Religion: Church in the Asphalt Jungle

While commuter-country congregations are busy fund-raising for so-called plant expansion, their city cousins are trying to figure out how to use the plants they have. Sunday after Sunday, in thousands of soot-stained city churches, preachers look down on a mere scattering of worshipers: some big-city churches in the East report losing as many as 1,000 members a year. Last week 1,153 Methodist ministers and laymen gathered in Washington for a conference on the problem under the title, "Winning the Changing City for the Changeless Christ."

Churchmen should not be shy about showmanship, urged Psychologist Dr. James G. Ranck, lecturer in psychology and...

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