CHICAGO — Continuing a 14-year slide, membership in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) dropped in 2005 to just over 4.85 million baptized members, according to a church news release.
The ELCA’s baptized membership declined by 79,653 in 2005, or 1.62 percent, the largest such drop in at least 15 years, according to a report issued Aug. 1 by Lowell Almen, the church’s secretary.
Since 1990, the number of baptized members in the ELCA has declined by about 390,000, the report said. The last time the church reported an increase in baptized members was 1991, according to the church news release.
The church also lost about 48,000 “communing and contributing” members — a category that indicates regular active participation in the church — falling to approximately 2.26 million in 2005.
Church income, however, continued to grow, according to a separate ELCA news release. Total receipts grew by almost $76 million to $2.7 billion in 2005, the church reported.
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