IRD takes on United Methodist Women membership claims

Alexander Griswold of the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD), a conservative religious think-tank which is often critical of United Methodist boards and agencies, released a story challenging the membership claims of United Methodist Women (UMW). Responding to the news reports on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s address to the UMW Quadrennial Assembly which claimed a UMW membership of 800,000 members, Griswold examines the most recent statistics from the General Council on Finance and Administration to suggest that UMW membership has been in decline for many years:

The General Committee on Finance and Administration keeps a tally of UMW members, reported each year by local churches. The last time there were 800,000 UMW members was in 2001: 811,289 to be exact. By 2012, that number had fallen to 528,156, a decline of 34.9%. At its height in 1974, the UMW had 1.36 million members, meaning it has lost more than 60% of its members.

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