 PCUSA loses 43,175 members during 2004; 2nd highest since reunion By John H. Adams The Layman Online Tuesday, June 21, 2005
The 2004 loss was both the second highest numerically and as a percentage of membership since the Southern and Northern streams of mainline Presbyterians merged in 1983 to form the PCUSA. The 43,175 departing members represented 1.79 percent of the 2003 membership. The loss in 2003 was the highest – 46,658, or 1.9 percent of the 2002 membership. The ongoing declines have reduced the membership of the PCUSA by 803,914 since the mainline Presbyterian merger – down from 3,131.229 in 1983 to 2,362,136 at the beginning of 2005, a decline of 25.7 percent. The loss since the predecessor denominations of the PCUSA reached their peak membership of 4,254,597 in 1965 has been 1,892,461, or 44.5 percent of the membership. The latest figures about membership were released by the Office of the General Assembly, which is under the direction of Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick, through the OGA's online publication titled "Perspectives." Normally, Kirkpatrick makes the membership report before or during the annual meeting of the General Assembly. But there will be no 2005 General Assembly because commissioners previously voted to go to biennial sessions. "Perspectives" includes a commentary by Kirkpatrick about the continuing decline and other articles – including "New Immigrant Groups are Helping to Grow PCUSA" – seeking to cushion the report against negative reaction by commending a tiny growth in multicultural congregations. Another article, "Who Owns the Kitchen? Casseroles, Kimchee, and Enchiladas," extols multicultural cooking gatherings as a tool to attract immigrants into the PCUSA. None of the articles suggests that any actions by the General Assembly or denominational employees might be the cause of the flight from the PCUSA. The denomination does not conduct exit interviews. Neither does the denomination publish letters from members who have publicly declared their reasons for planning to leave the denomination or already having left it. The Layman Online has published hundreds of those letters, showing that departing Presbyterians were leaving or had departed because they upset about a number of key issues, including:
But the stated clerk has rarely commended Presbyterians who have done exactly that – the 1,309-congregation Confessing Church Movement and the emerging New Wineskins Initiative. Furthermore, Kirkpatrick himself has been a motivating factor for many departures with his unwillingness to defend aggressively the "fidelity/chastity" standard; lobbying for government recognition of same-gender unions and according them the same benefits as marriage; and supporting condemnations of capitalism. "While evangelism and church growth are not the only measures of Christian faithfulness, they are important ones," Kirkpatrick said. "We live in a time of deep spiritual hunger, which can only be truly met by the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am convinced that God intends for the Presbyterian Church to be a growing church." In his analysis of the membership slide, Kirkpatrick focused on "positive developments" – including slight growth in racial-ethnic membership, candidates for the ministry, adult baptisms and new members by transfer from other congregations. He contended that the membership losses "were usually not the result of large numbers of people leaving a church at once; rather, it was the result of sessions cleaning membership rolls only after years of neglect to regularly review the rolls and move members to the inactive roll" because of nonparticipation. In the past, Kirkpatrick has expressed some gratitude that the PCUSA, while suffering steep membership losses, was not losing them to other denominations. Many – and maybe most – members leave their PCUSA congregations to attend or join other churches without asking for a formal letter of transfer or leaving a forwarding address for their new church. One article included in the package is by the Rev. Dr. James H. Smylie, professor emeritus of American Church History at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va. Smylie's 21-page "Church Growth and Decline in Historical Prespective: Protestant Quest for Identity, Leadership, and Meaning," which was previously published by the Presbyterian Historical Society, weighs arguments for and against numerical growth. He concludes: "Apparently, God is intending to carry out divine will … by reducing Christians to a minority status in the world and indeed, at the present time, by decreasing the number of mainline Protestants in America. The church is not a no-growth institution, although true discipleship and servanthood may not be very popular, and may be very lonely at times. What Protestants need to do continually is to try to live responsibly under Christ's lordship, to bear witness to the sovereignty of God's mercy, and to invite others to take part in this ministry. Perhaps, as Hugh T. Kerr wrote in 1950 Positive Protestantism, by losing its life for Christ's sake and the gospel's. Protestantism may find new life." |
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