Mainline Churches Heavy With Seniors

Mainline Protestantism is graying rapidly, and two denominational studies show little hope for significant numbers of young adults to replace their elders in the pews.

Just 13 percent of the members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are in the 18-to-34-year-old age group, compared to 36 percent of this country’s adult population. A denominational survey also found that a third of Presbyterians were age 65 or older, nearly double the percentage of older Americans.

Similar findings were reported in the United Methodist Church, where a recent profile showed the percentage of church members ages 50 and older has risen from 49 percent in 1986 to 61 percent in 1994.

Some churches are attracting younger members, said the Rev. Mearle Griffith, a research director for the United Methodist Church.

“But if I simply look at the data,” he said, “there is not much hope for the future.”

A 1994 Gallup Poll showed Protestants in general have a higher percentage of older members.

Forty-two percent of people identifying themselves as Protestant were ages 50 and older, compared to 32 percent of Roman Catholics in that age group.

But nowhere have sociologists found the trend more pronounced than in mainline Protestant churches, which have had the greatest difficulty holding on to their younger members.

You just have to walk into a typical church to see how older members outnumber young adults in the pews, Griffith said.

“You see it in the data. You also see it in every place you go in the ministry,” he said.

In 1957, Gallup Polls showed 40 percent of United Methodists were ages 50 or older. In the church’s own surveys, it has found the percentage of members 50 and older rose to 49 percent in 1986 and 57 percent in 1990 before climbing to 61 percent last year.

The average age of United Methodist laity is 55, with a third of the members age 66 or older.

The one hopeful sign, according to the church report, is a slight increase in the percentage of clergy ages 30 to 34 from 1990 to 1994.

In a recent report in Monday Morning, a magazine for Presbyterian leaders, the church research department reported that a 1993 Presbyterian Panel survey showed a third of the denomination’s membership is 65 and older, compared to 17 percent of the adult population.

The age imbalance is even greater among men. While 40 percent of church members age 65 and older are men, only 31 percent of church members ages 18 to 34 are men.

While in the overall population there are 101 men for every 100 women in the 18-to-34 age group, there are only 44 men for every 100 women who are members of Presbyterian churches in that age group.