Presbyterian Church, USA, sees decline

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Presbyterian Church (USA) lost members at a faster rate last year than in the previous two years.

The church reports that in 1999, membership dropped by 27,473 to a total of 2,560,201. In 1997 and 1998, the annual decline had slowed to about 20,000. Prior to that, since the 1960s, the church had lost members at a rate of about 30,000 a year.

Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the church’s General Assembly, said he was encouraged by an increase in racial and ethnic minority membership. “We gained 27,000 racial-ethnic members last year,” he said, “which isn’t nearly enough, but shows that we are on the right track toward our goal of 10 percent racial-ethnic (black, Hispanic and Asian) membership by 2010.”

There also were increases in church-school enrollment and the number of women deacons and women elders.