The more telling SBC statistic is baptisms, which have been declining. And the SBC annual meeting, held in June in San Antonio, drew the same kind of relatively small, definitely graying crowd that the more moderate BGCT drew in Amarillo.
One problem struggling denominations have in common is infighting. Whether it’s over gay clergy (United Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Lutherans), or biblical inerrancy and women in the pulpit (Baptists), it’s still fighting.
Fighting ”” especially when it seems to be as much about power as principle ”” is lousy advertising.
Another shared problem is competition from the many independent churches that have sprung up, unencumbered by denominational requirements or politics, and often offering stirring worship and relevant programming for young families.
Baptists, with their loose organizational structure, face the added problem of post-denominationalism within the ranks.
Many Baptist churches have dropped “Baptist” from their name, seeing it as a turnoff to potential members. And some bigger churches are doing for themselves what Baptist churches have traditionally done together through state conventions and the denomination
Wow, we’re just like the SBC, except for one small detail!
RE: “But the SBC reports only very modest growth, and some pastors think even that’s overstated. They note that the rolls of many SBC churches include people who haven’t attended in years.”
I mean — we overstate our membership, and certainly Episcopalians are on “the rolls” who “haven’t attended in years . . . ”
But we only report losses, rather than “only very modest growth.”
Other than that, though . . . we’re exactly the same.
; > )
‘Protestant’ Christianity as a whole is declining in the US. However, TEC’s decline has not been as steep as some would like to make out, in comparison to other denominations. The following, posted on another forum, might be of interest:
[i]”Actually, as a % of all ‘Protestants’ in the US, TEC has remained basically static since 1972. It is Presbyterians, Lutherans and Methodists whose % has dropped most dramatically. Baptists remain pretty static, while ‘other’ Protestant denominations’ % share has risen. It is, of course, those who consider themselves culturally Protestant but who belong to no denomination which have grown most. So despite what many people would like to think – that TEC is losing members far more rapidly than any other ‘Protestant’ group – it remains the case that Episcopalians have remained pretty static at 3.5% of all Protestants in the US for the past 30 years.[/i]
In 2004, according to the General Social Survey, of those polled who called themselves ‘Protestant’:
Episcopalians accounted for 3.5% (a rise of 0.3% since 1972)
Presbyterians accounted for 4.6% (a fall of 3.6% since 1972)
Lutherans accounted for 8% (a fall of 5.5% since 1972)
Methodists accounted for 11.4% (a fall of 11.1% since 1972)
Baptists accounted for 32% (a rise of 0.5% since 1972)
Others accounted for 21.7% (a rise of 3.7% since 1972)
No Denomination accounted for 18.9% (a rise of 15.4% since 1972)
A graph of this data over time can be seen here – http://www.thearda.com/quickStats/qs_29_t.asp “
Thanks for posting that information Mick! Very helpful to hear a truly fair and balanced response to what has been posted earlier.
Mick the data posted may be true over the time run indicated, but the evidence of the last few years runs directly counter to the statistic you posted, precisely because the radicalization of TEC and its results have been around so briefly. LM
Mick
Thanks for posting that info — actually those are really interesting
tables. I found most interesting the info under the “patterns” tab at the top in particular:
[i] Attendance [/i]
15% of Episcopal people attend weekly cf to 33% of all protestants
66% of E.P attend less than once a month cf 42% of all protestants;
12% of Episcopals never attend cf to 9% of all protestants
[i] People attributes [/i]
68% were women cf to 58% of all protestants
24% were over 65. On average 17% of Protestants were.
91% were white cf to 77% of all protestants
So in summary the Episcopal church can be described as the church of white, old women who attend infrequently.
[i]”So in summary the Episcopal church can be described as the church of white, old women who attend infrequently.”[/i]
You seem to have forgotten about level of Education:
30.5% of Episcopal people hold a Graduate degree cf to 8.5% of all Protestants
20.3% of Episcopal people hold a Bachelors degree cf to 16.5% of all Protestants
1.7% of Episcopal people did not complete High School cf to 13% of all Protestants
I’m unsure of what on earth Mick added in facts.
Protestant Christianity, he says, is declining in the US.
TEC’s percentage of Protestants has remained “static” he says . . . which essentially means nothing, since Protestant Christianity is “declining” . . .
In other words, while the Episcopal church’s percentage of Protestants remains the same, the Episcopal church continues its steady decline.
In the meantime other Protestant bodies continue a steady growth.
Er . . . thanks, I guess.
But how that makes the Episcopal church’s decline somehow better and happier, or obscures the facts of its decline, we’ll never know.
Of course, this is the same guy that tried to claim that the diocese of Sydney was declining by the census data of self-reported Anglicans, rather than actual attendance which has grown.
http://new.kendallharmon.net/wp-content/uploads/index.php/t19/article/7391/
Appears that Mick would like to spin actual decline into something nice [when it’s of a progressive church like ECUSA] and spin actual growth into something bad [when it’s of a conservative diocese like Sydney].
And I can certainly understand why he would like that! ; > )
oK, in light of what Mick provided, perhaps MargaretG will allow me to amend the statement to:
So in summary the Episcopal church can be described as the church of white, old [b]well educated[/b] women who attend infrequently. 😉
Sorry, there should have been a comma ( , ) after “old”.