New statistics about the Episcopal Church released

News from the Church Center (815):

“Latino and Asian populations are among the fastest-growing in North America, and should become greater priorities for Episcopal Church evangelism, members of Executive Council said October 27 while reviewing church membership and attendance statistics for the year 2006.

Overall U.S. Latino/Hispanic population is projected to grow by 34%, and Asian by 33%, in the decade 2000-2010, compared with 13% Black, 7% White, and 3% White, non-Hispanic, according to statistics presented by Kirk Hadaway, the Episcopal Church’s director of research.

Multicultural mission is essential in these contexts, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori told the Council, gathered in Dearborn, Michigan, for its regular fall meeting.

The seven Latin American and Caribbean dioceses of the Episcopal Church’s Province 9 posted a 1,741-person gain in membership in 2006 for a 72,084 total, according to the aggregated Parochial Report data reported by Hadaway. 

Four overseas dioceses — Colombia, Dominican Republic, Micronesia, and Puerto Rico — posted growth in membership and average Sunday attendance in 2006, Hadaway said. Domestic dioceses posting similar gains for 2006 numbered 11: Alaska, Central Pennsylvania, Eastern Oregon, Eau Claire, Kansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Upper South Carolina. The Navajoland Area Mission also reported growth.

Other upturns for Episcopalians included a 2.5% increase in plate and pledge offerings churchwide to more than $1.3 billion in 2006 in domestic dioceses, with the average parishioner’s pledge increasing to $2,088 from $1,979. The value of total investments of all domestic congregations also climbed to nearly $4.2 billion in 2006, up from more than $3.9 billion in 2005.”

Read the rest here: Episcopal Life Online

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