SALISBURY CATHEDRAL, ENGLAND. (WEST FRONT.)
Advancing to the question of distribution of the religious forces enumerated, we find that while these forces are distributed throughout every State and under one hundred and forty-three denominational names, they are, nevertheless, massed largely in a few denominations and in a comparatively few States. Competent authorities estimate that the five largest denominations comprise fully 60 per cent. of the entire number of communicants; the ten largest, 75 per cent. With respect to communicants, the Catholic Church is first, with 7,510,000; the Methodist (all bodies) second, with 5,405,076; the Baptist third, with 3,717,373; the Presbyterian fourth, with 1,278,332; the Lutheran fifth, with 1,233,072.
YOUNG MEN’S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION BUILDING, PHILADELPHIA.
With respect to population, reckoning the Catholic population at 7,510,000—which figures include children under ten years of age—and adding to the communicant strength of the four other bodies mentioned the 2.5 adherents allowed for each communicant, we have the following: Methodist population, 18,918,466; Baptist, 12,990,805; Presbyterian, 5,525,162; Lutheran, 4,358,752; total Protestant population, 50,000,000; Catholic, 7,510,000.
With respect to value of church property, the Methodists are first with $132,000,000; the Catholics second, $118,000,000; the Presbyterians third, with $95,000,000; the Episcopalians fourth, with $82,835,000; the Baptists fifth, with $82,390,000. The total value of church property, reckoning all denominations, reaches the enormous sum of $670,000,000.
To further particularize with respect to the lesser groups into which the religious forces are divided is impossible within the limits allowed for this chapter. To do it would require a volume instead of a chapter. The following summary, however, may suffice to show the gain of a century of religious effort:—
| Year. | Ministers. | Organizations. | Communicants or Members. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 2,651 | 3,030 | 364,872 |
| 1850 | 25,555 | 43,072 | 3,529,988 |
| 1870 | 47,609 | 70,148 | 6,673,396 |
| 1880 | 69,870 | 97,090 | 10,065,963 |
| 1890 | 98,185 | 151,172 | 13,823,518 |
| 1894 | 114,823 | 158,695 | 15,217,948 |
When one remembers that one hundred years ago it was a common boast of infidels that “Christianity would not survive two generations in this country,” the above exhibit shows a religious progress unequaled in the history of the kingdom of God in any land or any age.