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October 22nd, 2024
Dear Friends,
It is statistic season in the life of the Presbytery of Detroit! Unless you have ever served as a Clerk of Session, you probably have no idea what I am talking about. Please don’t click away yet! Once a year every council of the church (Session, Presbytery and Synod) has their minutes reviewed by the next highest council. I have the pleasure of traveling every October to meet with the Sated Clerks of the Synod who review the minutes for the Presbytery of Detroit. Clerks of Session don’t have to travel quite so far to meet with other clerks to have their minutes reviewed for accuracy, Book of Order requirements and other details. Some of these details involve numbers. How many people in the last year joined the church, were baptized, transferred to another church, or entered the church triumphant. These numbers also get reported to the Presbyterian Church (USA) as part of gathering annual statistics.
We don’t really need those numbers to tell us what so many of our churches are saying to one another: “Our church is small. We can’t afford a full- time pastor. We aren’t sure we can keep up with the cost of our building.” With the changes to the benefits program from the Board of Pensions, we have even more churches struggling with this reality. Although many Presbyterians attend larger churches, most PC(USA) congregations are small — about two-thirds have 100 members or fewer. One in five – about 20% – have 25 members or fewer; another 21.6% have 26 to 50 members; and 23.4% have 51 to 100 members, according to the denomination’s statistical report from 2021.
The numbers only tell part of the story.
There are congregations who look around at the faithful community God has called them to be a part of and start to think creatively and courageously about what is possible. Now, if I had a handbook, curriculum, resource, or magic wand to turn the tide of denominational (and let’s be honest, institutional religious) decline, I would be in an entirely different job. What I can offer is an opportunity to come together, connect with other small churches, learn about some possibilities and share in conversation and encouragement together. The format will be to meet over Zoom and lean more into the ways our Presbyterian polity opens possibilities for shared ministry. We will explore aspects of our PC(USA) polity and the policies of the Presbytery of Detroit that provide a container for us to think imaginatively for what the Holy Spirit might be up to in our midst.
Join me and others as we “Discern Our Future Together: Small Churches Asking What’s Next?” on Tuesday, November 19th at 6:30pm via Zoom.
Peace,
Melissa Allison
Stated Clerk
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86076142923?pwd=hENzqqkCqFr7VMEF8Y0vTxD6pqa37p.1
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