U.S. Church Membership and Attendance Continues Its Decline

U.S. Church Membership and Attendance Continues Its Decline

[Source:  The Link, South Georgia Annual Conference UMC]

(Newscope) UM membership in the United States declined by more than 65,000 people from 2002 to 2003, according to the latest data available from the General Council on Finance and Administration, the agency responsible for collecting such data. The February issue of Background Data for Mission, published by the General Board of Global Ministries, analyzed this data by conferences along with statistics on worship and church school attendance. According to the report, every annual conference in the North Central, Northeast, and Western jurisdictions reported a decline in membership. Of the 13 annual conferences with membership growth, ten are in the Southeast. Meanwhile, seven annual conferences reported worship attendance growth. However, GBGM's Office of Research says some of these increases, along with some of the decreases, are due to reporting inconsistencies. The office's analysis claims only four annual conferences (Western Pennsylvania, Peninsula-Delaware, Mississippi, and Alabama-West Florida) had actual increases.

Church school attendance is less consistently reported than worship attendance. Nevertheless, three jurisdictions (Southeast, South Central, and Western) reported an increase in such attendance. A final statistic reported by the GBGM newsletter examined the number of local churches in each annual conference. Across the United States, an overall decline of 186 churches occurred, leaving 35,273 churches in 2003. Every jurisdiction reported a decline in the number of local churches. Average membership of local churches remains at 231, with attendance at 97. According to the report, half of U.S. churches have membership of 110 or less and an attendance of 51 or less.