According to the U.S.Census Bureau’s figures, Oklahoma has grown in population from 3,450,654 in 2000 to 3,751,351 in 2010. This represents a population growth of approximately 8.7% in this time frame. (Of passing interest, please note that the population of the United States as a whole went from 281,421,906 in 2000 to 308,745,538 in 2010, an overall American growth for the decade of 9.7%).
According to Episcopal Church statistics, the Diocese of Oklahoma went from Average Sunday Attendance (or ASA) of 7,290 in 2000 to 5,585 in 2010. This represents a decline of -23.4% during this decade.
Please note that if you go to the link toward the end of this sentence and enter “Oklahoma” as the name of the diocese and then “View Diocese Chart” underneath on the left you can see in pictorial form some of the data from 2000-2010.
A very special shout out goes to Gene Robinson and Louie Crew. Thanks, guys.
While living in Oklahoma I was a member of one of the largest Episcopal Parishes in Oklahoma. It was also the most Orthodox large church it has been my privilege to belong to. (1928 weekday and 7:00 on Sunday, Rite 1 on Sunday at 9:00 and 11:00).
The time period referenced in this article is reflective of Oklahomans not accepting the Theology of former Bishop Moody until he “retired†about Sep of 2007. Right after that Schori and her minions defrocked Retired Bishop Cox (who incidentally did many confirmations at our Parish rather than Moody) that offended many. He was an older (very) but good man.
Bishop Konieczny inherited a mess of angry Parishes and people during an era the National Church was well we all know what they were doing. Everything I have been told by friends still living in Oklahoma is he has been very fair to all the Parishes and has accepted the Orthodox unlike his predecessor and really a “breath of fresh airâ€. I did observe as closely as I could from a chart it looks like the past two years he has at least stopped the bleeding of the era of Moody. I could be incorrect but I believe he has retained all of the existing Parishes he inherited.
I do know he has brought the web site (the one he inherited was actually laughable) into this century, initiated many programs that make sense even to someone as conservative as I am, and certainly has been a breath of fresh air to many. I have not personally met him since I unfortunately no longer live there. However based on what I have heard I would accept him in a heartbeat over the radical Integrity supporting, Schori loving and supporting Bishop I now have where I live.
Hopefully a I am correct and a lot of the problems that created this loss (on a local basis who knows about the national church) are now in the rear view mirror not coming over the dashboard. Given the never ending actions of The National Church (Schori and now this Ragsdale episode last week) it has to be difficult just to tread water. Personally I wish him the best.
Stats for 2009 and 2010 do show some stability, especiallyin that Plate & Pledge is up a bit despite the economy. But long term damage has been done in that for 2002 through 2010 Infant Baptisms declined 38 percent and Marraigess declined 45 percent. And +Robinson’s new crusade for SS marraige won’t help bringing young families back. Statmann
Statmann, I agree with you overall. Especially in a conservative State like Oklahoma, the devastation done by the combination of Schori, Robinson, The National Church with all its fingers, endorsement of SS marriage, and Moody was significant. Many will never come back and it certainly does not help when someone like Ragsdale goes on O’Reily with her extreme views as the leader of an Episcopal Seminary. My only point was it is a lot better now than in late 2008, unlike the Dio I now reside in. It has gone in the opposite direction.
The current bishop restored +Wantland’s license to officiate in the Diocese, which had been revoked by Bishop Moody.
Kevin, Thanks I was not aware of that. Bishop Moody in the last 5 to 8 years had really become something else. I guess the stats pretty well speak to that although The National Church and Schori, Robinson etc. certainly contributed to the problem. I have overall heard very positive things about Bishop Ed K___. I plan to return to OKC so I hope for the best.
I see from the ACNA that there are 6 ACNA parishes in Oklahoma, with 2 in OKC and one in Tulsa. Note that I don’t point this out to encourage leaving but rather to point out that a “beachhead” has been established and this is important in the OK stat dynamics.