| Sumario: | In this article, the authors discuss the changing relations between congregations and their communities in the demographically dynamic region of North Texas. Congregational data are derived from the authors' first-hand participation in the work of Grace Presbytery, a denominational judicatory of the Presbyterian Church (USA) with authority over a region of 53 counties in which nearly 50,000 church members worship in its more than 180 congregations. A county-level demographic analysis of the region shows that systematic differences exist in their populations, densities, and recent growth rates. These differences not only reflect the region's diversity of metropolitan, suburban, and rural areas, but also provide the contexts for the local community ministries of the PC(USA) congregations. Detailed case studies illustrate four common congregational situations: (1) long-term declining membership, (2) recently declining membership, (3) formerly declining but now growing membership, and (4) growing membership. Analysis of these case studies shows that the problem of “congruence” is critical in determining how congregations articulate with their communities. When ethnic, class, generational, and other differences develop over the decades between congregations and their neighbors, then congregations are likely to lose their congruence with the community that had caused them to be established there in the first place. Examining the demographic and other social, economic, political, and religious characteristics of the local area is a vital step toward comprehending the (in)congruence of a congregation with its community. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
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