Clerks of Session
The Orthodox Presbyterian Church

Dear Brothers:

Greetings in the precious name of Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. It is time again to gather statistics from each church and mission work and each presbytery. The General Assembly's Standing Rules specify that the Statistician "shall collect and compile statistical reports of the regional churches for the fiscal year ending December 31 and the information required by the Form of Government Chapter XIV, Section 6, and provide them in combined form to the Stated Clerk at least six weeks prior to the General Assembly, for presentation to the Assembly" (S.R. III.C.1). Further, the Statistician "shall prepare, and present to the General Assembly each year, explanation and analyses of the statistical reports for a meaningful understanding of them by the Assembly" (S.R. III.C.2).

The 2005 Statistical Report form is available in two forms: Excel or PDF. If you need a printed form, please let me know and I will mail a form to you. If someone else is now serving as clerk of session, please let me know and/or forward this message to him or to the pastor of the congregation.

The membership totals you report for December 31, 2004 should match those previously reported. You can find your report for 2004 summarized in the Yearbook section of the Minutes of the 72nd General Assembly (2005). If you find that the membership totals for 2004 were incorrect, please make the necessary corrections in this year's report and provide an explanation for the change(s).

Do not include any ministers in local church membership statistics even though they may have communicant fellowship in the congregation. A minister's membership is in the regional church, where he is counted separately on the roll of the presbytery.

Please begin now to gather the information you'll need to complete your report, and send it to me by February 15th. This will provide you sufficient time to gather your data and report it, and me the time I will need to compile reports from nearly 300 congregations and 16 presbyteries, correct errors and omissions, and provide the explanation and analyses expected of the Statistician.

May the Lord bless you and your congregation in 2006.

Sincerely in Christ,
Luke E. Brown
Statistician
1585 Bauman Dr.
Maple Glen, PA 19002-3215
Phone: 215-628-9729
Email: brown.1@opc.org