Small Increase Seen in Parish Clergy
Episcopal News Service. September 21, 1983 [83172]
NEW YORK (DPS, Sept. 22) -- Reports covering 1982 indicate only a small increase in the number of people in the ordained ministry of the Episcopal Church, although the number of women in Holy Orders has more than doubled.
The Rev. John A. Schultz, statistical officer at the Episcopal Church Center, reported that there were 12,974 deacons, priests and bishops in the Church at the time that 1982 parochial and diocesan reports were filed. Of this number, 7,549 serve 7,095 parishes in the domestic dioceses. Nearly 2,200 are retired while another 3,229 serve in non-parochial capacities.
There were increases in all three categories: 75 in parish work, 59 in non-parish and 50 retired although the net increase was only 66 clergy. The difference is found in the numbers of deposed, suspended or deceased clergy.
The number of women among the clergy more than doubled from 215 to 565. Of these, 83 were in charge of congregations. Although fewer than one quarter of the 1,053 postulants and candidates were women, the Church's seminaries reported that enrollment was divided about evenly.