Titled “Groundwork” and set for mailing to all congregations in early January, the new resources are centered around lesson plans for use in varied teaching settings. The effort continues a proactive strategy begun by General Convention in 2000 to strengthen local congregations and to counter membership declines experienced in recent years by all mainline denominations.

According to denominational sources:

• the Presbyterian Church USA reports a loss of 46,658 members nationally in 2003 to a total of 2,405,311, down 1.9% from 2,451,969 in 2002;
• the Episcopal Church reports a loss of 35,988 active members in 2003 to 2,284,233, down 1.6 % from 2,320,221 in 2000;    
• the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America reports a loss of 53,141 baptized members in 2003 to a total of 4,984,925 down 1.1% from 5,038,006 in 2002;
• the United Methodist Church – which states that 2003 figures have not yet been released – reported in 2002 a loss of 43,253 domestically to 8,255,207, down 0.5 % from 8,298,460 in 2001.

Meanwhile, among other statistics, pledge-and-plate giving across the Episcopal Church increased in 2003 by some $29.6 million to $1.23 billion, up from $1.2 billion in 2003. Statistical “fast facts” for 2003 are posted at www.episcopalchurch.org/23235_28079_ENG_HTM.htm. The figures have been compiled and posted by Dr. Kirk Hadaway, the Episcopal Church’s director of research.

Aimed to achieve membership growth, the 2005 Lenten study resources emphasize complete analysis of congregational systems at work in local ministry, the Rev. Dr. James B. Lemler, director of mission for the Episcopal Church, said in a recent interview.

“ ‘Groundwork’ will be an educational offering for Lent 2005 that joins together reflection on the study and proclamation of the Lenten Sunday Scripture cycle and learning about evangelism, congregational invitation, and mission in the present changing context,” Lemler said.

 “It is part of the goal of personal and congregational transformation that is at the heart of the Episcopal Church's mission and of the National Advertising Collaborative that has been launched.  The ‘Groundwork’ learning resources are being developed to be used for study on Sundays, in mid-week Lenten programs, and for leadership/vestry retreats.  Its frameworks will assist Episcopalians to consider their own faith stories, how the local congregation invites people (especially young adults), ways of learning about their own context, and the meaning of baptismal identity,” Lemler said. 

“It is hoped that 'Groundwork' – and its components developed in English and Spanish -- will be a foundational step for congregations in their mission of invitation and evangelism and will provide links to resources for these important ministries.”

Lemler said the “Groundwork” resources will also provide a thematic complement to the Episcopal Church’s new on-line visitors’ center, http://www.comeandgrow.org/, and to additional related communication initiatives. 

Evangelism should be made more active

“We need a more active evangelism,” says the Rev. Charles Fulton, who serves the Episcopal Church as director of congregational development and as president of the Episcopal Church Building Fund.

Priorities of advertising, mission funding, start-up of new congregations, and taking a fresh look at worship styles are key to achieving positive change, Fulton said in a November 24 interview in his office at the Episcopal Church Center. Thorough transformation of a congregation is often necessary for growth to occur, Fulton added, underscoring a point he makes throughout training events titled “Start Up, Start Over.”

Fulton cites the nation’s birthrate as a prime indicator of Episcopal Church membership. “Our growth or decline over decades has closely mirrored the birth rate. What’s a little different is we’re not keeping our own kids in church,” he said, noting that in more evangelical churches, young adults more often continue in the tradition in which they are raised.

The Episcopal Church needs to achieve both conversion and formation of Christians, Fulton said. “Historically, we as mainline denominations have been better at formation than conversion. Conversion is the active stuff, the work emphasized by evangelicals and Pentecostals. We have to do both conversion and formation, and the truth is, we can be agents of conversion, but how do we get Episcopalians to be about conversion?”

The telling of faith stories is a first step, Fulton said, noting a point he emphasizes frequently in consultations with congregations across the country. “Telling your own story brings authentic words to doing the work of conversion. It’s a way of saying ‘I’m God’s child, and I have known God to be like this,’ or ‘this is how God works in my life.’”

Also essential, says Fulton, is effective advertising, such as the national television campaign the Episcopal Church has scheduled for late summer 2005 to reach Generation X persons who are unaffiliated with any church. When asked how the church is building a more active evangelism, the ad campaign is one answer, Fulton said.

 “We also need to reach new population groups. We need to reach diverse ethnic groups, and to reach younger generational groups,” Fulton said. “Demographics tell us that new members are not going to come significantly from the Anglo population. The Gospel calls us to widen the call to all people.”

He added: “The best way to reach a new population is often to start a new congregation,” and this is why new funding for mission is vital, especially because it is often “harder for an existing congregation to reach new populations.”

Fulton also sees a “larger issue”: “I think we’re increasingly out of touch with our culture. We’re presenting the gospel the same way we were 200 years ago. It’s not the gospel that needs to change; we need to present it differently to be effective in today’s culture.”

Speed, as well as “beat and sound,” are considerations for evaluating church ministries, especially worship, Fulton said. Video “presents an image per second” while the church often through a typical Sunday sermon – presents “an image per hour.” Given the “rapidity of change, whether we like it or note, it takes more happening to keep our attention.”

Fulton added that authenticity is essential, particularly for young people “who demand passion and integrity. Young people quickly detect what is not genuine, and are suspicious of being manipulated. We’ve got to discover passion of our faith and speak about it with integrity.”

Further information about congregational development in the Episcopal Church may be obtained online at www.episcopalchurch.org/congdev.