Selected environmental data from
GBHEM Strategic Plan, Sept. 2005

U.S. statistics on faith
Seventy-nine percent of Americans see themselves as spiritual; 64% say religious.

Current religious breakdown
> Evangelical Protestant: 33%
> Non-Evangelical Protestant: 25%
> Roman Catholic: 22%
> Other Christian: 5%
> Jewish: 1%
> Muslim: 1%
> Other non-Christian: 3%
> Atheist/agnostic/no religion: 6%
> Religion undesignated: 4%

UMC member, clergy trends (U.S.)
> 8 percent of UMs are between ages of 13 and 30.
> 11.8 percent of UMs are over 80.
> 48.4 percent of UMs are over 60.
> 16.4 percent of UMs are under 40.
> There are 20,154 ordained and probationary elders serving local churches. That’s a reduction of nearly 1,000 in the previous five years.
> 25 percent of all pastoral appointments to local charges (2004 figure) were served by licensed local pastors.
> The average age of seminarians is approximately 35.
> 51.1 percent of master of divinity degree students are women (UM seminaries).
> 1 percent of master of divinity degree students (2004) in UM seminaries were Hispanic/Latino.
> 68.5 percent of master of divinity degree students were white; 19.2 percent black, 2.5 percent Asian, 0.5 percent Native American (2004).

U.S. census data
> By 2050, half the U.S. population will be Hispanic. The black population will double, and the Asian and Pacific Islander population will be 5 times its present size (2004 as base year).
> By 2030 the non-Hispanic white population will be less than half the U.S. population under 18; 16 percent of U.S. students will drop out of high school.
Global projections
n By 2050, 50 percent of all Christians will be in Africa and Latin America; 17 percent will be in Asia.
> Globalization, meaning the international movement of capital, labor, products, technology and information, is expanding.
> The need for an educated clergy and laity who can perform effectively globally will require training in information technology, diversity of thought and customs, and an ability to communicate orally and in writing in multiple languages.