On the average, these churches devote one-fourth of their receipts to benevolences.

 

XXIII

GRADING FOR HOME MISSION FIELDS—PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN U. S. A.

A.Promising Field:
 1. Prospect of self-support.
 2. Strategic service opportunity.
B.Problematic Field:
 1. Uncertain of community development.
 2. Denominational responsibility uncertain.
C.Field to be relinquished:
 1. Should be self-sustaining.
 2. Work should be discontinued.

This would be a good test to apply to every aided church on the Range.

 

XXIV

NUMBER OF CHURCH SERVICES

Number of Services
a Month		 Country
Churches		   Village
Churches		   Town
Churches		   City
Churches		   Total
Eight 3   3[13]   12[14]   7   25
Seven 0   0   0   0   0
Six 0   0   1   0   1
Five 0   0   0   0   0
Four 6   6[13]   0   2   14
Three 0   0   0   0   0
Two 9   3   0   0   12
One 12   0   0   0   12
No regular service 2   2   0   0   4
Services in summer only 2   0   0   0   2
Total 34   14   13   9   70

About three hours a week set aside for church services and Sunday school means six days a year; only twenty-five out of seventy churches have as large a number.

 

XXV

ATTENDANCE AT SERVICES COMPARED WITH SEATING CAPACITY AND ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP

    Beaverhead   Hughes   Sheridan   Union
Average seating capacity   197   277   286   160
Average active membership   49   59   117   24
Average attendance at services   52   50   80   67

An average attendance one-third less than the seating capacity means many empty seats.

 

XXVI

ORGANIZATIONS IN THE CHURCHES OTHER THAN SUNDAY SCHOOLS

  Mixed
  Men Women Grown-up Young People Boys Girls Boys and Girls
  Number Members Number Members Number Members Number Members Number Members Number Members Number Members
Churches in:
Country 0 0 9 171 0 0 10 239 0 0 0 0 0 0
Village 0 0 9 166 0 0 3 81 0 0 0 0 0 0
Town 2 74 22 710 0 0 9 314 3 54 5 128 2 73
City 5 226 16 635 2 40 6 200 1 15 3 94 0 0
Total 7 300 56 1,682 2 40 28 834 4 69 8 222 2 73

Women’s organizations are numerous; men have only one-eighth as many. Less than half of the churches have young people’s organizations.

 

XXVII

NUMBER OF PASTORS WHO HAVE SERVED THE CHURCHES WHICH HAVE BEEN ORGANIZED TEN YEARS OR MORE

  One
Pastor		 Two
Pastors		 Three
Pastors		 Four
Pastors		 Five
Pastors		 Six
Pastors		 Seven
Pastors		 Eight
Pastors		 Nine
Pastors
Churches in:
Country 1 1 2 2 2 3 1 0 1
Village 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 1 0
Town 0 1 3 4 2 2 1 0 0
City 1 2 1 2 2 0 0 0 0
Total 3 5 7 10 7 6 5 1 1

The turn-over on the part of the ministers has been high. Two-thirds of these churches have had a new minister every two and one half years or oftener.

 

XXVIII

RESIDENCE OF PASTORS IN RELATION TO THEIR CHURCHES

    Country   Village   Town   City   Total
Churches with:
Pastor resident in parish   8   8[15]   10   8   34
Pastor resident in community but not in parish   4   0   0   0   4
Pastor resident in other community in same county   12   2   0   0   14
Pastor resident in another county   3   0   1   0   4
No regular pastor   4   4   2   0   10
Supply pastor   3   0   0   1   4
Total   34   14   13   9   70

About half of the churches have their ministers resident among the members.

 

XXIX

SALARIES OF MINISTERS ACCORDING TO PROPORTION OF TIME DEVOTED TO THE MINISTRY

  Ministers Giving
Full Time to
Ministry		   Ministers
with other
Occupation
    With One
Church		   With More Than
One Church
Pastors receiving:[16]
Over $2,000   6   3
$1,501-$2,000   4   3   2
$1,201-$1,500   5   3   0
$1,001-$1,200   2   2   0
$ 751-$1,000   0   3   1
$ 501-$ 750   1   0   0
$ 101-$ 500   0   0   2
$ 100 or less   0   0   1
No salary   0   0   2
Total   18   14   8

With the high cost of living, it is difficult to sustain adequate family life on many of these salaries. It is not strange that eight of the ministers must earn part of their support at other occupations.

 

XXX

GAIN AND LOSS IN MEMBERSHIP AS RELATED TO RESIDENCE OF MINISTERS (One year period)

Churches with:   Country   Village   Town   City   Total
Resident minister   8   8[17]   10   8   34
Number gaining   4   5   7   7   23
Number stationary   2   3   2   0   7
Number losing   2   0   1   1   4
Non-resident minister   19   2   1   0   22
Number gaining   5   2   1   0   8
Number stationary   17   0   0   0   7
Number losing   7   0   0   0   7

About two-thirds of the churches with resident ministers made a gain in membership; of the churches with non-resident ministers only about one-third show a gain. Fourteen churches were either pastorless or were served by a supply. Six of them made a gain during the year preceding the survey.

 

 

UNIQUE STUDIES OF RURAL AMERICA

TOWN AND COUNTRY SERIES TWELVE VOLUMES

MADE UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
Edmund deS. Brunner, Ph.D.

What the Protestant Churches Are Doing and
Can Do for Rural America—The Results of
Twenty-six Intensive County Surveys

Description Publication Date
(1) Church and Community Survey of Salem County, N. J. Ready
(2) Church and Community Survey of Pend Oreille County, Washington Ready
(3) Church and Community Survey of Sedgwick County, Kansas Ready
(4) Religion in the Old and New South Forthcoming
(5) The New and Old Immigrant on the Land, as seen in two Wisconsin Counties Ready
(6) Rural Church Life in the Middle West Ready
(7) The Country Church in Colonial Counties Ready
(8) Irrigation and Religion, a study of two prosperous California Counties Ready
(9) The Church on the Changing Frontier Ready
(10) The Rural Church Before and After the War, Comparative Studies of Two Surveys Forthcoming
(11) The Country Church in Industrial Zones Ready
(12) The Town and Country Church in the United States Forthcoming

“They are fine pieces of work and examples of what we need to have done on a large scale.” Dr. Charles A. Ellwood, Dept. of Sociology, University of Missouri.

“I am heartily appreciative of these splendid results.” Rev. Charles S. Macfarland, Genl. Secy., Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America.

Published by GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY, New York

FOR

COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS SURVEYS

111 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK

 

 

Footnotes:

[1] See Wilson, “Sectional Characteristics,” Homelands, August, 1920.

[2] A monument to Sacajawea was erected in Armstead in 1915.

[3] Three country churches raised no money during the year and one city church, which tithes, did not have financial figures available.

[4] See Table XXIII.

[5] 17 country churches have buildings.

[6] 13 village churches have buildings.

[7] The membership of the separate boys’ and girls’ organizations cannot be added here because it would involve duplication.

[8] The capital letters in parentheses in the Table indicate the respective counties, Beaverhead, Hughes, Sheridan, Union.

[9] In deriving these figures the Census Board has included the forest reserve territory. The following figures were obtained by excluding this area (with the exception of the inhabited portion of Beaverhead):

Total density per square mile of Beaverhead   2.1
Total density per square mile of Sheridan   9.2

On the Range the development of centers is just beginning.

[10] The Census does not give Spanish-American separately. They are of course native-born and are included under that division.

Per cent. of native increase is 20.7 in Beaverhead for 1910-20
" " " " decrease " 4.1 " Hughes " 1910-20
" " " " increase " 12.1 " Sheridan " 1910-20
" " " " " " 32.2 " Union " 1910-20

In Sheridan, the “New Americans” are in the mines; in the other counties, they are on the land.

[11] Two federated churches have a single budget and a single canvass.

[12] 76.37% of this amount was raised by local churches. The rest came from the denominational boards.

[13] One church in each of these groups unites regularly with a church holding eight services.

[14] One church in this group also has four week day services. One church has its four services on week day nights and has no Sunday services.

[15] One church in this group has two resident social workers.

[16] Including $250 rental value of parsonage if there is one.

[17] One church in this group has two resident social workers.