You are here
Diocese of Rhode Island Faces Naked Truth about its Future
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
November 1, 2011
The Diocese of Rhode Island is on the brink of extinction. It has lost 30% of its attendees in the last 10 years. It is presently closing churches at an alarming rate, running down endowments and putting off maintenance. There are virtually no young people coming forward and no next generation to fill emptying pews.
A resolution was to have been presented at the Rhode Island Diocesan Convention on November 12 but has since been withdrawn because, "conversations were contentious and divisive."
It reads thusly: "The Diocese of Rhode Island is at a crucial tipping point in relation to its long‐term health, vitality, and growth. We are currently a diocese of fifty‐three churches, down from sixty‐five less than ten years ago, and several more churches face closure in the next two to three years.
"In 2009, twenty‐five of the fifty‐three churches in the diocese used more than 5% of their investment accounts for operating expenses. This is shocking news when you consider that the survival rate for non‐profits spending from their endowments at the same level is 50%.
"The financial crisis for many of our churches is matched by a crisis in membership. In 2009, only seven churches in the diocese had an average Sunday attendance above 150. Many of our churches are too small to provide for a full‐time priest, and they often cannot afford the ministries, programs, and staff that are mainstays of healthy, growing churches of all denominations.
"If we fail to take decisive action now, in five years we may be a debt‐ridden diocese with deteriorating church buildings, shrunken ministries, and disheartened congregations.
"Church attendance in the Diocese of Rhode Island continues to follow the decreases experienced in all the dioceses of the Episcopal Church.
"During the past decade ASA has declined by 29.9% in the diocese. Pledge and Plate in peaked in 2007, with declines in 2008, 2009, and 2010. Current levels of Pledge and Plate are below the totals of 2003.
"Churches continue to rely on endowments to plug the gap between revenue and expenses, with decreasing effectiveness as investment losses reduce available principle and income. This has a negative impact on the long term survival of these churches. When church endowments decrease, there is less money available for local ministry, and fewer financial resources for diocesan ministry and operations.
"These conditions suggest a radical change in the way we proclaim the good news of the Gospel in Rhode Island. We need fewer buildings to maintain and more engagement in mission and common ministry. Those changes will require hard and painful choices about what can be left behind and still remain as a community of the people of God."
Officials would not comment on the deteriorating situation.
END
