Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Congregation Trend Report
ELCA Research and Evaluation
Source: Congregational Annual Reports

Congregation: Lutheran Church of the Cross  Nisswa MN 56468  
Northeastern Minnesota Synod  Conference: Heartland 
Year Organized: 1959 

From 2001 to 2008	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	%Chg 01-08
Baptized Membership	1,684	1,748	1,700	1,714	1,605	1,621	1,661	1,689	0.3%
Members Received By:
a. Baptism: Children	30	18	23	36	25	10	27	27
b. Baptism: Adults	1	2	2	0	1	0	0	0
c. Affirmation of Faith	16	40	22	10	10	22	2	30
d. Transfer From:
1. ELCA Congregations	58	64	49	21	25	10	21	6
2. Other Lutheran	12	8	4	44	3	0	0	0
e. From Non-Lutheran Cong	5	9	4	4	0	0	0	0
f. Other & Stat. Adjustment	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total Members Added	122	141	104	115	64	42	50	63
Members Removed By:
a. Death	5	8	12	10	10	10	6	12
b. Transfer To:
1. ELCA Congregations	10	25	42	15	0	9	4	5
2. Other Lutheran	12	17	10	26	0	7	0	0
c. To Non-Lutheran Cong	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
d. Other & Stat. Adjustment	100	25	88	50	163	0	0	18
Total Members Removed	127	77	152	101	173	26	10	35
Membership Change	-5	64	-48	14	-109	16	40	28
Baptized Youth Confirmed	21	30	18	22	21	21	17	24
Confirmed Membership	1,247	1,293	1,230	1,208	1,146	1,173	1,203	1,257	0.8%
Conf-Communing Members	995	1,000	1,000	1,000	1,000	1,000	1,000	600	-39.7%
Conf-Comm-Contrib Members	990	990	990	990	900	900	1,000	1,000	1.0%
Average Worship Attendance 2001 to 2008
	495	500	500	500	500	500	400	350	-29.3%
Year	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	%Chg
Percent Attending Worship***	29.4%	28.6%	29.4%	29.2%	31.2%	30.8%	24.1%	20.7%	-29.5%
Racial/Ethnic Composition of Baptized Members
African American/Black	2	2	2	2	2	2	0	0
Asian/Pacific Islander	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	0
Latino/Hispanic	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0
Amer Indian/Alaska Native	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Arab/Middle Eastern****	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Multiethnic****	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
White	1,679	1,743	1,695	1,709	1,600	1,615	1,655	1,689
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
This data is collected to measure the ELCA's progress in becoming more diverse.
Regular Giving Per Confirmed-
Communing Member	447.22	469.30	473.76	596.12	507.42	574.36	563.74	815.34	82.3%
Regular Giving Per CC Member
in 2001 Dollars	447.22	462.00	455.97	558.89	460.12	504.57	481.50	670.68	50.0%
Regular Giving by Members	444,982	469,301	473,758	596,117	507,420	574,356	563,743	489,206	9.9%
Designated Giving by Members	85,494	74,464	39,208	87,075	14,393	26,960	19,903	130,562	52.7%
Grants & Partnership Support	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0%
Total Income**	533,230	547,077	536,684	692,139	533,187	617,577	595,820	632,511	18.6%
Current Operating Expenses	391,349	377,022	443,414	479,233	454,775	485,363	483,166	458,536	17.2%
Payments on Debts	100,075	118,656	36,119	100,803	44,400	64,164	64,164	64,184	-35.9%
Total Disbursements**	529,258	542,709	527,065	639,172	552,539	642,015	594,326	620,976	17.3%
Mission Support	27,000	29,500	29,425	31,500	22,100	35,700	20,720	25,000	-7.4%
Mission Support as % of Current
Operating Expenses, Debt
Expenses & Mission Support***	5.2%	5.6%	5.8%	5.2%	4.2%	6.1%	3.6%	4.6%	-12.4%
Mission Support as % of
Regular Giving***	6.1%	6.3%	6.2%	5.3%	4.4%	6.2%	3.7%	5.1%	-15.8%
Total ELCA Benevolence	35,684	37,725	39,642	42,255	46,718	51,078	33,634	32,300	-9.5%
Other Benevolence	213	3,618	2,613	10,639	4,599	9,975	8,988	1,664	681.2%

 

Average Worship Attendance 1990 to 2008
400	360	340	365	395	410	425	450	495	500	500	500	500	500	400	350	-12.5%
1990	1992	1994	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	%Chg
Population of Congregation's ZIP Code 56468 for 1990, 2000 and 2008
3,174	-	-	-	-	-	-	4,316	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4,777	50.5%
1990	1992	1994	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	%Chg

2008 VALUE OF CONGREGATIONAL ASSETS
Church edifice and lot	$3,500,000		Parsonage(s) and lot(s)	$232,000
Parish house and lot	$0		Other real estate	$0
Endowment & memorial funds	$0		Other assets	$82,303
Cash, savings, bonds, etc.	$20,115
Total indebtedness	$239,514		Capital improvements this year	$0

Wheelchair accessible? Y  Community Context: Small town under 10,000 pop. 

Size of 2008 Sunday School: 177 Pupils and 43 Leaders 

Zip Codes Served:    56468   56401   56425   56472   56465   56459 

**These totals include other income and expenses not displayed.

***The percent change in the far right column is not a subtraction of the
percents but a percent change of the two percents.

****Arab/Middle Eastern and Multiethnic were first collected in 2003.

The ZIP Code population data are Copyright (c) protected by Claritas Inc.

To make corrections or updates, contact the ELCA Office of the Secretary.
E-mail  conginfo@elca.org  or call 800/638-3522 extension 2810
Forms filed electronically will be checked for errors starting in March.

"Our Context: Exploring Our Congregation and Community" by Mark D. Johns is
a resource which includes information on how to use the Trend Report for
congregational planning.  It costs $14.99.  Order ISBN #0806644044 from
Augsburg Fortress  1-800-328-4648 or www.augsburgfortress.org.

"Living Lutheran: Renewing Your Congregation" by Dave Daubert is a resource
for congregational renewal.  It costs $11.99.  Order ISBN #0806653345 from
Augsburg Fortress  1-800-328-4648 or www.augsburgfortress.org.