HALF SCOTLAND OUTSIDE THE CHURCHES.

Otago Witness, 1 June 1910, Page 79

HALF SCOTLAND OUTSIDE THE CHURCHES.

A PROBLEM WHICH ALSO CONCERNS ENGLAND. V "There can be no doubt that the churches in Scotland are face to face with a serious situation," writes the Scotsman. "Though statistics can Uj made to prove rnytlring, yet there are some statistics i.hich can scarcely be gainsaid. They prove that the divided churches are unable to keep the people of Scotland within the churches. The Fncts.— " The total population of Scotland today cannct be far short of five millions. But the membership of the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church amounts only to 1,213,226 (being 706,655 in the Church of Scotland and 506,573 in the United Free Church). These facts are significant. The vast mass of the church-going people in Scotland belong to these two great churches, and yet tlieir combined membership amounts to but a fraction c! the population. Even supposing adherents and children were added, and that their numbers equalled the total of the members of the churches, it would still be the fact that half the population of Scotland is outside the great Presbyterian churches. The Reasons Why.— " And this state of matters is growing worse, for the increase of membership in the churches lags far behind the ratio of increase of the population. These are sterp facts which the two churches should consider". Two generations of disruptions and ~schism<s and testifyings—a"nd this is the. result! The ranks of the non-church-going have been steadily recruited. The reason of this is obvious. A great many have been driven away from the churches in disgust at the strife wherewith they were filled. But the chief reason has been that the churches were more concerned regarding their own sectarian interests than the interests of the people. 7 " In those districts where the population is steadily declining churches were multiplied, that sectarianism might keep its flag flying, while in the great industrial centres, where the population has gone up by leaps and bounds, the churches, intent on their warfare in the waste places, Avere unable to meet the religious needs of the people. Thus it came about that for the perpetuation of sectarianism the religious welfare of the country was sacrificed, and masses of the population were allowed to lapse from all church connection, while beyond the Grampians the churches competed in building edifices which can only in time become derelict. To-day the Presbyterian Churches in Scotland are reaping the fruit. They are face to face with the fact that half the people of Scotland are outside their pale. " If the churches would only consider these facts there would be found fewer ministers afraid lest the Committee on Union should betray their interests or their testifyings, and there would be on the part of the churches one desire—to bring to an end the present condition >f things. There has been such a situation created in Scotland by the dissipation of energy involved in disunion that it needs a re-united church to deal with it. Only such jr> church can reorganise its forces so that ministers can be withdrawn from those places where they now -work among handfuLs of people, and placed where the population is now left uncared for. A Church for the Whole Nation.— "To the lay mind there is no real •barrier preventing the two great churches uniting their forces for the welfare of the country. The future Church of Scotland has need of ail that the two churches can bring to its exchequer. And if the churches resolved to have done with those metaphysical discussions and those theological subtleties which have in the past wrought such evil, and united their forces to deal with the problems which now confront them, and set themselves to provide the ordinance of religion for all the nation, then there would be realised the dream of a church national and free—national because it strove to serve the whole nation." Church of England Statistics.— The Church of England places great value for statistical purposes on attendance at Easter communions, but the figures for this last Easter, as given by the Guardian, lead to similar conclusions to those made by the Scotsman. " Our annual statement of the proportion of communicants to population," says the Guardian, " is a melancholy table, which may well cause searchings of heart to clergy and laity alike. In Hereford. Diocese, which is again at the top of the list, barely 14 per cent, of the people communicated at the altars of the church; in Durham, which is' at the bottom, the proportion was only a fraction over 4 per cent. Speaking generally, the rural dioceses show, the best results—as the population goes up the percentage of communicants goes down. Curiously enough, in London and Manchester, the two most! populous dioceses, the proportion is identical, and it is just under 5 per cent. In Southwark, the next largest, on the other hand, the percentage is nearly Yeti the conditions cannot seriously vary be-i tween the .north and the south of the Thames.

" But from whatever standpoints the figures are regarded they are thoroughly, unsatisfactory. After ev(\ry allowance is made for children and f»f adults of other faiths it is plain," says the Guardian,' "that the supreme proof of religious reality is given only by an inconsiderable minority of the people of this country." i The highest figures are those for the Hertford Diocese, where the population ia 215,271. But the percentage attending Easter communions wa* only 13.99 per cent. (30,136). In LonAon the figures are -.population 3,585,209, percentage 4.97 (V 75.285). The lowest figures of all are lor 4 \e Durham Diocese, 4.09 per cent.,

mise their forces and to -prevent overlap- | ping in both towns and villages. “ The scheme now under discussion is, j in brief, that a ‘ United Free Evangelical | Church of England ’ should be formed, not ' by amalgamation, but by federal union,” says The Times. “ Each, denomination | would preserve its own identity and sys- j tern of government, but all would unite in some general representative assembly, under which the scandalous waste of men and means would be stopped and a full and frank co-operation carried out instead.” The Position in Wales.— On this point the Rev. Morgan Gibbons, speaking at Cardiff, said: “ The value of the Free Churches as an effective force was immensely impaired by their domestic divisions. In a hundred towns, in a thousand villages, what had they? Not union, but cut-throat competition, sectarian rivalry, multiplying small churches oftentimes to the point of ineffectiveness as fighting forces in places where the utmost strength was needed. He had had evidence of it dinned and dinned into his ears until the tragedy of their own divisions had been bunit into his very heart. “In religious Wales,” he said, “ there j were 743,000 communicants belonging to i all the churches, which was equivalent to two out of every five of the population. Of this total 193,000 were claimed by the Established Church, and 550,000 by all the Free Churches put together. For effective work the 743,000 Christians were not united; they did not march together ; they were nob even on speaking M'U «-» 4- wwrrx «-» +nnn>i«. fnel-

terms, lhat was a tragic fact.