Six types of social services were listed and respondents were asked whether or not their congregations provided each. These services were: weekday child care center; ministry to people with either physical disabilities, learning disabilities, mental illnesses, or HIV/AIDS or other HIV/AIDS ministries. Few congregations offered any of these services (see the table) and most congregations (75%) did not provide any of the services. Only ten congregations provided all six services.
Social Services Offered by Congregations
Percent of
Type of Service Congregations
Weekday child care center 16.9
Ministry to persons with physical disabilities 6.0
Ministry to persons with learning disabilities/
mental retardation 4.3
Other HIV-AIDS ministries (e.g., education) 4.6
Ministry to persons with mental illnesses 2.6
Ministry to persons with HIV/AIDS 2.2
As can be seen, the service reported most often was weekday child care--still, only 17% of
congregations reported offering such services. This is a slight decrease from previous years. In
1988, about one-fifth (21%) of congregations reported using church facilities for child day care
services; of these, 16% were used on workdays.
Despite the fact that congregations reported that approximately 170,000 members (6% of total 1995 membership) had some type of disability (hearing, sight, mobility, or other data from the Session Annual Report), only 6% of congregations (570) reported that they provided ministry to disabled persons, 4% reported ministering to people with learning disabilities (392), and 3% supported a ministry to people with mental illnesses (251). Few provided ministry to people with HIV/AIDS or offered some other HIV/AIDS ministry (education, for example).
Larger congregations were more likely to offer each of these social services. For example, only one in ten small congregations (under 250 members) reported a weekday child care center, compared to one in three medium-sized congregations (251 to 600 members, and almost half of large congregations (601 or more members). The same pattern held for each of the other social services, as well.
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