Has the Last Episcopalian Been Born?...other news

By Rod Dreher
October 27, 2014

Philip Jenkins, a scholar and Episcopal layman, does the math and finds out that at the Episcopal Church’s current rate of decline, there will be no more Episcopalians, there will be no more Episcopalians by the end of this century. Excerpt:

If we extrapolate that rate into the not-too-distant future, then the number of people attending Episcopal churches on a typical Sunday will be negligible by mid-century, typical of a tiny sect rather than a great church or denomination. It won’t reach zero for a while, but in effect, the church will cease to exist. We might need a new vocabulary of religious decline. How about church evaporation? That mid-century date is really not far off. In fact, the baby baptized at my church last Sunday will by that point only be a young adult in her 30s. Non-attending notional members will persist for a few years longer, but by the end of the century, we should be talking total disappearance. In that scenario, America’s last Episcopalian walks among us today. At some point, young people contemplating a clerical career will have to consider just how long there will indeed be a church for them to serve.

Read the whole thing. The Presbyterian Church USA, another major liberal mainline Protestant church, one almost the same size as TEC, is declining at an even faster rate. Church statistics from 2011 show that the median age of a PCUSA member is 63, and has been rising. This means half the people in the PCUSA are over 63. This also means that over the next couple of decades, half the PCUSA’s current members are going to die. Are they being replaced?

(By the way, TEC is a younger church, but not by much. A 2011 report said that the average Episcopalian is 57. Same demographic decline too. You might recall that the Presiding Bishop of TEC said back in ’06 that the failure of Episcopalians to have babies to replace dying members is actually a sign of virtue. “We encourage people to pay attention to the stewardship of the earth and not use more than their portion,” she told The New York Times.) the rest

AU: Report slams Anglican abuse response
...The commission's public hearing was told about frequent sexual, psychological and physical abuse of nine former residents of the North Coast Children's Home in Lismore between 1940 and 1985.

Handing down its findings, the commission found the diocese denied responsibility for the sexual abuse, denied some victims financial compensation and conducted some settlement negotiations in a hostile manner...

CoE bishop given permission to remarry after divorce
The chairman of Forward in Faith (UK), the Rt. Rev. Jonathan Baker, Bishop of Fulham, has written to his clergy informing them that he has been given permission by the Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury to remarry following his divorce to his wife...

Tribalism holding back Nigeria warns Okoh
...Archbishop Okoh, the Primate of All Nigeria said: “The challenge facing the nation, which is also affecting the Church, is the issue of tribalism, the absence of unity. You will agree with me that, today we have a country but we are not united, if we are united, our country would have made much progress,” he said...