It was therefore determined, if possible, to complete a series of maps for the entire State which would summarize the facts. In dealing with so many churches in so large an area, it was of course feasible to collect only a very small number of facts concerning each church. Accordingly the facts to be gathered were limited to the location of every rural church, its denomination, its present membership, whether it is gaining or losing in membership, whether it ordinarily has a resident pastor, and if not, what part of a minister's service it receives. The collection of such facts was necessary, first, to impress upon the church officials and others the actual urgency of the situation, and second, to provide a basis for a workable policy of interchurch cooperation and reciprocity in influencing or directing the redistribution of ministers and churches. While the making of the church maps appeared to be the least amount of preliminary work that would open the way for effective action, it was evident that nothing adequate could be done for rural church betterment without interdenominational, or undenominational, organization. Therefore, when the branch office of the Commission on Church and Country Life was opened in Columbus, Ohio, in August, 1914, at the same time the Ohio Rural Life Association was formed to cooperate with the Commission in its work in the State. Soon afterward a Committee on Interchurch Cooperation, consisting of executives in charge of the country churches of eleven denominations, was organized. The principles which it adopted to govern its action mark a forward step of real importance. (See page 235.) The chief burden of making the church maps has rested upon the Commission on Church and Country Life. Its paid executive and office force have done the main part of the work, but valuable assistance has been rendered by the Ohio Rural Life Association. Much of the work was done in its name. Incidentally, the cooperative work of these bodies has by no means been confined to the making of surveys. Country Life Institutes have been held, and an educational propaganda in the interest of the rural church has been continuously carried on, with the result that in Ohio more than in any other State has the country church gained ground in its command of public interest. As a subject for addresses and discussion the country church has a place in a large number of farmers' institutes, and in nearly all Sunday school conventions, while during Farmers' Week at the State Agricultural College, conferences on no other subject have attracted more people or provoked more animated discussion.