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 The Down-town Church 
 
 A Study of a Social Institution in 
 Transition 
 
 BY 
 
 Clarence Andrew Young, A.M 
 
 A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the 
 
 University of Penns\'lvania, in Partial Fulfilment of the 
 
 Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 
 
 >'. 
 
 Lancaster, Pa. 
 intelligkncir printing company 
 
 I912 
 
The Down-town Church 
 
 A Study of a Social Institution in 
 Transition 
 
 BY 
 
 Clarence Andrew Young, A.M. 
 
 A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of thb 
 
 University of Pennsylvania, in Partial Fulfilment of the 
 
 Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 
 
 Lancaster, Pa. 
 
 Intelligencer Printing Company 
 
 1912 
 

CONTENTS 
 
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 
 The Scope and Method op This Study 5 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 The Church as a Social Factor 10 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 A Typical Down-Town District 25 
 
 r CHAPTER IV 
 
 The Down-Town Churches op Philadelphia 35 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 Causes por the Decadence op the Down-Town Church 83 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 The Eppicient Down-Town Church • Ill 
 
 O/^AQQO 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2007 with funding from 
 
 Microsoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/downtownchurchstOOyounrich 
 
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER 
 
 The Scope and Method of This Study 
 
 The church, in common with most other social institutions, 
 has recently been receiving much consideration from the view- 
 point of social efficiency. 
 
 There have been those on the one side, whose belief in the 
 church as an institution of supernatural origin, whose devo- 
 tion to it as the custodian of divine truth and ordinances, and 
 whose admiration for its ideals and achievements, have blinded 
 them to its actual condition. This attitude, while perfectly 
 sincere, is manifestly unscientific. The true friend of the 
 church is not he who doggedly affirms that it can have no 
 faults, but he who recognizes that, whatever its origin and 
 purpose, it is dependent upon human judgment for its policies 
 and human personality for its progress, and is therefore liable 
 to defect, and capable of improvement. 
 
 On the other hand, there are those who freely criticize the 
 church as an effete organization. They point to its feeble- 
 ness and failure among certain classes, its seeming impotency 
 in staying social decay, and its conservatism of thought and 
 method, as indications of its passing power. They predict 
 confidently that it is doomed to early extinction, and they 
 infer that social progress would not be affected thereby. This 
 attitude is also unscientific. 
 
 Prof. Ward points out that "the proper and scientific atti- 
 tude toward an institution that is regarded as bad is not whole- 
 sale condemnation and denunciation as something that is es- 
 sentially bad and must have always been bad, but investiga- 
 tion to ascertain what stage of its history it is in, and whether 
 it is in process of transformation, throwing off its outgrown 
 elements and replacing them with elements adapted to exist- 
 ing conditions, and therefore useful. If it is found not to be 
 in this dynamic state, or state of moving equilibrium, it is 
 
 5 
 
6 The Down-town Church 
 
 proper to enquire whether by any human action it can be put 
 into this state. "^ 
 
 We propose in this study, to make an investigation of the 
 church in one field of activity, the down-town section of one 
 of our great American cities. In this section which we be- 
 lieve to be fairly typical of all, we see a most conspicuous fail- 
 ure of the church to perform its social function. It offers 
 therefore a good opportunity for studying the whole problem 
 of the place of the church as a factor in modern society, and 
 for the consideration of the problem of the readaptation of a 
 social institution for social efficiency. 
 
 The population of these districts in our American cities, is 
 exceedingly heterogeneous, being made up not only of native 
 Americans, but also people of many races and tongues — "Amer- 
 icans in process." The church therefore in order to perform 
 its function must overcome long-existing and deep-seated 
 prejudices, master new tongues, adjust itself to many temper- 
 aments, and learn the significance of many strange customs. 
 The adjustments that must be made in the mission fields of 
 the world to make the church effective, must here be made 
 within the area of a few square miles. 
 
 Another condition which confronts the church in the down- 
 town districts, is the absence of restraints and motives which 
 make the problem of the church in more favored localities 
 less difficult. Home life is practically non-existent in these 
 sections among large groups. Many live detached lives in 
 boarding and lodging houses. The restraints of home and 
 the affections of family-life that make it easy to do right, are 
 lacking. Substitutes are sought in less desirable places and 
 the church loses the hold that it once had, to attract and in- 
 fluence the people. 
 
 Even where family life does exist in this community, the 
 hours of labor, the struggle against poverty, and the impossi- 
 bility of maintaining a decent standard of living, combine 
 to practically destroy the home in many cases. If the church 
 can stand the test in the down-town districts its permanency 
 among other groups seems assured. 
 
 * Ward, Lester F., Pure Sociology, p. 269. 
 
The Scope and Method of This Study 7 
 
 But not only does the church receive its greatest test in 
 these sections, but it also has presented to it its greatest op- 
 portunity to aid social development. 
 
 Here we find all the social problems that confront us most 
 acute. It is in these sections that housing conditions are most 
 threatening to health and morals ; where disease is most strongly 
 entrenched and hardest to combat; where poverty is most 
 general and most disheartening; where educational facilities 
 are most inadequate and least appreciated; where allurements 
 to vicious pleasure and sensuality most abound ; where vice and 
 crime lurk and find protection ; where restraints against evil are 
 fewest and inhibitive powers are weakest; where every social 
 problem is made more difficult of solution by reason of the 
 stolidity and indifference of the people. It is here that the 
 church as an agent of social control and social progress is most 
 needed. 
 
 We shall see that the church has not performed its function 
 successfully, that it has not understood its problem, and that 
 it has despaired of accomplishing what it has conceived to be 
 its duty. But the opportunity is still before it, and we hope to 
 indicate how it may regain and retain its place as a factor of 
 social progress among these groups. 
 
 We shall not consider the condition of the church in this sec- 
 tion prior to 1880. The changes which we consider significant 
 have been most marked during this period and the causes lead- 
 ing to the down-town problem of the church have been most 
 operative in recent years. 
 
 Cities and large towns have always had their poverty-dis- 
 tricts and slum-areas. But there are certain changes during 
 the past third of a century, which have had a tendency to iso- 
 late these sections in our great cities and to set them off very 
 definitely from other sections of the city. 
 
 During the past thirty years they have changed from a pre- 
 dominantly homogeneous population, to one essentially hetero- 
 geneous. While during the same period, the drift to the sub- 
 urbs has been so large, and of such a nature as to cause a real 
 differentiation between "up-town" and "down-town." 
 
 There are also other developments which have affected the 
 whole attitude of people toward the church. It is the period of 
 
8 The Down-town Church 
 
 modern industrial development. A few of the social effects 
 of that development may be mentioned: the widening gap be- 
 tween capital and labor, the development of class-interests and 
 class movements, the entrance of women into industry leading 
 to their economic independence and to the disintegration of 
 family life. As we shall see in a later chapter, the new condi- 
 tions and the new state of mind resulting, have seriously af- 
 fected the church, which has been looked upon as a class insti- 
 tution supported by the moneyed classes and pandering to 
 their interests. 
 
 Trade-unionism and Socialism have also had their greatest 
 development during this period and have come to be looked 
 upon by many as offering more to them than the church. The 
 result has been a growing indifference, if not antagonism, on 
 the part of many to the church. 
 
 This era has been characterized, too, by the organization of 
 many social service and ameliorative institutions outside the 
 church which are doing the work that the church once con- 
 sidered its prerogative. The result has been a feeling that 
 religion is as much outside as within the church. 
 
 The increase of scientific discovery and the extension of the 
 scientific habit of thought have also doubtless affected, to 
 some extent, the whole attitude toward religion and toward 
 the creeds and methods of the church. But the result of this 
 attitude of mind is, of course, not so apparent in the down-town 
 city as in sections where people have more time and oppor- 
 tunity to read and think. 
 
 We believe enough has been said, however, to indicate the 
 bearing of modern social development upon the down-town 
 church and to justify the study of such a limited section and of 
 such a short period in this investigation. 
 
 We propose in the next chapter, to consider the origin and 
 extent of religious institutions and to show that the church is 
 a factor of importance in social causation and that it is especially 
 needed in such sections as that under investigation. Chapter 
 III will be a description of the down- town district of Philadel- 
 phia with implications as to the problems confronting the 
 church in our down-town communities. In Chapter IV we 
 shall describe in detail the religious institutions of this dis- 
 
The Scope and Method of This Sttidy 9 
 
 trict from 1880 to the present, noting the changes that have 
 taken place in the number, strength, methods, and equipment, 
 and also endeavor to estimate their value in terms of social 
 efficiency. In Chapter V we shall consider the causes for the 
 decadence of the church in this section, and in the closing 
 chapter we shall suggest certain re-adjustments that might, 
 if made, make the church more effective in performing its 
 function and thus in aiding social progress. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 The Church as a Social Factor 
 
 The universality of the religious instinct in mankind is no 
 longer an open question among the most eminent students of 
 anthropology and ethnology. Dr. F. B. Jevons^ contends that 
 there never was a time in the history of man when he was with- 
 out religion, and he confirms this judgment by showing that 
 writers, approaching the subject from such different points of 
 view as those of Tylor, Max Mueller, Ratzel, deQuatrefages, 
 Tiele, Waitz, and Petschel, all agree that there are no races 
 however rude which are destitute of all idea of religion. Rat- 
 jsel says: "ethnography knows no race devoid of religion but 
 only differences in the degree to which religious ideas are de- 
 veloped."^ 
 
 The only apparent exception is that of the native tribes of 
 central Australia which are described as being without the 
 idea of a deity, which have no propitiatory ceremonies and 
 which lack "any such idea as that of a future life of happiness 
 or the reverse as a reward for meritorious or as a punishment 
 for blameworthy conduct."^ But even in these tribes there 
 are most elaborate ceremonies which are believed to have 
 come from their "Alcheringa ancestors" and which are in 
 their essence and effect, religious ; while certain traditions 
 relating to spirit individuals, other than their ancestors, are 
 given which quite refute the claim that these tribes are wholly 
 devoid of the religious instinct."* 
 
 The origin of religious instincts and institutions is to be 
 found in man's sense of dependence. Finding himself sur- 
 rounded by forces beyond his control and attributing to them 
 
 ^ An Introduction to the History of Religion, p. 7. 
 ' The History of Mankind, p. 40. 
 
 * Spencer and Gillen, Northern Tribes of Central Australia, pp. 490-1. 
 
 * Ibid, pp. 496-7. 
 
 10 
 
The Church as a Social Factor il 
 
 volition and intelligence^ he seeks to discover their will, to ap- 
 pease their wrath, or to please their fancy and to order his 
 life in such a way as to enjoy their favor. Ceremonials in time 
 develop which have the force of supernatural sanctions, and 
 exercise a controlling influence upon the whole tribe or social 
 group. Shamans and priests arise who are believed to possess 
 extraordinary influence with the spirit-world. Certain places 
 where unusual occurrences have taken place are thought of as 
 sacred. Altars are built and later temples. Thus gradually 
 a more or less complete system of religious thought, forms, 
 ceremonies and institutions is developed. 
 
 Religious institutions, therefore, arise as every other type 
 of social institution to satisfy some need, real or imaginary, or 
 to conserve some interest believed to be of vital importance to 
 the social group. 
 
 With the increase of knowledge, and the development of the 
 scientific habit of thought we have modified many of the re- 
 ligious beliefs that were confidently held in the past, and the 
 religious institutions that characterize our civilization are su- 
 perior to those found among primitive people, but in essence 
 the religious sentiment remains the same in all grades of so- 
 cial development. 
 
 The persistency of religious institutions shows that they 
 have been social factors of importance. "It is a law that 
 prevails throughout all departments of nature, that nothing 
 can come into being that is not demanded by the conditions 
 existing at the time. Nothing that is really useless can by any 
 possibility be developed. "^ We may assume then, that reli- 
 gious institutions arose in response to a social demand and 
 that they have been of value in the past. 
 
 But the question arises: Is the church demanded by the con- 
 ditions existing today? Is it an institution that is contribut- 
 ing to social progress or is it merely a survival from more primi- 
 tive conditions which society no longer needs and which it will 
 
 ^ "One of the simplest, most elemental traits of mind (is) the sense of per- 
 sonality. To the individual reason, the Other, is ever conceived as Another, 
 a Self, and is clothed with the attributes of the Self of the thinking Ego." 
 Brinton, D. G., The Religion of Primitive People, pp. 49-50. 
 
 ' Ward, Pure Sociology, p. 268. 
 
12 The Down-town Church 
 
 eventually dispense with? What is the place of the church 
 as a social factor? 
 
 Religious institutions in the past have been largely regula- 
 tive. "The rule with very few exceptions is, that religion 
 absorbs nearly the whole life of man under primitive condi- 
 tions. From birth to death, but especially during adult years, 
 his daily actions are governed by ceremonial laws of the se- 
 verest, often the most irksome and painful character. He has 
 no independent action or code of conduct and is a veritable 
 slave to the conditions which such laws create.'* 
 
 "This is especially visible in the world-wide custom of totemic 
 divisions and the tabu or religious prohibition. These govern 
 his food and drink, his marriage and social relations, the dis- 
 position of his property, and the choice of his wives. An in- 
 fraction of them is out of the question. It means exile or 
 death. *'i 
 
 But religious institutions are still factors of the greatest 
 importance in social control, even in our most advanced civil- 
 izations. 
 
 We are under the dominion of laws, customs and traditions, 
 inherited from the religious life of past generations, to an ex- 
 tent generally unrealized. Even those who are unwilling to 
 be identified actively with religious institutions as they exist 
 today, are fettered and limited by customs, opinions, and be- 
 liefs directly associated with the church and the teachings of 
 the church. It is sometimes predicted that chaos or a rever- 
 sion to a lower type would ensue if the church were abolished 
 and the holding of religious services prohibited. But so thor- 
 oughly has the influence of religion permeated society that its 
 power would be felt even if the church as an institution should 
 in some way become non-existent. 
 
 Not only in this passive sense but also in a very active sense, 
 the church is a factor of social control of very great importance. 
 It exercises this control through its discipline. This is espe- 
 cially true of the Catholic church. The recent Papal decree 
 enforcing assent to traditional theology upon its priests and 
 teachers, is but typical of the subjection of all its adherents. 
 
 * Brinton, op. cit., pp. 37-8. 
 
The Church as a Social Factor 13 
 
 The fear of excommunication is a very real one and is very 
 powerful as a restraining factor. Even the most profligate 
 and independent adherents of this church attend mass on 
 special days and are anxious to be under the protection and 
 care of the church at death. The Catholic church is auto- 
 cratic in its control, assuming to interfere in the most personal 
 and intimate relationships of life and to direct the individual 
 or group absolutely in accordance with what it considers proper. 
 
 The dogmatic claims and paternalistic attitude of this church, 
 combined with the rigor of its discipline, make it a factor of 
 the first importance in the matter of social control among this 
 large and growing element of our population. 
 
 The Protestant church, from the very nature of its compo- 
 sition and organization, cannot assume the power of discipline 
 as firmly as the Catholic church. It is a protest against au- 
 thority and dogmatic claims. It has always insisted upon its 
 right to form its own judgments, and to shape its own policies. 
 But as Sabatier^ has pointed out, while the Catholic church 
 has exercised its control through a hierarchy culminating in an 
 infallible person, the Protestant church has exercised its con- 
 trol and exerted its influence through an infallible book. As- 
 sent to creeds, therefore, has often been enjoined as dogmatic- 
 ally in the Protestant church as assent to the decrees of coun- 
 cils and popes in the Catholic church. The theological con- 
 troversies of the past and the heresy trials which still take 
 place occasionally, prove that the Protestant church is not 
 wholly without its disciplinary control. 
 
 Much of the discipline exercised by the church has been 
 directed to the preservation and strengthening of itself as an 
 organization. It is often narrow and self-centred, and in some 
 cases even anti-social, but its influence in general has been to 
 restrain anti-social action, and keep its followers within the 
 bounds of morality. 
 
 Fear as a motive is becoming less and less powerful. The 
 tendency is toward independent thought and action. But 
 among large groups in our population the belief that the church 
 is a divine institution, possessing supernatural truth and super- 
 
 * Sabatier, Auguste, Religions of Authority. 
 
14 The Down-town Church ^^^^ 
 
 natural power, acts as a restraining influence that is of the ut- 
 most importance and value in maintaining social order and in 
 furthering social progress. 
 
 The church also exercises social control in the proclamation 
 of its doctrines as well as in the exercise of its discipline. The 
 doctrines held in common by practically all sects of the church 
 today, which have perhaps had most influence in controlling 
 men, are the belief in a supernatural Being and the doctrine of 
 a future life. 
 
 It is not the mere belief in a supernatural Being, however, 
 that is the factor of greatest importance, but the belief that the 
 supernatural Being is pleased with certain kinds of action and 
 displeased with certain other actions. The desire and effort 
 to enjoy the favor of the gods is characteristic of all peoples. 
 Sacrifices, offerings and prayers arise out of this desire. The 
 effort is made by consulting oracles or by observing omens to 
 discover the will of the Supreme Spirit, or if a body of revela- 
 tion concerning him and his will exists, the effort is made to 
 conform the actions to that will. The Bible, believed to be 
 the inspired Word of God, is therefore a factor of the greatest 
 ^) importance in the life of today. Its teachings are so inter- 
 woven with our customs, laws and traditions, that it may be 
 said to be the corner-stone of our civilization ; while for per- 
 haps the vast majority of our people its precepts, in large part, 
 determine conduct. At least it is a restraining force of the 
 very greatest value. 
 
 The other doctrine, that of a future life, is equally import- 
 ant with that of a supernatural Being. Of the possibilities of 
 this belief in the matter of social control Lecky writes: "The 
 doctrine of a future life was far too vague among the pagans to 
 exercise any powerful general influence and among the philos- 
 ophers who clung to it most ardently it was regarded solely 
 in the light of a consolation. Christianity made it a deterrent 
 influence of the strongest kind Experience has abun- 
 dantly shown that men who are wholly insensible to the beauty 
 and dignity of virtue, can be convulsed by the fear of judg- 
 ment, can be awakened to such genuine remorse for sin as to 
 reverse the current of their dispositions, detach them from 
 
The Church as a Social Factor 15 
 
 their most inveterate habits and renew the whole tenor of 
 their lives. "^ 
 
 Almost every great religious revival has been built upon 
 this belief,^ while the doctrine underlies almost all modern 
 preaching. There is no doctrine that the church has held 
 with greater consistency and proclaimed with greater convic- 
 tion, and there is no belief which today is more powerful in 
 regulating the conduct of modern society. Like the doctrine 
 of a supernatural deity it acts in a double way to aid social 
 order. It acts as a deterrent from evil and as an encourage- 
 ment to virtue. 
 
 Whether or not these doctrines are scientifically demonstrable 
 is not at present our concern. It is enough to show that they 
 are very generally believed, that the church has been the chief 
 factor in originating the beliefs, and is now the principal agency 
 in fostering them and that they are sanctions of very great 
 importance in regulating individual and social conduct. 
 
 The church is a factor of social control in other ways through 
 the creation of public opinion, through its cultivation of rever- 
 ence for law and respect for authority, through its forms, rit- 
 uals, and ceremonies, and in general by reason of its conserva- 
 tism of thought and action. But its restraining and regulating 
 influence is especially felt in the realm of discipline and doc- 
 trine. Its place among other social institutions is therefore 
 unique. For many, the church is the most powerful of all the 
 agents of social control. Society has not yet reached the stage 
 in its development when it can safely dispense with the church. 
 At present, it would seem that the interests of society will be 
 better served by strengthening the church. 
 
 But the principal value of the church as a social force is not 
 in the sphere of control, but of progress. Its principal worth 
 to society is not to restrain from anti-social conduct but to in- 
 spire toward a better social order. In other words its influence 
 should be considered positive rather than negative. 
 
 It would perhaps be extravagant to credit the church with 
 all the progress of our western civilization. Archeology shows 
 that wonderful civilizations developed centuries before the 
 
 ^ Lecky, History of European Morals, II, pp. 3, 4. 
 ' Davenport, Primitive Traits in Religious Revivals. 
 
1 6 The Down-town Church 
 
 Christian era. Social progress is the result of the operation ol 
 no one factor, but of a complexity of forces, ethnic, physical, 
 economic, spiritual, each contributing an element to the final 
 result. 
 
 But recognizing the operation of many factors, we cannot 
 deny that the church is a factor of the greatest importance in 
 the development of society today. 
 
 This is best seen in its influence among primitive peoples, 
 where mission stations have been established and missionaries 
 have been at work. In some fields most remarkable transfor- 
 mations have taken place not only in the customs of the people, 
 but in their very character. The missionary narratives of 
 such fields as Korea, the New Hebrides, and Uganda, read 
 like romances. Dr. Dennis^ shows in detail how the dissemina- 
 tion of christian teaching under the direction and influence of 
 the church has led to the giving up of polygamy and the general 
 adoption of monogamy as a form of family life; how magical 
 rites and ceremonies and beliefs in shamans and witch-doctors, 
 have gradually been abandoned in favor of a more rational 
 system of thought and practice in the control of nature; how 
 the elevation of women and the protection of childhood, and 
 the care of the aged and infirm, have been brought about, 
 where once customs indescribably cruel and heartless pre- 
 vailed; how, in short, almost every anti-social tendency has 
 been subdued and ideals and ideas, institutions and customs 
 have been introduced favorable to progress. The contrasts 
 between these groups where christian institutions have been 
 established, and contiguous fields where the missionaries have 
 not yet begun operations are so striking that one cannot but 
 recognize the value of christian teachings and christian insti- 
 tutions as factors of social progress. 
 
 What is there in these teachings, for the dissemination of 
 which the church exists, that makes them of value as factors of 
 social causation? 
 
 There is first the ultra-rational sanction which they provide 
 for social conduct. Prof. Earp says, "the organized activities 
 of the Christian church have done more than any other form of 
 social organization to develop in the mind of man the ideas of 
 
 ^ Dennis, J. S., Missions and Social Progress, Volumes I and II. 
 
The Church as a Social Factor 17 
 
 spcial obligatien, and have furnished the real basis upon which 
 all progress and civilization of an enduring character rests.*'* 
 
 Benjamin Kidd^ contends, that this has been the chief func- 
 tion of religion in the evolution of society. The interests of 
 the individual and those of the social organism are fundament- 
 ally and inherently irreconcilable. Following his own instincts 
 and the dictates of his own reason, the individual would make 
 social organization difficult if not impossible. There must be 
 some agency strong enough to make the individual subordinate 
 his private interests to the larger interests of the group, some 
 motive or reason adequate to his harmonious co-operation in 
 group life. Kidd finds this ultra-rational sanction in religious 
 beliefs, which he shows to be universal, and always to be as- 
 sociated closely with conduct having social significance. 
 
 *'We may survey the whole field of man's religions in so- 
 cieties both anterior to, and contemporaneous with our modern 
 civilization, and we shall find that all religious beliefs possess 
 these characteristic features. There is no exception. Every- 
 where these beliefs are associated with conduct having a so- 
 cial significance; and everywhere the ultimate sanction which 
 they provide for the conduct which they prescribe is a super- 
 rational one. "^ 
 
 There is not such an irreconcilable antagonism as Mr. Kidd 
 assumes, between the interests of the individual and the social 
 group. Neither should religious beliefs be given such an ex- 
 clusive share of the credit for their reconciliation. But the 
 argument is valuable for pointing out so clearly and so cleverly 
 the importance of the religious element as a factor of social 
 development. 
 
 Has the church any value today in bringing the individual 
 into harmonious co-operation with the social group? 
 
 There may be some doubt as to the strength of its influence 
 in this particular but there can be no doubt that this is the di- 
 rection in which its influence is exerted. 
 
 The life of Jesus, which the church holds up for imitation, 
 
 ^ Earp, E- R., Social Aspects of Religious Institutions, p. 70. 
 ' Social Evolution. Especially Chapter 4, "The Function of Religious Be- 
 Mef." • 
 
 * Kidd, op. cit., pp. 111-112. 
 
1 8 The Down-town Church 
 
 tends to the subordination of the interests of the individual to 
 the interests of the group. Revealed as one who came not to 
 be ministered unto but to minister, who unselfishly spent him- 
 self in relieving human need in its many forms, who loved 
 humanity so passionately that he gave his life to redeem it, his 
 life, in obedience to the laws of imitation, has had and still has 
 a profound influence upon lives that have come under the 
 spell of his personality. Under the influence of his example 
 great religious orders have arisen which have had as their 
 strongest bonds voluntary poverty and service of those in need ; 
 great missionary campaigns have been undertaken by men and 
 women who have not hesitated at suffering and possible death ; 
 and today, probably the majority of those who are working 
 among the poor in professional or voluntary social service,^ as 
 well as the vast majority of church and religious workers, are 
 being inspired and impelled forward under the force of the in- 
 fluence and example of Jesus — all subordinating their own 
 interests to the interests of society, and all exerting their in- 
 fluence in favor of social welfare and progress. 
 
 The teachings of Jesus also contribute to this ideal of group 
 co-ordination. Within recent years a considerable body of 
 literature has been created on these social teachings, and an 
 increasing emphasis is being placed on this phase of his teach- 
 ings, both in theological schools and in pulpits. The emphasis 
 in the past has been largely upon the individual's relation to 
 God. The emphasis in the future probably will be more on 
 man's relation to his fellow-men. 
 
 But the church always has emphasized certain social duties 
 upon the basis of the teachings of Jesus — a recognition of re- 
 sponsibility for the safety and well-being of others, the cul- 
 tivation of the christian graces, all of which are social in their 
 final analysis, fidelity in family duties, in keeping vows and 
 contracts, in maintaining peace, and in civic and political re- 
 lations, in short, the doing of all that is promotive of the in- 
 terests of one's neighbor. 
 
 In proclaiming these doctrines as duties the church has 
 
 Out of I0I2 social workers to whom Dr. W. D. P. Bliss sent a question- 
 aire 753 reported as having church connections — 74% of the whole number. 
 See The Outlook, Vol. 82, pp. 122 ff. 
 
The Church as a Social Factor 19 
 
 exercised a tremendous influence in favor of social justice and 
 thus of social progress. These doctrines have been recognized 
 as having social utility, as being beautiful as moral and ethical 
 precepts, and they have enjoyed the supernatural sanction 
 which has always helped to give them prestige and power as 
 evolutionary elements. Thus in helping the individual to see 
 his relation to the group and in educating him to co-operation 
 with his fellows in group action the church has been a factor, 
 and a most important one, in contributing to social progress. 
 
 The ethical character of the Christian religion has also made 
 it an evolutionary force of the first magnitude. Tracing the 
 growth of humanitarianism, the abolition of slavery, the gradual 
 breaking down of that military organization of society which 
 had previously prevailed, the gradual "emancipation and en- 
 franchisement of the great body of the people, hitherto uni- 
 versally excluded from all participation on equal terms in the 
 rivalry of existence," Benjamin Kidd concludes that this pro- 
 cess of social development which has been taking place and 
 which is still in progress is not the product of the intellect, but 
 that the motive force behind it has had its seat and origin in 
 that fund of altruistic feeling with which our civilization has 
 become equipped, and furthermore, that "this altruistic de- 
 velopment and the deepening and softening of character which 
 have accompanied it are the direct and peculiar product of the 
 religious system on which our civilization is founded." "It is 
 this which provides the prime motive force behind the whole 
 series of political and social phenomena peculiar to our civiliza- 
 tion which we include together under the general head of 
 'Progress'."! 
 
 The doctrine of brotherhood is one of the most characteris- 
 tic of the Christian doctrines and from the first it has been a 
 socializing force of great value. Says Lecky, "The first as- 
 pect in which Christianity presented itself to the world was a 
 declaration of the fraternity of men in Christ . . . from this 
 notion grew up the eminently christian idea of the sanctity of 
 all human life." "Besides quickening greatly our benevolent 
 affections it definitely and dogmatically asserted the sinfulness 
 of all destruction of human life as a matter of amusement, or of 
 
 ^Social Evolution, p. 170. 
 
20 The Down-town Church 
 
 simple convenience, and thereby formed a new standard higher 
 than any which then existed in the world." "This minute 
 and scrupulous care for human life and human virtue in the 
 humblest forms, in the slave, the gladiator, the savage, or the 
 infant, ... is the distinguishing and transcendent character- 
 istic of every society into which the spirit of Christianity has 
 passed." "The high conception that has been formed of the 
 sanctity of human life, the protection of infancy, the elevation 
 and final emancipation of the slave classes, the suppression of 
 barbarous games, the creation of a vast and multifarious or- 
 ganization of charity, the education of the imagination by the 
 Christian type, constitute together a movement of philanthropy 
 which has never been paralleled or approached in the pagan 
 world. "1 
 
 Upon this doctrine of the brotherhood of man are being 
 built hopes of universal peace, of equality of opportunity in 
 the struggle for existence, of the extension of the spirit of sym- 
 pathy and humanity, in short, of a better and juster social 
 order which will be characterized by true liberty, equality and 
 fraternity. 
 
 The church even in its earliest beginnings, never emphasized 
 the ethical elements in the teachings of Jesus as strongly as it 
 is doing today. If then it has been a factor of social progress 
 in the past, it is certain to be a more important one in the fu- 
 ture. It is true that the ethics of Jesus have so pervaded our 
 social atmosphere, as to find expression in many other ways 
 than through the church. But the church is still the chief 
 custodian of his teachings and the chief influence and agent in 
 deepening and strengthening humanitarian impulses. Edu- 
 cational attempts to impart moral teachings and ethical cul- 
 tural societies for the extension of true conceptions of right 
 and duty have their value, but they lack the "ultra-rational 
 sanction" which makes them to most people vital and com- 
 pelling. 
 
 The church is still needed. The religious element cannot be 
 dispensed with. Ethical precepts still need a "thus saith the 
 Lord" to make them binding. The church is then a factor in 
 social progress in the impetus which it gives to humanitarian 
 
 * Quoted by Ross, Social Control, pp. 206-7. 
 
The Church as a Social Factor 21 
 
 effort and the cultivation which it promotes of ethical impulses 
 and conduct. 
 
 The ideals for which the church has always stood have also 
 made it a factor of importance in social progress. "Each of 
 the higher religions owes some of its efficacy to the types and 
 models it is able to set before the faithful. Each contributes 
 to the general stock of ideals in society its pattern lives, charac- 
 ters, and virtues, so movingly set forth in narratives, examples, 
 parables, legends, and myths, as to win and hold the love of 
 generations of men."^ Each of the great religions has fostered 
 ideals of value to society. But no religion is richer in ideals 
 than is Christianity. And no religion has such well organized 
 agencies for the declaration and display of its ideals as Chris- 
 tianity. Every minister makes frequent reference to these 
 ideals and each adherent is urged and expected to be the living 
 embodiment of them, while the Bible especially among Protest- 
 ant christians is a constant reminder of what these ideals are, 
 how they may be attained, and the motives for their attain- 
 ment. 
 
 These ideals may be grouped under four heads, (i) The 
 ideal man in society whose life will be patterned after that of 
 Jesus Christ; (2) Ideal laws and precepts for the government 
 of human conduct in social relations based upon the teachings 
 of Scripture and especially the discourses of Jesus; (3) Ideal 
 forms of social organization to make these laws and precepts 
 effective; (4) The ideal society toward which humanity as a 
 whole is progressing — the Kingdom of God, wherein dwelleth 
 righteousness and peace.^ 
 
 What we admire we imitate and when the ideals of Chris- 
 tianity are presented, they compel admiration and imitation 
 and so lead to progress. 
 
 The principal value of the church to modern society is its 
 presentation of these ideals of personal character and conduct, 
 and of social organization and achievement, and its encourage- 
 ment and inspiration in attaining to their realization. 
 
 Only a certain type of individual can be coerced in the di- 
 rection of progress. But ideals appeal to all and unconsciously 
 impel forward. ' 
 
 * Ross, op. cit., p. 229. 
 
 ' See Earp, Social Aspects of Religious Institutions, pp. 125-7. 
 
22 The Down-town Church 
 
 Here again the church occupies a unique position among 
 social institutions. Other institutions, it is true, have their 
 ideals. Schools have ideals in the realm of intellect. Govern- 
 ments have their ideals of organization and efficiency. Every 
 profession has its standards of success and achievement. But 
 the church alone makes ideals of conduct and character in 
 harmony with social order and progress a specialty. It exists 
 primarily for the actualization of ideals. Idealism is its raison 
 d'etre. 
 
 Society has many devices for keeping its individual members 
 within certain limits believed to be necessary for the safety and 
 progress of society. It has laws designating the bounds within 
 which one must keep and the penalties which- one will incur for 
 failure to do so. It has institutions to educate individuals as 
 to its nature and purpose. It has agencies to restrain and 
 regulate, and fosters customs to make social action easy. But 
 with few exceptions society's institutions are regulative rather 
 than inspirational. They secure control and only incidentally 
 lead to progress. 
 
 It is here that the church finds its opportunity. It is in 
 this sphere that it realizes its function. By appealing to the 
 emotive powers of man, by educating his feelings and desires 
 and strengthening his will, it secures his co-operation without 
 threats and exercise of force. Instead of surrounding man 
 with restrictions it seeks to inspire him to do right. Instead of 
 working from without inward it operates from within, out- 
 ward. Its control is therefore more effective and more con- 
 stant. 
 
 The church is often criticised because it does not take a more 
 active and prominent part in practical economic and social 
 reform. But while there is some basis for the criticism, there 
 is reason to believe that the church does its best work in the 
 realm of idealism. This is its peculiar sphere, and in this way 
 it exercises its greatest influence in favor of social progress. 
 
 "It is not the function of the church to get justice between 
 man and man but to help individuals to discern and want 
 justice; not the function of the church to settle strikes but to 
 make men conciliatory; not to elect temperance advocates to 
 office but to make men will to be temperate. It is not the 
 
The Church as a Social Factor 23 
 
 function of the church to settle any concrete social problem 
 that falls outside of its own function of worship. Its function 
 is to inspire each one to do his social duty."* 
 
 The church is doubtless open to criticism in many particulars. 
 It does not any more than most other institutions function 
 perfectly. But it has a place in society. There is no other in- 
 stitution that could occupy its sphere, no other institution or 
 group of institutions that could become an adequate substi- 
 tute for it. Its antiquity, the supernatural sanction which it 
 enjoys, the really high standards of morality connected with it, 
 and the ideals indissolubly associated with it, make it an insti- 
 tution of peculiar influence among a large element of the popu- 
 lation. 
 
 The church is an institution of value among all classes if it 
 is performing its function. But nowhere is it more necessary 
 that there should be such an institution as the church than in 
 the down-town sections of our cities where the forces that dis- 
 integrate society are particularly strong and the forces that 
 tend to progress are especially weak. In no other localities 
 are environing conditions more conducive to anti-social con- 
 duct and inhibitive forces more feeble. Inducements to moral 
 living are here less frequent and less virile, while enticements 
 to self-indulgence and dissipation are especially numerous and 
 attractive. 
 
 Indifference and often antagonism to the ideal are the pre- 
 vailing characteristics. Many have been defeated in the strug- 
 gle of life and have become satisfied with low standards and 
 ideals. Many need to be curbed and controlled in the interests 
 of the group. Many more need spiritual uplift and moral in- 
 vigoration. 
 
 The problem of the church in such communities is to arouse 
 people from their indifference to the call of the higher life, and 
 to bring them into vital and vitalizing contact with personali- 
 ties and ideals of compelling attractiveness and transforming 
 power. 
 
 The problem before all social workers and friends of humanity 
 is "how to get all men or the greatest number so to act as to 
 contribute to the attainment of the fullest life of the individual, 
 
 * Prof. A. W. Small, in Independent, 53: 481. 
 
24 The Down-town Church 
 
 the social group, and humanity at large, and to deter and per- 
 suade others, not to hinder or interfere with such attainment. " 
 We believe that no institution can do more toward the solu- 
 tion of this problem than the Christian church. Its contribu- 
 tion to social progress in the past is unquestioned. Its influence 
 is still greater than is generally recognized or acknowledged. 
 With certain readjustments we believe it will continue to be a 
 force second to none in the elevation of society. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 A Typical Down-Town District 
 
 One of the most widely observed and significant social changes 
 of the past century was that of the growth of cities. "Not 
 only has the population living in cities increased enormously 
 in absolute numbers, . . . but the proportion of the total 
 population dwelling in cities has increased in almost as re- 
 markable a manner. The United States forms a striking ex- 
 ample of this development. Owing to the enormous extent of 
 its unoccupied and unsettled territory and the rapid rate at 
 which it has occupied the wilderness, we should have expected 
 to find simply this tendency to diffusion, but parallel with it 
 has gone a tendency to concentrate in great cities."* 
 
 During the 19th century, the proportion of urban dwellers 
 in the United States grew from 4.0 per cent, to 33.1 per cent, 
 while the number of cities of 8000 or more population increased 
 from 6 to 545.* The Population Bulletin of the 13th Census 
 (1910), which classifies as urban, places of 2500 or more in- 
 habitants, shows that 46.3 per cent, of the population of the 
 United States is now urban. The proportion in 1880 was 29.5 
 per cent. There are fourteen states in which more than half 
 the population is classified as urban. In Rhode Island the 
 proportion is 96.7 per cent.; in Massachusetts, 92.8 per cent.; 
 while even in Illinois, the great prairie state of the middle west, 
 the proportion is 61.7 per cent. 
 
 This rapid growth of urban centers, in large part due to our 
 industrial development, has created many problems, social, 
 economic, political, and moral. It has made necessary the 
 readjustment of many established institutions. 
 
 ^ Edmund J. James, Growth of Great Cities, An. Amer. Acad., Jan., 1899' 
 p. I. 
 
 ^Twelfth Census of United States, igoo. Vol. I, "Population," Part i, p. 
 LXXXIII. 
 
 25 
 
26 The Down-town Church 
 
 Most of these problems center in what are generally known 
 as the "down-town" sections of our cities. Here at least 
 they are most acute and difficult of solution. 
 
 The distinction between "down-town" and "up-town," 
 slum and suburb, has grown to be a very real one. The dif- 
 ferentiation has taken place very gradually but very percep- 
 tibly. 
 
 The growing value of urban land compels the city dweller 
 either to migrate to the suburbs, or to live in smaller and less 
 desirable apartments. Those whose economic position and 
 conditions of employment make it possible, choose the sub- 
 urbs, with their obvious advantages. The poorer and the less 
 ambitious, augmented by immigrants with low standards, are 
 left behind. The houses vacated become under the pressure 
 of increasing population and advancing rentals, first boarding 
 and lodging houses, then furnished-room and tenement houses. 
 The process once begun, the deterioration of the neighborhood 
 proceeds with great rapidity. Those who have moved away 
 from the neighborhood lose interest in it, think of it as the 
 "slum" or the "tenderloin," and have no further connection 
 with it other than to collect rents or to support missions and 
 charitable institutions established there. 
 
 The differences assume eventually the nature of a class 
 struggle. The people of up-town wards are conservatives and 
 constitutionalists; those of the down-town wards are radicals. 
 The well-to-do people of the suburbs, dependent upon the 
 dividends of capitalism, view the industrial struggle from the 
 standpoint of the employer. The wage-earning class of the 
 poorer districts naturally sympathizes with the employee; the 
 educated class looks on the other with suspicion; the class 
 that has had fewer opportunities of education and culture 
 looks back with bitterness and hate. The establishment of in- 
 stitutions for social welfare by charitably inclined individuals 
 is looked upon as a method of allaying discontent and of post- 
 poning an era of justice; while the establishment of missions 
 by the up-town churches is interpreted to imply that the well- 
 to-do of the suburbs are saints, while the poor people who live 
 down-town are sinners. 
 
 Every city of considerable size has its down-town district 
 
A Typical Down-town District 27 
 
 and the separation of the down-town community will be in 
 direct proportion to the size of the city, for the differentiation 
 is due mostly to lack of contact and association. 
 
 The down-town sections of no two cities will be found to be 
 alike, but as the kaleidoscope, though revealing different figures 
 at each successive turn yet forms them out of the same ele- 
 ments, so the down-town districts though quite different in 
 different cities are composed essentially of the same elements, 
 and present practically the same problems. 
 
 These districts may be designated as, first, the business 
 district where, though many people still live in the section, 
 business houses and factories predominate. Second, the dis- 
 trict where poor native Americans predominate — the lodging- 
 house, cheap boarding-house or rented-room district that is to 
 be found in every city. Third, the district in which the re- 
 cently arrived foreign born predominate — known as the foreign 
 quarter in any large American city. We shall describe in this 
 chapter these three districts as we find them today in Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 I. The Business District 
 
 This district may be said to occupy the territory between 
 Vine St. on the north, and Spruce St. on the south, between 
 Broad St. on the west and the Delaware River on the east. It 
 comprises most of the eastern end of the city as originally 
 laid out by William Penn. Beginning at the river, business 
 has gradually pushed its way westward until today the dis- 
 trict extends several blocks west of Broad St. Within the past 
 two decades. Arch, Race, Cherry, and Walnut Streets have been 
 converted from residential streets into business thoroughfares. 
 Many of the old residences still stand, the lower floor being 
 used for commercial purposes, while the upper stories are con- 
 verted into offices or used as apartments. 
 
 In the small streets and courts which lie between the main 
 thoroughfares there is still a considerable population. A re- 
 cent editorial in one of the Philadelphia papers^ thus speaks of 
 the houses of this district ; "In the old parts of the town, and 
 principally in the old city, east of Broad St. and between South 
 
 ^The Philadelphia Press, Feb. 28th, 1910. 
 
28 The Down-town Church 
 
 and Vine, with some in the squares north and south of these 
 streets, there are from 3000 to 4000 small houses on the narrow 
 streets and alleys crossing the large squares which are as bad 
 as anything in New York and sometimes worse. 
 
 "•These small houses still use cess-pools. They are shadowed 
 by higher buildings. They are only worth $1000 to $2000 
 apiece. Their owners are generally poor. They are not kept 
 in repair. They are crowded. Often a cellar holds a family. 
 In winter the narrow ways that reach them are choked with 
 snow. In summer, their airless rooms reek with heat and 
 noisome odors. 
 
 " These small, crowded, antiquated dwellings, built fifty or 
 one hundred years ago, often when the block in whose center 
 they stand was still an open field, hold most of the new cases 
 of tuberculosis in the city. A consumption map of the city 
 dots the squares where they stand with cases." 
 
 Only one complete ward is contained in this district — the 
 sixth. Its population in 1880, was 10,004; in 1890, 8712; in 
 1900, 8042; in 1910, 6374. 
 
 All the other wards that form part of this district, the eighth, 
 ninth, tenth, and fifth, have also steadily declined in popula- 
 tion except the fifth, into which the Jews of recent years have 
 been pouring. The steady growth of business in the district 
 has lead to a steady decline in the population, but there will 
 probably be little further change as most of the sites that 
 would be desirable for business purposes have been secured. 
 
 At the eastern end of the district are the Camden ferries and 
 various docks and piers for shipping, together with large ware- 
 houses. Next we come to the wholesale district, commission 
 houses, and produce markets. From Second St. west to Sixth 
 St. one finds most of the banks, the stock exchanges, clearing- 
 house, insurance offices, and other financial institutions. In 
 this section too are found many of the old landmarks of his- 
 toric interest, Independence Hall, Carpenter's Hall, Old Christ 
 Church, the old Friend's Meeting House at Fourth and Arch 
 Streets, and the graveyard where Franklin and other patriots 
 lie. From Sixth St. on to Broad St. is the retail district of the 
 city. On the northern side of this western half of this dis- 
 trict is the tenderloin, where prostitution has intrenched it- 
 
A Typical Down-town District 29 
 
 self and flourishes with only occasional molestation. Here one 
 finds the characteristic cheap theatres, saloons, museums, 
 shooting-galleries, and pawn shops that always distinguish 
 these sections, while battling against them are a few mission 
 halls and two churches, neither of which is influencing the neigh- 
 borhood to any appreciable extent. 
 
 South of the retail district is an old aristocratic neighbor- 
 hood, in the midst of which is a small section inhabited by the 
 lowest class of Negroes and whites, known as '* Hell's Half 
 Acre." This section centers at Tenth and Locust Streets. On 
 side streets leading to the very back doors of these fine old 
 Philadelphia homes on Spruce St., can be seen the lowest kind 
 of Negro and white prostitutes, while on the corners can al- 
 ways be seen Negro loafers, many of them well-dressed; they 
 exercise considerable political influence and are said to live on 
 the proceeds of prostitution. 
 
 2. The Lodging-House and Rented-Room District 
 
 In the district from Vine to Poplar Streets, east of Broad St. 
 native Americans predominate, although east of Sixth St. there 
 is a large Jewish population. Notwithstanding the conversion 
 of many single residences into furnished room apartments, the 
 population of the district has remained fairly constant during 
 the past thirty years. The population in 1880 was, 68,618; 
 in 1890, 65,793; in 1900, 62,525, and in 1910, 66,017. The 
 extension of business along certain streets, crowding the popula- 
 tion into smaller quarters, has led to considerable congestion. 
 
 At the eastern end of the district one finds shipping piers, 
 railroad yards, and large warehouses. In the narrow strip 
 between Second St. and the river there are still many native 
 Americans, also many German and Irish Americans. There are 
 also a number of cheap lodging houses along Front St. from 
 Green St. to Poplar St. From Second St. to Sixth St. Russian 
 Jews predominate, altho there are still many German-Americans 
 in this section. 
 
 The section west of Sixth St. about three-quarters of a mile 
 square, is the furnished-room and lodging-house district of the 
 city. The northern section of this district still contains many 
 single houses occupied by workingmen and their families, but 
 
30 The Down-town Church 
 
 the district becomes gradually more congested as one goes 
 southward. Here the familiar sign, "Furnished Rooms," may 
 be found upon nearly every house. These furnished-room- 
 houses were all built for, and occupied by single families origin- 
 ally, but it is not uncommon now to find a family in each room. 
 Many of these houses should be classed as tenements, as the 
 law provides that any house in which three or more families 
 live and do their cooking shall be so designated, but the re- 
 cently organized Department of House Inspection has been so 
 inadequately equipped, that practically only those that have 
 voluntarily applied for a license have this distinction. The 
 rent of a furnished room varies from $1.50 to $3.00 a week ac- 
 cording to size and respectability, the tenant being given the 
 privilege of "light housekeeping." The crowding of many 
 families into these houses built for one family constitutes a 
 very serious problem in housing and sanitation and calls for 
 much more adequate and thorough inspection than is now pos- 
 sible. 
 
 The people found in this district are of several classes. There 
 are American workmen, skilled and unskilled, employed in the 
 large industrial plants nearby. They will for the most part be 
 ifound in single houses. Then there are the young men and 
 young women, whose homes are out of town, who are employed 
 in the stores and offices and who live in the boarding-houses 
 near enough to be able to walk to their work morning and even- 
 ing. The better class of boarding houses are now to be found 
 on the other side of Broad St., but many are still found in this 
 district. Next one finds the lowest class of unskilled laborers 
 and their families. They are found in the furnished-room- 
 houses and in the narrow streets and small courts. Another 
 group is made up of the homeless and transient class to be 
 found in every large city. Cheap lodging houses of all degrees 
 of respectability and cleanness shelter this element of the pop- 
 ulation. These are the lowest of all the groups to be found in 
 the down-town district. "Unskilled, unambitious, shiftless, 
 intemperate, they form the most hopeless of all the classes. 
 They subsist by street-begging and petty thieving, with an oc- 
 casional job. The daily goal of their hopes is a night's lodging 
 and strong drink as much as possible."^ 
 
 * Americans in Process, p. 127. 
 
A Typical Down-town District 31 
 
 In addition to these classes this district also has two small 
 colonies of Negroes, one in the north-western corner, and one 
 in the extreme northern part. The former is of a much higher 
 type than the latter. There are two strong Negro churches 
 in the district. 
 
 Such is the lodging-house and rented-room district. It is 
 the typical slum section of the city, into which have gravitated 
 the defeated, the vicious, and the most needy of all social 
 classes. 
 
 Practically all the churches of the district have waged a 
 losing battle. Many of them have acknowledged their de- 
 feat by a retreat to more favorable neighborhoods. 
 
 J. Tine Foreign Quarter 
 
 The next district which forms part of the down-town section 
 is that in which foreign-born predominate. Roughly speaking, 
 this is the district south of Spruce St. and east of Broad St. 
 though we shall confine ourselves in this study to the section 
 between Spruce St. and Washington Ave. in which we find all 
 the problems of immigration most intense. 
 
 Along the northern border of this district, extending in a 
 somewhat irregular line, is the great Negro section of the city. 
 The description of it given by Prof. Du Bois ^ is still in the main 
 accurate. "Starting at Seventh St. and walking along Lom- 
 bard, let us glance at the general character of the ward. Paus- 
 ing a moment at the corner of Seventh and Lombard, we can 
 at a glance view the worst Negro slums of the city.^ The 
 houses are mostly brick, some wood, not very old, and in gen- 
 eral uncared for rather than dilapidated. The blocks between 
 Eighth and Pine, Sixth and South have for many decades been 
 the center of Negro population. Here the riots of the thirtys 
 took place, and here once was a depth of poverty and degrada- 
 tion almost unbelievable. Even today there, are many evi- 
 dences of degradation, although the signs of idleness, shiftless- 
 ness, dissoluteness and crime, are more conspicuous than those 
 of poverty. . . . Passing up Lombard to Eighth, the atmos- 
 
 * Du Bois, The Philadelphia Negro, pp. 58-61. 
 
 ' Some of the worst of these have been destroyed for the erection of Phipps 
 Institute. 
 
32 The Down-town Church 
 
 phere suddenly changes, because these next two blocks have 
 few alleys and the residences are good sized and pleasant. . . . 
 North of Pine and below Eleventh there are practically no 
 Negro residences.^ Beyond Tenth St. and as far as Broad St. 
 the Negro population is large and varied in character. On 
 small streets ... is a various mingling of respectable work- 
 ing people and some of the better class, with recent immigra- 
 tions of the semi-criminal class from the slums." 
 
 As in the district north of Market St. one finds along the 
 eastern end a narrow strip between the river and Second St. 
 in which native Americans predominate. There are many 
 Polish people coming into this strip now. 
 
 From Second St. to Sixth St. the population is almost en- 
 tirely Jewish, while South St. all the way to Broad St. and be- 
 yond it, is lined with Jewish stores. In these stores as in most 
 of those conducted by the Jews in this section, the proprietor 
 and his family live in the rooms back of the store on the first 
 floor while the upper floors are rented out as apartments. 
 These store-front dwellings are therefore very profitable. 
 
 From Sixth St. westward, one finds the Italian district of 
 the city, although as is true also of the Jews, they have now 
 spread far beyond these limits, and especially to the south- 
 ward, are crowding out the native Americans very rapidly. 
 
 There is much over-crowding in this district. In 1900, this 
 district was the most crowded in the city, the density of pop- 
 ulation per square mile being, for the second ward 79,651 ; for 
 the third ward 129,282; and for the fourth ward 98,524. 
 
 This congestion is the result of the conversion of single 
 houses into tenements. House-to-house inspection made by 
 the Octavia Hill Association in an Italian neighborhood showed 
 that out of 366 families visited, 104 families occupied only one 
 room each where they cooked, ate and slept. Such congestion 
 combined with poor sanitary conditions produces some ser- 
 ious problems in this section. 
 
 Many students see in the foreign-speaking quarters of our 
 cities the greatest menance to our institutions. It is true 
 that in these Ghettoes and Little Italys and other foreign 
 
 * Except the section referred to above and they cannot properly be spbkea 
 of as residences. 
 
A Typical Down-town District 33 
 
 colonies one hears English spoken only by the children, but 
 these children when they become adults will be Americans and 
 not aliens and will have forgotten by that time, most of them, 
 the foreign tongues of their fathers. It is true too that these 
 people of foreign speech are slow to adopt our customs and that 
 they do not understand or appreciate our institutions. But 
 the complete assimilation of other generations leads to the be- 
 lief, that the problem of the future is by no means so serious as 
 some assume. The foreign section of the city in fact does not 
 seem so hopeless as the other down-town districts; for while in 
 the latter we find those who have been defeated in the battle 
 of life, the discouraged, the fagged out, in the former we find 
 the ambitious and the strong. In the furnished-room and 
 lodging-house district the movement is generally centripetal. 
 Those who get there seldom get out but sink lower. While 
 in the foreign district the movement is more apt to be centrif- 
 ugal. Few are satisfied to stay there. All seek to better their 
 economic condition sufficiently to move to a better neighbor- 
 hood. The problem in the one district therefore is to stimulate 
 effort; in the other, to direct effort. 
 
 The down-town district of every city will be found to con- 
 tain these three sub-districts, namely, the district where busi- 
 ness gives color to the neighborhood; the district where rented 
 rooms, cheap lodgings, and boarding-houses characterize the 
 neighborhood; and the foreign quarter, where the life of the 
 section is exclusive and predominantly un-American. 
 
 In no two cities will these sections be found in the same 
 proportions. But every city will have its business section 
 which has grown with the growth of the city. Every city will 
 have its slum where the poorest of its population will be found, 
 and where the most undesirable elements of the population will 
 congregate. And most American cities will have their foreign 
 sections. These three districts may not be contiguous, although 
 they will generally be, for the obvious reason that those who 
 live in the down-town section are always the poorest and are 
 forced to live where rents are cheapest and living conditions 
 easiest to meet. 
 
 In the following chapter we shall consider the activities and 
 efficiency of the churches in this district, and while we realize 
 
34 The Down-town Church 
 
 that the problems of individual churches are different, even in 
 the same locality, yet the problems of the churches in the down- 
 town district of Philadelphia are essentially the same as the 
 problems of the down-town churches of New York, or Boston, 
 or Chicago, and the principles which we believe should be ap- 
 plied to the work of the churches in this district will apply 
 equally to the down-town churches of other cities. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 The Down-Town Churches of Philadelphia 
 
 The changes which we have been considering have affected 
 all the social institutions of the district, but none of them more 
 deeply and more conspicuously than the religious institutions. 
 Wi h the exception of the Roman Catholic churches, we find 
 that remarkable changes have taken place in the number, 
 character, methods and influence of the churches of the down- 
 town wards. 
 
 The moving away of the old constituency, and the coming 
 of other social classes, have given the Protestant churches 
 problems to solve for which they were wholly unprepared, and 
 whose solution is not yet by any means apparent. 
 
 In studying the history and work of the churches of this 
 section during the past thirty years, we can class them in five 
 divisions, (a), those that have become extinct; (b), those that 
 have moved to more favorable localitites; (c), those that are 
 still in the district, but "living at a poor dying rate;" (d), 
 those that continue by reason of endowment; and (e), those 
 that by change of method, or as a result of strong personality, 
 or for some other local reason, continue in a more or less vigorous 
 state. By far the largest number of them will be found under 
 class (b), namely those that have moved to a more favorable 
 environment. 
 
 We shall consider the history, methods and influence of the 
 various religious organizations that have been at work in this 
 district since 1880, giving particular attention to the Protestant 
 agencies. 
 
 The influence that is exerted by a religious institution, or by 
 an individual is so subtle that it is difficult to estimate it, and 
 impossible accurately to measure it. 
 
 The usefulness of a church as a religious and social force is 
 not always in proportion to ts size. A small church may in- 
 fluence its membership more profoundly and may thus be per- 
 
 35 
 
36 The Down-town Church 
 
 forming its function more successfully than another church 
 that may influence its membership very slightly. But in gen- 
 eral, the success of a church may be determined by its ability 
 to attract, hold, and thus influence more or less continuously 
 the people for whom it ought to be responsible. 
 
 Our method, therefore, in testing the efficiency of the 
 churches of this district will be to study the statistics of mem- 
 bership through a period of years. It is by this method that 
 the churches test themselves. 
 
 Church statistics are unreliable in many cases, and those 
 reported year after year in round numbers are valueless, and 
 yet we have no better method of estimating church growth or 
 decline than the official reports that are made in most cases 
 annually, to the governing boards by the individual churches. 
 Viewed in a long series of thirty years, they may give an ap- 
 proximate idea of the success or failure of their mission. 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 37 
 
 I. The Baptist Churches} 
 
 Church 1880 i8qo igoo igii History. 
 
 Spruce St 284 343 228 ... In 1908, moved to W. Phila. 
 
 The membership that 
 year was 113. 
 
 Third 255 335 1896, Moved to Broad and 
 
 Ritner Sts. Memb. 204. 
 
 Fourth 762 732 567 537 
 
 Tenth 711 572 1899, United with Spring 
 
 Garden church, 19th and 
 Master Sts. 
 
 Broad Street 428 496 323 200 
 
 Spring Garden St. 529 ... ... ... 1889, Moved to 19th and 
 
 Master Sts. Member- 
 ship, 363. 
 
 Mariners 52 ... ... ... Disbanded in 1883. Since 
 
 opened by the City Mis- 
 sion Society. 
 
 Calvary 175 187 1897, United with Snyder 
 
 Ave. church, 7th and 
 Snyder Avenue. 
 
 Eleventh 305 ... ... ... 1886, Moved to 21st and 
 
 Diamond Sts. Memb., 
 
 239- 
 Total 1880 i8qo 1900 igii 
 
 No. of Churches .9632 
 Membership 3501 2665 1118 737 
 
 By this table it is seen that there are now but two of the Bap- 
 tist churches in this section of the city that were there thirty 
 years ago. Six of the nine have moved out of the district, 
 while one is conducted as a Seamen's mission by the City Mis- 
 sion Society. 
 
 Of the two that remain, the Fourth Baptist church presents 
 quite a unique record as compared with most of the churches 
 that survive in this district. It is true, it shows a gradual de- 
 cline in membership, but the decline has been very gradual, 
 and even now it is a good strong church. The stability of this 
 church is to be accounted for, in large part, by the careful and 
 constructive work of the pastor, who has been in charge of the 
 work for over thirty years, and who has maintained a high 
 standard of efficiency in all departments. 
 
 ^ The statistics of the Negro churches will be given separately. 
 
38 The Down-town Church 
 
 A trained woman missionary has been employed for several 
 years, who conducts a mother's meeting, and industrial classes 
 for children, and who visits the homes of the community. 
 
 The principal social service activity of this church is a chil- 
 dren's service held on Monday evenings. The first hour is de- 
 voted to moral and religious instruction in small graded groups. 
 During the second hour all the grades are gathered in one room 
 and enjoy music and moving pictures. 
 
 This Monday Night Bible School, which is attended by over 
 seven hundred children of the neighborhood, is unique among 
 all the Protestant activities in the city, in the graded system of 
 week-day moral instruction. The high character of the in- 
 struction, and the skill with which it is given, make this the 
 most important work for children that is done by the churches 
 in this whole section. 
 
 The Broad Street Baptist Church, though well located and 
 attractively furnished, gets but a feeble response from the pass- 
 ing throngs and the teeming neighborhood. In 1905 the prop- 
 erty was transferred to Temple College — the congregation to 
 receive an annuity equal to the income from an endowment of 
 $25,000 and the assurance of a permanent church home in the 
 new building to be erected by the college on the present site. 
 It is this arrangement which makes possible the continuance 
 of the work here. 
 
 In addition to these two churches, the Baptist City Mission 
 is conducting important work among the foreign-speaking 
 groups. 
 
 In 1900 a Lettish congregation was organized in the old 
 Spruce Street church. It prospered from the first and soon 
 became independent. Two years ago when it transferred its 
 work to West Philadelphia, it had a membership of over 200. 
 A Polish mission is conducted at the Seamen's mission, 923 
 South Front Street. It was organized in 1907 and has at 
 present about forty members. There is a mission to the 
 Chinese at 1006 Race St., organized in 1898, with a present 
 membership of about forty. Work among the Slovaks and 
 Russians is being carried on with some success at the Fourth 
 Church. 
 
 Just beyond the limits of this district are missions to the 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 39 
 
 Hungarians, Croatians, Servians, Swedes and Italians. Con- 
 siderable social welfare work is done among the last named at a 
 settlement house, 11 62 Passyunk Avenue. 
 
 The Superintendent of City Missionary work is optimistic 
 as to the success of all these missions. He feels that the church 
 has a great opportunity, and believes that if more workers were 
 available the church would make great advances. To the Bap- 
 tists belongs the credit of originating the Daily Vacation Bible 
 Schools in Philadelphia. But though there were fourteen 
 schools conducted by the Baptists last year, there was none in 
 this most needy section. 
 
 The Baptist Church is taking the lead in the work among 
 foreign-speaking people. But its successes in this field are as 
 yet quite meager, and its influence in the whole section is evi- 
 dently very slight. All its churches and missions combined do 
 not reach over 1000 members, and probably at least one-half 
 of these live outside the district. 
 
40 
 
 The Down-town Church 
 2. The Methodist Episcopal Churches. 
 
 Church 1880 
 
 Arch Street 530 
 
 Central 450 
 
 Ebenezer 504 
 
 Eleventh Street. . 240 
 
 1800 
 666 
 
 497 
 
 203 
 
 igoo 
 464 
 
 249 
 
 1911 
 341 
 
 History 
 
 Fifth Street 400 270 
 
 92 
 
 143 
 
 Green Street 
 
 . 615 
 
 520 
 
 441 
 
 Mariner's Bethel. . 
 
 • 751 
 
 850 
 
 632 
 
 Nazareth 
 
 425 
 
 530 
 
 456 
 
 299 
 
 . . . 1887, United with Nazareth, 
 
 to form the 13th St. M. E. 
 
 Church. 
 . . . 1903, Moved to W. Phila. 
 
 Membership that year, 
 
 120. 
 . . . Statistics included with 
 
 those of St. Paul's whose 
 
 pastor has oversight of 
 
 both. 
 64 Since 1898, under the care 
 
 of the City Miss, and Ch. 
 
 Ext. Soc. 
 235 
 
 320 
 
 342 Since 1887, the 13th St. 
 Church (See Central 
 Church, above). 
 1896, Consolidated with 
 Covenant Church, i8th 
 and Spruce Sts. 
 
 Salem 440 
 
 St. George's 275 
 
 St. Paul's 573 
 
 Trinity 223 
 
 Twelfth Street... 478 
 
 Union 227 
 
 Total 1880 
 
 Churches 14 
 
 Membership 6131 5079 3446 1719 
 
 The Methodist Church has held its own in the down-town 
 wards much better than most denominations, and yet its 
 
 315 
 
 262 
 
 102 
 
 
 529 
 
 397 
 
 90 
 
 Since 1904, under the care 
 of City Mission and Ch. 
 Ext. Soc. 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 1883, Moved to 15th and 
 Mt. Vernon Streets. 
 
 400 
 
 310 
 
 225 
 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 1888, Moved to 20th and 
 Diamond Streets. 
 
 1890 
 
 1900 
 
 1 91 1 
 
 
 II 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 41 
 
 strength is today less than one-third what it was thirty years 
 ago. Four congregations moved to better localities; two were 
 consolidated ; three were taken under the care of the City Mis- 
 sion and Church Extension Society; while five continue, but 
 with diminished membership. 
 
 The Methodist Church has always been successful in pioneer 
 work. Its fervor, its stirring music, and emotional preaching, 
 and its free and friendly spirit, have always elicited a response 
 from those whose lot in life was hard and monotonous, and 
 whose natures craved excitement. It is the most democratic 
 of the Protestant churches. This may account for the hold 
 which it has maintained in this most democratic of city neigh- 
 borhoods. 
 
 The Arch Street Church is considered the most important in 
 the conference. It occupies a valuable site within one block 
 of city hall. It aims to reach through good preaching and good 
 music the large student and boarding-house population , that 
 lives nearby, but as a neighborhood force its influence is negli- 
 gible. 
 
 The Thirteenth Street Church is located in the "tenderloin" 
 district. With the exception of the children who attend the 
 Sunday-school, there is little response from the neighborhood 
 to the appeals of the church. The pastor describes the church 
 as "evangelistic 365 days in the year." At a recent series of 
 revival meetings, seven persons from the neighborhood were 
 received into the church. Most of the members live outside 
 the district. 
 
 The Twelfth Street Church, employing the usual methods of 
 preaching and evangelism, is a diminishing force in neighbor- 
 hood uplift. It has steadily declined in membership. 
 
 The Fifth Street Church, or "Temple" as it is now called, was 
 taken over by the City Mission and Church Extension Society 
 a few years ago. Its large auditorium which had been closed 
 for over four years, was renovated and re-opened. A large 
 Germantown church guaranteed the salary of the pastor for 
 three years, and other suburban churches volunteered co-oper- 
 ation in various ways. It is as good an example as is to be 
 found in this section of that co-operation between the up-town 
 and down-town churches, which must become more general if 
 
42 The Down-town Church 
 
 the struggling churches of the poorer districts are to survive. 
 
 In addition to concerts and entertainments, this church is 
 specializing in educational work for young people, having classes 
 in shorthand, typewriting, telegraphy, dress-making, and em- 
 broidery. There are also a boy's club and a mother's meeting. 
 
 This church is feeling the stimulation of two other churches 
 nearby, that have recently become active in neighborhood work. 
 A settlement worker, familiar with the conditions in this sec- 
 tion, feels that there is danger of the children becoming de- 
 moralized as a result of the competition of the churches. It is 
 unfortunate that there is not some division of labor or terri- 
 tory. 
 
 The Green Street Church has an evening audience of from loo 
 to 150, with not a few from the neighborhood. The church is 
 using the traditional methods. By frequent house-to-house 
 canvasses, it seeks to attach the non-churched Protestants of 
 the neighborhood, of whom there are still many. The pastor 
 believes that with more work and more workers, they can be 
 successfully reached. He is very hopeful as to the future of 
 his church. 
 
 Mariner's Bethel, though in the heart of the Jewish section, 
 is still a strong church. Not more than a third of the member- 
 ship, however, lives near the church. The workers and those 
 who support it come, for the most part, from a distance, attach- 
 ment to the old church still being remarkably strong. Only 
 the old time methods are used, but the pastor believes that in- 
 stitutional work could be carried on successfully, and that it 
 would strengthen the church as well as make it more useful. 
 
 St. George's Church is "the oldest Methodist church edifice 
 used continuously for worship in the world." It is spoken of 
 by the Methodists affectionately as "our ancestral home," and 
 an effort is now being made throughout the denomination to 
 raise an endowment that will insure its existence. Many of its 
 members live at a distance from it, but cling to it for sentimental 
 reasons. Its ministries to the neighborhood are largely of an 
 eleemosynary character. 
 
 St. Paul's, in the heart of the Italian quarter, gave up the 
 struggle several years ago, and the property was given over to 
 the City Mission Society. Under efficient leadership, many 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 43 
 
 helpful activities are being carried on. Among the most im- 
 portant is a kindergarten, which has an enrollment of seventy- 
 children, most of whom are Italians. The teachers are from a 
 kindergarten training school and a high standard is maintained. 
 "The teaching does not include religion, but incidentally, it 
 does relate the children and their parents to the church." Once 
 a month, the mothers are invited to an entertainment and help- 
 ful talk in the church, and constant touch is maintained with 
 their homes by the church visitors. 
 
 A picture entertainment is given once a week, which is largely 
 attended by the children of the neighborhood. There are also 
 classes in millinery, dress-making, embroidery, music, brass- 
 piercing, and sketching. During the summer a Daily Vaca- 
 tion Bible School is held here. Last summer over five hundred 
 Italian children attended weekly. 
 
 Two Italian workers are stationed here who devote all their 
 time to holding services in Italian, conducting classes in English, 
 and visitation of the homes of the neighborhood. The English 
 class had an enrollment of 187 last year. The Methodists have 
 not had the success, however, that some of the other denomina- 
 tions have had among the Italians. This is to be accounted 
 for, largely, by the meagerness of the equipment. 
 
 The Eleventh Street Church is devoting itself almost 
 exclusively to the Syrian population surrounding it. The 
 church is open every evening and is becoming in a very real 
 sense the social center for the neighborhood. Every evening 
 many young people and children are to be found there, reading, 
 studying or playing games. 
 
 There are classes in English and other elementary subjects, 
 dressmaking, and cooking; also a kindergarten and a boy's club. 
 The Sunday-school has an enrollment of 150, and an average 
 attendance of 75. 
 
 This church, though without adequate financial support and 
 equipment, in a neighborhood peculiarly isolated from up- 
 lifting agencies, is making a commendable effort to minister to 
 community needs. 
 
 In addition to the work of these established church centers, 
 neighborhood work of a religious character is being carried on 
 at the Deaconess' House on Franklin Square, and also at the 
 
44 The Down-town Church 
 
 corner of Front and Bainbridge Streets in a Polish community. 
 At the latter, there is a sunday-school enrollment of 1 80, a sew- 
 ing class of 80, a kindergarten of 50, and other clubs and classes. 
 It is from both a social and religious standpoint a very success- 
 ful work. The Eighth Street Rescue Mission is also under the 
 direction of the City Mission and Church Extension Society. 
 It reports 728 conversions last year, and a total attendance of 
 26,151. We shall consider the work and try to estimate the 
 value of missions of this type under another section of this 
 chapter. 
 
 The Methodist Church was for many years perplexed as she 
 saw her constituency moving away, and realized the compara- 
 tive impotency of the old-time methods. But now with charac- 
 teristic energy, and true to her traditions, she is planning to 
 strengthen existing centers and re-adapt herself to the new con- 
 ditions. She is, however, sadly handicapped by lack of funds, 
 and all the churches impress one as poorly equipped to grapple 
 adequately with the situation. 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 
 
 45 
 
 J. 
 
 Church 1880 
 
 Clinton St. — Im- 150 
 manuel 
 
 South Street 182 
 
 Third 547 
 
 Union 350 
 
 Southwark 265 
 
 Tabernacle 350 
 
 Chambers 926 
 
 Tenth 712 
 
 Mariners 250 
 
 First 535 
 
 Fourth 230 
 
 North Broad St. . . 709 
 
 North 414 
 
 Spring Garden . . . 402 
 Scots 30 
 
 Northern Liber- 350 
 ties. 
 
 The Presbyterian Churches. 
 
 j8go igoo igii History. 
 
 140 63 ... 1903, Dissolved. Proceeds 
 
 of property funded. In- 
 come used for church 
 erection in Presbytery. 
 ... 1882, moved to Broad and 
 Wharton Sts. Member- 
 ship, 100. 
 
 430 400 
 150 
 72 
 
 742 
 
 339 
 
 Moved to West Philadel- 
 phia. 
 
 1892, Dissolved. Proceeds 
 of property funded with 
 Third Church for neigh- 
 borhood work. 
 
 1884, moved to W. Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 1898, United with Wylie 
 Memorial to form Cham- 
 bers-Wylie Memorial. 
 
 296 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 1895, United with W. Spruce 
 St. Church. 
 
 104 
 
 136 
 
 77 
 
 
 523 
 
 768 
 
 544 
 
 
 201 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 1891, moved to W. Phila. 
 
 741 
 
 742 
 
 696 
 
 1908, Central Church con- 
 solidated with it. Now, 
 Central-North Broad St. 
 Church. 
 
 414 
 
 . . . 
 
 • • • 
 
 1900, moved to Broad and 
 Alleghany Ave. Member- 
 ship, 120. 
 
 150 
 
 . . . 
 
 . . . 
 
 1892, united with Columbia 
 Ave. Church to form 
 McDowell Memorial. 
 
 . . . 
 
 . . . 
 
 . . . 
 
 1884, united with South 
 Broad St. Church, Broad 
 and Castle Av. 
 
 457 
 
 208 
 
 89 
 
46 
 
 The Down-town Church 
 
 Church 1880 1890 IQOO 1911 History 
 
 Arch Street 309 438 1898, united with West 
 
 Arch St. Church. 
 
 Carmel (German) 44 60 1892, moved to 19th and 
 
 Susquehanna Ave. 
 Wylie Memorial. . 500* 497 633 660 1898, Chambers Ch. united 
 
 with it. 
 
 Eighth 375 1883, moved to 15th and 
 
 (United Presb.) Christian Streets. 
 
 Reformed Presb ... ... ... Became extinct. No stat. 
 
 (Orig.) available. 
 
 Total j88o i8go igoo iqii 
 
 Churches 21 16 7 6 
 
 Membership 7630 5415 2950 2405 
 
 The Presbyterian churches show the effects of the changed 
 conditions of the down-town districts most strikingly. Three 
 of those that were at work in this district in 1880 dwindled to 
 nothing. No less than eleven, more than half, moved to better 
 neighborhoods. Two consolidated their forces. One increased 
 by the uniting with it of a church, just over the line bounding 
 the district. Four of those that remain are well-endowed. 
 One is a seamen's mission, while the other has been "snatched 
 as a brand from the burning" by most heroic measures. 
 
 The First Church has a well-appointed parish house, for 
 neighborhood work. Until a few years ago this work was well- 
 supported, and the church constantly increased in member- 
 ship in spite of the changes going on about it. But for some 
 years the work has been discontinued for lack of means. 
 
 At present, gymnastic classes are held and a reading-room 
 for men is open. No effort is being made to interest the poorer 
 classes east and south of the church, as it is felt their presence 
 might alienate the present constituency. This church makes 
 a special effort by means of good music, to attract the board- 
 ing-house and student population, residing just west of the 
 church. 
 
 The endowment has recently been very much increased. 
 With the well-equipped parish house, this should make pos- 
 sible a much larger service to the community than is now ren- 
 dered. 
 
 ^ Until 1886, a Ref'd. Presb. Church. No statistics available. Memb. 
 estimated. 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 47 
 
 The Third Church has an endowment of $120,000, the in- 
 come of which is used to support a deaconess, and for poor re- 
 lief in the neighborhood.^ The membership comes largely 
 from outside the district, which is now predominantly Jewish. 
 A sunday-school and industrial classes for Jewish children, have 
 recently been organized. But the response as yet is quite 
 small. The conservatism of the church will probably make 
 progress slow and uncertain. 
 
 The Chambers- Wylie Memorial Church has an endowment 
 of over $200,000, but is doing little or nothing in the way of 
 community service. Its efforts are mainly directed by good 
 preaching and music, to attracting the people who live in the 
 apartment houses nearby, and the transients from the hotels. 
 
 The Central-North Broad Street Church has a splendid lo- 
 cation on the edge of the furnished-room and boarding-house 
 district. Plans are under way for building a parish house where 
 neighborhood work will be carried on. An assistant to the 
 pastor has been employed who will devote his whole time to 
 the work of the church in the community. An endowment 
 of $200,000 will insure the continuance of a large work. Lec- 
 tures on problems of interest and value to the people of the 
 neighborhood are being given on Sunday afternoons. Enter- 
 tainments and industrial classes, and boy's brigade drills are 
 held during the week. But here also, the conservatism of the 
 original congregation will make an aggressive social service 
 policy difficult. 
 
 The First Presbyterian Church of the Northern Liberties is 
 under a Committee of Presbytery. The work of this church is 
 the most spectacular and best advertised of any that is being 
 done in this whole down-town district. The pastor, a recent 
 graduate of Princeton, with an experience in rescue mission 
 work in Chicago, has entered upon the work with unbounded 
 enthusiasm and tireless energy. He believes that the solution 
 of the problem of the church is to get people to hear the gospel. 
 Accordingly, aggressive evangelism characterizes all the ac- 
 tivities of the church, even the children's entertainments. 
 Services are held in English and Yiddish, both in the church, 
 and on the street corners. 
 
 ^ See history of Southwark Church, in statistical table, above. 
 
48 The Down-town Church 
 
 Twice a week, an evangelistic service is held, which has 
 proven especially attractive to men from the lodging-houses a 
 few blocks away, for a free lunch is served at the conclusion of 
 the service. 
 
 It is a center of bustling activity, a church run under high 
 pressure. The congregations have steadily grown, and the 
 pastor confidently predicts that before many months, the 
 church will be full and overflowing, and that the neighborhood 
 will be noticeably improved. 
 
 It is unlikely, however, that the older Jews of the neighbor- 
 hood who resent the active and aggressive proselytism of the 
 church, will be influenced for good. Experience shows that 
 such methods perpetuate and strengthen the prejudice and 
 antagonism which Jews have toward Christians. It is to them 
 a form of persecution, to which they have too long been sub- 
 jected. Many Jewish children however attend the meetings 
 of the church and the prediction of the pastor that many of 
 them will become Christians may be realized. 
 
 It is doubtful, too, whether the self-respecting working- 
 class people of the neighborhood will go to a church where home- 
 less men go to be fed.^ The class that this church appeals to 
 most strongly frequents the cheap lodging-houses not many 
 blocks away. The galleries are filled with them on Sunday 
 evenings, and the strong evangelistic appeal is directed to them. 
 Not a few of them have professed conversion, and in order to 
 conserve results, a house has been opened nearby where they 
 are kept in a wholesome environment, aided in securing em- 
 ployment, and stimulated to better living. This "neighbor- 
 hood house" is one of the best features of the work of this 
 church. 
 
 It is too early to estimate the social value of this church to 
 its community, but it is our feeling that the work is carried on 
 under too much excitement and with too much promise of 
 reward, to be permanently helpful to the neighborhood. As a 
 rescue mission, it will reach an occasional man and restore him 
 to respectability and usefulness in society; but as a neighbor- 
 hood center for social uplift, its success will depend more upon 
 
 » Ruggles St. Baptist Church, Boston, found they would not. 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 49 
 
 the personal influence of the workers than the activities and 
 services of the church. 
 
 The work for seamen at Mariner's Bethel is a most helpful 
 one. Here sailors receive their mail, and have the free use of a 
 pleasant reading and game room. Free legal advice is given, 
 and everything is done to make the seamen's stay on land a 
 safe and profitable one. A small number of people from the 
 neighborhood attend religious services here. 
 
 We shall speak of the mission work among the Italian and 
 other foreign groups under the section, Missions. The most 
 characteristic work of the Presbyterian denomination is the 
 summer tent work, which has been widely copied in other cities. 
 This too, will be considered later. 
 
 The Presbyterian churches occupy strategic points in this 
 great down-town district, but as yet they have not measured 
 up to their opportunities, or made adequate use of their large 
 resources. The large endowments of some of these churches, 
 combined with the large resources in the suburban churches, 
 will make possible a very useful service when once they get a 
 social vision. 
 
50 
 
 The Down-town Church 
 4. The Protestant Episcopal Churches 
 
 Church 1880 1890 1900 
 
 All Saints 425 505 400 
 
 320 315 
 
 Calvary 36 
 
 Advent * 
 
 Ascension 35 
 
 Evangelists 150 
 
 Christ Church ... 378 
 
 Nativity 152 
 
 Gloria Dei ' 
 
 Grace 514 
 
 St. Andrews 600 
 
 St. John's, N. L. . no 
 
 St. Jude 271 
 
 St. Luke 650 
 
 St. Paul 208 
 
 St. Peter's 700 
 
 St. Philip 400 
 
 St. Stephen 500 
 
 Trinity 194 
 
 (Southwark) 
 
 Total 1880 
 
 Churches 18 
 
 Membership 5323 
 
 * Statistics not given. 
 
 * Statistics not given prior to 1893. 
 
 270 
 
 309 
 
 145 
 
 344 
 
 565 
 
 487 
 
 702 
 
 507 
 
 640 
 
 s 
 
 325 
 
 335 
 
 496 
 
 650 
 
 ... 
 
 675 
 
 747 
 
 226 
 
 129 
 
 189 
 
 414 
 
 366 
 
 335 
 
 ... 
 
 620 
 
 700 
 
 1205 
 
 90 
 
 697 894 1033 
 
 J911 History. 
 
 1909, United with Church 
 
 of the Holy Spirit, nth 
 
 and Snyder Av. 
 . . . 1882, Moved to West Phila. 
 
 85 
 
 1885, Moved to Broad and 
 Lombard Streets. 
 145 191 1, no report. Member- 
 ship, 1910. 
 
 640 Since 1908, known as St. 
 Jude and Nativity. 
 
 19 10, Transferred work to 
 West Philadelphia. 
 
 1908, united with Church of 
 
 Nativity. 
 
 1899, Epiphany united 
 
 with it, to form St. Luke 
 
 and Epiphany. 
 1890-1902, a mission of St. 
 
 James's, 1902, incorp. 
 
 with St. Peter's. 
 
 
 
 ... 1890, Moved to West 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 1000 
 
 900 
 
 649 
 
 225 
 
 331 
 
 . . . 1908, Moved to 1 6th and 
 Cayuga Streets. 
 
 1890 
 
 1900 
 
 1911 
 
 15 
 
 14 
 
 10 
 
 6439 
 
 7167 
 
 5219 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 51 
 
 The Episcopal churches present rather a striking contrast to 
 the other Protestant churches of this district, in that a much 
 larger per cent, of them continue at their original locations, 
 and also in that the reported membership today is almost as 
 great as that of 1880, although not as great as that of the two 
 intervening decades. The churches that have continued in the 
 district all show increased membership with three exceptions, 
 and in one of these the statistics indicate that the church is 
 holding its own. 
 
 The remarkable stability of the Protestant Episcopal churches 
 in this section may be accounted for by several things. First, 
 the fact that nearly all the churches are endowed. The ten 
 churches that are found in this district have an endowment 
 totalling almost a million and a half dollars. Thus the Epis- 
 copal Church has practically established its work in the down- 
 town district, by providing an average endowment for each of 
 its centres of $150,000. It is rather significant, that the six 
 churches that moved out of the district, during the past thirty 
 years, had practically no endowment with one exception. 
 
 But endowments alone do not account for the good showing 
 of the Episcopal churches in this section. For some of the 
 churches have not only maintained their existence, but increased 
 remarkably in membership. The readiness with which the 
 Episcopal churches have adapted themselves to the changed 
 conditions, and the efforts they have made to meet the social 
 needs as well as the spiritual needs of the community, have 
 also contributed in a large measure to their success. This 
 larger service has been made possible by the income from en- 
 dowment, but credit should also be given to them for their 
 progressive spirit and social vision, in seeing the needs of their 
 communities and making provision for supplying them. 
 
 Nearly every Episcopal church in this section is an institu- 
 tional church of greater or less equipment, activity, and effici- 
 ency. Nearly all have parish houses, some of them well- 
 equipped, and all of them are open as neighborhood centers. 
 Every church has activities of a social nature, and the lives of 
 the people are touched and influenced in helpful ways between 
 Sundays. The Episcopal churches are more efficient in ren- 
 dering community service than those of any other denomina- 
 tion. 
 
52 The Down-town Church 
 
 Sentiment has played a part too, in maintaining the older 
 and stronger of these churches. Christ Church and Old St. 
 Peter's, for instance, count among their members and support- 
 ers old Philadelphia families who long ago moved out of these 
 parishes but who yet own family pews in which they take great 
 pride. The morning service at St. Peter's is attended largely 
 by the wealthy members, few of whom live anywhere near the 
 church. The evening audiences in all these churches are of 
 quite a different class from the morning audiences. We have 
 noticed the influence of sentiment in churches of other denom- 
 nations too, but in none of them does it seem to play as large a 
 part as in the Episcopal churches. 
 
 Another reason for the success of these churches is to be 
 found in the personnel of their clergy. Men of superior ability 
 have been attracted to these influential churches, and with 
 adequate means behind them have wrought masterfully for 
 the uplifting of their neighborhoods. Thus money is seen to be 
 a very essential element of success in church work in this section. 
 Not that money has been used to purchase the patronage of 
 the people, though in some cases the churches have been un- 
 necessarily lavish and almost demoralizing in the generous 
 use of their means, but money has made it possible adequately 
 to equip and maintain strong centers of social and religious in- 
 fluence, and to carry on many activities of a helpful nature 
 which otherwise would have been impossible. 
 
 It will not be possible or necessary to describe in detail all 
 the activities of these churches, but we shall indicate briefly 
 the salient features of their work. 
 
 Old Christ Church possesses great historic interest. "As a 
 fount of both patriotism and religion, it attracts annually more 
 than thirty thousand pilgrims from all points of the compass." 
 The old church is now surrounded by business buildings, but 
 in the small streets and courts that abound in this section, 
 there is still a large population. The population of the ward 
 at the last census was 6,374. The rector says, "it is a field 
 ripe for the harvest. " A new parish house is in process of con- 
 struction which will make possible an active neighborhood work. 
 At present, parish activities have been discontinued for lack of 
 suitable accommodations. 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 53 
 
 The Church of the Advent with an endowment of $32,750 
 still survives, but the membership has declined and the services 
 are poorly attended. The rector proclaims himself a socialist. 
 He inaugurated at one time a number of welfare institutions, 
 co-operative factory and store, and a house for respectable 
 working girls. But for lack of means and good management, 
 they failed. He is earnest in his desire to help the people of the 
 neighborhood, but the response is not encouraging. There is 
 some hope of merging this church with another of the same de- 
 nomination in the same district. It would be a very desirable 
 consummation. 
 
 The Church of the Evangelist has a beautiful little chapel, 
 which enjoys the distinction of a reference in Baedeker. It is 
 however a factor of small importance as a center of community 
 service. The church has been closed for over a year owing to 
 financial difficulties, but has recently reopened with a new 
 rector in charge. St. Martin's College, a home and school for 
 dependent boys^ is supported by the parish. 
 
 The Church of St. Jude and the Nativity has recently re- 
 modeled its church and erected a well-equipped parish building. 
 It is a church of many helpful activities, a bright attractive 
 service, and good singing. It is receiving as generous a response 
 from the neighborhood as any church in this whole section east 
 of Broad Street. Elaborate facilities are provided here for 
 recreation — bowling alleys, game rooms, and gymnastic classes 
 for both men and women. There are also classes in literature 
 and the fine arts that are largely attended by young women. 
 This church is situated in a neighborhood characterized by 
 middle class boarding and furnished room houses. There are 
 many young men and women away from the restraints of home 
 and family life, who are particularly in need of opportunities 
 of social and educational advantages. This church has ad- 
 mirably adapted its equipment, and its methods, to this class. 
 It is a genuine force for community uplift. 
 
 Gloria Dei has been an active force, but at present the rec- 
 tor, who has been in charge for many years, says, "it is impos- 
 sible to reach the present population, which is Jewish, Polish, 
 and Irish Roman Catholic, with anything." This church has 
 a large endowment. It employs besides the rector, a lay as- 
 
54 The Down-town Church 
 
 sistant and a lady visitor. It has a sunday school of over three 
 hundred. Many strangers are attracted to the church be- 
 cause of its historic interest. 
 
 St. Andrew's Church, though at one time a large fashionable 
 church, some years ago dwindled to almost nothing. But 
 through the energy of a new rector, new spirit and hope were 
 infused into the church. The attitude of the minister and 
 people is now very hopeful. 
 
 St. John's Church of the Northern Liberties is in a com- 
 munity where Poles and Jews predominate. But notwith- 
 standing its adverse environment, it has had a steady growth 
 during the past thirty years. This may be accounted for 
 almost entirely by the constructive and intelligent efforts of 
 its rectors, who in that time have raised the endowment, 
 built a parish house, and carried on many helpful activities in 
 behalf of the neighborhood. The present rector lays em- 
 phasis on good preaching as one of the essentials in church work 
 in such districts. He is enthusiastic about the future of the 
 church. He is very liberal in his ideas of the mission of the 
 church, and allows the people of the neighborhood much lati- 
 tude in the use of the parish house. 
 
 St. Luke's and Epiphany Church has an attractive building, 
 both interior and exterior. It has a brilliant man for its rec- 
 tor. It has splendid music. It has an endowment of half a 
 million dollars, and it carries on many activities of a useful 
 nature. It is not surprising, therefore, that it is a growing 
 church, well-patronized, and performing a useful part in the 
 community. Besides its sunday-school, which has a mem- 
 bership of nearly four hundred, there are a men's club, a moth- 
 er's meeting, a gymnasium, a young ladies guild, a sewing school, 
 a flower, fruit and ice mission, coal fund and other organiza- 
 tions for thrift, culture or recreation. Epiphany Chapel at 
 17th and Summer Streets is also under the control of the officials 
 of this church. 
 
 St. Peter's is one of the most remarkable churches of this 
 whole section, in that three-fourths of its membership, which 
 is one of the largest in the down-town district, lives east of 
 Broad St. This church stands in the midst of the large Jewish 
 district, but so carefully has it worked its field, and so per- 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 55 
 
 vasive has been its influence, that it has seven hundred mem- 
 bers in that section from which many other churches have been 
 forced to move, and in which most of those still remaining are 
 decadent and despondent. It has a large endowment, about 
 $275,000, which makes possible a large work. In addition 
 to the regular services at the church, religious services and 
 many helpful ministries are conducted at St. Peter's House, 
 a Christian settlement at the corner of Front and Pine Sts. 
 The parish hall on Lombard St. is also a center of educational, 
 recreational, and inspirational effort. The choir school cares 
 for a number of boys, educating them and providing for them, 
 but the boys of this school are largely from outside the dis- 
 trict. In addition to the rector there are two assistants, and 
 a large force of volunteer workers. 
 
 Old St. Peter's has an affectionate hold upon all who have 
 come under its influence. Its wealthy members have moved 
 out of the parish, but continue their relation with it. They 
 attend the morning service in large numbers. The evening 
 audience often fills the church and is largely drawn from the 
 neighborhood. It presents a striking contrast to every other 
 church in this section. It is one of the most useful institu- 
 tions in down-town Philadelphia. 
 
 St. Stephen's Church is another church which proves the 
 value of large means, intelligent men and wise methods in 
 church work. It is a church with many wealthy members, 
 but neighborhood needs are not forgotten. A large parish 
 house is maintained in which there is a gymnasium, and where 
 classes and clubs of many purposes and social groups meet. 
 The parish employs besides the rector, an assistant and a parish 
 visitor. In a quiet unobtrusive way, St. Stephen's is touch- 
 ing helpfully a large group, in a section from which other Prot- 
 estant churches have almost all moved. 
 
 The success of these Episcopal churches does not depend 
 upon high church or low church or broad church methods. St. 
 Peter's is high church, but St. Stephen's, St. Luke's and the 
 Epiphany, and St. Jude's and the Nativity, which are also 
 exerting a remarkable influence in their respective parishes, 
 are low church. The services of these last named churches, 
 in fact, do not differ materially from the services in other 
 
56 The Down-town Church 
 
 Protestant churches. It is clear that it is not the form of wor- 
 ship which makes the difference, in all the churches of the down- 
 town district, but the spirit. In the concluding chapter, we 
 shall draw some deductions from the success of these Episcopal 
 churches for the successful management and equipment of 
 other down-town churches. 
 
 In addition to these regularly established parishes, the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church in this district has a splendidly 
 equipped rescue mission hall, an active work among the Italians, 
 and is also working among the Jews. We shall consider this 
 mission work in another section. 
 
 A very unique organization supported by the Episcopal 
 Church is All Souls Church for the Deaf, organized in 1889, 
 and which has a membership at present of 266, and a sunday 
 school of about 150. It is meeting a very real need and reaches 
 a class for whom no other church has made any provision. 
 
 At Old St. Paul's Church daily noon-day services are held 
 throughout the year with preaching on Friday. These ser- 
 vices which are conducted under the auspices of the Brother- 
 hood of St. Andrew, are well attended by business men in the 
 locality. A girl's friendly society meets here on Friday even- 
 ings, and there is a mother's meeting on Thursdays. Thus 
 while St. Paul's is without a regular congregation, it having 
 been merged with St. Peter's, yet it is still a center of uplift. 
 
 The Church of the Redeemer is a well organized and well 
 equipped mission and club house for seamen. Services are 
 held several times a week, vessels are visited by the workers, 
 and the house with reading and game room is always open. 
 It is a popular place with the seamen. 
 
 In general, the Episcopal Church has shown a more intelli- 
 gent grasp of the whole situation in the down-town field than 
 any other. It observed the signs of the times, and was wise 
 enough to know what the church ought to do. It has strength- 
 ened its existing centers, and is still doing so, by adequate en- 
 dowments, and in making them useful in community service. 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 57 
 
 5. The Friends 
 Meeting 1880 1900 1903 igii History. 
 
 Primitive Friends 350 * 1910, moved to Bucks Co. 
 
 Membership estimated, 
 
 175. 
 
 Fourth and Green 1 150 . . . 791 681 
 
 (Hicksite) 
 
 Ninth and Spruce 150 ... 78 ... 1903, Property sold, and 
 
 (Hicksite) members transferred to 
 
 15th and Race. 
 1881 igo4 
 
 Southern 231 213 214 . . .* 
 
 (Orthodox) 
 
 Northern 416 221 165 ...' 
 
 (Orthodox) 
 
 Western 648 739 770 ... * 
 
 (Orthodox) 
 
 These quaint old meeting-houses, half hidden behind high 
 brick walls, are among the most interesting sights in historic 
 Philadelphia. There is an air of refinement and simplicity 
 about them which is characteristic and not to be found in any 
 other religion. They impress one as being exclusive, however, 
 and one would not think of entering them as he would one of 
 the more democratic churches. They are institutions which 
 recall the past, and seem out of place in the hustle and rush of 
 modern life. 
 
 The members of these old meeting-houses are scattered over 
 Philadelphia and adjoining counties. A very small percentage 
 of them live in this old section where once they exerted such a 
 healthful influence. But attachment to the old buildings and 
 old associations still hold their interest. 
 
 The Orthodox Friends are still conservative in belief and 
 methods of worship, but members say that a liberalizing ten- 
 dency has become manifest within the past ten years, in the 
 direction of giving younger members more voice in matters. 
 The Twelfth Street meeting is the most cosmopolitan meeting 
 probably in America, there being members in it from every 
 part of the United States. This influx from other parts of the 
 
 1 Estimated. 
 
 ' Statistics not available. 
 
58 The Down-town Church 
 
 country accounts for its steady growth. The membership of 
 the other meetings has become quite small. 
 
 These congregations do not, as such, have any outside ac- 
 tivities. But as individual members Friends are active in the 
 support of all good causes. A sunday-school with an enroll- 
 ment of four hundred members is held at 918 Locust St. for 
 colored children. Formerly there were other activities carried 
 on here, but it was decided to transfer them to the Eighth Ward 
 Settlement nearby. 
 
 At 718 Catharine St. a week-day school for boys and girls 
 with an enrollment of about one hundred and thirty is con- 
 ducted by Friends. There is also some neighborhood service 
 rendered — industrial training for the children, a mother's 
 meeting for the women, and entertainment and moral instruc- 
 tion for both. 
 
 The Fourth and Arch Meeting has a small school for colored 
 children at 913 Latimer St., and the Sixth and Noble Meeting 
 has in its building the "Aimwell School for Girls." About 
 seventy-five girls from the neighborhood attend it. Lessons 
 in cooking and sewing, and moral instruction, are given in addi- 
 tion to the regular school work, which is said to be of a high 
 standard. 
 
 The North House Settlement on Marshall St. near Noble 
 St. is under the direction of and is supported by Friends. It 
 is doing a splendid work in a most needy field. 
 
 The Fourth and Green meeting is still considered very con- 
 servative. It is one of the largest and richest meetings in the 
 whole society of Friends. It is estimated that about 
 one hundred and fifty of its seven hundred members still live 
 east of Broad St. It does not conduct any neighborhood work, 
 but the Neighborhood Guild is the center for the work of the 
 whole society of Hicksite Friends east of Broad St. 
 
 Its aim is, " to uplift the people of the neighborhood, (i) by 
 the study of the Bible in the First Day School ; (2) By numer- 
 ous visits to their homes by the superintendent ; (3) By afford- 
 ing wholesome recreation through games, entertainments, pic- 
 nics, etc.; (4) By developing their bodies through gymnasium 
 exercise; (5) By giving lessons in sewing, cooking, and instruc- 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 59 
 
 tion to mothers in the care of their children. " It is a center of 
 useful service. 
 
 Friends make no effort to proselytize. They make no effort 
 to attract people. But in quiet personal ways they exert an 
 influence which is most beneficent and far-reaching. It is 
 quite probable that removals from the neighborhood, com- 
 bined with conservatism and lack of adaptiveness, will event- 
 ually lead to the extinction of more of these meetings. But if 
 the ancient land-marks are removed, it will be a distinct loss 
 which no amount of church work of a more noisy kind can 
 quite take the place of. 
 
6o The Down-town Church 
 
 6. The Lutheran Churches 
 Church 1880 1890 1900 1910 History 
 
 St. Mark's (English) 592 600 517 400 
 
 St. John's (English) .... 330 278 235 263 
 
 Emmanuel (German) ... 700 680 600 650 
 
 St. Paulus (German) ... 400 456 500 1050 ^ 
 
 Zion (German) 700 470 338 373 
 
 The five Lutheran churches whose statistics are given above, 
 were all well-established and vigorous thirty years ago. They 
 stand at their original locations, but their strength has remained 
 remarkably constant. 
 
 The statistics of these churches are very unsatisfactory, one 
 church reporting the same membership for thirteen years, 
 another for eight, and another for seven. Only one of them, — 
 St. John's, — reported with seeming care. But the statistics as 
 they stand are sufficient to indicate the genera^ trend. 
 
 Lutherans seem exceptionally loyal to their churches. In 
 no case do more than half the members live in the district, 
 and in one case only ten per cent, live within six blocks of the 
 church, yet the reported membership does not decrease as 
 much as might have been expected. 
 
 These churches have appealed especially, of course, to Ger- 
 man speaking people and those of German descent, and except 
 in the sunday-schools, there has been little response except 
 from this group even in English churches. 
 
 The churches in which the services are still held in German, 
 all have week-day schools, which exist primarily, it seems, to 
 preserve the mother tongue, and thus make possible the con- 
 tinuance of the churches. 
 
 The Lutherans are very conservative in their ideas and do 
 not, with the exception of the younger ministers, take much 
 part in movements outside the sphere of their congregations. 
 But they have performed an important service, in conserving 
 
 ^ Disparity due to a new standard of membership. 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 6i 
 
 the religious life of a large group, that would probably have 
 been uninfluenced by other churches. 
 
 The Lutherans conduct preaching services at least once a 
 month in eleven different languages. One of these foreign 
 groups, the Lithuanians, meets in St. Mark's church. Another, 
 the Swedish congregation, formerly met there, then transferred 
 its work to a church on Ninth St. near Noble St., but a few 
 years ago moved across Broad St. to a new building which it 
 erected. 
 
 In 1906, the Inner Mission Society opened a neighborhood 
 settlement at Fourth and Callowhill Sts., but two years ago 
 moved it to Front St. above Girard Ave. 
 
 The Samaritan Inn, a shelter for homeless men, is supported 
 and directed largely by Lutheran people. It is well kept, 
 and commodious, but the method of admission by tickets, 
 which the applicant is expected to solicit from those who pur- 
 chase them, is somewhat demoralizing. Religious services are 
 held here every evening, and in strong contrast to most mis- 
 sions of this sort, the report modestly says, "souls have been 
 saved. " 
 
62 
 
 The Down-town Church 
 
 7. Other Churches 
 
 Church 1880 j8go igoo igii History 
 
 Eighth St No information or sta- 
 
 (Advent Christian) tistics available. 
 
 Marble Hall No information or sta- 
 
 (Advent Christian) tistics available. 
 
 Mt. Zion No information or sta- 
 
 (Christian Independent) tistics available. 
 
 First Church of Christ 300 1893, Moved to Berks St., 
 
 (Disciples) near nth Street. 
 
 Emmanuel 279 327 228 244 
 
 (Evangelical Association) 
 Southwark 90 117 1895, Moved to 1718 S. 
 
 (Evangelical Association) 9th Street. 
 
 Latter Day Saints 52 1884, Moved to nth St. 
 
 (Mormon) and Girard Avenue. 
 
 First Moravian 152 162 1892, Moved to Fair- 
 
 (Moravian) mount Av. , near 1 7th St. 
 
 Church of New Jerusalem ^ 1882, Moved to 22nd and 
 
 (Swedenborgian) Chestnut Streets. 
 
 Church of Covenant 250 1888, United with Church 
 
 (Reformed Episcopal) of Redeemer. 
 
 First 300 274 1895, Moved to 15th and 
 
 (Ref. Church in America) Dauphin Streets. 
 
 Second 550 381 193 150 
 
 (Ref. Church in America) 
 Third 94 Became extinct. 
 
 (Ref. Church in America) 
 
 First 201 220 175 506 
 
 (Ref. Church in U. S.) 
 
 Salem (German) ^ ♦ 
 
 (Ref. Church in U. S.) ( 
 
 Salem Mission^ > 658 934 650 557 
 
 (Ref. Church in U. S.) J 
 Spring Garden 1 ...1 1987, Moved to Girard 
 
 (Unitarian) Avenue, near 15th St. 
 
 ^»rst 1 1883, Moved to Chest- 
 
 . (Unitarian) nut St., near 21st St. 
 
 ^*^^* * 1885, became extinct. 
 
 (Universalist) 
 
 Church of Messiah 128 343 1890, Moved to Master 
 
 (Universalist) St., near i8th St. 
 
 ^^^^on\s 1 Became extinct. 
 
 (Universalist) 
 
 I Statistics not kept, or not procurable. 
 1901, moved to 6th and Pierce streets. 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 63 
 
 Church 1880 1890 igoo 1911 History 
 
 Cooperative * Became extinct. No in- 
 
 (Spiritualist) formation procurable. 
 
 First Association ^ Moved to 12th and 
 
 (Spiritualist) Thompson Streets. 
 
 Keystone Assocaition ^ Became extinct. 
 
 (Spiritualist) 
 
 Of the 24 churches or religious organizations in the above 
 group representing 13 denominations, 5 are at their original 
 locations, 7 have become extinct, and 12 have moved to other 
 locations. Of the five that remain, one is in a decadent condi- 
 tion, while none of them is a neighborhood force of much im- 
 portance. 
 
 The largest of them, the First Reformed, has an endowment 
 of $65,000. But instead of making the church more useful, it 
 has had the effect of relieving the members of financial respon- 
 sibility, with consequent loss of interest. Only one-fourth of 
 the members live east of Broad St. and except through the 
 sunday-school, no impression is being made on the neighbor- 
 hood. The church is poorly lighted and uninviting. The 
 minister, a young man who has just undertaken the work, 
 realizes the opportunities for community service, and hopes 
 to employ a deaconess and enlarge the usefulness of the church. 
 
 The Emmanuel Church of the Evangelical Association is 
 about holding its own, with a tendency under the present pas- 
 torate to grow. It continues to hold its own members and to 
 bring in some of their children, but little more is accomplished. 
 
 The Second Reformed Church is in a very much run down 
 condition. It has been without a pastor for some time, and 
 there is doubt as to its ability to survive much longer. A 
 Hungarian congregation of forty members meets in this build- 
 ing on Sunday evenings. 
 
 The Salem Reformed Church (German) is making no effort 
 to reach the neighborhood. The pastor sees no hope for the 
 churches of this section. He looks with disfavor upon new 
 methods and does not think they bring spiritual results. For 
 a time, this church conducted Salem Mission in the south 
 eastern section of the district, but the work was discontinued 
 in 1908 on account of a lack of workers and the meager results. 
 
 ' Statistics not kept or not procurable. 
 
64 The Down-town Church 
 
 8. The Negro Churches 
 
 Church 1880 1890 1900 1910 History 
 
 First African 612 559 iioo 1906, Moved to i6th and 
 
 (Baptist) Christian Streets. 
 
 Shiloh 551 947 815 1094 
 
 (Baptist) 
 Union 425 298 1350 241 1 
 
 (Baptist) 
 Ebenezer , 154 282 820 Organized in 1885. 
 
 (Baptist) 
 Zion 368 762 1270 Organized in 1883. 
 
 (Baptist) 
 St. Thomas 139 ... 450 388 1 888-1 892, services held 
 
 (Protestant Episcopal) in hall, 17th and South 
 
 Sts., during erection of 
 new building. 
 Crucifixion 164 280 275 349 
 
 (Protestant Episcopal) 
 St. Peter Claver looo Organized in 1893. 
 
 (Catholic) 
 First African 106 60 1 891, Moved to 17th and 
 
 (Presbyterian) Fitzwater Streets. 
 
 Lombard Street 386 412 436 442 
 
 (Presbyterian) 
 Bethel 1264 1071 1188 1428 
 
 (African M. E.) 
 Union 350 1884, Moved to i6th and 
 
 (African M. E.) Fairmount Avenue. 
 
 Mt. Olive 33 215 239 268 
 
 (African M. E.) 
 Wesley 60 1885, Moved to 15th and 
 
 (African M. E. Zion) Lombard Sts. Member- 
 
 ship now, 1700. 
 John Wesley 197 Disbanded about 1883. 
 
 (Methodist Episcopal) 
 Zoar 375 400 517 703 
 
 (Methodist Episcopal) 
 Bainbridge 246 389 1907, Moved to Broad 
 
 (Methodist Episcopal) and Fitzwater Sts. 
 
 Total 1880 1890 1900 1910 
 
 Number of Churches 13 12 12 11 
 
 Membership 4662 5010 7803 10173 
 
 The Negro church has had the most remarkable develop- 
 ment of any of the Christian institutions of the down-town 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 65 
 
 districts. The number of churches in this section in 1880 was 
 13; today there are 12. Some have moved westward across 
 Broad Street, but others have been organized to take their 
 places. Only one has failed and passed out of existence, while 
 all the others have increased in membership to a remarkable 
 degree, surpassing in this respect most of the churches of the 
 whites, even in most favorable localities. 
 
 The church occupies a very important place in the social 
 development of the American Negro. "Among most people the 
 principal social group was the family, or at least the clan. Not 
 so among the American Negro. Such vestiges of primitive 
 organization among the Negro slaves were destroyed by their 
 slaveship. In this country, the first distinct voluntary organ- 
 ization of Negroes was the Negro church. The Negro church 
 came before the Negro home. It antedates their social life, 
 and in every respect it stands to day as the fullest and broad- 
 est expression of organized Negro life. ... In origin and func- 
 tion, the Negro church is a broader, deeper, and more compre- 
 hensive social organization than the church of white Ameri- 
 cans. "^ 
 
 Professor Du Bois thus describes the church as a center of 
 the social life of the people today. "The Negro church is not 
 simply an organization for the propagation of religion; it is the 
 center of social, intellectual, and religious life of an organized 
 group of individuals. It provides social intercourse, it provides 
 amusements of various kinds, it serves as a newspaper and in- 
 telligence bureau, it supplants the theatre, it directs the picnic 
 and the excursion, it furnishes the music, it introduces the 
 strangers to the community, it serves as a lyceum, library, and 
 lecture bureau. It is in fine the central organization of the or- 
 ganized life of the American Negro, for amusement, relaxation, 
 instruction, and religion. To maintain its pre-eminence the 
 Negro church has been forced to compete with the dance-hall, 
 the theatre, and the home as an amusement giving agency. 
 . . . The church has been peculiarly successful, so that of the 
 ten thousand Philadelphia negroes whom I asked, where do 
 you get your amusement, fully three-quarters could only 
 answer, from the churches."' 
 
 * Dr. W. E. DuBois, in College Settlement News, Philadelphia, July, 1897. 
 
 * Special Report on Negro Domestic Service in 7th Ward. 
 
66 The Down-town Church 
 
 The hold that the Negro church has upon the people, may 
 be seen by the remarkable growth in membership, as in- 
 dicated by the statstical table above. There has been a gradual 
 movement of the Negro population westward, yet the churches 
 in the old fields have steadily grown notwithstanding this fact^ 
 the membership of the Negro church east of Broad Street being 
 more than double what it was thirty years ago. 
 
 The Baptist and Methodist churches are all centers of great 
 activity. The churches are open several nights a week for 
 suppers, bazaars, entertainments, lectures, and socials of every 
 description. The membership of these churches is largely of 
 the middle class Negroes, the best of the great laboring class. 
 They are steady, honest, respectable, and well-dressed. They 
 are interested in the success of the church, and active in help- 
 ing in its work. But while they are stirred by emotional 
 preaching, and singing, one gains the impression that the church 
 is more of a social than a religious center, and that its value is 
 in deterring its members from less pernicious influences than in 
 lifting them up to higher moral standards. Most of the minis- 
 ters are well educated. Those of the larger churches have 
 striking personalities, and some of them a genius for organiza- 
 tion and leadership. 
 
 The ministers of the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches 
 are well educated and trained. These churches draw their 
 membership from a rather higher social class. St. Thomas* 
 is the aristocratic colored church of the city, and for this reason, 
 its membership has not grown rapidly. The members here, 
 are "well-to-do Philadelphians, largely descendents of favorite 
 mulatto house-servants, and consequently are well-bred and 
 educated. It represents the most cultured and wealthiest of 
 the Negro population and Philadelphia born residents.^ This 
 church is contemplating a change of location. Their church 
 property is most valuable and it is probable they will move 
 farther west soon. 
 
 The Protestant Episcopal Church of the Crucifixion is in 
 strong contrast to St. Thomas' in that it is situated among the 
 people and that it has always made an effort to reach the 
 people through helpful ministries. Prof. Du Bois speaks of it 
 
 ^ Du Bois, The Philadelphia Negro, pp. 198-9, and 203. 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 67 
 
 as "perhaps the most effective church organization in the city 
 for benevolent and rescue work. It has been built up virtually 
 by one Negro, a man of sincerity and culture, and peculiar 
 energy. This church carries on regular church work at Bain- 
 bridge and Eighth Streets, and at two branch missions; it helps 
 in the fresh air fund, has an ice mission, a vacation school, and 
 a parish visitor. It makes an especial feature of good music 
 with a vested choir, one or two courses of University Extension 
 lectures are held here each year, and there is a large beneficial 
 and insurance society in active operation, and a Home for the 
 Homeless on Lombard Street. This church especially reaches 
 after a class of neglected poor, whom the other colored churches 
 shun or forget and for whom there is little fellowship in white 
 churches."^ 
 
 The Presbyterian Church on Lombard Street is a conserva- 
 tive old church which reaches a very respectable class of people. 
 It is ministered to by an old man of culture and refinement, 
 but the church is not an active force in the community. 
 
 The Catholic Church has an estimated membership in the 
 parish of 1 000, with an average of forty or fifty converts a year. 
 There is a fine parochial school building with an enrollment of 
 nearly 300. There are three priests, seven sisters and one lay 
 teacher in the parish. There is a club room with pool tables, 
 a gymnasium and games for men and boys. The Negroes 
 especially of the most backward type would naturally be sus- 
 ceptible to the teachings and worship of the Catholic Church, 
 and it is not improbable that this church may eventually win 
 a large following from them. 
 
 On the whole, we feel that the churches exercise a most bene- 
 ficent influence over the colored people. They provide a center 
 for social intercourse, which is much safer and better than any 
 place else. They afford in the organizing and activities of the 
 various auxiliary societies, training of great mental and moral 
 value ; while as religious centers, they hold up ideals of morality 
 and industry and self control, which cannot but have some 
 effect on their social development. 
 
 » The Philadelphia Negro, p. 217. 
 
68 The Down-town Church 
 
 g. The Missions 
 
 In addition to these organized congregations whose history, 
 and present conditions and activities we have been considering, 
 there are not a few missions, whose influence is more or less 
 felt, and whose methods and results ought to be noticed. 
 
 The best known of these perhaps, is the Salvation Army, 
 together with its kindred organizations, the Volunteers of 
 America, and the American Salvation Army. There is well- 
 grounded suspicion that the last named organization exists for 
 a sinister rather than a helpful purpose. But the effort of the 
 regular Salvation Army to prevent the use of its name was not 
 successful. Most people to whom it appeals for aid do not 
 distinguish between the two organizations, and it thus receives 
 much of the patronage designed for the older organization, 
 whose motive is generally recognized as proper and worthy of 
 support. 
 
 These three organizations employ the same methods, work 
 among the same classes, and have about the same success or lack 
 of success. 
 
 The Salvation Army has two posts in this district, the other 
 two organizations, one each. Meetings are held nightly. The 
 audiences are similar to the audiences seen in other rescue mis- 
 sions, with the difference that a few women and children are 
 also likely to be present. Their services are strongly evangelis- 
 tic, and the appeal is always to the emotions. An occasional 
 man or woman is influenced to better living.^ But one cannot 
 but feel that for the efforts expended the results are woefully 
 meagre. Their band of workers with their blatant instruments 
 may attract passing notice from the crowd of passersby, but 
 there does not seem to be abiding interest, and very few follow 
 the procession to the hall to attend the indoor meetings. The 
 repetition of the same thing, time after time, becomes pain- 
 fully mechanical and ineffective, to one who has listened to 
 their services. 
 
 It was the realization of this fact that led General Booth to 
 dwell upon the social features of the Salvation Army.^ These 
 
 ^ See Begbie, Twice-Born Men, for remarkable examples. 
 « William Booth, In Darkest England, and the Way Out. 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 69 
 
 are now the most significant feature of Salvation Army methods. 
 ''Beginning as an emotional religious revival, it has become a 
 great agency for providing employment, lodging, and food for 
 poor people. Its Christmas dinners and its lodging houses 
 are perhaps more noteworthy than its religious activity."^ It 
 is severely criticized for its loose financial methods, and for its 
 disregard of the canons of scientific charity. There is no 
 doubt that the rank and file of the Army's officers and members 
 who are actively engaged in social work are a devoted group, 
 who make up much in devotion, for what they lack in intelli- 
 gence, ''but instead of striking at the root of social evils, the 
 Army is too frequently inclined to take part in remedies that 
 catch the applause of the unthinking public. "^ 
 
 There are seven or eight rescue missions in this district, 
 whose work has become a more or less established feature of 
 the religious activities of the city. The best known of these 
 is the Sunday Breakfast Association, which has now begun its 
 thirty-fourth year of work. Every Sunday morning and even- 
 ing during the year, from five to eight hundred men gather here 
 to be fed, and remain after their repast for the religious service. 
 There is an after meeting for those who will remain, and the 
 workers who are redeemed men themselves assure one that 
 many are reclaimed and changed. There are also a number 
 of meetings during the week, designed especially to strengthen 
 the converts in their new purposes. No doubt can be enter- 
 tained that many of these conversions are real. But it is a 
 serious question in the minds of many, whether the good done 
 the few is not offset by the injury done the many, by encourag- 
 ing them in lives of indolence and beggary. One man was 
 pointed out who had been attending the meetings for thirty 
 years, without any apparent change in his habit of life. 
 Nearly all who were there revealed their familiarity with the 
 customs of the institution. The spiritual results in proportion 
 to the great number in attendance are very meager. Other 
 mission halls in the same neighborhood, that do not resort to 
 these pauperizing and demoralizing methods get a propor- 
 tionately larger response than this great organization. It may 
 
 ^ Ray Stannard Baker, American Magazine, September, 1909, p. 442. 
 ^ Carstens, An. Amer. Acad., 30, 555-6. 
 
70 The Down-town Church 
 
 be due to the fact that a lower grade of men comes to the "hand- 
 out missions," for the mission parasite is confessedly the very 
 lowest. But the difference in social class is not apparent to 
 the observer. It is more probably due to the smaller group, 
 and closer contact which this makes possible. 
 
 The best equipped and most intelligently managed mission 
 hall in this district is the Galilee Mission, an institution sup- 
 ported largely by the Episcopal Church. There is a well-kept 
 lodging-house with accommodations for i68 men in connection 
 with this mission, and also a restaurant where a surprisingly 
 large and nourishing meal can be secured for a trifle, and also 
 a wood-yard where homeless men can earn their lodging, and 
 men recently converted can earn their living for a short time 
 under good influence. There is also a reading-room and smok- 
 ing room, but the main feature of the mission is its nightly 
 evangelistic meeting. The cheerful and inviting hall is usually 
 well filled, and remarkable results are reported. The superin- 
 tendent is admirably adapted for the work and exercises a sav- 
 ing and uplifting influence upon the men who drift in. 
 
 The other rescue missions, the Wayside and the Eighth 
 Street, the latter under the support and direction of the Method- 
 ist Church, and the Bethesda and Inasmuch Missions, follow 
 the usual methods of nightly meetings, evangelistic appeals, 
 and testimonies of redeemed men. All report many men per- 
 manently changed during the year, and there is no question 
 that some are profoundly influenced. But it is patent to the 
 observer that the great mass of those who attend these services 
 go away untouched. 
 
 Estimates of conversions vary from one to ten per cent, of 
 those "who come forward." "Five per cent." says Ray Stan- 
 nard Baker, "would probably be a liberal estimate." Mr. 
 Baker, who propounds a very pertinent question as the title of 
 his article,^ shows the whole inadequacy of our efforts in the 
 solution of the problem of the type of man appealed to by the 
 rescue mission. "While religion is feebly getting at five men, 
 our civilization is hopelessly ruining not only the ninety-five 
 others who inquire, but the hundreds upon hundreds who come 
 
 ^ "Lift Men from the Gutter? Or, Remove the Gutter? Which? " American 
 Magazine, July, 1909. 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 71 
 
 to the mission and do not go forward; to say nothing of the 
 thousands upon thousands of miserable creatures who never 
 visit the missions at all." 
 
 Institutions of a very different character from those just de- 
 scribed are the social settlements, nearly all of which have re- 
 ligious motives, and some of which use religious methods. Of 
 these may be mentioned the College Settlement, which works 
 largely among the Jews; Starr Centre and the Eighth Ward 
 Settlement, which work mostly among the colored people. 
 These do not use religious methods. Eighth Street Settle- 
 ment, under the direction of the Second Presbyterian Church; 
 North House and Neighborhood House, both under the direc- 
 tion of the Friends, the Neighborhood House, 619 Addison St., 
 a small but useful center of neighborhood uplift; Bedford 
 Street Mission, an old mission with a reputation for its bounty 
 among the poor, have a religious purpose. 
 
 The Daily Vacation Bible Schools may also be included in 
 this group. These schools meet for six weeks daily during the 
 summer months. Part of the period is devoted to industrial 
 work, and part to moral and religious instruction. They are 
 held usually in churches and have served a good purpose in 
 making these churches useful during the week as well as on 
 Sundays, and also as social as well as religious centers. 
 
 These settlements in varying degrees are seeking to do con- 
 structive and preventive work, rather than rescue work. They 
 work mostly among children, though seeking to influence the 
 parents also by mother's meetings, entertainments, and visits 
 to the homes of the people. Their influence is quietly exerted 
 but is pervasive. Seldom do they report conversions, and yet 
 one cannot doubt but that they are "saving souls." They 
 are having no small part in the leavening of the city. 
 
 Another type of mission that we find in this district, is the 
 mission to the foreigner. We have noticed that the Baptist 
 Church has been especially active in this form of work, having 
 organizations among all the larger groups. With the excep- 
 tion of the Lettish congregation, which for a few years wor- 
 shipped in the old Spruce Street Baptist Church, and which at- 
 tained a membership of over two hundred members, none of 
 their missions to foreign-speaking groups has attained any 
 size as yet. 
 
72 The Down-town Church 
 
 The most successful effort of the Protestant church to prosely- 
 tize an immigrant group, is that of the Presbyterian Church 
 among the Italians. This work started from tent meetings 
 which were held less than ten years ago. Today, there is a 
 membership of four hundred members with a sunday-school 
 almost as large. A beautiful building has been erected and the 
 work seems firmly established. 
 
 The Episcopal Church also has a congregation of Italians, 
 but it has never made the progress that the Presbyterian work 
 has, probably because of the similarity of the service in many 
 respects to that of the Catholic church. 
 
 The proportion of men in these Protestant Italian churches 
 is in striking contrast to the proportion in the Catholic Italian 
 churches. 
 
 The Protestant Church justifies its efforts among the Italians 
 by the claim that the Catholic Church has only a nominal con- 
 trol over large numbers of them. "The Vatican's hostility to 
 Italian unity has created a conviction more or less widespread 
 among Italians, that the church is the enemy of the people's 
 liberties. Wherever this exists, there is an accompanying feel- 
 ing of estrangement from the church, for the Italians are pa- 
 triots first, and churchmen after. A considerable number of 
 immigrants retain a sincere piety, especially those from dis- 
 tricts where the priest's authority is still unchallenged, but the 
 majority are indifferent to their inherited faith. Some enter- 
 tain toward it a feeling of actual hostility."^ The Protestant 
 churches have not been slow to recognize their opportunities 
 and all the larger denominations have active centers of work 
 among them. 
 
 There is only one distinctively Christian mission to the Jews. 
 This is under the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and is lo- 
 cated at Fifth and Catharine Streets. The superintendent, 
 who is professedly a converted Jew, admits the difficulty of his 
 task, but is hopeful of accomplishing much. In addition to 
 preaching services, some neighborhood work is being done 
 among children. Unlike the former superintendent, who 
 aroused much antagonism, he does not seek directly to prose- 
 lyte, but first, "to make them respect Christians, and then 
 
 ^Americans in Process, pp. 273-4. 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 73 
 
 through personal influence, bring them to change of belief and 
 heart." Settlement workers in the neighborhood say the in- 
 fluence of the mission is negligible and that the superintendent 
 is believed by the Jewish people to be there from mercenary 
 motives. Judging from the experiences of the past, the success 
 of Christian missions of this sort among the Jews is problemat- 
 ical. 
 
 The Episcopal Church employs two Hebrew Christians, one 
 of whom conducts a medical dispensary and center of religious 
 and social work at 1600 S. Fourth Street, and the other is em- 
 ployed to work among immigrants in helpful ways. His cen- 
 ter is St. Peter's House at Front and Pine Streets. 
 
 The Jews have suffered so many persecutions at the hands 
 of the Christians, that a very deep-seated hatred of them exists. 
 Every attempt to proselytize therefore, is looked upon as a new 
 form of persecution and is bitterly resented.^ This prejudice 
 will have to be removed by long contact with Christians whose 
 lives express their avowed beliefs, before missions to the Jews 
 will ever make much headway. It will not be by the preaching 
 of the Gospel, but by the living of the Christ life, that the Jews 
 will come to see the truth and value that there is in Christianity. 
 Social Settlements therefore give promise of accomplishing 
 more for the propagation of the faith than the Church among 
 this particular group in the next few generations. 
 
 The last form of religious work that we shall mention, is 
 that of open air and tent evangelistic services. The Presby- 
 terians inaugurated this work in 1899 and have largely carried 
 it on since. Last summer there were seventeen tents where 
 open air services were held. Nine of them were in the down- 
 town district. The attendance at these seventeen centers ag- 
 gregated something over 100,000, an average of about 350 at a 
 meeting. The results of these meetings are too intangible to 
 be estimated. But the committee in charge of the work are 
 enthusiastic about it, and so well thought of are the methods 
 by church workers of other cities, that they are being widely 
 copied. The criticism made of rescue mission work^ will apply 
 to this effort. Some will be attracted and of them a few will 
 
 ^ See Ross, Social Psychology, p. 241. 
 ^ See above, p. 70 
 
74 The Down-town Church 
 
 be deeply moved to adopt a new life; but the success is that of 
 a few individuals difficult to win and still more difficult to hold. 
 Its value is reclamatory, rather than constructive. 
 
 There are a number of other small missions in this district 
 in addition to those which have been named, but all of any 
 importance have been mentioned. They are working with- 
 out co-ordination or co-operation. The result is wasted efforts 
 and wasted resources. Most of these agencies are poorly 
 equipped for effective work. Few of them have a broad con- 
 structive purpose. None of them is making any serious im- 
 pression in the hard shell of religious indifference. In the 
 closing chapter we shall offer some suggestions as to how these 
 institutions could make their work more effective. 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 75 
 
 10. The Catholic Churches 
 
 It is not our purpose to consider in detail the work of the 
 Catholic churches and Jewish synagogues. But a review of 
 the religious work of this district would not be complete without 
 some reference to it. 
 
 It is also important to consider the work of the Catholic 
 churches, because of their comparative success among the 
 classes which we have been considering. 
 
 We shall then note only the general features of their work, 
 in order to arrive if possible at the reasons for the stability of 
 their institutions, and the pervasiveness and permanence of 
 their influence. 
 
 The following Catholic churches were in this district in 1880: 
 Church of the Assumption, Holy Trinity, St. Augustine's, St. 
 John the Evangelist, St. Joseph's, St. Mary's, St. Paul's, St. 
 Philip de Neri, St. Theresa, St. Mary Magdaline di Rizzi. 
 To these have been added, St. Peter Claver, for work among 
 the colored people; St. Stanislaus (1891), a Lithuanian congre- 
 gation; Lady of Good Counsel (1898), an Italian congregation; 
 Church of St. Michael (1907), a Greek Church; Immaculate 
 Conception (1909) for the Ruthenian Greeks; and a Slavic 
 congregation in 1 9 10. 
 
 With the exception of St. Peter Claver's, all of these congre- 
 gations have been organized out of new elements of our pop- 
 ulation to meet the needs of immigrants. There are also two 
 Orthodox Greek churches in this section which have been or- 
 ganized within recent years. They are not under the jurisdic- 
 tion of the Roman Catholic Church. 
 
 Statistics of these churches are not available. Occasionally 
 priests would make approximations and indicate in general 
 terms the changes which have taken place in their parishes. 
 Rev. Father McDermott of St. Mary's Church, who has per- 
 haps the most intimate knowledge of conditions in this whole 
 section, says that the Roman Catholic Churches have been as 
 much affected by the changes in this district as the Protestant 
 churches. 
 
 In his own parish there are only 500 Catholics now, while 
 30 years ago there were three times that number. The priests 
 
76 The Down-town Church 
 
 in several other parishes also estimate that the membership of 
 the Catholic church is from only one half to one third what it 
 was thirty years ago. But the Catholics of the district are 
 probably much more loyal to their church and faithful in at- 
 tending its services, than the Protestant people. This is true 
 at least of the Irish and American Catholics. Dr. Walter 
 Laidlaw of the Church Federation of New York City, estimates 
 that 80% of the Roman Catholic population of Manhattan 
 attend church, while only 65% of the Protestant^ do so. In 
 the very careful canvas of social and religious conditions in the 
 Twenty-First Assembly District it was found that while 70% 
 of the Hebrew population were churchless and 48.3% of the 
 Protestant population, only 12.2% of the Catholic population, 
 had no church connections.^ Charles Booth observed the same 
 condition in London. "The priests complain of irregularity 
 at mass and of indifference to religious duties, but no one pass- 
 ing from the Protestant Church to theirs would take that view. 
 They have a higher standard. Moreover the attendance is 
 unmistakably due to genuine feeling and a belief of the divine 
 authority of the church and its priesthood. Of support pur- 
 chased by ordinary material benefits there is no trace. "^ 
 
 How are we to account for the remarkable hold that the 
 Catholic Church has upon its people? First by its insistence 
 upon secular as well as religious instruction. The education 
 of the children is not intrusted to the parents, who may or may 
 not be faithful in imparting the teachings of the church. 
 Neither does the church sanction the non-religious teaching 
 of the public schools. It takes the child in its most plastic 
 and most responsive years and instils the thought of the church 
 as a divine institution and the doctrine of the church as pos- 
 sessing divine authority and the impression of these early 
 years, emphasized and re-emphasized in succeeding years is 
 seldom changed. St. Francis Xavier is credited as saying 
 "Give me the children until they are seven years old and any 
 one may take them afterwards."* The Protestant Church 
 
 * Federation, April, 1906, p. 82. 
 
 ' Federation of Churches, New York City, Report "D," The 21st Assembly 
 District, p. 68. (1899.) 
 ' Booth, Life and Labor in London. Part III., vol. 2, p. 39. 
 Trumbull, Yale Lectures on the Sunday School, pp. 67-72. 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 'j'j 
 
 leaves the religious and moral training of its children to their 
 parents and to the sunday-school, but the uncertainty of the 
 one and the inadequacy of the other are such that most Pro- 
 testant children are untouched religiously, or have no idea of 
 the claims of the church upon them. Nowhere else has the 
 Catholic Church shown more sagacity than in this insistence 
 upon the right to educate the young and decide what they 
 'shall be taught. 
 
 A second thing that helps to account for the hold of the 
 Catholic church upon its people is the dogmatism of its claims, 
 of its creed and of its priesthood. It does not hesitate to claim 
 that it is the only true church, and that all who are not within 
 it are damned. It speaks with authority, and anyone who 
 does not accept its teachings is declared to be a heretic. What- 
 ever the value of the claims there is no question that they make 
 a profound impression. "There are those to whom authority 
 is supremely acceptable, who prefer mental passivity to ac- 
 tivity, and soul-surrender to self assertion. There are those 
 who greatly prefer the exquisite pleasure of the peace which 
 comes with submission, to the delight and satisfaction which 
 the intelligent explorer finds in the search after the acquisi- 
 tion of truth. The feeling of dependence is mighty, if not 
 almighty in religion. It is in religion, in what concerns the 
 spiritual life, that man displays his greatest helplessness and 
 surrenders most readily and even thankfully to what speaks 
 with authority, distrustful of self and trustful of what makes 
 great claims."^ Tylor in his Origin of the Aryans^ says, "The 
 dolicho-cephalic Teutonic race is Protestant. The brachy- 
 cephalic Celto-Slavic Race is either Roman Catholic or Greek 
 Catholic. In the first, individualism, self-reliance, indepen- 
 dence are strongly developed ; the second is submissive to author- 
 ity and conservative in instinct." Whether the differences 
 between Protestantism and Catholicism have this ethnic founda- 
 tion is doubtful, but there can be no doubt that dogmatic 
 claims to authority and truth do make profound impression 
 upon certain types of mind. This may account in no small 
 
 1 Dulles, The True Church, p. 69. 
 
 ^ Quoted by Ross, Social Psychology, pp. 6, 7. 
 
78 The Down-town Church 
 
 degree for the ready acquiescence of the Catholic population 
 in accepting the moral and religious leadership of that church. 
 
 A third reason for the power and influence of the Catholic 
 church is in its wonderful organization. In nearly every parish 
 we find in addition to the priest one or more assistants and 
 several sisters. The parishes are effectively manned. This 
 makes it possible for the church to keep in personal touch 
 with its members. Dr. Laidlaw concludes from the investi- 
 gation of the 2 1 St Assembly District, New York City that 
 Roman Catholicism has an efficiency of 87.8% in discovering 
 and attaching to homes of worship its people, while entire 
 Protestantism has an efficiency of only 51.7%.^ It is well 
 said "that the Catholic Church despite its own dissatisfaction 
 with itself can give points to most Protestant churches in the 
 matter of shepherding its own, as well as gathering in those 
 outside the fold. With its magnificent organization, its hun- 
 dreds of institutions for the care of children, the aged and 
 the sick, and a devoted sisterhood consecrating life and fortune 
 to the cause, it holds the fort in the down-town district, and has 
 good grounds for asserting its claim to be called 'the working- 
 man's church'."^ 
 
 And yet with all its workers the Catholic Church does not de- 
 pend so much upon the influence of personality, as upon the 
 attractive and vitalizing influence of the church itself together 
 with its sacraments. 
 
 The Catholic Church does not make an effort to "attract" 
 its members. It makes no use of institutional features and its 
 organizations all have a religious motive and expression. 
 Catholic priests do pastoral visiting only as a "financial neces- 
 sity." The church is not only the object, but is the instru- 
 ment of all the activities of the Parish. With the parish 
 system, "overlapping and overlooking" — the bane of Pro- 
 testantism — are avoided. The fact that the priests live in 
 the parish house, and one can always be found there also 
 makes the Catholic Church a real force in a community. 
 
 It is impossible to gauge the real value of the Catholic Church 
 to a community. Opinions are very apt to be prejudiced one 
 
 * Op. cit., pp. 67-9 
 
 * Horton, The Burden of the City, p. 24. 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 79 
 
 way or the other. Even its religious value depends altogether 
 upon our definition of religion. It is certainly more successful 
 than the Protestant Church in bringing and keeping those 
 over whom it has any claim under the influence of religion, 
 but whether with its tendency to formality it makes its mem- 
 bers more religious in the broader meaning of that word is an 
 open question. Perhaps as fair an estimate on the subject as 
 can be found is the expression by a settlement worker of Bos- 
 ton, "It may be that on the whole, the one type of Christianity 
 counts for as much with its actual adherents as the other."* 
 
 Ji. The Jewish Synagogues 
 
 In 1880 there were nine or ten synagogues in the district 
 under investigation. These were nearly all in the northeastern 
 quarter of the district. The oldest of these, Mikve Israel, 
 was a Portuguese Synagogue. This was the only orthodox 
 synagogue where the services were conducted in strict ac- 
 cordance with tradition. The German Jewish Synagogues 
 had all introduced reforms. The most prominent of these 
 were Rodeph Shalom and Keneseth Israel. The only Russian 
 Synagogue at this time was in a small Jewish community in 
 Port Richmond. 
 
 About 1882 there was an enormous influ?^ of Russian Jews 
 into Philadelphia as the result of the atrocities in Russia. 
 Since that time they have come in a steady stream. They 
 have settled in the district south of Spruce St. largely, and in 
 the wards near the river. The differentiation between these 
 later arrivals and the German and Portuguese Jews of an early 
 immigration is quite complete. 
 
 At present there are about sixty synagogues in the whole 
 city, with a reported membership of about 11,000. Thirty- 
 five of these synagogues are in the wards whose religious life 
 we have been considering. One of these, Rodeph Shalom, is 
 a reform synagogue in the north-western section, but all the 
 others are orthodox synagogues, organized within the last thirty 
 years. 
 
 The membership of these 35 synagogues is 5733. Two of 
 these have a membership of over 1000 each. One has 300; six 
 
 * City Wilderness, p. 225. 
 
8o The Down-town Church 
 
 have over 200, while of the rest the majority have a member- 
 ship less than 100. 
 
 Many of these synagogues were organized originally by old 
 world neighborhood groups as mutual benefit and cultural 
 societies, but as they grew in numbers developed into religious 
 organizat ons. There are many of these named after Russian 
 towns and provinces from which the members have come. 
 The smaller congregations that are without synagogoues are 
 called Chevras. They usually meet in a private house or small 
 hall appropriately fitted up for religious services. 
 
 The older Jews and the middle aged Jews who have recently 
 arrived, are most devout and faithful to the traditions and 
 customs of the race. But the younger generation have largely 
 given up the observances of the fathers. This is partly due to 
 intellectual doubts, but principally to American commercial 
 arrangements, which make necessary the giving up of many 
 old world customs. A South Street merchant replied to the 
 question as to why the Jewish stores were not closed on Satur- 
 day by saying, it was one of their best days for business. 
 
 The younger Jews are not interested in the synagogue ser- 
 vices. Very few of them were seen at any of the synagogues. 
 The services are all in Yiddish, and have no practical bearing 
 on the problems of today, in which the young people are es- 
 pecially interested. More of the younger Hebrews may be 
 found in the literary and other cultural societies, than in the 
 synagogues, their interest being plainly intellectual rather than 
 religious. 
 
 The plea of those who describe the religious conditions 
 among the Jews of New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, in 
 the volume, the "Russian Jew in the United States,"^ for 
 synagogues for the young with services in English, and an 
 adaptation of the services to present day needs, would seem to 
 be a very reasonable one. The old synagogues will be sustained 
 so long as immigration from the old countries continues, but 
 there seems every likelihood that the younger and American 
 Jews will satisfy their religious aspirations in other ways. 
 
 ^ Bernheimer, Charles, " The Russian Jew in the United States. " 
 
The Down-town Churches of Philadelphia 8i 
 
 12. Summary of Changes 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church presents a strong contrast to 
 the Protestant Church, in the stability of its institutions in the 
 down-town districts. Of the iii Protestant churches or relig- 
 ious organizations in this district in 1880, 44 moved out of the 
 district, to locations more favorable to growth; 14 became 
 extinct; 3 lost their identity through being merged with other 
 organizations; while 4 were taken under the care of denomina- 
 tional boards, being no longer self-supporting. During this 
 same period not one of the Catholic churches became extinct 
 or changed its location. Many of the Protestant churches 
 which remain are in a state of disrepair and dilapidation, and 
 present an appearance of weakness and decadence. On the 
 other hand, the Catholic church buildings are usually large 
 and stately, are kept in good repair, and have the aspect of 
 strength and stability. Most of the Protestant churches 
 which remain are weak in numbers and financial resources, 
 and their services are poorly attended, but the Catholic 
 churches, though their constituency is smaller, do not present 
 the same aspect of weakness, their services being well-attended, 
 and their institutions being liberally supported. 
 
 It is true, some other organizations have arisen in the place 
 of the Protestant institutions that for one cause or another have 
 disappeared. The Baptist Church has several small non-Eng- 
 lish speaking churches; the Methodists have a rescue mission 
 hall, a settlement, and a deaconess house; the Presbyterians 
 have a vigorous organization among the Italians, a settlement, 
 and a mission to the Jews; the Episcopalians have an Italian 
 church, a rescue mission, and a church for the deaf; the Luther- 
 ans have two new church organizations, and the Negroes four 
 in the district. But the losses of the Protestant Church far 
 overbalance the gains in this district, during the period covered 
 by this investigation. 
 
 Individual churches have maintained their power and effici- 
 ency, and are today performing successfully their function. 
 But the general record is one of failure. The Protestant Church 
 in the down-town districts has become a factor of diminishing 
 importance in social causation. 
 
82 The Down-town Church 
 
 The population of this district has remained fairly constant 
 during this whole period. The people still swarm around the 
 churches. We believe the people still need the message and the 
 ministries, for which the Church presumably exists. Why 
 then have so many churches failed to get a response? We 
 shall seek for the explanation in the following chapter. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 Causes for the Decadence of the Down-Town Church 
 
 The causes for this decline in the number, power, and 
 efficiency of the Protestant churches in the down-town dis- 
 trict are numerous and complex. In a population as heterogen- 
 eous as that of the district under investigation, no cause will 
 apply with equal force to every group. Causes that operate 
 among people of one condition or tradition will not be operative 
 at all among those of other conditions and racial inheritance. 
 Some causes that are more general will be found to apply with 
 unequal force to different classes. There are other causes 
 which affect only a few individuals. It shall be our purpose 
 to discover the causes which are most generally operative, and 
 which are most significant in explaining the facts of the pre- 
 ceding chapter. 
 
 Before stating these more important factors it may be of 
 value to consider a few of the subordinate causes which are 
 often given in explanation, but which we believe to be wholly 
 inadequate. 
 
 The natural perversity of slum-dwellers is often given as a 
 cause of religious indifference by those who would explain the 
 weakness of the church in such sections. There is no doubt 
 that certain quarters of the down-town city shelter a large 
 element of the vicious and criminal class. Those that pander 
 to lust and make profit out of vicious appetites, prostitutes, 
 gamblers, and other types of the vicious and depraved, tend to 
 congregate in this part of the city. Many of the homeless 
 men who live in lodging-houses are known to be tramps and 
 criminals. There are others whose practices are not in har- 
 mony with the ideals of the church. 
 
 There are those also with a restless thirst for pleasure, to 
 whom worship seems a routine of utter tedium, and who have 
 a positive hatred of high ideals. "There is a natural repug- 
 
 83 
 
84 The Down-town Church 
 
 nance of the frivolous, sensual, selfish soul to facing thoughts 
 of duty, self-sacrifice, eternity, God. To contemplate how- 
 ever woodenly and far-off the white Perfectness of the Object 
 of Worship, is to make the self-loving worshiper conscious of 
 his stains and spots, and consequently most uncomfortable, 
 and naturally he avoids this occasion of discomfort. There 
 are many who have so far atrophied their finer sense, that the 
 great words and deeds of Religion have to them simply no 
 meaning."^ 
 
 But admitting the vicious tendencies of some, and the un- 
 ethical practices of others, to whom the ideals of the church are 
 repugnant, we cannot believe that this cause is more operative 
 among the people of the down-town districts than among those 
 of the higher classes. Where social considerations do not enter 
 in to counteract the natural distaste for religion and church 
 worship, we shall find "natural perversity and sinful propen- 
 sity" operating as strongly against church attendance in the 
 suburbs as the slum. 
 
 While this cause is contributory to the neglect of the down- 
 town church, it could more properly be assigned as a cause for 
 the neglect of religion among all classes. 
 
 "Outworn creeds" is another reason sometimes given for 
 the decline of the down-town church. But while certain in- 
 dividuals may assign this as their reason for the neglect of the 
 church, it is a reason which is applicable to other classes more 
 especially than to those under consideration. 
 
 As we shall see, certain classes of workmen have substituted 
 Socialism and other systems of social reform for the church, 
 and with their new allegiance have discarded all traditional 
 beliefs, but the number is not large. It is true of all classes 
 that few individuals stop to think out new systems of belief, or 
 to organize their conceptions into creeds and it is especially 
 true of the vast majority of the people of the down-town dis- 
 trict. The lack of leisure and of initiative, and the hard condi- 
 tions of life, make a revolt against new systems of thought 
 most improbable. 
 
 The hold of the Catholic church upon its people, as we have 
 indicated, would seem to prove that the more dogmatic the 
 
 * F. Herbert Stead, in Non-Church-Going, Its Reasons and Remedies, p. 85. 
 
Causes for the Decadence of the Down-town Church 85 
 
 position of the church, and the more uncompromising it is in 
 its demands, the greater is its influence among the people of 
 this class. 
 
 The appeal to the down-town population must be to the 
 feelings, rather than the intellect. Any revolt, therefore, is 
 likely to be a revolt of the heart rather than the head. The 
 lack of interest in the church is due more to weakened will- 
 power, than increased brain-power. 
 
 As great as this cause may be among certain classes, there is 
 little evidence that it operates with any force among the classes 
 of the down-town city. 
 
 It has been contended also that there is a general decline in 
 religious interest and church attendance, and that the de- 
 cadence of the down-town church is merely symptomatic of 
 general religious conditions. 
 
 The paucity and unreliability of church statistics make it 
 very difficult to compare church attendance and church mem- 
 bership of today with that of preceding eras. There is, how- 
 ever, a wide-spread conviction that the church is losing its hold 
 upon people, that an ever increasing percentage of the popula- 
 tion does not respond to the appeals of religion. Richard Heath^ 
 gives numerous statistics to prove an "approaching eclipse of 
 the churches" in England and the Continent. Dr. Josiah 
 Strong^ and Dr. E. T. Root^ give similar statistics which 
 would seem to indicate a very decided falling off in church at- 
 tendance and church influence in this country. Much is being 
 written about the unsatisfactory condition of the church in 
 rural communities. Other studies intimate that there is a 
 growing indifference on the part of the educated and professional 
 classes toward the church. 
 
 But the recent religious census indicates that the progress of 
 the churches since the census of 1890 has been quite satisfac- 
 tory. During the decade and a half, the membership of re- 
 ligious bodies increased 60.4%, while the population increased 
 33.8%. In 1890, 32.7% of the entire population was included 
 
 1 Richard Heath, The Captive City of God, Chapter i. 
 
 * Josiah Strong, Delineator, Oct., 1909, p. 294, also in Bliss, Enc. Soc. Ref. 
 Art., "Church and Workingmen. " 
 
 » E. T. Root Delineator, Oct., 1909, p. 457-9- 
 
86 The Down-town Church 
 
 in religious organizations; in 1906, the proportion had reached 
 39.1%. As Prof. Coe remarks in commenting upon these 
 figures, "These facts hardly bear out the assumption that is 
 often made, that the churches are losing their hold on the 
 people. Immigration accounts for a part of the absolute in- 
 crease, and births for another part, but neither of these ac- 
 counts for the relative increase, as compared with the popula- 
 tion. This is particularly clear of the Protestant increase."^ 
 In every particular except in the number of religious organiza- 
 tions, the rate of increase in religious bodies has exceeded the 
 rate of increase in the population. 
 
 To say that the decline of the down-town church is a part 
 of the general decline in religious belief and church attendance, 
 is therefore not adequate. It rests upon an assumption which 
 is not proven. Even if a falling off in church membership had 
 been indicated by the last census, it might readily be shown 
 that the decline among the down-town churches has been so 
 much greater than that among other groups of the population, 
 as to necessitate other explanations. 
 
 What, then, are the causes that have been most operative in 
 weakening the churches in the down-town districts of our cities? 
 
 I. Change in the Character of the Population. 
 
 The first and most obvious cause for the decadence of the 
 Church in these sections is the change in the character of the 
 population. 
 
 There is not a down-town district in any city of considerable 
 size in America, but has undergone during the past quarter- 
 century, transformations, tremendous and significant. A set- 
 tlement worker of Boston speaking of the changes that have 
 taken place in the North and West Ends of that city, writes: 
 "About 1880 there came a marked change in the character of 
 the immigration. Since then, so rapid a transformation has 
 been produced, that even old inhabitants, daily witnesses of 
 the scenes have been startled at times. '"^ 
 
 The most significant change from the viewpoint of religious 
 institutions is the change from predominantly Protestant, to 
 
 * American Journal of Sociology, 15: pp. 806-7. 
 ' Americans in Process, p. 43. 
 
Causes for the Decadence of the Down-town Church 87 
 
 predominantly Catholic and Jewish traditions, customs, and in- 
 stitutions. 
 
 The lower east side of New York has in an incredibly short 
 time become the largest Jewish center in the world. Other 
 large sections are given up almost wholly to Italian and other 
 foreign-speaking groups. 
 
 In 1880 there were less than 1000 Italians in the North End 
 of Boston, and only 125 in the West End. In the whole of 
 both districts there were only a few hundred Jews, and they 
 mostly German. But the writer above quoted adds: "The 
 story of immigration into Boston for the last twenty-five years 
 is for the most part an influx of Jews and Italians, followed by 
 more Jews and Italians. "^ Today, these two elements so pre- 
 dominate in these sections, that Protestant churches appear 
 anomalous. 
 
 In Chapter III, we have indicated the change in the charac- 
 ter of the population in the down-town districts of Philadelphia. 
 
 Alien peoples of strange tongues, and stranger customs, with 
 different ideals and with institutions of their own, have taken 
 possession of these old centers and have literally driven out the 
 former inhabitants. No invasion was ever more complete or 
 far-reaching in its consequences. 
 
 Some of the institutions found by the new settlers were rec- 
 ognized as of value to them, and were eagerly made use of, to 
 achieve their ends. 
 
 Political institutions offered an opportunity to participate in 
 government, made an appeal to the nobility inherent in man, 
 and the newcomers rapidly adjusted themselves to the condi- 
 tions of the franchise. 
 
 The schools, it was at once recognized, offered the quickest 
 method to the acquirement of the language, to an understand- 
 ing of the new institutions, and thus to economic advantage, 
 and the opportunities of the schools were seized with avidity. 
 
 Not so however with the churches. There is no prejudice 
 so deep-seated, no institution given up with such reluctance, 
 no customs that are so difficult to change as the religious. Re- 
 ligious beliefs are always reinforced by supernatural sanctions, 
 enjoy the veneration which always attaches to the ancient and 
 the ancestral, and are therefore the last to be given up. 
 
 ' Ibid., p. 44. 
 
88 The Down-town Church 
 
 The churches founded by the Anglo-Saxon and North Euro- 
 pean settlers and their descendants in America, therefore made 
 no appeal to the hordes of South and East Europe who had been 
 educated to very different conceptions of religion and the 
 church. 
 
 To the Jew, the Christian Church stood for persecution. 
 He made no distinction between the Christian Church in Amer- 
 ica and the Christian Church in Russia. To the Greek and 
 Roman Catholic, the Protestant churches which they found 
 with crossless spires, bare interiors, and simple services ap- 
 peared schismatic and heretical. They offered no induce- 
 ments to the new-comers. Rather did they offer an irritant. 
 
 The result was naturally, owing to the removal of their for- 
 mer constituency, that the Protestant churches were left with- 
 out support, to become extinct, to move to more favorable 
 localities, or to be converted into institutions that would not 
 excite the prejudices of the new groups. 
 
 Thus we see churches that once flourished, crumbling within 
 a generation into ruin, standing like old feudal castles in lonely 
 protest against the changes going on about them, yet powerless 
 to stop them. 
 
 The Protestant churches get but a feeble response from the 
 Protestant population of this district. They make practically 
 no impression on those of other faiths. 
 
 A second change in the character of the population of the 
 down-town districts during the past quarter-century, is the 
 change from economic independence to economic dependence. 
 With the exception of the small shop-keepers, practically all 
 the people of this district are now dependent upon daily wages, 
 and instead of being owners of homes, nearly all are renters. 
 
 This difference in the economic condition of the population 
 has had a very decided influence on the support and prosperity 
 of the churches. 
 
 It is a widely observed fact, that the Protestant Church ap- 
 peals largely to the upper and upper-middle classes. It has 
 never been able to compete successfully with the Catholic 
 Church among the poor and lower middle classes. With the 
 exodus of the higher classes from the neighborhood the Pro- 
 testant churches lost their constituency, and being unable to 
 
Causes for the Decadence of the Down-town Church 89 
 
 overcome the prejudices of the lower classes, have been forced 
 to abandon either their fields or their methods. Those that 
 still remain in this district, with a few exceptions that have been 
 noted, are largely dependent upon the loyalty and generosity 
 of members who still attend from outside the district. 
 
 Another element connected with the change in economic 
 position of the population, and one which we intend to con- 
 sider more fully in a later section, is the hostility of a consider- 
 able proportion of laboring men toward the Church. This ap- 
 plies especially to the skilled workmen, that are to be found in 
 the district. There is much suspicion on the part of this class 
 against the Church. They have been led to believe that it is 
 attended and supported largely by the capitalistic class, and 
 that it is a tool in the hands of that class to make the workman 
 satisfied with his lot, and thus to stifle his aspirations, and hinder 
 his efforts to improve his status. 
 
 Whatever truth there may be in the charge, there can be no 
 doubt that it has alienated a considerable part of the popula- 
 tion of this district from the Church. 
 
 Another change in the character of this district is that from 
 family life, to detached and semi-detached life. 
 
 There is scarcely a house in all this district that was not 
 built originally for one family, and until recently, occupied by 
 one family. But today many of these old houses have been 
 converted into tenements. 
 
 The writer has been in not a few of them, in which the solid 
 wood-work, the marble mantels, and the spacious halls, be- 
 token a past refinement, culture, and wealth in the occupants, 
 of which there are no traces today — old homes converted into 
 "furnished-room apartments" of the worst description, where 
 family life is almost destroyed because of the over-crowding. 
 
 Many more of these old houses are now being used for board- 
 ing-houses, where young men and young women from rural 
 communities have easy access to their employment, but in 
 which they live wholly detached lives, and are removed from 
 the restraints and refinements of family-life. 
 
 Many of these old houses are still occupied by single families, 
 but the impression that one gets from the numerous lodging- 
 houses, boarding-houses, and furnished-room houses, and es- 
 
90 The Down-town Church 
 
 pecially from the overcrowding that is apparent everywhere, 
 is that family-life is destroyed. The only exception to this 
 general social condition is among the Jews, where the preser- 
 vation of family-life has come down as one of the religious 
 traditions of the race. 
 
 It is impossible to estimate the seriousness of this change 
 in the social life of the population for the Protestant Church, 
 which has always depended upon the conservation of religious 
 life in the family for its growth. The churches themselves have 
 been built for family worship, and little effort has been made 
 until recently to influence populations other than by families. 
 
 The Catholic Church by the parochial school is providing a 
 substitute for the religious training of the child in the home. 
 But the Protestant Church has provided no substitute, and 
 with the gradual elimination of religious exercises and instruc- 
 tion from the public schools, the religious education of the Pro- 
 testant child, save in exceptional instances, is practically nil. 
 Unless a bias in favor of some church is given a child in its im- 
 pressionable years, it is not likely to recognize in the church an 
 indispensable institution when it grows to maturer years. 
 
 The lack of early insistence upon religious duty in the family, 
 the freedom from restraint which comes to one leading a de- 
 tached life, from which there easily follows an indifference to 
 the call of the higher life, combined with the lack of compelling 
 attractiveness in the churches themselves, have wrought dis- 
 aster for the Protestant churches in the down-town districts, 
 and help to account in no small measure for the decadence that 
 we have observed. 
 
 These changes in the population of this section have made 
 many problems more complex and created some new ones. 
 It has made the problem of honest and efiicient city govern- 
 ment more difficult, has created problems of education, hous- 
 ing, sanitation, and public health. But certainly no well- 
 established institution of a generation ago has felt the change 
 more perceptibly than the Protestant Church. 
 
 2. Adverse Environment 
 
 The second cause for the decadence of the down-town church 
 is to be found in the unfavorable environment of these old city 
 
Causes for the Decadence of the Down-town Church 91 
 
 districts. Low wages, unsteady employment, unsanitary fac- 
 tories and homes, and low standards of living are not conducive 
 to religious life, and therefore churches in such districts tend to 
 languish and die. 
 
 There is on the part of some laboring men as has been claimed, 
 a resentment against the church as a class institution, and 
 doubtless some remain out of the church because they disbe- 
 lieve the creeds of the church. But these reasons affect the 
 highly intelligent and skilled workmen, not the majority of 
 those whose homes we find in this district. The indifference to 
 the church on the part of dwellers in the slums, we believe has 
 a physical rather than a mental basis. It is the result of fa- 
 tigue rather than argument, of the hard conditions of life, 
 rather than the philosophies of scholars. 
 
 Religion depends for its development upon an appreciation 
 of the beautiful and the true in conduct and creed. But the 
 man who works long hours at exhausting labor has neither the 
 desire nor the ability to cultivate a love for the higher things of 
 life. He is much more likely to enter a saloon than a church, 
 for it is stimulant that he craves, not illumination. 
 
 The conditions of the slum tend to destroy character, and 
 weaken every faculty of the soul. The man who is forced to 
 think of his children only as economic units, cannot develop 
 his heart affections, and it would be unreasonable to expect the 
 children to do so either. The family that lives in one or two 
 rooms cannot be expected to develop ideas of purity or virtue; 
 and the individual who never has any leisure to read, or to visit 
 the parks, but who lives the days and the years through, under 
 the gray monotony of his work and his tenement, cannot be 
 expected to become an idealist. "Poverty compels the poor to 
 be selfish and to live for the present." 
 
 Whatever may be the origin of the religious impulse, it is 
 apparent that it does not develop except under favoring con- 
 ditions. 
 
 Modern missionary methods are based on this principle. 
 Evangelistic work is but one of several departments of effort in 
 well-equipped mission stations today. It is supplemented and 
 its success is made possible, by educational work, sanitary and 
 medicinal effort, and instruction in the means and methods of 
 economic betterment. 
 
92 The Down-town Church 
 
 The Salvation Army early recognized the futility of its efforts 
 in "converting souls" and then allowing them to continue in 
 the same social and economic environment. The founder, 
 therefore, elaborated a scheme^ for the creation of social insti- 
 tutions, which has become so far actualized, that the social work 
 of the Salvation Army today eclipses in interest and importance 
 the evangelistic.^ 
 
 The qualities of mind and soul which make one responsive 
 to the religious appeal, cannot develop where vitality is low and 
 will-power is correspondingly weak ; where home life is unknown 
 and the affections are therefore dwarfed; where art, music, 
 and the beauties of nature are wanting and the aesthetic powers 
 are undeveloped; where the conditions of life are so hard, and 
 the obstacles to improvement of one's condition are so insup- 
 erable, that idealism is impossible. 
 
 The attitude of the very poor toward religion is not one of 
 antagonism, but of indifference. Religion simply makes no 
 appeal to them. There is nothing left to respond to the higher 
 call. Poverty, foul air, and poor nourishment, have stifled re- 
 ligious aspirations. Unconsciously, they have sunk to animal- 
 ism, and the sensual alone makes an appeal strong enough to 
 elicit response. 
 
 Charles Booth in his account of the religious life of London,^ 
 gives striking proof of this contention, that the environment 
 of the slum is distinctly unfavorable to religious life. In neigh- 
 borhoods where wealthy and middle-class people predominate, 
 the condition of the churches is very satisfactory. But in the 
 poorer districts, church attendance is most unsatisfactory — 
 indifference to religious institutions being the prevailing charac- 
 teristic. 
 
 In Bermondsey, he says, "the religious indifference is simply 
 appalling" and attributes it to "the moral, social and economic 
 conditions under which the people live — to the poverty, and over- 
 crowding, to the long and ill-paid hours of labor; to the intem- 
 
 ^ Booth, William, In Darkest England and the Way Out. 
 
 ^ See H. Rider Haggard, Regeneration; also Manson, The Salvation Army 
 and the Public. 
 
 * Booth, Charles, Life and Labor in London, Part III. Religious Influences, 
 Volumes I to VII. 
 
Causes for the Decadence of the Down-town Church 93 
 
 perance and thrif tlessness ; to the general dingy and hopeless 
 aspect of many lives." 
 
 In the district which includes Bow, Bromley, Poplar, Lime- 
 house, Mile End, and Bethnal Green, he says, "few go to church 
 or recognize religion by any outward sign. The Non-Con- 
 formist churches have changed into missions, and the Anglican 
 churches have elaborately organized their parishes. Nowhere 
 has the zeal of the clergy been greater, or their devotion more 
 evident, but all these things have failed to overcome the deter- 
 mination of the people of the East End not to come to church." 
 
 Of Hoxton he writes, "Tested by attendance at church, we 
 everywhere find small congregations, sometimes hardly any 
 congregations at all, and those who come are of ten old parishion- 
 ers from a distance. As to the mass of residents in Hoxton, 
 we hear without contradiction, that not one grown-up person 
 in thirty, or some say, not one in fifty, and some again, not one 
 in eighty, attends any religious service. If church-going is to 
 be the test, we have in this a practical record of failure. The 
 churches are High, Low, and Moderate. Everything is tried, 
 and with modifications and partial success proportioned to the 
 freshness and enthusiasm imported into the work, everything 
 fails. "1 
 
 Richard Heath^ gives a list of London Boroughs in the order 
 and degree in which the population attends the Anglican church, 
 and his conclusion is, that "irreligion and indifference are in 
 almost exact proportion to the more or less working-class 
 character of each district." 
 
 No such investigations of religious conditions and of church 
 attendance have been made in America. But the decadence of 
 the down-town church, as compared with its strength in more 
 favored localities, would seem to indicate that the same influ- 
 ences produce the same effects. 
 
 To the depressing influence of the hard conditions and low 
 standards of living upon church attendance and religious prog- 
 ress, should also be added, the influence of the counter attrac- 
 tions which abound in the down-town districts. At the very 
 time that the response to the higher life is weakening, and the 
 
 ^Ihid., Vol. II, pp. 1 1 7-8. 
 
 « Heath, Richard, The Captive City of God, p. 56. 
 
94 The Down-town Church 
 
 power of resistance to anti-social and anti-religious forces is 
 becoming more feeble, institutions which appeal largely to the 
 lower passions are increasing. The enticements to sensual in- 
 dulgence are both more numerous and more inviting than the en- 
 couragements to worship. The church cannot hope to compete 
 with the saloon, the cheap theatre, and the brilliancy and ex- 
 citement of "the great white way" among people who are 
 over-worked, and under-nourished, whose nervous system calls 
 for stimulant, and whose only pleasure can therefore be sen- 
 sual rather than spiritual. 
 
 The efforts of the Church to evangelize the down-town sec- 
 tions by preaching services cannot be other, therefore, than 
 disappointing. The whole gamut of causes that make slums, 
 which destroy vitality, and which lead to vice and crime, must 
 be removed. In other words, an environment favorable to 
 religious life must supercede the environment now prevailing, 
 before the down-town church can achieve any large success. 
 
 J. Class Consciousness 
 
 A third cause for the decline of the down-town Protestant 
 Church is to be found in the feeling of antagonism toward the 
 church as a class institution. Among the poorer classes, it is 
 a feeling of shame and social subordination due to shabbier 
 clothing and deficient education. Among the more intelligent 
 skilled workmen, it is a feeling of antagonism due to their sus- 
 picion that the Church is the champion of the capitalistic class 
 and the defender of things as they are. 
 
 "Explain it as we may, the industrial classes have come to 
 look upon the church as the true home of caste and snobbery. 
 . . . The worker finds the whole atmosphere of the church un- 
 congenial. He really believes, rightly or wrongly, that he is 
 not wanted. To enter a place of worship is to be surrounded 
 by well-dressed people with whom he cannot even claim a bow- 
 ing acquaintance. His most vivid impression of a church, is 
 the refined exclusiveness of his fellow-worshippers. He knows 
 about the Christian ideal of human brotherhood, but can find 
 little trace of its influence in the lives of professing Christians."^ 
 
 Dr. R. F. Horton speaking of conditions in London, says, 
 
 ^ W. Forbes Gray, Non-Church Going, Its Causes and Its Remedies, p. 23. 
 
Causes for the Decadence of the Down-town Church 95 
 
 "Putting the drink influence aside, I cannot but think that the 
 next most serious hindrance to the christian Hfe of our working 
 people, is the curious caste feeHng which pervades EngHsh 
 society, and creeps into the churches. ... it is the destruc- 
 tion of brotherhood. A subtle class distinction keeps men 
 apart. In the social hierarchy, each grade suspects the cordial- 
 ity of the one above it. A difference of manners and etiquette 
 makes people in one grade think they are slighted, or insulted 
 by people in another. They who have never waited for an in- 
 troduction to mates, cannot understand the attitude of those 
 who have been brought up never to speak to others without 
 being introduced. What in one grade is held to be refinement, 
 seems to another affectation. The courtesy of one rank seems 
 coldness to another. . . . An immense proportion of the sober 
 well-meaning people who never go to church once went, and 
 they gave up the practice because they were not wanted, as 
 they put it."^ 
 
 Most of the down-town Protestant churches of Philadelphia 
 are still made up mainly of well-dressed, well-to-do people, who 
 come largely from outside the district. In some of these, 
 especially at the morning service, poorly-dressed people would 
 feel out of place, and would not be likely to be welcomed or 
 invited to return with a cordiality that would elicit a response. 
 
 In one of the Presbyterian churches, the pastor admitted 
 that the existence of a few of the old families in his church 
 made his work among the people of the neighborhood difficult, 
 and he was hoping for their early retirement. In others, that 
 are less aggressive, it is evident that the existence of well-to-do 
 cultured people is having a paralyzing effect upon their work 
 and influence in the community. 
 
 The rich and the poor do not meet together, though the Lord 
 is their common maker. The Catholic churches seem more 
 democratic in this respect than the Protestant. But the pro- 
 vision of earlier and later masses, the former attended largely 
 by the poorer classes and the latter by the wealthier, disguises 
 the cleavage which really exists. 
 
 It was the glory and the miracle of the early church, that at 
 a time when race antipathy and social distinctions were much 
 
 * Haw, Christianity and the Working Classes, pp. 89-90. 
 
96 The Down-town Church 
 
 more pronounced than now, the "middle wall of partition was 
 broken down" and Jew and Gentile shared in the common 
 eucharistic meal. And theoretically, the church is still a place 
 where rich and poor, the educated and the illiterate, share in 
 the same aspirations, struggles and hopes. But with a few ex- 
 ceptions we do not find this an actuality. The rich and the 
 poor, the well-dressed and the poorly attired, may indeed be a 
 part of the same congregation, but very seldom is there ever 
 seen that cordial intercourse between them which would be- 
 token actual democracy or real brotherhood. 
 
 The pew-rental and pew-vending systems, which are now 
 happily coming into disfavor as methods of church finance, did 
 much to foster class feeling, and to create suspicion of the church 
 as the equal friend of the rich and the poor. But there is still 
 the tendency that James noted in the Apostolic Church, to 
 "have regard to him of the gold ring and the goodly apparel." 
 
 The church professes and actually extends a welcome to all, 
 and would deny most vigorously any imputation of favoritism 
 to the more prosperous and educated. Yet there is an uncon- 
 scious lack of cordiality, increasing to conscious disdain on the 
 part of some church members, which makes the poorly dressed 
 individual feel that he is being patronized, humiliated, snubbed 
 and which awakens in him a feeling of resentment, that leads 
 him to stay away. 
 
 Robert Woods rightly says, "As long as class distinctions 
 hold among the attendants at a church, whether based on posi- 
 tion, wealth or learning, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to 
 secure the co-operation of self-respecting working-men. . . . The 
 spirit of an active sympathy is the essential thing; without it, 
 all methods will be understood to be merely baits for catching 
 proselytes. "1 
 
 But not only is there the negative feeling of humiliation on 
 the part of many poor people, in the presence of the higher 
 classes which make up the Protestant Church, but there is a 
 positive feeling of resentment and antagonism against these 
 same higher classes on the part of many intelligent working- 
 men. 
 
 "There are those who deny that wage-earners are alienated 
 
 ^ Woods, Robert, English Social Movements, pp. 168-9. 
 
Causes for the Decadence of the Down-town Church 97 
 
 from the church, and I have carefully considered their argu- 
 ment," says Prof. Ely, "but after years of observation and re- 
 flection, I have been forced to the conclusion that there is a 
 clear alienation of thinking wage-earners from the church, which 
 on the whole is growing."^ 
 
 It is evident that the wage-workers as a class are discontented. 
 They feel that they are not getting their fair share of the gains 
 of advancing civilization. They are developing rapidly a class 
 consciousness, which sets them off sharply from the employing 
 class. Under modern industrial development, the old relation 
 of friendliness between the two classes is well-nigh impossible, 
 and is therefore giving way to alienation and enmity. 
 
 Now city churches of the Protestant order are usually at- 
 tended and sustained by the commercial and professional classes. 
 To laboring-men they are therefore the institutions of their in- 
 dustrial enemy. They are maintained by the capitalist. To 
 his mind they must of necessity be subservient to the wishes of 
 the capitalist and defend his interests. Therefore they cannot 
 be in sympathy with the struggles and aspirations of the labor- 
 ing-man. The possessing classes are considered exploiters who 
 live on their labor, and they resent it when persons of this 
 class address them with the tone of moral superiority. 
 
 "They sneer at the capitalist with his long and solemn face 
 on Sunday, and his keen, rasping, grasping way on Monday; 
 praying for the heathen abroad, but ignorant of the conditions 
 of those he employs. They sneer at the clergy, doing their 
 statutory work, and keeping apart from the sins and miseries 
 of their fellows. They point to stock exchanges and trust 
 companies and many sorts of business, with their tricks and de- 
 ceits, their grinding of poor toilers and their gospel of cheapness. 
 They dwell on the gaps between what is believed and what is 
 actually done and protest that a religion that dwells on another 
 world and does not reform this, that has tides of praise to God, 
 and feels not the tides of discontent that are surging around, 
 that passes by the poor and defers to the rich, is not for them, 
 that it is a clog on the wheels of progress and a gigantic un- 
 truth. "2 
 
 ^ Ely, Richard T., Social Aspects of Christianity, p. 39. 
 
 * Lang, Marshall, The Church and Its Social Mission, p. 339. 
 
98 The Down-town Church 
 
 In industrial disputes, laboring men feel that the Church, if 
 not openly on the side of the capitalist, gives little sympathy 
 or support, moral or otherwise, to them. They feel that the 
 very existence of the Church depends upon the dividends of 
 capital, and that therefore no encouragement can be expected 
 from it, in any struggle for better wages or conditions of work. 
 
 This conclusion, very naturally drawn from the premises, is 
 further strengthened by the experiences of many foreign work- 
 ing-men who have brought with them a long-standing distrust 
 for the clergy or the Church as tools of oppression. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the Church has given ample 
 grounds for suspicion of favoritism in the industrial conflicts 
 of the past. The Church has been very slow to acknowledge 
 the essential righteousness of the Labor Union movement and 
 has given very tardy support to efforts to improve the social 
 and economic conditions of the working classes. It is not to 
 be wondered at, therefore, that laboring men freely make the 
 charge, that the Church is "subservient to the oppressing class," 
 that it is "seldom just enough even to be neutral," and that it 
 is a "mammonized institution." 
 
 The Church, too, has been credited with being unsympathetic 
 with those who would readjust social conditions on a broader 
 and stronger basis of social justice. To it is imputed the pas- 
 sion to justify existing arrangements. It is believed to be the 
 sponsor not of justice but of charity. And as the conviction 
 has gained ground that a larger measure of justice would ob- 
 viate the necessity for so much charity, the Church and its 
 influence have correspondingly weakened. There is a very 
 general feeling that the Church is not familiar with social con- 
 ditions, that its ideas of social reform are unscientific and ab- 
 surd, and that therefore little can be expected of it in furthering 
 a more just social system. 
 
 This attitude toward the Church has developed as a result 
 of the active propaganda of "scientific socialism," which in its 
 earliest presentation at least, was bitterly antagonistic to the 
 Church and organized religion. But it is also the result of the 
 investigations and conclusions of the social sciences during the 
 past quarter century. The essential injustice of many social 
 conditions has now become apparent, and the possibility of 
 
Causes for the Decadence of the Down-town Church 99 
 
 correcting them, and of effecting comparative social equality 
 has become no less apparent. The individual or the institu- 
 tion which takes a passive attitude toward social reform, or 
 champions conditions as they are, is now considered reaction- 
 ary, and can expect to enjoy neither the support nor the confi- 
 dence of those vitally affected. 
 
 Laboring men who are antagonistic to the Church point out 
 the fact that many social and economic reforms have been ac- 
 complished without much aid from the Church, and in many 
 cases in spite of the Church.^ It is claimerf that Christian 
 mill-owners have persistently opposed the progress of child 
 labor legislation, workmen's compensation acts, and factory 
 inspection bills, that the labor unions have won their battles 
 for better wages, better working conditions, and even Sunday 
 rest, with little or no encouragement from the Church; that 
 Christian landlords have opposed better tenement laws, and 
 that in short, every social reform that promised to affect divi- 
 dends, was not only given little encouragement by the Church, 
 but vigorously opposed by leading men in the Church. "If," 
 they argue, "we can accomplish our purposes of social reform 
 without the aid of the Church, why should we be a part of it? 
 It has done nothing for us, why should we give anything to it?" 
 
 Whatever the truth or falsity of these conclusions, there can 
 be no doubt that very many workingmen hold them. It is 
 not surprising, therefore, that they pass by the Church with in- 
 difference, and even with scorn. They feel that the Church 
 has not lived up to the teaching and example of its Founder, 
 whom they respect and in whose philosophy they believe. 
 They feel that the Church has forsaken the masses except in a 
 patronizing way, and that it is the tool of the classes, that the 
 Church is not to be the agent of social reform, but the defender 
 of the existing order, that it is allied with and subservient to 
 capital, and, therefore that it cannot be sympathetic with the 
 ideals and struggles of the laboring man. 
 
 In short many look upon the Church as a class institution, 
 
 ^ A Fabian writer shows by an analysis of the votes in the House of Lords 
 that the bishops and arch-bishops of England have voted "No," on almost 
 every progressive and advance bill. See Bliss, Enc. Soc. Ref. Art., on The 
 Church and Social Reform . 
 
lOO The Down-town Church 
 
 in which they find no true democracy and human brotherhood 
 and from which they can expect little sympathy and support. 
 It is a very important reason for the decline of the Protestant 
 churches among the proletariat of our cities. 
 
 4. Substitutes for the Church 
 
 Another cause which has contributed to the decadence of 
 the down-town church is the organization and growth of ethical 
 movements, and institutions outside of and apart from the 
 church. 
 
 The church of the middle ages included in its work, and 
 under its authority, every humanitarian and social betterment 
 movement. The care of the sick and the aged, reformatory 
 and penal institutions, educational efforts, the political and 
 industrial and social interests of the community were all under 
 the spiritual direction of the church. The church gave the 
 first impulse to humanitarian effort. It was the fountain 
 from which flowed practically the only stream of sympathy, 
 that at that time softened the asperities of existence. It was 
 a hospital for the sick, a refuge for the homeless, and an asylum 
 for the oppressed and helpless members of society. It became 
 indispensable to the masses of the population. 
 
 But for various reasons the church lost its leadership in these 
 matters, and its place and influence today, are in the strongest 
 possible contrast with its rank in the old order. 
 
 The special agencies which the church once controlled are 
 now largely beyond its pale and are mostly without religious 
 direction. The church has parted with its social jurisdiction. 
 Concerned too largely with building up its own power, and ne- 
 glectful of its true mission, too much wedded to traditional 
 conceptions of life and social development, and too suspicious 
 of new truths, the church has been humiliated by seeing much 
 of its work done by new societies organized outside of it, apart 
 from it, and often antagonistic to it. Prophets of a new social 
 order have also "dreamed dreams and seen visions" of 
 "heavenly cities," "New Jerusalems," and the "Kingdom of 
 God," and apart from the church, and without the aid of ec- 
 clesiastical machinery, have gone about to make their ideals 
 realities. The church failing to co-operate has been ignored. 
 
Causes for the Decadence of the Down-town Church loi 
 
 Thus rival institutions have been set up. They may not be 
 avowedly religious in method and aim, but they are recognized 
 as essentially so, and the church has thereby lost adherents. 
 
 The organizations or movements which have been most 
 successful as rivals of and substitutes for the church among 
 the poor are fraternal organizations, labor unions, and social- 
 ism. 
 
 Fraternal organizations, especially those which make sick 
 and death benefits a principal feature of their work, have made 
 a strong appeal to wage earners. They have had a wonderful 
 growth in the past few years. The World Almanac reports a 
 total membership in 191 1, of 11,150,570. In 1900 the total 
 membership was 5,339,075, so that in a decade the member- 
 ship has doubled. Many people belong to two or more lodges 
 at the same time, so that it is not fair to compare the member- 
 ship statistics of the fraternal organizations with those of the 
 church, where no one presumably is counted more than once. 
 But allowing for this duplication, it is still apparent that the 
 fraternal societies are growing more rapidly than the church. 
 
 Most wage earning people join the lodge primarily because 
 of the sick and death benefits which come to them and their 
 families. But to many, "Their lodges represent more than 
 mere benefit organizations. They have become substitutes 
 for the church. They have their chaplains who are regularly 
 elected with the other officers, and the meetings are opened 
 and closed with prayer. Their rituals and their work closely 
 resemble the outward forms and ceremonies of some churches, 
 and the practical benevolences follow ambitiously the material 
 ministrations of the church, so that it is often said by the en- 
 thusiastic lodge man and woman, 'That there is church enough 
 in their lodge for them.'"^ 
 
 But it is not only the insurance feature, and the ritualistic 
 or outward observance of religious forms, that make the frater- 
 nal orders successful rivals of the church or substitutes for it 
 in the minds of many. It is also because they are what the 
 name implies, fraternal societies. Bound together by definite 
 principles and vows, they form a brotherhood where mutual 
 sympathy and helpfulness are developed, definite ideals are 
 
 ^ Stelzle, Charles, Christianity s Storm Centre, p. 120. 
 
102 The Down-town Church 
 
 fostered, and specific aims adopted. Chivalry, loyalty and 
 humanity are the keynotes most often struck. These are the 
 motives which underlie most of the societies, and these are re- 
 ligious in their essence and outcome. 
 
 It is partly because the church has emphasized less attrac- 
 tive virtues than these and partly because the church has failed 
 to foster the fraternal spirit and to provide for the exigencies 
 of life, that this great ethical movement has arisen outside the 
 church and prospered in spite of the anathemas of the church.^ 
 
 Whatever may have been the need for such institutions, 
 there can be no doubt that they have taken the place of the 
 church in the allegiance and loyalty of many. 
 
 Another substitute for the church is the labor union. Charles 
 Stelzle says "Among the forces in society that challenge the 
 church today, none has become quite so effective as the labor 
 movement. Here we find developed to a remarkable degree, 
 the three great principles for which Christianity stands; viz. 
 the value of human life, the care of the human body, the de- 
 velopment of the human soul."^ 
 
 Having become suspicious of the church as an institution, 
 out of sympathy with the aims and ideals of working-men, 
 many of them have welcomed the labor union as an institu- 
 tion that is essentially ethical in its ideals and that seems much 
 more practical than the church in the method it uses to ac- 
 complish its ideals. 
 
 The creed of the labor union movement,* appeals to the la- 
 boring man more strongly than does the average church creed. 
 At least he can understand it better, and he is more willing to 
 
 ^ See Art. "Anti-Masonry," in Cyclopedia of Fraternities. 
 
 ^ Op. cit., pp. 28-9. 
 
 ' "We are pledged to the emancipation of our class from poverty, ignor- 
 ance and selfishness; to be respectful in word and action to every woman; to 
 be considerate to the widow and orphan, the weak and the defenseless; and 
 never to discriminate against a fellow- worker, on account of creed, color or 
 nationality; to defend freedom of thought, whether expressed by tongue or 
 pen; to educate ourselves and our fellow- workers in the history of the labor 
 movement. We promise that we will never knowingly wrong a brother or 
 see him wronged, if in our power to prevent it. We will endeavor to sub- 
 ordinate every selfish impulse to the task of elevating the material, intellec- 
 tual, and moral conditions of the entire laboring class." — The oath taken by 
 one who joins the American Federation of Labor. 
 
Causes for the Decadence of the Down-town Church 103 
 
 give his assent to it. It may readily be criticized as narrow 
 and appealing to class interest, but it has the merit of direct- 
 ness and frankness. It deals with conditions right here on 
 earth and it does awaken in him chivalry and enthusiasm for 
 justice. 
 
 The laboring man also spends vast sums of money in caring 
 for the sick, the unemployed, the widows and orphans. The 
 International Typographical Union supports in Colorado a 
 million-dollar home for the use of its members who are suffer- 
 ing from tuberculosis, or who have become incapacitated on 
 account of old age or illness. The Cigarmaker's Union, with 
 a membership of 45,000, disbursed during the past 28 years 
 over $8,000,000 in sick and other benefits, and other unions 
 have equally impressive records of practical benevolence.^ 
 
 The labor union also provides the social life that every man 
 craves. The head-quarters of the union take the place of a 
 club-room. Here the men meet their fellows on terms of equal- 
 ity. The spirit of democracy prevails. "Why should we go 
 to a church," says one, "where people condescend to us and 
 patronize us, when we can meet our equals at the union and 
 feel ourselves to be men?" 
 
 Another movement which has for some time become a sub- 
 stitute for the church, is Socialism. Paul Gohre^ in his interest- 
 ing account of his experiences in a German workshop, shows 
 that in Germany social democracy has become almost a com- 
 plete substitute for the church among working-men in the 
 cities. In America and England, Socialism has made slower 
 progress and has been less virulent in its attitude towards the 
 church. Only occasionally do we find the bitter invectives and 
 biting sarcasms applied to the church and religion, which led 
 the church to look upon earlier Socialism with suspicion and re- 
 sentment. 
 
 But while usually it is not actively antagonistic to the church, 
 it is so active in its own defense and propaganda that it is be- 
 coming to very many a substitute for the church. Mr. H. G. 
 Wells, a recent apologist for socialism, says, "In a sense, Social- 
 
 ^ Stelzle, Charles, The Church and Labor, pp. 68-70. 
 
 * Gohre, Paul, Three Months in a German Workshop, Trans, from the Ger- 
 man, 1895. 
 
104 The Down-town Church 
 
 ism is a religion to me. It is a religion in the sense, that is, 
 that it gives a work to do that is not self-seeking, that it de- 
 termines one in a thousand indecisions, that it supplies the 
 imperative craving of so many human souls, a devotion."^ 
 
 Dr. Francis G. Peabody says, "The creed of social revolu- 
 tion has become, in many minds, a distinct substitute for a 
 spiritual religion. It has drawn to itself the same emotional 
 loyalty and zeal which are commonly associated with a relig- 
 ious faith. Men go to the scaffold for the cause of revolution as 
 they once died for Christ, and with a spirit akin to that of 
 christian martyrs give their lives for the creed of social democ- 
 racy. When one remembers that this creed, which commands 
 such devotion, is in its form an economical programme, and 
 that the articles of this religion deal, not with supernatural 
 realities, but with questions of wages and taxations, the pas- 
 sionate attachment of socialists to their faith may well seem 
 surprising. Why is it that such extraordinary devotion is of- 
 fered to an industrial programme, and indeed to a programme 
 which by many of its adherents is but vaguely understood? 
 It is because this creed, unspiritual though it seems, represents 
 to millions of people a religion, and provides a substitute for 
 the teaching of the Christian Church which they have been led 
 to reject. . . . The religious emotion demands some way of 
 utterance even in those who reject religion, and the socialist 
 movement provides a way of utterance for many persons who 
 have lost faith in the purposes of Christianity. "^ 
 
 Mr. Belford Bax says "While socialism may be considered 
 irreligious because it 'utterly despises the other world with all 
 its stage properties,* yet it is not in fact irreligious, because 
 'it brings back religion from heaven to earth.' 'In the hope 
 and struggle for the higher life, the socialist finds his ideal, 
 his religion.'"' 
 
 As Professor Nash says, "It is well for us to seriously realize 
 the affinity between the social feeling and the religious feeling. 
 I think it is fast becoming a matter of common remark, that the 
 deeper soc ialism of England and America is looking towards, 
 
 ^ Wells, H. G., New Worlds for Old, p. 134. 
 
 Peabody, F. G., Jesus Christ and the Social Question, p. 298. 
 * Bax, Belford, The Religion of Socialism, p. 52. 
 
Causes for the Decadence of the Down-town Church 105 
 
 if it has not already entered into, a religious phase. This is 
 not a haphazard or passing attitude. The social and the re- 
 ligious consciousness are akin . . . when the two elements are 
 put together, it becomes clear on the one side that the social 
 feeling is essentially religious and on the other side, that the re- 
 ligious feeling is essentially social."^ 
 
 Much has been written within recent years, to show the af- 
 finity of socialism with the ideals of the early church. The 
 Christian Socialists have become sufficiently numerous and 
 prominent to enjoy a separate designation, so that it is not too 
 much to claim that there is a religious element in socialism 
 which makes it easy for one to transfer his allegiance from the 
 church to it. 
 
 It is impossible to estimate with any degree of accuracy the 
 extent to which these organizations outside of the church have 
 taken its place in the affection and support of the people of the 
 section under investigation, but there can be no doubt but that 
 they have at least to some extent become a substitute for it. 
 
 Appealing to that longing of the people which is most keenly 
 realized, and which because of its immediateness is most des- 
 perate — the longing for economic betterment, these institu- 
 tions — the fraternal orders, labor unions, and socialism, have 
 received a response which the church could not be expected to 
 receive to appeals of a less practical nature. As we have seen, 
 the hard conditions of life have a deadening effect upon the 
 religious nature. People of such districts therefore, do not 
 have a very real sense of sin, while heaven because of the un- 
 heavenly environment in which they live, seems too far off to 
 be real and too inaccessible to be worth striving for. On the 
 other hand, the necessity for some form of insurance for periods 
 of sickness and unemployment and for a "decent funeral" is 
 sternly realized. 
 
 The provisions for material well-being, combined with a 
 really high idealism for which these movements stand, make 
 them formidable rivals of the church. They represent some- 
 thing real, while much for which the church stands must seem 
 unreal. They promise something definite and tangible and it 
 is not surprising therefore that people turn from the things of 
 
 1 Nash, H. S., Genesis of the Social Conscience, pp. 15-17- 
 
io6 The Down-town Church 
 
 faith and eternity for which the church has largely stood, to 
 the things of sense and time for which these modern substi- 
 tutes for the church and religion stand. 
 
 5. Exclusiveness and Conservatism 
 
 A fifth cause for the decadence of the down-town church is 
 the failure of the church to identify itself with the life of its 
 community, to minister to the needs of its neighborhood and 
 to give its message in an intelligent and attractive form. 
 
 With a few exceptions, churches have been established by 
 church boards with a view solely to the establishing of the 
 churches themselves as self-sustaining, growing institutions, 
 that would reflect glory upon the denomination. Under this 
 prodigal system of church competition, churches have had 
 desperate struggles for existence. Their time and energy have 
 had to be used in planning for their own support. They have 
 seldom found it possible to study their own communities and 
 to plan for and support helpful ministries. The old churches 
 of the down-town district that have lost their former constit- 
 uencies have felt the struggle most keenly, and only the fittest 
 have survived as we have seen. 
 
 The system of establishing churches in neighborhoods where 
 they would have the best chance of survival, and allowing them 
 by cut-throat competition somehow or other to win a following 
 and support, instead of where they were needed and equipped 
 with workers sufficient to make them effective, has had the 
 inevitable effect of making the church an end in itself, rather 
 than a means to an end. It has put it in the anomalous posi- 
 tion of having to be ministered unto, rather than to minister. 
 It has made it necessary for the church to seek the most able, 
 rather than the most needy. It has made it a social club for 
 a few elect, rather than a church throbbing with a passion to 
 help and save. It has been a neighborhood institution only 
 when most of its members lived in the neighborhood. When 
 its members moved away, it ceased to be a neighborhood force. 
 
 Of the Protestant Churches that still remain in this down- 
 town section there are few that would be appreciably missed 
 in their several localities if they should decide to move away. 
 They draw their audiences and membership largely from out- 
 
Causes for the Decadence of the Down-town Church 107 
 
 side the district, they perform few helpful ministries to their 
 neighborhood, and those of an eleemosynary nature, which 
 might better in many cases be left to wiser administrators. 
 They are in the neighborhood but not of it. They have people 
 all around them, but they do not know the people's lives, do 
 not understand the people's attitude and are not responsive to 
 the people's needs and aspirations. 
 
 Rev. Wm. S. Rainsford who found St. George's in New York 
 City almost extinct, and who made it one of the greatest 
 churches in America, said, "I care very little about the methods 
 of a church. These will change with varying conditions as 
 ladies change their fashions. But the thing is to get hold of men, 
 life on life, hand on hand, — the sublime picture of the prophet, 
 recurring again and again, when he stretched himself on the 
 dead child, mouth to his mouth, eyes to his eyes, the warm living 
 body to the dead cold one, and the soul of the child came 
 back again. But this is just what the churches have not done, 
 and to a great extent are very far from doing yet today, and 
 here Protestantism can and must learn much from Catholicism. 
 Criticize the methods of that great church if you will; she 
 stretches herself over her dead, she lives for her people, she 
 dwells among them. Her clergy, her sisters, they are of the 
 people not of the classes. Here we must follow her. Here we 
 have to work our way out of the hyperindividualism of Pro- 
 testantism and back to the larger, truer conception of a church 
 holding a trust for all mankind. . . . The ordinary Protestant 
 idea of the church supported for those who like the preaching, 
 and make music to suit themselves, is a club but not a church. 
 It is a mockery to claim exemption from taxation for such re- 
 ligious organizations."^ 
 
 Thomas Chalmers had his wonderful success in the worst 
 section of Edinburgh because he became a minister to his 
 neighborhood and made of his church a neighborhood centre 
 for community uplift. "He opened his mission in an old tan- 
 loft opposite a place notorious as the scene of fourteen murders. 
 The whole community seemed given over to idleness, drunken- 
 ness, lewdness, and crime. The police warned him that his 
 
 ^ Reports of International Christian Conference, Chicago, 1894, in Chris- 
 tianity Practically Applied, Volume on Sectional Conferences, pp. 18 1-2. 
 
io8 The Down-town Church 
 
 life and the lives of his visitors were in danger. But in five 
 years he had established a self-supporting church, an industrial 
 school, a washinghouse, and a savings bank; and the people, 
 one-fourth of whom were on the poor roll when the work began, 
 now contributed £70 a year to benevolent work outside of their 
 own community, while the police declared their occupation 
 gone. "^ 
 
 The success which the institutional churches and the social 
 settlements have had, is due to the fact that neighborhoods 
 have been studied and efforts have been made to get in touch 
 with the people in their homes and to satisfy real needs as they 
 have been found. The value of any church or of any social, 
 institution to a commuinty, is not so much in its preaching 
 services and its benevolent activities, as it is in the personal 
 contacts which may be formed as a result of these. It is largely 
 because the people have had neither the inspiration of the 
 public services of the church, nor the personal contact of the 
 members and workers of the church, that the down-town 
 churches have steadily declined. The only churches that have 
 not declined are those which have established and maintained 
 friendly and helpful contacts with the people of their neighbor- 
 hood, that have identified themselves with the life and the in- 
 terests of their section, that have struggled with the people in 
 all that has been to their advantage, and have devoted them- 
 selves wholly to the moral leadership of the community. The 
 people surrounding such a church respect it and take pride in 
 it, even though they may not subscribe to its creed. It will get 
 a following and enjoy a support in the most unfavorable environ- 
 ment. It will not have to move away to save its life. But 
 it will save its life by giving it to all who need it. The most 
 important cause for the decline of the down-town church we 
 believe has been its exclusiveness, its self-interestedness, its 
 lack of contact with the people about it, its failure to be gen- 
 uinely useful to its neighborhood. 
 
 But the church has lost contact with people not only because 
 it has failed to identify itself helpfully with the life about it, 
 but because its message has been uninteresting, if not unintelli- 
 gible. 
 
 * Strong, Josiah, The New Era, pp. 340-1. 
 
Causes for the Decadence of the Down-town Church 109 
 
 As a matter of fact, no one any more is very much interested 
 in theology, or creeds or church polity. The average man and 
 woman do not care whether the declarations of the pulpit are 
 orthodox or not. What they insist upon is reality. Fine spun 
 theories, irresistible logic, beautifully turned phrases are for 
 the cultured, leisured classes of the suburbs, not for the over- 
 worked and under-nourished masses of the down-town district. 
 
 "There is no charge more frequently pressed against the 
 authorized ministry of the church than that it does not hit the 
 nail on the very head ; does not appeal to the world in the manner 
 that commands its attention. This charge is not to be lightly 
 regarded. Churches may well consider whether in their pul- 
 pits there is not frequently a failure in relevance; whether the 
 character of the instruction is not such as misses the mark in 
 the case of many, with whom the world is present early and 
 late ; whether the language in which it is conveyed is not that of 
 books, rather than of life, and the mind is busy over matters 
 that do not bring men in touch with what they feel to be vital 
 and do not give them really a lamp to their feet and a light to 
 their pa.th."^ 
 
 The " other- worldliness " of the Church does not appeal to 
 men today. Many of the old beliefs are now thought of as 
 superstitious, and they have ceased to have their compelling 
 power. Outside of the Catholic Church, a growing number 
 have ceased to believe that the Church holds the keys of eternal 
 life and eternal death. Its warnings no longer frighten and its 
 appeals must be based upon rewards other than those of another 
 age and world. Formerly, religion placed the emphasis upon 
 the beyond. But the man of today is so completely absorbed 
 by the pressing things of this life, that religion to have any ap- 
 peal, must be a guide and help in ordering and inspiring the 
 life that now is. 
 
 As a matter of fact, the Church has not kept pace 
 with modern thought and development. We are emerging 
 from the era of individualism, but the Church still confines its 
 efforts, almost exclusively, to the personal life. The Church 
 still insists that the religious individual will make the religious 
 society. But some of our most pressing problems today are 
 
 * Lang., op. ciL, p. 337. See also Carlyle, Past and Present, Bk. IV, Chap. I. 
 
 •^^- 
 
no The Down-town Church 
 
 social, and if the gospel would be a factor of importance in 
 social development, it must be given a social content. 
 
 The Church is becoming aroused to its obligation and op- 
 portunity. In the larger and better equipped theological 
 schools, sociology is beginning to take its place along with 
 theology. Church councils and assemblies are passing resolu- 
 tions and making declarations regarding social duties and ob- 
 ligations,^ and special secretaries are being appointed to study 
 social conditions and recommend specific courses of action to 
 the Church, while many individual ministers and churches are 
 recognizing their social obligations and are rendering valuable 
 social service. 
 
 The Church is gradually passing out of the period of contro- 
 versy. It has entered upon its true mission of service. In 
 the future, its concern will be not so much with truth as with 
 life. It will consider conduct more important than creed, and 
 ceasing to be an end in itself will become a means to an end. 
 
 The Church has been too exclusive in the past. But we 
 believe it is becoming more and more imbued with a social 
 spirit, and that therefore it will become increasingly potent as 
 a center of community uplift, and a factor of social progress. 
 
 These in our judgment, are the causes which have been most 
 operative in weakening the Protestant Church in the down-town 
 districts of our American cities. Some of these conditions, 
 as for instance the change in the character of the population, 
 are beyond the power of correction. Others, as that of class 
 consciousness, are imbedded deep in our very natures, and are 
 not easily eradicable. But most of these causes are capable 
 of correctional treatment. 
 
 In the closing chapter we shall consider some readjustments 
 possible to the Church, which we believe would remove some 
 of the conditions unfavorable to its growth, and which, there- 
 fore, would make the Church more effective as a factor of 
 social causation. 
 
 ' See Resolutions of Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, 
 at the meeting held in Philadelphia, 1908, in Report of Meetings ^ pp. 234-244. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 The Efficient Down-Town Church 
 
 A half century ago, attempts to subject religious phenomena 
 to scientific investigation, and to estimate the value and effici- 
 ency of the Church in terms of human appraisement, were 
 looked upon with disfavor and even anxiety. But the progress 
 of religion, it has been found, has been so dependent upon human 
 choices, and the value and efficiency of churches have been so 
 conditioned on personality and wise administration, that it 
 does not seem any longer sacrilegious to speak of them in human 
 terms, and to test their efficiency by modern standards. In 
 fact, the growth of the scientific habit has made this change 
 in viewpoint inevitable. 
 
 "It is notorious, that people are tending rapidly into the 
 same mental attitude toward the churches, which they main- 
 tain towards the streets, the newspapers, the department 
 stores, or places of amusement. That is, all the institutions 
 of life, the Church included, are regarded as means to ends. 
 They cease to rank as ends unto themselves. They wield no 
 authority. They compel no obedience. They are worth 
 what they are worth in producing results. If the churches 
 offer nothing that finds us, and helps us, we get our satisfac- 
 tions elsewhere, or not at all. And this utilitarian attitude 
 toward the Church is logically and morally sound. *Ye shall 
 know them by their fruits,' is the necessarily final form of 
 estimating all things. We do, and must appraise the value of 
 the Church to us, in terms of what we think it does for us."* 
 
 It is most difficult to test the efficiency of a religious institu- 
 tion, because its value depends almost wholly upon that 
 subtle and intangible thing called influence. Large congrega- 
 tions, imposing structures and gorgeous ceremonials usually 
 impress, but they do not always inspire. The chapel may bg 
 
 * Prof. A. W. Small, Independent, March 7th, 1901, p. 537. 
 
 Ill 
 
112 The Down-town Church 
 
 more effective as a religious institution than the Cathedral, 
 because of the closer contact possible. Statistics are sugges- 
 tive and indicative, but not always conclusive. The power of a 
 church is measured not so much by the number of members en- 
 rolled, as by the number guided and inspired to conduct more 
 in harmony with social ideals. 
 
 The efficient church is therefore the church whose influence 
 is promotive of moral action and social progress. Its efficiency 
 is to be tested by the conduct of those who are within the sphere 
 of its influence, and by the character of the institutions, and of 
 the life of the community in which it is located. The efficient 
 church will influence profoundly both the individual who may 
 attend its services, and the neighborhood of which it is a part. 
 It will not only redeem a man from the power of anti-social 
 habits, but it will remove the anti-social inducements which 
 fostered the habits. Its messages will be not only individual 
 but social. Its ministry will be not only personal but com- 
 munal. It will be not only a rescue agency but a preventive 
 and constructive force. It will be a center for neighborhood 
 uplift. And though some may be unwilling to subscribe to its 
 creed, its beneficent purpose and influence will be generally 
 acknowledged. 
 
 The ideal for the down-town church is not different from 
 that which churches in more favored localities must have be- 
 fore them. But the difficulties in the way of attaining the 
 ideal are more abundant and offer greater resistance. The 
 down-town church is less likely to be an efficient church, for 
 reasons which have been given in the preceding chapter, than 
 the suburban church. But there is no reason why the efficiency 
 test should not be applied to it, and why it should not be ex- 
 pected to measure up to standard. 
 
 It will be our purpose in this chapter, to indicate some of the 
 readjustments which ought to be made, and which we believe 
 must be made if the down-town church is to remain an institu- 
 tion of social value. 
 
 I. The Location and Inter-relation of Churches 
 
 Churches in the past have been located on the principle of 
 expediency rather than of efficiency. The question which has 
 
The Efficient Down-town Church 113 
 
 determined the establishment, has been not where is the church 
 most needed, but where is it most likely to find a constituency 
 and thus attain self-support? 
 
 Wherever a group of a certain denominational preference has 
 been found, there it has seemed possible to establish a church. 
 The existence of adequate church facilities has seldom been al- 
 lowed to interfere with the organization of new congregations. 
 The result has been a multiplication of agencies, most of which 
 are poorly equipped, together with a duplication of energies, 
 an over-lapping of efforts, and a great waste of resources, both 
 financial and physical. 
 
 In days of theological bias and intense denominational feel- 
 ing and rivalry, the grouping of churches probably did not 
 matter so much. But now that theological controversy has 
 practically ceased, and church services are practically the same 
 in all Protestant churches, the close grouping of churches ap- 
 pears wasteful and absurd. In a certain locality in Philadelphia, 
 a Baptist, a Presbyterian, a Methodist and an Episcopal church 
 are within a stone's throw of each other. All four of these 
 churches profess great concern about the religious conditions 
 of their neighborhood, and all are making more or less effort 
 to reach the people of the neighborhood. The result is not 
 only duplication of effort, the same individuals not infrequently 
 being found in one church as in the other, but intense rivalry 
 which is not conducive to the ends for which the churches pre- 
 sumably exist. The workers of one church speak of the efforts 
 of another as "the competition across the way," while the 
 workers of the other complain that its neighbor tries to win 
 away their constituency by unfair means. The spectacle is 
 anything but edifying, but it is rather to be expected, where 
 four churches are working the same field in practically the 
 same way. 
 
 It would be a very desirable consummation if one of these 
 churches could be merged with another weak church of its own 
 denomination, and if the two weaker churches of the remain- 
 ing three could be relocated. The result would be most happy 
 for the churches themselves, we venture to predict, and cer- 
 tainly the neighborhood would not suffer by the change. 
 
 There are other churches which could also be relocated or 
 
114 The Down-town Church 
 
 merged to the advantage of both the churches themselves and 
 their neighborhoods. But the unwillingness of old congrega- 
 tions to lose their identity, or leave historic sites, the difficulty 
 of disposing of property to economic advantage, and most of 
 all, the lack of definite knowledge of social and religious condi- 
 tions, and based upon this, the lack of a comprehensive plan 
 of city evangelization and socialization, make such changes 
 unlikely, until the futility of present efforts compels a read- 
 justment. 
 
 The principle which should always determine the location 
 of a church is that of spiritual need. And in order that com- 
 parative spiritual need, and the nature of that need may be 
 discovered, some such agency as the Federation of Churches 
 of New York City, should be organized and equipped for thor- 
 ough work in every city. This organization has become a 
 clearing-house of religious and social information for the churches 
 and other social agencies of Greater New York. Through its 
 collection and tabulation of statistics affecting the population 
 and social life of the city, and its careful surveys of different 
 sections, it has been able to give expert advice as to the charac- 
 ter of religious work which certain localities need. It has been 
 able to effect the re-location of some churches, the merging of 
 others and the establishing of others. While its moral influence 
 is such, that its advice as to competitive effort is likely to be 
 followed. 
 
 When the facts have been discovered and tabulated, it will 
 then be possible to form a comprehensive plan of church erec- 
 tion and co-operation. 
 
 The actual union of the Protestant churches is still very far 
 from being a reality, but that federative action is not only a 
 possibility but a probability, no one would deny who is familiar 
 with the change of attitude during the past three decades. In 
 Chicago there has been organized The Co-operative Council of 
 City Missions, in which representatives of five denominations 
 meet monthly for the purpose of considering what may fairly 
 be said to be the co-operative advance of Protestantism within 
 the city. New churches are not established by one denomina- 
 tion without the knowledge, and it may be added, practically 
 the consent of the others. New and rapidly developing fields 
 
The Efficient Down-town Church 115 
 
 are, as it were, alloted under terms of comity among the denom- 
 inations, and a working program has been reached for activities 
 among foreign-speaking peoples. When the Protestant 
 churches federate for the accompHshment of their common 
 ideals and aims, it will be possible to plan comprehensively for 
 city evangelization, but not until that time. 
 
 The parish system would never operate as successfully among 
 Protestant people as among Catholics. The independence of 
 mind which has made them Protestants will not tolerate limi- 
 tations of church attendance and church membership such as 
 the Roman Catholic church imposes. But parish lines could 
 be established for neighborhood work to advantage. Such di- 
 vision of responsibility and activity would at least avoid the 
 duplication of efforts now seen in some localities, and would 
 avoid the neglect which is no less manifest in certain other 
 sections. These are the two cardinal sins of Protestantism from 
 the standpoint of administrative efficiency. And they are cer- 
 tain to characterize the work of the churches so long as the 
 present wasteful policy of denominational rivalry prevails. 
 
 It would not be necessary for churches to lose their denomina- 
 tional identity in order to become a part of such a comprehen- 
 sive plan. It would only be necessary for churches to sub- 
 ordinate the interests of their denomination to the interests of 
 their communities. It would mean simply the substitution 
 of co-operation for competition. Denominationalism could 
 still be considered "a phase of division of labor in the church 
 universal." The problems confronting the churches could be 
 apportioned to the various denominations in proportion to 
 ability and readiness to undertake their solution. Definite 
 responsibility could then be fixed. If evil conditions persisted 
 in a given block or section, it could then be said, not that the 
 Church is to blame, but that a church is to blame. Such di- 
 vision of responsibility would make ministers and church leaders 
 and members alert to their social responsibility, and churches 
 would then be more likely to become centers of community 
 uplift. 
 
 Nowhere else could federative action be adopted with greater 
 readiness or to greater advantage, than in the down-town dis- 
 tricts of our cities. Denominational preferences being weaker 
 
Ii6 The Dow7i-town Church 
 
 here, would not form as effective barriers as among other classes. 
 The division of territory could be alloted with less likelihood of 
 creating jealousy for little advantage could be expected to ac- 
 crue to the individual churches themselves. The needs too, 
 are more apparent than in other fields, so that enlistment and 
 co-operation could be more easily secured. 
 
 Efficient service can never be expected from churches work- 
 ing individually. A plan of collective action must be adopted. 
 Then churches can be located in strategic positions, definite 
 responsibility can be fixed, duplication of effort can be avoided, 
 and every home and every individual can feel the influence of 
 consecrated personality and the uplift of noble ideas and ideals. 
 
 2. The Method and Equipment of the Down-town Church 
 
 The methods of any church should be determined only after 
 a careful survey of neighborhood conditions. The methods 
 that should be used with one group or in one locality, would 
 be valueless in a group of different traditions and habits of life. 
 For instance, church work among recently arrived immigrants 
 should manifestly be very different from that among a lodging- 
 house population. No specific directions can therefore be 
 given for any church, or group of churches, but the principle 
 can be laid down, that church methods should be adapted to 
 the satisfaction of community needs. 
 
 The history of the down-town church is a history of a failure 
 in adaptation. The environment of the old sections of the 
 city has been gradually changing as we have indicated. But 
 the churches failing to make the readjustments demanded by 
 the new conditions, have become in many cases decadent, and 
 in some cases extinct. 
 
 "The successful performance of functions by institutions as 
 by vital organs, depends upon an increasing nicety of adapta- 
 tion to an evercomplicating environment."^ "In the struggle 
 for existence, an organism perishes, if the food-getting, food- 
 assimilating, or other vital organs fail to perform their func- 
 tions or perform them in mal-adjustment to environmental 
 conditions. A race in like manner perishes, if the reproductive 
 organs fail in function. . . . Natural selection therefore, is a 
 
 * Giddings, F. H., The Theory of Socialization, p. 39. 
 
The Efficient Down-town Church 1 17 
 
 survival through a superior adaptation and performance of 
 function, in a competition, in which non-adaptation or non- 
 performance of function is fatal. And this is exactly what 
 happens among social forms, laws, and institutions. The 
 failure to benefit, to interest, and to hold allegiance, is a failure 
 of function and the selection that results among laws and in- 
 stitutions from successes and failures of function, is therefore 
 a true natural selection."^ 
 
 Most of the churches that have been studied are still using 
 the same methods that prevailed a generation or two ago. 
 But preaching services on Sunday and a prayer-meeting dur- 
 ing the week, make little appeal to people who are unfamiliar 
 with Christian teachings, and whose needs are much more 
 vital than such services seem calculated to satisfy. Such 
 methods presuppose comfortable home life, economic independ- 
 ence, a high standard of conduct and a knowledge of Christian 
 doctrine and duty. But as has been indicated, these condi- 
 tions no longer characterize the population of the down-town 
 district. There is no question of spiritual need. The question 
 is one of method in the satisfaction of the needs. The conser- 
 vator of traditional methods claims that the Gospel is sufficient 
 to accomplish the purpose for which the Church is established, 
 but the people whom he wants to reach refuse to listen to the 
 gospel and his method is therefore a practical failure. 
 
 Various methods have been used by the churches to win the 
 people of these districts and they have met with variable 
 success. 
 
 One of the first methods was the establishment of missions 
 under the care and support of suburban churches. Not a few 
 of the churches that moved away from the down-town dis- 
 tricts, realizing to some extent their responsibility for their 
 neighborhoods, evidently hoped in this way to perpetuate 
 their influence without the disagreeable necessity of continued 
 contact with neighborhood groups. But these mission rooms, 
 with scarcely an exception, have proven failures. 
 
 The reasons for their failure are not hard to discover. In 
 the first place, the buildings or rooms in which the missions 
 were opened were chosen evidently because of their cheapness 
 
 * Ihid., pp. 38-9. 
 
Ii8 The Down-town Church 
 
 rather than because of their fitness as places of worship. A 
 dark, poorly ventilated room on a back street has no attractive- 
 ness to people who have been used to cathedrals in Europe, 
 neither does it appeal to the native-born American who, how- 
 ever degenerate he may have become, has an innate repugnance 
 toward that which is cheap and unimpressive. 
 
 Another reason for their failure was the fact that they were 
 under the control and direction of people who lived outside 
 the district. They were undemocratic. There is an air of 
 patronage also about such an institution, that makes it repug- 
 nant to self-respecting people. It is established apparently 
 on the supposition that the well-to-do people of the suburbs 
 are saints, while the people of the slums are sinners. How- 
 ever devout and sincere the motive of those in charge of the 
 mission, there is certain to be that feeling of class consciousness, 
 of moral and social superiority, which will be resented by those 
 to whom they want to minister. 
 
 Such missions often reach children, but rarely adults. They 
 are predestined to failure. As a method of work in down- 
 town sections, they have nothing to commend them. 
 
 Another method still in use, a method as old as the Christian 
 era itself, is that of evangelism. It is the method used by the 
 rescue missions, by some of the strongly evangelical churches, 
 and by city evangelistic committees. As we have indicated, 
 these methods are not wholly barren of results. Impressive 
 figures are given by the agencies using them. But few will 
 question the statement that the permanent results are rather 
 meagre, and that the practical value of such methods to neigh- 
 borhoods is practically nil. 
 
 "The old evangelism," says Dr. Josiah Strong, "assumes a 
 knowledge of religious truth on the part of the people which 
 does not exist in the down-town city. It has won great victories 
 in the past, but mostly by inducing men to do what they them- 
 selves acknowledged to be their duty. Well seasoned convic- 
 tions are the fuel with which the flame of religious feeling is 
 kindled. Such religious knowledge and belief as were general 
 a generation ago, are now rare in the down-town city. . . . 
 The old evangelism is a process of reaping; and in spiritual 
 
The Efficient Down-town Church 1 19 
 
 husbandry as in natural, it is folly to expect to reap what has 
 not been sown."^ 
 
 Among the degenerates of the lodging-houses and tender- 
 loin districts, evangelical appeals often hxu\g responses. But 
 among immigrant groups, such appeals are meaningless and 
 create suspicion and antagonism. With them, religion needs 
 not a logical but an experimental demonstration, while among 
 all groups the need is for constructive effort rather than emo- 
 tional appeals. "As long as we are content with saving a few 
 individuals, we may be satisfied with the old evangelism, but 
 when we seriously consider the saving of the city, its utter in- 
 adequacy becomes obvious." 
 
 Another method which has been used extensively and effect- 
 ively in the down-town sections of our cities, is that of the "in- 
 stitutional church." This method of church work has attained 
 prominence in less than a quarter of a century. But the idea 
 underlying it has become so generally accepted, that few vigor- 
 ous and influential churches are left, that do not have some 
 activities that might be classed as institutional. 
 
 The institutional church is based on the principle that the 
 church should be "the center and source of all beneficent philan- 
 thropic effort, " and that it ought in the fulfilment of its mission 
 to "take the leading part in every movement which has for its 
 end the alleviation of human suffering, the elevation of man, 
 and the betterment of the world." 
 
 "The open and institutional church aims to save all men and 
 all of the man, by all means, abolishing so far as possible the 
 distinction between the religious and the secular, and sancti- 
 fying all ways and all means to the great end of saving the 
 world for Christ."' 
 
 "It is an effort to reach and serve more people of the neigh- 
 borhood, to touch them on more sides of their lives, and to in- 
 fluence them more continuously." 
 
 It is similar to the social settlement, in that it carries on 
 many activities of the same kind, but it differs in the intensity 
 of its religious social aim. All its various activities have a 
 religious motive as well as the general motive for social better- 
 
 ^ The Challenge of the City, pp. 242-3. 
 
 ' From the platform of the Open and Institutional Church League. 
 
I20 The Down-town Church 
 
 ment. It dififers from the religious social settlement only in 
 its emphasis on preaching as one of its methods of work. 
 
 The methods of the institutional church are correct in prin- 
 ciple, for they are based upon accurate knowledge of neighbor- 
 hood needs, and are adopted or changed with the idea of satis- 
 fying these needs. The activities that are carried on, are de- 
 signed to be a substitute for the normal activities and equip- 
 ment of the home, the school, the government, and other social 
 service agencies. The Church is primarily designed to minis- 
 ter to moral and religious needs. Its peculiar sphere is that of 
 presenting ideals of character and conduct. It may well leave 
 the satisfaction of other wants to other institutions. But if 
 these other wants, physical, and social, intellectual and civic, 
 are not adequately provided for, it is the duty of the Church 
 to supply the want or to see that it is provided ; in short, to pro- 
 vide an environment, where it does not exist, favorable to the 
 development of the normal man. 
 
 "The normal home does not exist in the down-town city. 
 Tenement life, and over-crov/ding have practically destroyed 
 home-life. It is the purpose of the institutional church to be- 
 come in some measure a substitute. It opens a reading-room 
 and social parlors where those who have no good literature in 
 their homes may read and meet their friends. It provides op- 
 portunity for recreation and social fellowship under conditions 
 that are safe and helpful. All these helps to a normal physical, 
 social and intellectual life should have been provided in the 
 home, but the home is not performing its proper function. It 
 would be better if the home did its own work for it can have no 
 adequate substitute. But where the home practically does not 
 exist, the church can do its saving work successfully, only by 
 undertaking that of the home also."^ 
 
 It is the duty of the Church to see that the life of the com- 
 munity is organized in such a way as to promote moral con- 
 duct and social progress. If there is a lack of intellectual 
 stimulus, it is the duty of the Church to provide it or inspire 
 others to provide it. Berkeley Temple in Boston, the first 
 church to be called an institutional church, saw the need of 
 educational classes for the young men and women of the board- 
 
 ^ Open Church Magazine^ Jan., 1897. 
 
The Efficient Down-town Church 121 
 
 ing and lodging houses of the neighborhood. It opened a night- 
 school, and was so successful that institutions whose function 
 it was to educate, were led to see the need and relieve the church 
 of its burden. 
 
 If a neighborhood lacks recreational facilities, the Church 
 should see that they are provided. The People's Tabernacle 
 of Jersey City has provided elaborate facilities in this direc- 
 tion, and most of the other well-known institutional churches 
 have gymnasiums or recreation rooms. 
 
 If hospital and nursing facilities are inadequate, the church 
 should provide them, not as a bait to lure unsuspecting people 
 into the church, but because there is human need, which is not 
 being ministered unto.^ 
 
 There is little question as to the success of the institutional 
 church. Occasionally institutional activities are discontinued 
 by churches because they are not effective. Ruggles St. Bap- 
 tist Church in Boston gave up its institutional work because 
 its unwise methods of charity were pauperizing the community, 
 and defeating the very purpose of the church .^ But the record 
 of the institutional church is in general one of success. 
 
 The Episcopal churches have with few exceptions "parish 
 activities," and as we have noted in Chapter Four, they are 
 practically the only Protestant churches in the down-town dis- 
 trict of Philadelphia that have not decreased materially in 
 membership during the past thirty years. Other elements of 
 strength have contributed to their stability, but not the least 
 important cause of their strength is their ministry to community 
 needs. 
 
 No better example of the success of a ministering church 
 could be given than that of St. George's Episcopal Church, 
 New York City. When Dr. Rainsford became rector in 1883, 
 "the church was practically without a congregation, with 
 limited facilities for parish work. When he resigned in 1906, 
 he had seven thousand under his care, with an endowment of 
 $300,000, yf'ith a parish building complete in equipment and 
 accommodations, a deaconess house, trade-school, a sea-side 
 
 1 See art. "Institutional Churches," in Enc. Social Reform. 
 » See The Homiletic Review, Feb., 1907, p. 114 et seq. 
 
122 The Down-town Church 
 
 cottage, an efficient force of twenty men and women, and an 
 army of volunteer helpers."^ 
 
 He converted St. George's from a church attracting a de- 
 creasing few one day a week, to an institution of manifold help- 
 ful activities, serving and attracting people, seven days a week. 
 He made it a recreational and educational, as well as an in- 
 spirational center for the neighborhood, and the people 
 responded. The principles upon which the work was estab- 
 lished were, ist, the basis for permanent parish work must be 
 laid in the Sunday School; 2nd, co-operation of all in service 
 and financial support; 3rd, centralization of authority; 4th, 
 system and efficiency in administration; 5th, a spiritual pur- 
 pose in and through all. "It was never a parish house with a 
 church attached, nor a church with a parish house attached. 
 It was a church, a place of religion, expressing itself in all these 
 various ways."^ 
 
 No large part of the success of this church is attributable to 
 personality and administrative ability. But it is also because 
 genius was applied to the solution of neighborhood needs that 
 success followed. No less gifted men using traditional methods 
 had failed in the same parish, and are still failing in fields more 
 promising. 
 
 The success of the Wesleyan Movement in England, also 
 affords proof of the value of adapting methods to meet chang- 
 ing conditions. Methodism in that country was in a decadent 
 and discouraging condition. Hugh Price Hughes, depressed 
 by the stagnation and sterility of the church, began the study 
 of conditions. He came to the conclusion that the church was 
 too much wedded to traditional methods, that the methods 
 used by Wesley while of much value in the period when Eng- 
 land was largely rural, were no longer adequate to city condi- 
 tions. By agitation and education he finally succeeded in 
 launching what was called the "Forward Movement." 
 
 The leading principles of this movement were, 1st, That 
 mission halls should be located in the centers of destitution 
 and wickedness; 2nd, That social methods and means should 
 
 * Hodges and Reichert, The Administration of an Institutional Church, pp. 
 314-5. 
 ' Hodges and Reichert, op. cit., p. 314. 
 
The Efficient Down-town Church 123 
 
 be used freely, not only to win the attention of the people to 
 the gospel, but also to minister immediately to crying needs 
 which the church has no right to ignore on the plea that her 
 mission is spiritual only; 3rd, That the ch^jrch should concen- 
 trate her strong ministers and financial forces on these mis- 
 sions.* 
 
 Great mission halls have been established in London and in 
 many of the larger cities of England, and the success which has 
 attended them is most remarkable. A statistician of the 
 Wesleyan Church claims that of the fifty seven thousand net 
 increase in membership, during the decade from 1898 to 1908, 
 three-fourths came directly through the mission halls.* 
 
 McCulloch says, "The prosperity of the Wesleyan Church 
 in London since 1886, is very largely due to the Forward Move- 
 ment. In the three London districts, there are forty churches 
 among those which have not adopted the open church methods 
 of the Forward Movement, and every one of them except three 
 has a smaller attendance now than it had in 1883. These 
 forty churches have decreased 44 per cent in attendance since 
 1883, or a combined loss of 10,289 persons. The churches 
 which were taken over by the Forward Movement and converted 
 into open churches, have increased 22 per cent in attendance, 
 and have increased 105 per cent in membership. This is the 
 net increase after allowance has been made for removal to the 
 suburbs which for mission districts has been immense."^ 
 
 The last report of the Wesleyan Missions indicates, that 
 while they are not having the phenomenal success which dis- 
 tinguished their work at first, yet their efforts continue to elicit 
 a response far in excess of that accorded churches using the old 
 methods. 
 
 An interesting experiment is now being tried in New York 
 City under the direction of the Presbyterian Church. A de- 
 serted church building that stands in a section now character- 
 ized by cheap theatres, moving picture shows and saloons has 
 been reopened as a center of social and religious uplift. It is 
 
 *See McCulloch, J. E., Open Church for the Unchurched, for the best ac" 
 count of this work. 
 
 « Crawford, W. H., The Church and the Slum, p. 142. 
 •Op. cit., pp. 51-2. 
 
124 The Down-town Church 
 
 a typical down-town district, in which traditional methods 
 utteriy failed. A careful survey of the community has been 
 made, and methods have been introduced to meet the needs of 
 the community as they have been discovered . Great illuminated 
 signs have been hung out which attract the notice of the passing 
 throngs. Beautiful moving picture shows, better than those 
 given by the nearby theatres, are regularly given for the chil- 
 dren. There are concerts and good plays and readings other 
 nights. The church is bustling with activity every night in 
 the week, and all day Sunday, after twelve o'clock, for the 
 workingman's Sunday does not begin until noon. There are 
 three religious services every week, Sunday, Tuesday and Fri- 
 day nights, and these fill the church, as well as the entertain- 
 ments. The remarkable thing about these services is, that 
 half the congregation are Jews. No attempt is made to pro- 
 selytize, but many are reported as exceedingly responsive to 
 the Christian message. 
 
 This experiment is of value because it is a scientific attempt 
 to solve the down-town problem of the church. It is of too 
 recent origin to estimate its permanent value, but there is every 
 indication that the methods employed are accomplishing their 
 purpose. 
 
 The methods of the institutional church are correct in prin- 
 ciple and if employed wisely and in the right spirit, and carried 
 to their logical conclusion, have every probability of success. 
 They seek an accurate knowledge of needs, and then adapt 
 themselves to the solution of those needs. 
 
 The institutional church has been criticised because of its 
 emphasis on other than spiritual matters; but evidence is not 
 lacking that the spiritual results of institutional churches are 
 very much greater than in churches using the conventional 
 methods. It is scarcely fair to compare the results of institu- 
 tional churches at work in difficult fields, with churches of the 
 traditional type at work in fields favorable to growth, yet such 
 a comparison shows that institutional churches have larger 
 accessions than churches of the ordinary character. 
 
 The Protestant Episcopal Church in New York City is using 
 institutional methods far more commonly than any other 
 church and it is growing more rapidly than any other denomin- 
 
The Efficient Down-town Church 125 
 
 ation. In this denomination too, the churches which are grow- 
 ing most rapidly are the institutional churches. In Philadel- 
 phia last year, the down-town Episcopal churches had an 
 average of 27.20 confirmations each, while the churches outside 
 of the district had an accession by confirmation of only 22.43 
 each. Nearly all Episcopal churches have parish activities, 
 but the down-town churches have made these methods par- 
 ticularly prominent. 
 
 "A test applied to all churches of the Congregational denom- 
 ination showed that during the preceding year, the average 
 socialized church had precisely six times as many additions on 
 confession of faith as the average non-institutional church, 
 while all that was accomplished by the former in behalf of 
 cleaner and healthier bodies, better informed minds, and a 
 more wholesome social and civic life, was a bonus, over against 
 which the old-line churches had nothing to show."^ 
 
 It is to be recognized that the mere organization of educa- 
 tional and recreational classes, the holding of mother's meet- 
 ings, and the giving of concerts and entertainments, are not 
 sufficient to solve the whole problem of religious indifference. 
 The attitude of the masses toward the church, as has been in- 
 dicated, is in large part due to the social and economic condi- 
 tions in which the people live. A keen observer of religious 
 conditions in New York City says, "The churches as churches 
 have not waked up. They are still dallying with symptoms; 
 offering classes and gymnasiums to people who are underfed 
 and underpaid, who live in miserable, unsanitary homes."* 
 
 But the methods of the institutional church if carried to 
 their proper conclusion, will see that people are not underfed 
 and underpaid, and that they have homes both comfortable 
 and sanitary. 
 
 The true church will seek to provide an environment favor- 
 able to normal development. It will contend for sanitary 
 factories and homes, for a fair division of the products of 
 industry, for the protection of women, children, and the in- 
 capacitated, in short, for justice. And until such can be brought 
 about, will provide substitutes according to its ability. 
 
 * Strong, Josiah, The Challenge of the City, p. 218. 
 
 * Baker, R. S., "The Social Unrest," American Magazine, June, 1909. 
 
126 The Down-town Church 
 
 Let churches study community needs, and then adapt their 
 methods to the satisfaction of those needs, however desperate 
 and deep-seated they may be, and the problem of the down- 
 town church as of every other church will be near solution. 
 
 The equipment of any church must be conditioned by and 
 commensurate with its method. The need of each community 
 must determine the size, style and equipment of the building 
 that is to minister to the satisfaction of those needs. In gen- 
 eral, however, it may be said, that a church that will attract 
 and influence the population of the down-town city, must be 
 sufficiently large and imposing and of such an architectural 
 character as to inspire respect and admiration. Poor people 
 despise a mission room; they are awed by a cathedral. The 
 one awakens contempt; the other creates reverence. 
 
 The down-town church should be something more than four 
 walls with a roof. Such a building was adequate to the needs 
 of this section a generation ago. But under present conditions, 
 a church needs to be more than a preaching station. It should 
 retain its pulpit, for preaching is necessary in order to present 
 ideals, and to inspire people to the adoption of ideals. But 
 the sermon on Sunday must be supplemented in most cases 
 by personal contact, and helpful ministry, for six days in the 
 week, to be effective with down-town populations. 
 
 Provision should therefore be made for class-rooms, club- 
 rooms, social parlors, reading rooms, gymnasiums, and for the 
 satisfaction of such needs as may be revealed by the study of 
 neighborhood conditions. 
 
 Effective service cannot be rendered with defective equip- 
 ment. Churches should therefore be adequately supplied with 
 all that may be found necessary to the performance of their 
 function. 
 
 J. Financial Support 
 
 The problem of financial support at once becomes important 
 in the discussion of methods and equipment. The lack of 
 adequate financial support has been the determining factor in 
 the case of almost every church that during the past thirty 
 years moved away from, or became extinct in the do.wn-town 
 sections of Philadelphia. With the removal of the well-to-do 
 
The Efficient Down-town Church 127 
 
 people who lived here a generation ago, and in the incoming 
 of a poorer class, the churches were left stranded, except as 
 they were endowed or except as the old constituency continued 
 to send back money. For most of the churches there were 
 only two alternatives, removal to better neighborhoods, or ex- 
 tinction, and most of them frankly acknowledged their inability 
 to survive, disposed of their property, and transferred their 
 activities to a more favorable locality. 
 
 As individual congregations, they are not to be con- 
 demned or ridiculed for doing so. Finding it impossible to 
 function in an unfavorable environment, they simply obeyed 
 the instincts of self-preservation, by moving to an environ- 
 ment where they could function and hope to survive and it 
 was perhaps better for the interests of religion for them to move 
 away than to remain in a decadent, lifeless and inefficient 
 condition, and thus give the impression that religious institu- 
 tions, being unable to save themselves, could not save others. 
 
 Not the individual congregations, but the denominations 
 back of them should bear the burden of blame. 
 
 If the Christian law of responsibility, "ye that are strong 
 ought to bear the burden of the weak, and not seek to please 
 yourselves," had been obeyed within the denominations, the 
 hegira of the down-town churches might have been prevented, 
 at least in many cases. We would not insist that it was pos- 
 sible, or even desirable, for all the churches of a generation 
 ago to remain at their former locations. Some communities, 
 even at that time, were over-churched. It was desirable that 
 there should be consolidations, re-locations, and perhaps that 
 some should be transferred to new communities. 
 
 But if denominations could have agreed upon fields of serv- 
 ice, and then given adequate support to the churches wi ich 
 remained in order that they might do effective work, the un- 
 holy spectacle of forty-four churches moving away, fourteen 
 others becoming extinct, and thirty or forty others surviving 
 with greatly decreased vitality, might have been avoided. 
 The denominations themselves would have seen results which 
 would have been ample compensation, and many of the anti- 
 social conditions which now distinguish this section might 
 have been prevented or long before this corrected. 
 
128 The Down-town Church 
 
 Denominational boards or the stronger churches of the more 
 favored localities should provide the support necessary to an 
 adequate equipment and efficient ministry in the down-town 
 sections of our cities. The people to whom the churches min- 
 ister should not be relieved of all financial responsibility, for 
 "giving" is an important factor in the development of charac- 
 ter. More interest is awakened when some responsibility is 
 borne, and there is less likelihood of pauperization when people 
 make some compensation for favors received. But it is un- 
 reasonable to expect anything like adequate support from the 
 people of the down-town city for religious institutions. These 
 institutions must be supported, then, either from without or not 
 at all. 
 
 The mere existence of an endowment or of adequate support, 
 however, is not enough to ensure an efficient church. There 
 are several churches in this section that have large endowments, 
 that have not made any adjustments or installed any equip- 
 ment necessary to the solution of neighborhood needs. The 
 pastor of another church complains that the existence of an 
 endowment has given the people the impression that they do 
 not need to exert themselves, and has thus had a deadening 
 influence upon the life of the church. But if an endowment 
 is simply used to supplement what people can give in order to 
 do a larger and better work, if there is a social vision, and a 
 social conscience, a wise method, and a proper spirit determin- 
 ing the uses of the fund, it is a great advantage, and makes 
 success possible. 
 
 One element in the success of the Episcopal churches of this 
 district, as we have noticed, is their financial power. Their 
 large endowments have given them a stability which appeals 
 strongly to the defeated classes of their neighborhoods. And 
 these endowments have made possible, too, the equipping of 
 their plants for effective service. 
 
 It may be objected that church boards are already over- 
 taxed, and that it would not be possible under present systems 
 to devote any more money to city work. But if the waste of 
 duplication especially in rural communities were avoided, both 
 workers and money would be available for aggressive work in 
 the neglected sections of our cities. 
 
The Efficient Down-town Church 129 
 
 Dr. E. T. Root of the Massachusetts Federation of Churches, 
 estimates that at least half the churches in the United States 
 are superfluous.^ 
 
 Competitive methods are frightfully wasteful. The solu- 
 tion of the problem of city evangelization as of world evangeliza- 
 tion, waits upon the coming of the co-operative era. Without 
 an accurate survey of actual needs, and the elaboration and 
 execution of a comprehensive plan, ^e cannot have the efficient 
 church, performing a maximum of service with a minimum of 
 effort and per capita cost. 
 
 4. The Personnel of the Efficient Down-Town Church 
 
 The human factor is an important one in the work of the 
 church.' The method may be correct, the money available, 
 but if the man capable of wisely directing the method and of 
 using the money to the best advantage is not available, the 
 experiment is likely to fail. 
 
 With the decline of the down-town churches both in influence 
 and financial strength, weaker men have been called to take 
 charge of them, and unable to stem the tide of defeat, have 
 only contributed to their dissolution. "We usually send to 
 the down-town churches," says Dr. Frank Mason North, "a 
 man worn out in the service, but expect him to do an herculean 
 task; or else we send a young inexperienced man, and expect 
 him to exhibit the wisdom of Solomon, the courage of Paul, 
 the statesmanship of Richelieu, and the perseverance of Grant; 
 for many of these hard fields need all these. But in any case, 
 the man who goes to these fields goes down." 
 
 The down-town field is the most difliicult of any of the fields 
 which the Church attempts to work. It is a field which calls 
 for the strongest men and the largest resources. When once 
 the comprehensive plan of city evangelization is adopted, and 
 church plants are adequately equipped, strong men will be 
 
 * He cites the case of a Congregational church, whose name was "Union," 
 which planted itself across the street from a sister church, and sunk $250,000 
 within seventy-five feet of a building which could easily have held both con- 
 gregations. 
 
 ' See Ross, Social Control, Chapter 21, for an interesting analysis of "Per- 
 sonality" as a social factor. 
 
130 The Down-town Church 
 
 attracted to these fields, and the work will be that much more 
 certain of success. 
 
 One element of the strength of the Episcopal churches in 
 the down-town sections, as has been noted, is the calibre of 
 their ministry. These strong well-endowed old congregations 
 have been able to attract the strongest men of their denomina- 
 tion, and their personalities, and administrative ability have 
 contributed greatly to the success of these churches. 
 
 One cannot detach the personality of Dr. Rainsford from the 
 success of St. George's. And the success of most churches, 
 as of most other institutions, is closely identified with a man. 
 The Wesleyan Movement of England would scarcely have had 
 its great success without Hugh Price Hughes. It was one of 
 his contentions, that the strongest men available should be 
 placed in charge of the mission halls, and both McCulloch and 
 Crawford attribute much of the success of these missions to 
 the fact that his idea was acted upon. Carlyle gave it as his 
 opinion, that if a Chalmers could be put in every British pul- 
 pit, the problems of the church would be practically settled. 
 
 The down-town church, to be efficient, must be well-manned. 
 It should have a staff of workers as well as a pastor. In a church 
 using conventional methods, the pastor can attend to all the 
 duties if the congregation is not too large. But in the down- 
 town church, whose method and equipment are adapted to 
 the solution of neighborhood needs, trained workers for different 
 departments of work are almost a necessity. Volunteer work- 
 ers can often be secured in large numbers, and they should be 
 utilized as fully as possible, both for their own sakes, and for 
 the service which they can render. But unskilled volunteers 
 cannot be a complete substitute for trained paid workers. 
 
 The down-town church needs to establish many points of 
 contact, and to maintain these contacts continuously. Its 
 workers must be sufficiently numerous, therefore, to establish 
 and maintain intimate relations with all the people of the 
 neighborhood and to carry on all the activities which the needs 
 of the neighborhood demand. 
 
 No rule can be laid down that will apply to all churches, but 
 a well-equipped church will see that at least three departments 
 of work are well-manned, the inspirational, the educational and 
 
The Efficient Down-town Church 131 
 
 the recreational, providing respectively for the moral, mental, 
 and physical needs of the community. One administrative 
 head may supervise all the departments of work, but he must 
 have assistance in conducting the activities themselves. 
 
 One secret of the success of the Catholic Church in holding 
 its people is the adequate human equipment which is provided. 
 The number of his assistants will vary according to the size of 
 his parish, but seldom is the priest left to perform all the minis- 
 tries alone. Generally he has one or more assistants, and 
 several sisters to help him. 
 
 The principle that must determine the size and the character 
 of the staff is this, that the force must be large enough to enable 
 the church to properly function, and it must have that training 
 necessary to the successful application of the method adopted. 
 
 The training of these workers should be not only theological, 
 but sociological. They need to know not only the theories as 
 to the origin of sin, but of poverty, crime ,and disease as well. 
 For the latter complicate the problem of the former and must 
 likewise be objects of attack. 
 
 It is of comparative unimportance to the people of the slum 
 whether or not the workers can read the Scriptures in their 
 original languages, but it is of great importance to know about 
 housing reforms, tenement laws, campaigns against disease, 
 and the institutions and agencies of the city that make for 
 social welfare. 
 
 Without this knowledge of conditions in which the people 
 of the district live, and without an understanding of their at- 
 titudes and ideals, one is not equipped for effective service 
 among them. His appeals will meet with no response, for he 
 will be considered ignorant of the first principles of moral ad- 
 vance. He must have social vision. He must understand 
 the social implications of neighborhood conditions and attitudes, 
 their inter-relations and consequences, and be able to help the 
 people to an understanding of the forces affecting their lives. 
 He must be able to enlist the people in neighborhood uplift, as 
 well as personal salvation. He must be satisfied with no less 
 than a converted parish, a community with higher ideals, a 
 community freed from those influences which have been found 
 destructive to the attainment of those ideals, and a community 
 
132 The Down-town Church 
 
 supplied with those agencies and activities essential to, or 
 helpful in the attainment of them. 
 
 5. The Motive and Spirit of the Efficient Down-Town Church. 
 
 What must be the motives of this institution in order that it 
 may serve the purpose of its existence? Its motive must be 
 none other and no less unselfish than that of the Founder of 
 the Church, who announced that he came not to be ministered 
 unto but to minister, and to give his life that others might be 
 free. 
 
 There is no element in the population so quick to understand 
 the motives of social service as the poor. And no element will 
 resent more bitterly or re-act more quickly against self-seeking, 
 than the people of the down-town districts. The church that 
 makes itself the end of its activities, that thinks of the people 
 as merely units of possible membership, that performs its 
 ministries in order to increase its own strength, will soon be 
 discovered and shunned. But the church that identifies it- 
 self with the people, that ministers because there is human 
 need, will win the respect of the people. 
 
 Any success that social settlements have had, has been due 
 to the motive which has animated the workers. Educational 
 classes and clubs, gymnasiums and recreational rooms, thrift 
 associations and other social welfare activities, have their value 
 in the results immediately accruing, but their chief value has 
 been in the personal contacts which have been established 
 through them. "It is persons that the human and social prob- 
 lem needs, persons coming forward out of a great sympathy. 
 . . . And it is the fact that settlements emphasize this need 
 and seek to supply it, that makes them of such immense import- 
 ance to the task of social transformation." Canon Barnett 
 of Toynbee Hall says, "Vain will be higher education, music, 
 art, or even the Gospel, unless they come clothed in the life 
 of brother-men." 
 
 The Protestant Church, unlike the Catholic Church, has no 
 method of compulsion. The relation of its members to it is 
 purely voluntary. It must therefore give convincing proof of 
 its value and efficiency, in order to attract people to it. It 
 must win and hold by the force of affection. It can make no 
 
J 
 
 The Efficient Down-town Church 133 
 
 claims to divine right. The strength of its appeal must be in 
 its ministry to human need. It must succeed, in other words, 
 not by philosophical or historical argument, but by proof of 
 its humane purpose, genuine sympathy, and real usefulness. 
 
 The motive of the Church must therefore be genuine, and 
 manifestly pure and unselfish, or it will have no basis for appeal. 
 Its spirit must be Christ-like and humane, or its ministries will 
 be mechanical and ineffective. 
 
 The time has come for the churches to make a scientific ad- 
 vance upon the evil conditions of the slum. The forces affect- 
 ing moral decay are now quite accurately known. The churches 
 realize at last the futility of conventional methods. Denomina- 
 tional rivalries while not yet extinct, need no longer stand in 
 the way of a comprehensive plan of city evangelization. 
 
 Denominational boards of home and city missions should 
 as a first step, unite in a thorough and scientific study of the 
 actual social, economic, moral and religious conditions of the 
 city. The division of responsibility can then be decided and a 
 comprehensive plan adopted which will avert duplication of 
 effort, and by division of labor, ensure direct, intimate and care- 
 ful oversight of, and ministry to every block in the city. 
 
 With the facts discovered, the method can be employed 
 which gives promise of greatest usefulness. The money will 
 be forth-coming, for experience shows that people are willing 
 to support that which brings results. Men of social vision and 
 training will be available, because such a plan will stimulate 
 and inspire men of ability and consecration. The motive, if 
 true, will make the whole effective. 
 
 The church, especially in the down- town sections, has entered 
 into a transitional stage. Modern industrial life, with the 
 political, social and economic conditions, consequent upon its 
 development, together with the growth of scientific knowledge 
 and habit of thought, have changed the attitude of the masses 
 toward the church and organized religion. The Church can 
 no longer command as once it could. Traditional claims are 
 questioned; conventional services and appeals are ignored; 
 materialistic tests are applied; the Church has lost influence 
 and prestige. Stolid indifference characterizes a large part 
 of this social group. 
 
134 ^^^ Down-town Church 
 
 But the Church, now alive to the situation, has begun to 
 discover the causes of alienation, and is seeking to readjust 
 itself to the new conditions in order that it may recover and 
 retain its place among social institutions, and its power over 
 men. 
 
 The Church as an institution of inspiration to noble living 
 is needed. Especially is it needed in the section where con- 
 ditions are depressing and demoralizing. There is no institu- 
 tion or group of institutions that can become an adequate 
 substitute for it. The Church must therefore study the situ- 
 ation, and take its proper place and perform at all costs its 
 proper function. 
 
 The down-town churches of the past have proven the truth 
 of that famous paradox, "he that saveth his life shall lose it." 
 The down-town churches of the future, will prove the truth of 
 that complementary paradox, "he that loseth his life for my 
 sake and the gospel's, the same shall find it." 
 
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