PCUSA reports steepest member loss in 25 years: Nearly 70,000 people
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) last year suffered its largest single-year drop in membership—nearly 70,000 people—since the denomination’s creation by merger in 1983.
Church officials at the Louisville, Kentucky, headquarters announced June 22 that the 2008 decline was the biggest numerical and percentage net membership loss in the 25-year period. Total membership is now 2,140,165 in 10,751 congregations.
Nearly 104,000 people joined the PCUSA last year, but the good news was offset by losses, according to the Presbyterian News Service.