Presbyterians can grow, right?

The 227^th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) just finished meeting last week in Salt Lake City. I followed along fairly closely as I was very interested in what was happening. I watched many of the committee meetings and plenary. I listened to the debate about the Olympia Overture as I drove to Worthington last week. For me it is awesome to be able to listen and watch the sessions. All of the sessions can be seen at: 226th General Assembly (2024) | Live Into Hope (ga-pcusa.org) 

I had a special interest in what happened at General Assembly as my niece, Julia Prouty served as a Young Adult Advisory Delegate, and my sister, Rev. Pam Prouty, resourced a committee. 

I have a high amount of respect for the Teaching and Ruling Elders who gave of their time to serve the Presbyterian Church (USA) in Salt Lake City. Thanks for your service!

Presbyterians are different from other denominations or branches of the church as power flows from the local congregation to wider governing bodies and from wider governing bodies to local congregations. 

I kept folks at Chain of Lakes informed about what was happening with General Assembly. The pcusa web site listed the top ten items of General Assembly. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) - GA commissioners and advisory delegates got a lot done in Salt Lake City (pcusa.org)

What is disappointing to me is that church development was not one of the top ten items of General Assembly. Most Presbyterian churches are declining. I’ve written before that if the CEO of a corporation saw the level of decline in people that the PC(USA) has experienced, that person would issue a clarion call for change. 

Other organizations have noted that churches are declining. MPR shared an excellent conversation last month about the decline of churches. It’s worth hearing at Why are so many Americans leaving church?   | MPR News. 

I am blessed that the church I am serving is not declining. Worship attendance in 2024 at Chain of Lakes is thirty-five percent higher than 2023. We’ve already received nineteen new people as disciples or members this year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we receive another nineteen before the end of the year. The Session of Chain of Lakes just voted to start two services starting in September. Though some would experience our congregation as small, we’re growing fast. 

I believe that this growth has happened for two main reasons. The first is our youth and children’s ministry has vastly expanded since we hired Amanda Serfling as our Family Ministry Director. We frequently have over twenty children and youth attend worship. We’re hoping that fifty children attend Vacation Bible School at the end of the month. 

For churches who don’t have a lot of youth, my word of encouragement would be to hire the best person you can to grow your ministry. Youth and children will come to a church, but they need a ministry to which they can connect. 

I was hoping that General Assembly would have said that for the next two years Presbyterians are going to resource and focus on ministries with youth and children. 

The second reason for the growth at Chain of Lakes is our acceptance of the LGTBQIA+ community. Chain of Lakes is one of a handful of churches who go out of our way to accept people. The first marriage I officiated was a gay marriage; we have people who travel almost thirty miles to our congregation because they cannot find a welcoming congregation near them. 

I get it that many congregations don’t accept the LGTBQIA+ community. And some believe that orientation is a sin. I’ve responded to these beliefs before. This video shares why I think that our support is biblical. The Bible and LGTBQ (vimeo.com)

The key point for congregations is we need to be resourced by the wider governing bodies of our denomination. We need ideas for growth; we need trainings on growing; we need resources that will help. The work of the General Assembly is important, but until the wider governing bodies of the PC(USA) get the message that congregations need support, I would guess that Presbyterian congregations will keep declining.  

If decline is okay for Presbyterians, then there’s not much that can be done. It is certainly not okay with me. 

I’m hoping that before the next General Assembly in 226 in Milwaukee, this denomination who I love can see evangelism and church growth as a priority. So much so that it will be in the top ten list of accomplishments at that General Assembly.