From Olympia-The graph the Rev. Birch Rambo holds in his hand tells a story no pastor wants to hear.
The blue bars represent baptized members at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Catherine Street, where Rambo has led the congregation since 2008. Other than a bit of an upward surge in 2004, the numbers have hovered around the 500 mark for nearly a decade.
The red bars showing actual worship attendance, however, are what concern Rambo — and many leaders of mainline churches around the country facing a similar trend.
The graph, dating back to 2002, shows attendance numbers at St. Paul’s have declined slowly but surely over the past decade, from an averaged high of 200 back then to just a tick over 100 people in 2012.
The downward trend affects many functions of churches, including the collection plate. In a recent newsletter to congregants, Rambo, 43, said declining attendance helped contribute to “financial predicament” that put the parish checking account in danger of being overdrawn.
While St. Paul’s has savings to draw on, developing a better annual pledge procedure — sometimes referred to as the “fall begathon,” Rambo said with a smile — and church growth is necessary to prevent the money problem from becoming chronic.
More here-
http://union-bulletin.com/news/2013/dec/14/era-thinning-flocks/
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