Posted on 08/21/2019 1:01:13 PM PDT by lightman
Oldline Protestant denominations make for a competitive peer group, but the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is on track to claim the top spot for fastest declining major U.S.-based church last year.
Total membership declined from 411,140 in 2017 to 382,248 (-7%) while average worship attendance declined from 139,936 to 124,437 (-11%) according to numbers reported for 2018. Baptisms dropped from 4,344 to 3,782 (-13%) while the number of other additions (including transfers in) declined from 7,441 to 6,969 (-6.4%).
At the current rate, the denomination will shrink by another 50 percent within a decade. This annual rate of decline exceeds that of the Presbyterian Church (USA) which reported a nearly 5 percent membership drop for the year 2018 and held the distinction of “fastest declining” for much of the decade.
The dramatic decline doesn’t appear to be registering among top denominational officials.
“I am genuinely hopeful for the future of this Church,” wrote the Rev. Teresa “Terri” Hord Owens, General Minister and President in an August 15 reflection following the denomination’s biannual General Assembly. “I saw signs of life and growth everywhere, of Disciples who are learning to abide whether that means waiting with expectation or tarrying a while in the Presence.”
Owens described the denomination’s members as “primed for growing into what the Lord has in mind for us – to become a healing, helping force for good in this fragmented world.” Addressing sustained decline that has shed 80 percent of members since the denomination crested in 1964 did not appear to be a concern: “We must continue to abide, to remain, to persist.”
Denominational officials strongly embrace social justice causes. At a post-Assembly rally at the Iowa Capitol, Disciples’ public policy groups joined with ecumenical and interfaith partners on the religious left to proclaim support for government directed poverty alleviation programs. The denomination also embraces a sanctuary movement to shield illegal immigrants from law enforcement, supports LGBT causes, and partners with an “Indigenous womxn-led collective” to “shift social and environmental paradigms by dismantling colonial institutions and replacing them with Indigenous practices.”
The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, co-leader of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, spoke at the rally and Assembly closing celebration.
The July 20-24 General Assembly gathering in Des Moines, Iowa included a resolution to receive the gifts of those with “gender-diverse identities”.
“God is further known to us as the male-bodied Jesus embodying God’s feminine Wisdom; and as the non-gendered Spirit,” the resolution reads.
The shrinking denomination has not engaged in public discussion about a potential merger with another church body, but did vote to enter a full-communion ecumenical relationship with the United Church of Canada. The agreement allows for the free movement of clergy between the churches, and recognizes each’s sacraments of Baptism and Communion. Both churches already have a similar agreement with the United Church of Christ (UCC), which also shares a public policy office with the Disciples.
One of several groups that grew out of the Restoration Movement, begun in the early 19th century by Barton Stone and Thomas and Alexander Campbell, the Disciples are the smallest of seven historic oldline Protestant denominations. Prominent members have included Presidents Ronald Reagan, Lyndon Johnson and James Garfield. You can view my coverage of the Disciples’ 2016 membership report here and 2017 report here.
The 2018 numbers were provided by the Office of General Minister and President and appear in the 2019 Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) yearbook. One caveat with these numbers: the denomination changed to an online reporting format this year and experienced a small decline in reporting congregations. The denomination does not estimate for congregations that do not report, unlike some denominations that roll over the previous year’s congregational report if new information is not received.
I’ll check that out. Thank you!
I detest the religious left. These so called “churches” are forces of evil.
They’re not “religious” in Christian terms by any stretch.
Yep! I called the ones on the “right” “Socialist conservatives” years ago.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen...
” His mother, Nelle, was an active member of the Disciples of Christ Church, and was known as a active volunteer and helper for worthy causes. His father, Jack, was of Irish Catholic background”.
Somewhere along the way, RR became Presbyterian
As a young man. Later he associated with other churches.
Actually, the church was split in 1054 AD, with Rome going its own way.
At one time, DOC might have considered Indianapolis to be its’ center although uncertain now. Their historical society wasin Nashville which ironically is sortof “ground zero” for the Churches of Christ.
IIRC, he was raised Protestant.
Disciples of Christ, then Eureka College then pastor Don Moomaw, a Presbyterian, was his closest religious advisor in CA.
Thanks for that, LS.
RE Reagan:
His momma was Disciple of Christ, poppa was Irish Catholic.
Evidently, Ronaldus Magnus was baptized into the DoC faith, at least according to Wikpedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan
This is correct. There was a fight between Nelle and Jack over whether to raise RR as a Catholic. Nelle won.
However, as soon as he went to Hollywood, RR stopped going to a Disciples of Christ church. It’s not clear what churches he attended-—if any-—as an actor. There appears to be a general falling away from about 1934-1960. There is no evidence that he and Jane Wyman went to church much, if at all, nor where.
By the early 1960s, Reagan had become friends with Donn Moomaw, a Presbyterian minister who became his “spiritual advisor.” From that point on, he tended to go to the Presbyterian church. His general theology was basic salvation by faith, confession of the Lord Jesus, etc. In Sacramanto, though, there is again little evidence of him attending church. He began to attend church in D.C., but then stopped out of concerns for safety and convenience of other parishoners. Reagan and Moomaw remained in close contact.
The best book on this is “God and Ronald Reagan” by Paul Kengor. I have included as much as I could in my “Reagan: The American President.”
What is important about RR is not his church affiliation or attendance, but his private papers and even National Security Council meetings where he repeatedly spoke of God, Armageddon, and the need to eliminate nukes.
I drove by a church yesterday that had a sign on the door: “Police may not enter this building without a valid warrant.” It was a Disciples of Christ church. I suspect “the Rev. Teresa “Terri” Hord Owens, General Minister and President” would be pleased. I think they need to buy cats and use their numbers to keep the denomination numbers up.
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