Declining organizations don't want to know the truth about their demise. They deceive themselves and others. They hide from painful reality. Until it is too late.

The exception is the Presbyterian Church (USA). They are to be commended for the courage to confront the brutal facts and to publish them online.

But do they have the right interpretive framework for understanding what is going on? Do they have the will to change? Or is the tide of history running out for the PCUSA and the Protestant mainline churches?

For the record here is a list of the reports you can download on the PCUSA.

• Recent Changes in Membership and Attendance in Mainline Protestant Congregations
• Congregational Strengths and Subsequent Numerical Growth among Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Congregations
• Fastest-Growing Presbyterian Churches by Deborah Bruce and Cynthia Woolever
• Myths and Facts about Evangelism and Church Growth
• The PC(USA) Clergy Shortage, Myth or Reality
• Trends and Changes in Mainline Denominations by John P. Marcum
• Membership for the PC(USA) 1960 - 2005
• Is There a Clergy Shortage in the PC(USA)? 1999
• Worship Attendance as a Percentage of Membership 1990-2005
• How Often do PC(USA) Congregations Celebrate the Lord's Supper?
• PC(USA) Church School Enrollment 1997-2005
• PC(USA) Losses by Year, 1986 to 2005
• Average Worship Attendance as a Percent of Membership by Church Size, 2005
• Distribution of Members and Congregations by Congregation Size, 2005
• Average per member contributions by church membership, 2005
• Distribution of PC(USA) Members by Synod 2005
• Number of PC(USA) congregations by membership size 1995 and 2005
• PC(USA) Candidates for Ministry, 1984 to 2005
• A Study of the Effectiveness of Interim Pastors
• Stability and change in a PC(USA) congregation
• Survey of Presbyterian Pastors: computer use, study leaves and sabbaticals, pastoral concerns, and other topics
• Narrative Summary of Results
• Statistical Summary
• Research on Racial-Ethnic Presbyterians (1999-2000)
• A Survey of New Members and Confirmands of the PC(USA) (1998)
• A Survey of Christian Educators Serving the PC(USA) (1998)
• A Survey of Tentmakers and Congregations Served by Tentmakers (1996) Narrative Report
• Highlights and Statistical Summary
• Survey of the unchurched (1991)