In the first parish served as pastor by Mr. Gill, the soil and the people were very poor. The moral conditions, because of a church situation very similar to that of the neglected communities of southeastern Ohio, were bad. But the response to the work of a church which gave good service was all that could have been anticipated. Even the economic conditions were notably improved as a result of the church's work, while the moral change in the community was striking, rapid, and enduring. Men familiar with home missionary work regard such results as normal. Where the conditions are as unfavorable as they are in the Eighteen Counties, it is unquestionably the duty of the church as a whole, and especially of the churches of the prosperous districts, to assist the weaker churches not only with supervision and advice, but also by helping to provide well-trained and well-equipped ministers, thus guarding against the ravages of an ignorant and untrained or unworthy and insincere ministry. The people of southeastern Ohio will undoubtedly be as responsive to good church work and as ready to follow good religious leadership as the people of similar regions elsewhere. Such work and leadership for many years, at least, they have not had. (See the next chapter.) Their ecclesiastical and religious conditions are such as afford no ground for expecting better social, moral, and physical conditions than those actually found to exist. Surely we cannot accept these conditions as inevitable until the church shall at least have made a serious effort to test the possibilities and learn the results of carrying out a live and modern program. CHAPTER V THE CHURCHES IN THE EIGHTEEN COUNTIES In the Eighteen Counties of Southeastern Ohio some of the older and stronger denominations are well represented, as Table C shows. (See page 39.) No less than 526, or more than one-third, of the total number of churches are Methodist Episcopal. Nearly one-tenth are United Brethren in Christ, another tenth Baptist, one-fifteenth Christian, and one-fifteenth Presbyterian; while other powerful denominations are also present. It is evident that the failure of the churches in this area cannot be laid to the weakness or poverty of the denominations represented, for they are for the most part neither weak nor poor. Ohio, moreover, is a wealthy State, and its churches make large contributions for church work and church extension both in America and abroad. It has been too commonly held in the past that missionary effort should consist largely in organizing and building churches. We do not believe that proposition is sound. In rural Ohio the worst moral and religious conditions are found where there are the largest number of churches in proportion to the number of inhabitants.