'98 membership loss is lowest in 30 years The Layman Online Wednesday, August 18, 1999 National membership in the Presbyterian Church (USA) declined by 21,517 in 1998, the lowest loss in more than two decades, according to the recently published "Comparative Statistics 1998." The 1998 calendar year was only one of two years in more than two decades in which membership losses were below 30,000. The heaviest one-year loss (43,930) was in 1994, the year in which there was a strong backlash against the ReImagining God Conference that was underwritten largely by money that had been earmarked for the denomination's bicentennial fund. The 1998 loss, 0.83 percent, whittled membership to 2,587,674. The second lowest membership decline was 22,275 in 1997. 30-year loss: 1.5 million In the last 30 years, the membership in the PCUSA – and its forerunners, the Presbyterian Church U.S. and the United Presbyterian Church (USA) – has fallen by nearly 1.5 million from a high of 4.1 million. The "Comparative Statistics" does not offer a cause-and-effect assessment of why membership losses have fallen. However, a demographic study by The Presbyterian Layman in 1998 showed that membership losses over a period of five years were substantially higher in presbyteries and synods that supported liberal proposals – such as ordaining practicing homosexuals. In light of that study, the 1997 and 1998 decline in losses might reflect the denomination's resolve to maintain its historic ordination standards through a constitutional amendment approved in 1997 and a reaffirmation of that amendment by a second national referendum concluded in 1998. Regional losses, gains By region, the highest losses in 1998 Covenant Synod, 2 percent; Lakes and Prairies Synod, 2.04 percent; and Rocky Mountains Synod, 2.15 percent. Membership increased in the Mid-Atlantic Synod (0.11 percent) and the South Atlantic Synod (0.38). As has been the case over the past few years, the Presbytery of Louisville, which is the headquarters of the PCUSA, was among the leaders in membership losses. The attrition for the Louisville Presbytery was 1.95 percent.

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