The last decade or two in the Episcopal Church has witnessed great upheaval in many congregations. This has been especially true in traditionalist congregations, due to arguments over human sexuality and same-sex blessings. Some have attempted to leave the Episcopal Church and retain parish property. Others have simply walked away from their church buildings. At the same time, we are starting to see a demographic crisis in the Episcopal Church, which translates into church closures or “demotion” from parish to mission status.
Having a great affection for charts and maps, I have been interested to read the congregational and diocesan statics available here. In many of the congregational charts, there is a precipitous drop in the past decade, which I am prone to think is not a reflection of an exodus of angry conservatives. Rather, almost every congregation has had to come to terms with the disparity between the official rolls and actual attendance. Even though the canons of the Episcopal Church set the bar very low for membership — attendance three times in a year — if we were honest, there are (or were) many on our membership rolls who do not even meet these minimum standards. As a result of these and other factors, it is becoming increasingly clear that the future of many parishes in the Episcopal Church will be very different from the relative material prosperity of the recent past. Many congregations will close. Others will combine. Still others will carry on but with radically reduced programming and staff.
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