Research Services' annual numerical profile of the PCUSA, Comparative Statistics 1998, is fresh off the press. Here are some highlights.
Membership decline slows. The net loss in 1998, 21,157, is the lowest since reunion, even lower than the previous year's loss of 22,275. Both figures are well below the average annual loss for the prior decade of 38,502, and suggest that, while we haven't yet turned the corner on membership decline, we may be approaching the intersection.
Congregations, NCDs drop. The PCUSA ended 1998 with 11,260 churches, a net decrease of 35 during the year, in line with the last decade's annual average drop of 32. The number of new church developments begun last year, 16, is the fewest established since national records were first kept in 1992. In fact, except for a rise from 17 in 1996 to 23 in 1997, the number of NCDs has steadily dropped each year since 1992 when the total was 45.
Most Presbyterian churches are relatively small: the median size for 1998 is 123, down from 141 a decade earlier. Overall, 43 percent of PCUSA congregations have 100 or fewer members.
Racial ethnic composition: mostly white. Around 6 percent of Presbyterian members are racial ethnic, including African American (2.7 percent), Asian (1.8 percent), Hispanic (0.9 percent), and Native American (0.3 percent). The percentage of Presbyterians who are white, non-Hispanic has declined marginally in recent years, from 94.3 percent in 1991 to 93.8 percent last year.
Active ministers decrease. The PCUSA had 14,171 active and 6,769 retired ministers at the end of 1998. Since 1988, the number of active ministers has declined by almost 10 percent while the number of retired ministers has increased by 45 percent. Over the same period, annual ordinations declined by 16 percent, from 449 to 379, and the total number of candidates for the ministry dropped by an even larger 26 percent (1,694 to 1,255). However, the number of racial ethnic candidates increased 22 percent, to 224.
More women in ministry. Around a quarter of all active ministers (3,302, or 23 percent) are women, almost double the number (1,857) and proportion (12 percent) in 1988. A total of 923 women, or 28 percent of all women active in ministry, serve congregations as either a senior, solo or co- pastor. Another 17 percent serve as associate pastors and 6 percent as interim pastors. Viewed differently, 14 percent of all senior, solo, or co-pastors are women, up from 6 percent in 1988, and 40 percent of all associate pastors are women, up from 27 percent a decade earlier.
Women are a slight majority of all candidates for the ministry, 52 percent; in 1988, women made up 45 percent of PCUSA ministerial candidates.
Receipts increase. Total receipts for all PCUSA congregations in 1998 sum to $2.6 billion, or $1,008 per member. The largest category of receipts, $1.8 billion, consists of individual contributions for program and mission. An additional $364 million was given for capital and building funds. Bequests total $104 million.
These figures reflect large increases since 1988 when total receipts were $1.7 billion, or $578 per member. The annual average increase, more than 7 percent, is well above the average annual rate of inflation for the same decade (less than 4 percent).
Most money spent locally. In 1998, congregations spent $1.7 billion (69 percent of total expenditures) on local program and mission. Another 22 percent was also spent locally, either for capital improvements ($399 million) or investments ($152 million). Congregations also expended $38 million (1.5 percent) on per capita apportionment, $131 million (5.2 percent) on validated mission, and $57 million (2.3 percent) on other, non-PCUSA mission. Of the validated total, $40 million went to presbytery mission, $10 million to synod mission, and $56 million to General Assembly mission.
The table shows that the large increases in outlay per member in recent years have almost entirely been expended locally, principally on local mission and capital improvements. Of the five-year increase in congregational expenditures of $244 per member, only $3 went for validated mission. An additional $6 of the gain went to other, non-PCUSA mission programs.
| Category | ||
| Local Expenditures | ||
| local mission | $488 | $627 |
| local program | $36 | $50 |
| capital improvements | $100 | $154 |
| investments | $32 | $58 |
| subtotal | $656 | $889 |
| Per Capita Apportionment | $13 | $15 |
| Validated Mission | ||
| presbytery general mission | $13 | $15 |
| synod general mission | $5 | $4 |
| General Assembly mission | $21 | $22 |
| other validated mission | $9 | $10 |
| Total Validated Mission | $48 | $51 |
| Other Mission (non-PCUSA) | $16 | $22 |
| Total Expenditures | $733 | $977 |
To obtain your copy: Comparative Statistics 1998 (#65100-99022) is available for $5 from PDS at (800) 524-2612. More information from Comparative Statistics 1998 is available online at: Comparative Statistics.
Research Services