FEDERATED CHURCHES
There are many rural communities in Ohio where the churches exert a vital
influence in community life, and where farm life succeeds in holding
families of moral, intellectual, and physical vigor. In some instances the
communities and their churches have not been seriously affected by the
modern conditions and tendencies which elsewhere are acting unfavorably
upon the country church and country life. In other instances, intelligent
leadership on the part of the ministers has overcome these conditions.
Many of these ministers highly appreciate the help they have received from
the modern country church movement, while not a few have testified that
without it they would have failed.
In a very large part of rural Ohio the need of interchurch cooperation is
keenly realized. In the divided communities the people, for the most part,
want to get together, but they do not know how. But in many communities
practical methods have been found and tested, and by these methods
Christian cooperation has been brought to pass and the rural church
conditions have been greatly improved. For that reason descriptions of
actual successful cases of interchurch cooperation are here supplied.
These examples are intended to include federated churches, church
federations, and denominational union churches, as well as certain
striking cases of the work of the church in community service. The uniting
of Christian forces will not by itself alone insure rural church progress.
The new country church program must be added. In its absence, a real
advance appears to be impossible.
_Greene Township_
Greene Township, Trumbull County, is situated in northeastern Ohio, in the
Western Reserve. In 1900 it had a population of about 800 persons, in 1910
about 100 less. Some of its residents are descended from the early
settlers from New England, others have recently moved in from western
sections of Ohio, while possibly 10 per cent are of foreign birth. That
its people have been somewhat progressive is indicated by the fact that it
was among the first three townships in the State to establish a
centralized school.
Greene is not a rich township. It has no railroad. About 40 of its houses
are now vacant. Fields which formerly were producing good crops of wheat,
corn, and oats are now growing up to brush. The young men between 25 and
30 years of age who were going into farming before the war can be counted
on the fingers of one hand. It is probable, however, that a new era in
agriculture has begun. Quite recently drainage, and in some cases the
application of lime, have reclaimed much waste land. Still other land will
be treated in the same way and with equally good results. Doubtless, as
elsewhere, progressive country church work will greatly assist a general
movement in the township to secure abundant prosperity.
In the geographical center of the township are two churches, Methodist
Episcopal and Disciples of Christ. These two are about equal in strength,
while in the northwestern part is a Baptist church with but three or four
families in its membership. The latter, however, supports a Sunday school
of 30 or 40 attendants.
Formerly, three resident ministers lived in the community, but for twelve
years there had been none. The Baptist Church holds only occasional
preaching services, the Disciples have depended for their preaching upon
student supplies from a neighboring theological school, while the
ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church have lived outside the
township at North Bloomfield, five miles away, where there are Methodist
Episcopal, Disciples, and Congregational churches. The Methodist Episcopal
Church at Greene, therefore, was part of a circuit of two churches.
As is usually the case among farming people of Ohio where there are no
resident ministers the people of Greene Township received very few
pastoral calls. Several families in the southeastern section of the
township have had little or no association with any ministers or churches.
Mr. Gill recently visited the township on a pleasant Sunday, and learned
that less than 30 of its 700 people that day went to church.
As an indication that the churches of Greene Township have been losing
their hold on the people, it may be noted that an increasing number of
families do not ask clergymen to officiate at funerals. The undertaker
sometimes conducts a short service at the grave, or his wife reads a
prayer and passage of scripture. In view of immemorial custom, the absence
of a clergyman on such occasions is significant.
The total amount of money contributed annually to the support of the
ministry in Greene Township has been not more than $600. Of this the
Methodist Episcopal Church paid its minister $300. The North Bloomfield
Church in an adjacent township paid him $500, so that the total salary of
the Methodist minister who gave part of his time to Greene Township was
$800. Obviously this is not enough to support a family and enable the
minister to keep a motor car or a horse. A large part of his time and
energy, therefore, was spent in walking from parish to parish and from
house to house through an area of 50 square miles.
In January of 1917 a joint committee was appointed by the churches of
Greene Township to consider the questions of securing a resident pastor,
increasing the size of the Sunday school and congregation, and rendering
all other forms of service needed in the community. It was decided by this
committee that a federated church should be formed in which each
constituent ecclesiastical body would preserve its own identity. Each
church would independently meet its obligations to its own denomination in
all matters outside of the community, while all the members of the
churches would unite in local activities, including the support of a
resident minister. A country life institute was held to stimulate the
desire for community improvement, and the plan of church betterment was
set forth and adopted.
To secure support for a minister, a thorough canvass was made by a
committee of six representing the three churches. As a result of its work
no less than $1,500 was subscribed. "Our results," wrote the chairman of
this committee, "have surpassed our brightest hopes. It is a genuine
pleasure to work for something that is going to help the whole community
and not just a part. I believe the interests of the Kingdom will be
advanced most where effort is united in rural communities. In our canvass
for funds we were surprised to find that the non-church people were not
willing that the churches should close their doors. In addition we found
they had a deeper interest in the church than we could possibly expect.
One old man, probably sixty-five, said that this was the first time he had
ever been asked to give to the support of a church. He added that he often
felt he would like to give. Many a man said he would double the amount of
his gift if it was necessary."
A well-educated minister who has rendered nine successive years of
effective service in one community has been secured as pastor, and there
is now a most encouraging prospect of improvement in religious, moral,
social, and economic life. The increased giving in Greene Township has
also influenced the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in North
Bloomfield. They have pledged $800, instead of the former $500, for the
support of their minister, and expect to raise $1,000. Bloomfield Township
also hereafter will have the undivided service of a minister.
As a result of this movement in Greene Township, therefore, four of the
churches of these two townships will hereafter pay from $2,300 to $2,500
for the support of the ministry instead of $1,100 as hitherto, while two
communities will each have the full time service of a resident pastor. The
significance of this increase in the money support of the church will be
apparent to those who have studied modern rural church problems. The
failure of the rural churches to give a living wage, much less a working
salary, to their ministers has been one of the most discouraging facts in
the rural church situation.
If the three churches of North Bloomfield should federate as those of
Greene Township have done, doubtless their people could raise $1,500 for
the support of the ministry. Again, if all the churches of both North
Bloomfield and Greene should federate it would be possible to employ a
single pastor of even higher grade with an assistant. An automobile could
be used effectively to cover both townships. In some cases, as in
Benzonia, Michigan, one minister with one or more assistants has been able
to get better results at less expense. The plan is worth trying.
_Aurora_
In the year 1913 in the village of Aurora, Portage County, there were two
churches, the Congregational and Disciples of Christ. They were small in
attendance and membership, and it was hard to get adequate support for the
ministers. The usual results of underpaying the ministry were not wanting.
As a preliminary step in the improvement of this situation an organization
of the men of the churches was formed to promote the general community
welfare. As in so many other cases, to bring the churches together in
cooperative service to the community was seen to be the only way to secure
a vigorous church life for Aurora. That led to the decision to form a
federated church under the leadership of one pastor. Under the plan
adopted, each church was to keep its denominational relations, contribute
to its denominational benevolences, and fulfill all denominational
obligations. But in Aurora, as in Greene Township, the people were to work
together as in one church.
Owing to circumstances which were purely accidental, for the first year or
two the church was not very prosperous and the federation was only
partially successful. But after awhile the church began to take on life.
While at the beginning it was mutually understood that the arrangement was
to be tried for but two years, at the end of that time the desirability
of going back to the old way was not even discussed. So far as Mr. Gill
could learn in a visit to the community, the one and only one person who
still preferred the old way was a woman who had opposed the movement from
the start and had always held aloof from it. The opinion of the people is
now practically unanimous that both the community and the churches were
greatly benefited by the change. The first pastor of this church was of
the Disciples, the second a Presbyterian.
_Garrettsville_
Garrettsville is a prosperous community on the Erie Railroad between
Youngstown and Cleveland. Its thousand inhabitants are engaged partly in
farming, partly in manufacturing, and partly in supplying the various
daily needs of the people. Its good houses, electric lights, paved
streets, and trim sidewalks indicate progressiveness and community spirit.
Being progressive, the people not merely recognized the undesirability of
interchurch competition, but they were able to work out a plan whereby
they have largely avoided it.
In April, 1916, there were four churches in the community, or on an
average one to 250 persons. The highest salary paid to its minister by any
of the churches was $800. Two of the other churches paid much smaller sums
and shared the service of their ministers with the churches of other
towns, while one of the pastors was the Educational Secretary of a Y. M.
C. A. in a town thirty miles away. The spirit of denominational rivalry
was in no respect different from that commonly found where there are too
many churches. When the pastor of the Congregational Church attempted to
organize a branch of the Boy Scouts of America for all the boys in the
community, he found that the members of the other churches feared he was
attempting to win the boys over to his church. For this reason he thought
it best to give up the enterprise.
In 1914, an unsuccessful attempt was made to unite the Congregational
Church and the Disciples, and another to unite the Baptist and
Congregational churches. In 1916, however, under the influence of the
country church movement in Ohio, a successful effort was made to unite all
three of them. In the spring of that year these three churches were all
without pastors. They decided to hold union services and a Union Sunday
school during the summer.
Upon trial the advantages of this arrangement became manifest. Not only
was the church attendance larger than the aggregate attendance in the
separate churches had ever been, but the Sunday school, formerly with
separate attendances of 65, 20, and 12, now had an attendance of 130.
Besides the added enthusiasm of greater numbers, it had better teachers,
better music, and a better Christian spirit.
In September, 1916, it was decided by separate vote of each church to form
a permanent organization, which was incorporated with the name of "The
United Church," and included all who were members of any of the three
churches. No member was asked to alter any of his beliefs, and any
candidate for admission might choose his own mode of being received,
provided it was one used in some Evangelical church. Contributions for
missionary work were sent to denominational bodies indicated by the givers
or determined by a joint committee. For all local work the members were to
act as one body. A committee of the United Church chose as pastor a young
man of rural experience, a graduate of an eastern university and seminary,
whose denominational affiliation was regarded as of so little importance
that it was not even announced.
The United Church of Garrettsville, after two years of experience, affords
religious opportunities and renders service to the people far beyond
anything the town could supply before the federation was made.
While the three original churches remain intact, the main part of the
business of the church is done by the committee of the United Church. The
officials of the denominations of the three churches interested heartily
encourage the project. The united force of church workers from three
denominations has made a very efficient church.
The United Church is the result of a desire of the people to be as
closely joined in their new church as they were in their different
denominational churches. Its motto is "In essentials, unity, in
non-essentials, liberty, in diversities, charity, in all things, Christ
first." It accepts the Scriptures as its sufficient rule of faith and
practice, interpreted in the light of fundamental agreements in
evangelical teaching, and in the spirit of its motto. Forms of ritual for
the sacrament, for the public services, and for admission into the church
are left to the decision of the minister, and are not provided for in the
regulations. It was desired to keep the forms of sectarianism too feeble
to be able to keep the people apart. Persons may join the United Church
without joining any of the three denominations represented by the original
constituent bodies.
The Sunday school is well organized, and is testing its work by the
highest standard of Christian education. Its relation to the church is
very close. The young people have a Christian Endeavor Society. The
women's work is carried on by a most flourishing society under the name of
"The Community Circle," whose form of organization provides for taking
care of both local and missionary needs. At the first meeting of each
month, half of the time is given to local opportunities for service. The
general social life of the church is largely cared for by this society.
The United Church has leased all the property of the old churches for a
term of years and cares for the church buildings. It has decided to build
a new community house for promoting the social life of the community and
general community interests, but has postponed it until after the war. In
the Articles of Incorporation one of the objects is regarded as the
support of such enterprises as tend to the more perfect development of the
children and young people spiritually, physically, morally, and socially.
Representatives of the old churches usually go to the meetings of their
respective denominations, and are accompanied by such members of the
United Church as may wish to attend as visitors. Reports of the meetings
are made at meetings of the United Church. The pastor of the United Church
is also pastor of each of the three denominational churches and so far as
possible attends the district meetings of the denominational bodies in a
representative capacity and cares for the local denominational interests.
Public services and meetings are held in the Congregational Church
building because it is the largest and best equipped. A baptistry is now
being installed, and various uses are being found for the other buildings.
It will be noted that the United Church of Garrettsville differs in some
respects from the ordinary federated church.
_Northfield_
In Northfield, Summit County, the Presbyterian and Methodist Episcopal
churches united by verbal agreement in a federated church on December 1,
1914. Written articles were adopted several months later. The pastor of
the federated church, Rev. J. M. Keck, has kindly given us the following
brief account:
"The consent of the higher officials of each denomination was first
secured. Then the members of the local churches agreed to the following
plan:
"The Presbyterians remain in the Cleveland Presbytery and the Methodists
in the Northeast Ohio Conference as before. The legal organization of each
local church continues intact. Each set of trustees has charge of its
property. The Presbyterian Church being the better located, is used for
worship, and the Methodist for dinners, etc. When a building needs
repairs, funds are raised from the entire congregation by voluntary
contributions.
"The only additional organization is an Executive Committee, half
Presbyterians and half Methodists, which has charge of current expenses
and all matters relating to the congregation as a whole. An every-member
canvass for the local budget is made in which no account is taken of
church relations, no one but the treasurer knowing how much is contributed
by each denomination. Benevolent contributions are equally divided
between the denominational boards or applied to the Presbyterian or
Methodist funds as indicated on envelopes.
"Persons desiring to unite with the church elect whether they are to be
Presbyterians or Methodists and are received accordingly. No one seems to
care in which they are enrolled, since they work in the same congregation
and contribute to the same funds. The order of public worship is a
modification of each of those formerly in use but retains the essential
features of both.
"So far there has not been the slightest friction between the
denominations. No one seems to think of ever going back to the old way.
WHAT THE PRESBYTERIANS GAINED
"1. A church was saved for the denomination which in time would probably
have been forced to disband.
"2. Several hundred dollars of home missionary money was saved annually
which had been expended in Northfield to keep the church open and alive.
Under the federation it is not needed.
"3. Offerings are made to the various boards and interests of
Presbyterianism.
WHAT THE METHODIST CONFERENCE GAINED
"1. A church was saved that doubtless would have been closed in a few
years for want of support.
"2. The salary of the pastor has been increased and also the stipends of
the district superintendent, the bishops, conferences, and claimants.
"3. The contributions to all boards and benevolences have been increased.
WHAT THE COMMUNITY GAINED
"1. Federation saves paying two pastors and keeping two church buildings
when one is sufficient. It makes the public more willing to aid.
"2. The congregation being more than doubled, there is more enthusiasm and
willingness to work.
"3. It has silenced the criticism that the churches are competing instead
of cooperating.
"4. The economic and fraternal features of federation appeal to the public
and bring into line people who did not patronize either church before."
_Federated Churches in Other States_
More churches have been federated in New England than in any other section
of the United States. Familiarity with the success or failure of these
churches is therefore necessary to a reasonably full discussion of
interchurch cooperation. Accordingly information blanks were sent to a
number of these federated churches. The inquiries were expressed as
follows:
1. Date of Federation?
2. Denominations of constituent bodies?
3. Membership of each church at the time of federation?
4. Denomination of the first minister and of succeeding ministers?
5. Do the people like the present arrangement better than the old?
6. Do many people want to go back to the old way?
7. Have church benevolences declined or increased?
8. How has the pecuniary support of the ministry been affected?
9. How have other expenditures of the church been affected?
10. Has attendance declined or increased?
11. Has church membership declined or increased?
12. What effect, if any, has the formation of the federated church had
upon the social life of the community?
13. Kindly express frankly your opinion of the federated church as a means
of securing Christian unity and church efficiency.
Fifteen churches replied. In these fifteen federated churches were
thirteen Congregational churches, nine Methodist Episcopal, seven
Baptist, and one Universalist. The Universalist was federated with a
Congregational church, two federated churches were made up of Baptist and
Methodist, five of Baptist and Congregational, seven of Methodist
Episcopal and Congregational.
The first ministers of four of the federated churches were Baptists, of
five, Methodist Episcopal, and of five, Congregational.
One of the churches had had an experience of sixteen years, one of eleven,
two of eight, two of six, two of five, two of four, two of three, three of
two, making the average experience of the fifteen federated churches more
than five years.
Of the fifteen answers to question 5, thirteen said that the people liked
the present arrangement better than the old, while the other two said
there were not many people who wanted to go back to the old way.
In reply to question 7, eight declared that the benevolences had
increased, three that they had remained the same, one said benevolences
varied in different years, while in three the benevolences had declined.
In one of these the decline was very slight and there was a prospect of an
increase in the future.
In thirteen the support of the ministry has been favorably affected by the
federation. From one the answer is ambiguous. In the case of Truro,
Massachusetts, where one church had a membership of three and the other of
eight, at the time of federation, the answer indicates a decrease in the
amount given to the salary.
The answers to question 9 indicate that the running expenditures of the
churches are often less and that the money is more easily raised to meet
them.
To question 10, nine of the answers denoted an increased attendance, five
no noticeable change. No church reported a decrease. In one case the
answer was obscure.
The answers to question 11 report that eight have increased in membership,
five have remained stationary, one reports normal additions, and one a
slight decrease.
In answer to question 12, twelve churches reported a favorable effect upon
the social life of the community, two recently formed reported that there
was no marked effect yet, while one gave no answer. All but one of the
correspondents cherish a strong opinion that the federated church is the
best arrangement when a community is overchurched and the churches are
small. One pastor of a federation had nothing to say.
The following are the replies to the request made at the end of the
questionnaire, "Kindly express frankly your opinion of the federated
church as a means of securing Christian unity and church efficiency":
1. "Nothing to say."
2. "I do not see any reasons why two or more churches of Congregational
form of government should not federate, but it would be difficult to
federate with Episcopal form of church government."
3. "The efficiency here has been greater since these churches federated
than it was before. No church could support a pastor. The Baptist Church
had been pastorless for three and a half years. The Congregational Church
was supplied by students from Hartford Theological Seminary. Now they pay
a fair salary and give free use of parsonage. Federation is the best
solution of overchurched communities."
4. "The federated church should be adopted in rural communities and in
many small cities. I see no other way to bring the church into its place
as a social and religious power."
5. "It is my opinion that for a community that is like this one a
federated church is a great means to secure Christian unity and
efficiency. At our last meeting there were but two who were not
enthusiastic for its continuance. Our field here would be much better if
there were not another church in the community outside the federation.
There is still the Unitarian Church outside the federation which
necessarily makes a divided leadership in the small community. Our
federated church has grown from two small churches to the position of
dominance in the community. Our decrease in benevolences is largely
explainable and excusable perhaps in that it occurred during the time when
there were so many other things to take care of, relative to the
federation. It will not happen again, but for a part of the time we were
without a pastor and during the rest of the time exceedingly busy getting
things adjusted."
6. "We are thoroughly satisfied. Each church in denominational
relationship (the Methodist Episcopal and Congregational) is as
independent and well organized as before federation. Each church is
stronger than before federation. We look forward to the day when
federation will be the rule in overchurched communities for the sake of
the good of church and community rather than from pecuniary necessity."
This opinion was expressed after an experience of sixteen years of the
federated church.
7. "Having been pastor of the federated church in Somerset for three years
I am glad to be able to say that I unqualifiedly recommend federation as a
solution of the overchurched problem in country and village. Wherever
there are genuine Christian members, federation will work perfectly."
8. "It is a great help in small places."
9. "Our federation has been a great success. Perfect harmony seems to
reign."
10. "A strong church can do better work alone, but two or more weak
churches should unite in the support of one minister. A federated church
gives opportunity for denominational loyalty and connections. This is
important."
11. "This is a small town, only about 435 population, but it is a summer
resort and during the months of July and August a great many city people
attend church. I am pastor of this church and North Thetford, another
federated church about five miles south. It is about the only way these
churches could be run, for both are small places."
12. "This federated church is in a flourishing condition. During the
present pastorate since May, 1914, 31 have been received into the church.
The building has been remodeled at a cost of about $3,500, all paid but
$300.00."
13. "It is the most efficient means of securing Christian unity and church
efficiency ever discovered. It is the ideal way."
14. "I am convinced of the sincerity of Christian unity and of the
possibility of church efficiency, but it has not really approached that
reality any more than some denominational churches have in rural centers.
But it is a wholesome and generally satisfactory plan of religious service
in a community of changing personnel. In the community is quite a large
Catholic element and also a very progressive and influential Universalist
element. This remains in our midst practically unassimilated as yet, after
a dozen years with no services in their church. The children are coming
into the Sunday school pretty well and time will overcome some of these
obstacles."
15. "It is the reasonable and only possible means in this and many other
communities in Cape Cod, but it needs energy and aggressive effort to
succeed."
In the face of the fact that a very large proportion of denominational
rural churches are on the decline, the experience of these fifteen
churches constitutes very strong evidence that the federated church is a
practical means of securing Christian unity and increased church
efficiency in small overchurched communities.
In order to learn whether or not it is true that only the more successful
churches replied to the questionnaire, we have by other means secured
information in regard to certain churches which did not reply. Some of
them were found to be as successful as those which did. For example, the
federated church of North Wilbraham, Massachusetts, the constituent bodies
of which are Methodist Episcopal and Congregational churches, has greatly
increased in membership, attendance, and in the influence it exerts for
various kinds of progress in its community. It would be very difficult to
find any country church, either denominational or federated, whose record
for service is better.
In two cases in New England where the federated church has failed, it was
reported that the pastors regarded the federated church as a temporary
expedient and tried hard to change it into a denominational church. Such
action would necessarily be regarded as a breach of faith on the part of
one of the churches, and disaster might well be expected to follow. The
authors know of no experience which indicates any inherent weakness in the
federated church, nor so far as they are aware is there any evidence that
a federated church has injured the denomination of any component church.
On the contrary, a very large majority of the small churches which have
united with others in such federation have gained rather than lost, with a
resulting benefit to each denomination concerned.