Each year, every congregation and synod-authorized worshiping community (SAWC) is asked to provide information about its people, finances, and resources through the Annual Congregation Report (Form A). This provides the churchwide organization and synods with a picture of the congregations and worshiping communities that make up the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). This summary report also provides the congregation with important information about its ministries and programs and perspectives in planning for the future.
Please ensure that this form is given to the people in your congregation who, together, will provide the information needed to complete the report. This likely will include a pastor, administrative person, treasurer, or president. The report can also be used as a helpful conversation / planning resource for a Church Council.
The data from the Annual Congregation Report is shared on your congregation’s full trend report on the ELCA’s website. (To view a congregation’s trend report on the ELCA website, click Find a Congregation and type in the zip code, click on the congregation’s name.)
Thanks for helping us move toward 100% participation for this year!
New update from the ELCA:
“We are grateful to those of you who have faithfully submitted your Annual Congregation Report (Forms A &C / Parochial Reports) year after year. Over those years the Congregation Report form has changed very little. Many of you have had ideas for how the report could be improved, and we’re happy to tell you that we have listened and have been making some changes.
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- There is now only one form to complete, Form A, which asks for congregation statistics and financial data. The kinds of questions that were on Form C will instead be gathered by simple online surveys across the year.
- The worksheet has been redesigned. We heard from you that it was too small and cramped, so we’ve made it more readable.
- Instructions have been improved. We now provide better explanations for completing the forms and defining what terms mean.
We are also working to improve the technology for the Annual Congregation Report to make submitting your data each year as easy as possible.”
To fill out these forms you must have your congregation ID number and password. Your congregation should have received a packet in the mail mid-January 2024 from churchwide that includes the password. Passwords change from year to year.
Starting Jan. 2024 congregations can file electronically by clicking here.
Submission deadline: March 1st
