Members and Congregations

• The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ended 1999 with 11,216 congregations and 2,560,201 members, down modestly from the 11,260 congregations and 2,587,674 members reported the year before (see Table 1). Both drops continue long-term trends. Since its creation in 1983 through a merger of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and the Presbyterian Church, U.S., the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has experienced a net loss of 4 percent of its congregations and 18 percent of its membership.

• The net loss of 1 percent in membership during 1999 was the result of 156,266 persons joining PC(USA) congregations and 183,739 leaving them (see Table 4).

• In all, 45 of the 173 presbyteries experienced net gains in membership (see Table 4), led by Central Florida (+437), Charleston-Atlantic (+434), Charlotte (+426), Hanmi (+391), and Seattle (+385). Net losses were greatest in Detroit (-1,482), Giddings-Lovejoy (-1,243), Missouri Union (-938), Palo Duro (-872), Middle Tennessee (-832), and Pittsburgh (-824).

• The median congregation in 1999 had 122 members (see Table 1). About 43 percent of all congregations have 100 or fewer members; only 11 percent have more than 500 members (see Table 2). Nevertheless, congregations with fewer than 100 members comprise only 10 percent of the national membership total, while congregations with 1,000 or more members comprise 22 percent of the national total. The mean, or average membership size, is 228. Put differently, most congregations are relatively small, but more members belong to the smaller number of large-membership congregations.

• Two in every three congregations had an installed pastor at the end of 1999 (see Table 15). Fewer than one-fourth of congregations with 50 or fewer members had an installed pastor, compared with 53 percent of congregations with 51-100 members and 76 percent of congregations with 101-150 members. Of congregations with 500 or more members, more than 97 percent had at least one installed pastor, and 63 percent had two or more installed pastors.

• Presbyterian congregations are found in every state, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (see Table 3). The largest numbers of congregations, 1,090, and members, 270,334, are found in Pennsylvania. The smallest number of congregations, 6, is found in Hawaii, and the smallest number of members, 657, in Maine. Overall, Presbyterians are around 1 percent of the nation's population, with concentrations exceeding 2 percent only in the states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Iowa.

• Around 94 percent of members and 92 percent of elders are white, non-Hispanic (see Table 14). Similarly, in 92 percent of congregations half or more of the members are white, non-Hispanic (see Table 5). African Americans comprise a majority of the membership in 4.1 percent of all congregations. Asian Americans are in the majority in 2.3 percent of all congregations, Hispanics in 1.4 percent of all congregations, and Native Americans in 0.5 percent of all congregations.

Ministers

• The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) had almost 21,000 ordained ministers at the end of 1999 (see Table 7), a third of them retired (see Table 8). For more than a decade, annual retirements, dismissals, and deaths have exceeded ordinations and transfers from other denominations, yielding a 8 percent decline in the number of active ministers since 1990. The number of ministers serving as pastors or co-pastors declined by 12 percent since that date.

• Around two-thirds of active ministers served in pastoral positions at the end of 1999. Of all active ministers, 47 percent served as pastors or co-pastors, 10 percent as associate pastors, 4 percent as supply pastors, and 4 percent as interim pastors (see Table 8). The largest non-parish calls included chaplain, 4 percent; seminary and other school administrator or faculty, 4 percent; and Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) staff, 4 percent.

• The 3,420 women in active ministry at the end of 1999 comprised almost one-fourth of all active ministers, up from 14 percent in 1990 and 8 percent in 1984. The percentage of women in every category of pastoral ministry has increased significantly over the last decade (see figure below). By 1999, women were 14 percent of all pastors and co-pastors, 42 percent of all associate pastors, and 36 percent of all interim pastors.

• The number of candidates for ministry declined by 10 percent early in the 1990s, to 1,205, but rebounded to 1,340 in 1999, the same level as in 1990 (see Table 7). In that period, candidates for ministry who are women increased both in total numbers (from in 588 in 1990 to 674 in 1999) and in relative percentages (44 percent of all candidates in 1990 to slightly more than 50 percent in 1999). Racial ethnic candidates showed gains as well, both in numbers (146 to 244) and percentages (11 percent to 18 percent).

Money and Contributions

• Presbyterian congregations reported total receipts of more than $2.8 billion in 1999, an increase of $215 million, or 8 percent, from 1998 (see Table 11). On a per-member basis, receipts exceeded $1,100 in 1999, an increase of $95 per member, or more than 9 percent, compared to 1998. Nationally, expenditures per member were $1,059, or about 4 percent less than contributions (see Table 12).

• More than four in every five dollars of congregational income in 1999 came from individual contributions, some of it for capital purposes ($165 per member), but the bulk for ministry and mission ($726 per member).

• Individual contributions for mission and ministry were greatest in Eastern Korean ($2,032 per member), Atlantic Korean-American ($1,632 per member), and Midwest Hanmi ($1,542 per member) presbyteries (see Table 10). Among synods, per-member contributions were highest in Southern California and Hawaii ($1,125) and Alaska-Northwest ($1,063).

• Congregations expended more than $1.7 billion on local programs in 1999, around two-thirds of all congregational expenditures (see Table 12). Another 17 percent was expended for capital programs. An additional 5 percent went to each of Local Mission, Investments, and Validated Mission. Per capita apportionment averaged around $15 per member, or about 1.4 percent of all congregational expenditures.

• Congregations expended $138 million for Validated Mission in 1999, or around $54 per member. Of that total, $23 per member went for General Assembly Mission, $15 per member for Presbytery General Mission, and $4 per member for Synod General Mission. Congregations also expended an additional $61 million for other mission beyond their local communities.

• Per-member expenditures for Validated Mission were highest in the Synods of Living Waters ($78), Southwest ($73), and South Atlantic ($70). Among presbyteries, Providence ranked highest in per-member expenditures for Validated Mission ($115). Other presbyteries exceeding $100 per member in expenditures for Validated Mission were Sheppards & Lapsley ($114) and Holston ($109).

Order 1999 Comparative Statistics (#6510000023) from Marketplace.

For information about Comparative Statistics, email Ida Smith-Williams.

Research Services
100 Witherspoon St.
Louisville, KY 40202
(888) 728-7228 ext 2040 (voice)
(502) 569-8736 (fax)