From the BibleBeltBlogger via Stand Firm:
The Episcopal Church has compiled its membership and average Sunday attendance (ASA) figures for 2008, but is declining to release them.
Membership and attendance figures have dropped every year since the consecration of the church’s first openly-gay bishop, the Rev. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire, in 2003.
Church spokesmen originally said the 2008 figures would be released in September. But that date came and went.
In a conference call with the media this afternoon from Memphis, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori confirmed that she has the information, but wouldn’t say whether the numbers look good or bad for the 2.1 million-member denomination.
Bonnie Anderson, president of the church’s House of Deputies, also declined to reveal the details.
The church trumpets its transparent governance and its openness on its home page but it wasn’t very open this week about its numbers.
Having been tipped that the numbers were being shared with the Executive Council during its Oct. 5-8 meeting, I e-mailed church public affairs officer Neva Rae Fox late Wednesday, Oct. 7, and asked for a “copy of the new ASA and membership figures that were passed out to the Executive Council at this week’s meeting.”
She e-mailed me back that “ASA and membership figures have not been passed out to Exec Council.”
So I e-mailed back: “Perhaps passed out is the wrong word. It’s my understanding that the figures are finished and were shared with the Executive Council this week.”
This morning, she responded: “if so, not yet. nothing has been shared yet.”
That didn’t match what I’d been led to believe by a very reliable source. So I asked Anderson and the Presiding Bishop about the numbers during the press conference. Here’s what they said:
BIBLE BELT BLOGGER: The ASA and membership figures for 2008 have been compiled. I’m wondering if those were shared with the Executive Council this week and what the ASA and membership figures show for 2008 for the domestic dioceses.
PRESIDENT ANDERSON: Yes. (Clears throat). Excuse me, yes, they’ve been, um, circulated to the Executive Council via electronic means but we’re not going to be talking about those per se. Our agenda’s pretty full and we’ll probably be taking those up in the future at our next meeting.
BIBLE BELT BLOGGER: Can you share, though, what the results are?
PRESIDENT ANDERSON: We don’t know. I mean we have it written out but we’ll be posting it I’m sure as soon as we’re, they’re, approved and available. But yes, you’ll be able to get them.
LOCKWOOD: But presiding bishop, can you tell us what they show?
PRESIDING BISHOP JEFFERTS SCHORI: I, I’m sorry. I’m not able to comment on that at the moment. I don’t have it in my head.
BIBLE BELT BLOGGER: Do you know approximately? Can you give an approximation? Are they up or down?
CHURCH PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER NEVA RAE FOX: Frank, we need to move on now. Um, I believe the presiding officers have indicated that the figures will be available at a later time, but not right now. Thank you.
So there you have it. The numbers have been circulated, not passed out. The figures have been shared with the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, but the theologian/scientist can’t comment on them because “I don’t have it in my head.”
Based on the above, do you think the statistics — if they were in the presiding bishop’s head — would be good news or bad news for this badly divided denomination?
2 comments:
Well, it's possible that they are higher now then they will be in the future.
Do you remember the childhood finger game: "Here's the church and here's the steeple, open the doors and see all the people"? That may need revision too.
Maybe PECUSA wants to get a new census count, they could hire ACORN.
Every time I see discussions on the falling numbers of TEC, several things come to mind:
(1) has anyone ever compared TEC numbers with the other mainline churches, using statistical analyses? From general population surveys on religion, such as the latest Barnes report, the tide is going out for all churches, with the possible exception of the Mormons. I would expect there is a small 'Gene Robinson' effect, but otherwise the TEC numbers probably track the ELCA, Methodists, Presbyterians, UCC, and Disciples of Christ.
(2) Seems there's a lot of schadenfreude in these discussions, and a desire for failure. Whatever happened to love your enemies?
(3) I'm sure in lots of places, it's not evident at all that there is an mass exodus, particularly in already liberal parishes or college towns. That seems to be the case for my ex-parish.
I'm not picking on the author of this blog, in fact, I've fallen prey to the sentiments of (2) on many occasion
Ralph
Post a Comment