Early ’06 member count stops 3-year slide
Worship attendance
average goes down
for 5th straight year
Total church membership in the Southwest Texas Conference appears to have reversed a three-year decline during 2006.
A preliminary membership report issued Feb. 15 showed 100 more United Methodists on the conference rolls Dec. 31 than at the end of 2005. The total was 119,777. That’s a 0.08 percent increase from 2005.
Average weekly worship attendance, however, appears to have gone down for the fifth year in a row during 2006—from 50,202 to 49,983. That’s a 0.04 percent decrease.
The 2006 figures are all preliminary, said the Rev. David A. Seilheimer, conference statistician. He said he would ask congregations to confirm their statistics before issuing a final report for the June 6-9 annual conference session.
Four of the seven districts—Austin, Kerrville, McAllen and San Angelo— registered net membership gains in the 2006 preliminary report. Three districts—Kerrville, San Angelo and San Antonio—showed gains in average weekly worship attendance.
The Southwest Texas Conference recorded its all-time high membership in 2002—120,915. The total slipped slightly each year from 2003 through 2005.
Average weekly worship attendance climbed steadily from 1993 to 2001—from 44,972 to 52,344. Attendance began edging downward in 2002.
Of the 347 congregations in the preliminary report, 167—or 48 percent—showed net membership gains. For average worship attendance, 150—or 43 percent—showed increases.
The number of congregations reporting net membership gains was up from 158 in 2005 and reversed a steady decline that began in 2001.
University UMC, San Antonio, posted the biggest net membership gain in 2006—246. Its membership climbed to 5,730, largest in the conference.
The San Antonio congregation also had the conference’s highest average weekly worship attendance at 2,682. That was up by 172 from 2005.
Three other congregations recorded net membership gains of more than 100 during 2006:
> North Shore UMC, Canyon Lake—194, up from 0 (a new congregation).
> Northern Hills UMC, San Antonio—1,343, up 111.
> Coker UMC, San Antonio—2,862, up 104.
Besides University UMC, two congregations reported changes in average weekly worship attendance of more than 100:
> First UMC, Kerrville—1,041, up 119.
> North Shore UMC, Canyon Lake—110, up from 0.
The number of congregations with 1,000 members or more slipped from 28 to 26 during 2006. Manchaca UMC and Travis Park UMC, San Antonio, dropped off the list.
The 26 largest congregations accounted for 41 percent of the total conference membership.
Eight of the largest congregations are in the Austin District, eight in the San Antonio District, four in the Kerrville District, two in the San Angelo District, two in the Victoria District and one in the McAllen District.
