DECLINE OF THE CHURCH IN THE CHANGING WORLD,

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20260, 21 March 1934, Page 6

DECLINE OF THE CHURCH IN THE CHANGING WORLD,

To-day’s Special Article.

Women also Finding Other Interests: Proposals to Stem the Drift Away.

In view of the local discussion on the declining Church membership among men the views of Dr Charles Stelzle, a Presbyterian minister and writer on religious problems in America, are of interest. He deals here with the waning influence of the Church in a changing world and suggests remedies. Dr Stelzle organised the Church and Labour Department of the Presbyterian Church, and served as former Field Secretary for the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ. He has had charges in New York. Minneapolis and St. Louis.

GREAT LEADER with a message to stir the whole Church has emerged in many years, says Dr Stelzle. Caution and conservatism have been made a virtue at a time w T hen a flaming appeal should be made to Christendom and to the world. High-sounding resolutions, soon forgotten, have taken the place of decisive action Meanwhile, men have discovered new ways to demonstrate that they are religiousminded, and the Church hasn’t quite understood them. A recent study of 200 cities showed that 87 per cent of the population accepted the doctrines taught by the Church, but that they were not equally interested in the Church itself. The average man isn’t at all interested in the hair-split-ting discussions of professional theologians, most of whom complicate what should be a simple formula which the man in the street should be able to understand. Women are deserting the Church. There are now five women members for each four men in the churches in the United States, whereas a study of the churches in seventy American cities with a combined population of twenty millions, made by the writer twenty years ago, indicated that two-thirds of all church members in those cities consisted of women. One-third were men. At one time the Church was the only institution which offered women an outlet for their social instincts, but in recent years they have engaged in social service through clubs, welfare agencies, political organisations and other societies, and the Church has suffered accordingly. Failure of Brotherhoods. Substantially the same thing is true of the men. Some years ago the Protestant. Churches organised great Brotherhoods, but these all failed because no real programme was offered the man. Their enthusiasm was spent in attending banquets. Instead of being challenged by Mazzini’s call “ Come and suffer,” they were betrayed by the swan song “ Come and cat.” The Brotherhoods developed into cheap imitations of Rotary and advertising clubs. Their members worked out their enthusiasm in songs and speeches and in eating chicken pie. Young people have been alienated because of the negative attitude of the Church toward many of life’s problems. Too much attention has been given to “ anti ” movements. The Church has made moral issues of questions which are largely personal and which must be decided each one for himself. The attitude taken by the Church with regard to motion pictures, theatres, dancing, card-playing, smoking and general amusements has been largely negative. Most of these subjects have been branded as “ questionable.” Resolutions Without Result. The influence of the Church upon the moral and ethical affairs of the nations is to-day one of its weakest points. For two thousand years it has been preaching the doctrine of universal love and brotherhood. This has been its great commission. But during a time of war the Church can ap parently hate as bitterly as the leaders of the conflicting nations. It seems to have got no further in bringing the religious bodies of the world together than holding a few ecumenical conferences, the net results of which have been the passing of about the same sets of resolutions, which were buried in the records, to be revived and consulted by succeeding conferences. Voluminous correspondence by a few church officials regarding future orogrammes is engaged in, and some paper organisations are perfected, but nothing happens.

Meanwhile, other forces looking toward a better understanding are being organised. Political units are drawing the nations of the world together. Business has formed international relationships which have resulted in closer co-operation. Science his battered down the walls of partition as men have become better acquainted with the universe and its marvellous resources. The radio will necessitate the creation and the adoption of a language understood by the people of every nation. The motion pic-ture—-when it can claim its rightful place —will become a powerful factor in the interpretation of humanity in every land. The world moves on, leaving the Church behind. To Stem the Tide. Can anything be done to stem the present tide away from the Church? It is suggested that the Church give consideration to the following proposals: 1. —The Church must have a theological creed which clearly sets forth its convictions, otherwise it will be a spineless institution. It should expect its ministers to give assent to this creed, but with certain liberties in its interpretation. So far as its requirements of church members themselves are concerned, the creed should be l.ug enough to include all whose lives are dominated by the spirit of Jesus, no matter what their economic or political beliefs. 2. —The Church must revise its criterion as to what constitutes spirituality.” It must get rid of the idea that it necessarily implies an emotionalism which one finds among certain perfectly sincere men and women, who can freely use expressions and engage in functions presumed to go with the “ spiritual life,” but which are most unnatural to other equally sincere people. 3. —The Church should be open-minded toward the great industrial revolution which is sweeping the world. It must not be the last to acknowledge the rightness of what is taking place to-day in so many countries and among so many groups who have long suffered because of tyranny and oppression, simply because they constituted the minorities or because of other forms of helplessness. It must not be said that the Church is always with the majority merely because they are in power. A:- —The Church must vindicate its right to be the greatest authority regarding moral and ethical problems. It is not an authority on sociology, economics or politics, and it should not attempt to make blueprints showing how a man should run the technical side of his business, nor should it presume to run the Government. But there never was a national or an international problem that was not basically moral and ethical in its implications. 5. —The Church is suffering because of the divisions among Protestants in the United States. The latest Federal census of religious bodies reports 213 denominations. 6. —The average preacher is too ready to condemn the map outside .because that man doesn’t come to hear him preach, when, aside from any other consideration, there isn’t a single command in the Bible for the “ unconverted ” man to go to Church. Every such fommand refers exclusively to those who are already members of the Church. On the other hand, there is command after command for the Church to go out upon the highways and hedges and literally compel outsiders to come in. And this is exactly what the Church needs to do to day.

The real question just now is not whether the people will go back to the Church, but whether the Church will go back to the people.

(N.A.N.A.—Copyright.)