Comparative Statistics 2008

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) at 25: A Statistical Look at Denominational Change

Jack Marcum
Coordinator, Research Services, General Assembly Mission Council
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

In 2008, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) celebrated its 25th anniversary, having begun life in the summer of 1983 with the merger of the United Presbyterian Church in the USA and the Presbyterian Church in the United States. Known as Reunion, the 1983 merger healed a split dating back to the Civil War. This essay provides a statistical portrait of the first quarter century of this reborn denomination.

Membership
Between 1983 and 2008, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) had a net loss of almost 1,000,000 members, dropping from 3,131,228 to 2,140,165. In relative terms, the net loss was 31.6%, or an average annual decline of around 1.3%. The greatest numerical and percentage losses are for 2008 (69,381; 3.1%), followed by 2007 (57,572; 2.5%). Indeed, the six greatest percentage declines (and five of the six largest numerical declines) took place from 2003 to 2008. The smallest numerical and percentage declines took place in 1997 (22,275; 0.8%) and 1998 (21,517; 0.8%). Only one other annual numerical net loss was less than 30,000, in 1999 (27,473), and only one other annual percentage net loss was less than 1.0%, in 1984 (0.97).

Read more.

Download tables

These files are all in Adobe Acrobat format. For best results, right-click the link (or click and hold for Macintosh), select "save target as" and save the document to your desktop for viewing and printing.

1. PC(USA) Congregations and Membership — 1997-2008
2. Distribution of PC(USA) Congregations by Membership Size and Synod — 2008
3. PC(USA) Membership by Region and State/Territory — 2008
4. Membership Gains and Losses of PC(USA) Synods and Presbyteries — 2008
5. Distribution of PC(USA) Congregations with One-Fifth or More
   Minority Racial-Ethnic Membership by Synod — 2008
6. Fifteen Largest PC(USA) Congregations Based on Membership Size — 2008
7. Descriptive Statistics on PC(USA) Ministers and Candidates — 2000-2008
8. PC(USA) Active Ministers by Call and Synod — 2008
9. Number and Percent of Active PC(USA) Ministers by Call and Gender — 2004-2008
10. PC(USA) Membership, Total Individual Contributions, and Expenditures for Local Program and Local Mission by Synod and Presbytery — 2007 and 2008
11. PC(USA) Congregational Receipts — 2007 and 2008
12. PC(USA) Congregational Expenditures — 2007 and 2008
13. PC(USA) Synod and Presbytery Rankings Based on Per Member
    Validated Mission Expenditures — 2008
14. Race-Ethnicity and Gender of PC(USA) Members, Elders, Deacons,
    Active Ministers, and Commissioned Lay Pastors — 2008
15. Number of Congregations, How They Are Served, Worship Attendance, and Giving Information by Membership Size — 2008
16. Technical Information

Order 2008 Comparative Statistics online

$5.00
PDS #0205608032

Or order by calling Presbyterian Distribution Service: (800)524-2612.

- Files marked with this icon can be downloaded in printable Adobe Acrobat format. This file requires the free Acrobat Reader. For best results, right-click the link (or click and hold for Macintosh), select " save target as" and save the document to your desktop for viewing and printing.