wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Stated clerk reflects on the 2004 annual statistical

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8779 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05328
June 21, 2005

'A call to renewed faithfulness'

Stated clerk reflects on the 2004 annual statistical report on the PC(USA)
	    
by Clifton Kirkpatrick
General Assembly stated clerk

LOUISVILLE -- One of my duties as stated clerk of the General Assembly is to
compile and publish an annual statistical profile of the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.). 
      
	This would be a far more pleasant task if the numbers showed a growth
in membership, rather than a decline. But the numbers were down again last
year.

	The fact that we are in the third decade of declining membership is a
wake-up call for the PC(USA), a call to renewed faithfulness to Christ's
Great Commission to "make disciples" (Matt. 28:19).
      
	While evangelism and church growth are not the only measures of
Christian faithfulness, they are important ones. We live in a time of deep
spiritual hunger, which can only be truly met by the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

	I am convinced that God intends for the Presbyterian Church to be a
growing church. I believe strongly that we are being called as a church to a
fresh commitment to be "Christ's faithful evangelists" (Book of Order,
G-3.0300). 

	Last year, during the 216th General Assembly, I shared six
imperatives for being Christ's faithful evangelists. I believe our statistics
for 2004 reinforce this call. I urge you to take them to heart!
      
	First, a word about the figures themselves: 

	At the end of 2004, the PC(USA) had 2,405,311 active, confirmed
members, a net loss of 43,175 from 2003. Total membership in the PC(USA) is
3,189,573. This includes 346,873 members who have been baptized, but not
confirmed (mostly children), and 480,564 inactive members. The 2005 edition
of the Yearbook of Canadian and American Churches indicates that we are the
ninth-largest church body in the United States.
      
	These members belong to 11,019 congregations, which are related to
173 presbyteries and 16 synods. There are 21,287 ministers (including 334
ordained in 2004), 98,933 elders and 67,424 deacons. 

	Total contributions and income for these churches totaled
$2,926,762,293, an increase of $3,377,713 over 2003. Two-thirds of this
revenue was spent on the local programs of our churches, 15 percent on
capital expenditures for churches, 12 percent on mission and 1.5 percent on
presbytery, synod, and General Assembly per-capita.
      
	While these figures in general show that we need to change, there are
some numbers we can celebrate:
	
	Twenty-six of our presbyteries and one-third of our congregations are
growing.

	The percentage of racial-ethnic Presbyterians is growing; we may well
reach our goal of having 10-percent racial-ethnic membership by 2005.

	We continue to gain 25 percent more members by letter of transfer
from other churches than we lose.

	We had a slight gain (285) in the number of adult baptisms compared
to 2003.

	We had a gain of 200 (from 885 to 1085) in the number of new
candidates for ministry approved by presbyteries -- a sign that new efforts
to encourage our young people to consider God's call to ministry are bearing
fruit! 
      
	Let us give thanks to God for all of these positive developments.
However, the fact that we are continuing to lose members has deeper
implications for the faithful ministry of Presbyterian congregations. 

	The deepest and most profound implication is that we as a church are
being called by God to prayer for repentance and renewal. We know that coming
to faith is possible only through the power of the Holy Spirit. 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 and
invite others into the fellowship of our churches.
      
	Six specific imperatives for Presbyterians are reinforced by the 2004
statistics:
      
	We need to realize that our most important evangelistic outreach
begins	at home. In 2004, as in recent years, we have gained more new members
through profession of faith and transfer of certificate of membership than we
lost by transfer to other churches or death. Our gain in these categories was
110,664, our losses 66,353 -- a net gain of 44,311. Our problem is that we
had "other losses" of 108,871 -- mainly people who were moved to the inactive
list, and, usually a few years later, out the "back door" to nowhere.
Statistically, we are not losing people to other churches. Our problem is
that we are losing people to the secular world -- to no active church
affiliation. All of us - pastors, elders, and deacons -- need to give special
attention to nurturing our members, supporting them in meaningful ministry,
and reaching out to them when they begin to fall away from active membership.
	
	We need to follow the wisdom of the Book of Order concerning inactive
members. A significant number of congregations showed very large losses.
These were usually not the result of large numbers of people leaving at once;
rather, it was the result of sessions cleaning membership rolls after years
of neglecting to regularly review the rolls and deem members inactive only
after "diligent effort to discover the cause of members' nonparticipation and
to restore the member to activity in the church's work and worship" (Book of
Order, G-10.0302). Not giving regular attention to members whose active
involvement is waning, and not seeking to restore participation at an early
stage ... is a major cause of our overall membership loss. Every session
needs to actively review its rolls at least annually, and to make a plan for
pastoral visitation for those moving toward inactivity in the church's life.
      
	Jesus was quite clear in the Great Commission that we as followers of
Christ are called to make disciples of all nations by baptizing them (Matthew
28:19). Presbyterians are not doing a very good job of bringing new disciples
into the church through baptism. While it is good news that the number of
adult baptisms in 2004 increased over 2003 by 285, we still recorded a total
of only 10,459 adult baptisms. This represents less than one per
congregation. We had a higher number of child baptisms (33,616) than adult,
but on the average, still about three per congregation. These figures are in
marked contrast to those of Presbyterians 20 and 40 years ago - and from
Presbyterian churches in many other nations today. In 1984, the total number
of baptisms for adults was 16,535; for children, 50,507. For 1964, the
figures were 34,545 and 90,909. It has often been said that Presbyterians are
better at nurturing the faithful than inviting those who have never believed
into a life-givin!
 g relationship with Jesus Christ. These figures seem to bear that out. We
need to develop the gift of sharing the gospel with those who have never
heard the good news and welcoming them into our churches through baptism.
      
	We need to learn from our growing churches, and imitate them! While
we are losing members as a denomination, we do have many growing churches.
All of our congregations need to learn from them. We are aided in this task
by two excellent publications by Deborah Bruce and Cynthia Woolever, Beyond
the Ordinary: 10 Strengths in U.S. Congregations, and Fastest-Growing
Presbyterian Congregations. In the latter publication, the authors sought
data from 400 of our fastest-growing congregations (42 percent average growth
over the past five years) and compared them with a sample of all our
congregations. Some of the strengths of these growing churches are:

	Vital programs for children and youth;

	Widespread use of prayer groups and other small-group ministries;

	New forms and times for worship, with an emphasis on spontaneity,
inspiration, and joy;

	Strong connections electronically;

	A cultural norm of inviting friends to worship and sharing faith
stories;

	Excitement about the future of the church. 
      
	If we are going to be a growing church, we must be a multicultural
church. By the middle of this century, the majority of people in the United
States will be other than Caucasian. Many new immigrants who are coming to
our country are from parts of the world where the Reformed tradition is
strong. If the PC(USA) is to be a growing church, it must be a truly
multicultural church! A few years ago, the General Assembly set goals to
increase our racial ethnic membership to 10 percent of our total membership
by 2005 and to 20 percent by 2010. It is very good news that it looks like we
may very likely reach the first of these two goals. If we are to reach 20
percent by 2010 (still less than the percentage of racial-ethnic persons in
the U.S. population), we need to take dramatic action now. Some exciting new
efforts are under way to help us - a growing number of new-immigrant
fellowships, increasing numbers of multicultural congregations, and fresh
strategies for racial-ethnic chu!
 rch growth. Even so, a far greater commitment is required if we are to be
transformed into a Christian community that looks like the multicultural
world in which we are living in the U.S. today.
      
	We need to start more new churches. Historically, the PC(USA) has
shown overall growth in the years when it was most active in new church
development. While we can rejoice that new energy and resources are available
for building new churches and chartering new immigrant fellowships, we are
still dissolving more churches each year (63 in 2004) than we are beginning
new ones (25 in 2004). We need a commitment in every presbytery to begin more
new churches than we dissolve old ones. We also need a commitment in the
entire denomination to generously support the Joining Hearts and Hands
campaign to help the whole church respond to the unique opportunity in our
time to develop new churches, especially among racial-ethnic and new
immigrant groups.
      
	No "magic bullet" is available to move from being a church that is
losing members to being a growing church. It is only through the power of the
Holy Spirit that people come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, and that
churches grow. However, I do believe these six steps, if taken seriously by
Presbyterians, will position us for the Holy Spirit to work in fresh and
creative ways in our life. As a result, we will become the church that God
intends us to be -- a church that is growing in grace, growing in numbers,
and growing in faithful discipleship to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

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