The Episcopal Church has marked a grim milestone when it reported membership has dipped below 2 million within the United States for the first time in decades.
It had 1,951,907 stateside members in 2010, down 3 percent from the previous year, according to its research office.
Membership has been steadily declining since the 1960s, when it and several other historic Protestant denominations were at the peak of their membership and cultural influence. There have been long-running debates over the causes of the declines. Theories include liberal trends in theology and/or sexuality, the wearisome fighting over those issues and the declining birth rates of the denominations’ largely white, better-educated membership.
Update: There is more on this there as well.
The [url=http://www.anglicanjournal.com/nc/news-update-items/article/active-membership-down-16-percent-in-us-episcopal-church-10176.html ]Anglican Journal[/url] picks up this piece. It starts out:
[blockquote]The [b]anti-liberal[/b] Institute on Religion & Democracy (IRD) has taken aim at the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA), citing the church’s own statistics. For the first time in decades, reported membership has dipped below two million, according to a press release from the conservative Washington-based organization. [/blockquote]
I am sure that Jeff Walton will find it hilarious that his organization is described in the negative as “anti-liberal”. I am surprised the Anglican journal didn’t describe the IRD as liberal-phobic because we all know that conservatives are cowering masses of fearful Jello. The IRD is clearly racist, too. ;*)
And never mind that the IRD began with ALL card carrying Democrats who saw the unthinking drift of the left and the hyperpoliticization of the NCC et al which continues (sentimentally, and oppressively, ironically) to this day.
If the 3 percent losses hold, then TEC’s current membership is currently below 1.9 million for 2011. By the time Ms. Schori leaves office the figure will be 1,676,169. They have no core beliefs which might attract members. They are against the gospel. They sue former members with trust fund money. They have NO future, and no reason to exist. If you are a Christian, get out of TEC. Stop feeding it money. I no longer buy the argument that anyone is called to belong to TEC any more than anyone should become a Mormon or JW.