This week plays two very different roles in our church calendar. On the one hand, it’s the first week of Lent. On the other, it’s the due date for our annual Parochial Report, the preparation of which is more often dreaded than enjoyed. Most years, this involves cracking open the big red Service Book and tallying up total attendance for the year, filling out financials and summing up spreadsheets. This year, for the first time the Parochial Report asked for some demographic data about the congregation, which amplified both the dread of those who resent the added tallying, and the delight of those who—like your Rector—are total nerds. So who exactly are we, Saint John’s?
Well, you might be a little surprised to find out.
Before I tell you, I want to take a small step back. It’s not secret that, statistically, the Church is in decline. I don’t mean Saint John’s Church in particular, or even the Episcopal Church, or even the traditional mainline Protestant churches. Generally speaking, in terms of membership and engagement and finances, Christianity is in decline in North America, although this is not at all true around the world. And one of the most common anxieties you’ll hear in churches around the country wraps around the question of the magical, elusive, and highly-valued “young families,” a phrase that’s become so common in church conversations that I’m inclined to give it its own capital letters.
“How do we attract Young Families to our church?” members wonder, in towns and city neighborhoods across the country. “Will this new pastor attract Young Families?” a search committee might ask. Young Families are, it seems, the solution to a huge variety of struggling ministries, church conflicts, and financial woes—never mind that they have no time to spare and even less money.
I don’t mean to sound resentful. It’s nice to feel wanted. But the focus on one demographic or the other in the church obscures what matters in the church and what makes for a strong church. It’s not the number of Young Families: it is the love and the respect and the care for one another that we show every person, as a sibling in the family of God. Young Families are great, and so are Old Singles, and Empty Nesters, and People Who Wish Their Families Would Come to Church But They Just Won’t, and I’m The Only One I Know Who Even Believes in God…ers. And everyone can tell—from 2 years old to 92 years old—whether you’re treating them as a human being, or as a representative of a group, desired or not.
And I guess very few of you would be surprised to hear me say that… You know I spend as much time chatting with some of our younger members at Coffee Hour as I do with some of our older ones. (Well, sometimes a little more…)
So who are we, Saint John’s? Well, just to keep it to the question of generations and stages of life— We’re pretty much like Charlestown.
The Parochial Report asked us to count people in certain categories — children (0-12), youth (13-17), young adults (18-34), middle adults, (35-64), senior adults (65 and older). (Their categories, not mine!) So I thought, after looking through the parish directory and adding numbers up, that I’d compare to some recent Census data for our little neighborhood. (Those data are from 2017.)
| Saint John’s | Charlestown |
| 22% children | 12% children |
| 6% youth | 6% youth |
| 7% young adults | 30% young adults |
| 40% middle adults | 40% middle adults |
| 24% senior adults | 10% senior adults |
This is really astounding, to me. Sure, we all know that 20-to-30-somethings are unusually unlikely to go to church in general, and retirement-age folks are much more likely. But overall, these numbers are astounding: generationally, if not racially and ethnically, our church reflects our neighborhood really well.
I loved the Parochial Report this year. But what I loved the most was not the discovery of how many children are in our church, or how many middle adults, or how many seniors or anyone else. It was reading through the list of names, thinking about and praying for and remembering each one of you, the beloved children of God.