ABSTRACT
Churches tend to cater to their own congregations and with rare exceptions are reluctant to assume responsibility for the whole community in which they are situated or for any deprived areas elsewhere. Catholic churches have remained, as a rule, more active than their Protestant counterparts, especially in the big cities. As the church, pushed aside by government, gave up its serious social business, most of its welfare leaders found ways to rationalize the situation. The church was rendering unto Caesar its job of concern with people. The average layman at church is left with an incomplete religious experience. By abdication of its concern for others, by deliberate delegation of its Good Samaritan power, the church in effect leads members into the sin of self-concern. The church's acceptance of an insignificant role in American society has alarming consequences outside the church.
