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Audubon County |
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CHAPTER XV.CHURCHES AND RELIGION. (CONT'D)From History of Audubon Co., Iowa (1915)
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RECAPITULATION.
The number of church buildings in each township is as follows: Viola, 2; Cameron, 1; Lincoln, 3; Douglas, 1; LeRoy, 10; Milville, 2; Gurley, 2; Hamlin, 2; Sharon, 3; Oakfield, 4; Exira, 6; Audubon, 1; total, 37. The rise and fall of so many places of religious service in the county indicate this one thing, that these churches apparently have not been able to solve the ever-present problem in all denominations, namely, the conservation of our rural churches. The constant ebb and flow of the rural population renders this one of the live questions of the day in the religious world. The removal of a single family, and, not infrequently, of one individual, from a community ofttimes so cripples a church congregation or class, as to almost compel the abandonment of the work at that point. Thus we find that, especially, Protestant churches have here and there been compelled to drop one-time flourishing points and take up new points where the promise appeared good for greater usefulness. The proposition to make the rural church a social center for a neighborhood or community, now being tried in many places, may prove of great value in solving this problem, but, with the present-day means of transportation, the fleet automobile, with ordinary roads, hardly a family in the county would be more than a half-hour's ride from a place of worship. Especially does this appear true when we consider the churches and places of worship that are just beyond our borders in adjoining counties and where many of our people hold their membership and are accustomed to worship. These places are not mentioned here, as this history is confined to Audubon county, excepting a few instances in its early history. |
