Episcopal Church aging and out of touch survey finds

 April 8, 2011
by George Conger
The leadership of the Episcopal Church is out of touch and unrepresentative of its membership, a report published by the national church’s statistics office reveals.

A paper released last month by the church’s department for Congregational and Diocesan Ministries finds the membership of the national church is evenly divided along theological grounds, and also offers a snapshot of the denomination’s health.

Based upon responses received from 837 Episcopal parishes the findings paint a picture of an aging and divided church.

Over half, 52.4 per cent, of the congregations are small, with an average worship attendance of less than 70 people with the median parish having 66 persons at Sunday worship in 2009, a decline of 15 per cent since the fight over the consecration of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire.  the rest

Some 89 per cent of Episcopal congregations reported having conflicts or disagreements in the last five years, with “ordination of gay priests or bishops” cited as the “most frequently mentioned source of conflict.” This rate of conflict within the church is down somewhat from the rate of 93 per cent in 2005 and 90 per cent in 2008. However, of congregations that had serious conflict: 93 per cent saw members leave the church, 50 per cent saw members withhold funds, and 26 per cent saw staff turnover.