Gathered. Nurtured. Sent.
Dr. Ryan Burge, Political Scientist & Statistician – The Great Dechurching
Placing The Episcopal Church in the American Religious Landscape
SESSION DESCRIPTION
Using a wealth of resources provided by The Episcopal Church, this session will describe the trends in data regarding the past and future of TEC. Moving beyond statistics about membership or attendance, this presentation will also help us understand how other key metrics in the life of the local parish can provide a clearer picture about the trajectory of the Church in the United States.
Ryan Burge is professor of practice at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. Before that he was an associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. He has authored over thirty peer-reviewed articles and book chapters alongside four books about religion and politics in the United States. He has written for the New York Times, POLITICO, and the Wall Street Journal. He has also appeared on 60 Minutes which called him, “one of the country’s leading data analysts on religion and politics.” He served as a pastor in the American Baptist Church for over twenty years, leading First Baptist Church of Mount Vernon, IL for 17.5 years until its closure in July 2024. He has been married to his wife Jacqueline for over seventeen years. They have two boys.