MEMBERSHIP TRENDS IN ADSC CHURCHES,
2011-2022
In my last blog piece, I surveyed membership trends in the whole Anglican Diocese of South Carolina, in the decade after the schism of 2012. The statistics show significant, and unrelenting, decline in virtually every membership metric published by the diocese. ADSC lost a third of its active members in the decade after the break.
What about the individual local churches in the Anglican diocese? What are the membership trends in the fifty or so parishes and missions associated with the ADSC? How many of them are showing gains, and how many declines?
Let us consider the reported "Communicant" (active members) numbers in the last whole year before the schism, 2011. Then, we will look at the listed statistics of 2014, well after movements in the schism had died down. Finally, we will compare the numbers before the schism with the latest reported figures, of the year 2022. That way, we can see the overall effect, in the decade, on membership in the local church as a result of the schism, as well as trends after the schism occurred.
ST. HELENA'S, Beaufort
2011-1,737 2014-964 2022-1,096
2011-2022: -641 (-37%)
CHURCH OF THE CROSS, Bluffton
2011-1,701 2014-1,520 2022-1,731
2011-2022: +30 (+2%)
ST. LUKE'S, Hilton Head
2011-951 2014-664 2022-277
2011-2022: -647 (-71%)
HOLY TRINITY, Grahamville
2011-98 2014-91 2022-139
2011-2022: +41 (+42%)
ST. JUDE'S, Walterboro
2011-200 2014-220 2019-229 (no report after)
2011-2019: +29 (+15%)
ST. LUKE AND ST. PAUL, Charleston
2011-305 2014-256 2020-200 (no report after)
2011-2022: -105 (-33%)
ST. JOHN'S CHAPEL, Charleston
2011-39 2014-30 2022-10
2011-2022: -29 (-74%)
ST. MICHAEL'S, Charleston
2011-1,847 2014-1,015 2022-747
2011-2022: -1,100 (-60%)
ST. PHILIP'S, Charleston
2011-2,677 2014-2,135 2022-1,249
2011-2022: -1,428 (-53%)
CHRIST CHURCH, Mt. Pleasant
2011-935 2014-775 2022-283
2011-2022: -652 (-70%)
HOLY CROSS, Sullivans Island
2011-25,40 2014-1,000 2022-716
2011-2022: -1,824 (-72%)
HOLY TRINITY, Charleston
2011-96 2014-96 2022-78
2011-2022: -18 (-19%)
OLD ST. ANDREW'S, Charleston
2011-962 2014-509 2022-388
2011-2022: -574 (-60%)
ST. ANDREW'S MISSION, Charleston
2011-38 2014-49 2022-38
2011-2022: same
ST. JAMES, Charleston
2011-612 2014-500 2022-450
2011-2022: -162 (-26%)
GOOD SHEPHERD, Charleston
2011-302 2014-256 2022-100
2011-2022: -202 (67%)
TRINITY, Edisto
2011-183 2014-145 2022-122
2011-2022: --61 (-33%)
OUR SAVIOUR, Johns Island
2011-195 2014-200 2022-227
2011-2022: +32 (+16%)
ST. JOHN'S, Charleston
2011-566 2014-620 2022-220
2011-2022: -346 (-61%)
ST. PAUL'S, Summerville
2011-773 2014-750 2022-270
2011-2022: -503 (-65%)
CHRIST/ST. PAUL'S, Yonges Island
2011-330 2014-245 2022-216
2011-2022: -114 (-35%)
ST. PAUL'S, Bennettsville
2011-61 2022-20
2011-2022: -41 (-67%)
ST. DAVID'S, Cheraw
2011-113 2014-106 2022-44
2011-2022: -69 (-61%)
ST. MATTHEW'S, Darlington
2011-139 2014-141 2022-130
2011-2022: -9 (-6%)
ST. BARNABAS, Dillon
2011-47 2014-39 2022-35
2011-2022: -12 (-26%)
ALL SAINTS, Florence
2011-144 2014-160 2022-159
2011-2022: +15 (+10%)
ST. JOHN'S, Florence
2011-453 2014-395 2022-356
2011-2022: -97 (-21%)
ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S, Hartsville
2011-160 2014-125 2022-70
2011-2022: -90 (-56%)
ADVENT, Marion
2011-27 2014-22 2022-16
2011-2022: -11 (-41%)
HOLY COMFORTER, Sumter
2011-525 2014-246 2022-220
2011-2022: -305 (-58%)
HOLY CROSS, Stateburg
2011-177 2014-81 2022-96
2011-2022: -81 (-46%)
ST. PAUL'S, Conway
2011-270 2014-212 2022-219
2011-2022: -51 (-19%)
PRINCE GEORGE WINYAH, Georgetown
2011-450 2014-625 2022-484
2011-2022: +34 (+8%)
TRINITY, Myrtle Beach
2011-595 2014-388 2022-160
2011-2022: -435 (-73%)
RESURRECTION, Surfside
2011-282 2014-360 2022-116
2011-2022: -166 (-59%)
HOLY APOSTLES, Barnwell
2011-91 2014-95 2022-68
2011-2022: -23 (-25%)
EPIPHANY, Eutawville
2011-75 2014-100 2022-37
2011-2022: -38 (-51%)
ST. MATTHEW'S, Fort Motte
2011-71 2014-86 2022-101
2011-2022: +30 (+42%)
REDEEMER, Orangeburg
2011-265 2014-173 2022-179
2011-2022: -86 (-32%)
ST. PAUL'S, Orangeburg
2011-19 2014-19 2022-13
2011-2022: -6 (-32%)
REDEEMER, Pineville
2011-82 2014-74 2022-50
2011-2022: -32 (-39%)
TRINITY, Pinopolis
2011-184 2014-166 2022-110
2011-2022: -74 (-40%)
ST. MATTHIAS, Summerton
2011-128 2014-141 2022-80
2011-2022: -48 (-38%)
SUMMARY
---From 2011 to 2022, 33 local churches of ADSC lost active membership. 16 of those lost more than 50% of their active membership.
---From 2011 to 2022, 6 local churches gained members.
---From 2014 to 2022, 31 local churches lost active members.
---From 2014 to 2022, 8 churches gained members.
CONCLUSIONS
---The majority of ADSC local churches lost members as a result of the schism.
---The majority of ADSC local churches continued to lose members steadily well after the schism occurred.
---Most of the large parishes of ADSC saw severe membership declines. St. Philip's and St. Michael's, the two large downtown parishes in Charleston, each lost more than half of their active members in the decade after the schism.
---St. Philip's, of Charleston, was the largest parish of the pre-schism diocese. It lost 53% of its membership between 2011 and 2022. Of all the parishes of the old diocese, Grace Church Cathedral, in the Episcopal diocese, is now the largest in membership. In the ADSC, Church of the Cross, in Bluffton, is now the largest parish.
---The empirical data give us only the facts. They do not provide any explanation of the reasons for the clear and relentless decline of both the Anglican diocese and the majority of its local churches.
---In terms of numbers for both the diocese and the local churches, one may conclude that the schism has been a failure.
---The trend in membership in the vast majority of churches on SDSC is relentlessly downward.
---If these trends continue unabated, both the diocese and most local churches will soon face an existential crisis.
