Is the primary problem TEC faces today a “structural problem?” While we clearly have structural issues, I do not think we have yet come up with the right diagnosis. I would point to two issues that are symptomatic of our situation.

First, we have been involved in serious conflict for the past decade that has held the attention of our leadership, led to an acceleration of our decline and costs us millions of dollars in litigation. Like it or not, this conflict is related directly to our theological and missional identity, namely who are we and what we are called to do. I would caution that just because one side in the conflict seems to have won, this does not mean that we have determined an identity and way forward, especially a way that is significant to our wider cultural context. If the Episcopal Church is to have a future other than shrinking numbers, budgets, and congregations, we must be able to reach people in our society and draw them into this part of the body of Christ.

Second, there continues to be a major disconnect between our corporate structures and the local congregation. We continue to hear from denominational leaders that recent decisions have made us more viable to new generations and new ethnic groups which is making us a more inclusive and multi-cultural church. However, the numbers of declining congregations and the reality in the field is that local congregations are not, nor are most becoming, the kind of church that General Convention and the Executive Council say we are. Of course, we have some congregations that reflect this, but they are far from the norm of our local congregational life. I have spent much time over the last ten years visiting Episcopal Churches and making presentations on congregational development. I observe that many of our congregations are struggling with basic survival issues.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Analysis • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Missions • * Theology • Ecclesiology • Pastoral Theology • Soteriology

Unlike steep declines in membership, finances, and number of parishes that have negatively impacted the life of the Episcopal Church, the denomination has seen a more gradual decline in priests, maintaining – in some areas like Virginia and Texas — more than enough to meet its needs. While rural congregations do struggle to attract or support full-time paid clergy, an overall ample supply of priests is surprising, given that a recent report on the state of the clergy in the Episcopal denomination identified a 26 percent drop in ordinations over the past six years....

The average age at ordination is now 44 (up from the early 30s in 1970) and the average age of active Episcopal clergy is 58.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Ministry of the Ordained

According to the U.S.Census Bureau's figures, the state of Missouri has grown in population from 5,595,211 in 2000 to 5,988,927 in 2010. This represents a population growth of approximately 6.6% in this time frame. Please note, however, that there are two Episcopal dioceses in Missouri and that this one encompasses the eastern portion of the state and its see city is Saint Louis. According to the U.S.Census Bureau's figures, Saint Louis as a city went from a population of 348,189 in 2000 to a population of 318,069 in 2010, a decline of about 9.5%.

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of Missouri went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 5185 in 2000 to 4128 in 2010. This represents a decline of 20.4% during this decade. Doing some historical digging, I noticed that the Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) in 1994 for Missouri was 5644.

To see a pictorial representation of some of the statistics for the diocese of Missouri you may examine the graph here.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

"I think the Episcopal Church has really shot itself in the foot by doing this," ...IRD spokesman [Jeff Walton] comments. "They're losing one of their larger, more vibrant dioceses. Indeed this diocese is one of the few that's posted growth in recent years, and there is just nothing that the liberal leadership of the Episcopal Church is really gaining by effectively forcing this diocese out the door."

Walton does not believe the national office wants to tolerate the type of public dissent displayed by South Carolina.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Conflicts • TEC Conflicts: South Carolina • TEC Data • TEC Polity & Canons • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Evangelism and Church Growth • * South Carolina

Read it all and then take the time to go through the numbers here and also a summation there.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • TEC Parishes

While a decline in the size of the church is unfortunate, I’m fairly certain that truly liberal Christians are unconcerned.

Many liberal churches, even conservative churches that fall under traditional denominational labels (Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran) have seen declines in membership. Bloggers and commentators are scrambling to figure it out. Can we blame the sexual revolution? Busy, two-career families that have no time for church? Consumerism, materialism, multiculturalism and relativism? Mega-churches?
But in decline, and perhaps only in decline, can churches re-discover the true ministry and mission of Jesus, which was to be radically tolerant and helpful to those who are poor, sick, outcast and marginalized.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Commentary • Episcopal Church (TEC) • General Convention • --Gen. Con. 2012 • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

Click here to see a pictorial representation of some of the statistics for the parish where the diocese of Upper South Carolina is holding its diocesan convention this fall. You may also be interested to examine the parish website here.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * South Carolina

We’re also investing tremendous resources in our congregations as the foundation of Christian life. Contrary to the conservative critique, it isn’t what we’ve changed that is weakening our congregations, but rather what we’ve been unwilling to change. For all our liberal theology and progressive politics, we’ve remained rather stodgy in worship, wedded to unwieldy structures, and resistant to growth. When I ask young people what keeps them from attending church, the answer, predictably, is that it’s boring. And they’re right! But we’re committed to changing that, both in the Diocese of Washington and across the country, so that all our congregations will be vital centers of Christian worship, learning, community, and service.

And why do all this? Why does it matter for the Episcopal Church to claim its place in the spiritual landscape of our nation?

I believe that the Episcopal Church has something vitally important to offer to our time, that we have particular gifts and unique perspectives on the gospel of Jesus Christ that this culture hungers for and desperately needs. That, in the boldest of affirmations, we have something God needs for God’s mission of renewing the face of the earth. And so on our watch, we are called to change; to turn the trends of decline, atrophy and lethargy around; to assume our place as God’s collaborators in mission; and to help transform this culture by allowing ourselves to be transformed.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • General Convention • --Gen. Con. 2012 • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

"Shaw, MA: Our diocese has had significant growth recently, in thanks to including all people. ‪#gc77‬" I was listening and it is certainly an accurate paraphrase, though not an exact quote.

Here are the figures--Massachusetts' 2007 to 2010 ASA [average Sunday attendance]

20,121
19,351
18,130
17,903

Perhaps there are 2011 figures that show a [small?] increase, but still, there is a large disconnection here--KSH.

Update: You can find some of these statistics here and you can find a great deal more over there.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Commentary • Episcopal Church (TEC) • General Convention • --Gen. Con. 2012 • TEC Bishops • TEC Data

(Please note--directly related to the preceding blog entry--KSH).

Read the original here and check the amended version there. The explanation follows:

The Report of the House of Deputies Committee on the State of the Church presents a church in where key statistical areas from 2000–2010 show significant decline (Average Sunday Attendance -23%, Easter Attendance -21%, Baptized Members -16%, Communicants in Good Standing -16%). There are significant places of hope and vision where significant efforts are being made to turn this around. These include the Office of Congregational Vitality and the Office of Emergent Church and Church Planting. This resolution seeks to give these ministries solid budgetary support to allow this work to continue and by doing so to bring vitality and growth back to the Episcopal Church.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • General Convention • --Gen. Con. 2012 • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Evangelism and Church Growth

Now [for Episcopalians] the apt word seems "life support".
The average Episcopal Church attendance dropped a staggering 23% in the ten year period between 2000 and 2010 (via Whispers) In 2010, just under 700,000 attended TEC Churches in the whole world.
In the Seattle area, (Diocese of Olympia) where St. Mark's Cathedral still looms and KING FM has broadcast their lovely Sunday evening Compline for many years, average attendance in the whole diocese was 9,500. 9,500? I've worked in Catholic parishes with larger weekly attendance than that.
The Episcopalian Diocese of Quincy, IL attendance has dropped 71% and averages 363 people in attendance at 9 parishes. I've taught Called & Gifted workshops that were larger. No wonder they are openly talking about reuniting with the Diocese of Chicago (attendance: 12,925).

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • General Convention • --Gen. Con. 2012 • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Evangelism and Church Growth

The results are quite different from recent years. Average Sunday attendance (ASA) will show an actual increase in 2011 of less than 1,000 persons. However, since Christmas Eve fell on a Saturday in 2011, this essentially adds an extra Sunday to the count. The same thing happened in 2005, when the decline abated, but did not result in an increase. Adjusting for the “Christmas Eve Effect” results in an adjusted loss of slightly less than 12,000 persons or -1.8%. This is less than half the net and percentage loss experienced in 2010 and the smallest percentage loss in average Sunday attendance since 2002 (adjusting for the Christmas Eve effect in 2005).

In terms of active baptized members, the results are similar to ASA, but there is no Christmas Eve Effect to worry about. In 2011 we expect membership to decline by around 27,000 members, or -1.4%. Again, this decline is the lowest in percentage terms since 2002 and about half the loss the Episcopal Church experienced in 2010 when domestic dioceses declined by 54,436 members (-2.7%).

The financial picture is less positive than hoped, but also shows improvement over 2010.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship

According to the U.S.Census Bureau's figures, West Virginia has grown in population from 1,808,344 in 2000 to 1,852,994 in 2010. This represents a population growth of approximately 2.5% in this time frame. (Of passing interest, please note that the population of the United States as a whole went from 281,421,906 in 2000 to 308,745,538 in 2010, an overall American growth for the decade of 9.7%).

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of West Virginia went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 3,983 in 2000 to 3,015 in 2010. This represents a decline of 24.3% during this decade. Doing some historical digging, I noticed that the Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) in 1994 for West Virginia was 4,511.

To see a pictorial representation of some of the statistics for the diocese of West Virginia you may examine the graph here.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

Click here to see a pictorial representation of some of the statistics for the parish mentioned in the previous posting.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

Since Lexington has an upcoming Diocesan election, I decided to look at some history and and lo and behold the statistics for that diocese were discussed in a post and spirited discussion on August 14, 2009 with the title "Kendall Harmon: Significant Subsurface Deterioration in the Episcopal Church". For starters, that whole blog post and all the comments are well worth the time to reread.

Since that blog post was nearly three years ago, the statistics in view were those from 2007--

If you look at baptized membership, Lexington shrank from 8949 in 1997 to 8002 in 2007. That is a decline of 10.6%. Now, however, consider the more meaningful number, Average Sunday Attendance. In this category, Lexington fell from 3905 to 2973 in the period from 1997-2007. That is a decline of 24%.

If you now go to the research and statistics website of the Episcopal Church, you can look at an update of these numbers for 2010. These figures show 2010 baptized membership of the diocese of Lexington at 7504 and Average Sunday Attendance at 2,693. If you now consider the 13 year trend, note that the decline in baptized membership from 1997 to 2010 is 16.15% and that of Average Sunday Attendance is just over 31%.

Also note that according to the U.S.Census Bureau's figures, Lexington, the see city of the diocese, has grown in population from 260,512 in 2000 to 295,803 in 2010. This represents a population growth of approximately 13.5% in this time frame (the growth for the whole state of Kentucky's population was 7.4% during this period).

Now, consider all this and ask yourself this question--given these trends and numbers, what is the one question you really must ask of each finalist to be next bishop in Lexington? Why something about their vision and strategy for growth and for reversing the precipitous decline, surely. And yet was such a question asked in the published profiles? No. This is what I mean by deep denial--KSH.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • TEC Diocesan Conventions/Diocesan Councils • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints acquired more members than other denominations in Charleston County from 2000 to 2010, a group tracking such information says. The number of members increased by 2,697.

Catholics saw the county’s second largest increase with 2,231 and Episcopalians were third with 2,141, according to the 2010 U.S. Religion Census recently released by the Association of Religion Data Archives....

“In the last 10 years, we have made a commitment to grow our parishes, seeking to engage the culture while holding faithfully to the gospel of Jesus Christ,” [South Carolina Bishop Mark] Lawrence says. “We have put special emphasis on growing churches, engaging in youth and young adult ministries and reaching families.”

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • * South Carolina

According to the U.S.Census Bureau's figures, Nebraska has grown in population from 1,711,263 in 2000 to 1,826,341 in 2010. This represents a population growth of approximately 6.7% in this time frame. (Of passing interest, please note that the population of the United States as a whole went from 281,421,906 in 2000 to 308,745,538 in 2010, an overall American growth for the decade of 9.7%).

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of Nebraska went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 4,022 in 2000 to 2,814 in 2010. This represents a decline of 30.0% during this decade.

To see a pictorial representation of some of the statistics for the diocese of Nebraska you may examine the graph here.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

Click here to see a pictorial representation of some of the statistics for the parish mentioned in the previous posting.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

Click here to see a pictorial representation of some of the statistics for the parish mentioned in the previous posting.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes

Part one is here and part two is there. You are encouraged to take the time to listen to (suffer through?) it all.

Please note--these are both audio files. The time begins with a short Q and A to introduce me to those present before the questions shift to the subject at hand. Note, too that Bishop Kee Sloan of Alabama was invited by the Dean, Frank Limehouse, to come, which he (graciously) chose to do. During the time, Dean Limehouse invited Bishop Sloan to speak, and he chose to do so. This covers a wide range of recent events/developments and will be of broad interest to many blog readers--KSH.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Analysis • - Anglican: Commentary • Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • * By Kendall • Sermons & Teachings • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Adult Education • Ministry of the Laity • Ministry of the Ordained • Stewardship • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • * Theology • Christology • Ecclesiology • Ethics / Moral Theology

According to the U.S.Census Bureau's figures, Oklahoma has grown in population from 3,450,654 in 2000 to 3,751,351 in 2010. This represents a population growth of approximately 8.7% in this time frame. (Of passing interest, please note that the population of the United States as a whole went from 281,421,906 in 2000 to 308,745,538 in 2010, an overall American growth for the decade of 9.7%).

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of Oklahoma went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 7,290 in 2000 to 5,585 in 2010. This represents a decline of -23.4% during this decade.

Please note that if you go to the link toward the end of this sentence and enter "Oklahoma" as the name of the diocese and then "View Diocese Chart" underneath on the left you can see in pictorial form some of the data from 2000-2010.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The U.S. Government • Census/Census Data

According to the U.S.Census Bureau's figures, Oregon has grown in population from 3,421,399 in 2000 to 3,831,074 in 2010. This represents a population growth of approximately 12.0% in this time frame. (Of passing interest, please note that the population of the United States as a whole went from 281,421,906 in 2000 to 308,745,538 in 2010, an overall American growth for the decade of 9.7%).

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of Oregon went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 7,793 in 2000 to 6,547 in 2010. This represents a decline of 16.0% during this decade.

Please note that if you go to the link toward the end of this sentence and enter "Oregon" as the name of the diocese and then "View Diocese Chart" underneath on the left you can see in pictorial form some of the data from 2000-2010.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The U.S. Government • Census/Census Data • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

(Note that I decided to research these numbers based on the preceding post about the bishop of the diocese--KSH).

According to the U.S.Census Bureau's figures, Springfield, the see city of the diocese, has grown in population from 152,082 in 2000 to 153,060 in 2010. This represents a population growth of approximately 0.6% in this time frame.

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of Western Massachusetts went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 7,295 in 2000 to 5,208 in 2010. This represents a decline of 28.6% during this decade.

Please note that if you go to the link toward the end of this sentence and enter "Western Massachusetts" as the name of the diocese and then "View Diocese Chart" underneath on the left you can see in pictorial form some of the data from 2000-2010.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data

Broader Measures of Church Vitality

To get a broad-based sense of congregational vitality, we have used a number of measurements including church school enrollment, marriages, funerals, child baptisms, adult baptisms, and confirmations. These speak to a parish's integration in the community and the possibility for future growth:

Change in church school enrollment: -33%
Change in number of marriages performed: -41%
Change in number of burials/funerals: -21%
Change in the number of child baptisms: -36%
Change in the number of adult baptisms: -40%
Change in the number of confirmations: -32%

While these numbers may not capture the totality of what is happening in the Church, we do not have a measure that is moving in a positive direction.

Do take the time to read and consider it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • Executive Council • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship

The US Episcopal Church reports that attendance has fallen 16 per cent over the past five years with the number of Episcopalians dropping below two million.

According to statistics released last week, the number of Episcopalians fell from 2,006,343 in 2009 to 1,951,907 in 2010. Over the last 10 years the Church lost 16 per cent of its members, while the rate of decline for the past five years was 11 per cent.

After holding steady in the 1990s membership and attendance began to drop in the wake of the controversies surrounding the consecration of the Church’s first [non-celibate] gay bishop. Over the last 10 years attendance has fallen by 23 per cent to 657,831.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

[Dan] Messier knows that as a mainline denomination pastor he faces a dwindling audience.

A report last week said the number of Episcopalians in the United States dropped below 2 million for the first time in decades — down 16 percent in the past 10 years. There were 3.5 million members in the mid-1960s.

Some within the church blame the declines on disagreements over the authority of Scripture and the person of Jesus Christ, and the church’s stance on hot-button social issues.

“I think the challenge is changing with the times,” Messier said. “It appears to me that a lot of the churches that are benefitting are places that are non-structural and more open.”

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion) • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Ministry of the Ordained • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • * South Carolina

The Episcopal Church has marked a grim milestone when it reported membership has dipped below 2 million within the United States for the first time in decades.

It had 1,951,907 stateside members in 2010, down 3 percent from the previous year, according to its research office.

Membership has been steadily declining since the 1960s, when it and several other historic Protestant denominations were at the peak of their membership and cultural influence. There have been long-running debates over the causes of the declines. Theories include liberal trends in theology and/or sexuality, the wearisome fighting over those issues and the declining birth rates of the denominations’ largely white, better-educated membership.

Read it all.

Update: There is more on this there as well.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

Only 28% of parishes and missions reported that their finances were “excellent” or “good” in 2010. In 2000, the proportion in excellent or good financial condition was much higher (56%) than it was in 2005 or 2008 (32% and 33%, respectively) and than it is now. The proportion in serious or some financial difficulty almost doubled from 2000 to 2005, increasing from 13% to 25%; it remained unchanged in 2008, and increased to 28% in 2010.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

Read it carefully and read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

Quietly released this week with no notice--a catastrophic ASA decline over the last five years of 16%.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes

(The speaker is senior VP & General Manager at the Church Insurance Company). Watch it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes

Corporate-sized congregations with 351 or more in worship represent...._____% of Episcopal congregations.

Please note the reference is to those in worship. What % do you guess?

No looking, the answer comes later.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes

Before I get into that, lets look at a few quotes from the [parish] report, which acknowledges "a steady decline in attendance over the past 18 months" and "Overall, our participation numbers in children’s choirs has dropped dramatically since 2008, although a slight recovery appears to be underway." I have to wonder if any of the report readers recognize the correlation between program and attendance/involvement. I won't point out those correlations -- I'll just let you view them and hopefully comment.

Let me say, as an aside, that this parish is not unique at all within TEC. All over the US, Episcopal parishes are trying to figure out what on earth is going wrong. Parishes are declining in droves -- and many of them are in death spirals. As I shared with someone recently [edited slightly]:

"I personally believe that TEC will continue to decline rapidly, and most of the "hinterland" parishes will die. That is certainly what is happening within my diocese. We'll end up with some parishes in Greenville, Columbia, Aiken, one in Rock Hill [which is dying] and a couple in Spartanburg -- and that will be it. Our "natural size" now in our diocese is around 12 functional/healthy parishes, with the rest on life support until the older generations die out. And I think that's the level that dioceses of that size will eventually decline to over the next 10-20 years."

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Analysis • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion) • Same-sex blessings • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Evangelism and Church Growth • * Theology

Read it all and please follow the links.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • House of Deputies President • TEC Data

--Over half of Episcopal congregations (52.4%) are small, family-sized congregations where average worship attendance is 70 persons or less (2009 Parochial Report data). Pastoral-sized congregations make up the next largest proportion of parishes and missions (28.6%). Corporate-sized congregations with 351 or more in worship represent only 3.3% of Episcopal congregations.

--The median Episcopal parish had 66 persons at Sunday worship in 2009 according to the annual Parochial Report—down from 72 in 2006 and 77 in 2003.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * International News & Commentary • America/U.S.A.

According to data gathered by the Pension Fund for the Episcopal Church, in 2002 there were 13,616 clergy. Of those, thirty were under the age of 30, 195 were under the age of 35, and 399 were under the age of 40. Today, the average age at ordination is 44 and the average age of active Episcopal clergy is 54.

The age demographics in the pew are no better. In 1965, the Episcopal Church had 3.6 million members and Episcopalians constituted 1.9 percent of the U.S. population. Since 1965, however, membership has declined precipitously. The net result is a graying church.

The average Episcopalian is 57 years old. If that benchmark does not change, roughly half of the church's membership will die in the next eighteen years. And that is as good as it gets. Since 60 percent of Episcopal congregations have a membership of 100 or less, the rate of decline will probably pick up speed.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * Culture-Watch • Young Adults

To begin to think seriously about church planting is to begin to reframe the opportunities that lie before us. Imagine the vitality that would be released if two of our congregations in the four deaneries which have the greatest unchurched demographics (Beaufort, West Charleston, Charleston and Georgetown) planted two new congregations or satellites in the next five years. What new life would emerge within our communities and within the Diocese of South Carolina from eight new congregations or even twice that number? I believe this can be done even during a season of economic downturn. We often get fixated upon buildings and property. But for many in our present culture it is not the aesthetics of the building which attracts; it is the dynamism of the preaching, worship and fellowship which wins the heart of the unchurched person. Certainly we cannot leave entirely behind the need for property and buildings; a drab setting blesses no one’s heart. But if we can focus upon reaching the lost I believe the issues of property and building will emerge in many cases as quite secondary to the winning of the seeker and the transformation of his or her life in Christ. This change from building church plants to growing missional communities is a concept we need to embrace more fully. This will have the dynamism of a movement rather than the often stagnating effect of tending an institution.

The Diocese has in recent years held to the model of established parishes being planters of new churches or congregations. This has worked well in such places as The Cross, Bluffton where a satellite congregation was established at the Buckwalter Campus. So also with Holy Cross, Sullivan’s Island in the planting of a satellite at Daniel Island and their future plan of a third satellite congregation at ‘Ion in the Mount Pleasant. Such vision is inspiring. Others like St. Paul’s Summerville, St. James’, James Island, St. John’s, Johns Island, and Christ Church, Mount Pleasant because of adjacent land were able to build ministry centers, essentially planting “congregations” on campus. There has been no lack of vision and creativity among us. Today, two of our congregations in the Georgetown deanery have begun initiatives as well. Trinity, Myrtle Beach, under the leadership of Rob Sturdy and Iain Boyd, has initiated a church plant in the Carolina Forest community. This is making good progress. The Rev. Wilmot Merchant and the people of St. Stephen’s, North Myrtle Beach with the help of the Congregational Development Committee purchased property in the Loris area for a potential church plant in the future. They are presently making a strong witness for Christ by their volunteer work in Loris Elementary School therein making a difference in children’s lives. It will also work as a relational base from which to plant a congregation in the future. Nevertheless, elsewhere we have lagged behind, and others have seized the day—God will have his witnesses – with or without us.

The future of two other initiatives is more complicated and raises the question of Diocesan leadership in planting or acknowledging more complex cases. The Well By the Sea at Market Commons, in the area between Surfside and Myrtle Beach, is a “congregation” that has already outgrown its rented facilities and is at a crossroads....

Take the time to read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • TEC Diocesan Conventions/Diocesan Councils • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Evangelism and Church Growth • * South Carolina

What are:

--the number of domestic (USA) TEC parishes? 6,895

--the median membership of said parishes? 160

--the median attendance of said parishes? 66

We actually had a blog thread on it--read it once again.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

*No researching--you need to guess first*

What are:

--the number of domestic (USA) TEC parishes?

--the median membership of said parishes?

--the median attendance of said parishes?

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes

The Episcopal Church continuesin its course of a steep decline in the wake of its divisions over doctrine and discipline, with the national office reporting that in 2009 average Sundayattendance (ASA) fell by three percent to 682,963.

As of the end of 2009, the Episcopal Church reported having 2,006,343 active members—at its peak in the 1960s the Church counted over 3.5million members. The church shed 22,294 members in 2009, following a loss of 22,565 in 2008. Income from parochial giving also declined by 2.8 per cent last year, falling to £1.33 billion.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

You can find the 2009 numbers here and the 2002 numbers there. Before you click on the link, guess the percentage decline in Average Sunday Attendance for domestic missions and parishes of The Episcopal Church over this time frame--KSH.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

The Parochial Report Membership and Attendance Totals for 2009 have been posted to the Episcopal Church website, available here: http://generalconvention.org/gc/parochial_reports

The report was posted by the Rev. Canon Dr. Gregory Straub, Secretary of Executive Council, in accordance to Canon I.6.1 (listed below)

The figures are based on the information submitted by congregations and dioceses through the annual Parochial Report. The report was prepared by C. Kirk Hadaway, Ph.D., Officer for Congregational Research.

Reflective of members in both domestic and foreign dioceses, the report shows 2,175,616 baptized members of The Episcopal Church for 2009, with an Average Sunday Attendance (ASA) of 724,789.

In an accompanying report of Episcopal Domestic Fast Facts 2009 (not inclusive of any of the non-United States-based dioceses), the largest ASA was posted as the Cathedral of St Peter & St Paul in Washington DC (Washington National Cathedral) with 1667. The largest active membership was noted as St. Martin’s, Houston TX (Diocese of Texas) with 8,311 members.

Canon 6:

CANON 6: Of the Mode of Securing an Accurate View of the State of This Church

Sec. 1. A report of every Parish and other Congregation of this Church shall be prepared annually for the year ending December 31 preceding, in the form authorized by the Executive Council and approved by the Committee on the State of the Church, and shall be filed not later than March 1 with the Bishop of the Diocese, or, where there is no Bishop, with the ecclesiastical authority of the Diocese. The Bishop or the ecclesiastical authority, as the case may be, shall keep a copy and submit the report to the Executive Council not later than May 1. In every Parish and other Congregation the preparation and filing of this report shall be the joint duty of the Rector or Member of the Clergy in charge thereof and the lay leadership; and before the filing thereof the report shall be approved by the Vestry or bishop's committee or mission council. This report shall include the following information:

(1) the number of baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and burials during the year; the total number of baptized members, the total number of communicants in good standing, and the total number of communicants in good standing under 16 years of age.

(2) a summary of all the receipts and expenditures, from whatever source derived and for whatever purpose used.

(3) such other relevant information as is needed to secure accurate view of the state of this Church, as required by the approved form.

The Episcopal Church welcomes all who worship Jesus Christ in 109 dioceses and three regional areas in 16 nations. The Episcopal Church is a member province of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

Check them out carefully.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council has authorized its finance office to seek a $60 million line of credit to support the church’s operations. The loan will be secured by a mortgage on the church’s headquarters at 815 Second Avenue in New York, and by offering as collateral its unrestricted endowment funds.

The Oct 23-25 meeting in Salt Lake City of the church’s governing council between meetings of its General Convention also voted to cut its budget by 5 per cent next year in response to a $2.1 million shortfall in income.

A memorandum from the church’s Finance Office to the 38 council members stated that diocesan contributions to the national church were expected to be $700,000 below budget, while cuts in spending at the national church offices were expected to depress income also.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • Executive Council • House of Deputies President • Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's figures, Utah has grown in population from 2,233,169 in 2000 to 2,784,572 in 2009. This represents a population growth of approximately 24.69%.

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of Utah went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 1924 in 1998 to 1612 in 2008. This represents an ASA decline of about 16% over this ten year period. Please note that if you go to the link toward the end of this sentence and enter "Utah" as the name of the diocese and then "View Diocese Chart" underneath on the left you can see in pictorial form some of the data from 2009 which shows a slight increase in ASA from 2008-2009. The hard numbers for these new 2009 numbers are not yet available so far as I am aware.

The Diocese of Utah's website may be found here.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

Another challenge on the horizon is demographic in nature. The Diocese of Indianapolis is typical of TEC, (and the other mainlines churches) in that most of our members belong to large parishes, while most of our parishes have fewer than 100 people worshiping on an average Sunday. In some dioceses these parishes need to look for part-time clergy, and a growing number of new priests need to be tentmakers – earning some part of their living in secular work. Clergy are not as mobile as in the past, and often cannot move to new positions unless there is work available for a spouse or partner as well. As this trend continues, dioceses and seminaries will need to collaborate in providing a variety of ways to educate and form all our members for ministries.

TEC has been struggling over forty years to live out our conviction that the mission of the church depends on all our members; as the catechism says, “the ministers of the church are lay persons, bishops, priests, and deacons.” Each order of ministry has its designated area of responsibility – but there is a good deal of overlap, which is probably a good thing. Unless we are all working together to proclaim the Good News, to make the kingdom Jesus preached a reality, the mission of the church cannot be fully realized.

We have given a good deal of energy and attention to describing and defining the ministries of bishops and priests – after all, much of our ministry is so public – so ‘up front’ and visible. We have done less well in acknowledging lay persons as the ‘front line’ in proclaiming Christ and his kingdom in the world, and deacons as the iconic connection between our worship and our daily lives. It’s a special joy to celebrate the ordination of a deacon at our convention Eucharist, affirming the vital role of deacons among us.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

Each year, as Convention comes around, I look at the numbers you present in your Parochial reports. The figures I pay attention to are those related to Sunday average attendance, baptisms and confirmations or receptions in a given year, Easter Sunday attendance, which often gives a picture of potential for those numbers, tends to come close to total communicants, and financial health as shown by average pledge per week. The total number of enrolled members has always lagged behind reality depending on the energy of clergy to obtain a membership that represents the recent present. We all know that two in three people on Episcopal rolls never show up at church unless of course you have just happened to have culled the list the year before! The three values of vitality, visibility and viability are not really captured in the Parochial Report. I do know however that God’s impact through any particular group of the baptized in a given place always far exceeds anything we can know or report.

The apparent irrelevance, however, of the totals on baptized persons, or even communicants, for understanding our life as Church points to a huge weakness in our faith system. We are poor at keeping track of one another. This is so at the very place where we might hope greater commitment is being expressed, namely at Confirmation.

Read it all (my emphasis).

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

Part of the 20/20 vision had been the truth that mission united us and issues divided us. Since 2003, issues have divided us. While some leaders say we are still doing 20/20 mission, most people in the wider church know this initiative was dead on arrival.

As a consequence, we have returned to our long-standing decline. In only a few more years, the very viability of our church’s structure will begin to be called into question — the signs are already there. In the years that followed 2003, I have come to the conclusion that the Episcopal Church is headed toward about 1 million members in 2020, an average Sunday attendance around 400,000 and around 6,000 mainly small congregations. The 20/20 initiative was, among all things, a concerted effort to bring revitalization and growth to a long declining mainline church. It failed and we are now faced with an institutional decline that, save a direct intervention and miracle by God, cannot be reversed. There is insufficient leadership, desire, or institutional will to change.

The failure of the 20/20 initiative, combined with the subsequent controversy around human sexuality, has placed our community in a very precarious position. I am not suggesting that we return to the 20/20 initiative, but I do believe that our community urgently needs toaddress our current realities and find leaders who can point us toward a more hopeful future.

--The Very Rev. Kevin Martin in the October 8, 2010, Living Church (p.10).

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Conflicts • TEC Departing Parishes • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Evangelism and Church Growth

In order to generate a pictorial chart of this parish, please go here and enter "Upper South Carolina" in the second line down under "Diocese." Next please wait a moment and then click on "Church" and choose "Trinity (Columbia, SC)". Then wait another moment and choose "View Church chart" under that line (the middle of the three choices).

You may find the parish website there.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

I do not like the new way the website is laid out at all--it is very user unfriendly. In any event, use these numbers to get a sense of where your diocese has been.

Then go to the link at the end of this sentence and enter the name of your diocese (and parish if you desire) and you can see some of the data from 2009 (Click on the "Studying Your Congregation and Community" words under Research if you have any trouble).

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Evangelism and Church Growth

Many people assume that there has been a steady decline in worship attendance for all the mainline denominations since the mid-1960s—the era when most of them began to see their memberships decline. But trends in attendance—usually thought to be a better indicator of church vitality than trends in membership—have actually followed their own patterns.

For example, the Episcopal Church re ported higher attendance in 2000 than in any year since 1991, the year the denomination began recording attendance figures. The United Methodist Church re ported worship attendance figures in 2000 that were higher than those in the mid-1980s. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America had relatively flat attendance rates in the years before 2001, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in the 1990s had several years showing modest gains in attendance.

But the years following 2001 have shown a deep recession in worship attendance (see graph below). The losses in worshipers year after year were more dramatic than what data from the previous decade would have predicted.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Liturgy, Music, Worship • Parish Ministry • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches

If you go to the link toward the end of this sentence and enter "Indianapolis" as the name of the diocese and then go to "Church" (the third possible entry line) and enter "Saint Paul's, Jeffersonville" underneath the entry point (where you will see a list of parishes alphabetically in the Indianapolis diocese) then you can see in pictorial form some of the data from 1999-2009.

You may find the parish website there.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * South Carolina

Frank Kirkpatrick, professor of religion at Trinity College, wrote in a survey article in 2008 that "there were, as of December [2007], 55 [Episcopal Church] property disputes in one state or another of resolution around the country." (You may find a listing of those lawsuits in this post from August 2008, and see also the latest report from the American Anglican Council.) Of those fifty-five lawsuits, I estimate that ECUSA itself was a party to about half of them. Thus from the five lawsuits to which it was a party as Bishop Griswold ended his term in November 2006 (the Pawley's Island case in South Carolina, the three Los Angeles lawsuits, and a case involving St. James Church in Elmhurst, in the Diocese of Long Island), the number increased by five times in the first full year of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's term.

Under Bishop Jefferts Schori, ECUSA did not just passively stand by as the property disputes emerged, and allow the diocese involved to carry the laboring oar. It aggressively prosecuted the cases in both California and Virginia, joined in filings in Connecticut, Georgia and New York (where it intervened as the DFMS against St. Andrew's, in Syracuse, and filed an amicus brief in this case in New York's highest court), became enmeshed in additional litigation in San Diego and Colorado, and threatened litigation against the dioceses of San Joaquin, Fort Worth and Quincy if they dared to withdraw from the Church. (The latter two threats were issued by the Presiding Bishop's Chancellor on his own initiative, as discussed in this earlier post.)

There are no records in the minutes of the Executive Council during this period to show that it was ever consulted before any of these multiple filings in the name of the Church took place; as quoted in the previous post, the Presiding Bishop held the view that only she personally, and neither the Council, nor even General Convention, had any authority over litigation. Thus she simply gave her Chancellor free rein -- and ECUSA's legal bills began to mount exponentially.

Read it all (and please note it is part of a series all parts of which need to be perused).

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori • TEC Bishops • TEC Conflicts • TEC Conflicts: Fort Worth • TEC Conflicts: Pittsburgh • TEC Conflicts: Quincy • TEC Conflicts: San Joaquin • TEC Departing Parishes • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Stewardship • * Culture-Watch • Law & Legal Issues • * Economics, Politics • Economy • Corporations/Corporate Life • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology • Pastoral Theology

In her recent address to the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Presiding Bishop used the same list that she used in Southwark, but began her address to another “Episcopal Church” by defending the use of the name “The” Episcopal Church: “we’ve struggled with what to call ourselves because ECUSA is not accurate.” In fact, the official name of TEC as designated in its constitution is“The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, otherwise known as The Episcopal Church (which name is hereby recognized as also designating the Church).” She also stated that the Churches in Europe were “rapidly becoming indigenized.” The data show that they have declined 13% since 2003 from an ASA of 1500 to 1302.

TEC is not, of course, the only “international” church in the Anglican Communion. Others include the West Indies, Central America, Southern Cone, Ireland, West Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, Indian Ocean, Jerusalem and the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Melanesia and Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia.

But the most international of all Anglican churches remains the Church of England. In addition to churches extra-provincial to Canterbury in Spain, Portugal, Bermuda, Ceylon and the Falkland Islands, the Church of England’s Diocese in Europe includes parishes or missions in forty-three countries with a weekly attendance of 12,600.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori • TEC Data

In order to generate a pictorial chart of this parish, please go here and enter "Milwaukee" in the second line down under "Diocese." Next please wait a moment and then click on "Church" and choose"St Paul's, Oconomowoc" Then wait another moment and choose "View Church chart" under that line (the middle of the three choices).

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's figures, Idaho has grown in population from 1,293,953 in 2000 to 1,545,801 in 2009. This represents a population growth of approximately 19.46%.

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of Idaho went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 2,061 in 1998 to 1,732 in 2008. This represents an ASA decline of about 16% over this ten year period.

In order to generate a pictorial chart of diocesan statistics, please go here and enter "Idaho" in the second line down under "Diocese" and then click on "View Diocese Chart" under the third line to the left.

The Diocese of Idaho's website may be found here.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's figures, Montana has grown in population from 902,195 in 2000 to 974,989 in 2009. This represents a population growth of approximately 8.07%.

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of Montana went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 2,273 in 1998 to 1,827 in 2008. This represents an ASA decline of about 20% over this ten year period.

In order to generate a pictorial chart of some Montana diocesan statistics, please go here and enter "Montana" in the second line down under "Diocese" and then click on "View Diocese Chart" under the third line to the left.

The Diocese of Montana's website may be found here.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's figures, Rhode Island has grown in population from 1,048,319 in 2000 to 1,053,209 in 2009. This represents a population growth of approximately 0.47%.

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of Rhode Island went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 8,174 in 1998 to 6,078 in 2008. This represents an ASA decline of about 26% over this ten year period.

In order to generate a pictorial chart of some Rhode Island diocesan statistics, please go here and enter "Rhode Island" in the second line down under "Diocese" and then click on "View Diocese Chart" under the third line to the left.

The Diocese of Rhode Island's website may be found here.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's figures, Oregon has grown in population from 3,421,399 in 2000 to 3,825,657 in 2009. This represents a population growth of approximately 11.82%.

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of Oregon went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 7,553 in 1998 to 6,924 in 2008. This represents an ASA decline of about 8% over this ten year period.

In order to generate a pictorial chart of some Oregon diocesan statistics, please go here and enter "Oregon" in the second line down under "Diocese" and then click on "View Diocese Chart" under the third line to the left.

The Diocese of Oregon' website may be found here.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's figures, Arkansas has grown in population from 2,673,400 in 2000 to 2,889,450 in 2009. This represents a population growth of approximately 8.08%.

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of Arkansas went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 5,349 in 1998 to 4,684 in 2008. This represents an ASA decline of about 12% over this ten year period.

In order to generate a pictorial chart of some Arkansas diocesan statistics, please go here and enter "Arkansas" in the second line down under "Diocese" and then click on "View Diocese Chart" under the third line to the left.

The Diocese of Arkansas' website may be found here.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

In order to generate a pictorial chart of this parish, please go here and enter "Iowa" in the second line down under "Diocese." Next please wait a moment and then click on "Church" and choose "Trinity (Davenport, Iowa)." Then wait another moment and choose "View Church chart" under that line (the middle of the three choices).

You may find the parish website here.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes

Check it out (our thanks to a blog reader).

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's figures, Nevada has grown in population from 1,998,257 in 2000 to 2,643,085 in 2009. This represents a population growth of approximately 32.7%.

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of Nevada went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 2,338 in 1998 to 2,127 in 2008. This represents an ASA decline of about 9% over this ten year period.

In order to generate a pictorial chart of some Nevada diocesan statistics, please go here and enter "Nevada" in the second line down under "Diocese" and then click on "View Diocese Chart" under the third line to the left.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's figures, Iowa has grown in population from 2,926,324 in 2000 to 3,007,856 in 2009. This represents a population growth of approximately 2.8%.

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of Iowa went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 4,182 in 1998 to 3,193 in 2008. This represents an ASA decline of about 24% over this ten year period.

A pictorial chart of some Iowa diocesan statistics may be found here.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's figures, West Virginia has grown in population from 1,808,344 in 2000 to 1,819,777 in 2009. This represents a population growth of approximately 0.6%.

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of West Virginia went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 4,304 in 1998 to 3,279 in 2008. This represents an ASA decline of about 24% over this ten year period.

A pictorial chart of some West Virginia diocesan statistics may be found here.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's figures, Vermont has grown in population from 608,827 in 2000 to 621,760 in 2009. This represents a population growth of approximately 2.1%.

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of Vermont went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 3,280 in 1998 to 2,765 in 2008. This represents an ASA decline of about 16% over this ten year period.

A pictorial chart of some Vermont diocesan statistics may be found here.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

In the mainline churches, which is what I know best, the political views leaders express are generally those of what could be called the ‘foundation left’ — emotionally grounded in concern for the poor and development, historically linked to the ‘new left’ mix of economic and social concerns as developed in the 1960’s, shaped by an atmosphere of privilege and entitlement that reflects the upper middle class background of the educated professionals who run these institutions. The social sins they deplore are those of the right: excessive focus on capitalism, too robust and unheeding a promotion of the American national and security interest abroad, insufficient care for the environment, failure to help the poor through government welfare programs, failure to support affirmative action, failure to celebrate and protect the unrestricted right of women to abort. I am of course speaking very generally here and there are lots of individual exceptions, but many of these folks are generally tolerant of theological differences and rigidly intolerant when it comes to political differences: they care nothing at all about doctrines like predestination but get very angry with people who disagree with them about issues like global warming or immigration reform. Theological heresy is a matter for courtesy and silence, but political heretics fill them with bile....

Let me nail some cyber-theses to the virtual door.

1. Nobody cares what you think while your tiny church is falling apart.

In a diocese not a thousand miles from my home in glamorous Queens, there once was a bishop whose long and public battle with alcoholism rendered him unable to carry out his duties. For years and years this diocese suffered under grievous mismanagement and its rotten condition was an open scandal widely discussed and lamented throughout the national church. Yet in the general shipwreck of his episcopacy, this bishop (or what remained of the diocesan machinery) somehow managed to get ‘prophetic’ statements out on political causes of various kinds. So far as I know, none of these statements ever had any impact on anyone’s thinking anywhere on Planet Earth.

This poor bishop, now thankfully retired, was an extreme case, but why, exactly, would any sane person today pay attention to the political pronouncements of an Episcopal bishop? Episcopalians are a tiny minority of the population and the church long ago lost its social power and cachet. The Episcopal church today is in the worst condition it has been since the aftermath of the Revolution; its clergy has visibly failed to keep the church together or prevent its ongoing decline. I’m afraid that the penchant to make political pronouncements proceeds less from a true prophetic vocation than from a nostalgia for a time when it mattered what Episcopal bishops thought. In any case, there is nothing more ridiculous than a proprietor of a failing concern who officiously lectures everyone else on how to manage their affairs. Please, for the sake of what remains of the dignity of your office, give it a rest....

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Evangelism and Church Growth • * Economics, Politics • Politics in General • * Theology • Ethics / Moral Theology

Doug LeBlanc, The Living Church: In the ENS (Episcopal News Service) report on Friday, you indicated that the PB spoke about the situation in South Carolina, asking people pray for the people in SC. What change do you hope to see as a result of those prayers?

PB: I want a clear understanding of realities of TEC and don’t want the people of South Carolina to rely on erroneous information, provided by other sources.

Bonnie Anderson: Have heard from several of the deputies from south Carolina. They have a desire for clear and accurate information; prayer all across the church for this situation....

George Conger, reporter at large: to the PB and President: You both expressed receiving erroneous information in SC. What is this erroneous information? Where did it come from?

PB: Episcopalians, like many others who use the internet, seek information that is not subject to peer review [Ed. Note: as information is in academic circles.] They rely on opinion, not fact. The South Carolina representation of our theology and polity as a whole is not accurate. There are stated processes of this Church that are not accurate. I would encourage South Carolinians to ask bodies of TEC that are responsible for these decisions and get their facts straight.

Bonnie Anderson: There is a large influx of information coming from multiple sources. It is really important for people who are going to be voting on something to get accurate information on the issues before them. Fox example, and this is just hypothetical, can a diocese leave TEC? What is the process for that concern? What have we agreed to in the General Convention over the years with regard to that?

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori • TEC Conflicts • TEC Data • * Culture-Watch • Blogging & the Internet • Media • * South Carolina

During his statistic-laden hour-long report, Kirk Hadaway, the church's program officer for congregational research, told the council that congregations grow when they are in growing communities; have a clear mission and purpose; follow up with visitors; have strong leadership; and are involved in outreach and evangelism.

Congregations decline, he said, when their membership is older and predominantly female; are in conflict, particularly over leadership and where worship is "rote, predictable and uninspiring."

The primary source of the statistics for Hadaway's report is the canonically required (Canon 1.6.1) information filed annually with diocesan bishops by each congregation. The so-called parochial reports are due by March 1 of the following year. An example of the sort of information gathered is available here. Hadaway analyzed the data received to compile a variety of statistical reports and also cited a variety of surveys of church members that he and others have conducted.

The 2008 parochial reports show overall church membership at 2,225,682 people, with a total average Sunday attendance (ASA) at 747,376. Those totals compare with 2007 membership of 2,285,143 and total ASA at 768,476. The dioceses in the United States saw a 2.8 percent drop in membership and a 3.1 percent decrease in ASA. Overall church membership -- including 10 non-U.S. dioceses -- was down 2.6 percent and attendance dropped 2.7 percent for the entire church.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Evangelism and Church Growth

She sings the litany. He delivers the sermon.

It is Sunday morning at All Saints Episcopal Church in Sacramento and both the Revs. Michael and Betsey Monnot preside over the worship services, one of several ways the church keeps down expenses.

"We trade off duties every week," said Betsey Monnot.

The two priests, who are married and have two children and another due in three weeks, said the church could afford one full-time clergyperson. So they agreed to job-share and serve as co-rectors.

"When you're a small church, you have to be creative," said Michael Monnot.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Evangelism and Church Growth

According to the U.S. Census Bureau's figures, Nebraska has grown in population from 1,711,263 in 2000 to 1,796,619 in 2009. This represents a population growth of approximately 4.75%.

According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of Nebraska went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 4,078 in 1998 to 3,153 in 2008. This represents an ASA decline of about 23% over this ten year period.

A pictorial chart of some Nebraska diocesan statistics may be found here.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

Check it out.

Average Sunday Attendance has gone from 7,224 in 1998 to 6,428 in 2008, a decline of some 11%.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • TEC Diocesan Conventions/Diocesan Councils

...true encouragement comes from honesty before God and self and the strength of purpose to serve in the face of disappointment or uncertainty. Or so it should. I know a young person who sneered at the faith of an Episcopalian – a more conservative person – who chose to leave TEC for another set of ecclesial structures. “You would do such a thing”, this young person said to him: “yours is the generation, after all, who invented no-fault divorce”. In fact, in this case, the complaint was less directed at a purported hypocrite, than at what he perceived to be the witness of an impotent God, unable to garner the sacrificial steadiness of His adherents. But either way, faith is scandalized by those who do not have the strength, nor certainly seek the strength, to stand in the face of upheaval.

I will come back to this at the close of my remarks: honesty need be neither angry, miserable, nor defeatist. It should be the seed for hope, because it is the first and necessary turn to God who alone saves.

What is the difficult thing to speak, honestly? It is this: the Episcopal Church, as it has been known through the past two centuries, is no more, in any substantive sense. TEC is simply no longer the church filled with even the strength of purpose we saw only 10 years ago – yes, even then, a church with a good deal of vital diversity and disagreement; but a seeming sense of restraint over pressing these in ways that overwhelmed witness and mission. And as a result, even then, it was church that was growing in outreach and faith. That church, shimmering still with some of the vibrancy of love spent for the Gospel seen140 years before, even 90 years before, is now gone. And TEC will not survive in any real continuity with this past and its gifts.

This is something we must face. To be sure, I am not speaking here of this or that diocese or bishop or congregation or clergy person within TEC: there are many through whose service the Gospel shines bright and the witness of the Kingdom flourishes. I am speaking of an institution as a whole – not even in terms of its legal corporation, but in terms of its character and Christian substance given flesh in the Spirit’s mission.

Read it all carefully.

I want to stress, please, that people in the comments interact with what Ephraim is arguing for and actually saying. Comments not doing so will be dispacted into the ether. Many thanks--KSH.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Analysis • - Anglican: Commentary • Episcopal Church (TEC) • General Convention • House of Deputies President • Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori • TEC Bishops • TEC Conflicts • TEC Data • TEC Diocesan Conventions/Diocesan Councils • TEC Parishes • TEC Polity & Canons • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * Theology • Ecclesiology • Ethics / Moral Theology • Pastoral Theology • Seminary / Theological Education

Domestic membership in the Episcopal Church dropped by 3 percent in 2008, continuing a decline in which the denomination has lost almost 200,000 American members since 2004, according to Episcopal researchers.

The Episcopal Church now counts slightly more than 2 million members in about 7,000 U.S. parishes. Church leaders say they are pleased, however, that the denomination is growing in its non-domestic dioceses, particularly in Haiti and Latin America, where the church counted about 168,000 members in 470 parishes last year.

Still, the church is "swimming against some difficult cultural tides," Matilda Kistler, who heads a state-of-the-church committee in the denomination's House of Deputies, said in a statement.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

Yet another commission reports that TEC is in steep decline. We are helped to digest this news with the sweetener that there are good things going on as we decline! So what happened to us?

The extraordinary thing about all this is our fairly sudden and dramatic collapse. The late fifties were a time of growth in numbers, income and “membership” both in England and the US. Over 3 million people in the US identified themselves as Episcopalians. New church plants were on the rise and special shorter courses were established in seminaries to train older men for ordination. For the CofE, things were better than at any time since Victoria died.

I do not for a moment believe that suddenly in the sixties people became less religious or religiously inclined. I do believe that Anglicanism lost its nerve. I do believe that we began to produce a leadership, lay and ordained, that assumed that the voices heard in academia and among the “culture-vultures” reflected the thoughts of most people. Yet the “intelligentsia” of that day – I am not speaking of truly educated people – no more reflected the feelings and thoughts of every day people then than they do now.

We went for a ride with “right thinking” people and still not cannot get it into our heads that these people, what ever their social or political ideals, are a vocal minority.

The vast majority of people were left out of this small company of the self-obsessed.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Commentary • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Evangelism and Church Growth

The 2008 parochial reports show overall church membership at 2,225,682 people, with a total average Sunday attendance (ASA) at 747,376. Those totals compare with 2007 membership of 2,285,143 and total average Sunday attendance 768,476. The dioceses in the United States saw a 2.8 percent drop in membership and a 3.1 percent decrease in ASA. Overall church membership -- including 10 non-U.S. dioceses -- was down 2.6 percent and attendance dropped 2.7 percent for the entire church.

The median Episcopal Church congregation in 2008 had 164 active members (down four members from 2007) and 69 people in Sunday worship, the same as in the previous year. Membership declines in the Episcopal Church mirror a pattern seen in other Christian denominations. Recent nationwide data shows the median non-Roman Catholic congregation has 75 regular participants at worship on Sundays.

Four domestic Episcopal Church dioceses grew during 2008 in both overall membership and average Sunday attendance: Alabama, Navajoland Area Mission, North Dakota and Wyoming.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

The church’s membership, counted as active baptized members, also declined by three per cent, falling by 59,457 to 2,057,292. The rate of decline in attendance and membership also rose last year, with the 10-year rate of decline in attendance rising from 13 to 16 per cent, and the 10-year rate of decline in active membership rising from 10 to 11 per cent.

Fifty per cent of US Episcopal churches saw a decline in attendance last year, while only 35 per cent registered growth. The median average Sunday worship attendance in 2008 was 69.

For the first time the church’s income fell, with recorded “pledge and plate” income falling by 0.2 per cent.

Critics assert the numbers may be overstated as some dioceses have not recorded the secession of breakaway congregations. While the Diocese of San Joaquin recorded a membership drop of almost 8,000, or 77 per cent — reflecting the secession of a majority of its congregations, the Diocese of Los Angeles continues to carry St James Newport Beach’s 1,500 members on its books — even though the congregation’s fight to quit has already taken the fight to the US Supreme Court.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

The Episcopal Church (USA) is no exception to the Law. I submit that all of the outward signs point to a draining from it of people and energy which at the moment is very much greater than what it is managing to attract to itself.

There is no glee to be had here, no Schadenfreude. I am an Episcopalian -- a member of a Church that is in free fall, and whose current leadership is a disgrace, as they say, to the profession. Consider the fifty-year trend in its numbers, as vividly portrayed by Bishop FitzSimmons Allison in this brilliant analysis of what that leadership has done wrong -- and continues to do wrong, as borne out by the latest figures. Consider the huge drain on its reserves caused by that leadership's decisions to go to court wherever and whenever they think another parish (or diocese) must be sued for its property.

And last, but by no means least, consider the self-inflicted wounds caused by the Church's deposition of more than 200 of its clergy in just the last eight years -- every one of them unnecessary when simple letters dimissory would have sufficed. Add to this, now, the arrogant and lawless leadership of the Chief Kaitiff (for so I must call her when she acts in this way) -- whose respect for the Church's Canons is as non-existent as is her understanding of them.

Read the whole piece.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • * Culture-Watch • Religion & Culture • * Theology

Read it carefully and read it all..

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

Having been tipped that the numbers were being shared with the Executive Council during its Oct. 5-8 meeting, I e-mailed church public affairs officer Neva Rae Fox late Wednesday, Oct. 7, and asked for a “copy of the new ASA and membership figures that were passed out to the Executive Council at this week’s meeting.”

She e-mailed me back that “ASA and membership figures have not been passed out to Exec Council.”

So I e-mailed back: “Perhaps passed out is the wrong word. It’s my understanding that the figures are finished and were shared with the Executive Council this week.”

This morning, she responded: “if so, not yet. nothing has been shared yet.”

That didn’t match what I’d been led to believe by a very reliable source. So I asked Anderson and the Presiding Bishop about the numbers during the press conference. Here’s what they said...

Read it all especially the responses to Mr. Lockwood's question.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

Check it out. Average Sunday attendance in the diocese was 18,698 in 1997 and was 15,933 in 2007; active baptized members were 54,331 in 1997 and were 51,787 in 2007.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

--Anglican Church in Ghana, from 100,000 in 1970 to 236,000 in 2000

--Anglican Church of Kenya from 582,600 in 1970 to 3.1 million in 2000

--Anglican Church in Nigeria from 2.914 million in 1970 to 18 million in 2000

--Anglican Church in Rwanda from 161,899 in 1970 to 700,000 in 2000

--Anglican Church in the Sudan from 300,000 in 1970 to 2.2 million in 2000

--Anglican Church in Uganda from 1.281 million in 1970 to 8.580 million in 2000

--The American Episcopal church from 3.196 million in 1970 to 2.325 million in 2000

--The Anglican Church in Britain from 27.659 million in 1970 to 23.983 million in 2000

--The Anglican Church of Canada from 1.176 million in 1970 to 784,000 in 2000

--The Scottish Episcopal Church from 86,351 in 1970 to 48,300 in 2000

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of England (CoE) • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • Global South Churches & Primates

No, as you can see plainly from this chart.

I post this today because earlier I read the following:

St. Francis is one of 28 parishes of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh of the Episcopal Church in the United States.

According to the Episcopal Church Annual of 2007 (which reflects parochial reports from 2005) there were 67 parishes in the diocese of Pittsburgh that year. So the quite significant drop in active baptized membership in the domestic dioceses of TEC from 1997-2007 of -9.7% does not yet reflect the realignments in Pittsburgh, Quincy, Fort Worth and San Joaquin.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Conflicts • TEC Conflicts: Fort Worth • TEC Conflicts: Pittsburgh • TEC Conflicts: Quincy • TEC Conflicts: San Joaquin • TEC Data

Early I posted on the theme of subsurface deterioration in the Episcopal Church, and used the diocese of Lexington as an example.

Since I recently posted David Keller's comments about the struggles in the diocese of Upper South Carolina, I thought I would look at the numbers for that diocese. According to the national statistics site church membership in Upper South Carolina went from 25,569 in 1997 to 26,087 in 2007, a gain of 2.0%. During the same ten year span, however, average Sunday attendance went from 9,278 to 8,439, a decline of 9%.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

One of the many contentions of this blog over the years is that The Episcopal Church is in significant trouble as an institution. While I believe this is primarily because of theological factors, no monocausal explanation is sufficient to describe what is occurring. What remains disturbing, however, is the degree of denial by the National Episcopal leadership about the scale of this problem.

I think a lot of TEC statistics overstate the strength of TEC on the ground. For example, people in parish ministry know well that the real membership of a parish is roughly twice the Average Sunday Attendance.

So you know something is fishy when TEC claims some 2.2 million members, and average Sunday attendance is now under 800,000 (768,476 according to the national church office).

One goldmine for this data is the research and statistics page kept by Kirk Hadaway's office at the national church.

As an example of the scale of the problem this morning, consider one diocese, Lexington. If you look at baptized membership, Lexington shrank from 8949 in 1997 to 8002 in 2007. That is a decline of 10.6%. Now, however, consider the more meaningful number, Average Sunday Attendance. In this category, Lexington fell from 3905 to 2973 in the period from 1997-2007. That is a decline of 24%.

It is part of a significant national trend, and it is a major issue--KSH.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • TEC Parishes • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

Ten days ago, we elves published two blog entries which gave information about how the bishops voted on the various roll call votes (related to Resolutions D025 and C056) during General Convention.

The first post was an unofficial tally of all three roll call votes (For the record, this was a T19 exclusive, the work of T19 readers (with indispensable help from the Rev. George Conger and the live reporting of bloggers at Stand Firm, BabyBlue Anglican and the Lead), NOT an exclusive by David Virtue, in spite of his claim to the contrary when he published our table without so much as even a link or a thank you.) The second blog post was a look at how the Anaheim Statement signatories voted.

We're wanting to update both tables, but before doing so we really need to get a copy of the official roll call tally for Resolution C056. If any reader can assist us, we'd be grateful.

The other day, David Virtue published a link which appears to be the official roll call vote for D025 (it is a scan of a 4 page fax) We are happy to report that having compared that tally against our unofficial table, the results match perfectly.

It is perhaps worth noting that the two corrections we had made to George Conger's tally at the Living Church, appear to be valid. George Conger had reported that Keith Whitmore of Atlanta (formerly the diocesan of Eau Clair) voted no on D025, however our review of the audio indicated a YES vote, and that is what the official tally shows as well. Whitmore is a YES on D025. Conger also had not recorded a vote for Scott Mayer, Diocesan of Northwest Texas (his vote was inaudible on the audio). We'd seen a published source claiming Mayer voted NO and so that was what we published. The official tally does indeed record that Mayer voted NO on D025.

It is also worth noting that the current list of Anaheim Statement signatories is up to at least 34 and perhaps 35 (Virtue adds Charles Jenkins of Louisiana as a signatory - can any reader from Louisiana confirm that?). You can see the full list of 34 names as confirmed by The Living Church here.

Again, please let us know if anyone finds the official tally for C056. Thanks.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • General Convention • TEC Bishops • TEC Conflicts • TEC Data • Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion) • Same-sex blessings

I honestly cannot remember a time in my life in the Episcopal Church where I have read more mistakes in less time than in the last two to three weeks. Please do not believe everything you read and make sure to fact check and research material, a point we have stressed time and again on this blog.

A case in point is this recent piece by Diana Butler Bass. I enjoyed Dr. Bass' Standing Against the Whirlwind : Evangelical Episcopalians in Nineteenth-Century America which was well written and researched (and is quite relevant to our present time by the way), and so was baffled to see such a poorly written piece by her on Beliefnet.

The relevant section of her article for our purposes reads this way:

The Anglican Church of North America, the umbrella group for conservative Episcopalians who have left their denomination over women's ordination and full inclusion of gay and lesbian persons, has long claimed over 100,000 members. Recently, they admitted that only 69,000 persons in 650 churches in the USA and Canada have joined their association. There are 2.2 million Episcopalians in the United States and approximately 1 million in Canada. Thus, the conservative group--the one that has garnered so much media attention in recent years is a very small percentage of the entire North American Anglican membership--some 2% of the total. And with their rigid opposition to women's ordination, it is hard to imagine that this group will find much appeal with young North Americans.

Now for the record, I am not in ACNA. Certainly her description of the reason for the departure of ACNA is not one ACNA would agree with just for starters. It is over issues of Christology, marriage, the authority and interpretation of Scripture, the nature of the church, and the standards of Christian leadership that this controversy is fundamentally about.

According to ACNA's own website, ACNA still claims 100, 000 members. That claim has not changed. The reference to the 69,000 number is for Average Sunday attendance: according to the ACNA site ACNA claims "average Sunday attendance of 69,197 (as of spring 2009)" [and there is a even more about ACNA numbers here]. So follow along. Dr. Bass suggests the claim of membership in ACNA has changed. It hasn't. Then she suggests ACNA is claiming a number for membership which ACNA is claiming for average Sunday attendance. This is elementary category confusion. As anyone in parish ministry knows membership and Sunday morning attendance are very different.

Having made all these errors, Dr. Bass then compares the wrong category of numbers for ACNA and TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada:

There are 2.2 million Episcopalians in the United States and approximately 1 million in Canada. Thus, the conservative group--the one that has garnered so much media attention in recent years is a very small percentage of the entire North American Anglican membership--some 2% of the total.

Do you see how she got the 2% figure? She took the roughly 69,000 figure, which is for Average Sunday attendance, and compared it to the membership figures for TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada. But this is comparing apples to oranges. The Episcopal Church has not been using average Sunday attendance figures for all that long, but you may know that whereas in the 2004 tables TEC claimed ASA of 833,672, by the 2009 tables that number is down to 768,476.

The 1 million number Dr. Bass gives for the Anglican Church of Canada membership is way off. One of the recent numbers I found was 641,845, but of course, this is again membership not Sunday morning attendance. I would honestly be surprised if average Sunday attendance in the Anglican Church of Canada is more than 200,000 actually (many of you know I lived and worshipped in Canada for two years), but let's use 300,000 for our purposes.

Now, if you use these figures, and compare apples to apples, the ASA of ACNA is approximately 6.5% of the ASA of TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada combined, more than three times the percentage total Dr. Bass gives.

You would think given the large number of errors that I would be finished. But no. She continues:

And with their rigid opposition to women's ordination, it is hard to imagine that this group will find much appeal with young North Americans.

Well, this would come as news to my friend Mary Hays, an ordained woman quite involved in ACNA, to pick just one example. ACNA is trying to protect two perspectives on women's ordination, as anyone in the movement itself could have told Dr. Bass if she had asked.

What an embarrassing effort Dr. Bass has given us in this article. I sincerely hope she will improve in the future--and please, do not believe everything you read--KSH.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) • Anglican Provinces • Anglican Church of Canada • Episcopal Church (TEC) • General Convention • TEC Data • * By Kendall • * Culture-Watch • Media

This may cross over into editorializing which we elves try not to do. But posting the roll call tables below, we couldn't help but be struck by something.

We have extracted the voting information for the 27 bishops who are known to have signed the "Anaheim Statement," from the larger table with all the roll call votes which is posted in the entry below. It seems very strange to us elves that a full one-third of these signatories claim to "reaffirm their commitment" to uphold the Windsor Process moratoria, while they voted FOR one or both resolutions (D025 and C056) that indicate TEC's intention to breach those moratoria.

Remember, as per all our caveats in the entry below, the vote tallies here are unofficial. Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, but the C056 data in particular is still off by two votes (among the full 136 bishops who voted).



You can read the full text of the Anaheim Statement here

It includes the line:
* We reaffirm our commitment to the three moratoria requested of us by the instruments of Communion.

Re-read D025 and C056 for yourselves, and please explain to this feeble-minded elf how one can have voted YES for D025 and C056 and signed this reaffirmation. We're clueless.

--Elfgirl

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Primary Source • -- Statements & Letters: Bishops • Episcopal Church (TEC) • General Convention • TEC Bishops • TEC Data • Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion) • Same-sex blessings • Windsor Report / Process

Thanks to the work of a number of T19 readers, led by Karen B., here is an unofficial tally of all the Bishops' roll call votes from GC09.

It includes the roll call votes for:

-- Resolution D025 (basically overturning B033 which urged restraint on consecration of further non-celibate homosexual bishops, etc.)

-- Rowe Amendment to discharge, (i.e. "kill without voting") Resolution C056

-- Resolution C056 (allowing development of SSB liturgies and "generous pastoral response")

-- Also, the currently known signatories to the "Anaheim Statement" are noted.

The listing is based on vote by vote review of the audio files of the roll calls for D025 and C056, and also draws heavily on the Rev. George Conger's report for the Living Church. (however the tally does not exactly match Conger's tally. There are 3 or 4 differences based either on what was heard on audio, or other published reports of how a bishop voted.) There are detailed notes and links to sources at the bottom of the table.

Note: the totals for D025 match the published totals. However the totals for the Rowe Amendment and C056 are slightly off by 2-3 votes. There are several votes which are impossible to hear clearly in the audio files. So these tallies should be used with caution, although they are believed to be 99% accurate.

Please send Kendall or us elves any corrections. We will of course post the official tallies from TEC once they are released.

You can download/view the PDF version of the roll call tallies table here

We're going to try to post the full table here on the blog, but that may be difficult. Check back in a little while.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • - Anglican: Primary Source • -- Statements & Letters: Bishops • Episcopal Church (TEC) • General Convention • TEC Bishops • TEC Conflicts • TEC Data • Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion) • Same-sex blessings • Windsor Report / Process

Since a physical copy of this was mailed to Episcopal parishes recently, it is worth your time to give it careful attention.

Because I am concerned a number of you will whiz by this entry, please complete the following blanks:

The median Episcopal congregation had _______ persons in worship in 2007 according to the annual Parochial Report.

_____ % of Episcopal congregations have facilities that seat more than 300 people.

The answers are in the report; give your own answers before you look.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

T19 reader Karen B. has reviewed the 15-year trend in attendance (Average Sunday Attendance or ASA) data for the Episcopal church and circulated her findings via e-mail. The results are striking:

For TEC domestic dioceses
Total ASA change: 1992 - 1997 = 2,005 (0.2% increase)
Total ASA change: 1997 - 2002 = 5,195 (0.6% increase)
Total ASA change: 2002 - 2007 = -118,818 (-14% DECREASE)

Put it this way. Look at the 10 year increase between 1992 - 2002 of 7,200 attendees. It would take 16.5 such 10 year periods (i.e. 165 years!) to make up the ASA decrease since 2002. WOW.

Data is based on ASA data for TEC domestic dioceses only.

A few more interesting tidbits re: the 15 year ASA trend data:
44 dioceses grew from 1992-1997
42 dioceses grew from 1997-2002
1 diocese grew from 2002-2007 (South Carolina at 1.8%)

For the 15 year period as a whole (1992-2007), 9 dioceses grew:
South Carolina (33%)
Tennessee (23%)
Western North Carolina (10%)
North Carolina (10%)
Texas (8.5%)
Atlanta (7%)
East Carolina (6.5%)
Alaska (4%)
Utah (1%)

The worst 10 dioceses over the 15 years (each of these 10 dioceses has had an attendance decrease of 30-40%):
Navaho Missions, Western New York, Northern Michigan, Northwest Texas, Central New York, Eastern Michigan, Western Kansas, Rochester, Quincy, Western Massachusetts

See also the Stand Firm discussion thread on this data (the comments offer some comparison data regarding attendance trends in other mainline denominations).

Note: All data was originally downloaded from the TEC website. (two PDF files: 1992 - 2002, and 1997-2007). The 1992-2002 PDF file (Dr. Kirk Hadaway's cleaned and corrected data) no longer seems to be online. I originally downloaded it from this link.

[We elves have uploaded the PDF file Karen sent us. You can now find the 1992-2002 ASA data here.]

The 1997 - 2007 ASA data is available from TEC here.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • * Religion News & Commentary

Check it out.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

Few doubt that the graying of members, low birth rates and various controversies have contributed to the diminishing numbers of mainline Protestants found in the United Methodist Church, the Evan gelical Luth eran Church in America, the Pres byterian Church (U.S.A.), the Epis copal Church, the American Baptist Churches and the United Church of Christ.

But has the slippage become precipitous, threatening to reduce mainline Protestants ever closer to remnant status? "A generic form of evangelicalism is emerging as the normative form of non-Catholic Christianity in the United States," said Mark Silk, who helped design the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS).

That survey, which polled more than 54,000 adults, reported in March that the number of mainline Christians had slipped to 12.9 percent of adult Americans—down from 17.2 percent in 2001 and 18.7 percent in 1990—as evangelical numbers grew.

By contrast, the Pew Forum's U.S. Religious Landscape Study, after polling 35,000 adults in 2007, reported last year that 18.1 percent of adults said they were affiliated with "mainline Protestant" churches.

Read the whole article.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • * Religion News & Commentary • Other Churches • Lutheran • Methodist • Presbyterian

Take a look at this chart for one pictorial view.

According the Episcopal Church Annual of 1993 (itself based on parochial reports of 1991) there were 6,813 baptized members in the diocese of Montana, the 2004 annual lists 6,441 members, and the most recent diocesan statistics from the national church for 2007 lists 5,414 members. This represents a decline of just over 20.5% in this 16 year period.

According to the U.S. Census data, the population of Montana grew from 786,690 in 1980 to 799,065 in 1990, and then to 902,195 in 2000. The most recent estimate of Montana's population in 2005-2007 is 946,815.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data

Bishop Wendell Gibbs and the Diocesan Council continued the movement of the Diocese of Michigan toward a sustainable mission and budget, which has been underway for six months, when it reduced the current 2009 diocesan budget by $450,639. A significant area of cost reductions comes in the wake of Bishop Wendell Gibbs's announcement on April 2 that five staff positions would be eliminated.

While the greatest impact of the employment termination for four present staff persons will not be felt until 2010--due to severance policy obligations--removing the one unfilled position from the budget and tangential costs of the other positions does have an impact on the 2009 budget.

Read it all and Greg Griffith has further comments there.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • * Economics, Politics • Economy • The Credit Freeze Crisis of Fall 2008/The Recession of 2007--

Take a look.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry

Survey research, most recently the Pew Forum's United States Religious Landscape Survey, shows plainly that we and most other mainline traditions are losing ground. In our case, for every seven people entering an Episcopal church, 10 are leaving. That's not a sustainable trend.

The survey points up an interesting countertrend worth pondering. The one bright light of significant growth in the mainline group of churches is – are you sitting down? –"nondenominational."

We might summarize the trends the report identifies in a simple statement: The denominational structures that we inherited, those traditions once central to shaping our identity and sense of community, are answers to a question fewer and fewer people are asking.

In this era of spiritual air travel, the giant ocean liners of our traditional denominational polities are seen as inefficient, slow and generally unpleasant means of getting to where seekers – and even a good number of people born into our traditions – want to go.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Data • * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • Evangelism and Church Growth

From her recent visit to Delaware we read this:

She also pointed out that white Episcopal congregations are not growing. "No single diocese in the United States has grown in recent years," she said.

If this is an accurate quote, it is an error as blog readers perhaps will know. You can look here to see the figures for yourself. I have no desire to elevate South Carolina as we have all sorts of problems and struggles here, as do other dioceses, and, as you can see, there are other places where there is growth (i.e. North Carolina)-KSH.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori • TEC Data • * South Carolina