Global Courant 2023-05-04 20:22:56
The largest Presbyterian denomination in the US continued its downward trend as it bled more than 100 churches and 53,000 members last year and lost 285 pastors last year, according to statistics released this week.
The liberal Presbyterian Church (USA) (PCUSA) went from about 1.193 million members to about 1.14 million members last year, while the number of member churches fell from 8,813 in 2021 to 8,705. according to the data.
The numbers mark a sharp drop since the denomination had nearly 2.5 million members in 2000.
“We’re not surprised by the numbers we’re seeing,” Rev. J. Herbert Nelson, II, the PCUSA’s clerk, said in a statement Monday. “While the pandemic may be over, the impact on church membership is still being felt.”
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A Black Lives Matter flag adorns the headquarters of the Louisville, Kentucky-based Presbyterian Church (USA), which has lost about 700,000 members since 2012. (Credit: Google Earth)
“Amid the lower numbers, we continue to find encouragement in the fact that there are still new worship communities. We’ve added more than 20 in the past year, bringing our total to 267.”
“The challenge for the PC (US) remains the same: find new ways to engage and welcome young people. These are dramatic and fast-moving times,” Nelson continued.
“Our world is changing and the church needs to meet the growing needs of people at crossroads. We need to remind them that Jesus Christ is still in our midst and that means finding new, innovative ways to help church to be. “
Community members celebrate the Supreme Court’s decision on marriage equality at an event hosted by Texas for Marriage at Central Presbyterian Church in downtown Austin, Texas, on June 26, 2015. (Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis via Getty Images)
The statistics also tracked young people’s reported creeds, which increased from 5,708 in 2021 to 7,041 in 2022.
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Conservative Presbyterians speaking to Fox News Digital last fall blamed part of the decline of the major denomination on what they described as a departure from historic biblical teachings.
Lake View Presbyterian Church flies a pride flag in support of Gay Pride Week on June 23, 2020 in Chicago. (Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images)
The denomination made headlines in October when the Office of the General Assembly announced it would add a “non-binary/genderqueer” option to official church statistics in an effort to be “inclusive,” according to a press release.
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“I believe the candlestick has been removed, Christ has removed his blessing from the PCUSA, and the end result of that will just be forgotten,” Zachary Groff, a Presbyterian minister in Greenville, South Carolina, told Fox News Digital, referring to the 2nd chapter of Revelation.
Jon Brown is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].
