Local mission giving in Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations went up by almost $7.7 million in 2015, according to annual statistics of the denomination released today.
And that increase in giving was despite the fact that the number of congregations decreased by 187 between 2014 and 2015 and the number of active members went down by 95,107. The denomination has 9,642 churches, compared to 9,829 in 2014. It also has 1,572,660 members, compared to 1,667,767 in 2014.
“Presbyterians, regardless of how large or small they are in number, are recommitting themselves to be the hands and feet of Christ in communities across the country,” said the Reverend Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly. Local mission giving was $132,737,066 in 2015, compared to $125,056,313 in 2014.
Contributions given through individual churches in the denomination also increased by $9.6 million in 2015. The statistics show that $1,748,516,736 was received in 2015, compared to $1,738,915,711 in 2014. Likewise, capital and building funds increased by $11 million between the two years—$225 million compared to $214 million.
“The PC(USA) clearly isn’t going away, even though some congregations have discerned another denominational path for themselves,” Parsons said. “Mission and ministry remain alive and vibrant in the body.”
There were 104 PC(USA) churches dismissed to other denominations in 2015, compared to 101 in 2014. Meanwhile, the number of new worshipping communities in the denomination has been steadily increasing; it currently has 339, according to Vera White, coordinator of the 1001 New Worshipping Communities program.
A complete report of the comparative statistics is available online. Miscellaneous information also is available.
Aumentan donaciones para misión local en las iglesias de la IP (EE.UU.) en el 2015