The Church on the Changing Frontier: A Study of the Homesteader and His Church

APPENDIX II

Tables

LAND AND FARM AREA IN THE RANGE COUNTIES ACCORDING TO THE FEDERAL CENSUSES FOR 1910 AND 1920

	Beaverhead		Hughes		Sheridan		Union
	1920	1910	1920	1910	1920	1910	1920	1910
Approximate land area (acres)	3,620,480	3,020,160	485,760	485,760	1,647,360	1,648,000	3,436,800	3,436,800
Land in farms (acres)	637,009	461,315	284,907	165,069	625,796	421,543	2,515,522	814,011
Improved land in farms (acres)	270,603	275,530	144,237	62,531	113,385	95,368	273,748	72,630
Woodland in farms (acres)	7,142	3,088	7,032	2,521	8,741	7,269	51,634	1,854
Other unimproved land in farms (acres)	359,264	182,697	133,638	100,017	503,670	318,906	2,190,140	739,527
Per cent. of land area in farms	17.6	15.3	58.7	34.0	38.0	25.6	73.2	23.7
Per cent. of farm land improved	42.5	59.7	50.6	37.9	18.1	22.6	10.9	8.9
Average acreage per farm	992.1	860.7	784.9	440.2	643.8	527.6	948.5	423.3
Average improved acreage per farm	421.5	514.0	397.3	116.7	116.7	119.4	103.2	37.8

The average acreage per farm in Beaverhead and Sheridan has increased very slightly in the past ten years, while the improved acreage per farm has decreased. In Hughes and Union, however, there is a decided increase in both the acreage per farm and the improved acreage per farm.

FARMS AND FARM PROPERTY IN THE RANGE COUNTIES ACCORDING TO THE FEDERAL CENSUSES FOR 1910 AND 1920

Farms Operated by Owners	Beaverhead		Hughes		Sheridan		Union
	1920	1910	1920	1910	1920	1910	1920	1910
Number of farms	559	456	245	308	734	626	2,282	1,891
Per cent. of all farms	87.1	85.1	67.5	82.1	75.5	78.3	86	98.3
Land in farms (acres)	490,453	324,248	151,684	124,686	455,057	302,076	2,043,800	716,506
Improved land in farms (acres)	214,638	194,592	69,052	45,675	68,729	63,631	216,881	70,047
Value of land, buildings (dollars)	12,753,847	6,021,007	6,291,101	3,136,356	10,454,136	6,742,704	22,052,531	3,973,909
Number of farmers owning entire farm	506	439	165	219	591	503	1,670	1,822
Number of farmers hiring additional land	53	17	80	89	143	123	612	69
Color and Nativity of Owners
Number of native whites	385	305	187	224	595	519	2,241	1,809
Number of foreign-horn whites	174	151	47	64	131	105	38	77
Number of non-whites	0	0	11	20	8	2	3	5
Farms Operated by Tenants
Number of farms	46	55	112	63	198	164	344	22
Per cent. of all farms	7.2	10.3	30.9	16.8	20.4	20.5	13	1.1
Land in farms (acres)	42,489	43,196	117,163	34,283	86,147	108,233	292,004	14,305
Improved land in farms (acres)	18,536	25,565	65,200	16,136	28,832	28,922	37,362	1,705
Value of land and buildings (dollars)	1,410,170	1,056,695	3,459,605	933,680	3,663,700	2,616,525	3,424,668	88,840
Color and Nativity of Tenants
Number of native whites	37	38	396	57	173	150	289	20
Number of foreign-born whites	9	15	141	6	24	12	54	2
Number of non-whites	0	2	0	0	1	2	1	0
Farms operated by managers
Number of farms	37	25	6	4	40	9	26	10
Land in farms (acres)	104,067	93,871	16,060	6,100	84,592	11,234	179,718	83,200
Improved land in farms (acres)	37,429	55,373	9,985	720	15,824	2,815	19,505	878
Value of land and buildings (dollars)	2,900,920	1,520,630	352,500	103,560	2,483,650	240,200	1,834,472	306,210

As is usual in districts that have been homesteaded, the proportion of ownership is high. But because of absentee ownership, land companies operating over large areas and high taxes, the rate of tenancy is increasing.

III

ACREAGE AND VALUE OF CULTIVATED CROPS IN THE RANGE COUNTIES ACCORDING TO FEDERAL CENSUSES FOR 1910 AND 1920

	Beaverhead		Hughes		Sheridan		Union
Cereals	1920	1910	1920	1910	1920	1910	1920	1910
Corn			10,740	4,352	292	200	51,077	3,220
Oats	4,118	15,255	2,891	3,684	2,916	8,043	2,819	431
Wheat	2,157	763	4,499	3,761	11,466	9,898	14,094	377
Barley	903	225	1,560	131	801	1,601	552	3
Rye	47	96	962	96	93	224	618	10
Hay and Forage
All tame and cultivated crops	36,243	26,996	4,667	827	35,067	35,766	7,925	2,688
Special Crops
Potatoes	198	408	219	272	267	808	619	157
All other vegetables	9	87	25	132	35	367	142	365
	Dollars	Dollars	Dollars	Dollars	Dollars	Dollars	Dollars	Dollars
Value of all crops	$3,883,480	$1,529,830	$1,141,939	$ 225,315	$1,655,937	$1,108,967	$5,198,986	$ 295,293
Cereals	200,733	414,539	539,471	78,654	335,719	368,205	3,050,879	84,410
Hay and forage	3,597,990	1,080,093	505,323	103,592	1,036,246	596,473	1,092,554	152,494
Vegetables	80,421	33,622	49,673	15,336	109,670	110,087	110,700	18,687
Dairy products	64,083	41,176	71,379	29,162	174,759	85,512	313,632	18,230

The most important crops are hay and forage in Beaverhead and Sheridan; in Union cereal crops; in Hughes, both in nearly equal proportions. Dairying is a comparatively new development.

URBAN AND RURAL POPULATION OF THE RANGE COUNTIES ACCORDING TO THE FEDERAL CENSUSES FOR 1910 AND 1920

	Beaverhead		Hughes		Sheridan		Union		Total
Distribution of population:	1920	1910	1920	1910	1920	1910	1920	1910	1920	1910
Rural population	4,668	6,446	2,502	2,615	9,007	7,916	16,680	11,404	32,857	28,381
Rural increase 1910-1920	27.6%		-4.3%		13.8%		46.3%		15.8%
Urban population	2,701		3,209	3,656	9,175	8,408			15,085	12,064
Urban increase 1910-1920			-12.2%		9.1%				25%
Total population	7,369	6,446	5,711	6,271	18,182	16,324	16,680	11,404	47,942	40,445
Total increase 1910-1920	14.3%		-8.9%		11.4%		46.3%		18.5%
Density of population per sq. mile:
Rural density	.8	1.4	3.3	3.4	3.5	3.1	3.1	2.1
Total density	1.3[9]	1.4	7.5	8.3	7.1[9]	6.3	3.1	2.1
No. of dwellings	1,832	1,493	1,301	1,419	4,169	3,376	3,768	2,961	11,070	9,249
No. of families	1,937	1,561	1,387	1,492	4,492	3,186	3,956	3,093	11,772	9,632

RACIAL COMPOSITION OF POPULATION OF THE RANGE COUNTIES ACCORDING TO FEDERAL CENSUS OF 1920

	Beaverhead		Hughes		Sheridan		Union[10]
	Number	Rank	Number	Rank	Number	Rank	Number	Rank
Total population	7,369		5,711		18,182		16,680
Native White, Total	6,261		5,155		15,058		16,376
Native parentage	4,454		3,752		11,454		15,512
Foreign parentage	1,024		778		2,314		414
Mixed parentage	783		625		1,290		450
Foreign White, Total	1,035		462		2,895		278

Austria	69	7	15	9	90	12	5	14
Canada	150	1	49	2	126	9	26	3
Czecho-Slovakia	11	14	4	11	90	12	7	12
Denmark	121	2	42	3	44	17	6	13
England	98	5	38	4	194	4	19	5
Finland	23	11	3	12	66	13	0
France	17	12	6	10	51	16	5	14
Germany	107	3	118	1	541	1	49	1
Greece	11	14	4	11	53	15	10	10
Hungary	4	16	1	14	107	11	10	10
Ireland	106	4	22	6	56	14	12	8
Italy	33	9	3	12	240	3	8	11
Jugo-Slavia	27	10	0		169	7	0
Mexico	0		0		192	5	13	7
Norway	33	9	49	2	38	18	3	15
Poland	2	17	2	13	290	2	11	9
Russia	13	13	20	7	181	6	28	2
Scotland	33	9	3	12	108	10	10	10
Sweden	80	6	37	5	143	8	15	6
Switzerland	43	8	18	8	15	20	6	13
Syria	0		0		0		22	4
Wales	7	15	3	12	22	19	0
All other countries	47		25		79		13
Other than white	73		94		229		26

AGE AND SCHOOL ATTENDANCE IN THE RANGE COUNTIES ACCORDING TO THE FEDERAL CENSUS FOR 1920

	Beaverhead		Hughes		Sheridan		Union
	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
Under 7 years	1,057	...	847	...	2,779	...	3,217	...
7 to 13 years inclusive	850	...	790	...	2,395	...	2,909	...
Attending school	789	92.8	714	90.4	2,225	92.9	2,594	89.2
14 and 15 years	213	...	201	...	564	...	700	...
Attending school	195	91.5	191	95	495	87.8	590	84.3
16 and 17 years	206	...	216	...	531	...	655	...
Attending school	137	66.5	153	70.8	286	53.9	337	51.5
18 to 20 years inclusive	302	...	306	...	829	...	846	...
Attending school	68	22.5	82	26.8	147	17.8	140	16.5

The proportion of children in school is high through the age of sixteen. Beyond that age the ratio of attendance falls off rapidly, Sheridan and Union having a smaller proportion in school than the other two counties.

VII

ILLITERACY IN THE RANGE COUNTIES ACCORDING TO THE FEDERAL CENSUS FOR 1920

	Beaverhead		Hughes		Sheridan		Union
Ten Years and Over	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
Total	5,950	...	4,520	...	14,320	...	12,123	...
Illiterates	59	1.0	20	1.4	437	3.1	668	5.5
Native Whites	4,863	...	3,982	...	11,284	...	11,830	...
Illiterates	13	.3	2	.1	33	.3	652	5.5
Foreign Born Whites	1,023	...	460	...	2,828	...	276
Illiterates	29	2.8	9	2.	393	13.9	14	5.1
Negro	14	...	23	...	131	...	12	...
Illiterates	3	...	1	...	4	3.1	1	...
16-20 Years Inclusive
Total	508	...	522	...	1,359	...	1,501	...
Illiterates	2	.4	1	.2	9	.7	44	2.9
Illiteracy 21 Years and Over
Males	42	1.4	8	.5	276	4.2	211	4.6
Native Whites	11	...	...	...	16	...	205	...
Foreign Born Whites	18	...	5	...	252	...	6	...
Negro	2	...	...	...	3	...	...	...
Females	15	.8	11	.7	148	3.2	350	9.2
Native Whites	1	...	1	...	9	...	341	...
Foreign Born Whites	10	...	4	...	137	...	8	...
Negro	1	...	...	...	1	...	1	...

The rate of illiteracy is higher in Sheridan and Union than in Beaverhead and Hughes.

VIII

DEVELOPMENT OF PROTESTANT CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS ON THE CHANGING FRONTIER

	BEAVERHEAD				HUGHES				SHERIDAN				UNION				TOTAL
	Total Number Churches	Number Now Active	Number Now Abandoned	Number Now Inactive	Total Number Churches	Number Now Active	Number Now Abandoned	Number Now Inactive	Total Number Churches	Number Now Active	Number Now Abandoned	Number Now Inactive	Total Number Churches	Number Now Active	Number Now Abandoned	Number Now Inactive	Total Number Churches	Number Now Active	Number Now Abandoned	Number Now Inactive
Period of organization:
1871-80	1	1	..	..	1	1	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	2	2	2	..
1881-90	7	4	3	..	8	7	1	..	3	2	1	..	1	1	..	..	19	14	5	..
1891-1900	..	..	..	..	1	1	..	..	5	5	..	..	3	3	..	..	9	9	..	..
1901-10	2	2	..	..	1	1	..	..	7	4	1	2	15	9	5	1	25	16	6	3
1911-20	..	..	..	..	5	5	..	..	6	6	..	..	21	18	3	..	32	29	3	..
Total	10	7	3	..	16	15	1	..	21	17	2	2	40	31	8	1	87	70	14	3

About one-sixth of all the churches which have been organized are now either abandoned or inactive. Population has shifted; communities have changed; the churches sometimes have not survived.

IX-A

DISTRIBUTION OF CHURCHES AMONG DENOMINATIONS

	Churches in
Denominations	Country	Village	Town	City	Total
Baptist, North	0	1	2	1	4
Baptist, South	3	1	1	0	5
Church of Christ or Christian	0	1	1	1	3
Church of Christ (Unprogressive)	2	1	0	0	3
Congregational	3	0	1	1	5
Evangelical Association	0	0	1	0	1
Lutheran:
Norwegian Lutheran of America	0	0	1	0	1
German	0	0	0	1	1
Swedish	0	0	0	1	1
Polish	0	1	0	0	1
Others	0	1	0	0	1
Methodist, North	13	6	3	1	23
Methodist, South	6	0	0	0	6
Nazarene	1	0	0	0	1
Presbyterian in U. S. A.	3	2	1	1	7
Protestant Episcopal	0	0	2	1	3
Seventh Day Adventist	1	0	0	1	2
United Brethren	2	0	0	0	2
Total	34	14	13	9	70

IX-B

Denominations	Beaverhead	Hughes	Sheridan	Union	Total
Baptist North	1	1	2	0	4	}	9
Baptist South	0	0	0	5	5	}	9
Church of Christ or Christian	0	1	1	1	3
Church of Christ (Unprogressive)	0	0	0	3	3
Congregational	0	2	3	0	5
Evangelical Association	0	1	0	0	1
Lutheran:
Norwegian Lutheran of America	0	1	0	0	1	}	5
German	0	0	1	0	1
Swedish	0	0	1	0	1
Polish	0	0	1	0	1
Others	0	1	0	0	1
Methodist North	2	6	5	10	23	}	29
Methodist South	0	0	0	6	6	}	29
Nazarenes	0	0	0	1	1
Presbyterian in U. S. A.	3	1	1	2	7
Protestant Episcopal	1	1	1	0	3
Seventh Day Adventist	0	0	1	1	2
United Brethren	0	0	0	2	2
Total	7	15	17	31	70

With so many denominations at work in the field, every square mile of inhabited area ought to be reached. But large areas and many people are not even touched by the church.

X-A

RESIDENCE AND ACTIVITY OF CHURCH MEMBERS BY TYPES OF COMMUNITIES

	Churches in
	Country	Village	Town	City	Total
Net active members	616	497	1,178	1,665	3,956
Inactive members	129	66	221	607	1,013
Non-resident members	152	60	186	453	851
Total enrollment	897	623	1,575	2,725	5,820
Average per congregation	26	45	121	303	83

X-B

BY COUNTIES

	Churches in
	Beaverhead	Hughes	Sheridan	Union	Total
Net active members	345	884	1,988	739	3,956
Inactive members	96	74	646	197	1,013
Non-resident members	94	108	496	153	851
Total enrollment	535	1,066	3,130	1,089	5,820
Average per congregation	76	71	184	35	83

The non-resident member is an “unattached Christian” and no one looks out for him.

XI-A

CHURCHES CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO SIZE BY TYPES OF COMMUNITIES

	Country	Village	Town	City	Total
Churches with a net active membership of:
25 or less	26	7	2	1	36
26 to 50	7	4	1	1	13
51 to 100	1	3	5	1	10
101 to 150	0	0	3	1	4
Over 150	0	0	2	5	7
Total	34	14	13	9	70

XI-B

BY COUNTIES

	Beaverhead	Hughes	Sheridan	Union	Total
Churches with a net active membership of:
25 or less	3	7	4	22	36
26 to 50	1	2	5	5	13
51 to 100	2	3	2	3	10
101 to 150	1	1	1	1	4
Over 150	0	2	5	0	7
Total	7	15	17	31	70

Scattered and transient population together with denominational competition has resulted in a large proportion of small churches.

XII

HOW THE CHURCHES HAVE GROWN DURING A ONE-YEAR PERIOD BY TYPES OF COMMUNITIES

	Country Churches		Village Churches		Town Churches		City Churches		Total
	Number	Per Cent	Number	Per Cent	Number	Per Cent	Number	Per Cent	Number	Per Cent
Gained	12	35	7	50	10	77	8	89	37	53
Stationary	9	27	6	43	1	8	0	0	16	23
Declined	13	38	1	7	2	15	1	11	17	24
Total	34	100	14	100	13	100	9	100	70	100

The gain in church membership increases with the size of the community.

XIII

MEMBERSHIP GAIN OF THE CHURCHES ORGANIZED TEN YEARS OR MORE, DURING THE LAST TEN YEARS

Year	Nine Country Churches	Seven Village Churches	Thirteen Town Churches	Eight City Churches	Total
1910	257	166	1,197	1,012	2,632
1915	303	278	1,385	2,011	3,977
1920	326	271	1,575	2,660	4,852

Village and Country Churches Increased 41% Town and City Churches Increased 92%.

XIV

AGE AND SEX OF RESIDENT MEMBERS

	By Counties
	Beaverhead	Hughes	Sheridan	Union
Men over 21	24%	31%	31%	33%
Women over 21	55%	45%	47%	47%
Young men and boys under 21	8%	10%	9%	7%
Young women and girls under 21	13%	14%	13%	13%

The churches are not winning the boys and girls. They need better recreational methods and broader programs.

WAYS OF RAISING MONEY

A = Beaverhead		B = Hughes
C = Sheriday		D = Union

	CITY				TOWN				VILLAGE				COUNTRY				ENTIRE COUNTY
	A	B	C	D	A	B	C	D	A	B	C	D	A	B	C	D	A	B	C	D
Number of churches with:
Budget for all monies	0	0	5	0	2[11]	3	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	4	4	3	2	9	9	5
Budget for local expenses only	0	0	1	0	1	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	4	1	3
Annual every member canvass	0	0	6	0	3[11]	5	0	2	0	4	0	1	0	3	4	4	3	12	10	7
Both budget and every member canvass	0	0	6	0	3[11]	5	0	1	0	3	0	1	0	3	4	3	3	11	10	5
No budget and no every member canvass	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	0	0	1	11	0	0	4	16
Total number of churches	0	0	9	0	4	6	0	3	2	5	2	5	1	4	6	23	7	15	17	31

A fair proportion of the churches are using modern methods of financing their work.

XVI

OCCUPATIONS OF CHURCH MEMBERS

	Churches Located in
	CITY		TOWN		VILLAGE		COUNTRY		ENTIRE COUNTY
	Number of Members	Per Cent of Total	Number of Members	Per Cent of Total	Number of Members	Per Cent of Total	Number of Members	Per Cent of Total	Number of Members	Per Cent of Total
Beaverhead:
Retired farmers			6	5.7					6	5.3
Operating farmers			28	26.6					28	24.8
Farm renters
Farm laborers
Business or professional			51	48.6	2	40	2	66.7	55	48.7
All others			20	19.1	3	60	1	33.3	24	21.2
Total reporting occupations			105	100	5	100	3	100	113	100
Hughes:
Retired farmers			6	2.8	1	1.7			7	2.5
Operating farmers			8	3.8	34	58.7	6	75	48	17.2
Farm renters			12	20.7	1	12.5	13	4.7
Farm laborers
Business or professional			114	53.5	6	10.3			120	43
All others			85	39.9	5	8.6	1	12.5	91	32.6
Total reporting occupations			213	100	58	100	8	100	279	100
Sheridan:
Retired farmers	16	2.3							16	2
Operating farmers	49	7.2					41	51.8	90	11.1
Farm renters	8	12					15	19	23	2.8
Farm laborers	5	.7							5	.6
Business or professional	179	26.2					6	7.6	185	22.9
All others	426	62.4			49	100	17	21.6	492	60.6
Total reporting occupations	683	100			49	100	79	100	811	100
Union:
Retired farmers							1		1
Operating farmers			13	16.4	41	622	46	80.1	100	49.5
Farm renters							3	5.1	3	1.5
Farm laborers							3	5.1	3	1.5
Business or professional			36	45.6	11	16.6	3	5.1	50	24.7
All others			30	38	14	212	2	3.6	46	22.8
Total reporting occupations			79	100	66	100	57	100	202	100

Of the four counties, Union is the only one with a higher percentage of farmers on its rolls than of men in other occupations. Yet over half the churches in the four counties are country churches.

XVII-A

THE AMOUNT OF MONEY RAISED AND SPENT

The amount raised by the local churches is $97,571.98.

		Per cent.
Subscription	$70,910.74	72.68
Collections	9,464.24	9.7
All other methods	17,197.00	17.62
	$97,571.98

XVII-B

The amount spent by the local churches is $96,992.85.

		Per cent.
Salaries	$41,268.79	43.
Missions and benevolences	24,657.55	25.
Upkeep and all other expenses	31,066.51	32.

The entire amount spent for church purposes is $110,080.35.

		Per cent.
Salaries	$54,356.29[12]	49.
Missions and benevolences	24,657.55	23.
Upkeep and all other expenses	31,066.51	28.

Of the entire church dollar, about 12 per cent. comes from Denominational Boards.

XVIII

RECEIPTS PER CHURCH

	Country	Village	Town	City	Total
From:	Thirty-one Churches	Fourteen Churches	Thirteen Churches	Eight Churches	Sixty-six Churches
Subscription	$235.45	$526.51	$1,972.93	$3,824.04	$1,074.41
Collections	57.99	106.57	254.35	358.49	143.40
All other methods	12.96	297.42	458.01	834.63	260.55
Total	$306.40	$930.50	$2,685.29	$5,017.16	$1,478.36

XIX

RECEIPTS PER ACTIVE MEMBER

	Country	Village	Town	City	Total
From:	Thirty-one Churches	Fourteen Churches	Thirteen Churches	Eight Churches	Sixty-six Churches
Subscription	$12.39	$14.07	$21.77	$18.65	$18.04
Collections	3.05	2.85	2.81	1.75	2.41
All other methods	.68	7.95	5.05	4.07	4.37
Total	$16.12	$24.87	$29.63	$24.47	$24.82

The average active member is generous in the support of his church.

EXPENDITURES PER CHURCH

	Country	Village	Town	City	Total
For:	Thirty-one Churches	Fourteen Churches	Thirteen Churches	Eight Churches	Sixty-six Churches
Salaries	$220.12	$366.43	$1,247.31	$1,637.50	$625.28
Missions and Benevolences	42.59	117.85	638.84	1,672.75	373.60
Upkeep and all other expenses	40.95	441.63	794.22	1,661.18	470.70
Total	$303.66	$925.91	$2,680.37	$4,971.43	$1,469.58

XXI

EXPENDITURES PER ACTIVE MEMBER

	Country	Village	Town	City	Total
For:	Thirty-one Churches	Fourteen Churches	Thirteen Churches	Eight Churches	Sixty-six Churches
Salaries	$11.59	$9.79	$13.76	$7.99	$10.50
Missions and Benevolences	2.24	3.15	7.05	8.16	6.27
Upkeep and all other expenses	2.16	11.80	8.76	8.10	7.90
Total	$15.99	$24.74	$29.57	$24.25	$24.67

XXII-A

HOW A TYPICAL DOLLAR IS RAISED AND SPENT BY THE LOCAL CHURCHES

	Country	Village	Town	City	Total
By:	Thirty-one Churches	Fourteen Churches	Thirteen Churches	Eight Churches	Sixty-six Churches
Subscription	$.77	$.57	$.74	$.76	$.73
Collections	.19	.11	.09	.07	.10
All other methods	.04	.32	.17	.17	.17
Total	$1.00	$1.00	$1.00	$1.00	$1.00

XXII-B

	Country	Village	Town	City	Total
For:	Thirty-one Churches	Fourteen Churches	Thirteen Churches	Eight Churches	Sixty-six Churches
Salary	$.72	$.39	$.46	$.33	$.43
Missions and Benevolences	.14	.13	.24	.34	.25
Upkeep and all other expenses	.14	.48	.30	.33	.32
Total	$1.00	$1.00	$1.00	$1.00	$1.00

On the average, these churches devote one-fourth of their receipts to benevolences.

XXIII

GRADING FOR HOME MISSION FIELDS—PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN U. S. A.

A.	Promising Field:
	1. Prospect of self-support.
	2. Strategic service opportunity.
B.	Problematic Field:
	1. Uncertain of community development.
	2. Denominational responsibility uncertain.
C.	Field to be relinquished:
	1. Should be self-sustaining.
	2. Work should be discontinued.

This would be a good test to apply to every aided church on the Range.

XXIV

NUMBER OF CHURCH SERVICES

Number of Services a Month	Country Churches	Village Churches	Town Churches	City Churches	Total
Eight	3	3[13]	12[14]	7	25
Seven	0	0	0	0	0
Six	0	0	1	0	1
Five	0	0	0	0	0
Four	6	6[13]	0	2	14
Three	0	0	0	0	0
Two	9	3	0	0	12
One	12	0	0	0	12
No regular service	2	2	0	0	4
Services in summer only	2	0	0	0	2
Total	34	14	13	9	70

About three hours a week set aside for church services and Sunday school means six days a year; only twenty-five out of seventy churches have as large a number.

XXV

ATTENDANCE AT SERVICES COMPARED WITH SEATING CAPACITY AND ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP

	Beaverhead	Hughes	Sheridan	Union
Average seating capacity	197	277	286	160
Average active membership	49	59	117	24
Average attendance at services	52	50	80	67

An average attendance one-third less than the seating capacity means many empty seats.

XXVI

ORGANIZATIONS IN THE CHURCHES OTHER THAN SUNDAY SCHOOLS

					Mixed
	Men		Women		Grown-up		Young People		Boys		Girls		Boys and Girls
	Number	Members	Number	Members	Number	Members	Number	Members	Number	Members	Number	Members	Number	Members
Churches in:
Country	0	0	9	171	0	0	10	239	0	0	0	0	0	0
Village	0	0	9	166	0	0	3	81	0	0	0	0	0	0
Town	2	74	22	710	0	0	9	314	3	54	5	128	2	73
City	5	226	16	635	2	40	6	200	1	15	3	94	0	0
Total	7	300	56	1,682	2	40	28	834	4	69	8	222	2	73

Women’s organizations are numerous; men have only one-eighth as many. Less than half of the churches have young people’s organizations.

XXVII

NUMBER OF PASTORS WHO HAVE SERVED THE CHURCHES WHICH HAVE BEEN ORGANIZED TEN YEARS OR MORE

	One Pastor	Two Pastors	Three Pastors	Four Pastors	Five Pastors	Six Pastors	Seven Pastors	Eight Pastors	Nine Pastors
Churches in:
Country	1	1	2	2	2	3	1	0	1
Village	1	1	1	2	1	1	3	1	0
Town	0	1	3	4	2	2	1	0	0
City	1	2	1	2	2	0	0	0	0
Total	3	5	7	10	7	6	5	1	1

The turn-over on the part of the ministers has been high. Two-thirds of these churches have had a new minister every two and one half years or oftener.

XXVIII

RESIDENCE OF PASTORS IN RELATION TO THEIR CHURCHES

	Country	Village	Town	City	Total
Churches with:
Pastor resident in parish	8	8[15]	10	8	34
Pastor resident in community but not in parish	4	0	0	0	4
Pastor resident in other community in same county	12	2	0	0	14
Pastor resident in another county	3	0	1	0	4
No regular pastor	4	4	2	0	10
Supply pastor	3	0	0	1	4
Total	34	14	13	9	70

About half of the churches have their ministers resident among the members.

XXIX

SALARIES OF MINISTERS ACCORDING TO PROPORTION OF TIME DEVOTED TO THE MINISTRY

	Ministers Giving Full Time to Ministry		Ministers with other Occupation
	With One Church	With More Than One Church
Pastors receiving:[16]
Over $2,000	6	3
$1,501-$2,000	4	3	2
$1,201-$1,500	5	3	0
$1,001-$1,200	2	2	0
$ 751-$1,000	0	3	1
$ 501-$ 750	1	0	0
$ 101-$ 500	0	0	2
$ 100 or less	0	0	1
No salary	0	0	2
Total	18	14	8

With the high cost of living, it is difficult to sustain adequate family life on many of these salaries. It is not strange that eight of the ministers must earn part of their support at other occupations.

XXX

GAIN AND LOSS IN MEMBERSHIP AS RELATED TO RESIDENCE OF MINISTERS (One year period)

Churches with:	Country	Village	Town	City	Total
Resident minister	8	8[17]	10	8	34
Number gaining	4	5	7	7	23
Number stationary	2	3	2	0	7
Number losing	2	0	1	1	4
Non-resident minister	19	2	1	0	22
Number gaining	5	2	1	0	8
Number stationary	17	0	0	0	7
Number losing	7	0	0	0	7

About two-thirds of the churches with resident ministers made a gain in membership; of the churches with non-resident ministers only about one-third show a gain. Fourteen churches were either pastorless or were served by a supply. Six of them made a gain during the year preceding the survey.

UNIQUE STUDIES OF RURAL AMERICA

TOWN AND COUNTRY SERIESTWELVE VOLUMES

MADE UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
Edmund deS. Brunner, Ph.D.

What the Protestant Churches Are Doing and
Can Do for Rural America—The Results of
Twenty-six Intensive County Surveys

Description		Publication Date
(1)	Church and Community Survey of Salem County, N. J.	Ready
(2)	Church and Community Survey of Pend Oreille County, Washington	Ready
(3)	Church and Community Survey of Sedgwick County, Kansas	Ready
(4)	Religion in the Old and New South	Forthcoming
(5)	The New and Old Immigrant on the Land, as seen in two Wisconsin Counties	Ready
(6)	Rural Church Life in the Middle West	Ready
(7)	The Country Church in Colonial Counties	Ready
(8)	Irrigation and Religion, a study of two prosperous California Counties	Ready
(9)	The Church on the Changing Frontier	Ready
(10)	The Rural Church Before and After the War, Comparative Studies of Two Surveys	Forthcoming
(11)	The Country Church in Industrial Zones	Ready
(12)	The Town and Country Church in the United States	Forthcoming

“They are fine pieces of work and examples of what we need to have done on a large scale.” Dr. Charles A. Ellwood, Dept. of Sociology, University of Missouri.

“I am heartily appreciative of these splendid results.” Rev. Charles S. Macfarland, Genl. Secy., Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America.

Published by GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY, New York

FOR

COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS SURVEYS

111 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK

Footnotes:

[1] See Wilson, “Sectional Characteristics,” Homelands, August, 1920.

[2] A monument to Sacajawea was erected in Armstead in 1915.

[3] Three country churches raised no money during the year and one city church, which tithes, did not have financial figures available.

[4] See Table XXIII.

[5] 17 country churches have buildings.

[6] 13 village churches have buildings.

[7] The membership of the separate boys’ and girls’ organizations cannot be added here because it would involve duplication.

[8] The capital letters in parentheses in the Table indicate the respective counties, Beaverhead, Hughes, Sheridan, Union.

[9] In deriving these figures the Census Board has included the forest reserve territory. The following figures were obtained by excluding this area (with the exception of the inhabited portion of Beaverhead):

Total density per square mile of Beaverhead		2.1
Total density per square mile of Sheridan		9.2

On the Range the development of centers is just beginning.

[10] The Census does not give Spanish-American separately. They are of course native-born and are included under that division.

Per	cent.	of	native	increase	is	20.7	in	Beaverhead	for	1910-20
"	"	"	"	decrease	"	4.1	"	Hughes	"	1910-20
"	"	"	"	increase	"	12.1	"	Sheridan	"	1910-20
"	"	"	"	"	"	32.2	"	Union	"	1910-20

In Sheridan, the “New Americans” are in the mines; in the other counties, they are on the land.

[11] Two federated churches have a single budget and a single canvass.

[12] 76.37% of this amount was raised by local churches. The rest came from the denominational boards.

[13] One church in each of these groups unites regularly with a church holding eight services.

[14] One church in this group also has four week day services. One church has its four services on week day nights and has no Sunday services.

[15] One church in this group has two resident social workers.

[16] Including $250 rental value of parsonage if there is one.

[17] One church in this group has two resident social workers.

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