PCUSA loses 31,549 members during 2001 By Craig M. Kibler The Layman Volume 35, Number 3 Posted June 3, 2002 The Presbyterian Church (USA) lost 31,549 members in 2001 – continuing a trend that has seen more than 1.76 million members leave since 1965, according to unofficial data released recently by the denomination’s Office of the General Assembly. That 1.25-percent loss is the second-highest since 1994, when 43,930 people left the pews in the wake of the ReImagining God movement. The highest decline since 1994 was in 2000, when 34,871 left the denomination. The loss of 31,549 members in 2001 is substantial in terms of dollars. That drains $165,632 from the General Assembly’s per-capita budget, based on the $5.25 apportionment approved by the 2001 General Assembly. Including per-capita that supports presbyteries and synods, the total loss is nearly $700,000. In 2000, the loss of 34,871 members siphoned $174,355 from the General Assembly’s per-capita budget, based on the $5 apportionment approved by the 2000 General Assembly. The 214th General Assembly, which will meet in Columbus, Ohio, on June 15-22, will consider a proposal to increase the per-capita apportionment another 15 cents, to $5.40. Reasons for exodus The denomination does not conduct exit polls to determine why members are leaving the Presbyterian Church (USA), but the ex-odus rises sharply when aspects of historical Reform-ed faith are under attack. In 2001, for example, the de-nomination’s leadership came under heavy criticism when the 213th General Assembly in June was unable to unequivocally proclaim Jesus Christ alone as the way, the truth and the life. Instead, commissioners approved a resolution describing Jesus as “unique” – but not as the Lord and Savior for the world. Another issue that provoked criticism was a proposed constitutional amendment, approved by commissioners at the 2001 General Assembly, that sought to delete the “fidelity/chastity” ordination standard from the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA). That ordination standard, which was approved by the presbyteries in 1997 and inserted in the Book of Order, prohibits the ordination of self-affirming, practicing homosexuals and adulterers. An overwhelming majority of the denomination’s 173 presbyteries – 73.1 percent – voted against deleting the ordination standard.

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