RURAL DEPLETION 51 



Hamilton, Montreal, and Toronto, though each, while 

 largely urban, includes a rural section, increased re- 

 spectively by 1,780, 2,086, and 4,768 households. In 

 each case the gain was considerably more than half of 

 the total gain in the whole corresponding synod for the 

 decade. 



Rural churches are not and cannot be filled with 

 worshippers as they once were. The Presbyterian 

 Church in Spencerville, a village cathedral built in bet- 

 ter days, never puts its spacious gallery to use. The 

 most easterly church in the Presbytery of Glengarry, in 

 Ontario, and the most westerly one in the Presbytery of 

 Montreal, in Quebec, are examples of churches whose 

 auditoriums have been cut down in size since they were 

 first built. Churches here and there are closed. Within 

 six miles of Spencerville are two churches whose con- 

 gregations dwindled until they disappeared. No statis- 

 tics are available upon this aspect of the problem in 

 Canada. But in the United States, where the strain 

 upon the churches has proved much more severe than in 

 Canada, accurate surveys show the situation. The Ohio 

 Rural Life Survey of 1912, for instance, reveals 800 

 abandoned churches in that State. In no county in the 

 State are one-half of the congregations holding their 

 own. In several counties not 10 per cent, are growing. 

 In 10 counties, with a total of 394: congregations, not 

 one-twentieth of the number had resident ministers. 

 The ministers live in towns and go to the country to 

 preach. Ninety-six townships in these ten counties, 

 comprising nearly 4,000 square miles, are without a 

 re.sident minister in the cftuntry districts. 



Other bearings of the situation upon the church in 

 addition to this fundamental one might be discussed; 



