For as long as I can remember, people in my religious tradition have been talking about decline. When I was a child, Mainline Protestantism was still a major force in American religious life. Today, many of its congregations have a much smaller membership comprised of people who are significantly older than the general population. Now, nearly everyone is wondering what the future holds. This is personal. I have spent my entire life inside this tradition. I grew up, was confirmed, and received Read More …
membership
The Coming Wave of Church Closures in the United Church of Christ (#2330)
When discussing the numerical decline of a denomination, the conversation usually focuses on membership loss from its historic peak. While that is an important measure, it tells only part of the story. An equally important question is this: How large is the average congregation today, and how many churches have become so small that their long-term viability is in doubt? Membership Continues to Decline The average UCC congregation is now roughly half the size it was in 1970. Using Read More …
PC(USA) Membership Decline Slows, But Another Milestone Looms (#2327)
Having spent more of my life in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) than in any other denomination, I've paid close attention to its membership trends. The story of decline has been with the denomination since its creation in 1983. Decline Slows This week, the PC(USA) released its 2025 statistical report. Two numbers captured my attention: Wider Perspective In 2020, I examined the denomination's first 35 years and found that membership had fallen 56.8%, from 3,131,228 in 1983 to Read More …
Decline Upon Decline: Metropolitan Community Churches (#2279)
The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches is the largest Protestant denomination birthed in and primarily serving the LGBTQ+ community. G. Samantha Rosenthal's recent Sojourner's article has been shared across many of my social media feeds often with significant commentary. Her piece notes the denomination's historical development since its founding in 1968, including My search for longer term traditional metrics about denominational decline led me to the Association Read More …
Episcopal Church Unsure of Its Membership (#2274)
I, like so many others, have been actively monitoring the membership decline of Mainline Protestant denominations. Last year I wrote an article linking to more than 50 posts I wrote on this topic over the prior 15 years. While I've given limited attention to the Episcopal Church (see Another Decade of Major Decline in The Episcopal Church), I remain interested in its year over year decline. No Report I was shocked to learn that, for the first time, the Episcopal Church will not be Read More …
Long-Term Church Membership (#2201)
Somehow I've managed to do what I once assumed impossible: become a long-term member of a local congregation. I've been part of several congregations for three years and one congregation for four years, however, those medium-term experiences included both church membership and paid service on the church staff. And, in the case of my four years at Naples United Church of Christ not only was I both a church member and a member of the church staff, I was not present for worship on Sunday mornings Read More …
ELCA Membership Cut in Half (#2125)
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was formed in 1988 by the merger of three Lutheran denominations: American Lutheran Church, the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches and the Lutheran Church in America. And, almost every year since its creation, the denomination has experienced a decline in membership. This trend is consistent with what has happened in Mainline Protestantism at large (a grouping used by sociologists for seven theologically progressive denominations, Read More …
UCC: 1 Out of Every ____ Americans (#2075)
Most data related to Mainline Protestant decline focuses on one of two measures: Absolute decline (how many fewer members are in the denomination today as compared to a specific year in the past)Percentage decline (how much smaller the denomination has become as understood by expressing the membership decline as a percentage) In this post, I'll consider these before exploring what I find to be a more helpful measurement of decline. This new measure is also an easier way to understand the Read More …
Am I Living in the Most Protestant Place in America? (#2068)
Dallas - Arlington - Fort Worth, Texas (aka the D/FW metro area) has been my home for most of my life. Given D/FW's location, it isn't surprising that the area is more religious than the United States is on average. But, just how religious is it? And, just how Protestant? Most Religious Counties Last month sociologist Ryan Burge compiled a list of the Most Religiously Affiliated Highly Populated Counties in America as defined by the percentage of people in the county who are attached Read More …
Celebrating 14 Years of So What Faith with Popular Posts (#2064)
Thanks for being a supporter of So What Faith - a site where matters of faith that matter are explored and where good questions are always more valuable than easy answers. As a writer, I always wonder if anyone will read my words. For So What Faith, I'm able to answer that question thanks to Google Analytics. Note: Google Analytics as I've always know it is coming to an end. Effective July 1, 2023 a new Google Analytics launches. Given this big change, I decided to run some mid-year Read More …