It’s true but it’s old data. Since 2000, ELCA has gone hell-bent left and they have lost about a half million in membership. LCMS losses put us around 2.4 million.
One thing that also accounts for LCMS losses during this time (and I don’t know if ELCA has done the same) but in the past, people who stopped attending were still kept on the roles. We basically started to drop people after sixth months (of course trying to contact them to make sure they were okay being dropped, because of any number of reasons, or that they wanted to remain). So more accurate record-keeping of who’s really an active member is a small part of our loss numbers the last 10 years too.
Yeah... The Presbyterian Church, USA, the Episcopalians, the United Methodists, the ELCA, and the United Church of Christ all seem to be competing to see who can become the most secular progressive.
I renounced my membership in the UMC this year after the UMC explicitly rejected the Christian mission to save souls, instead writing that the mission of the UMC is to transform the world. I.e., the UMC openly declares itself a political activisit organization, while rejecting Christ’s insistence that Christians make disciples for the salvation of souls. The General Conference explicitly rejected “salvation of souls” language.
I was a member of ELCA churches, 1989-2008. In April 2008, I joined LCMS church. That month, my dad, a retired ELCA pastor, told me that the ELCA committee on sexuality recommended that the ELCA never ordain gays and never hold gay weddings. I decided to join another ELCA church, and I was surprised, in Feb. 2009, when I heard that many ELCA leaders hope to pass a resolution, this year, to allow gay pastors and gay weddings. I hope that I can persuade many of the leaders to obey the Bible. I’ll contact many synod leaders and ask them to agree with the CORE proposal.