Identity. Mission. Organization. These are the three things that Episcopal News Service is reporting are being addressed in an interim report issued by the House of Deputies Committee on the State of the Church. In this report the Committee addresses concerns about the decline in attendance and participation in the church, a trend that is affecting all the mainline denominations in one form or another.
“Who are we?” the report asks. “What does it mean to be an Episcopalian? What are our core values? How are we differentiated from other Christian faith traditions? What are our strengths and weaknesses? Where are our opportunities?”
Described as a “brief assessment of facts and trends,” the report points out that “marvelous work goes forward at all levels of our church, often understated, and not fully appreciated, but truly transforming in nature.”
The report notes that the Episcopal Church’s experience of declining membership and attendance is “similar to other mainline Protestant denominations in the United States.” Declining membership and attendance levels mean “we need a plan for action at all of our organizational levels — parish and diocese, as well as the Episcopal Church Center.”
“We recognize that the Episcopal Church does not routinely gather important demographic data, and that we must look to supplemental sources of data and qualitative information to obtain the best understanding that we can of the life and times of our church,” said Alfred D. Price, committee chair. “That has meant examining the results of other national surveys and studies in which we have participated in recent years with other mainline Protestant denominations.”
The ENS article, with links to the interim report as well as the committee’s report to the 75th General Convention, is here.