Churches & Money

During the boom times from 1927 to 1929, the people of the U.S. spent more & more money on amusing themselves, less & less on the things of God. After 1929, like the Devil who a monk would be, the people turned to the churches in increasing numbers. Last week the Federal Council of Churches released figures showing that while the national income decreased 54% from 1929 to 1932 and expenditures for recreation decreased 65%, church giving decreased only 40%. During the period surveyed, Protestant gifts never amounted to more than 1% of the U.S. income. With the national income declining from 85 billions in 1929 to 40 billions in 1932, the church income dropped from $581,000,000 only to $378,000,000. Said the Federal Council's Secretary Samuel McCrea Cavert: "The evidence certainly is that the American people are not ready to discard their churches."

The Federal Council's figures were approvingly cited last week by President Roosevelt when, introduced as "America's apostle of neighborliness," he mounted the pulpit of the Hyde Park Methodist Episcopal Church and spoke during a centenary celebration. Said he: "The churches are doing their share. The members have shown a splendid spirit."

This week President Roosevelt was to lend his prestige to the Roman Catholic Church by speaking in Manhattan at the culminating banquet of the 19th National Conference of Catholic Charities. Not immediately concerned with money-raising (handled by individual dioceses) the Conferences deal with practical problems of sociology and welfare work. Called by New York's Patrick Cardinal Hayes under the patronage of Pope Pius XI, this year's Conference coincides with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, an unobtrusive organization of laymen who care for the poor, working mainly with small donations dropped in the poor-boxes in all Catholic churches.

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