Growth/Decline in The Episcopal Church, 1992-2002

Where are the Episcopalians?
The Largest Dioceses
The Smallest Dioceses
Dioceses Ranked by Communicants, Attendance, % Growth, Size
Dioceses by Percent of Communicant Growth
Dioceses by Percent of Attendance Growth
Special Cases
- Diocese of Eastern Michigan and Diocese of Michigan
- Extra-Provinicial/Territorial Data
Church vs. State Growth
Sources
Links

Virginia	73,216
Texas	71,188
Massachusetts	62,650
Connecticut	53,460
Los Angeles	52,664
New York	47,994
Atlanta	47,740
Pennsylvania	46,284
Long Island	46,245
North Carolina	42,480
New Jersey	40,469
Total:	584,390

The Smallest Dioceses

One-third of the dioceses of the Episcopal Church have fewer than 10,000 communicants, and only ten percent of all Episcopalians live in these 33 dioceses:


Total:	202,049
Rochester	9,998
Indianapolis	9,975
West Tennessee	9,669
Iowa	8,847
West Virginia	8,610
San Joaquin	8,566
Kentucky	8,513
Eastern Michigan	8,482
Nebraska	8,164
Lexington	8,074
Easton	7,806
Northwest Texas	7,427
Wyoming	7,417
Hawaii	7,245
Spokane	7,129
Vermont	6,936
South Dakota	6,768
Alaska	6,069
Northern Indiana	5,860
Utah	5,607
Springfield	5,524
Montana	5,405
Idaho	5,382
Fond du Lac	5,360
Nevada	5,030
Northwestern PA	4,464
Eastern Oregon	2,559
Quincy	2,451
Western Kansas	2,348
Eau Claire	2,152
North Dakota	2,035
Northern Michigan	1,789
Navajoland	388

Navajoland is not only the smallest diocese in the Episcopal Church; it is also had the greatest reduction in membership in the decade 1992-2002 (down 208 members, or 34.9%). Is anyone listening? Does anyone care? Does this loss reflect a loss of tribal confidence in Rt. Rev. Stephen Plummer, who took a year's leave of absence in 1993 after accusations surfaced of sexual involvement with a male adolescent? No contributions from the diocese, not even a widow's mite, have been recorded. Native Americans are enormously generous; does this record suggest that few of them feel members of the Episcopal family? Navajoland contributed enormously to the worship of General Convention in Phoenix in 1991. Let those with ears hear what the Spirit is saying to this church.

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Dioceses Ranked in Growth (Decline)
During the Decade 1992-2002
in The Episcopal Church USA
See Growth/Decline of Communicant Totals
See See Growth/Decline of Attendance Averages
Diocese	Rank % Growth: Communicants	Rank % Growth: Avg. Attendance	Rank # Communicants 2002	Rank Attendance 2002
Alabama	11	14	19	24
Alaska	4	6	85	90
Albany	60	61	46	37
Arizona	47	38	31	29
Arkansas	54	29	60	58
Atlanta	8	9	7	9
Bethlehem	85	69	62	62
California	21	26	25	28
Central Florida	17	46	15	14
Central Gulf Coast	38	47	36	38
Central New York	88	96	43	48
Central Pennsylvania	80	70	55	49
Chicago	36	73	13	15
Colorado	26	27	23	20
Connecticut	32	62	4	5
Dallas	15	3	14	16
Delaware	39	37	67	71
East Carolina	10	17	40	45
East Tennessee	20	40	48	51
Eastern Michigan	82	85	75	75
Eastern Oregon	6	33	94	95
Easton	52	42	78	79
Eau Claire	78	81	97	96
El Camino Real	49	22	57	53
Florida	3	18	22	23
Fond du Lac	77	76	91	86
Fort Worth	81	28	47	42
Georgia	19	19	41	40
Hawaii	76	74	81	78
Idaho	2	15	90	92
Indianapolis	30	58	69	64
Iowa	94	94	71	76
Kansas	51	21	56	55
Kentucky	67	25	74	72
Lexington	41	36	77	77
Long Island	74	75	9	8
Los Angeles	69	32	5	4
Louisiana	57	60	44	54
Maine	68	54	63	59
Maryland	31	35	12	17
Massachusetts	33	52	3	3
Michigan	82	86	27	32
Milwaukee	46	71	61	57
Minnesota	63	55	28	30
Mississippi	53	41	37	36
Missouri	24	89	54	63
Montana	25	57	89	89
Navajoland	100	100	100	100
Nebraska	90	72	76	73
Nevada	27	10	92	88
New Hampshire	9	53	53	61
New Jersey	42	64	11	10
New York	45	23	6	6
Newark	73	83	20	27
North Carolina	22	8	10	12
North Dakota	59	93	98	99
Northern California	29	44	45	46
Northern Indiana	74	80	86	81
Northern Michigan	89	88	99	98
Northwest Texas	87	82	79	82
Northwestern PA	98	92	93	91
Ohio	95	78	26	26
Oklahoma	55	30	42	43
Olympia	28	20	24	22
Oregon	58	48	38	39
Pennsylvania	65	77	8	7
Pittsburgh	49	43	39	35
Quincy	97	90	95	94
Rhode Island	48	79	34	41
Rio Grande	13	11	51	50
Rochester	92	98	68	68
San Diego	16	12	35	34
San Joaquin	56	56	73	69
South Carolina	34	1	32	21
South Dakota	93	87	84	85
Southeast Florida	18	51	18	18
Southern Ohio	64	34	33	31
Southern Virginia	43	39	21	19
Southwest Florida	40	50	17	11
Soutwestern Virginia	62	49	65	67
Spokane	99	91	82	84
Springfield	70	59	88	83
Tennessee	1	2	52	52
Texas	14	4	2	2
Upper South Carolina	23	24	29	33
Utah	35	7	87	93
Vermont	66	63	83	80
Virginia	12	13	1	1
Washington	44	65	16	13
West Missouri	71	68	66	65
West Tennessee	84	45	70	70
West Texas	79	16	30	25
West Virginia	86	84	72	74
Western Kansas	72	99	96	97
Western Louisiana	91	66	64	66
Western Massachusett	61	95	50	47
Western Michigan	37	31	59	60
Western New York	96	97	58	56
Western North Caroli	7	5	49	44
Wyoming	5	67	80	87

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Diocesan Growth (Decline) in Percent of Communicants
During the Decade 1992-2002
in The Episcopal Church USA
See Alphabetical Listing of Ranks
See Growth/Decline of Attendance Averages
Diocese	1992	2002	Difference	Percent diff.	Rank of %
Tennessee	8,230	13,429	5,199	63.2%	1
Idaho	3,534	5,382	1,848	52.3%	2
Florida	19,105	28,600	9,495	49.7%	3
Alaska	4,060	6,069	2,009	49.5%	4
Wyoming	5,027	7,417	2,390	47.5%	5
Eastern Oregon	1,804	2,559	755	41.9%	6
Western North Caroli	10,295	14,477	4,182	40.6%	7
Atlanta	34,333	47,740	13,407	39.0%	8
New Hampshire	9,709	13,426	3,717	38.3%	9
East Carolina	12,074	16,511	4,437	36.7%	10
Alabama	22,864	30,916	8,052	35.2%	11
Virginia	54,819	73,216	18,397	33.6%	12
Rio Grande	10,427	13,620	3,193	30.6%	13
Texas	54,720	71,188	16,468	30.1%	14
Dallas	27,523	35,752	8,229	29.9%	15
San Diego	15,016	19,440	4,424	29.5%	16
Central Florida	26,098	33,725	7,627	29.2%	17
Southeast Florida	24,730	31,955	7,225	29.2%	18
Georgia	12,784	16,505	3,721	29.1%	19
East Tennessee	11,258	14,517	3,259	28.9%	20
California	19,294	24,780	5,486	28.4%	21
North Carolina	33,196	42,480	9,284	28.0%	22
Upper South Carolina	18,582	23,626	5,044	27.1%	23
Missouri	10,654	13,394	2,740	25.7%	24
Montana	4,335	5,405	1,070	24.7%	25
Colorado	22,793	28,368	5,575	24.5%	26
Nevada	4,042	5,030	988	24.4%	27
Olympia	22,753	28,121	5,368	23.6%	28
Northern California	12,767	15,779	3,012	23.6%	29
Indianapolis	8,144	9,975	1,831	22.5%	30
Maryland	31,187	38,171	6,984	22.4%	31
Connecticut	43,685	53,460	9,775	22.4%	32
Massachusetts	51,378	62,650	11,272	21.9%	33
South Carolina	18,521	22,520	3,999	21.6%	34
Utah	4,615	5,607	992	21.5%	35
Chicago	30,654	36,865	6,211	20.3%	36
Western Michigan	10,410	12,504	2,094	20.1%	37
Central Gulf Coast	15,301	18,353	3,052	19.9%	38
Delaware	8,774	10,511	1,737	19.8%	39
Southwest Florida	27,146	32,432	5,286	19.5%	40
Lexington	6,777	8,074	1,297	19.1%	41
New Jersey	34,274	40,469	6,195	18.1%	42
Southern Virginia	24,348	28,634	4,286	17.6%	43
Washington	28,114	33,043	4,929	17.5%	44
New York	40,954	47,994	7,040	17.2%	45
Milwaukee	10,526	12,284	1,758	16.7%	46
Arizona	19,765	22,922	3,157	16.0%	47
Rhode Island	17,402	19,809	2,407	13.8%	48
El Camino Real	11,442	13,001	1,559	13.6%	49
Pittsburgh	14,643	16,639	1,996	13.6%	49
Kansas	11,629	13,151	1,522	13.1%	51
Easton	6,924	7,806	882	12.7%	52
Mississippi	16,302	18,220	1,918	11.8%	53
Arkansas	11,026	12,321	1,295	11.7%	54
Oklahoma	14,594	16,283	1,689	11.6%	55
San Joaquin	7,686	8,566	880	11.4%	56
Louisiana	14,411	16,023	1,612	11.2%	57
Oregon	15,578	17,249	1,671	10.7%	58
North Dakota	1,843	2,035	192	10.4%	59
Albany	14,355	15,765	1,410	9.8%	60
Western Massachusett	12,953	14,197	1,244	9.6%	61
Soutwestern Virginia	10,068	11,004	936	9.3%	62
Minnesota	21,798	23,797	1,999	9.2%	63
Southern Ohio	18,585	20,228	1,643	8.8%	64
Pennsylvania	42,624	46,284	3,660	8.6%	65
Vermont	6,394	6,936	542	8.5%	66
Kentucky	7,873	8,513	640	8.1%	67
Maine	10,941	11,810	869	7.9%	68
Los Angeles	48,940	52,664	3,724	7.6%	69
Springfield	5,159	5,524	365	7.1%	70
West Missouri	10,016	10,722	706	7.0%	71
Western Kansas	2,207	2,348	141	6.4%	72
Newark	27,263	28,847	1,584	5.8%	73
Long Island	43,720	46,245	2,525	5.8%	74
Northern Indiana	5,540	5,860	320	5.8%	74
Hawaii	6,871	7,245	374	5.4%	76
Fond du Lac	5,098	5,360	262	5.1%	77
Eau Claire	2,059	2,152	93	4.5%	78
West Texas	22,016	22,989	973	4.4%	79
Central Pennsylvania	12,663	13,222	559	4.4%	80
Fort Worth	14,641	15,244	603	4.1%	81
Eastern Michigan**		8,482	8,482	4.0%	82
Michigan**	31,105	23,876	(7,229)	4.0%	82
West Tennessee	9,335	9,669	334	3.6%	84
Bethlehem	11,750	11,992	242	2.1%	85
West Virginia	8,438	8,610	172	2.0%	86
Northwest Texas	7,292	7,427	135	1.9%	87
Central New York	16,127	16,037	(90)	-0.6%	88
Northern Michigan	1,800	1,789	(11)	-0.6%	89
Nebraska	8,305	8,164	(141)	-1.7%	90
Western Louisiana	11,611	11,407	(204)	-1.8%	91
Rochester	10,203	9,998	(205)	-2.0%	92
South Dakota	6,977	6,768	(209)	-3.0%	93
Iowa	9,226	8,847	(379)	-4.1%	94
Ohio	25,333	24,154	(1,179)	-4.7%	95
Western New York	13,603	12,919	(684)	-5.0%	96
Quincy	2,628	2,451	(177)	-6.7%	97
Northwestern PA	4,823	4,464	(359)	-7.4%	98
Spokane	8,266	7,129	(1,137)	-13.8%	99
Navajoland	596	388	(208)	-34.9%	100
Totals:	1,614,081	1,902,525	288,444	17.9%

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Michigan: Special cases

The Diocese of Eastern Michigan split off from the Diocese of Michigan in the middle of the decade. The combined total of both in 2002 (32,358) is an increase of 4% in communicants over the total for the Diocese of Michigan in 1992, for an estimated rank between 66 and 67 out of 100 domestic dioceses. I have let the two dioceses split the same rank.

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Diocesan Growth (Decline) in Percent of Avg Attendance
in the Decade 1992-2002
in the Episcopal Church USA
Diocese	1992	2002	Difference	Percent diff.	Rank of %
South Carolina	10,234	13,441	3,207	31.3%	1
Tennessee	4,983	6,210	1,227	24.6%	2
Dallas	12,257	15,274	3,017	24.6%	3
Texas	25,802	31,596	5,794	22.5%	4
Western North Caroli	6,063	7,311	1,248	20.6%	5
Alaska	1,881	2,266	385	20.5%	6
Utah	1,654	1,976	322	19.5%	7
North Carolina	14,459	17,224	2,765	19.1%	8
Atlanta	16,062	18,973	2,911	18.1%	9
Nevada	2,165	2,480	315	14.5%	10
Rio Grande	5,541	6,312	771	13.9%	11
San Diego	8,016	9,043	1,027	12.8%	12
Virginia	29,203	32,820	3,617	12.4%	13
Alabama	10,865	12,163	1,298	11.9%	14
Idaho	1,848	2,032	184	10.0%	15
West Texas	10,276	11,205	929	9.0%	16
East Carolina	6,676	7,275	599	9.0%	17
Florida	11,838	12,863	1,025	8.7%	18
Georgia	7,050	7,624	574	8.1%	19
Olympia	12,038	12,982	944	7.8%	20
Kansas	5,561	5,960	399	7.2%	21
El Camino Real	5,784	6,196	412	7.1%	22
New York	21,649	22,743	1,094	5.1%	23
Upper South Carolina	8,689	9,103	414	4.8%	24
Kentucky	3,891	4,073	182	4.7%	25
California	10,394	10,873	479	4.6%	26
Colorado	13,056	13,602	546	4.2%	27
Fort Worth	7,128	7,423	295	4.1%	28
Arkansas	5,367	5,575	208	3.9%	29
Oklahoma	7,097	7,342	245	3.5%	30
Western Michigan	5,171	5,324	153	3.0%	31
Los Angeles	22,716	23,352	636	2.8%	32
Eastern Oregon	1,173	1,205	32	2.7%	33
Southern Ohio	9,373	9,604	231	2.5%	34
Maryland	14,815	15,148	333	2.2%	35
Lexington	3,731	3,808	77	2.1%	36
Delaware	4,229	4,315	86	2.0%	37
Arizona	10,431	10,604	173	1.7%	38
Southern Virginia	13,390	13,607	217	1.6%	39
East Tennessee	6,201	6,301	100	1.6%	40
Mississippi	7,921	8,023	102	1.3%	41
Easton	3,489	3,520	31	0.9%	42
Pittsburgh	8,413	8,480	67	0.8%	43
Northern California	7,209	7,264	55	0.8%	44
West Tennessee	4,391	4,411	20	0.5%	45
Central Florida	16,976	16,844	(132)	-0.8%	46
Central Gulf Coast	8,042	7,946	(96)	-1.2%	47
Oregon	7,891	7,725	(166)	-2.1%	48
Soutwestern Virginia	4,866	4,755	(111)	-2.3%	49
Southwest Florida	17,741	17,263	(478)	-2.7%	50
Southeast Florida	15,153	14,712	(441)	-2.9%	51
Massachusetts	24,782	24,029	(753)	-3.0%	52
New Hampshire	5,357	5,174	(183)	-3.4%	53
Maine	5,717	5,517	(200)	-3.5%	54
Minnesota	10,073	9,708	(365)	-3.6%	55
San Joaquin	4,641	4,461	(180)	-3.9%	56
Montana	2,364	2,272	(92)	-3.9%	57
Indianapolis	5,185	4,916	(269)	-5.2%	58
Springfield	3,041	2,876	(165)	-5.4%	59
Louisiana	6,468	6,111	(357)	-5.5%	60
Albany	8,448	7,980	(468)	-5.5%	61
Connecticut	24,239	22,841	(1,398)	-5.8%	62
Vermont	3,486	3,283	(203)	-5.8%	63
New Jersey	19,436	18,304	(1,132)	-5.8%	64
Washington	18,247	17,162	(1,085)	-5.9%	65
Western Louisiana	5,099	4,792	(307)	-6.0%	66
Wyoming	2,746	2,572	(174)	-6.3%	67
West Missouri	5,209	4,875	(334)	-6.4%	68
Bethlehem	5,526	5,162	(364)	-6.6%	69
Central Pennsylvania	6,782	6,330	(452)	-6.7%	70
Milwaukee	6,145	5,728	(417)	-6.8%	71
Nebraska	4,284	3,991	(293)	-6.8%	72
Chicago	17,480	16,280	(1,200)	-6.9%	73
Hawaii	4,050	3,768	(282)	-7.0%	74
Long Island	20,956	19,264	(1,692)	-8.1%	75
Fond du Lac	2,904	2,667	(237)	-8.2%	76
Pennsylvania	21,261	19,303	(1,958)	-9.2%	77
Ohio	12,299	11,164	(1,135)	-9.2%	78
Rhode Island	8,325	7,538	(787)	-9.5%	79
Northern Indiana	3,380	3,057	(323)	-9.6%	80
Eau Claire	1,160	1,042	(118)	-10.2%	81
Northwest Texas	3,390	3,037	(353)	-10.4%	82
Newark	12,309	10,966	(1,343)	-10.9%	83
West Virginia	4,487	3,969	(518)	-11.5%	84
Eastern Michigan	4,235	3,912	(323)	-11.8%	85
Michigan	11,264	9,574	(1,690)	-11.8%	86
South Dakota	3,225	2,839	(386)	-12.0%	87
Northern Michigan	1,046	904	(142)	-13.6%	88
Missouri	5,813	5,018	(795)	-13.7%	89
Quincy	1,432	1,236	(196)	-13.7%	90
Spokane	3,330	2,862	(468)	-14.1%	91
Northwestern PA	2,558	2,191	(367)	-14.3%	92
North Dakota	967	826	(141)	-14.6%	93
Iowa	4,574	3,872	(702)	-15.3%	94
Western Massachusett	8,415	6,896	(1,519)	-18.1%	95
Central New York	8,252	6,734	(1,518)	-18.4%	96
Western New York	7,180	5,846	(1,334)	-18.6%	97
Rochester	5,509	4,464	(1,045)	-19.0%	98
Western Kansas	1,208	945	(263)	-21.8%	99
Navajoland	307	211	(96)	-31.3%	100
Totals:	839,440	846,640	7,200	0.9%

The Parochial Reports Office of General Convention provides me with this data as current on March 19, 2004. Although Eastern Michigan was not a diocese in 1992, the Office has calculated attendance of those parishes that became a part of that diocese when it was created in 1995. Data here for the Diocese of Michigan in 1992 reflects only those parishes that remained in that dicoese in 2002.

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Province 9

We have no accurate data in 1992. Here is data for 2002.

Diocese	Communicants	Avg. Attendance
Colombia	739	738
Dominican Republic	4,098	2,098
Honduras	9,739	4,691
Litoral Ecuador	1,573	898
Puerto Rico	3,649	2,220
Venezuela	210	291

Extra-Provincial/Territorial Dioceses

While we have no accurate data in 1992 for extra provential/territorial dioceses, we do have this data for 2002 for some of them:

Diocese	Communicants	Avg. Attendance
Europe	3,243	1,455
Haiti	17,007	7,843
Virgin Islands	4,596	2,191
Totals:	24,846	11,489

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**Church vs. State Growth/Decline**
State	Censuses 2000 vs 1990	Communicants 2002 vs 1992
AK	14.0%	49.5%
AL	10.0%	35.2%
AR	13.7%	11.7%
AZ	40.0%	16.0%
CA	13.8%	19.0%
CO	30.6%	24.5%
CT	3.6%	22.4%
DC	-5.8%	17.5%
DE	17.7%	19.8%
FL	23.5%	29.5%
GA	26.4%	34.1%
HI	9.3%	5.4%
IA	5.4%	-4.1%
ID	28.5%	52.3%
IL	8.6%	6.9%
IN	9.7%	14.1%
KS	8.5%	9.7%
KY	9.7%	13.6%
LA	5.9%	4.7%
MA	5.5%	15.8%
MD	10.8%	17.6%
ME	3.8%	7.9%
MI	6.9%	6.9%
MN	12.4%	9.2%
MO	9.3%	16.4%
MS	10.6%	11.8%
MT	12.9%	24.7%
NC	21.4%	35.1%
ND	0.5%	10.4%
NE	8.4%	-1.7%
NH	11.4%	38.3%
NJ	8.9%	11.9%
NM	20.1%	30.6%
NV	66.2%	-5.2%
NY	5.5%	4.2%
OH	4.7%	2.1%
OK	9.7%	11.6%
OR	20.4%	26.3%
PA	3.4%	4.2%
RI	4.5%	13.8%
SC	15.1%	24.4%
SD	8.5%	-3.0%
TN	16.7%	31.9%
TX	22.8%	14.1%
UT	29.6%	21.5%
VA	14.4%	20.2%
VT	8.1%	8.5%
WA	21.1%	4.9%
WI	9.6%	8.8%
WV	0.9%	2.0%
WY	8.8%	47.5%
Overall	13.2%	17.9%

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Sources

The Parochial Reports Office of General Convention provided me with the data Average Sunday Attendance Data as current on March 19, 2004.

I culled communicant data from The Episcopal Church Annual for all years reported. The Annual reports data for two years earlier, i.e., the 2004 Annual reports data for 2002.

Until 2002 the Annual was not able to obtain accurate data for dioceses in Province 9 (Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador Central, Ecuador Litoral, and Honduras) nor for extra provincial dioceses (Convocation of American Churches in Europe, Haiti, Taiwan, and the Virgin Islands). See the limited 2002 data that is available. In 2003 Rt. Rev. Lloyd Allen, President of Province 9, pledged to Executive Council that parochial reporting from that province would improve.

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Report on the decade 1993-2003
Report on the decade 1991-2001
Report on Decade of Evangelism, 1990-2000
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