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 coÖperation 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 coÖperation has been brought to pass and the rural church conditions have been greatly improved. For that reason descriptions of actual successful cases of interchurch coÖperation 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 coÖperative 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 coÖperating.

“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 coÖperation. 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.