Many of the agents now employed are men and women qualified to clearly expound the truths of our faith to believers and unbelievers. They are well fortified against attack as rational defenders of Christianity and are prepared to remove doubts which may arise in the minds of sincere inquirers and wavering believers. Not all of them are such as we could wish in intellectual equipment or in strength of character. But the poorest of them are gradually being replaced by better ones; and the intellectual, moral and spiritual tone of the whole force is constantly improving. The ordained native clergy are a body of men who are rapidly growing in efficiency and power. There are 406 of them in South India alone—nearly [pg 306] as many as there are ordained missionaries in the same area.
A comparison, in South India, between this force of 406 native pastors and the 585 native priests of the Romish Church shows how well, relatively, the Protestant Church of South India is supplied; there being one native pastor to every 1,500 of the Protestant community, while the Romish priests are only one to every 2,000 of their community.
Some of these pastors are university graduates, and all are men of good professional training. They are faithful workers and are increasingly worthy, and enjoy the confidence, of their missionary associates. Among the native agents of our Protestant missions in South India alone there are about 100 university graduates, 200 First in Arts (the degree granted after two years of college work) and 600 university matriculates. This thorough utilization of a strong, cultured, native agency is one of the most striking results of the last century's work in that land. And it is the more remarkable in the case of the women, since a generation ago hardly any of the weaker sex were in mission employ, while today the missions of South India alone employ 3,000 of them. It is practically the creation of a mighty and most faithful and devoted agency in one generation.
What may we not expect from this great army of native brethren and sisters, as they shall continue to grow in numbers and in general equipment, and as they shall be filled with the Spirit of God and be fully used by our Lord in the redemption of their own people!
2. The Native Christian Community.
Recent statistics give the total number of Christians in British India as 2,923,349. This is a growth of about 640,000 in ten years, four times more than the rate of growth of the whole population. And yet there are people who tell us that the kingdom of our Lord is not coming in that land!
CENSUS OF CHRISTIANS IN INDIA, MAY 2, 1901.[12]
| Total of all denominations | 2,923,349 |
| European and other races | 258,990 |
| Natives | 2,664,359 |
Total Returned. Natives.
| Anglican | 453,612 | 305,907 |
| Baptist | 220,863 | 216,743 |
| Congregationalist | 37,876 | 37,313 |
| Lutheran and allied denominations | 155,455 | 153,768 |
| Methodist | 76,869 | 68,451 |
| Presbyterian | 53,829 | 42,799 |
| Friends | 1,309 | 1,275 |
| Roman Catholic | 1,202,039 | 1,122,378 |
| Salvationist | 18,960 | 18,847 |
| Syrian | 571,327 | 571,320 |
| Scattering | 131,210 | 125,558 |