The Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) has released its latest report showing a five percent drop in membership in 2017.
The latest membership statistics revealed that the denomination lost 147 congregations and 67,714 members last year. Total membership dropped from 1,482,767 in 2016 down to 1,415,053 in 2017, according to a summary of the report.
According to The Presbyterian Outlook, 45 out of 147 congregations that left PCUSA joined more conservative denominations.
The departure of the congregations has been partly attributed to the PCUSA's decision to allow the ordination of LGBT individuals as church officers, as well as the 2014 vote approving same-sex marriage.
General Assembly Stated Clerk J. Herbert Nelson II, head of PCUSA, expressed concern about the denomination's effectiveness in evangelism.
"Churches leaving was a temporary roadblock. Our inability to share the faith, to demonstrate the power and justice of Jesus Christ and His church to change a world where inequality, injustice, violence and war seem to gain strength daily is a critical factor in our failure to grow," Nelson said in a statement.
The latest figures also show a decline in baptisms in 2017. A total of 12,598 infants and children were baptized in 2017, compared to 13,427 in 2016. The number of adult baptisms dropped to 2,927 in 2017 from 4,775 in 2016.
Other statistics in the report include the PCUSA's "other" membership losses, which involve people who were simply removed from the listings of the denomination's congregations.
The statistics revealed that 25,565 members passed away, while 20,162 switched to other churches. The total number of "other losses" amounted to 74,129.
A number of small PCUSA congregations were also shut down for financial reasons. Two-thirds of PCUSA congregations have 100 members or less, but two-thirds of parishioners choose to attend churches with 300 or more members. The denomination reportedly dissolved 104 congregations and established 18 in 2017.
"I don't despair, I never despair," Nelson said in a press release. "The challenges before us are clear, but so is our vision, so is our call and so is our determination to follow that call, which comes from Jesus Christ. I will not be satisfied until we are a growing church," he added.
