all nicniljcrs of families whose heads are aftiliated wiLli the church. 

 Throughout this section, except where otherwise specified, only the Pro- 

 testant churches will he referred to. Of the total white ])opulation, a 

 little o\er 2(),()00 may be considered as Protestant or at least as non- 

 Catholic. This means that every Protestant church has, on the average, 

 a possible membership of 234. Just how well this possible field is culti- 

 vated may be inferred from the fact that the a\'erage membership of 

 each church is only 81. Hardly 35% of the population are in the 

 churches. This average membership includes a number of weak de- 

 nominations; 9 denominations with 15 churches average only 35 members 

 per church. 



Sixty-two of the churches are growing; 3 are simply marking time; 

 16 are losing ground more or less rapidly; 5 are already on their death 

 beds. Ten other churches not included in the total have passed away 

 within recent years and must be numbered with the departed. Twenty- 

 eight percent of the churches still in existence are not growing. We 

 are accustomed to reading of rural communities that less than half of 

 their churches are growing. Even so, to find that one out of every four 

 churches has ceased to grow, or has not yet begun, might be considered 

 as raising a serious problem of church efficiency. The mortality rate 

 among humans is hardly as great as that among country churches. 

 This failure of the church to survive may mean that its methods of work 

 are defective and that it has been unable to adapt itself to changing 

 conditions or to meet the demands of rural life. Here, the fact that 

 the churches are really influencing only one-third of the population 

 and that more than a fourth of them are failing to hold their own, is in 

 part to be ex^Dlained in this way; but in larger part it seems to mean 

 that a certain proportion of the churches have been wrongly placed; 

 have been established where they have no legitimate opportunity for 

 growth, as the result, it may be, of some denominational rivalry or 

 neighborhood prejudice. A weeding out process has been going on — 

 a sort of natural selection. As a matter of fact the progress of the church 

 as a whole has been substantial. In 1906 (the year of the United States 

 Religious Census), the total membership of all white Protestant churches 

 was 5,456. Since that time the total population of the county has in- 

 creased less than 5% and outside of the Suburban Sections has actually 

 decreased. Yet the churches have made a growth in membership of 

 1,538, or 28.2%. This is as good a record as could be asked for. During 

 the last church year, 682 were added to the roll, 489 by confession or 

 confirmation, representing an addition of more than 10% of the previous 

 strength. All but 18 churches, or about 80% of the total number re- 

 ported additions; the average number per church was 8. 



It is not to be supposed that the entire membership of the churches 



90 



