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DIOCESE OF NEW YORK SEES MAJOR DECLINE EVEN AS IT SEEKS NEW BISHOP
Bishop Andrew Dietsche was a big champion of the LGBT Gay Pride crowd
By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
September 30, 2022
New York Episcopal Coadjutor Bishop Andrew Dietsche has announced his retirement and five candidates have stepped forward offering to replace him. He has served there since 2013. The new bishop will be the dioceses' 17th.
They are: two straight white males, married with children; one straight white female, married with children; one person of color; married with children and one married homosexual, a Mr. Steven Paulikas.
Paulikas is a huge fan of Pete Buttigieg, Biden's appointee as Secretary of Transportation, describing him as an articulate defender of his "sexual orientation through the lens of faith." Paulikas says Buttigieg is a defender of the queering of the American soul. His rise is a sign that more L.G.B.T. people are finding spiritual homes in houses of faith. "I like Mayor Pete because the way he talks about being openly gay shows strength of character," said Paulikas.
If Paulikas should win, it would be the first time in the history of The Anglican Communion that an activist homosexual diocesan bishop and assistant lesbian bishop was at the helm of a diocese.
Mary Glasspool, an activist lesbian is currently assistant bishop in the Diocese of New York. She is the first avowed lesbian to be consecrated a bishop in the Anglican Communion. She was present with her partner at the recent Lambeth Conference.
The changeover comes at a time when the diocese has plunged precipitously under the reign of Dietsche.
AVERAGE SUNDAY ATTENDANCE in 2013 (a year after Dietsche was elected) was 18,727. By 2020, it had dropped to 10,222, a loss of 8,505 or 45.4%! There was a +90% drop in Confirmations under his watch!
CHILDREN in 2013 numbered 279. By 2020, that number had dropped to 6, a loss of 273 or 97.8%.
COMMUNICANTS in 2013 numbered 46,013. By 2020, they had dropped to 33,150, for a loss of 12,863 or 28%.
BAPTIZED MEMBERSHIP in 2012 was 60,084. By 2020, it was 47,264, a loss of 12,820 or 21.3%. The diocese lost 4 congregations in that period. More are expected to close.
BAPTISMS in 2013 totaled 845. By 2020, they had dropped to 179, a loss of 666 or 78.8%. Children in the diocese numbered 758 in 2013. By 2020, it was down to 147, a loss of 611 or 80.6%. Adult transfers in 2913 were 87. By 2020, they were 32 or minus 55 for a loss of 63.2%.
CONFIRMATIONS in 2013 totaled 443. By 2020, they totaled 22, a loss of 421 or 95%.
The number of weddings dropped by 72%, and funerals, a barometer of aging Episcopalians (whose average age is 67) dropped by 43% from 665 in 2013 to 337 in 2020. There were 38 online funerals.
The 2021 figures are expected out in the fall and there is little reason to believe that the numbers won't be even worse.
There is little sign, whoever is elected, that the diocese will ever recover from such disastrous losses.
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