Losses Dot Latest Church Membership Tally

The percentage of the American population that belongs to churches and synagogues has declined for the first time in almost a century, according to statistics in the 1963 Yearbook of American Churches published by the National Council of Churches.

The decline, only two-tenths of one per cent, came as no surprise, however, inasmuch as the post-war church membership boom has been leveling off in recent years.

Total church and synagogue membership for 1961 was reported as 116,109,929, or 63.4 per cent of the total population, as compared to the 1960 percentage of 63.6.

Two of the top ten U. S. Protestant denominations showed net losses for 1961. United Presbyterians reported 3,242,479 members compared with 3,259,011 the previous year, and the Protestant Episcopal Church was down from 3,444,265 to 3,269,325.

Records of church membership since 1850 show that a percentage decrease occurred only once before, in 1870, when the drop (in a 10-year period) was from 23 to 18 per cent.

Another factor which indicates a leveling off is that for the first time since World War II percentage gains in membership have fallen below the estimated population increase. The 1961 membership increase of 1,660,712 amounted to a 1.4 per cent rise as compared to an estimated population gain of 1.6 per cent.

Although both Protestants and Roman Catholics reported an increase in membership, their percentages of the total population showed a decline. Both were reduced by two-tenths of one per cent.

Of the 258 religious bodies supplying membership figures, 228 were Protestant with a total membership of 64,434,966. This was a gain of 766,131 or 1.2 per cent over 1960.

Protestant churches also reported a loss of 3.1 per cent of the total Sunday school enrollment.

Compilers of the yearbook (members of the NCC’s Bureau of Research and Survey) stress that church statistics must be examined with the foreknowledge that not all churches reporting employ the same recording system. Some include infants and all family members while others record only those received into membership by baptism. The new yearbook carries statistics furnished by 258 religious bodies of all faiths, one less than reported in 1960 and three more than in 1959.

NEWS / A fornightly report of developments in religion

PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONAL TOTALS

Catholic membership was given as 42,876,665, an increase of 771,765 or 1.9 per cent over last year’s total.

Membership in Jewish congregations showed a decline for the second time in two years. The 1961 total was 5,365,000 compared with 5,367,000 in 1960, and 5,500,000 in 1959.

Eastern Orthodox Churches reported 2,800,401 members, an increase of 101,738. The Old Catholic Church, Polish National Catholic Church, and the Armenian Church of North America had a combined membership of 572,897, almost 17,000 less than in 1960.

The 31 member communions of the National Council of Churches reported a total membership of 40,318,430, a slight increase over last year’s figure of 40,185,813.

The yearbook listed the total number of ordained persons in 236 reporting bodies as 381,252. The total number of pastors having charges was given as 247,009.

The total number of local churches reported was 319,670, compared with 318,697 for the previous year.

Some 228 religious bodies reported 286,661 Sunday or Sabbath schools in 1961, with 3,715,221 teachers and officers and a total enrollment of 44,434,291.

Meanwhile, figures contained in the newly-released 1962 World Mission Map of the Catholic Students’ Mission Crusade show that Catholics throughout the world total some 558,221,000; about 18.2 per cent of the global population.

The total is a numerical increase of nearly eight million over the previous year, but represents a percentage decline of about one-tenth of one per cent.

The students’ map statistics are widely recognized as the most authoritative source of Roman Catholic population figures.

Already somewhat lean statistics covering large areas of Christendom are beginning to prompt concern. At a meeting of denominational leaders in Nashville last month Executive Secretary James L. Sullivan of the Southern Baptist Convention Sunday School Board posed the question:

“We have been emphasizing the functions and planning projects, but where are the people?”

Preliminary statistical reports indicated that Southern Baptists, leaders in Sunday school enrollment totals in the United States, increased only 54,000 in membership during the 1961–62 associational year. This apparently was the lowest numerical increase since the mid-1940s.

Preliminary data was said to indicate that Southern Baptist Training Union enrollment increased during 1961–62, but that it too failed to make an annual increase similar to previous years.

Methodists outnumber members of any other religious affiliation in the 88th Congress, which convenes January 9. A total of 102 lawmakers—78 in the House and 24 in the Senate—list themselves as Methodists.

Roman Catholics, who were the most numerous in the 87th Congress, are second this year with 88 in the House and 11 in the Senate for a total of 99.

Here is the current makeup of Congress according to religious affiliation (Senators are italicized):

Methodist

Abele (R.-Ohio)

Abernethy (D.-Miss.)

Adair (R.-Ind.)

Albert (D.-Okla.)

Arends (R.-Ill.)

Aspinall (D.-Colo.)

Avery (R.-Kan.)

Ayres (R.-Ohio)

Bass (D.-Tenn.)

Bayh (D.-Ind.)

Belcher (R.-Okla.)

Bible (D.-Nev.)

Boggs(R.-Del.)

Brademas (D.-Ind.)

Brooks (D.-Tex.)

Broomfield (R.-Mich.)

Brotzman (R.-Colo.)

Brown (R.-Ohio)

Burkhalter (D.-Calif.)

Cameron (D.-Calif.)

Collier (R.-Ill.)

Colmer (D.-Miss.)

Corman (D.-Calif.)

Cramer (R.-Fla.)

Denton (D.-Ind.)

Devine (R.-Ohio)

Dole (R.-Kan.)

Dowdy (D.-Tex.)

Eastland (D.-Miss.)

Elliott (D.-Ala.)

Engle (D.-Calif.)

Flynt (D.-Ga.)

Foreman (R.-Tex.)

Fulton (D.-Tenn.)

Grant (D.-Ala.)

Haley (D.-Fla.)

Halleck (R.-Ind.)

Hardy (D.-Va.)

Hawkins (D.-Calif.)

Herlong (D.-Fla.)

Hickenlooper (R.-Iowa)

Hill (D.-Ala.)

Holland (D.-Fla.)

Inouye (D.-Hawaii)

Jennings (D.-Va.)

Jonas (R.-N.C.)

Jones (D.-Ala.)

Jordan, B. E. (D.-N.C.)

Jordan, L. B. (R.-Idaho)

Kilburn (R.-N.Y.)

Kilgore (D.-Tex.)

Kornegay (D.-N.C.)

Long (D.-La.)

Mahon (D.-Tex.)

McGovern (D.-S.D.)

McLoskey (R.-Il)

Meader (R.-Mic.)

Mechem (R.-N.M.)

Metcalf (D.-Mont.)

Mills (D.-Ark.)

Moore (R.-W. Va.)

Morgan (D.-i a.)

Mundt (R.-S.D.)

Murray (D.-Tenn.)

Nelson (D.-Wisc.)

Olsen (D.-Mont.)

Pilcher (D.-Ga.)

Pool (D.-Tex.)

Quillen (R.-Tenn.)

Randall (D.-Mo.)

Rhodes (R.-Ariz.)

Rich (R.-Ohio)

Roberts (D.-Tex.)

Robison (R.-N.Y.)

Rogers (D.-Fla.)

Russell (D.-Ga.)

Schenck (R.-Ohio)

Shriver (R.-Kan.)

Sheppard (D.-Calif.)

Sikes (D.-Fla.)

Skubitz (R.-Kan.)

Smathers (D.-Fla.)

Mrs. Smith (R.-Maine)

Smith, H. A. (R.-Calif.)

Smith, N. (D.-Iowa)

Sparkman (D.-Ala.)

Staggers (D.-W. Va.)

Steed (D.-Okla.)

Stubblefield (D.-Ky.)

Talcott (R.-Calif.)

Thomas (D.-Tex.)

Thornberry (D.-Tex.)

Tower (R.-Tex.)

Trimble (D.-Ark.)

Tupper (R.-Maine)

Vinson (D.-Ga.)

Waggonner (D.-La.)

Wallhauser (R.-N.J.)

Wharton (R.-N.Y.)

Whitener (D.-N.C.)

Williams (R.-Del.)

Young (D.-Ohio)

Roman Catholic

Addabbo (D.-N.Y.)

Barrett (D.-Pa.)

Bates (R.-Mass.)

Becker (R.-N.Y.)

Bennett (R.-Mich.)

Blatnik (D.-Minn.)

Boggs (D.-La.)

Boland (D.-Mass.)

Buckley (D.-N.Y.)

Burke (D.-Mass.)

Byrne (D.-Pa.)

Byrnes (R.-Wis.)

Cahill (R.-N.J.)

Carey (D.-N.Y.)

Clancy (R.-Ohio)

Conte (R.-Mass.)

Daddario (D.-Conn.)

Daniels (D.-N.J.)

Delaney (D.-N.Y.)

Dent (D.-Pa.)

Derwinski (R.-Ill.)

Dingell (D.-Mich.)

Dodd (D.-Conn.)

Donohue (D.-Mass.)

Dulski (D.-N.Y.)

Fallon (D.-Md.)

Feighan (D.-Ohio)

Finnegan (D.-Ill.)

Fino (R.-N.Y.)

Flood (D.-Pa.)

Fogarty (D.-R.I.)

Gallagher (D.-N.J.)

Giaimo (D.-Conn.)

Gonzalez (D.-Tex.)

Grabowski (D.-Conn.)

Green (D.-Pa.)

Grover (R.-N.Y.)

Hart (D.-Mich.)

Healey (D.-N.Y.)

Hebert (D.-La.)

Hoffman (R.-Ill.)

Holland (D.-Pa.)

Mrs. Kelly (D.-N.Y.)

Kennedy (D.-Mass.)

Keogh (D.-N.Y.)

King (R.-N.Y.)

Kirwan (D.-Ohio)

Kluczynski (D.-Ill.)

Lausche (D.-Ohio)

Leggett (D.-Calif.)

Lesinski (D.-Mich.)

Libonati (D.-Ill.)

Macdonald (D.-Mass.)

Madden (D.-Ind.)

Mansfield (D.-Mont.)

McCarthy (D.-Minn.)

McCormack (D.-Mass.)

McDade (R.-Pa.)

McIntyre (D.-N.H.)

McNamara (D.-Mich.)

Miller (R.-Iowa)

Miller, G. P. (D.-Calif.)

Miller, W. E. (R.-N.Y.)

Minish (D.-N.J.)

Monagan (D.-Conn.)

Montoya (D.-N.M.)

Murphy, J. M. (D.-N.Y.)

Murphy, W. T. (D.-Ill.)

Muskie (D.-Maine)

Nedzi (D.-Mich.)

O’Brien, L. W. (D.-N.Y.)

O’Brien, T. J. (D.-Ill.)

O’Hara, B. (D.-Ill.)

O’Hara, J.G. (D.-Mich.)

O’Konski (R.-Wis.)

Onge (D.-Conn.)

O’Neill (D.-Mass.)

Pastore (D.-R.I.)

Patten (D.-N.J.)

Philbin (D.-Mass.)

Price (D.-Ill.)

Pucinski (D.-Ill.)

Rodino (D.-N.J.)

Rooney (D.-N.Y.)

Rostenkowski (D.-Ill.)

Roybal (D.-Calif.)

Ryan, H. M. (D.-Mich.)

Ryan, W. F. (D.-N.Y.)

Shelley (D.-Calif.)

Sickles (D.-Md.)

St. Germain (D.-R.I.)

Mrs. Sullivan (D.-Mo.)

Thompson, F. (D.-N.J.)

Thompson, T.A. (D.-La.)

Vanik (D.-Ohio)

White (D.-Idaho)

Willis (D.-La.)

Young (D.-Tex.)

Zablocki (D.-Wis.)

Presbyterian

Anderson (D.-N.M.)

Auchincloss (R.-N.J.)

Baker (R.-Tenn.)

Baldwin (R.-Calif.)

Barry (R.-N.Y.)

Bell (R.-Calif.)

Bolton (R.-Ohio)

Bow (R.-Ohio)

Brock (R.-Tenn.)

Bromwell (R.-Iowa)

Case (R.-N.J.)

Chelf (D.-Ky.)

Church (D.-Idaho)

Clark (D.-Pa.)

Corbett (R.-Pa.)

Curtis (R.-Neb.)

Dague (R.-Pa.)

Davis (D.-Ga.)

Derounian (R.-N.Y.)

Edmondson (D.-Okla.)

Ellender (D.-La.)

Ervin (D.-N.C.)

Fountain (D.-N.C.)

Fulton (R.-Pa.)

Fuqua (D.-Fla.)

Gibbons (D.-Fla.)

Glenn (R.-N.J.)

Gross (R.-Iowa)

Gubser (R.-Calif.)

Harsha (R.-Ohio)

Harvey (R.-Mich.)

Hays (D.-Ohio)

Hemphill (D.-S.C.)

Henderson (D.-N.C.)

Hoeven (R.-Iowa)

Horan (R.-Wash.)

Horton (R.-N.Y.)

Jackson (D.-Wash.)

Jarman (D.-Okla.)

Johnson (D.-Calif.)

Karth (D.-Minn.)

Keating (R.-N.Y.)

Knox (R.-Mich.)

Kyl (R.-Iowa)

Laird (R.-Wis.)

Lindsay (R.-N.Y.)

Long (D.-Md.)

MacGregor (R.-Minn.)

Marsh (D.-Va.)

Martin (R.-Neb.)

Matthews (D.-Fla.)

McCulloch (R.-Ohio)

McDowell (D.-Del.)

McGee (R.-Wyo.)

Milliken (R.-Pa.)

Morris (D.-N.M.)

Norblad (R.-Ore.)

Pearson (R.-Kan.)

Pillion (R.-N.Y.)

Poff (R.-Va.)

Purcell (D.-Tex.)

Reid, O. (R.-N.Y.)

Mrs. Reid, C. (R.-Ill.)

Rumsfeld (R.-Ill.)

Scott (D.-N.C.)

Secrest (D.-Ohio)

Slack (D.-W.Va.)

Springer (R.-Ill.)

Stennis (D.-Miss.)

Stephens (D.-Ga.)

Stinson (R.-Wash.)

Stratton (D.-N.Y.)

Thomson (R.-Wis.)

Ullman (D.-Ore.)

Utt (R.-Calif.)

Weaver (R.-Pa.)

Weltner (D.-Ga.)

Westland (R.-Wash.)

Whalley (R.-Pa.)

Whitten (D.-Miss.)

Wright (D.-Tex.)

Baptist

Abbitt (D.-Va.)

Andrews (D.-Ala.)

Ashbrook (R.-Ohio)

Ashmore (D.-S.C.)

Beckworth (D.-Tex.)

Broyhill (R.-N.C.)

Byrd (D.-W. Va.)

Cannon (D.-Mo.)

Carlson (R.-Kan.)

Chenoweth (R.-Colo.)

Cooley (D.-N.C.)

Cooper (R.-Ky.)

Davis (D.-Tenn.)

Diggs (D.-Mich.)

Dorn (D.-S.C.)

Forrester (D.-Ga.)

Gary (D.-Va.)

Gathings (D.-Ark.)

Gore (D.-Tenn.)

Gray (D.-Ill.)

Hagan (D.-Ga.)

Hall (R.-Mo.)

Harris (D.-Ark.)

Ichord (D.-Mo.)

Johnston (D.-S.C.)

Kefauver (D.-Tenn.)

Kerr (D.-Okla.)

Landrum (D.-Ga.)

Lennon (D.-N.C.)

Lipscomb (R.-Calif.)

Long (D.-La.)

Long (D.-Mo.)

McClellan (D.-Ark.)

McIntire (R.-Maine)

McMillan (D.-S.C.)

Natcher (D.-Ky.)

Nix (D.-Pa.)

Passman (D.-La.)

Patman (D.-Tex.)

Pepper (D.-Fla.)

Perkins (D.-Ky.)

Powell (D.-N.Y.)

Rains (D.-Ala.)

Randolph (D.-W. Va.)

Riehlman (R.-N.Y.)

Roberts (D.-Ala.)

Robertson (D.-Va.)

Rogers (D.-Colo.)

Schwengel (R.-Iowa)

Shipley (D.-Ill.)

Siler (R.-Ky.)

Talmadge (D.-Ga.)

Taylor (D.-N.C.)

Teague, C. M. (R.-Calif.)

Teague, O. E. (D.-Tex.)

Thurmond (D.-S.C.)

Tuck (D.-Va.)

Tuten (D.-Ga.)

Williams (D.-Miss.)

Wilson, B. (R.-Calif.)

Wilson, C. (D.-Calif.)

Wilson, E. (R.-Ind.)

Winstead (D.-Miss.)

Yarborough (D.-Tex.)

Episcopal

Allott (R.-Colo.)

Ashley (D.-Ohio)

Beall (R.-Md.)

Betts (R.-Ohio)

Bolling (D.-Mo.)

Bolton (R.-Ohio)

Bonner (D.-N.C.)

Brewster (D.-Md.)

Brown (D.-Calif.)

Byrd (D.-Va.)

Cohelan (D.-Calif.)

Cunningham (R.-Nebr.)

Curtin (R.-Pa.)

Deerlin (D.-Calif.)

Dominick (R.-Colo.)

Downing (D.-Va.)

Ellsworth (R.-Kan.)

Frelinghuysen (R.-N.J.)

Ford (R.-Mich.)

Gavin (R.-Pa.)

Goldwater (R.-Ariz.)

Goodell (R.-N.Y.)

Hayden (D.-Ariz.)

Karsten (D.-Mo.)

Mrs. Kee (D.-W. Va.)

Hanna (D.-Calif.)

Hechler (D.-W. Va.)

Hosmer (R.-Calif.)

Huddleston (D.-Ala.)

King (D.-Calif.)

Kuchel (R.-Calif.)

Kunkel (R.-Pa.)

Lankford (D.-Md.)

Mailliard (R.-Calif.)

Mathias (R.-Md.)

Matsunaga (D.-Hawaii)

Mrs. May (R.-Wash.)

McFall (D.-Calif.)

Monroney (D.-Okla.)

Moorhead (D.-Pa.)

Morrison (D.-La.)

Morton (R.-Ky.)

Morton (R.-Md.)

Pell (D.-R.I.)

Pelly (R.-Wash.)

Proxmire (D.-Wis.)

Reifel (R.-S.D.)

Reuss (D.-Wis.)

Rivers, L. M. (D.-S.C.)

Rivers, R.J. (D.-Alaska)

Rogers (D.-Tex.)

Roosevelt (D.-Calif.)

Schneebeli (R.-Pa.)

Scott (R.-Pa.)

Selden (D.-Ala.)

Short (R.-N.D.)

Simpson (R.-Wyo.)

Smith (D.-Va.)

Mrs. St. George (R.-N.Y.)

Symington (D.-Mo.)

Thompson, (D.-Tex.)

Widnall (R.-N.J.)

Watson (D.-S.C.)

Wydler (R.-N.Y.)

Congregational Christian

Battin (R.-Mont.)

Berry (R.-S.D.)

Burdick (D.-N.D.)

Cotton (R.-N.H.)

Doyle (D.-Calif.)

Findley (R.-Ill.)

Fong (R.-Hawaii)

Fraser (D.-Minn.)

Griffin (R.-Mich.)

Gurney (R.-Fla.)

Humphrey (D.-Minn.)

Johansen (R.-Mich.)

Keith (R.-Mass.)

Morse (D.-Ore.)

Morse (R.-Mass.)

Mosher (R.-Ohio)

Osmers (R.-N.J.)

Pike (D.-N.Y.)

Prouty (R.-Vt.)

Schadeberg (R.-Wis.)

Sibal (R.-Conn.)

Stafford (R.-Vt.)

Wyman (R.-N.H.)

Younger (R.-Calif.)

‘Protestant’

Aiken (R.-Vt.)

Baring (D.-Nev.)

Bartlett (D.-Alaska)

Casey (D.-Tex.)

Chamberlain (R.-Mich.)

Cleveland (R.-N.H.)

Duncan (D.-Ore.)

Mrs. Dwyer (R.-N.J.)

Fascell (D.-Fla.)

Gill (D.-Hawaii)

Mrs. Griffiths (D.-Mich.)

Hagen (D.-Calif.)

McClory (R.-Ill.)

Minshall (R.-Ohio)

Moss (D.-Calif.)

Ostertag (R.-N.Y.)

Pirnie (R.-N.Y.)

Snyder (R.-Ky.)

Taft (R.-Ohio)

Van Pelt (R.-Wis.)

Lutheran

Beermann (R.-Nebr.)

Broyhill (R.-Va.)

Bruce (R.-Ind.)

Hartke (D.-Ind.)

Jensen (R.-Iowa)

Johnson (D.-Wis.)

Langen (R.-Minn.)

Magnuson (D.-Wash.)

Martin (R.-Calif.)

Nelsen (R.-Minn.)

Nygaard (R.-N.D.)

Olson (D.-Minn.)

Quie (R.-Minn.)

Rhodes (D.-Pa.)

Senner (D.-Ariz.)

Tollefson (R.-Wash.)

Walter (D.-Pa.)

Disciples Of Christ

Alger (R.-Tex.)

Bennett (D.-Fla.)

Fulbright (D.-Ark.)

Mrs. Green (D.-Ore.)

Harvey (R.-Ind.)

Holifield (D.-Calif.)

Hull (D.-Mo.)

Jones (D.-Mo.)

Latta (R.-Ohio)

Roudebush (R.-Ind.)

Watts (D.-Ky.)

Wickersham (D.-Okla.)

Jewish

Celler (D.-N.Y.)

Farbstein (D.-N.Y.);

Firedel (D.-Md.)

Gilbert (D.-N.Y.)

Halpern (R.-N.Y.)

Javits (R.-N.Y.)

Joelson (D.-N.J.)

Multer (D.-N.Y.)

Ribicoff (D.-Conn.)

Rosenthal (D.-N.Y.)

Toll (D.-Pa.)

Unitarian

Clark (D.-Pa.)

Curtis (R.-Mo.)

Edwards (D.-Calif.)

Gruening (D.-Alaska)

Harrison (R.-Wyo.)

Hruska (R.-Neb.)

Neuberger (D.-Ore.)

Saltonstall (R.-Mass.)

Staebler (D.-Mich.)

Williams (D.-N.J.)

Latter Day Saints

Bennett (R.-Utah)

Burton (R.-Utah)

Cannon (D.-Nev.)

Harding (D.-Idaho)

Lloyd (R.-Utah)

Moss (D.-Utah)

Udall (D.-Ariz.)

Young (R.-N.D.)

Others

APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN: Michel (R.-Ill.); BRETHREN IN CHRIST: Roush (D.-Ind.); CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST: Dawson (D.-Ill.), Mrs. Hansen (D.-Wash.), Hutchinson (R.-Mich.); CHURCHES OF CHRIST: Burleson (D.-Tex.), Evins (D.-Tenn.), Fisher (D.-Tex.), Sisk (D.-Calif.); CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN: Everett (D.-Tenn.); EVANGELICAL AND RE-FORMED: Garmatz (D.-Md.), Saylor (R.-Pa.); EVANGELICAL FREE: Anderson (R.-Ill.), Cederberg (R.-Mich.); EVANGELICAL UNITED BRETHREN: Goodling (R.-Pa.); REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA: Dirksen (R.-Ill.); SCHWENKFELDER: Schweiker (R.-Pa.); SOCIETY OF FRIENDS: Bray (R.-Ind.), Douglas (D.-Ill.); UNIVERSALIST: Poage (D.-Tex.); NOT LISTED: Kastenmeier (D.-Wis.); Martin (R.-Mass.).

Governors’ Lineup

Eleven U. S. state governors list a Methodist affiliation or preference as of the beginning of 1963. Nine governors are Roman Catholics, eight are Baptists, seven are Presbyterians, and another seven are Episcopalians. Here is a complete breakdown:

Methodist: Anderson (R.-Kan.), Bryant (D.-Fla.), Clement (D.-Tenn.), Connally (D.-Tex.), Fannin (R.-Ariz.), Hughes (D.-Iowa), Russell (D.-S.C.), Sanford (D.-N.C.), Smylie (R.-Idaho), Tawes (D.-Md.), Wallace (D-Ala.).

Catholics: Brown (D.-Calif.), Burns (D. Hawaii), Campbell (D.-N. M.), Dempsey (D.-Conn.), Egan (D.-Alaska), Hughes (D.-N.J.), King (D.-N.FL), Reynolds (D.-Wis.), Rossellini (D.-Wash.).

Baptist: Barnett (D.-Miss.), Combs (D.-Ky.), Davis (D.-La.), Faubus (D.-Ark.), Hatfield (R.-Ore.), Rockefeller (R.-N.Y.), Sanders (D.-Ga.), Sawyer (D.-Nev.).

Presbyterians: Babcock (D.-Mont.), Barron (D.-W. Va.), Bellmon (R.-Okla.), Dalton (D.-Mo.), Guy (D. N.D.), Rhodes (R.-Ohio), Scranton (R.-Pa.).

Episcopalians: Carvel (D.-Del.), Chafee (R.-R. I.), Hansen (R.-Wyo.), Harrison (D.-Va.), Hoff (D.-Vt.), Morrison (D.-Neb.), Peabody (D.-Mass.).

Congregational Christian: Kerner (D.-Ill.), Reed (R.-Maine).

Latter Day Saints: Clyde (D.-Utah.), Romney (R.-Mich.).

Lutheran: Anderson (R.-Minn.), Gubbrud (R.-S. D.).

Disciples of Christ: Welsh (D.-Ind.).

United Church of Christ: Love (R.-Colo.).

The Battle Begins

With the convening of the 88th Congress, controversy over possible federal aid to religious schools promises to flare up again.

A general aid-to-education bill was defeated in 1961, and a college aid bill was rejected in 1962. In each case, a religious issue was involved.

The Kennedy administration, nonetheless, is still determined to see a bill enacted for aid to education. The strategy is not yet certain, but first reports suggested that one approach being considered would give federal planning grants to states to enable them to determine their own elementary and secondary school needs. In this way the states would have to wrestle with the problems of separation of church and state and would keep the major responsibility for decisions out of Washington.

The Court Rests

The U. S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Kentucky’s Sunday closing law last month. A one-sentence order dismissing the appeal of three store owners cited want of a substantial federal question. Justice William O. Douglas, who takes the most extreme view of church-state separation of any member of the court, filed a dissenting opinion.

In another ruling, the court agreed to hear a South Carolina court opinion that a Seventh-day Adventist properly was denied unemployment benefits for refusing to work on Saturdays.

Still being weighed by the highest court in the land were several all-important cases on the constitutionality of Bible reading and prayers in public schools.

Surplus Favoritism?

Chester B. Lund, supervisor of the federal government’s surplus disposal program, was quoted last month as saying that the transfer of U. S. acreage and buildings to church bodies has not resulted, as charged by some, in favoritism to the Roman Catholic Church.

Lund’s contention was promptly disputed by Protestants and Other Americans United for Separation of Church and State. A POAU statement referred to the “downright dishonesty of Mr. Lund’s information.”

Lund, in an interview in New York, said disposal of surplus properties to church groups over the past 18 years is tabulated this way:

Roman Catholic: Receipt of real estate with an original value of $11,775,274. The property was appraised at a “fair present value” of $8,849,632. Discounts of up to 100 per cent, Lund said, brought total payments up to $133,227.

Protestant: Receipt of real estate and buildings with an original value of $25,211,632. The property was appraised

at a “fair present value” of $8,375,192. The sum actually paid after discounts were applied amounted to $398,662.

Lund gave the figures to the New York Herald-Tribune. In discussing the amount of property released to church bodies, he said that the Catholics are ahead, with Baptists and Methodists not far behind.

Methodists, it was reported, received the largest single property transfer in the 18-year history of the federal program when the government turned over a General Electric defense plant having an original value of $8,088,143. Actual payment was $11,561.

POAU said the General Electric plant went to Syracuse University, which is Methodist-related somewhat peripherally. “On such a basis,” POAU added, “many of the so-called Protestant donations turn out to be donations to private, nonsectarian colleges which have only a nominal church tie.”

Since 1944, when U. S. surplus disposal began, 527 transactions involving sale or grant of property to religious bodies have been recorded. Lund, a Lutheran and one-time deacon, said Catholics were involved in 209. Seventh-day Adventists were second with 125.

Ncc Housekeeping

Encouraging frigid temperatures in Louisville, Kentucky, last month, the policy-making General Board of the National Council of Churches seemed quite content to remain indoors for housekeeping chores. Lack of a big issue for the two-day meeting doubtless accounted in part for absence of out-of-town secular-press reporters (though regular coverage given these thrice-yearly meetings is generally slight compared to that accorded major denominational conventions), but the sessions highlighted the fact that through the year the Second Vatican Council has siphoned funds from newspaper travel-expense money which ordinarily would have gone to covering Protestant meetings. In the rivalry for the travel dollar, the Protestants should do better in 1963.

Some General Board difference of opinion was sparked by presentation of a preliminary report of a special committee which is restudying the National Council’s structure and function, to which end the Rockefeller Brothers Fund has provided $100,000. One NCC official indicated that greater centralization is envisaged, with more General Board control over the various council units. The hope is that the denominations will thus send the best-equipped sort of delegates to the General Board. A Methodist layman objected to what he termed “this strong move” toward centralization and warned that the NCC could lose members over it, with a consequent “weakening of the ecumenical movement.”

General Board deliberation on this subject is planned for its next meeting, to take place in February at Denver.

NCC General Secretary Roy G. Ross reported that council staff members, at the request of the General Constituent Membership Committee, “have developed personal ties with leaders of a number of those denominations which are not members of the Council but whose boards are members of some of the Council’s divisions. These ties are resulting in a growing interest in full Council membership.”

Dr. Ross also noted embarrassment among leaders of NCC member churches over “wide differences of conviction” on church-state relations as dramatized by the Supreme Court decision on the New York State Regents’ prayer. He pointed to the irony in NCC inability “to be definitive in stating any common position on behalf of our member churches” even though special study has been carried on since 1953. He said the NCC will be poorly prepared to face questions arising from new Supreme Court decisions until the NCC conference on church-state relations to be held in 1964.

Louisville actions of the General Board included:

• Approval of a net budget of $15,329,270 in 1963.

• Allocation of $33,000 toward the development of a Protestant center at the New York World’s Fair of 1964 and 1965.

• Election as head of the Washington, D. C., office of the Council, Dr. Vernon L. Ferwerda, now director of U.N.-U.S. interpretation in NCC’s Department of International Affairs.

Board members also heard plans for a three-week visit to this country in February by some 20 church leaders from the Soviet Union. This will return a visit to Russia last summer by 11 NCC representatives. Plans call for the Russian churchmen to visit the February General Board meeting in Denver. F. F.

Presbyterian Precedent?

When the Gunton-Temple Memorial Presbyterian Church leaves Washington, D. C., for a suburban Maryland location, it will leave behind $50,000 somewhat reluctantly.

The bequest was ordered by the Presbytery of Washington as a condition of its approval of relocation plans. Members of the church argued that the sum of $90,000 originally attached to relocation approval would hamper establishment of the church elsewhere. Others argued that the church had an obligation to its old locale.

The 80-year-old congregation, which currently has a total membership of 291, reportedly will receive $360,000 for its old property, which is being sold to a Negro Baptist group.

There was no debate over the advisability of the move itself. The $50,000 will go toward helping other Presbyterian churches in the area as well as toward interdenominational projects deemed worthy.

Belated Review

Not even a work of “dignified mediocrity,” says writer T. S. Eliot, referring to the language of the New English Bible (New Testament), whose world sales are pushing the five million mark. Eliot declares that from a panel representing the most distinguished modern scholars has come “something which astonishes in its combination of the vulgar, the trivial and the pedantic,” causing us to ask in alarm, “What is happening to the English language?”

The 74-year-old Nobel prizewinner, writing in London’s Sunday Telegraph, went on to give examples. He was especially critical of “Do not feed your pearls to pigs,” which he concluded was not only undignified and gauche, but also made the figure of speech ludicrous. “There is all the difference in the world,” he suggests, “between saying that pigs do not appreciate the value of pearls, and saying, what the youngest and most illiterate among us know, that they cannot be nourished on pearls.” Some passages of the new version he finds lack clarity: it is, for example, small comfort to be told, “How blest are those who know that they are poor.” He deals with a number of other infelicities, and recommends for further reading a leaflet published by the Trinitarian Bible Society which gives “a useful list of specimens of bad taste.”

Turning to the translators’ introduction, Eliot points out that “no attempt is made to substantiate the assertion that the rate of change of English usage has accelerated, or to inform us in what respects English usage is changing.” The writers evidently had not considered that change could sometimes be for the worse, and “it is as much our business to attempt to arrest deterioration and combat corruption of our language, as to accept change.” After discussing the difference between public and private use of the NEB, he suggests that when read in church it will be just as difficult to grasp as, and will not have the verbal beauty of, the King James Version. The conclusion of his article will make the fur and hair fly. While approving the stress on classical scholarship, he nevertheless adds: “It would also be good if those who have authority to translate a dead language could show understanding and appreciation of their own.”

Bells And Smells

Parliament’s relationship with the Church of England came up in the House of Commons last month. A motion introduced by an Irish farmer, John Maginnis, was believed to be pointed toward a recent letter to Parliament dispatched by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, who called for revision of Canon Law and the Prayer Book (see “Uneasiness in the Camp,” CHRISTIANITY TODAY News, November 23, 1962).

The motion read: “That this House is mindful of the fact that the majority of the people of this country adhere to the Christian religion and that the Church of England is by law established; and is concerned that the relationship between Parliament and Church shall, in the interests of both, be effectively maintained.”

There was, of course, more in this than met the eye. Maginnis himself made it clearer: because of the Established Church’s many privileges in England, he thought it right that the supremacy of Parliament should be effectively maintained. “We must get back to the Bible and the teachings of the Holy Scriptures,” he added. “We must get back to the teaching of justification by faith and everything embodied in our great, historic Church of England.”

The Commons debate touched upon widespread deviations from the Book of Common Prayer, and Maginnis suggested that such irregularities have produced serious tensions in the church. Cited was a list of 48 churches in the diocese of London alone where masses were advertised as part of the service. Maginnis also noted that the Bishop of Southwark, Dr. Mervyn Stockwood, had celebrated a “Solemn Pontifical High Mass.” Maginnis charged that the Church of England was in a state of anarchy, and proposed the establishment of a royal commission to investigate.

Mr. Chuter Ede, a former Home Secretary, said he saw no sign that the majority of the people of Britain adhered to the Christian religion, and deplored a system which tied a church for expressions of doctrine to decisions of the House of Commons. Mr. Iain Macleod, Leader of the House, stating that charges of illegality in Church of England services were completely valid, agreed that it was wise to postpone discussion of details until the House discussed an Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure early in 1963. Mr. John Cordle, a prominent evangelical, pointed out that many laymen disliked the way in which the Communion service was “monkeyed around” by some clergy. Parishioners were subjected to “bells and smells”—and there were times when it was impossible to follow the service from the Prayer Book.

This can be regarded as a dry run in anticipation of the future full-scale debate on kindred topics. Although the participants handled a provocative subject in a surprisingly quiet and reasonable manner, the fact that the motion passed unopposed might well set episcopal hearts beating faster at the thought of things to come.

J. D. D.

Word From Rome

How serious was the recent illness of Pope John XXIII?

“Alarmist news” reports in certain journals are “completely unfounded,” Professor Antonio Gasbarrini, the pontiff’s personal physician, declared in a Vatican City interview.

Later, an official of Osservatore Romano, Vatican City newspaper, was quoted as saying that “there is every reason to hope that the Pope does not have cancer, but rather a weakening of the blood vessels of the stomach.”

Meanwhile, Osservatore Romano also disclosed two weeks after the close of the first session of the Second Vatican Council that the council fathers had voted to allow certain changes in the Mass. Bishops with the approval of the Holy See may now change many parts of the Mass from Latin into the language spoken by the people. The council voted to let such bodies as national and regional bishops conferences decide whether the change should be made. Also provided by the action of the council fathers on December 7, the day before they recessed, is adaptation of the Mass to the culture and traditions of some areas.

Anti-Christian Law

Seventeen United Presbyterian and Reformed missionaries from the United States have been ordered by the Sudanese government to leave that Moslem country under its new anti-Christian missionary law. Six already have left the country and the remaining 11 must quit their posts by January 19.

The Sudan law requires that every missionary society or missionary be licensed annually to carry on any activity. Under this law, church schools have been confiscated, resident missionaries expelled or arrested, and contact restricted between Christian clergymen and the people.

Other provisions of the law state that Christian children may not be baptized without permission of police or village chiefs.