REVEREND REGINALD B. STEVENSON Rector, Chapel of the Transfiguration, Washington REVEREND PERCY L. URBAN Rector, St. James' Church, North Haven, Conn. REVEREND ROGER A. WALKE Rector, St. Mark's Church, Pikesville, Md. REVEREND JOHN W. WALKER Rector, Huntington Valley Chapel, Meadowbrook, Pa. The following attended some of the sessions during the week. REVEREND C. S. ABBOTT Rector, Church of the Good Shepherd, REVEREND WILLIAM S. BISHOP, D.D. VERY REVEREND G. C. F. BRATENAHL, D.D. Rector, Grace Church, Woodside, Md. REVEREND THOMAS J. BROWN Rector, St. Luke's Church, Washington REVEREND ROBERT E. BROWNING Rector, Church of the Ascension, Baltimore, Md. REVEREND CALVERT E. BUCK Rector, Christ Church, Washington REVEREND W. F. CARPENDER Rector, St. David's Church, Washington REVEREND HENRY T. COCKE Rector, All Saints' Church, Chevy Chase, REVEREND EDWARD DOUSE Beetor, St. George's Chapel, Washington RIGHT REVEREND JAMES E. FREEMAN, D.D. Bishop of Washington REVEREND PERCY FOSTER HALL Bestor, St. Paul's Church, Alexandria, REVEREND GUY E. KAGEY Rector, St. Bartholomew's Parish, Olney, Md. REVEREND ROBERT L. LEWIS Rector, St. John's Church, Beltsville, Md. REVEREND WILLIAM L. MAYO Assistant rector, Epiphany Church, Washington REVEREND WALDEN MYER Canon of Washington Cathedral REVEREND FRANKLIN L. METCALF Rector, All Faiths Church, Mechanicsville, Md. REVEREND W. W. SHEARER Rector, St. Columba's, Tenleytown, D. C. REVEREND C. R. STETSON Rector, Trinity Church, New York City REVEREND EDMUND H. STEVENS Rector, Church of Our Saviour, Washington REVEREND ANSON P. STOKES, D.D. Canon of Washington Cathedral REVEREND RONALDS TAYLOR Rector, St. Andrew's Chapel, College Park, Md. REVEREND ENOCH M. THOMPSON Rector, Church of the Nativity, Washington REVEREND C. T. WARNER Rector, St. Alban's Church, Washington REVEREND WILLIAM C. WHITE Washington REVEREND T. D. WINDIATE Rector, Christ Church Parish, Kensington, Md. REVEREND E. P. WROTH Rector, St. Philip's Parish, Laurel, Md. REVEREND CHRISTIAN M. YOUNG Rector, Trinity Church, Takoma Park, D. C. EDWIN N. LEWIS Executive Secretary of the National Cathedral Foundation, Washington, D.C. THE FIELD IS THE WORLD! CHURCHES SHOW LARGE GAIN Whatever else may fail in civilization, there is proof that the Church. does not, according to the Christian Herald, which has just completed an annual census, showing a gain in church membership of 690,000. "The gains in membership of this evangelical group amount to a total of 366,336, which is not proportionate in percentage to the total gains —that is, while the evangelical strength is 28,021,953, or over 60 per cent, the evangelical increase is 366,336, or less than 52 per cent. "The changes in the number of ministers and churches continue to move, up or down, in an uncertain way, as though they were governed by no particular set of rules. Thus the ministerial increase for 1924 is 3,740, while in 1923 it was 5,297, and that of churches is 541 for the The report states that the total figures of members, or communicants, in the United States has now risen above 46,000,000-all of the Christian Church except less than 500,000, chiefly of Jewish faith. It states further that the figures are not those of population, but, so far as they can be obtained, of communi- past year, though it was 2,404 in cants. "The Roman Catholic Church, the largest body in this country and in the world, reports officially only 'population,' which practically includes all baptized persons; but it is represented in these tables by estimated communicants, which constitute 85 per cent of its population," the survey continues. "The communicant membership of the Christian Church is not, however, fully presented in the total given herewith, because the ordained ministers of most Protestant Churches are counted separately, as therans, Presbyterians, Reformed, Methodists, Episcopalians and others. These would raise the grand total to perhaps 46,250,000. Lu 1923. There has been a marked tendency since the war for churches of the different denominations to consolidate for the sake of economy and efficiency. "Changes are gradually appearing in the order of the denominations as to numbers. The Roman Catholic keeps well in advance of all the communions, with its nearly 16,000,000 communicants and its more than 18,000,000 population. "The second largest body is the Methodist Episcopal Church, with 4,438,494; the third, the Southern 500,000; the fourth, the Negro BapBaptist Convention, with over 3,tist Convention, with more more than 3,000,000; the fifth, the Methodist Episcopal South, 2,470,000; the sixth, the Presbyterian Church in the United States (Northern), 1,791,559; the seventh, the Northern Baptist Convention, 1,382,000; the eighth, the Disciples of Christ, 1,351,000; the ninth, the Protestant Epis "These various bodies, with a total of 28,021,953 roughly speaking may be considered as constituting the evangelical group, or more than 60 per cent of all the entire denominational strength of the country. AGE **2.200. These des which have by groups is Roman Catholic es come the second, with st, with 14 25; the Luth, 2,503,642; 9 bodies, fifth, ples of Christ, 906; the Episseventh, 1,148, ashington Star HIMSELF money, but I want Washington Cayou let me work a give my wages to kman. And gratethankful heart did accept the offer, he workman gave inn his month's labor; himself, and when a ...ly of himself, other I remember. The little round the world; the ' name unknown to memory in the hearts of simple devotion, of to sacrifice, of eagerness has brought and will hing gifts of aid to the ent to God in Washles which his month's all indeed. ve in the Cathedral. We la of a great pile of valing the old world n beauty and size, We it cd, so that the Cathedral on Mount St. Alban may stand as an age-long evidence that we in America can and do spend generously of our plenty to show to all men that we are a God-fearing nation. And we wish it were given to us to have had the wit, the time, and the simple great-heartedness of the man who had nothing to give but himself. We do what we can. At best, no one man can do much. But many men, thinking, acting and loving together, can do wonders. So, indeed, it is a wonder which is slowly rising on the hill; a beauty which shall make men gasp, a loveliness which shall make men who know not God, bow their heads in reverence; and send the devout to their knees that He permits so great a work to be carved in rock by us, His children. -Adams Impressions from The Service Shop ART AND CATHEDRALS During the course of a discussion of the greatest service to the cause of art that could be rendered today by a great national organization well endowed, or by a de Medici, at the Fifteenth Annual Convention of the American Federation of Arts held in Washington, Mr. Ralph Booth, president of the Detroit Art Institute, said: "I was asked recently what I would do if I had fifty million dollars, and I said, being interested in the arts, that I would build-especially, if I had $100,000,000—the most beautiful Gothic cathedral in the world, because I believed that the great Gothic cathedral expressed the highest thing that any of us could achieve in art." PULPIT AMPLIFIERS The credit for increased interest in religion is shared by the press and radio with the alertness of the church in availing itself of these agencies, according to THE CATHEDRAL AGE of Washington. Bishop Rhinelander finds a growing general interest in religion and a growing dislike of creeds, and Bishop Manning has recognized the fact that without the cooperation of the newspapers the project for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York would have been "immeasurably handicapped." Sermons are being broadcast from numerous churches every week to audiences of unnumbered listeners which span the entire country. The press and radio have become the amplifiers of the pulpit. -From the Troy, N. Y., Times REMINDERS OF REVERENCE "One test of the civilization of any age is the regard which it has for the teachings of the past and the opinion of posterity. The Greeks and Romans had these in a high degree. Dante spoke of the future in the lasting record of his great love for Beatrice. Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages still stand as reminders of abiding reverence. The Lincoln memorial is built for the centuries in the confident belief that generations and generations yet to come will prize it as a magnificent inspiration." -A statement by President Coolidge in a book, "Great University Memorials," recently published by the University of Chicago THE CATHEDRAL AS A MORAL A new quarterly magazine, THE CATHEDRAL AGE, has made its appearance. It is published by the National Cathedral Association, Mount St. Alban, Washington, D. C. Its founders hope to extend the building of cathedrals, to make these places of general worship seats of learning after the manner of cathedrals of the earlier centuries, and by this means exalt religion and strengthen its hold on humanity. It is their belief that disheartening tendencies toward crime and general lawlessness in this country are due largely to growing indifference to the first commandment. They would make the first commandment the first in fact, in practice, in thought, as it is in the order of issue. It is pointed out that a new cathedral age, such as marked the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, seems imminent; that the building of great cathedrals in New York, Washington, St. Louis, Liverpool and San Francisco are simultaneous enterprises of great significance in the religious world. Doubtless the founders of the Cathedral Association also are mindful of the extraordinary character of current church building, other than cathedrals. Whatever the significance, it is remarkable that in an age when the public mind is growing more and more scientific, is governed more by reason than by sentiment or tradition, wonderful temples of worship are being erected, not only in large and wealthy cities, but even in the smaller cities. The average place of worship never before was so costly, so beautiful, so imposing, at least not in this country. THE CATHEDRAL AGE proposes to be a cathedral newspaper; "to report cathedral news from all parts of the world; to discuss and interpret the history, service, architecture and ideals of all cathedrals, in the hope that as as this cathedral building age progresses these great temples may be built by worshipers, and not by 'contributors."" The first number has the dignity and sincerity that might be expected. It includes contributions by Bishop James E. Freeman, Carmen Sylva, articles on the Liverpool Cathedral and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and other interesting discussion. -From the Kansas City Times ST. PAUL'S DOME CLOSED The Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's have now decided that, from the end of this month, for a period of several years, the whole of the area beneath the dome of the Cathe dral will be closed to the public. This decision, which has been made in accordance with the opinion of their expert advisers, is the outcome of a desire to facilitate the work of preservation. While the dome, together with the choir and the transepts, is cut off from the remainder of the Cathedral fabric, services will be held in the nave and its chapels. The work to be carried out is of an extensive character, and it is intended at an early stage to remove the organ and the choir-stalls from the two eastern piers of the dome, so that these piers may be examined. The following statement concerning the plans of the Dean and Chapter has been issued by Canon Alexander: "The Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's have made the following rearrangements of the Cathedral services in order that the work on the fabric may proceed without interruption. "A screen will be put up at the head of the nave, cutting off the whole of the area under the dome, together with the choir and transepts. "The usual services on week days and Sundays will be held in the nave and its chapels, except that on week days, Morning Prayer, instead of being choral, will be said in the Chapel of St. Dunstan at 8:30 after the service of Holy Communion. The crypt will, as far as possible, be used as hitherto. "Societies holding special services after 5:00 P.M., will be able, if they wish, to hold such services in the nave; but all special services in the morning, including the choral Eucharist on Saints' days, will be suspended. "The arrangements proposed will give the workmen a much longer part of each day to carry on their operations than has previously been possible, but the nature and extent of the work to be done are of such a character that the screening of the area under the dome may continue for as long as five years.' 99 Canon Alexander, in amplifying the foregoing statement, explains that the object of the plans made by the Dean and Chapter was to keep the ordinary working-day free from interference. He was afraid that the closing of the dome would be for a very considerable period. A suggestion that it might be closed for six months must be due to a misunderstanding. One of the first things to be done would be the re |