The Presbyterian Church (USA) lost 57,572 members in 2007, the worst decline in decades, according to the official statistics released by Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick on June 21, 2008.

That leaves the denomination with 2,209,546 members, 2 million fewer than the number of Presbyterians who were members of the predecessor denominations in 1965 that merged in 1983 to form the PCUSA.

Kirkpatrick's office projects even higher losses in 2008 and 2009.

The 2007 loss is the equivalent of nearly 300 congregations with memberships of 200 -- about the average size for a PCUSA congregation.

To read more on the PCUSA General Assembly, go to Layman Online.