Overture 58

On Combating the Decline in Members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)—From the Presbytery of Eastern Virginia.

The Presbytery of Eastern Virginia overtures the 217th General Assembly (2006) to do the following:

1. Direct the Moderator of the 217th General Assembly (2006) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)—in consultation with the Vice-Moderator, the Executive Director of the General Assembly Council, the Stated Clerk, and the chair, vice-chair, and one additional member of the National Ministries Division—to constitute a task force to analyze at least forty-five randomly chosen congregations that have shown significant growth over the past 24 to 36 months prior to the previous General Assembly, construct a report on this analysis, and present it to the 218th General Assembly (2008).

2. Direct that this task force shall consist of at least eighteen people and not more than twenty-eight. It shall be composed of equal numbers of male and female clergy and equal number of male and female laity. One half of the task force shall be from churches with total average Sunday worship attendance of 150 or less. One fourth shall be from churches with total average Sunday worship attendance between 151 and 300. The remaining fourth shall be from churches with average attendance of 300 or more per Sunday.

3. Significant growth shall be defined as increasing membership by at least 10 percent for two consecutive years. This data shall be derived from the annual statistical reports to the General Assembly.

4. Direct that the task force shall consider such factors as geographic location, visibility of the church, socioeconomic levels, mission emphasis, mission goals, prevalence of small groups, Christian education efforts, youth ministry, worship styles and frequency, overall feelings about the church among officers and members, and any and all other factors that the task force may perceive as affective growth.

5. The churches to be analyzed shall be stratified as follows: at least fifteen shall be churches with average Sunday worship attendance of 150 or less; at least fifteen shall be churches with average Sunday worship attendance of 151-300; at least fifteen shall be churches with average Sunday worship attendance of 300 or more.

6. Direct the task force to interview the staff of the churches and as many lay leaders as the task force deems appropriate. Other clergy and lay leadership in the selected churches’ presbytery may also be interviewed. The majority of these interviews may be by telephone and conference calling. However, at least one-fourth shall be face-to-face. The task force shall also consider such print and visual media (e.g. newsletters, bulletins, web sites, advertising, etc.) as deemed significant by the task force and interviewees.

7. The task force shall analyze, with prayer and spiritual discernment, all of the data and interviews to determine commonalities and differences as to the reasons for the growth among the churches. The task force shall then publish its findings to the 218th General Assembly (2008) and through the assembly to the congregations of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as a means of helping all of our congregations to begin focusing on realistic growth strategies appropriate to each of our congregations.

8. Direct that the task force discuss and, if they deem appropriate, recommend some form of apt recognition from the denomination for those churches that exhibit significant growth (as defined by the task force).

For several decades the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has declined in membership.

The church as a whole has long noticed this decline and has studied it resulting in papers and books from within the church and individual scholars and various consulting groups.

In spite of such studies, the decline continues as is more than evident from the latest statistical reports.

In spite of this overall decline, many churches within our denomination are growing.

It is self-evident that churches function differently in terms of worship, mission, Christian education, administration, and outreach due to size, location, age, and other factors. Yet these factors have infrequently been included in a systematic fashion in each of these studies.

In addressing institutional problems, new approaches that focus on what is going right in the institution rather than what is wrong can offer new, creative solutions.