The Lutherans of New York, Their Story and Their ProblemsWenner, George Unangst
History
The Lutherans of New York, Their Story and Their Problems
Wenner, George Unangst
Lutherans -- New York (State) -- New York
The relation of the various boroughs to the growth of the church may be
seen from the following figures in which the number of communicants in
1918 is compared with that of 1898.
Boroughs 1898 1918 Increase
Manhattan 21,611 15,928 5,683*
Bronx 2,048 5,932 3,884
Brooklyn 17,405 28,270 10,865
Queens 1,671 7,139 5,468
Richmond 956 1,948 992
43,691 59,217 15,526
*Decrease
The starred figures for Manhattan call attention to the change of
population that has taken place in New York, particularly as it affects
Manhattan. While the total increase of population in New York from 1910
to 1915 was 667,928 there was a decrease in Manhattan of 193,795.
This decrease in numbers, and still more the substitution of Catholic
and Jewish peoples to an unprecedented extent for those of Protestant
antecedents, produced a marked change in the membership of Protestant
churches. The decline in Protestant membership in Manhattan from 1900 to
1910, according to Dr. Laidlaw, amounted to 74,012.
It is not surprising therefore that the Lutheran churches were called
upon to bear their share of the loss. As we have seen, it amounted in
two decades to 5,623 [sic]. Most of this deficit, 4,042, is chargeable
to the churches south of Fourteenth Street, where Protestants of all
denominations fail to hold their own. The balance, 1,837, came from
other churches south of Forty-second Street.
Three churches were added during the past twenty years, Our Saviour
(English) in 1898, Holy Trinity (Slovak) in 1904 and a mission of the
Missouri Synod in 1916 in the Spuyten Duyvil neighborhood, the most
northern point thus far occupied by us on Manhattan.
For three churches gained there is an offset of four churches lost:
Bethlehem in East Sixty-fifth Street, Christ Church in West Fiftieth
Street, Immanuel in East Eighty-third Street and the Danish church in
Yorkville. The Danish church removed to Bronx while the others effected
mergers with sister congregations.
The present indications are that we have come to a standstill on
Manhattan Island and that it is no longer a question of how many
churches we shall build, but how many we shall lose.
Our assets at present may be described as follows: We have thirty
congregations, twenty-six of them owning their houses of worship. The
net value of their property, deducting debts, is $3,160,000. The average
value of each church is $100,000. Besides the thirty organized
congregations there are seven missions in which services are maintained
in the following languages: Finnish, Lettish, Esthonian, Polish, Italian
and Yiddish.
The number of communicants is 15,978. The number of pupils in the Sunday
Schools is 7,245. The number of children in eight parochial schools is
669. The number attending instruction in religion on weekdays, including
catechumens, is 1,580.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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