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The Dominion. SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 1919. THE CENSUS AND THE CHURCHES

Thb laic Professor Seelev, in his remarkable arid valuable historical essay on "The Expansion of England," remarks that there are three "ties by which States are held together: community of race, community of religion, community of interest..!' The man that ma do this remark was the author of Ear linmo and Sut'ir'cl ltHii/ion, and held very broad theological views, and yet he affirmed that religion. was a great and essential bond in a nation's life. This war has shown the community of religion in our Empire, for, at bedrock, it was a war of principles—it was a war uf Christian ideals as against the "blood and iron" paganism of Potsdam. This community in religion was seen in the response to calls to prayer by our King, ■ by onr Premier, and by the Mayors of our cities. Our soldiers went forth to the war. accompanied by religious teachers, and although we have, no State church in this Dominion, no one.challenged the Government for providing these religious .teachers, and this* silence was no doubt due to the real underlying community in religion that obtains throughout the. land, in the regulations framed by our Government for taking the census a. . prominent place- is given to religion and tho. census is not-only , a stocktaking, so to .speak, of population and industries, ;but also of religions and religious institutions. The "Results'' of-the census taken in New Zealand in October, 1916, are now published,'and they show the lafgc place religion occupies iii the life of the : people, and they-also show <an essential community of the people in religious ideals. The population of the Dominion in October, 1916' (exclusive of the Maoris) was found to be 1,099,449. In April, 1911,' it was 1,008,468. This shows an increase in population of less than 10 per cent., while the 1911 census showecT an increase of 13.49 over 1906, and 1906 an increase of 14.99 over 1901. The 1916 census, however, did not include our army abroad, and if that army had been with us the increase of population would have been as high as that of tho two former periods— 191] and 1906. In every house in the land, when the census was taken, particulars were furnished with regard to the religion of every inmate, and the information thus given and certified to by each householder is fully reported by the Government Statistician in his Results of Ihe Corns. These results show a "community in religion," for out of the 1,099,449 only about 50,000 can bo classed as non-Christian, while the remaining ];049;000 are classed as Christians—belonging to various denominations. A foreigner, visiting England on one occasion, complained that while England had fifty relieions she had only one sauce! The census results of 1916 show a bewildering list of Christian sects, numbering no fewer than ninety-eight, but in a large number of cases these sects are the eccentricities of a few' individuals. The Church of England, Presbyterian, Roman . Catholic, Methodist,. C'ongregational,_ Salvation Army, and Baptist bodies account for 1*014,000 of the, and the remaining 35,000 Christians are divided into ninety-one sects, and the 50,000 non-Christians are; divided into no fewer than seventy-eight parts. The returns, bearing oil the manifestation of religions life in Church attendance, requiiV careful handling, /The war has led to no increase in' iChurch attendance. On tho basis of the total population 23 per cent, attended Church in 1916, the same percentage obtained in ],9U, while in 1906 it was 24 per cent. The, total Church attendance in 1916 was 243,023, arid is described as the "number of persons usually present at the largest attended service of the day." But the number of attenders at any placc of worship is very much greater than those present at any one service, and probably at least one-third should be added to the above figure to find out the actual attenders, Then the . million and more of Christians include what Mr. Mudie-Smith calls in his Miyiniis Life of Lnmhm "the too young, the too old, the too - sick, and the too lazy to attend 1 church," and must be'considerably reduced to find out the true' proportions of churchgoing. Mr, Mudie-Smith makes a very charitable deduction of fifty per cent, to find out those who are really free and able to attend church, and if - that were done with regard to the • census figures, and one-third added to the reported church attendance, the church attendance would be raised to nearly 60 per cent. 0 f those "physically fit" to attend church. But this'again is probably too high as tho Government 2:1 per cent, is too low. The figures bearing on the numbers attending Sunday -schools arc worthy of being pondered by all interested in (he moral and religious j well-being of the youth of our land. . At present, to an immense number . of our young people, the Sunday school is the _ only institution iii which they will get positive moral . and religious training. The total attendance ; n Sunday schools was 139,660 in 1916, while at the- same , period the number of children iii the i land from five years to fifteen years ■ numbered 2:12,04;).. A hasty pessimistic inference from these' figures might be made, and a wrong conclusion come to that aboiit 100.000 children 'were outside religious tcnchi'ne. Thy Sunday school is not an institution in the. Roman -Catholic Church as it .is in other churches, and yet while many thousands of Roman ■ Catholic children may not attend Sunday schools very definite moral and religious teach- : ing is given in other ways to them. There, is, however, very much more laud to be occupied by the Sundav schools before the whole of the children of the land is reached with moral and religious teaching and training. The Religious institutions ; of tiie land, it mieht to be, renieniher- ' cd, are maintained by free-will of- ■ ferinps and by voluntary service. ; and I hey must lie judged accordingly. Were our school teachers, oiir lawyers, and our medical men to be ! maintained thus they might have a very precarious existence. Rut religious' institutions fill a , unii'ine nlare. and they are stroneest and healthiest- , when they are ilnis supported. Those, instilutions appeal to man's eternal and indestructible , needs, and they prosper in proportion as they satisfy those needs.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19190315.2.21

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 146, 15 March 1919, Page 6

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,054

The Dominion. SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 1919. THE CENSUS AND THE CHURCHES Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 146, 15 March 1919, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 1919. THE CENSUS AND THE CHURCHES Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 146, 15 March 1919, Page 6

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