Thursday, July 7, 2011

PCA 2010 Statistics

Recently our Stated Clerk published his annual report available here.  Among other things the following figures were reported: 





"Total membership and the number of churches increased...
* Churches and missions: 1,757, an increase of 17.
* Total membership: 346,814, an increase of 414.





There has been only one year in which there was a reported decrease in PCA membership (2008, when one of our largest churches had a major roll revision). Since its beginning in 1973 the PCA had several years of being one of the fastest growing denominations in North America. The 2010 PCA reported growth rate was positive, (.2%), but that is not as high as in previous years. Seventeen mission churches were organized as new particular churches in 2010. The 39th General Assembly approved forming two new Presbyteries; one is a Korean-language Presbytery."
Those numbers are not much to write home about.  From my perspective I'm glad that little was said about them, particularly in light of last year's Strategic Plan and its infamous "S" curve. 

I've done a little digging into the statistics and discovered the same pattern that I reported last year here and here.  For the calendar year 2010 only 819 churches and missions out of a total of 1,758  (46.59%) reported statistical data. 

What's curious is that some presbyteries have nearly all churches reporting annually while others have very few churches that fill out statistical reports. 

The top 10 presbyteries for 2010 are...

Philadelphia Metro West 90.91%
Potomac 90.32%
Northern Illinois 87.50%
Central Georgia 80.95%
Central Indiana 80.00%
Providence 75.00%
Blue Ridge 72.22%
James River 71.88%
Fellowship 71.43%
Susquehanna 71.43%

The bottom 10 presbyteries for 2010 are...




Metro New York 24.32%
Philadelphia 15.00%
Platte Valley 12.50%
Korean Central 8.70%
Korean Northwest 5.26%
Korean Capital 4.55%
Korean Eastern 0.00%
Korean Southeastern 0.00%
Korean Southern 0.00%
Korean Southwest 0.00%            

These ten presbyteries contain 245 churches and missions but only 17 reported statistics in 2010.  Of the 180 Korean churches only 4 reported statistics.   
All of this makes me wonder what sort of membership gain would we see if the other 176 Korean churches reported their statistics in 2011?  By the same token if the other 228 churches in the bottom ten presbyteries reported their membership figures our denominational growth might exceed 5%.  If the 939 churches and missions that did not report statistics in 2010 did so in 2011 we might conclude that a revival was taking place. 
I'm not down on the Stated Clerk or his office.  Rather I'm down on those who bear the title "Presbyterian" but eschew connectionalism.

For what it is worth my entire data set of data is listed below in alphabetical order. 


Presbytery # Churches and Missions  # Church and Missions that reported data in 2010 % Reporting
Ascension 15 9 60.00
Blue Ridge 18 13 72.22
Calvary 45 27 60.00
Central Carolina 41 26 63.41
Central Florida  32 12 37.50
Central Georgia 21 17 80.95
Central Indiana 10 8 80.00
Chesapeake 31 19 61.29
Chicago Metro 16 5 31.25
Covenant  53 23 43.40
Eastern Canada 10 3 30.00
Eastern Carolina 24 11 45.83
Eastern Pennsylvania 15 10 66.67
Evangel 28 18 64.29
Fellowship 14 10 71.43
Georgia Foothills 20 11 55.00
Grace 40 15 37.50
Great Lakes 14 9 64.29
Gulf Coast 30 15 50.00
Gulfstream 14 4 28.57
Heartland 9 4 44.44
Heritage 19 10 52.63
Houston Metro 15 7 46.67
Illiana 13 8 61.54
Iowa 11 4 36.36
James River 32 23 71.88
Korean Capital 22 1 4.55
Korean Central 23 2 8.70
Korean Eastern 23 0 0.00
Korean Northwest 19 1 5.26
Korean Southeastern 36 0 0.00
Korean Southern 18 0 0.00
Korean Southwest  39 0 0.00
Louisiana 8 2 25.00
Metro Atlanta 37 15 40.54
Metro New York 37 9 24.32
Mississippi Valley 47 25 53.19
Missouri 28 12 42.86
Nashville 19 10 52.63
New Jersey 14 8 57.14
New River 11 5 45.45
New York State 13 8 61.54
North Florida 16 10 62.50
North Texas 45 19 42.22
Northern California 26 13 50.00
Northern Illinois 8 7 87.50
New England 10 7 70.00
Northwest Georgia 15 10 66.67
Ohio Presbytery 12 6 50.00
Ohio Valley 16 11 68.75
Pacific 18 5 27.78
Pacific Northwest 28 10 35.71
Palmetto 48 28 58.33
Philadelphia 20 3 15.00
Philadelphia Metro West 11 10 90.91
Piedmont Triad 13 5 38.46
Pittsburgh 21 14 66.67
Platte Valley 8 1 12.50
Potomac 31 28 90.32
Providence 16 12 75.00
Rocky Mountain 28 9 32.14
Savannah River 21 14 66.67
Siouxlands 17 10 58.82
South Coast 28 13 46.43
South Florida 24 9 37.50
South Texas 20 13 65.00
Southeast Alabama 35 14 40.00
Southeast Louisiana 10 6 60.00
Southern New England 20 5 25.00
Southwest Presbytery 25 10 40.00
Southwest Florida 28 19 67.86
Suncoast Florida 9 5 55.56
Susquehanna 21 15 71.43
Tennessee Valley 32 13 40.63
Warrior 24 10 41.67
Western Canada 10 5 50.00
Western Carolina 29 10 34.48
Westminster 24 17 70.83
Wisconsin 7 4 57.14
Totals 1758 819 46.59


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