BLOGGING TOWARD SUNDAY…

U.S. membership in the United Methodist Church fell to 7.7 million in 2008, its biggest one-year percentage drop since 1974. Giving was also down in that first year of the recession, with our largest mainline denomination receiving only 89% of what was budgeted for domestic and foreign missions. To make matters worse, attendance at worship was down 2%.

2009 figures are not yet available, but the Church is reporting that ministry is being done on a tighter budget.

One area saw an upturn, an area which many UMs don’t even know exists: Constituent Membership. These are persons who are not church members but for whom the church assumes pastoral responsibility. Increases in that category were reported by 36 of the 63 annual conferences, resulting in a 1 percent increase over 2007.

This is worrisome to me: that many people who are “attenders” are reluctant to become “members.” What difference does that make? As a rule (there are some exceptions), attenders don’t come to Sunday School or other learning opportunities; they don’t usually financially support the church’s witness and ministry; they don’t participate in fellowship opportunities provided by the church; and they seldom get to know church members on a level at which they become friends and family.

Everyone suffers because of this…attenders and members alike. We were blessed last week when 4 families who had been attenders became members. I’m praying there will be more who will make the switch!

Filed under: Blogging Toward Sunday