Three churches have a combined ASA of 111, including St. Mark in Madras with 32, St. Matthew in Ontario of 39 and St. John in Hermiston of 40. Six churches have a combined ASA of 300 which include All Saints in Heppner with 40 members, St. Paul in Klammath Falls with 40, Redeemer in Pendleton with 50, St. Paul's Church in The Dalles with 50, St. Mark's in Hood River has an ASA of 60 and St. Peter in La Grande also has 60.

Only three churches: Transfiguration in Sisters with 120, All Saints in Sunriver with 160 and Trinity in Bend with 200 have a three figure average Sunday attendance.

Recently, the diocese voted to give the former Holy Trinity church building in Vale, which has been vacant and unused since its last service in December 2007, to the Bully Creek Baptist Church.

When The Rt. Rev. Bavi Edna "Nedi" Rivera, Provisional Bishop of Eastern Oregon, called Pastor Darrell Hansen to tell him about the Standing Committee's March 11 decision, she said there was silence followed by, "You're kidding." No, Rivera said, she wasn't kidding. "We want ministry to continue in Vale and this is a way for ministry to continue."

The Baptist congregation offered $5,000 for the small wood-shingle building, to be paid over five years, with a minimum monthly payment of $83.33. Hansen wrote, "We are excited about the possibility once again hearing the hymns ringing out of the old church building."

Perhaps. But a shrewd observer of Episcopal politics said this is an excellent example of why bishops hate to close small rural churches. They lose a church and gain a building which is a liability with no sales value. This is a big part of the answer to the fact that TEC is closing a much smaller percentage of churches than it loses in ASA. Often these small churches are the only TEC church in the area so merging is not possible.

Bishop Rivera was elected Provisional Bishop of Eastern Oregon at a special diocesan convention in May 2009. At the time, she also was bishop suffragan of the Diocese of Olympia. She retired from the Washington state post in January 2010. The job of EDEO provisional bishop is a one-third time position, according to the website. Rivera is as liberal in theology as she is on moral issues. She is the divorced mother of four and TEC's first Hispanic bishop. She once famously said that she would never marry "anyone straight or gay, until the church officially authorizes the marriage of homosexuals." Being Hispanic apparently gives you even more leverage for stupid statements.

Interestingly enough, while the diocese is imploding, the population of Eastern Oregon has risen. In 1991 the area had a population of 365,239. In 2008 it was 481,074, an increase of 31%.

At their website, the Eastern Oregon diocese recently announced that they should remain a diocese with a diocesan bishop, but reality has yet to set in. Rivera is part time till 2012 when she's gone.

A more in-depth analysis of the diocese revealed the following. Between 2002 and 2009, members dropped 22.1 percent; overall ASA was down 8.2 percent, and adjusted Plate & Pledge down 10.1 percent. The overall ASA for the diocese is a little over 1,000, the size of a couple of individual parishes in the Diocese of Dallas -- Incarnation has 950 ASA and St. Michael and All Angels in Dallas has 1200.

The long term statistics for Eastern Oregon are even worse with Marriages down 48.3 percent and Infant baptisms down 52.4 percent. In 2009, they had only 15 Marriages and 20 Infant Baptisms, not even ONE of each per church.

Other dioceses face similar trends. Overall, every diocese is in decline, some more than others. Three Anglican parishes have formed in the geographic area of the Diocese of Oregon as a result of the decisions made by TEC to ordain an openly avowed homosexual to the episcopacy. All are flourishing.

The notion that by following V. Gene Robinson's election to the episcopacy of New Hampshire the numbers would spike in TEC church attendance has not materialized. It has been a slow but steady downhill trajectory for TEC's ASA which is now under 700,000.

The Diocese of Eastern Oregon is not the only diocese to face the possibility of juncturing with another diocese within the next five years. The truth is that "inclusivity" and "diversity" as concepts are not working. TEC creating formal alliances with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Moravians has put all three churches on suicide watch.

END