Phallacious Logic

One of the vocal Chicken Littles of our church – who seems to hate the Episcopal Church but lacks the cajones to leave it honorably – recently pointed to a story from the Episcopal News Service, which includes this:

According to the churchwide Parochial Report data, membership in all 110 dioceses of the Episcopal Church totaled 2,320,506 in 2006, down 2.2%, or 51,502, from 2,372,008 in 2005. Average Sunday attendance for 2006 was reported at 804,688, down 2.6%, or 21,856, from 826,544 in 2005. Data isposted online here and here.

By the way, have you noticed that each and every year, TEC posts its membership numbers, its revenue sources, its budget, all the names of its leadership, etc.? Have you ever seen similar transparency and honesty from the AAC, the Nutwork, or the new CCCP? No, and you won't. Hell! They can't even be honest about which or how many "bishops" attend their meetings, as Mark Harris has frequently observed.

But I digress. (What a surprise, eh?)

Chicken Little then pointed out that TEC lost 990 people every week in 2006 and offered up the usual innuendo that it's all because Bible-believing orthodox folks are leaving the church in droves.

Several others have commented on the decline. Some observe that part of this is just demographics in action, as the early baby-boomers begin to die. Some note that TEC isn't losing any more members than other mainline denominations. If memory serves, I believe that the Southern Baptists have experienced a greater decline than we have. And you know what a bunch of left-wingers they are, with all their openly gay pastors! But, oh well. Let's not allow the facts to get in the way of spin.

Mind you, I decry our loss of members and regular communicants. If I had my way, everyone would be an Episcopalian, for I really don't see how a thinking, seeking person can be anything else! [And, yes, I do say that with my tongue perched in the vicinity of my cheek.]

But here's what I haven't heard anybody else say: It's not just the conservatives leaving the Episcopal Church! Read the progressive Episcopalians' blogs as I do, and you'll see that gay and lesbian members are leaving TEC too – spewing Laodicea out of their mouths, and moving to the UCC, the MCC, the Church of the Brunch, or Starbucks. I personally account for some of the drop in ASA after GC06: I took a sabbatical from my parish for several weeks after the passage of the odious B033. A dear friend of mine left because he was tired of being An Issue instead of A Person in our church. I hear similar stories throughout the country. Not a lot of them. But enough to remember there are some gay/lesbian members fleeing Laodicea, just as the "orthodox" flee HeresyLand.

Of course, the schismatics are enjoying claiming all the credit. Yeah, well … They do need to be good at something.