Episcopal Church Interim Report Reveals Drop in Church Attendance
News Analysis
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
12/2/2007
An Interim Report, prepared by the House of Deputies Committee of the Episcopal Church, shows the denomination continuing to decline with a 41 percent attendance drop attributed directly to congregations departing over the sexual innovations in the church.
In assessing facts and trends, the State of the Church report, which worked closely with Dr. Kirk Hadaway, Director of Research at the Episcopal Church Center, indicated the need for a "plan for action" at all levels of the denomination in response to membership drops. In a manner similar to other mainline Protestant denominations in the United States, the statistics for The Episcopal Church indicate declining membership and attendance, declines that have become more severe in the last several years.
The facts are these:
In 2006, the number of Episcopal churches growing by 10 percent or more decreased, and the number declining in membership by 10 percent increased. Average Sunday Attendance (ASA) also dropped by three percent in 2006 compared to one percent the previous year. An estimated 41 percent of the attendance drop can be attributed to the departure of congregations from their dioceses. Almost half (49%) of all parishes and missions had an Average Sunday Attendance (ASA) of 70 or less. The norm - nearly two-thirds (63%) of Episcopal congregations--had an ASA of 100 or less. Seven new campus ministries, focusing on youth, were planted in 2006.
The report neglected to mention that the average age of Episcopalians attending these parishes is now in the mid sixties.
According to the report, an increased number of congregations reported "serious conflict" from 2001 through 2005. The consecration of V. Gene Robinson was one of the frequently mentioned sources of conflict in 2005.
Homosexuals in the church argued that there would be an influx of homosexuals and lesbians with the consecration of Robinson. It never happened. Dioceses like Dallas have grown slightly because of a clear understanding and presentation of the gospel, even though it lost one single parish of 3,500 souls.
(GJ - When WELS discovered feminism, Dorothy Sonntage left to join ELCA.)
The real reason why the Episcopal Church is in decline is the discontent of orthodox parishes, many of whom have realigned with orthodox Anglican dioceses of the Global South, mainly Africa and Latin America.
Rifts have only widened following the consecration of openly homoerotic Bishop Robinson of New Hampshire in 2003. The Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop has said that those leaving the national church accounted for less than one percent of the total number of U.S. Episcopal parishes.
The beneficiary of these departures has been the Pittsburgh-based Anglican Communion Network.
A recent report on their 2007 activities revealed that they now have 10 dioceses, 5 convocations and International Conferences, serving 250,000 congregants, whose clergy and parishes "continued unabated".
Every month several orthodox cardinal parishes announce that they are leaving The Episcopal Church, with the latest figures showing that approximately 1,000 parishioners are departing weekly for an African Anglican jurisdiction.
The reasons given include the departure from Holy Scripture as supremely authoritative, the acceptance of sexual behavior outside of heterosexual marriage, and Gnosticism.
In assessing the Interim Reports facts and trends, other areas of concern in the national church included the "failure of some dioceses to fully support the program of The Episcopal Church at the national level," which, in turn, negatively impacts its domestic operations and overseas mission work.
Four Episcopal dioceses have begun to take steps to leave the Episcopal Church and align themselves with orthodox Anglican archbishops. The Diocese of Forth Worth in Texas recently voted to approve constitutional amendments and remove language that states the diocese accedes to The Episcopal Church's Constitution and Canons.
This coming week, the Diocese of San Joaquin may well become the first Episcopal diocese in the U.S. to take a final vote and leave the national church. The diocese has been invited to align with the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of South America.
The Diocese of Pittsburgh, under its leader the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan, is also preparing his diocese to form a separate Anglican "ecclesial structure" in North America that would remain faithful to the theology of Global South Anglicans. Duncan says The Episcopal Church has "failed" the communion and rejected "obvious scriptural teaching."
The interim report did list some areas of growth in The Episcopal Church. Support for the church's relief and development organization (ERD) increased from under $9 million to nearly $40 million where giving per member either continued to increase or remained steady.
The report also revealed a reorganization of the staff at the national Church Center in New York City which hopes to better utilize resources nationally and locally to support the mission of the church.
(GJ - Does that sound like WELS, reorganizing every two years?)
The report went on to recognize three inter-related concerns that include Identity, Mission and Organization.
The report felt it necessary to ask; what does it mean to be an Episcopalian? What are our core values? How are we differentiated from other Christian faith traditions? What are our strengths and weaknesses? Where are our opportunities?
"We cannot be leaders within our Church nor in the global community if we are unsure who we are or where God is calling us to go. Criticisms that we need to be more proactive (suggesting that we have allowed outsiders to set our agenda and dictate our identity), or that we are aggressively reactive (that is, we have been defending our polity to the extreme), both relate to our understanding and embrace of God's kingdom and the Salvation we are offered in Jesus Christ-- or to our lack of such understanding and engagement."
The report said there was a need for a sense of: "urgency in evangelism, urgency in leadership development, urgency in outreach, urgency in structural reorganization--but first and foremost, urgency in more clearly defining who we are, where God is calling us to go, and how we should "press ahead" in mission in response to the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
(GJ - When elderly men have so much urgency, it is usually from their diuretics.)
The report called for a re-kindling of enthusiasm for both evangelism and mission. "Such efforts will emphasize equally spiritual renewal for our existing long-time members, and Christian formation for our newer and younger members." (GJ - Paul Kelm is known for rekindling Enthusiasm through spiritual renewal programs.)
The report did not touch on massive advertising campaigns the church has already undertaken with no visible results or the failure of the 20/20 program to double church attendance by 2020.
(GJ - Does this sound like Jerry Kieschnick's Ablaze!(TM) ?)
The report also said that Church Center staff turnover has been high, and morale problematic.
The report was signed by the following persons, none of whom are known to be orthodox. (GJ - That would be like having Wayne Mueller, James Huebner, David Valleskey, Larry Olson, and Wally Oelhaven sign a similar report for WELS!)
Ms. Cindi Bartol & Ms. Debby Melnyk, Vice-Chair
Mr. Arthur Bjontegard & Mr. Alfred D. Price, Chair
The Very Rev. Ashton J. Brooks
Ms. Hillary Dowling Raining
The Rev. Andrew Cooley
The Hon. Maggie Tinsman
The Rev. Zabron A. Davis
John Wood Goldsack, Esq.
The Rev. Ann Fontaine
The Rev. Martin Yabroff (resigned)Cn.
Kathryn Weathersby McCormick, Secretary
