Religion: Pews & Pulpits

Lackadaisical U. S. church attendance, and related problems facing U. S. ministers, made news last week as follows:

¶ In Hyannis, Mass., Rev. Carl F. Schultz of the Federated Church listed six causes for empty church pews: Rest, Radio, Riding, Relatives, Roomers, Rum.

¶ In Atlantic City, N. J., Headmaster Frank Ely Gaebelein of Stony Brook (L. I.) School for Boys told a Methodist Protestant conference that little more than 25% of 49,000,000 U. S. young people have ever been in a church. Recent questionnaires, he said, showed that 16,000 of 55,000 school children had never heard of the Ten Commandments; only 2,000 of 18,000 students could name four biblical prophets, only 6,000 the four gospels, only 8,000 any three of Christ's disciples. Headmaster Gaebelein's remedy: "Revive the family altar and the reading of the Bible."

¶ In Atlantic City at a missions meeting of the United Lutheran Church it was revealed that, out of 5,786 United Lutheran congregations in the U. S. and Canada, 50 wished more able ministers, could not find them. The United Lutheran missions board, to prevent such want in the future, adopted an "interneship" plan for seminary graduates. Outstanding candidates for the Lutheran ministry (from eleven seminaries), will serve four months as assistants in successful Lutheran city churches, four months in successful mission churches, four months in unsuccessful mission churches, emerging with a year's experience in about all the problems that may beset a minister.