Earlier this year, we published several articles describing results from the first-ever study of African-American, Hispanic, and Korean members of the PCUSA the three largest racial-ethnic groups in the denomination. Overall, about 2.7 percent of PCUSA members are African American, 0.9 percent are Hispanic, and 1.6 percent are Korean. This study gives us sufficient information about these minority groups to be able to make comparisons with data from the Presbyterian Panel and other studies we've conducted that describe the white majority (93 percent of all members are white, non-Hispanic). We have recently tabulated results of the second survey of racial- ethnic members and will share them with you in this and forthcoming articles.
One question that was asked of racial-ethnic members as well as of members, elders, and pastors who serve on the Presbyterian Panel concerned church growth. Specifically, respondents were asked to indicate to what extent members, the session, pastor(s), and the demography or make-up of the population in the neighborhood surrounding the church are responsible for a church's growth or decline.
As can be seen in the first table, members in all racial-ethnic groups believe that demography plays only a small role in church growth or decline. Members and pastors, and to a lesser extent, the session, bear the bulk of the responsibility. It is interesting that Korean members are somewhat more likely to see the pastor as responsible than to assign responsibility to themselves.
Racial-Ethnic Group |
|||||
| Who is Responsible? | African American |
Hispanic | Korean American |
White | |
| members | 68% | 70% | 61% | 56% | |
| session | 39% | 40% | 54% | 24% | |
| pastor(s) | 55% | 68% | 79% | 58% | |
| demography/make-up of the population of the surrounding neighborhood | 28% | 27% | 23% | 21% | |
How do these responses compare to those from elders and pastors? The table below shows a more "self-protective" pattern among these church leaders. Compared to members, elders and pastors are somewhat more likely to shift responsibility away from themselves. Twice as many elders place responsibility for growth or decline on members or pastors than place it on the session. Similarly, a large majority of pastors place responsibility on members, less on themselves (and on the session).
| Who is Responsible? | Elders | Pastors | |
| members | 64% | 70% | |
| session | 30% | 46% | |
| pastor(s) | 58% | 40% | |
| demography/make-up of the population of the surrounding neighborhood | 27% | 33% | |
What do these results tell us other than confirming that perspective affects perception? For one thing, they suggest that some of us may be blaming others when churches fail to flourish, or, to put a somewhat more positive face on it, that some of us are buck-passers who expect others to do the heavy lifting necessary for church growth. Ultimately, of course, the church can only hope to grow when all of us members, elders, and pastors; racial ethnic and white pool our diverse gifts and work together toward the common goal of being faithful to Jesus Christ.
If you're interested in a 4-page summary of the most recent survey of racial-ethnic members, send a $3 check (payable to, and in care of) "Research Services, PCUSA" at 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202 and request the Racial-Ethnic Presbyterian Summary on Evangelism. Or view the summary online at Summary of Racial-Ethnic Presbyterians Views on Evangelism.
Research Services