Editorial January 12, 1899 Issue

One Cause of the Church Depletion

Editor

A RECENT number of the Interior, a leading publication of the Presbyterian Church, published in Chicago, contains a very interesting article entitled "One Cause of the Church Depletion." The article commences thus:—

"Attention has been called a number of times to the disparity between the number of additions to the church and the net increase. Where is the large leak through which thousands of members disappear? It is not in the death rate, nor in dismissals to other churches. Inquiries come to us for an explanation of these mysterious disappearances.

"At the same time, from all parts, especially in the cities and towns, come reports of the inroads of Christian Science upon our churches. Presbyterians and Baptists appear to be suffering more from it than any others. Ministers are astonished and grieved to find that some of their choicest minds and best people are affected by it. Sooner or later they quietly drop out of the churches—vanish, leaving no trace. Those people are no zealots, nor fanatics. They are quiet, and reserved, disposed to avoid attention and to escape even the shadow of a 'scene.'"

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