Two-Thirds of All Episcopal Parishes Face Serious Financial Hurdles, Study Shows
Two-Thirds of All Episcopal Parishes Face Serious Financial Hurdles, FACT Study Shows
Average size congregation hits new low. 86% of all congregations are white. 70% aged over 50
The ordination of gay priests or bishops was the most frequently mentioned source of conflict
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
March 23, 2011
A congregational research report, from Congregational and Diocesan Ministries by C. Kirk Hadaway on the Episcopal Church, completed in March of 2011, reveals that two-thirds of all Episcopal parishes are in financial trouble. More than half (52.4 percent) of all Episcopal congregations have an average attendance of 70 or fewer persons in 2009, as compared with 50.7 percent in 2007. The median Episcopal congregation has 66 persons at Sunday worship in 2009, compared to 72 in 2006 and 77 in 2003.
Ironically, in the summary of Episcopal Church findings from the 2010 survey, only 43 percent of respondents strongly agreed that their congregation "wants to grow" while another 46 percent just agreed with the statement. In the 2005 survey, 58% of the congregation strongly agreed with the statement, Hadaway told Episcopal News Service, adding that the question was not asked in 2008.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org
Average size congregation hits new low. 86% of all congregations are white. 70% aged over 50
The ordination of gay priests or bishops was the most frequently mentioned source of conflict
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
March 23, 2011
Ironically, in the summary of Episcopal Church findings from the 2010 survey, only 43 percent of respondents strongly agreed that their congregation "wants to grow" while another 46 percent just agreed with the statement. In the 2005 survey, 58% of the congregation strongly agreed with the statement, Hadaway told Episcopal News Service, adding that the question was not asked in 2008.
Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org
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