LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The nation’s largest Presbyterian body continued to lose membership last year, but church officials say the rate is less than in previous years.
Total membership for the Presbyterian Church (USA) fell by 31,549 members to a total of 2,493,781. The net loss comes despite 150,000 new members who joined the church in 2001, according to Presbyterian News Service.
The loss in membership is representative of a larger trend in the mainline Protestant churches, almost all of which have seen steady declines in membership since their height in the mid-1960s.
Other figures were more promising for the Louisville, Ky.-based denomination. Membership in church-school programs rose by 17,000 to 1.1 million, and total giving to church programs reached almost $3 billion. The average per-member contribution was $1,203.
Both infant and adult baptisms declined by about 2,000 each, but the number of candidates for ordained ministry was up slightly from 920 to 929.
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