Get The Episcopal Church Report Of Episcopal Congregations And Missions 2016-2025

The mission of the church, as stated in the Book of Common Prayer's catechism, is “to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.” In step with that mission, The Episcopal Church follows Jesus into loving, liberating, and life-giving relationships with God, with each other, and with the earth.

Nationally, the Episcopal Church's membership peaked at 3.44 million members in 1959. It has been declining since the 1960s. “As of 2019, it had about 1.8 million, the Episcopal News Service reported in 2020. “Membership is down 17.4% over the last 10 years.”

The average Episcopalian is almost 59. "If you took the membership rolls of every [Episcopal] church ... and grabbed a random person from that spreadsheet, the most likely age of that person would be 69. For a Mormon, the modal age is 29," wrote Burge at Religion in Public, a blog he co-founded.

There are about 85 million Anglicans in the world, including about 2 million Episcopalians mostly in the U.S. As of this week, however, those Episcopalians are second-class Anglicans: Members cannot vote in any Anglican Communion decisions on church doctrine and cannot represent the communion in any interfaith bodies.

Over the past several years, the Episcopal Church has seen a gradual decline in its members and average worship attendance, which some have argued is due in part to the denomination's overall progressive theological direction.

This report is the official data-gathering instrument of the Episcopal Church. Each parish or congregation files this report annually with the diocesan bishop. A copy of each Parochial Report is sent to the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church.

Over the past several years, the Episcopal Church has seen a gradual decline in its members and average worship attendance, which some have argued is due in part to the denomination's overall progressive theological direction.