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The number of Elders in The United Methodist Church dropped 2.25 percent from 2000 to 2005, even as the number of local pastors and Deacons increased, a new study by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry found.

An analysis of church membership numbers and clergy data for 2000-2005 shows that at the same time the number of Deacons increased 28 percent from 964 to 1,237 and the number of local pastors increased 31 percent from 5,088 to 6,660, there were 754 fewer Elders. Michelle Fugate, GBHEM's director of research and data management, analyzed annual conference membership numbers from the General Council on Finance and Administration.

'The study shows the dramatic changes that have taken place in The United Methodist Church in its clergy leadership. The continuing decline in the number of Elders and the increase in the number of local pastors is a clear sign of the change in clergy demographics of our annual conferences,' said the Rev. Mary Ann Moman, associate general secretary of GBHEM's Division of Ordained Ministry.

'One of the things the numbers say is that as a denomination, we may need to begin to look at circuits again,' Moman said. Many small churches want their own pastor and do not want to share with other churches, she said.

'Local pastors have filled a critical need for leadership in many of our small membership churches. It may be time for the church to look at teams of pastors assigned to circuits. This could mean a local pastor would be assigned to a particular church, but there would also be an Elder and possibly a Deacon on a circuit ministry team,' Moman said.

'The Elder would be responsible for training, support, supervision and would have sacramental responsibility for the membership churches.'

With more congregations being served by local pastors, who do not have Master of Divinity degrees, Moman said the church must ask whether 'we still hold the M.Div. as the norm. Do we believe that level of education is necessary?'

Fugate found that while the number of churches and membership declined from 2000 to 2005, the number of clergy actually increased during the same time period, with the increase largely due to full-time and part-time local pastors. Membership in U.S. churches dipped just below 8 million in 2005, while the number of churches decreased 3.5 percent
during the time frame.

Total annual conference clergy membership increased from 44,118 in 2000 to 45,148 in 2005, or 2.3 percent. Nearly 15 percent of all annual conference members in 2005 were full-time or part-time local pastors.

Of the 1,572 new local pastors, nearly half were in the Southeastern Jurisdiction and 22 percent were in the South Central Jurisdiction.
 
If local pastors are excluded, the number of clergy who are annual conference members actually declined from 39,030 to 38,488, or 1 percent.
 
Fugate also looked at the number of districts, which has decreased in all jurisdictions, from 518 districts in 2000 to 488 in 2005. That means there are 32 fewer district superintendents.

'That has implications for the church, too, since fewer districts means district superintendents supervise more churches,' Moman said.

And, she added, the increase in the number of Deacons has implications, as well. 'Again, we might look at circuit Deacons, who could serve a group of churches and their communities,' Moman said.

'A lack of an appropriate support structure for Deacons has caused many problems in the appointment system,' Moman said. 'The present system hasn't helped the church get Deacons to the places where they are needed most. The statistics show that most Deacons' primary appointment is to a congregation. It is much more difficult to negotiate a ministry setting outside of the congre-gation.'

She said part of the difficulty is in getting a setting approved. 'If the bishops and district superintendents were more involved in this process we might find many more creative ways to appoint Deacons.

After Katrina, The United Methodist Church could have deployed Deacons to New Orleans and surrounding areas to set up community Sunday Schools, provide medical care, offer legal support and provide safe child care. We have Deacons who are trained in all of these areas.'

Moman said the analysis should prove useful as the Study of Ministry Commission prepares its recommendations for General Conference 2008.

The full report may be found at http://www.gbhem.org/ResourceLibrary/ChangeChurchClergy.pdf