THE LATEST MEMBERSHIP STATISTICS

Last month, the Episcopal Church released its most recent membership statistics, through the year 2016. Find this information here . The new figures show the year-to-year change in membership of the Church diocese, the Episcopal Church in South Carolina. 

Before the schism of 2012, there were 71 local churches (parishes and missions) in the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina. At the schism, 21 of these remained with the Episcopal Church, and 50 left with Bishop Lawrence. Before the schism of 2012, the 21 churches that stayed with TEC held a baptized membership of 5,781. After the schism, the Church diocese counted 30 local churches. In 2014, these counted 6,387 members, an increase of 10% over 2011. The next year, 2015, these 30 counted 6,706 baptized members, a rise of 16% overall, and 5% in one year. The new figures, for 2016, show the Church diocese with 7,053 members, an overall increase of 22% since the schism, and 5% over one year. In sum, the churches of the Episcopal Church diocese in South Carolina grew from 5,781 members just before the schism to 7,053 in 2016, a gain of 22% since the schism. To recap:  2011: 5,781 members;  2014, 6,387;  2015, 6,706;  2016, 7,053. There is a clear pattern or constant rise in membership in the Church diocese.

The 50 churches that adhered to Bishop Lawrence as the independent Diocese of South Carolina, counted 21,993 communicants before the schism. Communicants were active members. In 2013, the year after the schism of 2012, these 50 churches listed 17,999 communicants, a decline of 18%. The 50 local churches of DSC lost some 4,000 members as an immediate effect of the schism (overall DSC lost 9-10,000 members in the schism, counting both the loss of members and the loss of the 21 churches that stayed with TEC). In 2014, DSC listed 16,361 communicants, a fall of 26% since before the schism. The next year, 2015, DSC  claimed 15,556 communicants, a decline of 29% since the year before the schism. Altogether, the 50 DSC churches lost 6,435 active members in the four years between 2011 and 2015. To recap: 2011: 21,993;  2013, 17,999;  2014, 16,361;  2015, 15,556. 2015 was the last year of figures for DSC. The diocese's own statistics show an unmistakable pattern of continuous loss of membership since the schism.

Overall, the Diocese of South Carolina fell from 27,670 communicants when Bishop Lawrence arrived in 2008, to 15,556 in 2015, a decline of 44%. In other words, the Diocese of South Carolina is now only slightly more than half as large as it was when Lawrence was consecrated bishop in January of 2008. Over 12,000 communicants have left the Diocese of South Carolina since Lawrence's arrival. The budget has also declined, by a third.

Nevertheless, the DSC media are still repeating the myth that the schism was overwhelmingly popular in the diocese. They boast that 80% of the people backed it. This figure is misleading. The 80% counted all baptized members in the 50 churches at the time of the schism. As we have seen 4,000 members left these 50 churches at the schism. In fact, of the 71 churches in the pre-schism diocese, 55 were present at the special convention of Nov. 17, 2012. 6 of these 55 abstained from voting, leaving 49 of the 71 to vote. Thus, about 2/3 of the local churches favored schism from TEC. While this was obviously a majority, it was not the huge mandate the leaders claimed at the time and are still asserting. 

The loses in some local DSC churches are startling. St. Michael's of Charleston lost 27 % of its members after the schism. Old Saint Andrew's lost 43%. St. Helena's of Beaufort fell 45%. St. Philip's of Charleston declined by 25%. (See my new history of the schism for detailed statistics.) Only one local church, Church of the Cross in Bluffton, has shown any significant gain in membership since the schism. Meanwhile, in the Church diocese, Grace Church Cathedral has ballooned in membership making it now the largest of all the 71 churches of the old diocese.

All of these dizzying statistics might not mean much except for the fact that Bishop Lawrence and others made a major point before the schism that the Episcopal Church was in death spiral decline. At one point, Lawrence called it a comatose patient on life support. The implication was that while "liberal" religion was shriveling away, conservative faith would boom with growth. Given the statistics we now know, the exact opposite is the truth. It is the "liberal" Episcopal Church diocese that is rising while the "conservative" independent diocese is in relentless decline in membership. Moreover, this is in spite of the well-known fact that the national Episcopal Church is experiencing long-term membership decline (it has lost about 50% of its membership since 1967). The 22% rise in the Episcopal Church diocese of South Carolina between 2012 and 2016 makes it the fastest growing Episcopal Church diocese in the United States.

What is most important about all this is that the remaining communicants in 29 parishes, now in DSC, will, in almost certainty, have to choose whether to stay with the buildings and return to TEC or leave the buildings and form communities in exile on their own with DSC.

The leaders of DSC can no longer make the credible argument to their communicants that their diocese is growing while the Church diocese is doomed to decline. Statistics do not lie. They show the opposite. This is something the communicants of DSC need to consider as they face the choice of which diocese to follow.