Latest statistics are ‘a wake-up call’ for the denomination, Kirkpatrick says
Active membership in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) declined by 43,175 in 2004, continuing a trend dating to the mid-1960s.
At the end of last year, PC(USA) membership stood at 2,362,136. The 2004 membership drop was the second largest of the past decade. The church lost 46,658 members last year.
t the time of Presbyterian reunion in 1983, the denomination had 4.2 million members.
The PC(USA) remains the ninth largest denomination in the United States. In a commentary released with the annual statistical report, the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the General Assembly, called the new numbers “a wake-up call.” He stated: “We as Presbyterians will only become a growing church if we begin on our knees, praying for forgiveness for our timidity in evangelism and seeking God’s renewal so that we lose our image as God’s ‘frozen chosen’ and become instead joyful evangelists who actively share the good news of the gospel.”
The 2004 statistics reflect declines from last year in most categories: 45 fewer congregations (they now number 11,019); six fewer new churches (25); 2,400 fewer elders (99,000); 700 fewer deacons (67,400); and 1,600 fewer infant baptisms (33,600).
However, the number of ministers increased, by 39 (to 21,287), and the number of candidates for ministry was up by 200 (to 1,085).
Professions of faith declined by 5,600, to 60,000. More people transferred into the PC(USA) — 40,476 — than transferred out (30,319), but death claimed 36,034 members, and nearly 109,000 moved to churches “not in correspondence” with the PC(USA), or dropped out altogether.
The results were not all bad. While the number of infant baptisms declined, adult baptisms increased by 285, to 10,459. Church-school attendance increased by 7,324, to almost 1.2 million. One-third of PC(USA) congregations reported membership increases, as did 26 of the denomination’s 173 presbyteries.
Presbyterians’ contributions to the church and other church income increased by about $3.4 million, to $2,926,762,293.
Kirkpatrick noted that the racial-ethnic portion of PC(USA) membership increased to 7.1 percent last year, suggesting that the denomination may reach its goal — established in 1996 — of 10 percent racial-ethnic membership by the end of 2005.
He outlined six “imperatives” needed to reverse the membership trend:
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Stronger evangelistic outreach at the congregational level;
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A concerted effort to reach inactive members;
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Stronger outreach to adults and families to increase the number of infant and adult baptisms;
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Appropriating and adapting evangelism programs and methods that have worked for others faith groups;
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Renewed outreach to racial-ethnic and immigrant communities;
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More aggressive efforts to plant new churches.
