Posted on 05/09/2023 9:50:38 AM PDT by Cronos
Presbyterian Church (USA) lost more than 100 congregations and over 53,000 members in 2022, reflecting the yearslong trend of decline for the mainline Protestant denomination.
The PCUSA Office of the General Assembly released its annual statistics for 2022 this week, which found that the denomination dropped from having approximately 1.193 million members to approximately 1.140 million members.
Additionally, PCUSA saw the number of member congregations decline from 8,813 in 2021 to 8,705, as well as their number of ministers drop from 18,458 in 2021 to 18,173.
Its membership is now around 160,000 lower than the approximately 1.302 million reported in 2019, and less than half the approximately 2.5 million members reported in 2000.
The Rev. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the PCUSA General Assembly, said in a statement released Monday that he was not shocked by the report of decline.
“We are not surprised by the numbers we are seeing. While the pandemic may be over, the impact on church membership is still being felt,” said Nelson.
“In the midst of the lower numbers, we continue to find encouragement in that new worshiping communities are still on the increase. We have added more than 20 in the past year, bringing our total to 267.”
Not all of the numbers were in decline. The number of youth professions of faith increased from 5,708 in 2021 to 7,041 in 2022, while the number of “Professions of Faith & Reaffirmations” rose from 10,921 in 2021 to 15,113 in 2022.
“The challenge for the PCUSA remains the same: Look for new ways to engage and welcome young people into the fold. These are dramatic and fast-changing times,” Nelson added.
“Our world is changing, and the church needs to meet the growing needs of people who are finding themselves at a crossroads. We need to remind them that Jesus Christ is still in our midst and that means finding new, innovative ways to be church.”
As with many other religious groups in the United States, PCUSA has seen considerable decline in affiliation over the past couple of decades, with sharp declines in both membership and member congregations.
For example, PCUSA membership slipped below the 2 million member mark in 2011, while the number of affiliated congregations dropped below 10,000 back in 2014.
One factor in this decline has been the progressive theological direction of PCUSA, which has prompted hundreds of largely theologically conservative congregations to leave the denomination.
Last month, Nelson announced that he was stepping down as stated clerk on June 30, about a year before his second term would have ended, noting that while it "was not an easy decision," it was nevertheless “the right one to make for my family and the church in this time of change."
"I have sought God's will my entire life, following in the footsteps of my father and grandfather to preach the gospel in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)," stated Nelson.
"I believe that God calls us into new seasons in our life of discipleship. Following many conversations with my wife and daughter, I believe I have entered into this new season." https://thereformedsojourner.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/pcusa-total-membership.png">
Go woke, go broke!
than denomination really deserves to be abandoned.
They’re whistling past the graveyard. So is ELCA, UCC, SBC, the Episcopals, and now being joined by the UMC.
I Corinthians 11:19.
Our local congregation left the PCUSA a couple of decades ago. We affiliated with the Bible believing PCA.
The web site for the PCUSA church in our area talks about “diversity and inclusion” and lets you know the preferred pronouns of each staff member. There’s also a picture of a rainbow flag draped over the pulpit. There is one thing conspicuously missing from the main page, though — any mention of Jesus.
Yes the PCA split off in 1973. Our PCA church has seen significant growth over the last 20 years including lots of younger members.
I remember in the 60s reading a Readers Digest article about the goals and nefarious influence of the World Council of Churches on the mainline protestant denominations and it has all come to pass just as described.
Not going to comment on “deserves to be”
But, if we look at the numbers, it definitely is going to die in the next 10 odd years looking at it statistically:
1. the majority of members (75%+) are over 40. This is a snowball effect, with more young people looking at the grey-haired congregations and leaving. This will only accelerate
2. The % of membership decline has been accelerating:
2000 it was -1.38%
2005 -2.10%
2010 -3.03%
2015 -5.70%
2020 -4.35%
Looking at this - more young people will leave, so there is going to be a point at which this -4.5% snowballs to -30% when a bunch of old timers die off
That is why Acts 8:31
and Acts 8:17
“are you sure?”
About what? The growth of my PCA church? Yes. Not just growth but significant growth.
21 years until extinction.
The UMC has lost 2500 congregations this year alone, a number having affiliated with the new Global Methodist Church but many remaining unaffiliated for now. My church votes next week and we need 67% of present and voting Members to disaffiliate. If successful, we will enter into another discernment process to determine whether and with what entity to affiliate. As many are saying, “I didn’t leave the UMC, the UMC left me [and everything John Wesley stood for]”
Does this include evangelical churches? ‘Cause mines doing fine in an area not known for its faith commmunity.
It ain't the pandemic Jack!
In 2000, the General Assembly reaffirmed the church’s commitment to gun control and called for strengthening gun ownership legislation.(5)
In 2008, the General Assembly approved pastoral recommendations urging that:
all persons buying guns at gun shows undergo a background check to close the gun show loophole in 35 states;
ban the sale and possession of large ammunition magazines and assault weapons that have no redeemable social purpose, and cannot legitimately be termed “sporting guns”;
support the introduction of new technologies, such as micro-stamping in which identifying information from a gun is transferred onto bullet cartridges, which allow law enforcement to more easily trace guns and solve crimes; and
stop illegal arms sales by the United States and others.(6)
I also attended a PC in a small community in central California and when they accepted the LGB, and so on, into the church as an accepted group was when I left. And by their doing this, they have become part of a blasphemy of God using God as a way to excuse an unacceptable behavior repeatedly. That church is now vacant from shortly after I left and is up for sale. It was thriving while I attended and was even the church home of a couple of pro baseball players and a famous singing group. Now it’s covered in weeds.
wy69
Premium Cigar Association or Porsche Club of America?
J/K. As much as I theologically disagree with PCA, it’s good to see a church growing.
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