Saturday, June 23, 2012

Presbyterian Church Membership Dips Below 2M; PCUSA Had Over 2.5M Members in the Yr. 2000

Presbyterian Church (USA) membership dipped below the 2 million mark in 2011, according to statistics released by the PC(USA) Office of the General Assembly on June 21, 2012, the Christian Post website reports today.

According to the numbers, during 2011 the denomination experienced a decline of 63,804 members and the loss of 96 congregations due to a mixture of church dissolutions and dismissals.

Dr. Sheldon Sorge -- pastor to Presbytery of the PC(USA) Presbytery of Pittsburgh -- said, "There are many reasons for this decline, including for mainline Protestants a birthrate well below the threshold of maintaining population."

The statistics showed a years-old trend continuing. According to the PC(USA) General Assembly Mission Council, in 2000 the denomination had over 2.5 million members. Over the past decade, the entire denomination has lost over 20 percent of its membership.

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