"Now it is obvious that this system must bring about an unfortunate distribution of labor and a great waste of power; in some localities multiplying churches to excess, and leaving other regions destitute; making the town congregations weak, from their very multitude, and losing the happy moment in communities that are just forming from the want of the right men to occupy them at the right moment; while many laborers abuse as much time and strength in working against each other as they use in working for Christ. So churches are born weak, and are compelled to worry through a long and fretful infancy, are kept on a diet irritatingly low, and compelled to struggle, with slow and uncertain growth, toward a maturity which must come late, and may come never." _Statistics._ Here follow statistics, the details of which we omit, and give these as the results, as seen in _three_ of the larger denominations, viz.: the O. S. Presbyterian, the N. S. Presbyterian, and the Congregational. In this table is shown the _number of churches_, with a given number of members to each church. -------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------------ | Not | Not | | | | | more | more | More | More | More | | than | than | than | than | than | Total Number of Members. | 50. | 100. | 100. | 200. | 300. | reporting. -------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------------ Presbyterian O.S. | 1239 | 1907 | 763 | 278 | 101 | 2670 Presbyterian N.S. | 743 | 1180 | 432 | 163 | 70 | 1612 Congregational | 696 | 1219 | 752 | 245 | 83 | 1971 +------+------+------+------+------+------------ Total of three | | | | | | denominations | 2678 | 4306 | 1947 | 686 | 254 | 6253 -------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------------ "_Proportion of strong and weak Churches._ "More than _one fifth_, therefore, of all the churches connected with these denominations may be counted as _very weak_, none of them having more than twenty-five members, and the average falling considerably below that number. Nearly _one fourth_ may be counted as _weak_, their membership ranging between twenty-five and fifty; and these, taken together with those that are weaker yet, constitute nearly forty-three per cent. of the whole. More than two thirds of all the churches do not contain over one hundred members. Those that exceed one hundred are about thirty-one per cent., and those that exceed two hundred are not quite eleven per cent. of the entire number. "_Present Supply of Ministers inadequate._ "The whole number of ministers in these three denominations is 6150. The number of pastors and stated supplies (errors excepted) is 4336, leaving 1814 to be classed as without charge, as professors, teachers, editors, secretaries, etc.