(By Steve Salyards, The GA Junkie). A couple of days ago the Office of the General Assembly (OGA) of the Presbyterian Church (USA) released the summary of statistics for 2016 and the corresponding narrative. This does of course provide new data points for my growing data set and gives me an opportunity for some statistical analysis which is, for me, a “source of innocent merriment.”
On the one hand, it is tempting to just tell you that if you read my analyses from the last couple of years you can move on since there is really nothing new in this year’s numbers. The bottom line is just about the same as 2015 and 2014 – number of churches down 2.0% and membership down 5.7%. OK, you are welcome to move on now if you want.
On the other hand, the commentary – some might refer to it as the spin – from the OGA invokes their new slogan, motto, mantra, tag line, I am not sure what they are calling it, regarding the PC(USA) that “We are not dying, we are Reforming.” There is an interesting statistical facet on that so in the second part I will drill down into that a bit.
But first, let’s run the numbers. Here is what I have for the last 24 years:
Year | Num Churches | Num Change | % Change | Num Members | Num Change | % Change |
1993 | 11,416 | -40 | -0.3% | 2,742,192 | -38,214 | -1.4% |
1994 | 11,399 | -17 | -0.1% | 2,698,262 | -43,930 | -1.6% |
1995 | 11,361 | -38 | -0.3% | 2,665,276 | -32,986 | -1.2% |
1996 | 11,328 | -33 | -0.3% | 2,631,466 | -33,810 | -1.3% |
1997 | 11,295 | -33 | -0.3% | 2,609,191 | -22,275 | -0.8% |
1998 | 11,260 | -35 | -0.3% | 2,587,674 | -21,517 | -0.8% |
1999 | 11,216 | -44 | -0.4% | 2,560,201 | -27,473 | -1.1% |
2000 | 11,178 | -38 | -0.3% | 2,525,330 | -34,871 | -1.4% |
2001 | 11,141 | -37 | -0.3% | 2,493,781 | -31,549 | -1.2% |
2002 | 11,097 | -44 | -0.4% | 2,451,969 | -41,812 | -1.7% |
2003 | 11,064 | -33 | -0.3% | 2,405,311 | -46,658 | -1.9% |
2004 | 11,019 | -45 | -0.4% | 2,362,136 | -43,175 | -1.8% |
2005 | 10,959 | -60 | -0.5% | 2,313,662 | -48,474 | -2.1% |
2006 | 10,903 | -56 | -0.5% | 2,267,118 | -46,544 | -2.0% |
2007 | 10,820 | -83 | -0.8% | 2,209,546 | -57,572 | -2.5% |
2008 | 10,751 | -69 | -0.6% | 2,140,165 | -69,381 | -3.1% |
2009 | 10,657 | -94 | -0.9% | 2,077,138 | -63,027 | -2.9% |
2010 | 10,560 | -97 | -0.9% | 2,016,091 | -61.047 | -2.9% |
2011 | 10,466 | -94 | -0.9% | 1,952,287 | -63,804 | -3.2% |
2012 | 10,262 | -204 | -1.9% | 1,849,496 | -102,791 | -5.3% |
2013 | 10,038 | -224 | -2.2% | 1,760,200 | -89,296 | -4.8% |
2014 | 9,829 | -209 | -2.1% | 1,667,767 | -92,433 | -5.2% |
2015 | 9,642 | -187 | -1.9% | 1,572,660 | -95,107 | -5.7% |
2016 | 9,451 | -191 | -2.0% | 1,482,767 | -89,893 | -5.7% |
So what have we got? Both the number of churches and the number of members had a somewhat consistent decline for the first part of this time period through about 2004. The membership decline was creeping up but still hung below 2%/year. The rate of decline in the number of congregations was much more stable hanging a bit below 0.2%/year. Both then show a bit of a acceleration up to 2011 with the rate of church decline rising to just below 1%/year and the membership decline rising to a bit over 3%/year. Then in 2012 there was a rapid increase to a plateau that continues in the 2016 data. The rate of decline of the number of congregations has been right around 2.0%/year, the number for 2016, and the decline in total membership has generally been above 5%/year, with the 2016 number at 5.7%, a tie with the previous year for highest rate in the time period.
It is a bit interesting to see the headline of the narrative from the OGA: “PC(USA) membership decline continues but slows.” The answer to this headline is a bit of yes, and no. They are correct that in terms of net numbers the membership loss in 2016 is the lowest that it has been in three years. Good news? Not really, because as noted above the decreasing total membership number means there are fewer members to lose so the net number is magnified and the rate of decline, as expressed in percentage loss, is actually among the highest it has been.
Moving on, let me make some comments based on the slogan “We are not dying. We are Reforming.”
Related articles:
Now Celebrating Fifty-One Years of Uninterrupted Decline by Mishandling the Word of God… (Loren Golden)
Another Liberal Denomination Is Dying (By John Ellis, PJ Media)
PCUSA Loses Another 89,893 Members in 2016 (The Layman)
Watching a Remake of The Titanic — Presbyterian Church (USA) 2017 (The personal blog of Mateen Elass)
As Losses Mount, Presbyterian Official Declares: “We are not dying. We are Reforming” (Juicy Ecumenism)
1 Comment. Leave new
What I have always found interesting in the annual posting of the PCUSA statistics with its associated commentary provided is how those most at risk in this data, and the ones who should be most concerned, the PCUSA, are the least bit interested or engaged in the process. Again, an indication not only of the relative numerical and financial death of the entity, but of the general brain death as well. The lack of curiosity or reflection from the PCUSA, save the moronic “we are reforming” speaks to the isolation and insularity of the organization. As if Capt. Smith upon the bridge of the Titanic thought he was breaking new ground in ocean navigation, as it slipped beneath the waves.