A UMNS Report
By Heather Hahn*

7:00 A.M. Aug. 8, 2013 | Nashville, Tenn.

The United Methodist Church in the United States lost roughly the equivalent of the Memphis and Alaska conferences combined in the past year.

Between 2011 and 2012, the denomination saw a reduction of at least 87,319 U.S. members. The U.S. church also saw, on average, at least 50,895 fewer people in worship each week. 

This snapshot comes from reports from 57 of the 59 U.S. annual (regional) conferences, which followed spring and summer gatherings. These totals are not yet official and could face a few adjustments, but the trend seems clear.

Yes, membership and worship attendance for the majority of U.S. conferences are still falling. The numbers continue a decades-long slide in U.S. church affiliation that extends well beyond The United Methodist Church. But these figures do not give the full picture of the denomination’s presence in the United States, much less the global United Methodist Church.

Leaders of conferences that saw growth last year offer advice to the majority that saw dips in membership and attendance.

Some United Methodist leaders across the United States tell a different story — and they have the numbers to back them up.

Seven U.S. conferences increased in worship attendance, and eight gained members in 2012. In fact, at least one conference in each of the five U.S. jurisdictions experienced growth in either membership or worship attendance. Two — Central Texas and Northwest Texas — reported both membership and attendance growth.

Globally, The United Methodist Church has been growing overall. The General Council on Finance and Administration, the denomination’s finance agency, reported that in the five-year period ending in 2009, the denomination grew from almost 11.6 million to nearly 12.1 million professing members. GCFA plans to release updated official global figures in October.

Bishop Mike Lowry, who leads the Central Texas Conference, cautions that churches cannot rely on any one “silver bullet” for growth.

“It’s multiple factors — not just two or three factors — but more like eight or 10, and they intersect and they intermix in a host of different ways.”

Among those factors is being in an area with a growing population overall. It also helps if the conference already includes churches with a weekly worship attendance that exceeds 1,000. However, church leaders are quick to point out that conferences in general can do more to help reach new people.

Lowry and leaders of four other conferences that experienced growth shared their insights on increasing vitality in the U.S. church. Their suggestions fit into four broad, interrelated categories: Sharing a vision, developing new churches, transforming existing ones and committing to evangelism.

Cast a vision

For the last three to four years, the Dakotas Conference “has placed an exclamation point on the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world,” said the Rev. Greg Kroger, the conference’s director of ministries. “Conference efforts have given priority to ministries designed expressly to equip the local church in reclaiming and living out that mission.”

The conference’s efforts have borne fruit. For the second consecutive year, the Dakotas reported increases in average weekly worship attendance. It gained nearly 370 people in 2012, achieving total average worship attendance of 20,511.

“Even where worship attendance has not increased, more churches are holding steady, or the rate of decline has slowed,” Kroger said. “In all cases, the importance of visionary clergy and lay leaders who are equipped and thoroughly committed to our mission cannot be overstated.”

He advises each conference to clarify its vision and align resources for its “specific geographical, cultural and demographic context.”

The North Georgia Conference posted an increase of more than 4,000 members in 2012, by far the largest numerical gain in the United States. Both Central Texas and North Georgia have reported membership increases for 39 consecutive years.

“The North Georgia Conference has a climate of expectation regarding membership growth in existing churches and creating new places for new people,” said Bishop B. Michael Watson. “We are actively engaged in lay and clergy training to meet these expectations.”

The Rev. Debby Fox, vice chair of the conference’s board of connectional ministries, said one of the primary ways the conference provides training is through its Connectional Cafe, an online catalogue of 150 workshops for clergy and laity.

The workshops, intended to increase congregational vitality, are categorized into four areas of ministry — discipleship, leadership development, missions and worship. They include topics as varied as “Getting the Most out of Teaching the Bible,” “Strengthening the Black Church” and “Homeless Ministries.”

“I believe that active engagement in learning throughout our lives is essential to growing disciples, engaging them in ministry as they are gifted and called, and encouraging them to live in faith every day,” Fox said.

Develop new churches

Leaders of growing conferences agree that establishing new Christian communities is critical to vitality in the present and growth in the future.

Decades ago, the Central Texas Conference created a full-time, cabinet-level position in new church development, Lowry said.

“We are reaping the benefits of that work,” he said. “Most conferences have added that position, but most didn’t add it for another 20 years. We had a long lead on it, and it makes a huge difference.”

His conference added 325 members last year, bringing the total to 166,857. Its average worship attendance increased by 287 to a total of 46,894.

Kroger of the Dakotas Conference said the local church with the largest increase in worship attendance is one of the newest — Embrace Church in Sioux Falls, S.D., founded in 2007. 

His conference also has raised more than $250,000 for a ministry plan to reach out to the Bakken region of North Dakota, where an oil rush is drawing thousands of people to the area.

The plan’s “multiprong approach of establishing support around existing congregations in the region, meeting human needs and creating new faith communities is grounded in the very healthy roots of United Methodism,” Kroger said. “Our movement has always been strongest when we ‘go to where the people are.’”

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Photo: The Rev. Kathy Hartgraves instructs the children during the Aug. 4 worship at First United Methodist Church in Mitchell, S.D. Photo courtesy of Mitchel First UMC