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Note #6483 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

national survey finds
10-April-2001
01126

Nearly half of PC(USA) congregations are small-town or  rural, national
survey finds

Average Sunday service draws about 90 worshipers

by Evan Silverstein and John Filiatreau

LOUISVILLE - Nearly half of all Presbyterian Church (USA) members live and
worship in small towns or rural areas, a new survey has found, and most
PC(USA) congregations are financially healthy.

The PC(USA) was one of 41 religious organizations in the United States that
participated in the "Faith Communities Today" (FACT) survey, which
researchers say is the most extensive study of U.S. congregational life ever
conducted.

The study was initiated by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research
(HIRR) at Hartford (CT) Seminary, with funding from the Lilly Endowment. The
survey's co-directors are seminary professors David Roozen and Carl Dudley.

The comprehensive study is virtually a national religious census, organizers
say, and its findings apply to about 90 percent of all U.S. churches,
synagogues and mosques. It was produced over a five-year period. A total of
14,301 congregations were included.

"This project is designed to be helpful to congregations, and I think
there's some ways that congregations might use it," said Jack Marcum, an
associate in the Research Services Department of the PC(USA). "You can look
at how your congregation compares to other congregations in the study."

The survey was conducted to take a close look at the organizational backbone
of religion in America - congregations - at the beginning of a new
millennium. The study was funded in part by the Lilly Endowment Inc., whose
headquarters is in Indianapolis. The preliminary findings were released on
March 13.

Each denomination or faith group conducted a survey of its own
congregations, using a common "core questionnaire" that covered worship,
identity, location, facilities, internal and mission-oriented programs,
leadership, organization, finances and participation. Each of the
denominational studies was designed to have a margin of error of no more
than 4 percent.

The larger U.S. denominations not represented in the survey include:
Jehovah's Witnesses, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Salvation Army, Church
of God, United Pentecostal church and Baptist Bible Fellowship
International.

The office of Research Services conducted the study of the PC(USA) last
year, collecting responses from 541 congregations (a response rate of 61
percent). Each religious group provided matching funds for its part of the
survey.

"I think it's good that we participated in the project and that Presbyterian
data is part of the larger whole," Marcum said, "so that when the
information for all congregations are put together, it's more complete
because we're in there."

Among the findings of the PC(USA) survey:

*PC(USA) congregations are relatively small, having a median of about 100
regular
participating adults. Yet 48 percent said regular adult attendance had
increased over the past five years.

About 25 percent of all responding U.S. congregations (of all denominations)
have fewer than 50 participating adults. Less than 10 percent have more than
1,000.

	About half of all congregations included in the national study said they
are growing in membership.

* About one-quarter of regular church participants in PC(USA) congregations
are under age 18.

* All 541 congregations offer Sunday morning worship services, with an
average attendance of 90 people. Twenty-six percent of responding
congregations said they offer two or more morning services on Sunday.
Fifty-nine percent said they offer services in more than one worship style.
Only 5 percent have a worship service conducted in a language other than
English.

* Nearly one-half of responding PC(USA) congregations are in small towns (32
percent) or rural areas (15 percent). About 20 percent are in or near a city
of at least 250,000 people.

* Fifty-seven percent of the PC(USA) congregations are in urban areas with
at least 10,000 inhabitants, while 43 percent are in suburbs.

* Most PC(USA) congregations have adequate space for worship, education and
fellowship. Eighteen percent said they need more room for worship; 43
percent said they need more space for education. A little more than 50
percent reported a need for more parking.

* About 25 percent of PC(USA) congregations said their physical facilities
are "in serious need of repair" or "need improvement."

* Most PC(USA) congregations said they worship in sanctuaries built before
1950.

Of those buildings, about half were constructed before 1900. About one in
six have been built since 1974. The average PC(USA) sanctuary accommodates
200 worshippers; about 25 percent have capacities of 300 or more. Twenty
percent seat 125 congregants or fewer.

* One-third of the respondents described their congregations' current
financial condition as "excellent." One-third said their congregations were
in "good" financial shape. On average, about 50 percent of the
congregations' expenditures went for salaries and benefits.

In the national study, the congregations most likely to be in good financial
condition were those characterized by denominational loyalty and high moral
standards. As financial health improves, denominations become more receptive
to change.

* The mainstay for worship - piano or organ - is present "always" or "often"
in 97 percent of the congregations. Only 6 percent said they use
visual-projection equipment. Ten percent said their worship services had
"changed a lot" in the previous five years.

The FACT study leaders wrote, "Protestant groups that have emphasized
contemporary worship and electronic musical instruments, rather than
traditional forms, show a dramatic increase in their appeal to new members."

Larger congregations and those organized more recently are more likely to
embrace change; smaller and declining congregations are more resistant to
innovation.

* Participating congregations said that, counting everyone involved in
congregational life, including both members and non-members, they have an
average of 200 people per congregation.

* A whopping 79 percent of participating congregations said they had
experienced conflict in the previous five years. In 23 percent of those
congregations, the conflict was described as "very serious."
  
In 23 percent of the cases deemed "very serious," the conflict was caused by
the pastor's leadership style. The pastor's personal behavior was blamed for
15 percent, and another 15 percent was attributed to a member's personal
behavior. Theological disagreement was involved in 6 percent, disputes over
mission priorities in 7 percent.

"Lingering conflict is strongly associated with declining vitality and
declining membership," the study planners wrote.

* Nearly 90 percent of congregations said they view the Bible as the "most
important authority" in matters of worship and teaching. Five percent said
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is the most important authority, and 4
percent pointed to historic creeds, doctrines and tradition.

Nationally, more than 80 percent of all participating congregations said
Scripture is their primary source of religious authority. This was
particularly the case among Baptists and Muslims.

* Seventy-one percent of the responding congregations have some kind of
neighborhood-based program to maintain contact with members, and 24 percent
said they use a small-group ministry as a "central strategy for Christian
nurture and spiritual formation."
	

The survey found that new-church development was sharply down in mainline
Protestant (and Roman Catholic) denominations, sharply up in Evangelical
Protestantism. In the past 20 years, Baha'is, Muslims and Mormons have been
the U.S. leaders in the founding of new congregations.

For more information on the FACT study, log on to http://fact.hartsem.edu 

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