The Negro's church,.

Overchurching in Rural Areas

273

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, ALABAMA
The 1930 census reveals that in Montgomery County there
were 22,174 Negroes. A careful count of churches in the
county gives 67. Calculating on the basis of 22,174 people
and 67 churches, the county has a church for approximately
each 331 Negroes, including children. There are 15,403
adults 13 years of age and above. There is therefore a church
for approximately each 230 Negro adults. Estimating 52
per cent. of the adults to be members of the church, there is a
church for each 119 adult members.
The 57 churches studied in Montgomery County raised on
the average in 1930, $364.49 per church; the smallest average
of the four counties. On the basis of 500 adult members per
church, the county could get along with about one-fifth of
the number of churches it has at present. Allowing 238 adult
members per church, and assuming that the amount of money
raised per church would be double the present amount, the
number of churches could be reduced by half, giving an average of $728.98 per church. If this were possible, the rural
churches of Montgomery County could command a bettertrained ministry.
The ability of the county to support 67 churches can be
judged also by the occupational classification of its population since 1920. The number of Negro farm owners increased from 342 in 1920 to 410 in 1925; but decreased to
376 in 1930. The number of renters, including croppers,
decreased slightly from 3,180 in 1920 to 3,135 in 1925;
but the decrease was greater between 1925 and 1930-from
3,135 to 2,797. The share-croppers decreased from 720 in
1925 to 610 in 1930. Thus in this period the number of
owners, renters and croppers decreased.
Here again, if ownership means anything, the churches in
Montgomery County are slightly less independent than they
were in 1925, to say nothing of what the years of depression
have done to the financial status of the churches.