As the congregations shrink, so shrinks the United Church Observer

The United Church Observer is more like a trade than a consumer magazines because its fortunes depend on the industry -- or in this case, the denomination -- to which it is attached.

According to the Observer (an article available only in the print edition), the United Church membership has been declining at about 2 per cent a year since 2000, when it was about 651,000. In 2005, it declined by 3.4 per cent to 573,424. Surprisingly, despite the slow decline in number, fundraising was actually up by 1 per cent in 2005, to $374 million.

The Observer's audited circulation has also been declining about 5% a year recently: In 2002, it was 82,464; it is now (2006) claiming 65,859, a decline of 16,605 (20%).

Virtually all of the Observer's current total qualified circulation is sponsored, that is paid for by individual congregations across the country and mailed individually addressed to its members. As of September 2006, it sold 1,725 individual subscriptions.