Rev. Thomas, Why Churches Are Deserted, Sept. 14, 1921

Why Churches Are Deserted. . . Preacher Discusses Reasons for the Failure of People to Attend

London, Sept. 14—Modern ministers are trained as mere “salesmen” instead of christian apostles and that is one reason why the people generally have a luke-warm attitude toward religion, declared the Rev. Dr. J.S. Ladd Thomas of Chicago in an address here today before the Ecumenical Methodist Conference. The speaker said he saw “a real peril” in the effort o denominational leaders to force the ministry into a narrow and mechanical scheme whose direct aim is to produce the largest immediate revenue.

“Poorly attended churches all over the land bear witness to the people’s indifference toward institutional religion,” said Dr. Thomas. “Full churches are the exception rather than the rule. It is the empty church which stares us in the face and more eloquently than words speaks of the attitude of that large group of people who have rejected institutional religion as something unnecessary in their lives.

“They are pleasure mad; they have a mania for materialistic indulgence, while their belief in the modern church as the representative of God and the Ambassador of Christ does not express itself. The real problem,” the speaker indicted, “is how to vitalize the church so that she may authoritatively and convincingly persuade men of their divine inheritance and th emission of sacrificial service.” Asserting that “the average artisan lacks confidence in the church as the champion of the square deal,” he continued:

“The indifference has arisen from a misconception of God—a wrong teaching of God—a wrong teaching of the church and a wrong teaching of Christian life. In many of the critical hours of history the church has failed to impress the world with an authoritative message—which would bring light into the dark hours on the subject of war, the relations of capital and labor and other vital quest5ions which have been baffling the minds of men.”

“Prophets and priests,” Dr. Thomas said, must “challenge the people with a gospel that will restore confidence in the church, trust in Christ and service to the world. The church must not forget her social message but she must also remember that Christianity is a religion of the individual.”

From The Charlotte News, Sept. 14, 1921