FACTOID: In 2001: on average, 853,000 people worshipped in Episcopal Churches on any given Sunday (less than 2/3 of 1 per cent of the US population). "Too often we are the object of our mission. We should be the means to mission to others."
Charles Fulton points out that doubling the size of the church by 2020, which seems like such a big goal, is really modest: only 4% each year (or 4 people in a 100 person congregation).
FACTOID: 57.9 is the average age of Episcopalians. (20 years older than average US age)
Charles highlights the cost of change: change and growth go together, but there's always a cost. The good news is that the Episcopal Church is showing signs of energy, and we (nearly uniquely among the mainline churches) are showing (slight) growth. Charles thinks that in the next few years we're either going to get "on fire" or we're going to slowly fade away: we're in a moment of change and decision.
Posted by mbarlowe at June 2, 2003 07:41 PM