THE RELIGIOUS CENSUS OF 1916

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 146, 15 March 1919, Page 8

THE RELIGIOUS CENSUS OF 1916

DENOMINATIONS AND CHURCH ATTENDANCE • CHURCH ACCOMMODATION AND SUNDAY SCHOOL MEMBERSHIP 1 THE NON-CHURCH-GOING PROBLEM (By » Presbyterian Minister.) The census was taken in the Dominion ■ on October 15, I'JIG, nnd the Tesults lmve 1 been published by the Government StatisI tician, Mr. Malcolm Eraser, from time i to time in parts, and Parts IV and V, dealing with the "Religions of the People," Church and Sunday School attendance, and other matters, have not been published till recently. The scarcity of skilled labour, tho shortage of paper, and tho heavy burden put upon Mr. Eraser by the periodic ballots of our soldiers, must havo made his task unusually heavy. Work done in these conditions can hardly be expected to be free from error, and one or two slips may be here noted. Buddhists and Confucians are said to have increased by thirty, when tho figures given show that they have decreased by that number. A solitary "Glassite" is classed .among the nonChristians when he should have his place among the Christians, as the article "Glassites" in the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" shows. Michael .Faraday, the distinguished chemist and physicist, was an elder in this little sect, and he was earnest and sincere in his devotion to the teachings of the Bible. These are trifling slips in a work marked by clearness and accuracy. Tho tables of statistics on religion are not so numerous as on previous occasions, but. the information, in amount, is not less. l>ut more, though the student must do a little more for himself. The. total population (exclusive of Maoris) in 1!)1G was 1,0!)!),489. The census of 1906 disclosed a population of 888,578; tho census of 1!)11 showed 1,008,4G8. The IfllG census shows an incresse in population of 1)1,000, . but that 1 is onlv part of our increase, for in file l,09!Mlil the thousands that 1 were across the sea fighting the battle 1 of tho Empire are not counted: Wo ' have, therefore, to add lo (he 9J,000 the numbc of our soldiers abroad in Oct.o- ---' ber. 1911), lo find out the real increase in : our population. The census figures as arranged by Mr. 1 Malcolm Eraser throw a flood of liglit : tin in the life of tho people in its various asiH'cts, and the particulars furnished about the religious life of the people are full of interest and full of significance. Christianity is the specified religion that accounts for 1,050.000 of tho i people of our Dominion. Non-Clnist-isns. such as Confucians, etc., number about '1800: those whose views are indefinite. such as Free Thinkers, Agnostics, etc.. number about 12.000: those who ob- - ieot to state their religion or profess no 1 religion number about 110,000. These non-Chrislinn gvouns form a very insig- - lmieant part of the population, but as they are . probably largely adults, their 1 influence cannot bo gauged by their • numbers. Christianity is the religion thus professed by more than 05 per cent, of the populafion. but the statistics show tli.\t this profession extends to a very laree multitude who are outside. the 1 existing Church oßranisations. This is proved to n demonstration when tile een--1 sus population of the leading denominafio'is is contrasted with the number attending church, or attending Sunday scliool. Some of the lending denominations have not won lo their Church institutions a large number of their own religious kith and kin. The following I a bio will ninko intelligible some of those statements:— NUMBERS BY DENOMINATIONS. Inc. Deo. since since Denomination. Number.' 1911 1911. Church of England 459,671 47,350 — Presbyterian i 34,662 25,997 — Roman Catholio,. including Catholics undefined 151,605 10,015 — Methodist 106.024 11,197 - Baptist 20,872 830 - Congregational 8,231 — 535 Lutheran 3,530 — 947 Church of Christ ... 9.249 62 - Salvation Army ... 10,004 297 — Seventh Day Adventist 1,534 421 Unitarian 1,402 66 — Protestant (undefined) 2,238 67 Greek Catholic 247 - 18 Other Christians ... 13,873 2,636 — Hobrcw 2,341 M 3 Mohammedan 47 35 — Jluddhist, Confucian 1,471 — ■ 30 Other non Christians 954 305 — Agnostic 652 34 — Freethinker 4,446 208 — nationalist 619 — 162 Spiritualist 1,295 98 — No .denomination . 5,023 782 — Other indefinite .... 310 230 — No religion 4,184 — 449 Atheist 115 4 — Othor no religion ... 12 8 — Objeot to stato 25,577 — 10,324 Unspecified 3,924 1,508 — Grand total ..1,099,449 CHURCH ATTENDANCE. An interesting table on tho results of tho census deals with the number of. places of worship, their seating capacity, and the number usually attending tho largest attended service of the dav. Tho total number attending tho largest service in connection with all tho denomin- , ations if the land is '-'43,024, or aV/Ouf; onefourth of the tolal religious population. The seating capacity in 3847 places of . worship is 493,200, or about double the number of the persons that attend the largest service. Tho following figures, taken from this fable, show that in the case of the largest denomination in tho ] land, the church attendance is only an | eighth of the census population of that f denomination, and with regard to the , second largest denomination (he church J attendance is only about one-fourth. , These figures, however, are not so dis- ( quieting and alarming as they seem. The j total worshippers are never all present. , Even at the largest service in a congregation probably one-third or so are prevented from attending. Then the census includes every man, woman, and child, , nnd a largo number are physically un- j able lo attend church, boing too -young or t too old, or sick, and further, thousands of children make tho Sunday school their , church service, and are not counted as church attendeis. The following figures should be studied in the light of these considerations:— J u c «> # S.t'S ; JS 0 C I £ sis j Church of England 54,964 125.330 ; Presbyterian 60,781 125,375 1 ftoman Catholic 53,907 71,847 , Catholic Apostolic 195 760 ' Greek Orthodox 40 60 T Methodist 41.968 87,295 J Baptist 6,034 13,1? D Congregational 3.257 MX) i Brethren 6,119 16.110 Church of Ohrist 3,131 8,734 ] Lutheran £64 1.395 > Society of Friends 4 4 200 r Christartelphian 163 925 I Seventh-day Adventist .... 613 1.648 fi Unitarian 150 800 | Salvation Army 6,991 21,328 .Hebrew 390 1,340 J Church of God 80 SO 1 j Spiritualist 525 1.690 I Mormon 3:5 950 ? Theosopllist 226 431 0 ■Undenominational 2.527 5.972 Totals 243,024 493,260 a SUNDAY-SCHOOL STAFF AND ATTENDANCE. On Ihe rolls of the Sunday schools of tho Dominion are G3.SCS boys nnd 75,795 '' girls, making a tolal of 139,GG0. , The '■ leaohers number 13,492, of whom' 0232 l\ are men and 4200 women. Tlio number , of boys and girls in Iho Dominion from !' five years of age to fifteen number 2:12,041), || and as the lota! number enrolled in the p, Sunday schools is only 139,000 (here must i R | bo a very large number of children un- v , reached by the Sunday schools. Tho New w Zealand Year Book for 1917 tolls us that f f about 217,000 lads and girls wore in pub- lo lie and private primary anil secondary ai schools, and this faot again s'hows tho tc shortage in attendance on tho Sunday ai schools. The following aro tho statistics A

of the census showing the attendance in tho larger denominations:— Denomination. Tcachcra Scholars Church of England 3,585 '11,225 Presbyterian 3.838 37.141 Jioman Catholic 612 12,234 Methodist 2,864 26,917 Baptist 707 5,424 Congregational 331 2,616 Brethren 390 3.513 Church of ohri6t 340 3.017 Salvation Army 519 4,786 ATTENDANCE IN THE SEVERAL PROVINCES. Prom one of tho tables of statistics information'is given of the total church attendance of all the denominations in the several provinces. When theso figures aro compared with those of tho population of tho provinces some interesting comparisons can be made:— Church Province. Population, attendance. Auckland 308.766 63,474 Hawke's Bay 55,925 12,553 TaranaJti 54,257 11,606 Wellington 232,114 38,953 Marlborough 16.608 4,759 Nelson 43,251 10,802 Westland 15,502 4.460 Canterbury 131,869 46,908 Otago 131,518 37,358 Southland 59,629 15,151 Totals 1,099,449 243,024 A glance at the above tablo shows that churdh attendances vary very much in thes-o provinces. On the basis of tho above figures tho percentages are as follow:— Auckland,- 20 per cent.; Hawke's Bay, 22 per cent.; Tnranaki, 21 per cent.; Wellington, IG per cent.; Marlborough. 28 per cent.; Nelson, 21 per cent.; Westland, 2S per cent.; Canterbury, 2o per cent.; Otago, 28 per cent.; Southland, 25 per cent. It is difficult to account for Wellington's low position in tho list. Why Wellington should be fi por cent, below Auckland, 9 per cent, below Canterbury, and 12 pea' cent, below Otago, is a question worthy of study. Otago and Canterbury were originally church settlements, and this may explain in part thoir church interest, but why Wellington should bo below Auckland is a question not easy to answer. Climatic conditions aro said to nfl'ect churchgoing. A woii'in ami sunny climate is said tq lead people from the church lo the green fields and the sunshine. If Auckland has this advantage over Wellington in climate, its church attendance should be less instead of moro. Put church-going is really determined by a state of mind, and the low percentage in Wellington is due to a mental attitude which accepts traditional Christianity, with its high ideals, and ignores to a larger extent than' elsewhere the religious ordinances of the churches. The. mass of the peoplo profess Christianity, and the failure of tho appeal of the churches with regard to countless thousands who make this profession is u matter for the churches lo seriously considor. To what extent the church is responsible for 11011-cliurch-going is a question yet to be considered by church courts. On one occasion the late Dr. Marcus Dods faithfully pointed out to a world-wide religious conference tho extent for which the church was responsible for tlio prevailing scepticism. The unworthy exponent of ecclesiastical religion is the menace of Christianity. Tho parish priest Of Austerity Climbed up to a high church steeple, To bo nearer God, So that ho might baud His Word down lo his people. And in sermon script Ho daily wrote What he thought was sent from Heaven ; And he dropped this down On his people's heads. Two tithes one day in seven. Tn his age, God said, "Come down and die," And he cried out from the steeple, "Where are Thou, Lord?" And the Lord replied, "Down here among the people."