You know times are bad when Episcopal Pravda prints things like this,
"...The Episcopal Church still has nearly 7,000 congregations. The number of active Episcopal priests, on the other hand, has fallen over the past 20 years to fewer than 6,000.
...congregations of 50 or fewer worshipers make up most of the church’s congregations (55%)
...in 2022, 12% of Episcopal congregations were served by a priest who is retired. That same year, 54% of priests were listed as part time, more than double the 26% from 2010.
...Active priests, or those whose employers are actively contributing to the church’s clergy pension fund, peaked in 2004 at 7,886 and have since declined to the current 5,614. During that time, the number of retirees has increased. Retirees first surpassed the number of active priests in 2011 and now total 8,320."
The once mighty ship is going down as many have predicted.
So much for Presiding Bishop Curry's "Revival" plan. The new Presiding Bishop had better start working on a "resurrection plan" soon or Robert Ballard will be exploring the ship's grave site next.
Posts
On the other side of the divide, our REC/ACNA parish had 87 worshippers on a recent summer Sunday. We have gone from being a small parish with a faithful part-time priest to a growing parish full of families with small children and a full-time priest.
ReplyDeleteWhom is the Lord blessing these days, and whom is He not?
That is great news. Keep up the good work!
Delete