Membership Remains Stable in ELCA

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- With a total of 5,185,055 baptized members in 10,889 congregations, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) remained stable in membership for 1997, according to the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary. That figure represented a slight decrease of 2,308 from 5,187,363 in 1996. That's a 0.04 percent decrease in membership.
Confirmed membership in 1997 for ELCA congregations remained steady at 3,844,169, up 1,014 from 1996. Communing and contributing membership, indicators of active participation, however, declined for the second consecutive year to 2,516,006 in 1997 compared with 2,541,505 in 1996. This drop might be due to lack of reporting rather than decreased participation, said Almen. "Fewer congregations are counting and recording the exact number of persons who partake of the sacrament of Holy Communion."
The average number of individuals at worship on Sundays, which is another indicator of participation by members in the life of congregations, remained constant in 1997. Some 1,580,961 or 30.49 percent of all baptized members attend worship each week. Since 1988, average worship attendance has fluctuated slightly between 30 and 31 percent.
The number of congregations decreased by 47 from 10,936 in 1996 to 10,889 in 1997, largely as a result of the disbanding, merging, or consolidating of existing congregations, said Almen.
The slight but steady decline in the number of baptisms of children over the past eight years continued in 1997. From 1996 to 1997 the decrease was 1,844, down from 83,944 in 1996 to 82,100 in 1997. The decline in baptisms of children reflects the slowed birth rate in the population in general, Almen said.
Congregations did report a slight increase in baptisms of adults 16 years and older -- up 141 persons from 8,108 in 1996 to 8,249 in 1997.
The number of unconfirmed children partaking of the sacrament of Holy Communion continued to grow in 1997 to 259,187 -- up from 248,340 in 1996 -- an increase of 4.36 percent.
The number of youth confirmed declined 219 from 1996 to 59,123 in 1997. This ended seven consecutive years of increases.
Losses of baptized members attributable to roll cleaning by congregations were up slightly from 165,866 in 1996 to 166,668 in 1997. The number of losses due to death increased over 1996 by fewer than 100 members -- 50,482 in 1997 compared to 50,387 in 1996.
The average number of baptized members per congregation was 481, and the average confirmed membership was 356. In 1997 the average number for communing and contributing members per congregation was 236.
For 1997, 2.19 percent of ELCA baptized members are African American, Black, Asian, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native people. For 1996, that percentage of the total ELCA membership was 2.14. Hispanic membership increased the most with 1,561 members added to the baptized rolls of congregations. The actual numbers were: African American or Black membership, 49,438, down 274; Asian and Pacific Islander membership, 21,769, down 168; Hispanic membership, 30,988, up 1,561; and American Indian and Alaska Native membership, 6,896, down 117. Some 7,044 members declared their race or ethnic heritage as "other."
In the year of its start in 1988, the ELCA counted 98,166 African American, Asian, Hispanic, and Native American members. By 1997 that number increased 18.3 percent to 116,135 persons.
For the first time, congregations were able to file their parochial statistics electronically, using the ELCA web site on the Internet. About 860 congregations did so, Almen reported.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director 1-773-380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html