The Negro's church,.

274

The Negro's Church

FORT BEND COUNTY, TEXAS
Fort Bend County had a population of 9,787 Negroes in
1930. It had 50 churches, or a church for each 196 people
including children. Of the total Negro population, 7,164
were adults 13 years of age and above; so there is a church
for approximately each 143 adults.
If 52 per cent. of these are churched, then Fort Bend has a
church for approximately each 75 adult members. These 50
churches raised on an average of $400.32 in 1930.
The number of Negro farm owners in the county changed
only slightly between 1920 and 1930. There were 363
owners in 1920, 388 in 1925, and 361 in 1930. The number of renters increased from 1,360 in 1920 to 1,470 in
1925; but slightly decreased to 1,464 in 1930-almost no
change. Share-croppers increased slightly from 708 in 1925
to 714 in 1930.
Orangeburg County, S. C. and Montgomery County, Ala.
present the best examples of the churches with probably less
stability in their membership owing to decrease in the number of owners within the last five or ten years. In Montgomery County the renters, share-croppers, and owners decreased in number; while in Orangeburg County the renters
and croppers greatly increased as the owners decreased. Fort
Bend County has probably held its own within the last decade better than the other three counties.
Outstanding Problems of the Rural Church Suggest Church
Merging
Possibly the most complicated problem confronting the
rural church is the instability of its membership. The fact
that the number of landowners is much smaller among rural
Negroes than among rural whites makes the Negro churchmembership more migratory and less stable than that of the
rural whites. This lack of stability affects greatly the progress
of the Negro rural church.