By Kristine Blaess During the pandemic many congregations have lost 20 to 30 percent of their members. On January 27, a panel of three Episcopal clergy explored how some congregations have upended this narrative of loss. The webinar Reversing the COVID Slump was sponsored by TryTank Experimental Laboratory in partnership with the Department of Lifelong Learning at Virginia … [Read more...] about Tips for Reversing the COVID Slump
church growth
Pandemic Skews Parochial Report Data
By Kirk Petersen Commentary ASA is never going to be the same. Average Sunday attendance has long been the gold standard among data geeks for measuring the size of a church. Everybody's ASA cratered in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, so to try to maintain a semblance of apples-to-apples in the data, churches were asked to report average attendance for just the … [Read more...] about Pandemic Skews Parochial Report Data
Progress in the Pandemic: Christ Church, Tulsa
By William Hargrave When the Rev. Everett Lees assumed the role of Christ Church’s rector in 2011, the average Sunday attendance (ASA) was about 40. Years later, just before the pandemic, Christ Church was identified as one of the fastest-growing Episcopal parishes in the country, with a 2018 ASA of 207, and 230 for 2019. Tulsa’s population grew by only half of one percent … [Read more...] about Progress in the Pandemic: Christ Church, Tulsa
Assessing and Improving the Viability of Churches
By Kirk Petersen It's a story that has played out many times. A church's membership dwindles over the years -- perhaps the ethnic group the church was built around has mostly moved out of the neighborhood. The last few elderly parishioners -- including some who were married in that building half a century ago -- scrape together the money for a supply priest every Sunday, … [Read more...] about Assessing and Improving the Viability of Churches
Correction: About That Top 10 List …
By Kirk Petersen Statistics are so hard. I had this great idea for an article — let’s identify the fastest-growing Episcopal churches, interview the rectors, and see if their success stories have anything in common. The story will show that it’s possible to grow a church, even though attendance is falling nationally. And maybe other churches will get ideas that help them … [Read more...] about Correction: About That Top 10 List …
The Fastest-Growing Episcopal Churches
Note: this well-intentioned article is the subject of an embarrassing correction. By Kirk Petersen You may have seen the headlines: “Has the Last Episcopalian Been Born?”; “Episcopal Church Will Cease to Have Sunday Worship Attendance in 30 Years”; “Episcopal Church Continues Uninterrupted Decline.” All real headlines, some of them served up by a small coterie of … [Read more...] about The Fastest-Growing Episcopal Churches
Nothing New under the Sun
Lessons from 19th-century church planting in England By Winfield Bevins A few years ago, Bishop Stephen Cottrell of Chelmsford had a conversation with a priest who boasted about his church’s 150th anniversary. “So you’re running a church plant?” Cottrell said. “Every church was planted at some point. Every church owed its existence to the dedicated ministry of a particular … [Read more...] about Nothing New under the Sun
London Unveils Church Strategy
The Diocese of London has named 19 resource churches with a remit to drive its church-planting strategy. Each of the 19 will receive a planting curate with an expectation that these parishes will be centers of growth and resources for planting more churches. The curates will be prepared to start new worshiping communities or help revitalize parish churches around the … [Read more...] about London Unveils Church Strategy