MISSIONS IN AMERICA

Evening Star, Issue 18717, 20 August 1924, Page 12

MISSIONS IN AMERICA

MISUSE OF FUNDS. Critics of the church hnvo never been wanting in all lands. For many years there has been criticism of the managing hoards of the 'Protestant churches of the United Slates for spending money in communities which were occupied by several competitive denominations, which could bo served by one, or, at the most, two churches. This, in fact (writes the New Fork correspondent of the ‘Ago’), has constituted ono of the most serious pro bkms in home missions. America has for a hundred years been a missionary field of large proportions. There ■ has been a fast-developing west. There has been a great influx of aliens, ■There has been the negro population—now 11,000,000 —so recently in a slave and illiterate condition. There has been the difficulty arising from the multiplicity of tongues. Along with this Protestantism has been split into several hundred varieties. Each denomination has felt the call ■of the Lord to evangelise the land. It can easily be seen that disorder and overlapping of effort would ensue. It. has not boon an uncommon incident to find in one. little community four or live struggling churches with no resident pastor, each church being served by an itinerant minister, who served half a dozen churches in as many villages. Surveys of the situation have been made without materially changing the conditions. It is according to the low of competition that each is willing that ttio others should withdraw. In a survey, hero is a sample of what is characteristic of n large portion of the laud. In one county seven communities had seventy churches. Not one of these churches has a non-competitive field. Of the seventeen clergymen residing in the county, only four live near any of the churches which they serve. Not one gives his undivided attention to any single church. Nineteen ministers living outside the county enter it to preach at various points. Of the seventy churches only lour have services every Sunday. Twenty of them have but one service a month. Jn another State there are four little churches standing side by side, representing four denominations. Not one of the churches has a. resident pastor. All are. supplied by circuit riders, who live in towns where they do not preach, and preach in the countv where they do not live.

Tins situation loads to the assertion Unit Protestantism is not working with efficiency. Surveys, notably those made, by I lie iutercbnrcii world movement—a movement that in a few years did mneh good and then expired—revealed facts like the following:—Only one-lifth of the rural population goes to church : two-fifths of all rural churches are standing still or losing ground; scvcn-lcuth* of all rural churches are served by circuit- riders. This, it is claiiped. is the logical exhibit of donominatioiii.il competition. It is further asserted that this situation augurs badly for the future of the religion of Ihe land, and badly for the future of the country, since moral leadership in the past has oomo from the country districts. The situation is made worse by t-lio fact, that so many of the rural churches receive aid from home, mission relief funds —one-fifth of such churches receiving such aid. To make it worse, more than one-half of those subsidised churches are in active competition with other subsidised churches. Besides, probably one-half ol these subsidised churches could be dis pensed with without essential loss. Many such churches have received aid for many years, and'are ranked as non-productive. Attention has been drawn to the pro blent of Protestant home missions in a striking criticism by Prod. Kastman. For five years lie was on one. of the largest mission boards as a secretary. Previous to that time he hod spent over a. year in a special survey of rural life in four States. In addition, he had spent five years as a pastor of a small rural-suburban community, and experienced the manifestations of denominational competition. Mr Kastman quotes a Mr Brunner, of the Institute of Social and Religious Research, with approval when he says: ‘‘l can conservatively estimate that the total amount of home mission aid given in the rural field to not less than 20,000 churches is 4,24-o,ooodol a year. The amount of this aid which goes to competitive points is 71 per cent., or, roughly, a liltlo in excess of 5,000,000dol.”

The worst features, however, Mr East man claims, are ethical. Much of the money for missions comes from people—many of them poor—who are less able to give than the people to whom it goes. Further, part of the money is raised under false pretences, since it is got by appealing for one object, like the immigrants, the poor mountain whites, the Indians, the slum-dwellers, etc., and after getting into the treasury of the board is spent—part of it at least—to keep up the inefficient competitive race in rural communities. Mr Kastman paints out one' fatal defect in the machinery of homo missions, in that one agency does tho collecting (and, naturally, uses strong appeals to get money), while another, the local or State Committee, divides the money for tho local field. It thus happens that a good churchman who gives lOdol for the newly-arriving Greeks or Italians hvould find that his money, if he could follow it, was spent in keeping alive some useless church not a hundred miles from his doorstep.^ Mr Eastman suggests among the remedies that organisations that appeal for money should fool morally bound to see 'that the money is spent in accordance with the appeal; that no subsidy should be granted to any church in a competitive field; that aid in non-competitive fields should bo limited to five years. ADVANCED ATTITUDE TOWARDS WAR, The churches of America are, taking ad. vanccd positions regarding war. A number of leading denominations, like, tho Methodists and Unitarians, are coming perilously near to telling the Government ithat in case of future war they cannot bo depended upon to cn-opcratc. They aro not to be counted. In a. recent, bulletin the Federal Council of Churches—- | representing over 15,000,000 people—quotes with approval the following words of Glenn Frank, of the ‘Century Magazine ’: ‘‘l do not say that we may not | find ourselves manreuvrod into a position that will compel us to enter another war, even within the lifetime of ray generation. All 1 say i.s that if wo find ourselves dragged into war by the. stupidity nr cupidity of political nr industrial leadership,* let us go into war honestly admitting that it is an ugly job that has been made necessary by stupidity and cupidity, and not insult and disgrace the name of Jesus of Nazareth by fooling ourselves into thinking that we arc entering a I spiritual crusade. Make no mistake. If • the church frankly and honestly takes a j stand against war some semi-Christian laymen will withdraw their support. This ■ should not deter the church. Such a. stand would morally electrify the world. The, church is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end. Its deepest mission is the Cbristianisatinn of human society, n, thing that will remain impossible as long as churches sanction war.”