January 5, 2011
Dear Friends,
At the Bishop's Convocation last November I shared some statistics that caught the attention of many. They present a picture of this synod with many small membership congregations and help explain some of the challenges before us in these days of mission support shortfall.
While we are a synod of 195 congregations, 124 of these have an average Sunday worship attendance under 100. Even more telling is that 68 of these 124 have an average Sunday attendance of less than 50; another 38 have an attendance of 51-75.
Another 27 congregations have an average attendance of 101-150; 15 with an average attendance of 151-200. That means 166 of our 195 congregations have an average attendance under 200 per Sunday.
The remaining 29 congregations have an average Sunday attendance anywhere from 201 to over 750.
While we have a few larger membership congregations with larger worship attendance, we are a synod of many small congregations. These statistics reflect the demographical upheaval that has led to the de-population of the plains in Kansas, as well as a host of cultural changes that are affecting all of us in both states.
Many of these smaller congregations were once the backbone of the larger Church and provided mission support and pastors and lay leadership that started new ministries in the urban and suburban neighborhoods of Kansas City, Wichita and St. Louis. These same congregations today are forming parishes, sharing pastors, and trying to find their way forward in mission. But they depend upon the larger congregations to help fund the mission of the synod.
The diversity of our congregational size translates not surprisingly into variances in mission support. Only 23 of our 195 congregations provide mission support of $25,000 per year or more. Eight of these give above $50,000 per year and we are exceedingly grateful that Atonement Lutheran in Overland Park has regularly contributed $100,000 and more per year. An additional 32 congregations contribute between $10,000 - $25,000 per year. The remaining 140 congregations contribute less than $10,000 per year, many contributing $500 or $1,000 or $1,500 per year in mission support.
This means 55 congregations provide three fourths to seven eighths of the mission support of the Central States Synod, support that makes possible the work of this synod, including the creation of ministry starts. While all mission support is important and we are all grateful for the contributions of every congregation, we are strongly dependent on the larger congregations of this synod to provide support for the work of this synod and the larger Church. We can only provide synodical services to smaller congregations and lead this whole synod in mission with the strong support of the larger congregations.
We live in challenging days, times of great transition. But I am exceedingly hopefully because of God's grace at work in so many ways. We are entering the season of Epiphany where the Son of God calls us all to be a light to the nations and to extend God's salvation to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 49). Working together and trusting in the work of the Spirit among us, we go forth in hope and encouragement.
In Christ,
Rev. Gerald Mansholt, Bishop
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Rev. Linda Anderson-Little
St. Mark's Lutheran Church
6325 Clayton Road
St. Louis, MO 63117
314.721.6974 (w)
314.581.6365 (cell)
www.stmarkselca.com
