Although the Episcopal Church lost 90,000 members in 2022, the mainline denomination also saw a rise in Sunday worship attendance.
According to a parochial report released on Monday, the Episcopal Church had an estimated 1.58 million baptized members in 2022, spread across 6,789 member congregations. The findings reflected a decrease when contrasted with data from 2021, in which the denomination reported having 1.678 million baptized members and 6,806 member congregations.
The Episcopal Church, however, saw an increase in Sunday worship attendance, from 312,000 average Sunday attendees in 2021 to close to 373,000 last year, The Christian Post reported.
Regarding worship attendance, the report noted that the increase was a rebound from COVID-19, where the numbers declined “dramatically.”
“While not back to the pre-pandemic levels, there are signs of recovering some of the lost Sunday attendance,” stated the parochial report. “Further, the [Sunday attendance] reported here included only in-person attendance and does not include virtual attendees from congregations that offer a virtual option for services.”
The 2022 attendance data showed a drop, however, from the average Sunday attendance figures for 2013, which reached over 657,000. In 2019, the Episcopal Church reported approximately 547,000 average Sunday worship attendees.
Concerning plate and pledge income, the Episcopal Church’s total remained consistent throughout the years, with an annual average of $1.3 billion. The average pledge gradually increased, going from $2,553 in 2013 to $3,658 in 2022.
“The median number of contributing households without a pledge is 9,” explained the report. “This means that, of the congregations who answered this question, half reported more than 9 households without a pledge and half reported less.”
The Episcopal Church has faced a decline in worship attendees and baptized members in recent years. In 2010, the denomination’s overall membership dropped to under 2 million and is currently nearly half a million less than that amount.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Beright
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for Christian Headlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
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