2023 STATISTICS SHOW CONTINUING DECLINE OF THE ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina has not posted its parochial statistics for the year 2023, but its parent, the Anglican Church in North America has posted the 2023 figures for ADSC. Find them HERE .

The official numbers for Baptized Membership in ADSC from ADSC and ACNA:

2013 - 23,181

2014 - 22,953

2015 - 22,149

2016 - 21,953

2017 - 20,602

2018 - 20,763

2019 - 20,195

2020 - 19,597

2021 - 19,712

2022 - 18,130

2023 - 17,440

Thus, in the eleven years since the schism, ADSC baptized membership fell from 23,181 to 17,440, a decline of 25%. In other words, since the schism, the new diocese has lost a quarter of its membership. The decline of confirmed members is even sharper but we do not yet have the numbers for 2023. 

But what about the people-in-the-pews? What are the trends in attendance at ADSC churches? Here are the numbers of Average Sunday Attendance in the ADSC:

2013 - 9,292

2014 - 9,325

2015 - 9,085

2016 - 9,014

2017 - 8,905

2018 - 8,875

2019 - 8,980

2020 - 8,215

2021 - 5,379

2022 - 8,353

2023 - 7,898

Thus, the annual count of the ASA fell 1,404, or 15% between 2013 and 2023.

Bishop Chip Edgar said in the diocesan convention of last March that the ADSC was "growing." The official statistics of membership and attendance show the opposite.

The ACNA likes to tout that it is vibrant and growing, in contrast to the declining Episcopal Church. The ADSC is the largest diocese in the ACNA. If it is typical of the ACNA as a whole, the ACNA definitely is not growing.

The new ADSC statistics for last year (2023) reaffirm what we have known for years, the schism led to relentless and serious decline of membership among the party that left the Episcopal Church and set up a new diocese in a new non-Anglican denomination. It may be a bit too early to declare the outright failure of the secession of 2012, but the picture is getting clearer by the year.