclaimed much waste land4 ,still other land will be treated in the same way and with equally good results4 ,doubtless1 as elsewhere1 progressive country church work will greatly assist a general movement in the township to secure abundant prosperity4 ,in the geographical center of the township are two churches1 ,methodist ,episcopal and ,disciples of ,christ4 ,these two are about equal in strength1 while in the northwestern part is a ,baptist church with but three or four families in its membership4 ,the latter1 however1 supports a ,sunday school of #cj or #dj attendants4 ,formerly1 three resident ministers lived in the community1 but for twelve years there had been none4 ,the ,baptist ,church holds only occasional preaching services1 the ,disciples have depended for their preaching upon student supplies from a neighboring theological school1 while the ministers of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church have lived outside the township at ,north ,bloomfield1 five miles away1 where there are ,methodist ,episcopal1 ,disciples1 and ,congregational churches4 ,the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church at ,greene1 therefore1 was part of a circuit of two churches4 ,as is usually the case among farming people of ,ohio where there are no resident ministers the people of ,greene ,township received very few pastoral calls4 ,several families in the southeastern section of the township have had little or no association with any ministers or churches4 ,mr4 ,gill recently visited the township on a pleasant ,sunday1 and learned that less than #cj of its #gjj people that day went to church4 ,as an indication that the churches of ,greene ,township have been losing their hold on the people1 it may be noted that an increasing number of families do not ask clergymen to officiate at funerals4 ,the undertaker sometimes conducts a short service at the grave1 or his wife reads a prayer and passage of scripture4 ,in view of immemorial custom1 the absence of a clergyman on such occasions is significant4 ,the total amount of money contributed annually to the support of the ministry in ,greene ,township has been not more than #fjj4 ,of this the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church paid its minister #cjj4 ,the ,north ,bloomfield ,church in an adjacent township paid him #ejj1 so that the total salary of the ,methodist minister who gave part of his time to ,greene ,township was #hjj4 ,obviously this is not enough to support a family and enable the minister to keep a motor car or a horse4 ,a large part of his time and energy1 therefore1 was spent in walking from parish to parish and from house to house through an area of #ej square miles4 ,in ,january of #aiag a joint committee was appointed by the churches of ,greene ,township to consider the questions of securing a resident pastor1 increasing the size of the ,sunday school and congregation1 and rendering all other forms of service needed in the community4 ,it was decided by this committee that a federated church should be formed in which each constituent ecclesiastical body would preserve its own identity4 ,each church would independently meet its obligations to its own denomination in all matters outside of the community1 while all the members of the churches would unite in local activities1 including the support of a resident minister4 ,a country life institute was held to stimulate the desire for community improvement1 and the plan of church betterment was set forth and adopted4 ,to secure support for a minister1 a thorough canvass was made by a committee of six representing the three churches4 ,as a result of its work no less than #a1ejj was subscribed4 ,our results1 wrote the chairman of this committee1 have surpassed our brightest hopes4 ,it is a genuine pleasure to work for something that is going to help the whole community and not just a part4 ,i believe the interests of the ,kingdom will be advanced most where effort is united in rural communities4 ,in our canvass for funds we were surprised to find that the non-church people were not willing that the churches should close their doors4 ,in addition we found they had a deeper interest in the church than we could possibly expect4 ,one old man1 probably sixty-five1 said that this was the first time he had ever been asked to give to the support of a church4 ,he added that he often felt he would like to give4 ,many a man said he would double the amount of his gift if it was necessary4 ,a well-educated minister who has rendered nine successive years of effective service in one community has been secured as pastor1 and there is now a most encouraging prospect of improvement in religious1 moral1 social1 and economic life4 ,the increased giving in ,greene ,township has also influenced the members of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church in ,north ,bloomfield4 ,they have pledged #hjj1 instead of the former #ejj1 for the support of their minister1 and expect to raise #a1jjj4 ,bloomfield ,township also hereafter will have the undivided service of a minister4 ,as a result of this movement in ,greene ,township1 therefore1 four of the churches of these two townships will hereafter pay from #b1cjj to #b1ejj for the support of the ministry instead of #a1ajj as hitherto1 while two communities will each have the full time service of a resident pastor4 ,the significance of this increase in the money support of the church will be apparent to those who have studied modern rural church problems4 ,the failure of the rural churches to give a living wage1 much less a working salary1 to their ministers has been one of the most discouraging facts in the rural church situation4 ,if the three churches of ,north ,bloomfield should federate as those of ,greene ,township have done1 doubtless their people could raise #a1ejj for the support of the ministry4 ,again1 if all the churches of both ,north ,bloomfield and ,greene should federate it would be possible to employ a single pastor of even higher grade with an assistant4 ,an automobile could be used effectively to cover both townships4 ,in some cases1 as in ,benzonia1 ,michigan1 one minister with one or more assistants has been able to get better results at less expense4 ,the plan is worth trying4 ,aurora ,in the year #aiac in the village of ,aurora1 ,portage ,county1 there were two churches1 the ,congregational and ,disciples of ,christ4 ,they were small in attendance and membership1 and it was hard to get adequate support for the ministers4 ,the usual results of underpaying the ministry were not wanting4 ,as a preliminary step in the improvement of this situation an organization of the men of the churches was formed to promote the general community welfare4 ,as in so many other cases1 to bring the churches together in cooperative service to the community was seen to be the only way to secure a vigorous church life for ,aurora4 ,that led to the decision to form a federated church under the leadership of one pastor4 ,under the plan adopted1 each church was to keep its denominational relations1 contribute to its denominational benevolences1 and fulfill all denominational obligations4 ,but in ,aurora1 as in ,greene ,township1 the people were to work together as in one church4 ,owing to circumstances which were purely accidental1 for the first year or two the church was not very prosperous and the federation was only partially successful4 ,but after awhile the church began to take on life4 ,while at the beginning it was mutually understood that the arrangement was to be tried for but two years1 at the end of that time the desirability of going back to the old way was not even discussed4 ,so far as ,mr4 ,gill could learn in a visit to the community1 the one and only one person who still preferred the old way was a woman who had opposed the movement from the start and had always held aloof from it4 ,the opinion of the people is now practically unanimous that both the community and the churches were greatly benefited by the change4 ,the first pastor of this church was of the ,disciples1 the second a ,presbyterian4 ,garrettsville ,garrettsville is a prosperous community on the ,erie ,railroad between ,youngstown and ,cleveland4 ,its thousand inhabitants are engaged partly in farming1 partly in manufacturing1 and partly in supplying the various daily needs of the people4 ,its good houses1 electric lights1 paved streets1 and trim sidewalks indicate progressiveness and community spirit4 ,being progressive1 the people not merely recognized the undesirability of interchurch competition1 but they were able to work out a plan whereby they have largely avoided it4 ,in ,april1 #aiaf1 there were four churches in the community1 or on an average one to #bej persons4 ,the highest salary paid to its minister by any of the churches was #hjj4 ,two of the other churches paid much smaller sums and shared the service of their ministers with the churches of other towns1 while one of the pastors was the ,educational ,secretary of a ,y4 ,m4 ,c4 ,a4 in a town thirty miles away4 ,the spirit of denominational rivalry was in no respect different from that commonly found where there are too many churches4 ,when the pastor of the ,congregational ,church attempted to organize a branch of the ,boy ,scouts of ,america for all the boys in the community1 he found that the members of the other churches feared he was attempting to win the boys over to his church4 ,for this reason he thought it best to give up the enterprise4 ,in #aiad1 an unsuccessful attempt was made to unite the ,congregational ,church and the ,disciples1 and another to unite the ,baptist and ,congregational churches4 ,in #aiaf1 however1 under the influence of the country church movement in ,ohio1 a successful effort was made to unite all three of them4 ,in the spring of that year these three churches were all without pastors4 ,they decided to hold union services and a ,union ,sunday school during the summer4 ,upon trial the advantages of this arrangement became manifest4 ,not only was the church attendance larger than the aggregate attendance in the separate churches had ever been1 but the ,sunday school1 formerly with separate attendances of #fe1 #bj1 and #ab1 now had an attendance of #acj4 ,besides the added enthusiasm of greater numbers1 it had better teachers1 better music1 and a better ,christian spirit4 ,in ,september1 #aiaf1 it was decided by separate vote of each church to form a permanent organization1 which was incorporated with the name of ,the ,united ,church1 and included all who were members of any of the three churches4 ,no member was asked to alter any of his beliefs1 and any candidate for admission might choose his own mode of being received1 provided it was one used in some ,evangelical church4 ,contributions for missionary work were sent to denominational bodies indicated by the givers or determined by a joint committee4 ,for all local work the members were to act as one body4 ,a committee of the ,united ,church chose as pastor a young man of rural experience1 a graduate of an eastern university and seminary1 whose denominational affiliation was regarded as of so little importance that it was not even announced4 ,the ,united ,church of ,garrettsville1 after two years of experience1 affords religious opportunities and renders service to the people far beyond anything the town could supply before the federation was made4 ,while the three original churches remain intact1 the main part of the business of the church is done by the committee of the ,united ,church4 ,the officials of the denominations of the three churches interested heartily encourage the project4 ,the united force of church workers from three denominations has made a very efficient church4 ,the ,united ,church is the result of a desire of the people to be as closely joined in their new church as they were in their different denominational churches4 ,its motto is ,in essentials1 unity1 in non-essentials1 liberty1 in diversities1 charity1 in all things1 ,christ first4 ,it accepts the ,scriptures as its sufficient rule of faith and practice1 interpreted in the light of fundamental agreements in evangelical teaching1 and in the spirit of its motto4 ,forms of ritual for the sacrament1 for the public services1 and for admission into the church are left to the decision of the minister1 and are not provided for in the regulations4 ,it was desired to keep the forms of sectarianism too feeble to be able to keep the people apart4 ,persons may join the ,united ,church without joining any of the three denominations represented by the original constituent bodies4 ,the ,sunday school is well organized1 and is testing its work by the highest standard of ,christian education4 ,its relation to the church is very close4 ,the young people have a ,christian ,endeavor ,society4 ,the women's work is carried on by a most flourishing society under the name of ,the ,community ,circle1 whose form of organization provides for taking care of both local and missionary needs4 ,at the first meeting of each month1 half of the time is given to local opportunities for service4 ,the general social life of the church is largely cared for by this society4 ,the ,united ,church has leased all the property of the old churches for a term of years and cares for the church buildings4 ,it has decided to build a new community house for promoting the social life of the community and general community interests1 but has postponed it until after the war4 ,in the ,articles of ,incorporation one of the objects is regarded as the support of such enterprises as tend to the more perfect development of the children and young people spiritually1 physically1 morally1 and socially4 ,representatives of the old churches usually go to the meetings of their respective denominations1 and are accompanied by such members of the ,united ,church as may wish to attend as visitors4 ,reports of the meetings are made at meetings of the ,united ,church4 ,the pastor of the ,united ,church is also pastor of each of the three denominational churches and so far as possible attends the district meetings of the denominational bodies in a representative capacity and cares for the local denominational interests4 ,public services and meetings are held in the ,congregational ,church building because it is the largest and best equipped4 ,a baptistry is now being installed1 and various uses are being found for the other buildings4 ,it will be noted that the ,united ,church of ,garrettsville differs in some respects from the ordinary federated church4 ,northfield ,in ,northfield1 ,summit ,county1 the ,presbyterian and ,methodist ,episcopal churches united by verbal agreement in a federated church on ,december #a1 #aiad4 ,written articles were adopted several months later4 ,the pastor of the federated church1 ,rev4 ,j4 ,m4 ,keck1 has kindly given us the following brief account3 ,the consent of the higher officials of each denomination was first secured4 ,then the members of the local churches agreed to the following plan3 ,the ,presbyterians remain in the ,cleveland ,presbytery and the ,methodists in the ,northeast ,ohio ,conference as before4 ,the legal organization of each local church continues intact4 ,each set of trustees has charge of its property4 ,the ,presbyterian ,church being the better located1 is used for worship1 and the ,methodist for dinners1 etc4 ,when a building needs repairs1 funds are raised from the entire congregation by voluntary contributions4 ,the only additional organization is an ,executive ,committee1 half ,presbyterians and half ,methodists1 which has charge of current expenses and all matters relating to the congregation as a whole4 ,an every-member canvass for the local budget is made in which no account is taken of church relations1 no one but the treasurer knowing how much is contributed by each denomination4 ,benevolent contributions are equally divided between the denominational boards or applied to the ,presbyterian or ,methodist funds as indicated on envelopes4 ,persons desiring to unite with the church elect whether they are to be ,presbyterians or ,methodists and are received accordingly4 ,no one seems to care in which they are enrolled1 since they work in the same congregation and contribute to the same funds4 ,the order of public worship is a modification of each of those formerly in use but retains the essential features of both4 ,so far there has not been the slightest friction between the denominations4 ,no one seems to think of ever going back to the old way4 ,,what ,,the ,,presbyterians ,,gained #a4 ,a church was saved for the denomination which in time would probably have been forced to disband4 #b4 ,several hundred dollars of home missionary money was saved annually which had been expended in ,northfield to keep the church open and alive4 ,under the federation it is not needed4 #c4 ,offerings are made to the various boards and interests of ,presbyterianism4 ,,what ,,the ,,methodist ,,conference ,,gained #a4 ,a church was saved that doubtless would have been closed in a few years for want of support4 #b4 ,the salary of the pastor has been increased and also the stipends of the district superintendent1 the bishops1 conferences1 and claimants4 #c4 ,the contributions to all boards and benevolences have been increased4 ,,what ,,the ,,community ,,gained #a4 ,federation saves paying two pastors and keeping two church buildings when one is sufficient4 ,it makes the public more willing to aid4 #b4 ,the congregation being more than doubled1 there is more enthusiasm and willingness to work4 #c4 ,it has silenced the criticism that the churches are competing instead of cooperating4 #d4 ,the economic and fraternal features of federation appeal to the public and bring into line people who did not patronize either church before4 ,federated ,churches in ,other ,states ,more churches have been federated in ,new ,england than in any other section of the ,united ,states4 ,familiarity with the success or failure of these churches is therefore necessary to a reasonably full discussion of interchurch cooperation4 ,accordingly information blanks were sent to a number of these federated churches4 ,the inquiries were expressed as follows3 #a4 ,date of ,federation8 #b4 ,denominations of constituent bodies8 #c4 ,membership of each church at the time of federation8 #d4 ,denomination of the first minister and of succeeding ministers8 #e4 ,do the people like the present arrangement better than the old8 #f4 ,do many people want to go back to the old way8 #g4 ,have church benevolences declined or increased8 #h4 ,how has the pecuniary support of the ministry been affected8 #i4 ,how have other expenditures of the church been affected8 #aj4 ,has attendance declined or increased8 #aa4 ,has church membership declined or increased8 #ab4 ,what effect1 if any1 has the formation of the federated church had upon the social life of the community8 #ac4 ,kindly express frankly your opinion of the federated church as a means of securing ,christian unity and church efficiency4 ,fifteen churches replied4 ,in these fifteen federated churches were thirteen ,congregational churches1 nine ,methodist ,episcopal1 seven ,baptist1 and one ,universalist4 ,the ,universalist was federated with a ,congregational church1 two federated churches were made up of ,baptist and ,methodist1 five of ,baptist and ,congregational1 seven of ,methodist ,episcopal and ,congregational4 ,the first ministers of four of the federated churches were ,baptists1 of five1 ,methodist ,episcopal1 and of five1 ,congregational4 ,one of the churches had had an experience of sixteen years1 one of eleven1 two of eight1 two of six1 two of five1 two of four1 two of three1 three of two1 making the average experience of the fifteen federated churches more than five years4 ,of the fifteen answers to question #e1 thirteen said that the people liked the present arrangement better than the old1 while the other two said there were not many people who wanted to go back to the old way4 ,in reply to question #g1 eight declared that the benevolences had increased1 three that they had remained the same1 one said benevolences varied in different years1 while in three the benevolences had declined4 ,in one of these the decline was very slight and there was a prospect of an increase in the future4 ,in thirteen the support of the ministry has been favorably affected by the federation4 ,from one the answer is ambiguous4 ,in the case of ,truro1 ,massachusetts1 where one church had a membership of three and the other of eight1 at the time of federation1 the answer indicates a decrease in the amount given to the salary4 ,the answers to question #i indicate that the running expenditures of the churches are often less and that the money is more easily raised to meet them4 ,to question #aj1 nine of the answers denoted an increased attendance1 five no noticeable change4 ,no church reported a decrease4 ,in one case the answer was obscure4 ,the answers to question #aa report that eight have increased in membership1 five have remained stationary1 one reports normal additions1 and one a slight decrease4 ,in answer to question #ab1 twelve churches reported a favorable effect upon the social life of the community1 two recently formed reported that there was no marked effect yet1 while one gave no answer4 ,all but one of the correspondents cherish a strong opinion that the federated church is the best arrangement when a community is overchurched and the churches are small4 ,one pastor of a federation had nothing to say4 ,the following are the replies to the request made at the end of the questionnaire1 ,kindly express frankly your opinion of the federated church as a means of securing ,christian unity and church efficiency3 #a4 ,nothing to say4 #b4 ,i do not see any reasons why two or more churches of ,congregational form of government should not federate1 but it would be difficult to federate with ,episcopal form of church government4 #c4 ,the efficiency here has been greater since these churches federated than it was before4 ,no church could support a pastor4 ,the ,baptist ,church had been pastorless for three and a half years4 ,the ,congregational ,church was supplied by students from ,hartford ,theological ,seminary4 ,now they pay a fair salary and give free use of parsonage4 ,federation is the best solution of overchurched communities4 #d4 ,the federated church should be adopted in rural communities and in many small cities4 ,i see no other way to bring the church into its place as a social and religious power4 #e4 ,it is my opinion that for a community that is like this one a federated church is a great means to secure ,christian unity and efficiency4 ,at our last meeting there were but two who were not enthusiastic for its continuance4 ,our field here would be much better if there were not another church in the community outside the federation4 ,there is still the ,unitarian ,church outside the federation which necessarily makes a divided leadership in the small community4 ,our federated church has grown from two small churches to the position of dominance in the community4 ,our decrease in benevolences is largely explainable and excusable perhaps in that it occurred during the time when there were so many other things to take care of1 relative to the federation4 ,it will not happen again1 but for a part of the time we were without a pastor and during the rest of the time exceedingly busy getting things adjusted4 #f4 ,we are thoroughly satisfied4 ,each church in denominational relationship 7the ,methodist ,episcopal and ,congregational7 is as independent and well organized as before federation4 ,each church is stronger than before federation4 ,we look forward to the day when federation will be the rule in overchurched communities for the sake of the good of church and community rather than from pecuniary necessity4 ,this opinion was expressed after an experience of sixteen years of the federated church4 #g4 ,having been pastor of the federated church in ,somerset for three years ,i am glad to be able to say that ,i unqualifiedly recommend federation as a solution of the overchurched problem in country and village4 ,wherever there are genuine ,christian members1 federation will work perfectly4 #h4 ,it is a great help in small places4 #i4 ,our federation has been a great success4 ,perfect harmony seems to reign4 #aj4 ,a strong church can do better work alone1 but two or more weak churches should unite in the support of one minister4 ,a federated church gives opportunity for denominational loyalty and connections4 ,this is important4 #aa4 ,this is a small town1 only about #dce population1 but it is a summer resort and during the months of ,july and ,august a great many city people attend church4 ,i am pastor of this church and ,north ,thetford1 another federated church about five miles south4 ,it is about the only way these churches could be run1 for both are small places4 #ab4 ,this federated church is in a flourishing condition4 ,during the present pastorate since ,may1 #aiad1 #ca have been received into the church4 ,the building has been remodeled at a cost of about #c1ejj1 all paid but #cjj4jj4 #ac4 ,it is the most efficient means of securing ,christian unity and church efficiency ever discovered4 ,it is the ideal way4 #ad4 ,i am convinced of the sincerity of ,christian unity and of the possibility of church efficiency1 but it has not really approached that reality any more than some denominational churches have in rural centers4 ,but it is a wholesome and generally satisfactory plan of religious service in a community of changing personnel4 ,in the community is quite a large ,catholic element and also a very progressive and influential ,universalist element4 ,this remains in our midst practically unassimilated as yet1 after a dozen years with no services in their church4 ,the children are coming into the ,sunday school pretty well and time will overcome some of these obstacles4 #ae4 ,it is the reasonable and only possible means in this and many other communities in ,cape ,cod1 but it needs energy and aggressive effort to succeed4 ,in the face of the fact that a very large proportion of denominational rural churches are on the decline1 the experience of these fifteen churches constitutes very strong evidence that the federated church is a practical means of securing ,christian unity and increased church efficiency in small overchurched communities4 ,in order to learn whether or not it is true that only the more successful churches replied to the questionnaire1 we have by other means secured information in regard to certain churches which did not reply4 ,some of them were found to be as successful as those which did4 ,for example1 the federated church of ,north ,wilbraham1 ,massachusetts1 the constituent bodies of which are ,methodist ,episcopal and ,congregational churches1 has greatly increased in membership1 attendance1 and in the influence it exerts for various kinds of progress in its community4 ,it would be very difficult to find any country church1 either denominational or federated1 whose record for service is better4 ,in two cases in ,new ,england where the federated church has failed1 it was reported that the pastors regarded the federated church as a temporary expedient and tried hard to change it into a denominational church4 ,such action would necessarily be regarded as a breach of faith on the part of one of the churches1 and disaster might well be expected to follow4 ,the authors know of no experience which indicates any inherent weakness in the federated church1 nor so far as they are aware is there any evidence that a federated church has injured the denomination of any component church4 ,on the contrary1 a very large majority of the small churches which have united with others in such federation have gained rather than lost1 with a resulting benefit to each denomination concerned4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,other ,,progressive ,,churches #a4 ,a ,church ,federation ,in the village of ,shiloh in ,richland ,county are two churches1 ,lutheran and ,methodist ,episcopal1 each supporting a resident pastor4 ,each seems to be strong enough to sustain alone its ordinary activities4 ,for this and other reasons there has been no desire to unite the churches into one congregation4 ,but they had both neglected to provide means of meeting many of the community's needs1 such as opportunities for social life1 recreation1 and athletics1 or to stimulate others to make provision for them4 ,as usual under such conditions1 gambling and other amusements of a questionable sort became more or less common4 ,in order the better to look after the needs of the young people and to strengthen the moral life of the community1 a committee representing both of the churches was appointed to provide and carry out a program for the community welfare4 ,one of the features of this program is a successful movement for the promotion of the social1 athletic1 and play life of this and neighboring communities4 ,the life of the neighborhood has been made more attractive1 especially for the young people1 while some of the forms of petty vice have disappeared4 ,union services are frequently held by the two churches4 ,in every way their work is becoming more effective4 ,this form of cooperative organization may be called a church federation1 but it should be distinguished from the federated church1 which is the union of two or more churches into a single congregation4 ,in every rural community where it is neither feasible nor desirable to unite all the churches under the leadership of one pastor1 a church federation should be formed to create conditions favorable to the development of ,christian character1 to hold community religious services and social gatherings1 and to render all forms of social service which are needed in the community1 but are not rendered by other institutions4 #b4 ,cooperation with ,other ,social ,forces ,where there are social organizations other than school and church it often happens that the churches can get better results by working with them4 ,an example of this kind of cooperation may be found in ,white ,cottage1 ,newton ,township1 ,muskingum ,county4 ,here the pastor of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church made a thorough survey of the community in an area which included four churches4 ,he then prepared a sermon on the much needed country life movement1 and sent a personal letter to every family in the area covered by the survey1 inviting its members to come and hear his sermon4 ,large numbers responded4 ,then a mass meeting was called to discuss the situation1 and the results of the survey were set forth4 ,a committee was appointed to draw up a constitution for a community betterment organization4 ,at a second mass meeting it was adopted4 ,under it every member of the community became a member of the association4 ,every social organization in the community was given equal representation on the ,executive ,committee1 which has standing committees on programs and publicity1 on religion and social service1 on education1 on recreation and physical culture1 and on finance4 ,a general cleaning up of the community followed4 ,an unsightly square was transferred into an attractive playground1 where every ,saturday afternoon there was basket ball1 volley ball1 croquet1 tennis1 track athletics1 or baseball4 ,a library and public reading room was opened1 a temperance program was adopted1 farmers' institutes were established1 and lectures on agriculture and home economics were given1 together with a ,chautauqua course of lectures for winter and summer1 and a series of home talent plays4 ,there were three holiday picnics each summer1 and field day exercises with a parade1 platform meetings1 and a community dinner4 ,other results of this movement are a fine new school building with a large auditorium1 and greatly improved roads4 ,moreover1 a favorable reaction has been felt in the churches4 ,whereas1 formerly but #cg-a_/b per cent of the population were church attendants1 now there are #eh per cent2 where formerly #dj per cent of the people went to ,sunday school1 now there are #eb per cent4 ,the whole community shows a higher moral tone4 ,while the churches at ,white ,cottage were not united in any organic way1 yet a spirit of ,christian unity was brought about4 ,the very best of feeling exists among the different churches1 and their members work together gladly in community improvement4 ,as the result of such an atmosphere the evils of overchurching are reduced to a minimum1 and it becomes easier to bring about such reorganization as may be for the best religious and social welfare of the community4 ,organizations of cooperating rural social forces1 like that at ,white ,cottage1 for many years have been doing good work in other states1 both ,east and ,west4 ,in large numbers of communities1 particularly where the churches cannot be federated1 or where bitter feeling has resulted from interchurch competition1 the best method of progress is often to bring about such a cooerdination of forces in the service of the community itself4 #c4 ,community ,service and ,christian ,unity ,ashley1 in ,delaware ,county1 is a town of about #fjj inhabitants4 ,here a resident pastor's desire to serve his community resulted in ,christian unity4 ,twelve years ago there were four competing churches1 poorly attended and struggling for existence4 ,camp meetings of a fanatical sect were often held in the neighborhood4 ,in the churches of the town seasons of protracted meetings were characterized by excessive emotion at the time1 but by few permanent good results4 ,while respect for religion is necessary to a high degree of moral and social life in any country community1 a large proportion of the people in ,ashley no longer respected the church because of the character of its religious activities4 ,many of the most influential citizens even doubted whether the church was good for the community or not4 ,high ideals were conspicuously lacking among the young people1 and disorderly conduct was beginning to appear4 ,in the year #aijg the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church acquired a pastor who by nature and training was well equipped for his work4 ,fortunately he was the only resident minister in the town1 where he remained for nearly ten years4 ,as the result of his leadership the whole community now has a high regard for religion and the church1 while a practical ,christian unity has been brought about and interchurch competition has disappeared4 ,the moral and religious atmosphere of the place has become wholesome4 ,community life has been made attractive through special instruction and entertainment1 social gatherings1 athletics1 and all kinds of healthy amusement4 ,there still are two churches1 but one of them meets not oftener than once a month1 is attended by only two or three families1 and has ceased to be a factor in the life of the community4 ,the other church is well attended and is generally recognized as the community church4 ,the members of the two churches which have dropped out have1 for the most part1 united with it1 while the building of one of them has become the gymnasium of the community church4 ,though the work of this successful pastor was begun before the modern country life and country church movement had been developed1 his program and methods of work in no way differ from those which are common to the nation-wide movement4 ,in fact large numbers of country pastors1 widely scattered over the ,united ,states1 entirely independent of one another or of the literature of any special movement1 have made and carried out programs for church and community betterment which in their essentials are substantially alike4 ,the pastors have all studied the needs of their communities and have tried to meet them4 ,similarity of needs in the different communities has naturally resulted in the adoption of similar programs4 ,the pastor who did at ,ashley the work just described began by making a thorough study of his parish4 ,he then led the young people into active work for their community1 and later on stimulated the older men to do their part also1 until finally it became recognized in ,ashley that the duty of the ,christian and the church is not to work mainly for the church1 but mainly for the common welfare and the development of all the people4 ,this minister never emphasized any form of sectarianism4 ,he thought of himself as pastor of the whole town and countryside rather than of his church alone1 so that whatever he did was entirely free from the spirit of competition4 ,the people did not fail to recognize his aims1 and1 in consequence1 were satisfied with his leadership4 ,thus it became possible for him and his church to work to satisfy the needs of all the people4 ,the ,presbyterians and ,friends1 therefore1 willingly joined his church and gave up their own4 ,but if in speech or deed he had attempted to build up his own church at the expense of the others1 there would undoubtedly be four churches in ,ashley to-day4 ,the ,ashley community church secured the creation of a community library1 itself provided a community reading room1 gave special attention to the day school and its teachers1 held each year free university extension lectures on agriculture and home economics1 lectures on sanitation and prevention of diseases1 gave socials and festivals1 promoted athletics1 maintained a church gymnasium1 and formed farmers' clubs and helped them in their work4 ,though there were lodges in ,ashley which held occasional gatherings1 still the church was generally recognized as the institution which supplied the opportunities for social life for the whole community4 ,the church became preeminently the most democratic and most popular institution in the town4 ,simplicity of organization was the aim of the pastor4 ,sunday school classes1 including a men's ,bible class1 were organized1 and were stimulated to do their best to meet the social and other needs of the community4 ,so well did they do their work that other organizations were found to be unnecessary4 ,one unusual feature of the pastor's work was the combining of the ,bible school session on ,sunday morning with the service of the church1 making one service of worship1 at which communion is administered and members are received4 ,no collections are taken up in the church1 but a budget is made at the beginning of the year and the money is raised through a church committee4 ,contributions for benevolences have been greatly increased during this pastorate1 and large sums have been spent for building and improvements4 ,yet nevertheless the community did not furnish adequate support for its pastor1 undoubtedly because as in the case of nearly all pastors1 he refused to work for an increase in his own salary1 while1 as in nearly all small communities1 no one else took the matter up4 ,in this respect1 therefore1 the people acted unjustly towards their minister4 ,it should be noted that the minister was well trained and of high character2 that he lived in the community he served2 that he was given a long term of service2 and that he cherished a right conception of the work of minister and church4 ,such work as this is badly needed in multitudes of communities in ,ohio4 ,it is the only thing that can preserve or restore their wholesomeness and make them suitable places for the rearing of children4 ,the church1 as a whole1 should spare no effort in providing large numbers of such men to do this kind of work1 for the total result of so doing would be an increase of untold value in the strength of the very foundations of ,christian civilization in ,america4 #d4 ,christian ,unity by ,necessity ,in ,ontario1 ,springfield ,township1 ,richland ,county1 there were three churches1--,presbyterian1 ,united ,presbyterian1 and ,methodist ,episcopal4 ,because many of the best families had left1 the ,presbyterian churches have held no regular services since the year #aijj4 ,for a time the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church shared a resident minister with three or four other churches1 but from #aiab ,springfield ,township was left without a resident minister for three years4 ,under these circumstances it was inevitable that social and moral decline should begin1 for the modern community's needs cannot be met by the old-fashioned circuit system4 ,more and more the better families moved away or relapsed into the background1 and the less moral elements became conspicuous4 ,a dance hall became the haunt of disorderly people from neighboring towns4 ,drunkenness grew apace1 while bad language on the streets was altogether too common4 ,pilfering the property of the railroad was more or less open4 ,it was high time to act4 ,accordingly1 the people of all the denominations and the non-church people who lived in the township1 realizing that it was going from bad to worse1 joined in deciding that a resident minister was necessary4 ,money was raised1 and the future support of a minister was promised if the ,methodist ,episcopal ,conference would send them a good man4 ,the new minister began his work in the autumn of #aiae4 ,the total budget of the church had been about #ejj1 of which less than #bej went to the minister's salary4 ,during his first year1 #a1edj was raised1 #ijj of which went for the support of the minister4 ,in the second year no less than #g1ejj was raised1 #a1jjj for the minister's salary1 #edj for ordinary expenses1 while the rest went to the permanent repairs on the church buildings4 ,as in ,ashley1 so in ,springfield ,township2 the pastor regarded his church as a community church and thought of himself as a ,christian rather than as a sectarian4 ,the attendance more than doubled both at the church services and at the ,sunday school1 while the real membership increased from less than #ajj to #cae4 ,when the ,presbyterians saw the manifest good that could be brought by united ,christian action1 they became members of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church1 while later on they made a ,christmas present of their building to the ,methodist community church4 ,it is now used as the house of worship1 while the ,methodist ,church has become a gymnasium and parish house4 ,under the leadership of the new resident minister a genuine cleaning up of the gross indecency was made1 some of the most harmful characters left1 and the place became comparatively orderly4 ,the village has been transformed from a rural slum to a very decent community1--a safe place to bring up children4 ,this better state of things will undoubtedly continue as long as the present system of church work prevails4 ,the plan of this church's work did not differ from that of many other modern country churches4 ,it included ,sunday school classes organized for social service1 athletics1 including basket ball1 a full program of social activities1 lectures to promote an intelligent interest in agriculture1 and active interest on the part of the minister in cooperating with the day schools and providing opportunities for intellectual advancement4 ,the pastor declares that the work in ,springfield ,township was made possible only because he could live in the community1 because he could give his whole time to this field1 and because of the program of country church service with which1 through the ,conference of the ,commission on ,church and ,country ,life which was held in ,columbus in #aiae and through modern country church literature1 he had become familiar4 ,he asserts that without the modern program and conception of the function of the country church1 success would have been impossible4 #e4 ,the ,church as a ,force for ,righteousness ,in the work at ,ashley and ,ontario we have seen the adoption of a good program accompanied by improvement in the moral tone and religious atmosphere of the communities4 ,there are many other communities where a similar program has been carried out1 with the same results4 ,these cases constitute a fairly conclusive demonstration that the varied community life which is stimulated and made possible by the modern country church program is the normal one1 and that without these various activities general moral and religious health is impossible4 ,the leadership of a modern country church minister brought about just such an improvement in the community life of ,old ,fort4 ,this pastor came to realize the needs of his community by taking part in the ,ohio ,rural ,life ,survey4 ,one direct result of his work is a centralized agricultural high school1 which will become the means of keeping the best families on the land instead of letting them move to the larger towns in search of better schools for the children4 ,once gone they rarely return4 ,the young men of ,old ,fort1 who formerly had little to do with the church1 are now active in its work4 ,special attention has been given1 in a neighboring parish served by the same minister1 to the farm laborers and tenants4 ,whereas formerly these people rarely went to church1 now as large a proportion of them take part in the activities of the church as of any other class4 ,this is an achievement of real importance4 ,it appears from ,map #ab1 which is based on data from the ,united ,states ,census1 that1 in no less than #ed of the #hh counties of ,ohio1 more than #be per cent of the farms in the year #aiaj were operated by tenants4 ,on ,map #ac it appears that in no less than #ej counties the number of farms operated by tenants is increasing4 ,here is one of the great obstacles in the way of church progress in the ,state1 for it is well known that farm tenants usually take little interest in the community where they live1 while only a small proportion of them are members of the church4 ,until reform in the system of land tenure can be brought to pass through legislation1 it is most important that the church shall give special attention to the tenant families4 ,illustration3 ,,map #ab ,,showing ,,by ,,counties ,,percentage ,,of ,,all ,,farms ,,operated ,,by ,,tenants ,illustration3 ,,map #ac ,,showing ,,increase 77 ,,or ,,decrease 7-7 ,,per ,,cent ,,in ,,number ,,of ,,farms ,,operated ,,by ,,tenants ,,years #aijj-aiaj ,success in this parish1 according to the testimony of the minister1 is due to the program brought to light by the modern country church movement4 ,indeed1 we have observed no notably progressive country churches in small communities where the new country church program has not been an essential factor of success4 ,lakeville is a case in point4 ,in the village of ,lakeville1 as in a large proportion of ,ohio rural communities1 opportunities for wholesome recreation were few4 ,the church not only felt no responsibility for providing a better environment for the young people1 but looked upon matters which have to do with recreation1 entertainment1 and physical development as foreign to it4 ,to give them attention was regarded as beneath its dignity4 ,this attitude1 both here and in a large proportion of the rural churches1 has been responsible in no small degree for a general moral laxness in communities1 and often for the separation of the young people from the church4 ,the moral and social conditions in ,lakeville have been revolutionized by a resident minister in three years4 ,his conception of his work and the methods he used did not differ materially from those of the pastors of ,ashley1 ,ontario1 and ,old ,fort4 ,every wholesome feature of community life was regarded by him as a matter of interest to the church4 ,thus1 to promote a deeper interest in agriculture1 lecturers and demonstrators upon various phases of it were invited into the community4 ,under the leadership of this minister a wholesome1 normal1 interesting life1 leading to the high development of the young people1 and a marked increase in the general happiness of the community1 has been brought to pass4 ,the excellent auditorium of the consolidated school was made the social center of the community4 ,the pastor and the members of his church were the initiators and chief supporters of the program of recreation1 instruction1 and entertainment which was carried out largely in this building4 ,although in ,lakeville the church wisely kept itself in the background in much of its work1 its activities were none the less effective1 while this policy also reacted favorably upon the church itself4 ,although there were two churches yoked together in this field1 they were but a mile and a half apart1 and the parish was therefore compact4 ,consequently the pastor could and did make much of his pastoral work4 ,the close touch of the minister with the members of his church and community greatly added to the effectiveness of the evangelistic services which he held1 for he befriended those who had need of friends4 ,hence there was not only a large increase in membership1 but the results of it promised to be of a durable character4 ,it will be noted that the minister was pastor of all the churches in the community and so encountered none of the difficulties which come from interchurch competition4 ,the kind of community service which is illustrated at ,ashley1 ,ontario1 ,old ,fort1 ,white ,cottage1 and ,lakeville offers abundant opportunity to a young man of good equipment for using his knowledge and native ability1 and should therefore attract a better type of man to the rural ministry4 ,the church as a whole should be active in presenting it to young men1 for the purpose of getting the best of them to enlist in it4 ,the conservation of the high character of our rural population depends on just such work4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,agricultural ,,cooperation ,a ,,much ,,needed ,,secular ,,organization ,no program for the conservation and improvement of rural life will succeed unless it provides for the successful promotion of cooperative agricultural business organization4 ,even if all the reforms we have suggested are made1 the need to stimulate1 assist1 and guide the business organization of farmers will still remain4 ,strong modern country churches will not flourish in unprogressive communities whose business is not successful4 ,rural business must be effectively organized to enable the farmers to get a just money return for the service they give4 ,a sound economic basis for a more attractive rural life can be provided in no other way4 ,through training and experience in successful cooperative enterprises1 farmers may achieve a greater degree of solidarity1 and acquire a larger share in the direction and control of industrial1 political1 and economic life of the ,nation4 ,with it will come larger respect for rural occupations1 an added prestige and attractiveness to agricultural life1 and the chance of real success for the modern country church4 ,the field of agricultural cooperation cannot be filled by any government agency4 ,however excellent the provisions of the ,smith-,lever bill1 under which an agricultural adviser will be placed in every county in the ,united ,states1 however valuable the instruction and advice of the ,state ,agricultural ,colleges1 when the ,government and the churches have done all that can reasonably be expected of them1 the task of organizing rural business will remain undone until it is accomplished by the farmers themselves1 acting through associations of their own which are formally allied with neither church nor government4 ,conclusive evidence on this point is supplied by more than fifty years of experience in ,europe1 and by somewhat less in the ,united ,states4 ,within the past five years an attempt to promote cooperative agricultural business organization has been made by the ,national ,government4 ,it failed1 in general1 because the ,government cannot successfully undertake such work1 and in particular because special interests which were making large profits by the exploitation of farmers had laws passed which effectually defeated the attempt4 ,within the past three years agricultural agents of the ,government in ,ohio who attempted to promote a cooperative movement among farmers were forced by similar interests to abandon the work or leave the county where they were employed4 ,it is well known that the faculties of certain ,state ,agricultural colleges1 though fully aware of the need for sound cooperative agricultural business1 do not attempt to give instructions in its principles because of the effective opposition they anticipate from persons and corporations whose business makes their interests hostile to those of the farmer4 ,if the ,government cannot meet the whole need1 no more can the churches4 ,business cooperation1 which they should encourage but cannot supply1 is indispensable4 ,for more than fifty years churches and clergymen in ,europe have been rendering most effective service in the promotion of cooperative agricultural organization in business4 ,in ,america likewise they can and should be of essential help in the same good work1 for the principles of successful agricultural business are in close harmony with ,christian ethics4 ,moreover1 the social and moral effects of cooperative business on communities and individuals are of a most favorable character4 ,in the year #aiac ,mr4 ,gill was present at a meeting of representatives of government agricultural departments of fifteen nations1 where it was asserted that agricultural cooperation was the application of ,christianity to the business of the farm4 ,rural business1 however1 should not be organically allied with the church any more than it should be with the ,state4 ,while the ministers and churches may do much to educate the farmers in regard to cooperation1 to interpret it1 to increase the good results of it1 and in many ways give valuable assistance to it1 the movement for cooperation can only be made successful when promoted by voluntary secular organizations entirely independent both of church and state4 ,cooperation is most needed where the people are poorest4 ,in such districts it is easiest to inaugurate it1 and then by demonstration to show the high and important character of its benefits4 ,from the poorer regions it tends to spread into the richer ones and in this way to diffuse itself widely4 ,not long ago it was found that farmers in ,pike ,county were selling their eggs to merchants for #af cents a dozen when in the towns nearby the market price was #be cents4 ,almost the entire potato crop of this county in #aiaf was handled by middlemen at a profit of more than #ajj per cent4 ,fruit raising could be made most profitable in large parts of ,ohio which at present are not prosperous1 but without cooperative organization the difficulty of marketing fruit is very great4 ,in the purchase of farm implements1 fertilizers1 and other supplies1 great savings to the farmers are undoubtedly possible4 ,there are few regions where cooperative organization is more needed1 and would be more likely to succeed1 if properly directed1 than in southeastern ,ohio4 ,it would not only increase the economic prosperity of this region1 but it would exert also a most wholesome moral and social effect1 whereby the work of the church would be accelerated4 ,the constant application of the principles of brotherhood in everyday business is an influence of the highest value1 and it cannot safely be neglected as a means for the ,christianizing of rural society4 ,,part ,,ii ,,tabular ,,summaries ,,and ,,maps ,,chapter ,i ,,geographical ,,distribution ,,of ,,the ,,denominations ,it appears that of the #f1jfj churches in the #a1agj strictly rural townships of ,ohio no less than #a1gic1 or nearly #cj per cent1 are of the ,methodist ,episcopal denomination 7see ,table ,d and ,maps #ad-be72 #eba are of the ,united ,brethren in ,christ2 #cif are ,presbyterian2 #cgi are ,baptist1 including ,free ,will1 ,free1 and ,missionary2 #cfg ,disciples2 #cfb ,lutheran2 #bdh ,roman ,catholic2 #bbh ,christian2 #baa ,methodist ,protestant2 #age ,reformed2 #ace ,congregational2 #abi ,evangelical ,association2 #aac ,brethren or ,german ,baptists2 #ie ,radical ,united ,brethren2 #ib ,christian ,union2 #hd ,societies of ,friends2 and #gg ,united ,presbyterian4 ,none of the other denominations has more than #a per cent of the total number4 ,the denominations are represented in about the same proportion in the suburban rural districts4 ,,table ,d ,,number ,,of ,,churches ,,in ,,each ,,denomination ,key3 #a ,strictly rural townships #b ,per cent #c ,other rural sections #d ,per cent #e ,all rural churches #f ,per cent ,denomination #a #b #c #d #e #f ,total #fjfj #ajj #ehb #ajj #ffdb #ajj ,methodist ,episcopal #agic #bi4f #aga #bi4d #aifd #bi4f ,united ,brethren in ,christ #eba #h4f #ha #ac4i #fjb #i4a ,presbyterian #cif #f4e #bi #e4 #dbe #f4d ,baptist 7,including ,free1 ,free ,will and ,missionary7 #cgi #f4b #bf #d4d #dje #f4a ,disciples of ,christ #cfg #f4 #bj #c4d #chg #e4i ,lutheran #cfb #f4 #di #h4d #daa #f4b ,catholic 7,roman7 #bdh #d4a #ag #b4i #bfe #d4 ,christian #bbh #c4h #bj #c4d #bdh #c4g ,methodist ,protestant #baa #c4e #ai #c4c #bcj #c4e ,reformed 7,including ,german ,reformed7 #age #b4i #bf #d4d #bja #c4 ,congregational #ace #b4b #ab #b4a #adg #b4b ,evangelical ,association #abi #b4f #ad #b4d #adc #b4b ,brethren 7,german ,baptist7 #aac #a4i #ad #b4d #abg #a4i ,radical ,united ,brethren #ie #a4f #i #a4e #ajd #a4f ,christian ,union #ib #a4e #d ,less #if #a4d than #a ,friends #hd #a4d #h #a4d #ib #a4d ,united ,presbyterian #gg #a4c #i #a4e #hf #a4c ,mennonite #ef ,less #i #a4e #fe ,less than #a than #a ,church of ,god #ed #h #a4d #fb ,german ,evangelical #dh #a ,less #di than #a ,african and all ,colored ,methodist ,episcopal #dj #b #db ,union #dj #aj #a4g #ej ,protestant ,episcopal #ci #b ,less #da than #a ,universalist #ci #j #ci ,colored ,baptist #ch #c #da ,disciples ,non-,progressive #cb #a #cc ,free ,methodist #bg #e #cb ,german ,methodist ,episcopal #bg #j #bg ,united ,evangelical #bg #b #bi ,holiness #be #f #a #ca ,old ,order ,brethren ,progressive #ba #c #bd ,river ,primitive ,baptist #ba #j #ba ,wesleyan ,methodist #ah #j #ah ,seventh ,day ,advent #ac #j #ac ,advent-,christian #ab #j #ab ,calvinist ,methodist #ab #a #ac ,reformed ,presbyterian #h #j #h ,latter ,day ,saints #f #j #f ,nazarene #e #j #e ,saints #e #j #e ,united ,baptist #e #j #e ,christian ,missionary ,alliance #d #j #d ,greek ,catholic #d #j #d ,moravian #d #j #d ,christian ,science #c #j #c ,international ,bible ,students1 ,association #c #j #c ,federated #c #j #c ,missionary ,church ,association #b #j #b ,pietist #a #j #a ,primitive ,methodist #a #j #a ,russian ,catholic #a #j #a ,seven ,sleepers #a #j #a ,seventh ,day ,baptist #a #j #a ,slavic ,lutheran #a #j #a ,wengerite #a #j #a ,brothers ,society of ,america #j #a #a ,denomination not reported #g #j #g ,illustration3 ,,map #ad ,,methodist ,,episcopal ,,country ,,churches ,illustration3 ,,map #ae ,,united ,,brethren ,,in ,,christ ,illustration3 ,,map #af ,,presbyterian ,illustration3 ,,map #ag ,,baptist ,illustration3 ,,map #ah ,,disciples ,,of ,,christ ,illustration3 ,,map #ai ,,lutheran ,illustration3 ,,map #bj ,,catholic ,illustration3 ,,map #ba ,,christian ,illustration3 ,,map #bb ,,methodist ,,protestant ,illustration3 ,,map #bc ,,reformed ,illustration3 ,,map #bd ,,congregational ,illustration3 ,,map #be ,,evangelical ,,association ,in ,table ,e the ,protestant churches are grouped according to their polity4 ,it will be seen that about #a1fjj have a ,congregational form of government1 in which authority rests in the local church2 that in nearly #a1bjj churches the polity is ,presbyterian1 in which authority is largely in the local church1 but partly in a representative body of several churches grouped in districts4 ,under the title of ,episcopal ,bodies are grouped denominations comprising #b1gba churches1 or more than the total number of the ,presbyterian and ,congregational combined4 ,the ,methodist ,protestant ,churches are not placed in either of these groups because their polity resembles1 in some respects1 that of the ,congregational and in others that of the ,episcopal churches4 ,authority with them rests largely in the local church1 which owns its property and has authority to receive and dismiss its own members1 but in other respects resembles closely the churches of the ,episcopal order4 ,in the fourth group are #hb other churches or religious organizations which we have failed to classify4 ,the ,catholic bodies1 including ,greek and ,russian1 number #bec4 ,differences as to church polity are not sufficiently great to constitute a dangerous obstacle to the progress of church unity among the ,protestant rural churches of ,ohio4 ,our system of universities and public schools1 together with the custom of reading religious articles1 books1 and other literature without regard to the denomination of the author1 is tending to remove theological differences as between denominations4 ,it may be said it has already removed them in the eleven denominations represented in the ,committee of ,interchurch ,cooperation4 ,this is true whatever differences may still exist between individuals4 ,,table ,e ,,churches ,,grouped ,,according ,,to ,,their ,,polity ,,congregational ,,bodies ,total #a1fja ,baptist1 including ,free1 ,free ,will and ,missionary #cgi ,disciples #cfg ,christian #bbh ,congregational #ace ,christian ,union #ib ,friends #hd ,mennonite #ef ,church of ,god #ed ,union #dj ,universalist #ci ,colored ,baptist #ch ,disciples1 ,non-,progressive #cb ,primitive ,baptist #ba ,seventh ,day ,advent #ac ,advent ,christian #ab ,united ,baptist #e ,nazarene #e ,seventh ,day ,baptist #a ,,presbyterian ,,bodies ,total #a1aib ,presbyterian #cif ,lutheran #cfb ,reformed1 including ,german ,reformed #age ,brethren 7,german ,baptist7 #aac ,united ,presbyterian #gg ,german ,evangelical #dh ,calvinist ,methodist #ab ,reformed ,presbyterian #h ,slavic ,lutheran #a ,,episcopal ,,bodies ,total #b1gba ,methodist ,episcopal #a1gic ,united ,brethren #eba ,evangelical ,association #abi ,radical ,united ,brethren #ie ,african ,methodist ,episcopal #dj ,protestant ,episcopal #ci ,united ,evangelical #bg ,german ,methodist ,episcopal #bg ,free ,methodist #bg ,wesleyan ,methodist #bg ,moravian #d ,primitive ,methodist #a ,,catholic ,,bodies ,total #bec ,catholic 7,roman7 #bdh ,greek ,catholic #d ,russian ,catholic #a ,,other ,,bodies ,total #bic ,methodist ,protestant #baa ,holiness #be ,brethren 7,o4 ,o41 ,prog4 and ,river7 #ba ,latter ,day ,saints #f ,saints #e ,christian ,missionary ,alliance #d ,christian ,science #c ,international ,bible ,students ,association #c ,federated #c ,missionary ,church ,association #b ,pietist #a ,wengerite #a ,seven ,sleepers #a ,denomination not reported #g ,,chapter ,,ii ,,tabular ,,summaries ,,for ,,the ,,state ,there are in ,ohio #a1cdc townships 7see ,table ,i7 which are wholly or partly made up of open country or villages of less than #b1ejj inhabitants4 7,this number of inhabitants having been selected by the ,united ,states ,census as marking the line between urban and rural1 we have necessarily followed47 ,in the strictly rural townships and the rural sections of townships which are partly urban or suburban1 there is altogether a population of more than two million persons1 and #f1fdb churches4 ,these figures give us1 on an average1 #a1eaf persons and five rural churches to a township1 and #cjg persons to a church4 ,of townships which border on cities and towns of more than #b1ejj persons1 there are #agc4 ,in townships of this class there are #cdb1jgg persons and #ehb churches1 while for each township there are #a1igg persons and three churches1 or #ehg persons to a church4 ,it is presumable that many persons in these suburban townships attend the churches in the neighboring cities or large towns4 ,if we subtract the suburban townships from the #a1cdc mentioned above1 there remain #a1agj townships which are strictly rural4 ,unless otherwise stated all deductions have been drawn exclusively from these rural townships4 ,the #a1agj strictly rural townships contain nearly #a1gjj1jjj persons and #f1jfj churches4 ,they have1 on an average1 #a1ddh persons and five churches to a township and #bhj persons to a church4 ,although there are #f1jfj churches in the #a1agj strictly rural townships1 their membership records are so often incomplete that satisfactory figures were found for only #d1ida churches4 ,the membership of #c1cea of these churches1 or #fh per cent1 is not more than #ajj2 in #b1gjd1 or #ee per cent1 the membership is not more than #ge2 while in #a1hag1 or #cg per cent1 the membership is not more than #ej4 7,see ,table ,,ii47 ,,table ,i ,,population1 ,,average ,,number ,,of ,,persons ,,and ,,churches1 ,,and ,,average ,,number ,,of ,,persons ,,to ,a ,,church1 ,,by ,,townships #a ,strictly rural townships #b ,other rural sections #c ,all rural sections #a #b #c ,number of townships #a1agj #agc #a1cdc ,population of rural townships #a1fic1iea #cdb1jgg #b1jcf1jbh ,number persons per township #a1ddh #a1igg #a1eaf ,number churches per township #e #c #e ,number of churches #f1jfj #ehb #f1fdb ,number persons per church #bhj #ehg #cjg ,in the suburban rural townships and rural sections of townships containing cities and large towns1 #gb per cent of the churches have a membership of not more than #ajj1 #ef per cent of not more than #ge1 and #cd per cent of not more than #ej4 ,altogether1 in rural townships and rural sections of other townships1 there are #e1cib churches out of #f1fdb for which membership data are available4 ,of these #c1ggf1 or #fh per cent1 have a membership of not more than #ajj2 #b1ief1 or #ee per cent1 a membership of not more than #ge2 and #a1hfj1 or #cf per cent1 have a membership of not more than #ej4 ,the number of churches in rural townships whose membership records are not available is #f1jfj less #d1ida1 or #a1aai4 ,if we apply to these also the percentages just given for the churches with available membership records1 we find that of the total of #f1jfj churches in the strictly rural townships1 #d1aaj have a membership of not more than #ajj2 #c1caf have a membership of not more than #ge2 while #b1bbg have a membership of not more than #ej4 ,since the larger churches as a rule are more careful in keeping their records than the smaller ones1 the conclusions drawn from these calculations are well within the limits of truth4 ,by the same method we find that in the suburban rural townships and rural sections of townships containing cities and towns of more than #b1ejj inhabitants1 #dai of the #ehb churches have a membership of #ajj or less2 #cbe of #ge or less2 while #aih churches have a membership of #ej or less4 ,we therefore calculate that of #f1fdb1 or all the rural churches1 #d1ebi or #fh per cent have a membership of not more than #ajj2 #c1fda1 or #ee per cent1 a membership of not more than #ge2 and #b1dbe or #cg per cent a membership of not more than #ej4 ,,table ,,ii ,,churches ,,classified ,,according ,,to ,,number ,,of ,,their ,,members ,key3 #a ,rural townships #b ,per cent #c ,other rural sections #d ,per cent #e ,all sections #f ,per cent #a #b #c #d #e #f ,no4 churches whose membership is reported #d1ida #ajj #dea #ajj #e1cib #ajj ,no4 of these whose membership is less than #aja #c1cea #fg4h #cbe #gb #c1fgf #fh ,no4 of these whose membership is less than #gf #b1gjd #ed4g #beb #ef #b1ief #ee ,no4 of these whose membership is less than #ea #a1hag #cf4g #aec #cd #a1hfj #cf ,no4 churches whose membership data are not available #a1aai #ah #aca #bc #a1bej #ai ,calculated minimum number of churches whose membership is less than #aja #d1aaj99 #fh #dai99 #gb #d1ebi #fh ,calculated minimum number of churches whose membership is less than #gf #c1caf99 #ee #cbe99 #ef #c1fda #ee ,calculated minimum number of churches whose membership is less than #ea #b1bbg99 #cg #aih99 #cd #b1dbe #cg ,no4 churches reporting whose membership is from #a to #be #fea #ac #de #aj #fif #ac ,no4 churches reporting whose membership is from #bf-ej #a1aaf #bc #ajh #bd #a1bgd #bd ,no4 churches reporting whose membership is from #ea-ge #hhg #ah #ii #bb #ihf #ah 99,note3 ,reckoned as follows3 #ccea 4#fgh x #aaai #daaj #bgjd 4#edg x #aaai #ccaf #ahag 4#cfg x #aaai #bbbg #cbe 4#gb x #aca #dai #beb 4#ef x #aca #cbe #aec 4#cd x #aca #aih ,no4 churches reporting whose membership is from #gf-ajj #fdg #ac #gc #af #gbj #ac ,no4 churches reporting whose membership is #aja-aej #geg #ae #fb #ad #hai #ae ,no4 churches reporting whose membership is from #aea-bjj #cge #h #cb #g #djg #h ,no4 churches reporting whose membership is more than #bjj #deh #i #cb #g #dij #i ,calculated number of churches whose membership is more than #bjj #efa #i #dj #g #fja #i ,in #cac1 or #bg per cent1 of the strictly rural townships1 no church has a resident minister 7see ,table ,,iii72 in #ege1 or #ci per cent of the villages1 no church has a resident minister2 and in #d1jjg1 or #ff per cent1 of the churches1 there is no resident minister4 ,only #ihb churches1 or #af per cent1 have the full time service of a minister2 #a1eha churches1 or #bf per cent1 have one-half the service of a minister2 #e1jbf1 or #hc per cent1 have one-half time service or less2 #c1dde1 or #eg per cent1 have one-third time service or less2 #b1cbj1 or #ci per cent1 have one-fourth time service or less2 while #gba1 or #ab per cent of the #f1jfj churches in the strictly rural townships have no regular service of a minister at all4 ,the percentages do not materially differ in the suburban townships4 ,in the combined total of #a1cdc rural townships and suburban townships which contain sections of open country and villages of less than #b1ejj inhabitants1 we find that #cce1 or #be per cent1 of the townships have no churches served by a resident minister2 that in #fcd1 or #dj per cent1 of the villages there is no resident minister2 that #d1dca1 or #fg per cent1 of the churches have no resident minister2 that only #a1jfe churches1 or #af per cent1 have the full time service of a minister2 that #a1gff1 or #bg per cent1 have one-half the service of a minister2 that #e1eba1 or #hd per cent1 have one-half time service or less2 that #c1gee1 or #eg per cent1 have one-third time service or less2 that #b1eah1 or #ch per cent1 have one-fourth time service or less2 while #gee1 or #aa per cent1 of the #f1fdb country churches of ,ohio1 have no regular service of a minister at all4 ,,table ,,iii ,,amount ,,of ,,ministerial ,,service ,,by ,,townships1 ,,villages ,,and ,,churches ,key3 #a ,rural townships #b ,per cent #c ,other rural sections #d ,per cent #e ,all rural sections #f ,per cent #a #b #c #d #e #f ,no4 townships whose churches are without resident ministers #cac #bg #bb #ab #cce #be ,no4 villages which have a resident minister #ija #fa #ed #dh #iee #fj ,no4 villages without a resident minister #ege #ci #eh4e #eb #fcd #dj ,no4 churches with resident minister #b1jec #cd #aeh #bh #b1baa #cc ,no4 churches without resident minister #d1jjg #ff #dbd #gd #d1dca #fg ,no4 churches with full time service of a minister #ihb #af #hc #ad #a1jfe #af ,no4 churches with #a_/b time service of a minister #a1eha #bf #ahe #cb #a1gff #bg ,no4 churches with #a_/b time service of a minister or less #e1jbf #hc #die #he #e1eba #hd ,no4 churches with #a_/c time service of a minister or less #c1dde #eg #caj #ec #c1gee #ef4e ,no4 churches with #a_/d time service of a minister or less #b1cbj #ci #aih #cd #b1eah #ch ,no4 churches with no regular service of a minister #gba #ab #fb #aa #gee #aa ,no4 churches with #a_/c time service of a minister #a1abe #ai #aab #ai #a1bcg #ai ,no4 churches with #a_/d time service of a minister #igj #af #if #af #a1jff #af ,no4 churches for which data are not available #eb #a #d #a #ef #a ,of the #f1jfj churches in the wholly rural townships1 #c1bec1 or #ed per cent1 are in villages whose inhabitants number from #ea to #b1ejj persons1 while #b1hjg1 or #df per cent1 are in the open country4 7,see ,table ,,iv47 ,in the suburban rural townships #aih1 or #cd per cent1 of the churches are in villages containing from #ea to #b1ejj persons1 while #chd1 or #ff per cent1 are in the open country4 ,of the #f1fdb country churches in ,ohio1 therefore1 #c1dea1 or #eb per cent1 are in villages containing from #ea to #b1ejj inhabitants1 and #c1aia1 or #dh per cent1 in the open country4 ,in the strictly rural districts1 #a1bjg1 or #bj per cent1 of the churches are in villages or towns of moderate size1 having from #eja to #b1ejj inhabitants1 while #b1jdf1 or #cd per cent1 are in small villages of from #ea to #ejj4 ,no less than #d1hec1 or #hj per cent1 of the churches in the strictly rural districts are either in the open country or in the small villages of #ejj inhabitants or less4 ,in addressing ourselves to the rural church problem1 therefore1 we are almost exclusively concerned with the smaller villages and the open country4 ,,table ,,iv ,,number ,,of ,,churches ,,in ,,villages ,,and ,,in ,,the ,,open ,,country ,key3 #a ,rural townships #b ,per cent #c ,other rural sections #d ,per cent #e ,all rural sections #f ,per cent #a #b #c #d #e #f ,no4 churches in villages containing from #ea to #b1ejj persons #c1bec #ed #aih #cd #c1dea #eb ,no4 churches in open country #b1hjg #df #chd #ff #c1aia #dh ,no4 churches in villages or towns having from #eja to #b1ejj inhabitants #a1bjg #bj #gf #ac #a1bhc #ai ,no4 churches in villages having from #ea to #ejj inhabitants #b1jdf #cd #abb #ba #b1afh #cc ,no4 churches in open country and in villages having less than #eja inhabitants #d1hec #hj #ejf #hg #e1cei #ha ,we have assumed #ej persons as the line which separates a small village from the open country1 just as the ,united ,states ,census has assumed #b1ejj persons as the lower limit of the town4 ,in rural ,ohio there are #a1dgg villages whose inhabitants number #ea to #b1ejj persons4 7,see ,table ,v47 ,of these1 #fgc1 or #df per cent1 have from #ea to #bjj inhabitants2 #dhg1 or #cc per cent1 have from #bja to #ejj inhabitants2 while #cag1 or #ba per cent1 have more than #ejj persons4 ,of the smallest villages1 or those of #ea to #bjj persons1 #bcd1 or #ce per cent1 have one or more ministers living near the church he serves and #bgj ministers in all2 while #ddj1 or #fe per cent1 have no resident ministers whatever4 ,in the #dhg country villages whose inhabitants number from #bja to #ejj persons1 #cfj1 or #gd per cent1 have one or more ministers and #ebg ministers in all1 while there are #abg1 or #bf per cent1 without resident ministers4 ,of the #cag villages whose inhabitants number more than #ejj persons1 #cjh1 or #ig per cent1 have one or more resident pastors and altogether #hif ministers--7which is #ec per cent of the whole number of ministers living in villages71 while only #i1 or #c per cent1 are without any ministers at all4 ,of the #a1dgg country villages of all sizes1 #ija1 or #fa per cent1 have one or more resident ministers and in all #a1fic ministers1 while #egf1 or #ci per cent1 of the villages have no minister living in them4 ,these #a1dgg villages have only #c1bec1 or #ed per cent1 of the churches1 but they have #a1fic1 or #hb per cent1 of the ministers2 while the open country1 with #b1hjg1 or #df per cent1 of the churches1 has only #cfj1 or #ah per cent1 of the resident ministers4 ,more than #hg per cent of the open country churches1 or #b1ddg of them1 are without a resident minister4 ,in addition to the ministers here included1 there are about #cej who do not live near any one of their churches1 but for the most part in the cities and towns4 ,this number includes many student preachers4 ,on ,map #bf1 page #aag1 the distribution of the villages is represented graphically4 ,illustration3 ,,map #bf ,,villages ,,and ,,cities ,,table ,v ,,resident ,,ministers ,,in ,,strictly ,,rural ,,townships1 ,,in ,,the ,,open ,,country1 ,,and ,,in ,,villages ,key3 #a ,villages of #ea-bejj persons #b ,per cent #c ,villages of #ea-bjj persons #d ,per cent #e ,villages of #bja-ejj persons #f ,per cent #g ,villages of #eja-bejj persons #h ,per cent #i ,villages of #bja-bejj persons #aj ,per cent #aa ,open country #ab ,per cent #a #b #c #d #e #f ,no4 of villages #a1dgf4e #ajj #fgc #df #dhg #cc ,no4 of villages with ministers #ija #fa #bcc4e #ce #cfj #gd ,no4 of ministers #a1fic 7#ca7 #bgj #af #ebg #ca ,no4 of villages without ministers #ege4e #ci #dci4e #fe #abg #bf ,no4 of churches #c1bec #ed #ihd #af #a1jfb #ah #g #h #i #aj #aa #ab ,no4 of villages #caf4e #ba #hjc4e #ed ,no4 of villages with ministers #cjg4e #ig #ffg4e #hc ,no4 of ministers #hif #ec #a1dbc 7#fi7 #cfj #h ,no4 of villages without ministers #i #c #acf #i ,no4 of churches #a1bjg #bj #b1bfi #cg #b1hjg #df ,it has not been possible to collect full data as to the length of the rural minister's service4 ,but the ,conference ,records give these data for the ministers of the ,methodist ,episcopal churches4 ,the terms of service of these ministers are not more brief than those in most of the other denominations4 ,in the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church in ,ohio there were1 at the time of the ,annual ,conference in the autumn of #aiag1 #ffd pastors of country churches 7see ,table ,,vi72 #dij1 or #gd per cent of them1 were about to begin their first or second year's service in their charges2 only #agd1 or #bf per cent1 had had two years' acquaintance with their parishes2 #cah1 or #dh per cent1 were beginning their first year of service in their charges2 #agb1 or #bf per cent1 were beginning their second year2 #aaj1 or #af per cent1 were beginning their third year2 while there were only #fd1 or less than #aj per cent1 who had been as long as three years in the parishes they were serving4 ,only #h1 or a little more than #a per cent1 had served as long as five years in their parishes1 while only one man had served more than seven years4 ,,table ,,vi ,,terms ,,of ,,service ,,of ,,methodist ,,episcopal ,,country ,,ministers1 #aiag ,key3 #a ,state of ,ohio #b ,per cent #c ,ohio ,conference #d ,west ,ohio ,conference #e ,northeast ,ohio ,conference #a #b #c #d #e ,total number of ministers #ffd #ajj #add #bbf #bid ,no4 beginning #ast or #bnd year of service in their charges #dij #gd #aae #afa #bad ,no4 beginning their #ast year of service in their charges #cah #dh #gh #ig #adc ,no4 beginning their #bnd year of service in their charges #agb #bf #cg #fd #ga ,no4 beginning their #crd year of service in their charges #aaj #af #bj #cg #ec ,no4 who have been two years or more in their charges #agd #bf #bi #fe #hj ,no4 who had served three years or more in their present charges #fd #aj #i #bh #bg ,no4 who had served four years or more in their present charges #ah #c #c #b #ac ,no4 who had served five years or more in their present charges #h #a #b #a #e ,no4 who had served six years or more in their present ,less charges #c than #j #j #c one ,no4 who had served seven years or more in their present charges #a #j #j #a ,no4 who had served eight years or more in their present charges #a #j #j #a ,in ,table ,,vii it appears that in #b of the #a1agj strictly rural townships there is a church for each #ii persons or less2 that in #bbg townships there are from #ajj to #aii persons to a church2 that in #ddf there are from #bjj to #bii persons2 that in #bgj townships there are from #cjj to #cii2 that in #abb townships there are from #djj to #dii2 that in #ec townships there are from #ejj to #eii2 and that in #de townships there are #fjj persons or more to a church4 ,in other words1 in #fge1 or #eh per cent1 of the townships1 there are less than #cjj persons1 men1 women1 and children1 to a church2 in #ide1 or #ha per cent1 of the townships1 there are less than #djj2 in #a1jfg1 or #ia per cent1 there are less than #ejj2 while in #ajc1 or only #i per cent1 there are more than #ejj persons to a church4 ,,table ,,vii ,,average ,,number ,,of ,,persons ,,to ,a ,,church ,,in #a1agj ,,rural ,,townships ,average ,no4 of persons ,no4 of ,per cent to a church townships #a-ii #b ,less than #a #ajj-aii #bbg #ai #bjj-bii #ddf #ch #cjj-cii #bgj #bc #djj-dii #abb #aj #ejj-eii #ec #e ,more than #eii #de #d ,townships without any church #e ,less than #a ,less than #cjj to a church #fge #eh ,less than #djj to a church #ide #ha ,less than #ejj to a church #a1jfg #ia ,more than #ejj to a church #ajc #i ,in ,table ,,viii a comparison is made between city and country4 ,according to the ,united ,states ,census of #aiaj the population of ,ohio numbered #d1gfg1aba1 the churches #i1hij1 or #dhb persons to a church4 ,according to the data gathered in this survey in the #a1agj strictly rural townships the churches number #f1jfj4 ,in #aiaj the population in these townships numbered #a1fic1hid4 ,assuming that there has been no change in the population since #aiaj1 there is now one church for each #bhj persons4 ,but from #aijj to #aiaj there was a decline of more than #c per cent in the population of these townships4 ,if we assume that this decline has continued since #aiaj there are to-day on the average less than #bhj men1 women1 and children1 church people and non-church people1 to give and do all that must be given and done for each country church in ,ohio4 ,in such a state of facts1 poverty and weakness are inevitable4 ,upon the same assumption of no change in population or number of churches since #aiaj1 there are in the #agc suburban townships #cdb1jgg persons and #ehb churches1 or #ehg persons to a church1 while in the large towns and cities there are #b1gca1aej persons and only #c1bdh churches1 or #hda persons to a church4 ,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 membership until some method of combining country churches shall have been put into successful operation4 ,,table ,,viii ,,average ,,number ,,of ,,persons ,,to ,a ,,church ,key3 #a ,state of ,ohio #b #a1agj strictly rural townships #c #agc suburban townships #d ,large towns and cities #a #b #c #d ,population #d1gfg1aba #a1fic1hid #cdb1jgg #b1gca1aej ,no4 of churches #i1hij #f1jfj #ehb #c1bdh ,no4 of persons to a church #dhb #bhj #ehg #hda ,complete data for ministers' salaries are not available1 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 churches4 ,there were in #aiag1 #fhh pastors of rural churches of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church4 7,see ,table ,,ix47 ,these received1 on an average1 #iic per year1 or #heg and free use of parsonage4 ,six hundred and sixty-two ministers1 or #if per cent1 received less than #a1ejj per year2 #eac1 or #ge per cent1 received less than #a1bjj per year2 while #cjc1 or #dd per cent1 received less than #a1jjj4 ,in the ,united ,brethren ,church1 according to the records of its ,conferences1 in #aiag there were #ahh pastors of rural churches4 7,see ,table ,x47 ,their average salary was #ghg1 or #fhj and free use of parsonage2 not one received as much as #a1ejj salary2 #aga1 or all but #ag1 received less than #a1bjj2 while #ace1 or #gb per cent1 received less than #a1jjj4 ,not only are ministers given inadequate pay1 but the rate of its increase in relation to the increase in the cost of living gives no promise of its becoming adequate4 ,in the ,ohio ,conference of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church the average salary of the country minister in #aije was #gcc1 including the estimated rental value of parsonage1 while in #aiae it was #iae1 making an increase of #ahb1 or #be per cent1 in ten years4 ,during the same period1 however1 according to data supplied by the ,united ,states ,bureau of ,labor ,statistics1 the retail prices of food consumed by the ordinary workingman's family in the nation increased no less than #cg per cent4 ,it is probable1 on the other hand1 that the farmers have a constantly increasing ability to pay1 for in the ten-year period from #aijj to #aiaj there was1 according to the ,united ,states ,census reports1 an increase in the total value of farm property in the ,state of nearly #fj per cent4 ,,table ,,ix ,,salaries ,,of ,,methodist ,,episcopal ,,country ,,ministers1 #aiag ,key3 #a ,no4 of ministers #b ,average salary 7including estimated rental value of parsonage7 #c ,no4 of charges giving salaries less than #a1ejj #d ,per cent #e ,no4 of charges giving salaries less than #a1bjj #f ,per cent #g ,no4 of charges giving salaries less than #a1jjj #h ,per cent #a #b #c #d #e #f #g #h ,state #fhh #iic #ffb #if #eac #ge #cjc #dd ,ohio ,conference #aea #igb #ade #if #aaj #gc #gi #eb ,west ,ohio ,conference #bcg #a1jjd #bcj #ig #ahd #gh #hg #cg ,northeast ,ohio ,conference #cjj #iie #bhg #if #bai #gc #acg #df ,,table ,x ,,salaries ,,of ,,country ,,ministers1 ,,united ,,brethren ,,in ,,christ1 #aiag ,key3 #a ,no4 of ministers #b ,average salaries 7including estimated rental value of parsonage7 #c ,salaries less than #a1ejj #d ,per cent #e ,salaries less than #a1bjj #f ,per cent #g ,salaries less than #a1jjj #h ,per cent #a #b #c #d #e #f #g #h ,state #ahh #ghg #ahh #ajj #aga #ia #ace #gb ,sandusky ,conference #fc #hff #fc #ajj #eh #ib #ci #fb ,southeast ,ohio ,conference #dg #fhg #dg #ajj #dc #ia #cg #gi ,miami ,conference #db #ggi #db #ajj #cg #hh #cj #ga ,east ,ohio ,conference #cf #ghg #cf #ajj #cc #ib #bi #hj ,,chapter ,,iii ,,tabular ,,summary ,,by ,,counties ,table ,f is a summary of the principal facts disclosed by this investigation4 ,these facts are given for the strictly rural townships in each of the different counties4 ,they do not include the urban or suburban townships4 ,being intended to present the facts only as to the rural part of each county1 they should not be used as representing entire counties or the ,state as a whole4 ,in the ten-year period from #aijj to #aiaj there was a decline in the population of the strictly rural townships of #c4f per cent4 ,in only #ba counties out of the total of #hh did the rural townships increase in population1 and most of these are in mining and manufacturing regions4 ,in the strictly agricultural parts of ,franklin1 ,fairfield1 ,miami and ,licking ,counties there was an increase of from #b to #e per cent1 in ,medina and ,wayne of less than #a per cent4 ,in the other #fg counties there was a decline1 ranging all the way from #a per cent in ,erie1 ,geauga1 and ,hamilton to #ag per cent in ,paulding4 ,the average population of the strictly rural townships varies from #ijd in ,knox ,county to #b1gdc in ,miami1 and averages #a1ddh for the ,state4 ,the number of rural churches for a county varies from #cb in ,sandusky and ,lake ,counties to #acj in ,washington4 ,the number of churches to a township is five for the ,state1 but varies from #c in ,portage1 ,huron1 ,delaware1 ,geauga1 ,cuyahoga1 and ,ashtabula ,counties to #i in ,allen and ,stark4 ,the average number of persons to each country church is #bhj for the ,state1 but varies from #ahb in ,vinton ,county to #dcc in ,cuyahoga4 ,the number of open country churches varies from #e in ,butler ,county to #hb in ,washington4 ,the number of churches with a resident minister varies from #i in ,jackson ,county to #de in ,wood4 ,the number of churches without a resident minister varies from #ag in ,lake ,county to #ajc in ,washington4 ,those with full time service of a minister vary in number from #a in ,pickaway1 ,noble1 and ,jackson ,counties to #be in ,columbiana and ,wayne4 ,in one county1 ,wyandot1 there are no churches without some part of a minister's time4 ,in ,clermont ,county there are no less than #cj of them4 ,,table ,f ,,summary ,,by ,,counties ,,of ,,data ,,for ,,the #a1agj ,,strictly ,,rural ,,townships 7,excluding townships in which the population is urban1 in which are villages of more than #b1ejj inhabitants or in which are parts of large town or city parishes1 and those which border on cities and large towns47 #a4 ,population for #aiaj4 #b4 ,population for #aijj4 #c4 ,per cent increase 77 or decrease 7-74 #d4 ,no4 of strictly rural townships4 #e4 ,average ,no4 of persons to a township4 #f4 ,no4 of churches4 #g4 ,average ,no4 of churches to a township4 #h4 ,average ,no4 of persons to a church4 #i4 ,no4 of churches with a resident minister4 #aj4 ,no4 of churches without a resident minister4 #aa4 ,no4 of churches with full time service of a minister4 #ab4 ,no4 of churches with #a_/b of a minister's service4 #ac4 ,no4 of churches with #a_/c of a minister's service4 #ad4 ,no4 of churches with #a_/d of a minister's service4 #ae4 ,no4 of churches with less than #a_/d of a minister's service4 #af4 ,no4 of churches with no regular service of a minister4 #ag4 ,no4 of churches for which ministerial service data are not available4 #ah4 ,no4 of churches with from #a to #be members4 #ai4 ,no4 of churches with from #bf to #ej members4 #bj4 ,no4 of churches with from #ea to #ge members4 #ba4 ,no4 of churches with from #gf to #ajj members4 #bb4 ,no4 of churches with from #aja to #aej members4 #bc4 ,no4 of churches with from #aea to #bjj members4 #bd4 ,no4 of churches with more than #bjj members4 #be4 ,no4 of churches whose membership is not reported4 #bf4 ,no4 of churches in villages containing from #ea to #b1ejj inhabitants4 #bg4 ,no4 of churches in the open country 7including villages of less than #ea inhabitants74 #bh4 ,no4 of townships from #a to #ajj persons to a church4 #bi4 ,no4 of townships with from #aja to #bjj persons to a church4 #cj4 ,no4 of townships with from #bja to #cjj persons to a church4 #ca4 ,no4 of townships with from #cja to #djj persons to a church4 #cb4 ,no4 of townships with from #dja to #ejj persons to a church4 #cc4 ,no4 of townships with from #eja to #fjj persons to a church4 #cd4 ,no4 of townships with more than #fjj persons to a church4 #ce4 ,no4 of villages containing from #ea to #bjj inhabitants4 #cf4 ,no4 of villages containing from #ea to #bjj inhabitants having a resident minister4 #cg4 ,no4 of ministers resident in villages containing from #ea to #bjj inhabitants4 #ch4 ,no4 of villages containing from #bja to #ejj inhabitants4 #ci4 ,no4 of villages containing from #bja to #ejj inhabitants having a resident minister4 #dj4 ,no4 of ministers resident in villages containing from #bja to #ejj inhabitants4 #da4 ,no4 of villages of more than #ejj inhabitants4 #db4 ,no4 of villages of more than #ejj inhabitants having a resident minister4 #dc4 ,no4 of ministers resident in villages of more than #ejj inhabitants4 #dd4 ,no4 of villages of #bja to #b1ejj inhabitants without a church4 #de4 ,no4 of villages of #ea to #bjj inhabitants without a church4 ,key3 ,a ,state ,b ,adams ,c ,allen ,d ,ashland ,e ,ashtabula ,f ,athens ,g ,auglaize ,h ,belmont ,a ,b ,c ,d ,e ,f ,g ,h 7#a7 #a1fic1iea #bd1gee #ad1hbj #ae1jdf #bd1dbj #ag1cgb #ae1hjc #cc1baf 7#b7 #a1geb1icd #bf1cbh #ae1beb #ae1hfj #bc1fag #af1cec #af1iga #bf1jjc 7#c7 -#c4c -#h -#e -#e #c4c #f -#g #bg4e 7#d7 #a1agj #ad #g #ad #bd #aa #aa #ac 7#e7 #a1ddh #a1gfh #b1aag #a1jge #a1jah #a1egi #a1dcg #b1eee 7#f7 #f1jfj #ic #fb #fe #gh #gf #dd #if 7#g7 #e #g #i #e #c #g #d #g 7#h7 #bhj #bff #bcg #bca #cac #bbi #cei #ceb 7#i7 #b1jec #bd #be #ce #cf #af #ad #cj 7#aj7 #d1jjg #fi #cg #cj #db #fj #cj #ff 7#aa7 #ihb #aa #aa #ah #bd #b #aj #ad 7#ab7 #a1eha #ae #ba #bd #ai #b #aj #bg 7#ac7 #a1abe #bh #ag #ad #af #aj #g #ae 7#ad7 #igj #aj #i #d #h #ah #ab #aj 7#ae7 #fbi #ab #a #j #j #cj #b #ad 7#af7 #gba #ag #c #e #aa #ad #a #af 7#ag7 #eb #j #j #j #j #j #b #j 7#ah7 #fea #ab #f #e #ae #ai #j #g 7#ai7 #a1aff #bd #ag #d #ah #bc #af #ag 7#bj7 #hhg #af #i #ad #af #ag #e #ad 7#ba7 #fdg #e #g #i #f #i #d #af 7#bb7 #geg #aa #i #ab #aa #d #c #h 7#bc7 #cge #d #h #f #c #j #b #h 7#bd7 #deh #g #f #e #e #j #e #ac 7#be7 #a1aai #ad #j #aj #d #d #i #ac 7#bf7 #c1bec #cg #cb #ch #ej #cf #be #fa 7#bg7 #b1hjg #ef #cj #bg #bh #da #ai #ce 7#bh7 #b #j #j #j #j #j #j #j 7#bi7 #bbg #a #b #c #d #g #j #b 7#cj7 #ddf #h #d #f #f #c #f #d 7#ca7 #bgj #d #a #c #h #j #b #a 7#cb7 #abb #j #j #b #c #j #a #e 7#cc7 #ec #a #j #j #a #a #a #j 7#cd7 #de #j #j #j #b #j #a #a 7#ce7 #fgg #i #b #e #ae4e #i #e #ac 7#cf7 #bcc4e #a #a #c #f4e #b #a #d 7#cg7 #bga #a #a #e #h #b #a #d 7#ch7 #dhh #e #e #f #aa #i #e #h 7#ci7 #cfj #b #e #e #h #f #c #g 7#dj7 #ecf #d #aj #ac #ac #aa #d #h 7#da7 #cag4e #d #b #b #d #b #c #h 7#db7 #cjg4e #d #b #b #d #b #c #g 7#dc7 #hif #ad #i #aj #aa #d #f #ah 7#dd7 #d #j #j #j #j #j #j #j 7#de7 #aae #b #j #a #j #j #a #a ,key3 ,a ,brown ,b ,butler ,c ,carroll ,d ,champaign ,e ,clark ,f ,clermont ,g ,clinton ,h ,columbiana ,a ,b ,c ,d ,e ,f ,g ,h 7#a7 #bd1hcb #aa1jde #ae1gfa #ag1dbh #af1dce #bi1eea #ag1dfe #ai1hij 7#b7 #bh1bcg #ab1dcf #aa1hed #ah1fbf #ag1jgh #ca1faj #ah1ggi #bj1bfj 7#c7 -#ab -#aa #cc -#f4d -#c4e -#f4g -#f4i -#b 7#d7 #af #g #ad #aa #i #ad #ab #ab 7#e7 #a1eeb #a1egh #a1abf #a1ehd #a1hbf #b1aaa #a1dee #a1feg 7#f7 #gi #cf #eh #fj #ef #aai #eb #fi 7#g7 #e #e #d #e #f #h #d #f 7#h7 #cad #cjg #bgb #bij #bic #bdi #ccf #bhh 7#i7 #bb #af #ba #bc #bb #cb #bf #cb 7#aj7 #eg #bj #cg #cg #cd #hg #bf #cg 7#aa7 #aj #i #e #ab #ad #ac #bb #be 7#ab7 #bc #ac #ai #bj #aa #ca #i #ai 7#ac7 #ad #h #ac #aa #ae #af #e #i 7#ad7 #ad #j #ab #f #aj #ad #f #f 7#ae7 #aj #b #e #d #a #ae #f #j 7#af7 #h #c #d #g #e #cj #d #aj 7#ag7 #j #a #j #j #j #j #j #j 7#ah7 #aj #d #b #c #c #be #a #e 7#ai7 #ae #c #aa #g #h #cf #f #g 7#bj7 #i #d #g #h #f #bc #h #ac 7#ba7 #ab #e #d #d #i #e #b #i 7#bb7 #ac #f #aj #aa #h #f #h #af 7#bc7 #d #b #h #b #b #h #d #e 7#bd7 #g #c #c #e #f #i #f #aj 7#be7 #i #i #ac #bj #ad #g #ag #d 7#bf7 #da #ca #cg #ce #cf #hc #dj #dc 7#bg7 #ch #e #ba #be #bj #cf #ab #bf 7#bh7 #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #j 7#bi7 #a #j #c #j #a #f #j #j 7#cj7 #h #d #e #g #d #d #c #g 7#ca7 #e #b #c #c #b #c #f #d 7#cb7 #a #a #a #a #a #j #j #j 7#cc7 #a #j #a #j #a #a #b #a 7#cd7 #j #j #a #j #j #j #a #j 7#ce7 #h #f #f #aj #g #bd #aj #h 7#cf7 #d #b #b #d #c #d #c #e 7#cg7 #d #b #b #e #c #e #c #f 7#ch7 #e #g #d #d #h4e #h #f4e #h 7#ci7 #d #e #c #d #f #f #e4e #e 7#dj7 #f #g #g #f #aj #g #h #g 7#da7 #e #a #c4e #c #b #g #c #b 7#db7 #e #a #c #c #b #g #c #b 7#dc7 #aj #e #aa #i #g #ag #aa #i 7#dd7 #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #j 7#de7 #a #c #a #j #b #c #j #e ,key3 ,a ,coshocton ,b ,crawford ,c ,cuyahoga ,d ,darke ,e ,defiance ,f ,delaware ,g ,erie ,h ,fairfield ,a ,b ,c ,d ,e ,f ,g ,h 7#a7 #ai1cbd #ab1gdi #ai1ibh #cj1gjb #ae1fah #ag1aaj #ad1hjd #ag1aic 7#b7 #bj1iih #ad1bbe #ag1dff #ca1bic #ag1jha #ag1dfa #ad1ibc #af1gef 7#c7 -#h -#aj4e #ad -#a4h -#h4e -#b -#a #b 7#d7 #ba #ac #ad #ah #aj #ag #i #i 7#e7 #ibj #iha #a1dbc #a1gjf #a1efb #a1jjf #a1fde #a1hba 7#f7 #ha #ea #df #if #fb #ei #da #gd 7#g7 #d #d #c #e #f #c #e #h 7#h7 #bci #bej #dcc #cbj #beb #bij #cfa #bbb 7#i7 #ag #ah #bc #cf #af #ad #be #bb 7#aj7 #fd #cc #bc #fj #df #de #af #eb 7#aa7 #e #ac #ae #bb #aa #f #ae #d 7#ab7 #bb #ab #bc #bf #i #bd #bj #ah 7#ac7 #i #ac #b #ad #ad #ad #b #af 7#ad7 #bg #f #j #ag #i #g #j #bi 7#ae7 #aj #e #j #e #ac #j #j #f 7#af7 #g #a #e #aa #e #h #d #a 7#ag7 #a #a #a #a #a #j #j #j 7#ah7 #f #a #d #c #ac #i #e #g 7#ai7 #aj #ab #ab #ah #ag #aj #g #ad 7#bj7 #aa #g #c #ah #f #i #a #ab 7#ba7 #aj #g #g #ac #e #ab #c #i 7#bb7 #aa #h #e #af #e #i #i #af 7#bc7 #c #b #b #g #j #b #a #f 7#bd7 #d #e #d #aj #e #c #c #d 7#be7 #bf #i #i #aa #aa #e #ab #f 7#bf7 #dg #ba #cj #ea #bc #cj #cc #cg 7#bg7 #cd #cj #af #de #ci #bi #h #cg 7#bh7 #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #j 7#bi7 #f #e #j #a #b #d #j #b 7#cj7 #f #d #d #e #e #c #c #g 7#ca7 #h #c #c #h #c #e #c #j 7#cb7 #a #a #c #d #j #b #b #j 7#cc7 #j #j #a #j #j #b #j #j 7#cd7 #j #j #c #j #j #a #a #j 7#ce7 #bj4e #h #e #ad #b #i #f #e 7#cf7 #g #d #c #f #a #a #b #b 7#cg7 #i #d #d #h #a #a #b #b 7#ch7 #e4e #c #f #h4e #d #g #j #g 7#ci7 #b #b #e #d #j #f #j #f 7#dj7 #c #c #g #e #j #i #j #aa 7#da7 #b #a #c #d4e #b #b #f #c 7#db7 #b #a #c #d4e #b #b #f #c 7#dc7 #e #d #f #aj #h #c #ba #h 7#dd7 #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #j 7#de7 #j #b #j #d #j #j #d #a ,key3 ,a ,fayette ,b ,franklin ,c ,fulton ,d ,gallia ,e ,geauga ,f ,greene ,g ,guernsey ,h ,hamilton ,a ,b ,c ,d ,e ,f ,g ,h 7#a7 #ab1cdb #be1bdf #ai1eca #ai1edf #ad1fgj #ag1gbd #ba1gja #ac1dhg 7#b7 #ac1ceg #bd1jbc #ah1ggg #bj1igc #ad1gdd #ai1bhd #ba1cfi #ac1fdd 7#c7 -#h #e #d -#g -#a -#h #b -#a 7#d7 #i #ad #aa #ad #af #aa #ag #f 7#e7 #a1cga #a1hjc #a1ggf #a1cif #iag #a1faa #a1bgg #b1bdh 7#f7 #dh #gc #ef #ii #dj #fd #ha #dj 7#g7 #e #e #e #g #c #f #e #g 7#h7 #beg #cdf #cdi #aig #cfg #bgg #bfh #ccg 7#i7 #aj #bf #bd #ad #ai #bh #bf #ah 7#aj7 #ch #dg #cb #he #ba #cf #ee #bb 7#aa7 #c #ac #ac #c #aa #ag #h #ab 7#ab7 #h #ab #ae #g #i #ai #bb #g 7#ac7 #g #bd #i #ad #aj #af #af #f 7#ad7 #aj #ah #aj #ac #j #e #ba #f 7#ae7 #ai #j #b #dh #j #c #e #c 7#af7 #a #e #d #ad #aj #d #h #f 7#ag7 #j #a #c #j #j #j #a #j 7#ah7 #g #a #aa #h #d #d #g #a 7#ai7 #ac #h #g #bi #ab #i #ad #e 7#bj7 #i #h #h #ag #f #ab #af #g 7#ba7 #f #aj #f #ab #b #h #ae #a 7#bb7 #e #ah #f #e #g #af #ab #c 7#bc7 #b #b #d #b #c #c #i #d 7#bd7 #b #i #d #c #a #g #f #f 7#be7 #d #ag #aj #bc #e #e #b #ac 7#bf7 #bc #dd #bf #bi #bf #ci #da #bd 7#bg7 #be #bi #cj #gj #ad #be #dj #af 7#bh7 #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #j 7#bi7 #b #j #a #g #a #b #e #a 7#cj7 #c #d #c #f #d #d #f #a 7#ca7 #c #f #c #a #d #d #b #b 7#cb7 #a #a #b #j #c #j #c #b 7#cc7 #j #b #j #j #a #a #j #j 7#cd7 #j #j #b #j #c #j #a #j 7#ce7 #g #f #a #ac #e #e #g #d 7#cf7 #b #b #j #d #b #c #a #b 7#cg7 #b #b #j #d #c #c #a #b 7#ch7 #d #h #d #e #d #d4e #f #b 7#ci7 #b #e #c #d #d #c #f #a 7#dj7 #b #g #d #e #e #f #aa #a 7#da7 #b #e #d #j #c #d #f #d4e 7#db7 #b #e #d #j #c #d #f #d4e 7#dc7 #d #ad #ag #j #h #af #ac #aa 7#dd7 #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #j 7#de7 #d #a #c #a #j #j #j #j ,key3 ,a ,hancock ,b ,hardin ,c ,harrison ,d ,henry ,e ,highland ,f ,hocking ,g ,holmes ,h ,huron ,a ,b ,c ,d ,e ,f ,g ,h 7#a7 #ag1ghb #bj1hfc #ai1jgf #ai1ihh #ag1chb #af1icd #ag1iji #ae1ecb 7#b7 #ah1ihh #ba1hdg #bj1dhf #bb1cfh #ai1ejd #ai1ahc #ai1eaa #ad1add 7#c7 -#g -#d -#f -#aa -#aa -#ab -#h #aj 7#d7 #ad #ac #ae #ab #ae #aj #ad #ae 7#e7 #a1bgj #a1fje #a1bgb #a1fff #a1aei #a1fic #a1bgi #a1jce 7#f7 #gh #ff #gc #fc #fi #gb #fb #di 7#g7 #f #e #e #e #e #g #d #c 7#h7 #bbh #caf #bfa #cag #beb #bce #bhi #cag 7#i7 #bc #bj #cj #bf #ai #aj #bi #ba 7#aj7 #ee #df #dc #cg #ej #fb #cc #bh 7#aa7 #i #i #h #aj #g #b #aj #ab 7#ab7 #bb #ad #bf #ah #aa #f #ce #bc 7#ac7 #af #ag #ag #bc #ab #ab #h #g 7#ad7 #bf #h #bj #f #ae #g #a #c 7#ae7 #j #h #j #a #i #cc #j #j 7#af7 #e #h #b #d #ab #aj #h #d 7#ag7 #j #b #j #a #c #b #j #j 7#ah7 #h #a #e #h #d #e #aj #g 7#ai7 #ae #g #h #aa #ae #aa #h #h 7#bj7 #ae #aj #ad #aj #aj #g #e #g 7#ba7 #ab #aj #ab #h #e #c #g #i 7#bb7 #ag #e #af #g #g #b #aa #g 7#bc7 #e #e #g #b #g #c #aa #d 7#bd7 #d #f #i #h #d #a #i #b 7#be7 #b #bb #b #i #ag #dj #a #e 7#bf7 #cj #cj #di #ci #cf #bb #bi #ce 7#bg7 #dh #cf #bd #bd #cc #ej #cc #ad 7#bh7 #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #j 7#bi7 #e #a #c #a #b #g #b #b 7#cj7 #g #d #f #e #h #a #g #d 7#ca7 #a #g #d #c #e #a #b #d 7#cb7 #j #a #a #a #j #j #b #b 7#cc7 #j #j #a #a #j #a #j #b 7#cd7 #a #j #j #a #j #j #a #a 7#ce7 #e #c #g #f #aa #a #e4e #f 7#cf7 #j #a #c #j #c #j #c4e #a 7#cg7 #j #a #d #j #c #j #d #a 7#ch7 #g #d #f #d #f #f #g4e #b 7#ci7 #g #c #d #b #f #b #g #a 7#dj7 #ac #d #h #c #h #c #aj #a 7#da7 #b #e #f #e #b #c #a #e 7#db7 #b #e #f #e #b #a #a #e 7#dc7 #g #ac #ag #ag #e #c #e #ag 7#dd7 #j #j #j #j #j #a #j #j 7#de7 #j #b #a #d #c #j #j #a ,key3 ,a ,jackson ,b ,jefferson ,c ,knox ,d ,lake ,e ,lawrence ,f ,licking ,g ,logan ,h ,lorain ,i ,lucas ,a ,b ,c ,d ,e ,f ,g ,h ,i 7#a7 #aj1iif #bi1bfb #ah1ihi #ac1cbf #bc1bjb #bh1egc #bj1cca #bb1afg #ad1bcj 7#b7 #ab1jji #ah1iei #ai1ieg #ab1cih #bd1fdd #bg1gae #bb1dah #ba1cbh #ac1dif 7#c7 -#h #ee -#e #g -#f #c -#aj #d #e 7#d7 #i #aa #ba #g #ac #be #ae #af #aj 7#e7 #a1bbb #b1ffj #ijd #a1ijd #a1ghe #a1adc #a1cee #a1che #a1dbc 7#f7 #eg #gg #hj #cb #hg #aac #ga #ef #da 7#g7 #f #g #d #e #g #e #e #d #d 7#h7 #aic #chj #bcg #daf #bfg #bec #bhf #cif #cdg 7#i7 #i #cc #be #ae #af #cd #cb #ca #af 7#aj7 #dh #dd #ee #ag #ga #gi #ci #be #be 7#aa7 #a #aa #aj #i #e #ag #ai #bb #f 7#ab7 #g #bf #bf #aj #ab #bb #bd #ba #ab 7#ac7 #f #aa #ah #i #ab #bd #aa #f #af 7#ad7 #aj #ai #ag #c #ai #aj #aj #j #b 7#ae7 #ab #c #j #j #cj #ad #j #j #j 7#af7 #ba #g #i #a #i #bf #e #g #b 7#ag7 #j #j #j #j #j #j #b #j #c 7#ah7 #e #d #f #e #ae #ad #c #d #aa 7#ai7 #aj #ae #f #aj #bh #bf #ag #i #h 7#bj7 #c #ab #bf #b #ae #ad #c #aj #f 7#ba7 #j #d #ab #b #ac #ah #g #d #a 7#bb7 #b #f #aa #f #g #i #h #h #c 7#bc7 #a #h #h #a #c #e #f #b #b 7#bd7 #j #h #d #d #b #ac #i #d #b 7#be7 #cf #bj #g #b #d #ad #ah #ae #h 7#bf7 #ad #ec #dh #ai #be #fc #df #cg #bc 7#bg7 #dc #bd #cb #ac #fb #ej #be #ai #ah 7#bh7 #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #j 7#bi7 #f #c #i #j #b #h #b #a #j 7#cj7 #a #b #f #j #g #i #f #d #d 7#ca7 #a #b #b #e #a #f #e #c #a 7#cb7 #a #j #b #a #a #b #a #d #d 7#cc7 #j #b #a #j #a #j #a #c #a 7#cd7 #j #b #a #a #a #j #j #a #j 7#ce7 #f #g #aa #b4e #h #aa #f4e #f #e 7#cf7 #d #b #e #j #b #d #j #c #d 7#cg7 #d #b #e #j #b #d #j #d #d 7#ch7 #j #f #g #b #d #h4e #e #c #a 7#ci7 #j #e #e #b #j #f #d #c #a 7#dj7 #j #f #i #b #j #aj #g #e #a 7#da7 #a #h #c #c #c #f #g #d #d 7#db7 #a #h #c #c #c #f #g #d #d 7#dc7 #d #bc #i #f #c #ac #ba #ac #i 7#dd7 #j #a #j #j #j #j #j #j #j 7#de7 #j #c #j #j #b #c #j #b #j ,key3 ,a ,madison ,b ,mahoning ,c ,marion ,d ,medina ,e ,meigs ,f ,mercer ,g ,miami ,h ,monroe ,i ,montgomery ,a ,b ,c ,d ,e ,f ,g ,h ,i 7#a7 #ae1cfc #ai1jjg #ac1geh #ae1aeh #af1afb #bb1heb #bj1fed #ai1idj #ah1fdb 7#b7 #ae1iaa #af1hfj #ae1def #ae1ajg #ah1ifa #bc1gci #bj1adc #bc1cgc #ah1aaf 7#c7 -#c #ac -#aa 4#c -#ae -#d #c -#ae #c 7#d7 #ac #ab #ad #ad #aa #ac #h #ag #h 7#e7 #a1ahb #a1ehd #ihc #a1jhc #a1dfi #a1geh #b1gdc #a1agc #b1ccj 7#f7 #df #ff #ef #eb #ia #hb #fi #ic #fb 7#g7 #d #f #d #d #h #f #h #e #h 7#h7 #ccd #bhh #bdf #bib #agh #bgi #cah #bad #cja 7#i7 #ad #cc #ae #bh #af #ci #cc #bb #bc 7#aj7 #cb #cc #da #bd #ge #dc #cf #ga #ci 7#aa7 #e #ba #d #bj #b #bf #bg #f #ab 7#ab7 #ab #be #ac #ai #aj #ba #bc #ae #bf 7#ac7 #aj #aa #ba #i #aj #ac #g #ab #i 7#ad7 #ac #d #aa #j #ai #ad #e #be #g 7#ae7 #j #j #j #j #ca #c #j #aa #j 7#af7 #e #e #f #d #ai #b #g #bd #h 7#ag7 #a #j #a #j #j #c #j #j #j 7#ah7 #aj #c #e #f #ba #f #e #ah #b 7#ai7 #e #aj #aj #ac #ce #ab #e #bc #i 7#bj7 #b #aa #i #g #aa #h #f #bd #e 7#ba7 #aj #ac #g #f #f #aj #aj #h #i 7#bb7 #e #aa #g #g #e #ab #ab #i #aj 7#bc7 #j #e #b #e #a #e #c #d #f 7#bd7 #g #e #c #d #j #ag #aj #b #f 7#be7 #g #h #ac #d #ab #ab #ah #e #ae 7#bf7 #cj #db #bc #bg #ej #ce #dg #dj #cg 7#bg7 #af #bd #cc #be #dj #dg #bc #ec #be 7#bh7 #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #j 7#bi7 #a #c #b #b #h #a #a #g #a 7#cj7 #b #b #h #g #b #i #d #f #c 7#ca7 #f #c #c #b #a #a #b #d #j 7#cb7 #a #b #j #b #j #a #a #j #c 7#cc7 #j #a #a #a #j #a #j #j #a 7#cd7 #b #a #j #j #j #j #j #j #j 7#ce7 #f #h #b #f #bj #i #g #ac #d 7#cf7 #a #d #j #e #d #c #b #f #a 7#cg7 #a #e #j #f #d #g #b #h #a 7#ch7 #c #f #d #e #f #b4e #f #c #h 7#ci7 #c #e #c #d #d #b4e #e #a #g 7#dj7 #d #i #d #h #f #d #h #b #aa 7#da7 #c #d4e #c #c #c #f #c4e #d #b 7#db7 #c #d4e #c #c #b #f #c4e #c #b 7#dc7 #h #ad #i #g #e #af #aa #g #f 7#dd7 #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #j 7#de7 #j #a #a #a #j #c #a #d #a ,key3 ,a ,morgan ,b ,morrow ,c ,muskingum ,d ,noble ,e ,ottawa ,f ,paulding ,g ,perry ,h ,pickaway ,i ,pike ,a ,b ,c ,d ,e ,f ,g ,h ,i 7#a7 #af1jig #af1hae #bb1fdc #ah1fja #ah1cai #bb1gcj #be1agg #ah1iea #ae1gbc 7#b7 #ag1ije #ag1hgi #bc1hec #ai1dff #ah1hhj #bg1ebh #be1hgg #ai1egc #ah1agb 7#c7 -#aj -#f -#e -#d -#c -#ag -#c -#c -#ac 7#d7 #ad #af #ba #ae #aa #ab #ab #ad #ad 7#e7 #a1aej #a1jea #a1jgh #a1bdj #a1ffe #a1hid #b1jih #a1ced #a1abc 7#f7 #hc #gj #aja #ge #ej #ge #hh #eh #gd 7#g7 #f #d #e #e #e #f #g #d #e 7#h7 #aid #bdj #bbd #bdh #cff #cjc #bhf #cbg #baa 7#i7 #ad #bg #cc #ae #bf #bd #bh #ac #ac 7#aj7 #fi #dc #fh #fj #bd #ea #fj #de #fa 7#aa7 #e #aa #i #a #ag #ab #ac #a #d 7#ab7 #aj #be #bf #ad #ag #ai #ba #f #c 7#ac7 #aa #ag #ab #g #d #ad #ab #ba #c 7#ad7 #ag #h #bi #ba #f #ah #f #bd #f 7#ae7 #ba #b #aj #ag #j #e #bc #d #bi 7#af7 #ai #g #ac #ae #f #e #ab #b #bg 7#ag7 #j #j #b #j #j #b #a #j #b 7#ah7 #ab #ab #d #h #d #g #e #f #ad 7#ai7 #cj #i #f #aj #d #bj #bj #ad #ac 7#bj7 #ai #ac #ae #g #h #d #i #ag #d 7#ba7 #f #g #g #e #e #e #h #d #a 7#bb7 #f #ab #ac #aa #f #c #aj #h #b 7#bc7 #j #b #f #b #f #d #e #d #b 7#bd7 #b #d #e #b #b #g #i #d #a 7#be7 #h #aa #de #cj #ae #be #bb #a #cg 7#bf7 #ca #cb #ej #cc #db #dd #df #bc #bj 7#bg7 #eb #ch #ea #db #h #ca #db #ce #ed 7#bh7 #a #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #j 7#bi7 #e #c #aj #d #a #j #c #b #e 7#cj7 #g #aj #f #f #d #f #d #c #f 7#ca7 #a #b #d #d #a #d #c #b #c 7#cb7 #j #a #a #a #c #b #a #c #j 7#cc7 #j #j #j #j #a #j #a #b #j 7#cd7 #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #b #j 7#ce7 #ab #e #ab4e #f #f #e #g #d #g 7#cf7 #a #c #f #b #d #j #b #j #b 7#cg7 #a #e #i #b #e #j #b #j #b 7#ch7 #d #e #e #h #g #e4e #e #f #c 7#ci7 #d #d #c #e #d #c4e #d #e #c 7#dj7 #e #g #c #f #f #e #g #e #c 7#da7 #b #b #d4e #b #d #d #f #c #b 7#db7 #b #b #d4e #b #d #d #f #c #b 7#dc7 #g #i #ah #e #ae #ag #af #g #e 7#dd7 #j #j #j #j #j #j #a #j #j 7#de7 #j #j #b #j #b #b #j #c #a ,key3 ,a ,portage ,b ,preble ,c ,putnam ,d ,richland ,e ,ross ,f ,sandusky ,g ,scioto ,h ,seneca ,i ,shelby ,a ,b ,c ,d ,e ,f ,g ,h ,i 7#a7 #ah1cgi #ah1iba #bi1igb #ag1gfj #bb1dfj #ac1cih #ai1chj #af1gif #af1fdh 7#b7 #ah1hbg #ah1hch #cb1ebe #ah1eag #be1geh #ae1jci #bj1jgh #ah1jhg #ag1ghh 7#c7 -#b 4#e -#h -#d -#ac -#aa -#c -#g -#f 7#d7 #ai #aa #ae #af #ad #h #ad #aa #ac 7#e7 #a1ifg #a1fhj #a1iih #a1aaj #a1fjd #a1fge #a1chd #a1ebg #a1bha 7#f7 #dh #ef #hb #ff #hi #cb #hc #fc #ej 7#g7 #c #e #e #d #f #d #f #f #d 7#h7 #chc #cda #cff #bfi #beb #dai #bcc #bfg #ccc 7#i7 #ah #bg #cd #bj #be #aa #af #bg #bd 7#aj7 #cj #bi #dh #df #fd #ba #fg #cf #bf 7#aa7 #ab #ag #bd #i #h #g #c #ab #ab 7#ab7 #ai #bc #ai #bc #ab #g #ag #ba #ad 7#ac7 #e #h #d #ac #ac #h #h #ac #g 7#ad7 #d #c #bj #ac #af #b #ad #ac #i 7#ae7 #j #a #e #j #bg #c #be #j #e 7#af7 #h #d #i #h #aa #e #ad #d #c 7#ag7 #j #j #a #j #b #j #b #j #j 7#ah7 #b #a #ab #g #ab #d #g #c #d 7#ai7 #h #c #aj #ac #aa #f #ba #ac #aa 7#bj7 #h #h #h #aa #d #c #d #aa #e 7#ba7 #d #i #c #ad #ab #e #d #d #d 7#bb7 #ab #ag #aj #h #b #c #b #h #f 7#bc7 #d #e #f #g #a #a #b #e #g 7#bd7 #d #f #ag #j #c #a #d #g #c 7#be7 #f #g #af #f #dd #i #ci #ab #aj 7#bf7 #ce #cf #ec #bi #cg #ba #cf #cf #bh 7#bg7 #ac #bj #bi #cg #eb #aa #dg #bg #bb 7#bh7 #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #j 7#bi7 #j #j #j #c #c #a #d #a #a 7#cj7 #c #e #g #h #f #a #f #f #e 7#ca7 #h #b #b #b #d #b #c #c #b 7#cb7 #d #b #j #j #a #a #a #a #d 7#cc7 #b #j #b #j #j #a #j #j #j 7#cd7 #b #b #c #b #j #b #j #j #a 7#ce7 #aa #f #e #g #aa #d #ab #h #g 7#cf7 #g #a #a #c #d #b #b #c #c 7#cg7 #i #a #a #c #e #b #b #c #d 7#ch7 #g #e #i #a #f #c #g #f #g 7#ci7 #f #d #h #a #e #c #e #d #f 7#dj7 #g #f #aa #b #g #c #g #f #g 7#da7 #b #d #f #d4e #d #c #a #b4e #b 7#db7 #b #d #f #d4e #d #b #a #b4e #b 7#dc7 #c #ad #bj #ab #h #f #b #aa #e 7#dd7 #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #j #j 7#de7 #b #a #b #j #b #d #j #b #b ,key3 ,a ,stark ,b ,summit ,c ,trumbull ,d ,tuscarawas ,e ,union ,f ,van ,wert ,g ,vinton ,h ,warren ,a ,b ,c ,d ,e ,f ,g ,h 7#a7 #cj1ihd #aa1fhf #bc1ddi #bb1chg #ag1ahc #ad1ihb #ac1jif #ae1ahh 7#b7 #ca1fda #aa1dca #bb1jcj #bb1iig #ah1jgf #af1fhb #ae1ccj #ae1hfa 7#c7 -#b #b #f -#c -#e -#aj -#ae -#d 7#d7 #ac #aj #ba #ah #ac #i #ab #i 7#e7 #b1chc #a1afi #a1aag #a1bdd #a1cbb #a1ffe #a1jia #a1fhh 7#f7 #aab #db #gd #hc #fc #fc #gb #ef 7#g7 #i #d #d #e #e #g #f #f 7#h7 #bgg #cgh #cag #bgj #bgc #bci #ahb #bga 7#i7 #dc #ag #bf #be #ag #af #af #ah 7#aj7 #fi #be #dh #eh #df #dg #ef #ch 7#aa7 #ah #g #ah #h #g #c #i #h 7#ab7 #ea #ag #ce #bj #ag #ag #i #ai 7#ac7 #bb #aj #ab #bd #ab #ah #g #ab 7#ad7 #ab #e #j #bj #ae #ah #af #e 7#ae7 #j #j #j #d #a #b #be #g 7#af7 #i #c #i #g #i #d #f #e 7#ag7 #j #j #j #j #b #a #j #j 7#ah7 #aj #aa #ac #e #g #e #ba #f 7#ai7 #af #h #e #ae #af #d #bg #ae 7#bj7 #aa #i #ba #af #aj #aj #i #i 7#ba7 #ag #f #f #f #d #h #d #aa 7#bb7 #be #b #h #f #h #g #h #c 7#bc7 #ac #a #f #h #e #c #a #e 7#bd7 #h #a #i #h #c #e #a #a 7#be7 #aa #d #f #ai #aj #ba #a #f 7#bf7 #gd #cj #dg #dh #cg #bb #bi #ce 7#bg7 #ch #ab #bg #ce #bf #da #dc #ba 7#bh7 #j #j #j #a #j #j #j #j 7#bi7 #j #a #b #d #b #b #i #a 7#cj7 #g #e #h #d #h #e #a #d 7#ca7 #e #a #f #d #a #b #b #c 7#cb7 #a #c #d #d #a #j #j #j 7#cc7 #j #j #a #j #a #j #j #a 7#cd7 #j #j #j #a #j #j #j #j 7#ce7 #g #e #ac #g #aj #f #aj #h 7#cf7 #b #d #d #a #g #b #d #j 7#cg7 #c #f #d #a #g #b #d #j 7#ch7 #ae #e #f #aa #d #c4e #c #e 7#ci7 #ab #b #b #f #b #c4e #b #e 7#dj7 #ac #c #c #aj #b #e #d #g 7#da7 #g #b #e #d #b4e #c #b #d 7#db7 #g #b #e #d #a #c #b #d 7#dc7 #ba #e #ab #h #e #f #f #i 7#dd7 #j #j #j #a #j #j #j #j 7#de7 #a #b #b #a #a #b #j #j ,key3 ,a ,washington ,b ,wayne ,c ,williams ,d ,wood ,e ,wyandot ,a ,b ,c ,d ,e 7#a7 #bi1dji #bd1jgi #af1chd #cb1iea #ae1haa 7#b7 #cb1dha #bc1hie #ag1ddj #cg1cgh #af1ejh 7#c7 -#i 4#g -#f -#ab -#d 7#d7 #ba #ac #aj #af #ab 7#e7 #a1djj #a1heb #a1fch #b1jei #a1cah 7#f7 #acj #hd #ff #aje #ej 7#g7 #f #f #g #g #d 7#h7 #bbf #bii #bdh #cad #caf 7#i7 #bg #db #bb #de #bb 7#aj7 #ajc #db #dd #fj #bh 7#aa7 #f #be #g #bc #e 7#ab7 #ai #cc #ah #bb #ac 7#ac7 #cd #ab #ai #bi #bc 7#ad7 #ba #h #ae #f #i 7#ae7 #bb #j #d #aa #j 7#af7 #bh #f #c #h #j 7#ag7 #j #j #j #f #j 7#ah7 #bf #b #h #aj #d 7#ai7 #cf #ae #af #bj #h 7#bj7 #ag #ai #i #aa #g 7#ba7 #ah #g #d #h #c 7#bb7 #f #ai #d #ad #aa 7#bc7 #c #aj #e #ab #e 7#bd7 #c #aa #d #f #h 7#be7 #ba #a #af #bd #d 7#bf7 #dh #ej #cc #gh #be 7#bg7 #hb #cd #cc #bg #be 7#bh7 #j #j #j #j #j 7#bi7 #f #a #b #a #a 7#cj7 #ab #e #f #e #f 7#ca7 #a #e #b #f #j 7#cb7 #b #b #j #b #c 7#cc7 #j #j #j #b #b 7#cd7 #j #j #j #j #j 7#ce7 #ad #i #d #g #e 7#cf7 #d #d #b #b #b 7#cg7 #d #f #c #b #b 7#ch7 #aj #e4e #b #ad #d 7#ci7 #h #e4e #j #aa #d 7#dj7 #aj #i #j #ad #g 7#da7 #c #f #e #i #c 7#db7 #c #f #e #i #c 7#dc7 #g #ah #ag #be #aj 7#dd7 #j #j #j #j #j 7#de7 #b #a #j #d #j ,,part ,,iii ,,the ,,county ,,maps ,,explanatory ,,note ,on the maps the location of each rural church is indicated by a square and the residence of each minister by a cross4 ,lines connect each church with the residence of its pastor4 ,therefore the maps show for each church whether it receives the whole or a part of a minister's service1 and for each minister how many churches he serves and the distances he must go to reach them and the various parts of his parish4 ,the capital letters adjacent to each square indicate the denomination of the church4 ,the figures in parentheses and next to the square indicate the enrolled membership4 ,the figures not so enclosed indicate the resident membership4 ,the abbreviations1 ,inc41 ,sta41 and ,dec4 indicate whether the membership is increasing1 stationary1 or declining4 ,increase or decline in membership1 however1 is only indicated where it was possible to find the membership of ten or five years ago4 ,when the figures for ten years ago are available1 these are taken as a basis for comparison with the membership at the present time4 ,often the records of the churches are so kept as to make it impossible or very difficult to find the membership of either five or ten years ago4 ,shaded squares indicate closed churches4 ,these have no minister and hold no regular services4 ,abandoned churches are indicated by black squares4 ,it is believed that large numbers of them were not reported4 ,churches marked ,not ,organized do not appear in the tabulations4 ,in the northwest corner of each township is given its name1 while underneath are figures indicating its population4 ,the large circles in the township indicate cities or towns of more than #b1ejj inhabitants4 ,figures in parentheses indicate the number of their population1 which number is included in the figures for the township4 ,but in each case where they are not in parentheses the town or city is itself a township4 ,figures in an oval indicate the number of persons living in the adjacent village or small town4 ,a key to the maps is here given4 ,,key ,x ,minister's ,residence open box ,church without resident minister solid box ,church abandoned x'd box ,church with resident minister lined box ,church closed circle ,sunday ,school or ,mission ,resident membership is indicated by numerals1 enrolled membership by numerals in parentheses4 ,inc4 denotes increasing membership2 ,dec41 decreasing1 and ,sta41 stationary membership4 oval ,numerals in an oval indicate the population of a village4 ,,ac ,advent ,christian ,,ame ,african ,methodist ,episcopal ,br ,brethren 7,german ,baptist7 ,br 7,,oo7 ,old ,order ,brethren ,br 7,prog47 ,progressive ,brethren ,b ,baptist ,b 7,miss47 ,missionary ,baptist ,b 7,col47 ,colored ,baptist ,b 7,united7 ,united ,baptist ,,bsa ,brothers' ,society of ,america ,c ,christian ,ca ,catholic ,,cm ,calvin ,methodist ,,cma ,christian ,missionary ,alliance ,,cnj ,church of ,new ,jerusalem ,,cs ,christian ,science ,,cu ,christian ,union ,d ,disciples ,,dnp ,disciples1 ,non-,progressive ,e ,protestant ,episcopal ,ev,a ,evangelical ,association ,f ,friends ,,fm ,free ,methodist ,,fwb ,free ,will ,baptist ,g ,church of ,god ,g,ev ,german ,evangelical ,,gme ,german ,methodist ,episcopal ,h ,holiness ,,iba ,international ,bible ,students ,association ,l ,lutheran ,,lds ,latter-,day ,saints ,m ,mennonite ,mor ,moravian ,,me ,methodist ,episcopal ,,mp ,methodist ,protestant ,naz ,nazarene ,p ,presbyterian ,,pb ,primitive ,baptist ,r ,reformed ,,rub ,radical ,united ,brethren ,s ,saints ,,sda ,seventh ,day ,advent ,,sdb ,seventh ,day ,baptist ,u ,union ,,ub ,united ,brethren ,,up ,united ,presbyterian ,u,ev ,united ,evangelical ,uv ,universalist ,,uss ,union ,sunday ,school ,,wm ,wesleyan ,methodist ,illustration3 ,,adams ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,allen ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,ashland ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,ashtabula ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,athens ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,auglaize ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,belmont ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,brown ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,butler ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,carroll ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,champaign ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,clark ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,clermont ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,clinton ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,columbiana ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,coshocton ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,crawford ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,cuyahoga ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,darke ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,defiance ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,delaware ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,erie ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,fairfield ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,fayette ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,franklin ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,fulton ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,gallia ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,geauga ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,greene ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,guernsey ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,hamilton ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,hancock ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,hardin ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,harrison ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,henry ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,highland ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,hocking ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,holmes ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,huron ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,jackson ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,jefferson ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,knox ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,lake ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,lawrence ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,licking ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,logan ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,lorain ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,lucas ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,madison ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,mahoning ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,marion ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,medina ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,meigs ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,mercer ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,miami ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,monroe ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,montgomery ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,morgan ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,morrow ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,muskingum ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,noble ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,ottawa ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,paulding ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,perry ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,pickaway ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,pike ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,portage ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,preble ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,putnam ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,richland ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,ross ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,sandusky ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,scioto ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,seneca ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,shelby ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,stark ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,summit ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,trumbull ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,tuscarawas ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,union ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,van ,,wert ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,vinton ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,warren ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,washington ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,wayne ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,williams ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,wood ,,county1 ,,ohio ,illustration3 ,,wyandot ,,county1 ,,ohio ,,appendix ,,action ,,of ,,the ,,committee ,,on ,,interchurch ,,cooperation ,,of ,,the ,,ohio ,,rural ,,life ,,association ,on ,june #ad and #ae1 #aiaf1 a meeting was held of the ,committee on ,interchurch ,cooperation of the ,ohio ,rural ,life ,association at ,columbus4 ,this ,committee is composed largely of superintendents and representatives of several of the leading denominations of the ,state4 ,they met for the purpose of making a thorough study of country church conditions and were determined1 if possible1 to devise a remedy4 ,the following were among those present3 ,bishop ,wm4 ,f4 ,anderson of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church2 the ,rt4 ,rev4 ,theodore ,irving ,reese of the ,protestant ,episcopal ,church2 ,superintendents1 ,i4 ,j4 ,cahill1 ,w4 ,j4 ,grimes1 ,a4 ,w4 ,jamieson1 ,robert ,e4 ,pugh1 ,e4 ,s4 ,rothrock and ,omer ,s4 ,thomas of the ,disciples of ,christ1 the ,united ,presbyterian1 the ,presbyterian1 the ,congregational and ,christian churches2 ,dr4 ,washington ,gladden1 officially representing the ,congregational churches2 ,rev4 ,c4 ,w4 ,brugh1 representing the ,reformed ,church1 and ,rev4 ,e4 ,l4 ,averitt1 representing ,rev4 ,tileston ,f4 ,chambers1 ,superintendent of the ,baptist churches4 ,superintendent ,rev4 ,c4 ,w4 ,kurtz of the ,united ,brethren1 and ,superintendent ,c4 ,s4 ,beck of the ,methodist ,protestant ,church have also endorsed the action of the meeting4 ,after a thorough discussion of rural church conditions1 the following measures were agreed upon as remedies3 ,interchurch cooperation in every locality to create conditions favorable to the development of ,christian character1 to build a strong1 wholesome1 attractive community1 to hold community religious services and social gatherings and to render all forms of social service needed in the community but not rendered by other institutions4 ,where there is now no resident pastor in a township the combining of all churches so far as possible either in one church or in one circuit or federated church under one pastor who should be held responsible for rendering social and religious service in the township4 ,to bring this to pass all ministers now visiting and preaching in a community should by their preaching exalt christian unity and the ,kingdom of ,god1 and in preaching and personal work try to prepare the people for acceptance of a policy of community service4 ,to secure cooperation of ministers3 ,preparation and sending of bulletins to every pastor1 containing program and making clear reasons for adopting it4 ,preparation and sending of letters from this ,committee to every rural pastor1 urging acceptance of higher ideals of service as here set forth4 ,preparation and sending to country pastors of frequent bulletins containing information and description of notable examples of good country church work4 ,appointment of sub-committees to secure action by denominational bodies approving program of ,committee4 ,the following statements of policy and methods were also adopted3 ,in a township or community requiring more than one church or pastor there should be a federation of churches1 that is1 a joint committee of pastors and delegates officially appointed by the several churches to learn and meet all needs1 religious or social1 which require cooperation or concerted action4 ,in communities whose compactness permits and whose population and resources require there should be only one congregation and pastor1 but where two or more churches exist1 churches should be united organically in a single denominational church1 the denomination to be determined on the give and take plan4 ,if organic union in a denominational church is not feasible1 a federated church should be formed4 ,in a township or community where population and resources are inadequate to support more than one pastor1 but where the population is so distributed that more than one place of worship and organized church are necessary1 a federated circuit should be formed and a common pastor employed4 ,the several churches should be officially represented on a joint committee who shall act for the circuit not only in employing the common pastor1 but also in learning and meeting all needs1 religious and social1 which require cooperation and concerted action4 ,in the forming or re-forming of circuits it should be brought to pass that the various fields served by one pastor should be as close together as possible4 ,to make the minister's field as compact as possible1 interdenominational circuits should be formed4 ,the rural ministry should1 it possible1 be so distributed that in each township there shall be a resident pastor4 ,measures to prevent the recurrence of over-churched conditions should be taken by every branch of the church4 ,each should determine not to organize churches where they are not needed or certain to be needed4 ,in a new community needing but one church1 an expression of the people should be obtained as to the choice of the church to be established4 ,the desires of the largest number should be followed4 ,where several little churches exist in a sparsely settled community and a union or federation is not possible or advisable1 consideration should be given to the plan of having all these withdraw1 and inviting a branch of the church not represented locally to come in and organize a single church4 ,in the exchange or withdrawal of churches reciprocity should be at least ,state-wide in its extent4 ,where a denomination is given control or dominance in a community by withdrawal of other denominations1 the continuance of that control or dominance should be conditional on the church and minister maintaining in their service a high degree of efficiency--the standard of efficiency to be determined by the denominational leaders who should formulate a few simple principles by which the usefulness of a church can be measured4 ,the denomination holding a field should1 for a reasonable length of time1 report to those withdrawing as to progress4 ,printed in the ,united ,states of ,america ,the following pages contain advertisements of a few of the ,macmillan books on kindred subjects4 ,,religious ,,hand ,,books 7,new and ,not ,reprints7 ,each ,sixty ,cents ,,the ,,new ,,opportunity ,,of ,,the ,,church ,,by ,,robert ,e4 ,,speer ,this volume very suitably follows ,dr4 ,speer's ,the ,christian ,man1 the ,church1 and the ,war1 dealing as it does with the present responsibility of the ,church4 ,,the ,,church ,,facing ,,the ,,future ,,by ,,william ,,adams ,,brown ,dr4 ,brown discusses four big questions3 ,first1 ,where the ,war ,found the ,church2 second1 ,what the ,church did for the ,war2 third1 ,what the ,war did for the ,church2 and fourth1 ,where the ,war ,leaves the ,church4 ,,democratic ,,christianity2 ,,some ,,problems ,,of ,,the ,,church ,,in ,,the ,,days ,,just ,,ahead ,,by ,,francis ,j4 ,,mcconnell ,we have in mind the tasks of to-day as they confront the ,christian ,church1 writes ,bishop ,mc,connell4 ,,god',s ,,responsibility ,,for ,,the ,,war ,,by ,,edward ,s4 ,,drown ,dr4 ,drown discusses this very interesting question in terse and vigorous prose4 ,,the ,,twentieth ,,century ,,crusade ,,by ,,lyman ,,abbott ,written by one who has an exultant faith that never in the history of the past has there been so splendid a demonstration of the extent and power of the ,christ spirit as to-day4 ,,the ,,way ,,to ,,life ,,by ,,henry ,,churchill ,,king ,a discussion of the ,sermon on the ,mount1 similar to that in ,dr4 ,king's former book ,the ,ethics of ,jesus4 ,besides rewriting them1 he has added material on the war and the teachings of ,jesus4 ,,the ,,christian ,,man1 ,,the ,,church ,,and ,,the ,,war ,,by ,,robert ,e4 ,,speer ,dr4 ,speer here discusses the essentials of a problem which has exercised ,christian men since the beginning of the war4 ,he deals with it sanely and in a manner that will be considered distinctly helpful4 ,,new ,,horizon ,,of ,,state ,,and ,,church ,,by ,w4 ,h4 ,p4 ,,faunce ,broad1 profound scholarship1 close relationship with progressive sentiment all over the land1 and unusual powers of keen analysis and graphic statement are forceful elements in ,the ,new ,horizon of ,state and ,church4--,philadelphia ,north ,american4 ,,by ,,the ,,same ,,authors ,the ,country ,church3 ,the ,decline of its ,influence and the ,remedy ,,by ,,charles ,,otis ,,gill ,,and ,,gifford ,,pinchot ,cloth1 #abo1 #a4be ,is the country church growing in size and power1 or declining8 ,is it doing effectually the work which belongs to it8 ,these are in the main the questions which ,charles ,otis ,gill and ,gifford ,pinchot consider in their book ,the ,country ,church4 ,the book is not a collection of opinions1 as it was found that there were almost as many who believed thoroughly in the country church and the work which it is doing as there were those who were doubtful of its efficacy4 ,the volume is rather made up of facts brought forward by the personal investigations of the authors1 and conclusions based on these facts4 ,mr4 ,gill and ,mr4 ,pinchot1 collaboring in this problem of rural life1 have given us a book which will at once become an authority in its field4--,christian ,work4 ,the facts and figures are definite and illumined by a myriad of side-lights4--,boston ,transcript4 ,differs from almost all the others because of the thoroughness of the investigation and the soundness of the conclusions4--,san ,francisco ,chronicle4 ,deserves most thoughtful consideration4444 ,should arouse attention and stimulate effort to restore to the country church the influence that it is losing4--,christian ,endeavor ,world4 ,,forthcoming ,,religious ,,books ,prophecy and ,authority3 ,a ,study in the ,history of the ,doctrine and ,interpretation of ,scripture4 ,,by ,,kemper ,,fullerton ,professor of ,old ,testament ,language and ,literature1 ,oberlin ,graduate ,school of ,theology ,cloth1 #abmo4 ,the purpose of this volume is two-fold--to discuss the principles and the interpretation of ,messianic prophecy in view of the recent revival of ,millenialist claims1 and to re-open the question of the nature of the ,bible as a principle of authority in ,protestant theology4 ,the author seeks to trace the way in which the methods of interpretation and the doctrines of ,scripture affect each other in the ,church's interpretation of prophecy and to show how the scientific principles of interpretation adopted by the reformers inevitably lead to the abandonment of the ,millenialist theory and dogmatic view of ,scripture1 and that these results are at the same time religiously desirable4 ,studies in ,mark's ,gospel ,,by ,a4 ,t4 ,,robertson1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d41 ,,ll4,d4 ,professor of ,new ,testament ,interpretation at the ,southern ,baptist ,theological ,seminary ,cloth1 #abmo4 ,this book aims to help the modern man to see ,jesus as ,mark saw ,him in the first glow of enthusiasm under ,peter's preaching4 ,it is readable and yet thoroughly scholarly and makes use of the results of synoptic criticism to show the historical foundation of our knowledge of the life of ,christ4 ,it is not commentary1 nor yet exposition1 but a critical discussion of the chief aspects of this earliest of our ,gospels4 ,the work is a real introduction to ,mark's ,gospel and will unlock its treasures for all who read it4 ,a ,,new ,,volume ,,in ,,the ,,bible ,,for ,,home ,,and ,,school ,,series ,commentary on the ,epistle of ,paul to the ,romans ,,by ,,edward ,,increase ,,bosworth ,cloth1 #abmo4 ,the author of this ,commentary has endeavored to help those who use it read ,paul's letter to the ,romans with due regard to the pre-suppositions which possessed ,paul's mind and the minds of those to whom it was addressed1 no matter to what extent these pre-suppositions have passed out of modern thought4 ,he has tried to do this in such a way as to bring out the essential1 vital facts of ,christian experience which may persist under many forms of changing pre-suppositions4 ,,other ,,volumes ,,in ,the ,bible for ,home and ,school ,series ,,shailer ,,mathews1 ,,general ,,editor ,,genesis1 by ,,professor ,h4 ,g4 ,,mitchell 4#ij ,,deuteronomy1 by ,,professor ,w4 ,g4 ,,jordan 4#ge ,,judges1 by ,,professor ,,edward ,l4 ,,curtis 4#ge ,,job1 by ,,professor ,,george ,a4 ,,barton 4#ij ,,isaiah1 by ,,professor ,,john ,e4 ,,mcfadyen 4#ij ,,amos1 ,,hosea1 ,,and ,,micah1 by ,,professor ,j4 ,m4 ,,powis ,,smith 4#ge ,,matthew1 by ,,professor ,a4 ,t4 ,,robertson 4#fj ,,mark1 by ,,professor ,m4 ,w4 ,,jacobus 4#ge ,,acts1 by ,,professor ,,george ,h4 ,,gilbert 4#ge ,,galatians1 by ,,professor ,b4 ,w4 ,,bacon 4#ej ,,ephesians ,,and ,,colossians1 by ,,reverend ,,gross ,,alexander 4#ej ,,hebrews1 by ,,professor ,e4 ,j4 ,,goodspeed 4#ej ,,volumes ,,in ,,preparation ,i ,,samuel ,,by ,,professor ,l4 ,w4 ,,batten ,,psalms ,,by ,,reverend ,j4 ,p4 ,,peters ,,john ,,by ,,professor ,,shailer ,,mathews ,i ,,and ,,ii ,,corinthians ,,by ,,professor ,j4 ,s4 ,,riggs ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company ,publishers #fd-ff ,fifth ,avenue ,new ,york ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,passages in italics are indicated by italics4 ,many tables have been split and keys have been added to enhance readability in this text version4 ,in the key to the maps on page #adf1 each symbol has been replaced with a description in brackets4 ,punctuation has been corrected without note4 ,the following misprints have been corrected3 ,surburban corrected to ,suburban 7,table of ,contents7 opportunites corrected to opportunities 7page #ge7 surburban corrected to suburban 7page #aaa7 representin corrected to representing 7page #bce7 ,other than the corrections listed above1 inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been retained from the original4