Peacemaking
Several years ago, the General Assembly suggested a Commitment to Peacemaking statement for congregations to consider adopting. When asked whether they had adopted this statement (or a version of it revised by the session), 43% of responding congregations indicated that they have. In addition, 56% of congregations reported involvement in peacemaking efforts in 1996.
These figures are slightly higher than last year's figures. For 1995, 54% of congregations reported that they had been engaged in peacemaking efforts, and 41% reported that they had adopted the Commitment to Peacemaking statement in some form. Although 1996 statistics on involvement in peacemaking efforts are higher than those for 1995, they are comparable to those for previous years (56% in 1990; 57% in 1992; 55% in 1994). When each congregation's 1995 response regarding adoption of the Commitment to Peacemaking is compared its 1996 response on the same issue, some interesting trends emerge. Of the 8,458 congregations that returned forms in both years, 85% gave the same answer each year that is, 49% indicated in both years that they had not adopted the Commitment, and 36% indicated they had. Another 5% did not answer the question in one of the two years. That leaves one in ten congregations that gave a different response in 1996 than they did in 1995: 6% had not adopted the Commitment to Peacemaking in 1995, but had done so in 1996; while 4% reported in 1995 that they had adopted the Commitment, but reported in 1996 that they had not done so.
A majority of large and medium-size congregations reported having adopted the Commitment to Peacemaking: 64% of congregations with more than 600 members and 53% of congregations with 250 to 600 members, but only 38% of congregations with less than 250 members, reported such action. Likewise, a large majority of large and medium-size congregations reported involvement in peacemaking activities in 1996. Three-quarters of the largest membership congregations (77%), 69% of medium-size congregations, and one-half (50%) of small congregations participated in peacemaking efforts.
Congregations engaged in peacemaking efforts in 1996 are more likely to be located in medium-size (50,000 to 250,000 population) or large cities (more than 250,000 population) or suburbs near such cities. Two-thirds of congregations in medium-size cities (69%), 60% of congregations in suburbs of medium- size cities, 67% of congregations in large cities, and 66% of congregations in suburbs near large cities reported involvement in peacemaking effort. In contrast, 43% of congregations located in rural areas and 56% of churches located in small cities or towns were involved in peacemaking efforts in 1996.
For information about Congregational Statistics, email Ida Smith-Williams