Given those realities (again, from TEC’s own reports and stats), the loss of just a person or two can have a major impact:
* + The loss of one major financial donor, by death or departure, can cripple the budget of a small church. It can be the difference between full- or part-time clergy, paid or volunteer secretary or music leader, hiring staff or keeping a building up to code for use.
* + The loss of one major “doer” in a small or aged congregation means that some ministry will not be done, or not done well. No usher greets the visitors. Nobody makes coffee for fellowship time. Nobody has a strong enough voice to lead the hymns and they are mumbled. Nobody tries to do programs for the few kids or teens who might be left.
When one of these small congregations can no longer sustain itself, the financial burden falls on the diocese. Even if the church is closed the costs of maintenance and insurance continue. For many dioceses, it won’t take many of these closures to put things over the edge.
The demoralizing nature of decline in small churches is all too well known to many of us who’ve been in TEC, or other oldline/ex-mainline denominations. Unfortunately, there are many people who are prone to believe that TEC (or the PCUSA, or the ELCA, or the UMC) can continue to decline slowly but steadily the way it basically has for the last forty years. They desperately want to think that such decline can continue indefinitely.
They are living in denial. The stark reality is far more ominous than that, though they/we generally hate to think about it or admit it. For like all institutions, small churches have a certain critical mass, and when they drop beneath it, the bottom just falls out. There are many, MANY congregations in the oldline denominations in that perilous condition.
I think TEC is much closer to imploding than most people think.
On the other hand, the future of the ACNA is very bright.
And we should all note that Fr. Tim Fountain isn’t speaking theoretically here. Even though he has virtually the only parish in the state and diocese of SD that’s grown steadily over the last five years or so, he recently lost a leading verstry member and several young families who just couldn’t stomach anymore being a part of TEC, no matter how orthodox and wonderful his parish is. This is part of the deadly fallout of the disastrous Gen Con that’s just concluded in Anaheim.
It’s easy to imagine how disheartening that might be for him sometimes, or for some of the leaders who remain there at Good Shepherd in Sioux Falls. May the Lord uphold this outstanding priest, his devoted wife Melissa, and the stalwart leaders of that fine parish in my hometown. May they prove to be the exception to the general rule, and go on to thrive, despite the recent setbacks.
David Handy+
Jeff Thimsen, I think it has a lot to do with the diocese one is in, and whether or not a congregation is a mission or a parish. In some cases, it’s better to remain a mission…..as our local church has for over fifty years…..for financial reasons, since we are partly supported by our diocese, and although we do struggle (we do it mightily, by the way) at times, we are not in danger of folding our tent and moving on.
Cennydd, you’re right. A diocese with a large endowment can go on for a long time. But those dioceses depending on revenue from the congregations are in serious trouble. I hope your diocese can continue support of your mission congregation, but prepare for hard times.
I have a question: my memory is that within the past 10 years (since 2003>) TEC claimed 8000 congregations. The last I heard, it was closer to 7000 (7200 is the number that rings a bell). Can I be wrong about the starting number? Have that many congregations closed in the past 10 years?
I think that’s true, and you can be sure that there’ll be more……[b]many[/b] more.
In my diocese many mission churches exist solely to provide a haven for liberals in rural areas. I am not sure they should be called missions. They tend to like things the way they are.
In our town, there are possibly three liberal Episcopalians. Liberal Episcopalians tend to be found in much larger metropolitan areas like Fresno and Sacramento, with a light sprinkling here and there in the hinterlands.