+66% +1294 +7% -50% -401
From 1990 to 2013, the number of congregations with an average worship attendance of 50 or fewer increased by 66 percent. At the same time, the number of congregations with more than a 350 average worship attendance decreased by 50 percent.
2013 2013 +66% +1294 +1294 2000 2000 +66% -87%
+66% +1294 +7%
If you’re in a small congregation, chances are your church is getting smaller. For congregations with 50 or fewer worship attendees in 2013, 87 percent declined 5 percent or more in worship attendance between 2000 and 2013. Only 7 percent of those smaller congregations grew by 5 percent or more in worship attendance.
-87% +7%
By contrast, for congrega- tions with 350 or more in worship attendance in 2013, 54 percent declined by 5 percent or more between 2000 and 2013, while 33 per- cent grew by 5 percent or more.
+33% +7%
-50% -401
-401 1990 2013 2013 -50% 1990 -87% Membership loss by numbers 2000 2000
In 2013 (the most recent year of data available), more than half of all ELCA congregations had an average worship attendance of 75 or fewer members, compared to 36 percent in 2000 and 32 percent in 1990.
1,262,786 322,830 765,130 224,668 398,081 950,263 328,263
-87%
Don’t assume, said Kenneth W. Inskeep, director for Research and Evaluation, that all those shrinking congregations are alike.
-54% -54%
ELCA LCMS Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Southern Baptist Convention UCC United Methodist Church Episcopal Church
+33%
Inskeep attributes this membership decline to myriad factors: declining birth rates, a demographic that isn’t keeping pace with the growing multicultural diversity of the U.S., an aging membership, an inability to engage young adults in the church and a tradition that has not always embraced evangelism.
+33% -54% 1990 1990 Membership loss by percent -54%
24.6% 12.6% 30.3% 1.4%
28.9% 11.4% 17.5%
20
www.thelutheran.org
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Southern Baptist Convention United Church of Christ United Methodist Church Episcopal Church
The ELCA isn’t alone in this challenging context. Data compiled by the National Council of Churches indicates that nearly all denominations have recently experienced declining membership. From 2000 to 2013, seven denominations, including the ELCA, experienced membership declines.
Kathryn Sime
“Among congregations in rural or small town areas, 83 percent showed losses of 5 percent or more. But so did 78 percent of the congregations in large cities and 79 percent of the congregations in the suburbs of large cities. Setting doesn’t matter when it comes to losses in worship attendance,” he said.
+33%
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