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SIX THOUSAND COUNTRY CHURCHES
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK . BOSTON . CHICAGO . DALLAS
ATLANTA . SAN FRANCISCO
MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED
LONDON . BOMBAY . CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.
TORONTO
[Illustration: 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
1919
_All rights reserved_
COPYRIGHT, 1919
BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
Set up and electrotyped. Published November, 1919
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
_PART I_ CONDITIONS AND REMEDIES
INTRODUCTION xiii
CHAPTER
I. HOW THE FACTS WERE GATHERED 3
II. THE RURAL CHURCH MAPS OF OHIO 5
III. SUMMARY OF RESULTS 8
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 minister.
IV. WHERE CHURCH EFFICIENCY IS LOWEST 12
V. THE CHURCH IN THE EIGHTEEN COUNTIES 19
VI. A POLICY AND PROGRAM 40
1. A better program--2. A better ministry--3. Better
support--4. Better acquaintance--5. Re-arrangement of
circuits--6. More resident ministers--7. Interchurch
cooperation--8. Community churches--9. Non-sectarian
support.
VII. FEDERATED CHURCHES 59
1. Greene Township--2. Aurora--3. Garrettsville--4.
Northfield--5. Federated churches in other states.
VIII. OTHER PROGRESSIVE CHURCHES 75
1. A church federation--2. Cooperation with other social
forces--3. Community service and Christian unity--4.
Christian unity by necessity--5. The church as a force
for righteousness--(a) Old Fort--(b) Lakeville.
IX. AGRICULTURAL COOPERATION 88
_PART II_ TABULAR SUMMARIES AND MAPS
I. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE DENOMINATIONS 93
II. TABULAR SUMMARIES FOR THE STATE 110
Table I.--Population, average number of Persons and
Churches, and average number of Persons to a Church,
by Townships 111
Table II.--Churches classified according to the number
of their members 112
Table III.--Amount of Ministerial Service by Townships,
Villages, and Churches 114
Table IV.--Number of Churches in Villages and in the
Open Country 115
Table V.--Resident Ministers in Strictly Rural Townships
in the Open Country and in Villages 118
Table VI.--Terms of Service of Methodist Episcopal
Country Ministers, 1917 119
Table VII.--Average number of Persons to a Church in
1170 Rural Townships 121
Table VIII.--Average number of Persons to a Church in
Rural Townships, Suburban Townships, and Cities 122
Table IX.--Salaries of Methodist Episcopal Country
Ministers, 1917 123
Table X.--Salaries of Country Ministers, United Brethren
in Christ, 1917 123
III. TABULAR SUMMARIES BY COUNTIES 124
_PART III_ THE COUNTY MAPS
EXPLANATORY NOTE 145
COUNTRY CHURCH MAPS OF THE EIGHTY-EIGHT COUNTIES OF OHIO 147
APPENDIX
ACTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERCHURCH COOPERATION OF THE OHIO
RURAL LIFE ASSOCIATION 235
LIST OF MAPS
The Country Churches of Ohio _Frontispiece_
PAGE
Map A. Where Conditions Demand Missionary Aid 26
Map 1. High Death Rates from Tuberculosis 27
Map 2. High Rates of Illegitimacy 28
Map 3. Where Illiteracy Abounds 29
Map 4. Distribution of Foreign Born Whites 30
Map 5. Excessive Over-Churching 31
Map 6. Churches many but Ministers Few 32
Map 7. Number of Persons to a Resident Minister 33
Map 8. Value of Farm Property in the Year 1910 34
Map 9. Increase in Value of Farm Property 35
Map 10. Rich Land and Poor Land 36
Map 11. Showing that in 317 or 27 per cent of
the Strictly Rural Townships no Church has a
Resident Minister 49
Map 12. Farms Operated by Tenants 84
Map 13. Farms Operated by Tenants 85
Map 14. Methodist Episcopal 96
Map 15. United Brethren in Christ 97
Map 16. Presbyterian 98
Map 17. Baptist 99
Map 18. Disciples of Christ 100
Map 19. Lutheran 101
Map 20. Catholic 102
Map 21. Christian 103
Map 22. Methodist Protestant 104
Map 23. Reformed 105
Map 24. Congregational 106
Map 25. Evangelical Association 107
Map 26. Villages and Cities 117
County Maps:
Adams 147
Allen 148
Ashland 149
Ashtabula 150
Athens 151
Auglaize 152
Belmont 153
Brown 154
Butler 155
Carroll 156
Champaign 157
Clark 158
Clermont 159
Clinton 160
Columbiana 161
Coshocton 162
Crawford 163
Cuyahoga 164
Darke 165
Defiance 166
Delaware 167
Erie 168
Fairfield 169
Fayette 170
Franklin 171
Fulton 172
Gallia 173
Geauga 174
Greene 175
Guernsey 176
Hamilton 177
Hancock 178
Hardin 179
Harrison 180
Henry 181
Highland 182
Hocking 183
Holmes 184
Huron 185
Jackson 186
Jefferson 187
Knox 188
Lake 189
Lawrence 190
Licking 191
Logan 192
Lorain 193
Lucas 194
Madison 195
Mahoning 196
Marion 197
Medina 198
Meigs 199
Mercer 200
Miami 201
Monroe 202
Montgomery 203
Morgan 204
Morrow 205
Muskingum 206
Noble 207
Ottawa 208
Paulding 209
Perry 210
Pickaway 211
Pike 212
Portage 213
Preble 214
Putnam 215
Richland 216
Ross 217
Sandusky 218
Scioto 219
Seneca 220
Shelby 221
Stark 222
Summit 223
Trumbull 224
Tuscarawas 225
Union 226
Van Wert 227
Vinton 228
Warren 229
Washington 230
Wayne 231
Williams 232
Wood 233
Wyandot 234
INTRODUCTION
In 1913 Mr. Gill and I published, under the authority of the Federal
Council of the Churches of Christ in America, the results of an inquiry
into the condition of the country church in two typical counties--Windsor
County, Vermont, and Tompkins County, New York. 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 Council. Under the direction of the Commission, it was resolved to
extend the investigation of the country church to an entire State. For the
reasons given hereafter, the choice fell upon Ohio.
For the plan whose execution and results are here set forth, Mr. Gill and
I are jointly responsible. It was submitted to, and revised and approved
by, the Commission on Church and Country Life, in whose name and under
whose direct supervision it was carried out. The field work was done
entirely by Mr. Gill or under his immediate direction as Secretary of the
Commission, and he also worked up in the office the result of his work in
the field. As in the case of "The Country Church," I am responsible for
the final revision of the manuscript for the press. It is now published
with the approval of the Commission on Church and Country Life, and as a
report of its work.
In the introduction to "The Country Church," I said and I desire to
repeat,--"Mr. 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 life. For fifteen years he has been a country minister.
One of his tasks was to establish a church in a country community in
Vermont which had been without one for more than twenty years. When Mr.
Gill came to it, the moral and social laxity of the whole community was
flagrant. Disbelief in the existence of goodness appeared to be common,
public disapproval of indecency was timid or lacking, and religion was in
general disrepute. Not only was there no day of worship, but also no day
of rest. Life was mean, hard, small, selfish, and covetous. Land belonging
to the town was openly pillaged by the public officers who held it in
trust; real estate values were low; and among the respectable families
there was a general desire to sell their property and move away.
Then a church was organized. The change which followed was swift,
striking, thorough, and enduring. The public property of the town, once a
source of graft and demoralization, became a public asset. The value of
real estate increased beyond all proportion to the general rise of land
values elsewhere. In the decade and a half which has elapsed since the
church began its work, boys and girls of a new type have been brought up.
The reputation of the village has been changed from bad to good, public
order has greatly improved, and the growth of the place as a summer resort
has begun. It is fair to say that the establishment of the church under
Mr. Gill began a new era in the history of the town."
It was with this record of practical success in the country church,
supplemented by the very unusual experience as an investigator which he
acquired in collecting and analyzing the material for "The Country
Church," that Mr. Gill approached the task whose results are here set
down. The task of ascertaining with accuracy the conditions of the country
church in other portions of the United States still remains. The remedies
are yet to be applied.
GIFFORD PINCHOT.
Milford, Penna.
Aug. 26, 1918.
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 book. Several thousand persons assisted in collecting
the data here given. Lists of churches were obtained from correspondents
in every township in Ohio, and township maps were sent to them for marking
the location of the churches. Ministers, clerks, and other officers of
churches, district superintendents, and other denominational leaders gave
indispensable information.
The very important material gathered by the Ohio Rural Life Survey,
including country church maps of twelve counties and many data for
seventeen other counties, was placed at the disposal of the Commission.
Invaluable assistance has been rendered by State, County, and Township
Sunday School Associations. In about half of the townships, officers of
the township associations supplied needed information. Miss Clara E.
Clemmer, Secretary of the County Association, gathered nearly all the data
for Preble County. The Rev. C. A. Spriggs, a Missionary of the American
Sunday School Union, furnished most of the facts used in making the map of
Pike County.
In a few counties, superintendents of public schools either gave desired
information themselves, or supplied the names of others who did, and in
some cases the agricultural agents lent a hand.
County atlases were consulted, and verifications and corrections were
obtained from many sources. The topographical maps issued by the United
States Geological Survey gave the locations of certain churches. The Year
Books of the various denominational bodies were in constant use for
verification and reference, as were the United States Census, the Ohio
Statistical Reports, and other Government documents.
In the different sections of Ohio Mr. Gill made extensive investigations
on the ground, while large numbers of country ministers and church members
were consulted personally. Specific information has thus been collected in
nearly every township, while at country church institutes and conferences
in various parts of the State, many facts were secured from the
discussions on rural church conditions. Not only has information,
therefore, been received from very many people intimately associated with
the churches of rural Ohio, but also, and very widely, from personal
observation on the field itself.
In spite of all the care that could be taken, after the work on the
township maps was thought to be finished, a few other churches were
discovered. If, in the future, still other churches should be found which
are not on the maps, the number of them will be insignificant. Their
discovery will doubtless in no wise affect the conclusions which have been
drawn as to the country church situation in Ohio, nor their omission
impair the general usefulness of the maps.
In the constructive work of the Commission and of the Ohio Rural Life
Association for rural church betterment, as well as in the survey, the
Ohio State University, under Dr. Thompson, has always given free and
valuable cooperation.
For all this kind assistance the Commission and the Association are deeply
grateful, and here express their hearty thanks.