Official totals show smaller member loss than first reported

Final 2004 membership and worship figures were slightly higher than preliminary figures released last month.
But both numbers were still down from 2003.
The official Southwest Texas Conference membership count stood at 120,081 as of Dec. 31.
That’s five more members than reported in February but 190 less than the tally Dec. 31, 2003.
Weekly worship attendance in 2004 averaged 50,797 per week.
That’s 848 more than in last month’s preliminary report but 165 less than the 2003 average.
The Rev. David A. Seilheimer, conference statistician, filed those numbers March 10 with the General Council on Finance and Administration for inclusion in the 2004 General Minutes of The United Methodist Church.
Seilheimer is to report the official totals to the June 1-4 annual conference session in Corpus Christi.
The conference’s 350 congregations reported receiving 2,454 new members on profession of faith. Another 383 were restored by affirmation.
Those numbers come from reports filed in January by each local church.
Local charge conferences removed 2,197 members during 2004.
Another 1,050 people withdrew their membership.
Local churches reported 69,181 women (57.6 percent) and 50,900 men (42.4 percent) on their membership roles as of Dec. 31. That was down from 69,280 women and 50,991 men in 2003.
Racial/ethnic composition of Southwest Texas United Methodists showed growth in three of six categories during 2004:
> 5,001 Hispanic, up from 4,979.
> 644 Asian, up from 631.
> 97 Pacific Islanders, up from 84.
Losses were reported in the other three:
> 109,045 white, down from 109,262.
> 5,190 black, down from 5,210.
> 104 Native American, down from 105.
Church school enrollment climbed to 62,494 in 2004 from 60,821 in 2003.
But average weekly attendance fell to 21,459 from 24,920.
Southwest Texas congregations baptized 1,961 people during 2004 and registered 1,283 in confirmation classes.
New members joining from confirmation classes numbered 1,276.