Of the 6,060 churches in the wholly rural townships, 3,253, or 54 per cent, are in villages whose inhabitants number from 51 to 2,500 persons, while 2,807, or 46 per cent, are in the open country. (See Table IV.) In the suburban rural townships 198, or 34 per cent, of the churches are in villages containing from 51 to 2,500 persons, while 384, or 66 per cent, are in the open country. Of the 6,642 country churches in Ohio, therefore, 3,451, or 52 per cent, are in villages containing from 51 to 2,500 inhabitants, and 3,191, or 48 per cent, in the open country. In the strictly rural districts, 1,207, or 20 per cent, of the churches are in villages or towns of moderate size, having from 501 to 2,500 inhabitants, while 2,046, or 34 per cent, are in small villages of from 51 to 500. No less than 4,853, or 80 per cent, of the churches in the strictly rural districts are either in the open country or in the small villages of 500 inhabitants or less. In addressing ourselves to the rural church problem, therefore, we are almost exclusively concerned with the smaller villages and the open country. TABLE IV NUMBER OF CHURCHES IN VILLAGES AND IN THE OPEN COUNTRY Key: 1 _Rural townships_ 2 _Per cent_ 3 _Other rural sections_ 4 _Per cent_ 5 _All rural sections_ 6 _Per cent_ 1 2 3 4 5 6 No. churches in villages containing from 51 to 2,500 persons 3,253 54 198 34 3,451 52 No. churches in open country 2,807 46 384 66 3,191 48 No. churches in villages or towns having from 501 to 2,500 inhabitants 1,207 20 76 13 1,283 19 No. churches in villages having from 51 to 500 inhabitants 2,046 34 122 21 2,168 33 No. churches in open country and in villages having less than 501 inhabitants 4,853 80 506 87 5,359 81 We have assumed 50 persons as the line which separates a small village from the open country, just as the United States Census has assumed 2,500 persons as the lower limit of the town. In rural Ohio there are 1,477 villages whose inhabitants number 51 to 2,500 persons. (See Table V.) Of these, 673, or 46 per cent, have from 51 to 200 inhabitants; 487, or 33 per cent, have from 201 to 500 inhabitants; while 317, or 21 per cent, have more than 500 persons. Of the smallest villages, or those of 51 to 200 persons, 234, or 35 per cent, have one or more ministers living near the church he serves and 270 ministers in all; while 440, or 65 per cent, have no resident ministers whatever.