s as to what is wrong with the country church. Often
the conditions of the environment are largely responsible, and sometimes
the churches are not to blame. Many of them are facing their difficulties
nobly, not a few of them successfully. In fact many country churches are
doing better than most city churches. By way of diagnosis the following
brief suggestions are offered to account in part for the serious
difficulty in the present situation.

1. _A Depleted Constituency._ The first element in the problem is the
_inevitable isolation_ in the open country and the depletion of population
in thousands of villages. We find often not merely loss of numbers, but
impoverished vitality in many of those who remain. This is _weakness in
personality_, always an ultimate problem.

2. _Economic Weakness._ Impoverished soil, poor agricultural conditions,
and bad farming are found all too frequently. The church immediately
suffers. It is no mere coincidence that the best country churches are
always found among successful farmers. The church can hardly be more
prosperous than its community.

3. _Lack of Social Cooperation._ Extreme individualism is still the curse
of the open country. There has been little cooperation yet in industry,
recreation, or religion. Consequently the church has been too often merely
an occasional congregation of separate individuals with few interests in
common; instead of a working body of vitally interested people, organized
for the redemption of the community.

4. _Wasteful Competition._ This particular factor is not very serious in
the South; but elsewhere there are usually found too many rival churches,
selfishly struggling for life, but doing little to serve their community.
This condition is the result of excessive individualism, selfishly
insisting on its own peculiar sect; or the depletion of a once populous
village; or the early blunders of denominational "strategy," starting a
church where it never was needed.

5. _Poor Business Management._ We are seldom likely to find any business
system in the country church. As a rule they have no financial policy, no
plan for the future, small salaries for the ministers and often in
arrears. Their short-sighted method is simply "the short-haul" on the
pocket-book, with a subscription paper; planning only for the current
year. Inefficiency of course results from such poor business.

[Illustration: This chart shows a portion of Center County, Pennsylvania,