Recently the Presbyterian Church (USA) released information about the distribution of its congregations by size. The chart below provides the data in a manner that clearly displays the prevalence of small congregations.
Put differently,
- 51.9% have 100 or fewer members
- 83.7% have 300 or fewer members
- 3.6% have 800 or more members
So What?
Since completing my education I have served exclusively in mainline congregations with well over 800 members, including a PC (USA) parish. While I have not done any research to make a similar chart for each mainline denomination, the rough breakdown of congregational sizes is likely quite similar. Additionally other recent research has shown the median size of all Protestant congregations to be 75.
- Which size category describes your local congregation? What do you believe are some of the greatest strengths of congregations of that size? greatest challenges?
- Are you surprised to learn that over half of all congregations have 100 or fewer members? Over the next decade do you think congregations of this size will be more or less likely to remain economically viable than in recent years? Why?
- What size congregation do you find most attractive? Why?