TABULAR SUMMARIES FOR THE STATE
There are in Ohio 1,343 townships (see [Table I]) which are wholly or partly made up of open country or villages of less than 2,500 inhabitants. (This number of inhabitants having been selected by the United States Census as marking the line between urban and rural, we have necessarily followed.) In the strictly rural townships and the rural sections of townships which are partly urban or suburban, there is altogether a population of more than two million persons, and 6,642 churches. These figures give us, on an average, 1,516 persons and five rural churches to a township, and 307 persons to a church.
Of townships which border on cities and towns of more than 2,500 persons, there are 173. In townships of this class there are 342,077 persons and 582 churches, while for each township there are 1,977 persons and three churches, or 587 persons to a church. It is presumable that many persons in these suburban townships attend the churches in the neighboring cities or large towns.
If we subtract the suburban townships from the 1,343 mentioned above, there remain 1,170 townships which are strictly rural. Unless otherwise stated all deductions have been drawn exclusively from these rural townships. The 1,170 strictly rural townships contain nearly 1,700,000 persons and 6,060 churches. They have, on an average, 1,448 persons and five churches to a township and 280 persons to a church.
Although there are 6,060 churches in the 1,170 strictly rural townships, their membership records are so often incomplete that satisfactory figures were found for only 4,941 churches. The membership of 3,351 of these churches, or 68 per cent, is not more than 100; in 2,704, or 55 per cent, the membership is not more than 75; while in 1,817, or 37 per cent, the membership is not more than 50. (See [Table II].)
TABLE I
Population, Average Number of Persons and Churches, and Average Number of Persons to a Church, by Townships
| Strictly rural townships | Other rural sections | All rural sections | ||||
| Number of townships | 1,170 | 173 | 1,343 | |||
| Population of rural townships | 1,693,951 | 342,077 | 2,036,028 | |||
| Number persons per township | 1,448 | 1,977 | 1,516 | |||
| Number churches per township | 5 | 3 | 5 | |||
| Number of churches | 6,060 | 582 | 6,642 | |||
| Number persons per church | 280 | 587 | 307 |
In the suburban rural townships and rural sections of townships containing cities and large towns, 72 per cent of the churches have a membership of not more than 100, 56 per cent of not more than 75, and 34 per cent of not more than 50. Altogether, in rural townships and rural sections of other townships, there are 5,392 churches out of 6,642 for which membership data are available. Of these 3,776, or 68 per cent, have a membership of not more than 100; 2,956, or 55 per cent, a membership of not more than 75; and 1,860, or 36 per cent, have a membership of not more than 50.
The number of churches in rural townships whose membership records are not available is 6,060 less 4,941, or 1,119. If we apply to these also the percentages just given for the churches with available membership records, we find that of the total of 6,060 churches in the strictly rural townships, 4,110 have a membership of not more than 100; 3,316 have a membership of not more than 75; while 2,227 have a membership of not more than 50. Since the larger churches as a rule are more careful in keeping their records than the smaller ones, the conclusions drawn from these calculations are well within the limits of truth.