By Louie Crew, Ph.D., Rutgers University
©1996 by Louie Crew. Reproduce and cite freely, but only if you credit Louie Crew as your source and send hard copy to him: L. Crew, Box 30, Newark, NJ 07101
"The Small Church" is the theme of General Convention 1997 (Philadelphia, July 15-25). Thirty-eight percent of the congregations in the Episcopal Church have fewer than 100 members:
137 2% Chaplaincies, summer missions, etc.
2,791 36% Parishes with under 100 members
1,775 23% Parishes with 100-199 members
1,017 13% Parishes with 200-299 members
654 9% Parishes with 300-399 members
409 5% Parishes with 400-499 members
252 3% Parishes with 500-599 members
160 2% Parishes with 600-699 members
119 2% Parishes with 700-799 members
89 1% Parishes with 800-899 members
57 1% Parishes with 900-999 members
220 3% Parishes with 1000+ members
7680 100%
Forty-three percent of all Episcopalians belong to parishes with at least 500 members (12 percent of all parishes).
Some dioceses have more large parishes (500+) than others:
Other dioceses have a larger share of small parishes:
In descending order, from those with the greatest to those with the least percent of their parishes having fewer than 100 members:
u = under 100 '1-4' = 100-499
% u %5+ %1-4 %x 5+ = 500+ x = special missions
===== ==== === ==
91.7% 0% 8% 0% Navajoland
79.4% 0% 18% 3% Western Kansas
76.7% 0% 23% 0% Northern Michigan
75.8% 0% 23% 1% South Dakota
75.0% 0% 25% 0% Eau Claire
75.0% 6% 19% 0% Nevada
75.0% 0% 25% 0% North Dakota
71.0% 3% 26% 0% Idaho
66.7% 8% 25% 0% Quincy
63.0% 2% 33% 2% Vermont
56.8% 2% 41% 0% Springfield
56.5% 4% 39% 0% Alaska
56.5% 13% 30% 0% Utah
55.6% 7% 38% 0% Spokane
55.1% 8% 37% 0% Tennessee
54.8% 5% 40% 0% West Virginia
53.7% 3% 40% 3% Iowa
52.0% 4% 44% 0% Eastern Oregon
51.8% 11% 38% 0% Missouri
51.5% 3% 45% 0% Albany
51.5% 9% 31% 9% Rio Grande
50.9% 15% 35% 0% Western Louisiana
50.0% 5% 45% 0% Easton
50.0% 15% 33% 3% Northwest Texas
48.6% 11% 41% 0% Northwestern Pa
48.3% 12% 37% 3% Southwestern Virginia
48.2% 5% 41% 5% San Joaquin
47.1% 6% 41% 6% Oregon
46.4% 9% 45% 0% Wyoming
46.2% 12% 37% 5% Oklahoma
46.1% 13% 39% 1% East Carolina
45.5% 8% 45% 2% Nebraska
45.2% 2% 53% 0% Central New York
45.0% 8% 43% 5% Fond du Lac
44.5% 5% 49% 2% Colorado
44.4% 10% 45% 1% Minnesota
43.2% 0% 54% 3% Maine
43.2% 14% 43% 0% West Tennessee
43.0% 9% 39% 10% Mississippi
42.3% 13% 40% 5% Southern Virginia
42.1% 14% 37% 7% North Carolina
41.7% 8% 50% 0% Pittsburgh
41.0% 12% 47% 0% South Carolina
40.3% 4% 51% 5% Northern California
40.0% 14% 43% 2% Alabama
40.0% 7% 53% 0% New Hampshire
40.0% 10% 50% 0% Olympia
39.8% 14% 46% 0% West Texas
39.4% 6% 52% 3% Milwaukee
39.3% 15% 46% 0% Central Gulf Coast
39.1% 9% 52% 0% Western North Carolina
38.9% 10% 49% 2% Chicago
37.7% 13% 49% 0% Georgia
37.0% 11% 46% 6% West Missouri
36.2% 9% 52% 3% Arkansas
35.8% 15% 45% 4% Kansas
35.7% 8% 56% 0% Ohio
35.5% 6% 55% 3% Rochester
35.4% 11% 51% 3% Upper South Carolina
35.1% 11% 54% 0% Eastern Michigan
35.0% 10% 48% 8% Kentucky
35.0% 15% 45% 5% Lexington
35.0% 5% 58% 3% Northern Indiana
34.9% 8% 57% 0% Southern Ohio
34.2% 14% 52% 0% Central Pennsylvania
33.8% 6% 58% 3% Western Massachusetts
33.3% 13% 52% 1% Dallas
33.3% 11% 56% 0% Fort Worth
32.6% 4% 63% 0% Hawaii
31.8% 17% 50% 2% Arizona
31.5% 7% 60% 1% New York
30.9% 7% 62% 0% Newark
30.4% 19% 48% 3% Florida
29.9% 12% 58% 0% Massachusetts
29.6% 23% 46% 1% Texas
29.2% 10% 60% 0% Indianapolis
27.5% 10% 60% 3% Delaware
27.0% 17% 54% 2% Long Island
27.0% 5% 68% 0% Western Michigan
26.9% 17% 50% 6% East Tennessee
26.4% 11% 62% 0% California
26.2% 10% 63% 0% Pennsylvania
26.1% 17% 48% 9% Bethlehem
25.6% 14% 57% 4% Maryland
24.4% 15% 60% 0% New Jersey
24.2% 31% 44% 1% Atlanta
23.6% 18% 56% 2% Louisiana
22.2% 9% 67% 2% El Camino Real
21.8% 8% 66% 4% Connecticut
20.8% 15% 60% 4% Western New York
20.6% 29% 48% 2% Virginia
20.4% 20% 59% 0% San Diego
20.0% 17% 63% 0% Rhode Island
19.0% 14% 66% 1% Washington
17.3% 30% 53% 0% Southeast Florida
16.2% 19% 64% 1% Los Angeles
13.6% 27% 59% 0% Southwest Florida
11.4% 7% 82% 0% Montana
10.0% 26% 63% 1% Michigan
7.1% 25% 68% 0% Central Florida
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I compiled the data here by counting and noting the size codes of every parish listed in The Episcopal Church Annual, 1996 [based on 1994 data provided by Executive Council]. I computed membership totals by multiplying the number of parishes coded '1' by 100, the number of parishes coded '2' by 200, etc. Thus computed, memberships totals were slightly higher than those quoted in the tables of the Annual, but uniformly so. This method of computing focused on the same figure for parish size in both sets of tallies.
-- Louie Crew