U.S. membership drops by 71,000 in ’04

UM worship attendance
across nation goes up
slightly during past year

United Methodist News Service
Even though two conferences brought in more than 7,500 new members during 2004, the total count of U.S. United Methodists declined by more than 71,000 from 2003.
Average worship attendance last year went up by a small margin.
The North Georgia and Wyoming (N.Y.) conferences led the way in reported membership growth for 2004. The two conferences reported a combined increase of 7,576 members.
Unofficial reports from conferences indicated that U.S. membership fell by at least 71,518 during 2004. Figures from one conference were still unavailable as of July 12.
The General Council on Finance and Administration is to issue an official 2004 membership report later this year.
U.S. membership declined by 69,141 in 2003, to less than 8.2 million, the finance agency reported in February. The loss continued an unbroken trend that began when The United Methodist Church was formed in 1968.
Overseas membership is growing, however. Another 1.9 million United Methodists live in Europe, Asia and Africa. But that total isn’t complete because some overseas conferences had not reported or met for annual sessions by July 11.
The fastest growth in church membership is occurring in Africa.
Of the 62 U.S. conferences that provided reports, 14 had membership increases. Those increases totaled 15,138.
Other U.S. conferences registered membership declines ranging from 79 people to 6,581 in West Ohio. Southwest Texas reported a 191 membership loss last year.
Other conferences with large losses were Baltimore-Washington (5,694), Northern Illinois (4,674); Minnesota (4,618), Wisconsin (3,669), Florida (3,409), Central Pennsylvania (3,405) and New England (3,372).
Fifteen of the 62 reporting conferences showed increases in average weekly worship attendance for 2004. The biggest gains were recorded in Tennessee (3,836) and Nebraska (3,090).
The Fort Worth-based Central Texas Conference reported its 30th straight year of membership growth. The total went up by 1,099 to 158,553.
The Western North Carolina Conference reported membership growth for the 15th consecutive year. Membership was up 1,140 from the previous year’s 293,735. The annual statistical report showed that since 1969, conference membership had increased 4 percent, while population in North Carolina increased by 68 percent. 
The three missionary conferences reported growth. Alaska grew by one member. The Oklahoma Indian and Red Bird missionary conferences grew by 21 and 18, respectively.
The Texas Conference continued its six-year trend of membership growth with a net gain of 974 members in 2004, making the total 290,855. While the conference experienced growth in five ethnic areas, it continued a third year of decline in average worship attendance.
United Methodism’s rate of decline in the United States slowed during the late 1990s but increased again in the first two years of the 21st century. A loss of 36,500 members in 2000 followed a drop of 34,000 in 1999.
Previous annual declines from 1998 back to 1995 were 40,500, 44,000, 43,000 and 49,000, respectively. From 1990 to 1994, annual declines varied from 55,000 to 67,000 members.