The Rev. Lowell Almen, secretary of the Chicago-based denomination, attributed the losses to “roll cleaning” in many churches, the disbanding of 36 churches, and the withdrawal of eight congregations (with a combined membership of 11,000)

WASHINGTON — A 1 percent drop in membership in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has caused the church to dip below 5 million members for the first time in its history.

The ELCA lost 53,081 baptized members last year for a total of 4.98 million members. The number of Lutherans who were actively involved as “communing and contributing” members fell slightly to 2.34 million, about the same as the Presbyterian Church (USA).

The Rev. Lowell Almen, secretary of the Chicago-based denomination, attributed the losses to “roll cleaning” in many churches, the disbanding of 36 churches, and the withdrawal of eight congregations (with a combined membership of 11,000) from the denomination.

“The statistical back door is far too large in our congregations,” he said. “Back-door losses muffle front-door gains. Too many members slip out the back door and disappear from membership in ELCA congregations each year.”

The loss could bump the ELCA out of the No. 6 spot on the list of the country’s 10 largest churches compiled by the National Council of Churches. Under the most recent ranking, the ELCA would switch spots with No. 7, the National Baptist Convention USA, with 5 million members.

Since 1990, the ELCA has lost about 250,000 members — almost half of them in the last two years. The last reported membership gain was in 1991. Membership in most mainline Protestant churches has fallen steadily since the 1960s.

Almen said less than one-third — 1.5 million — of Lutherans are in church on an average Sunday, and the average number of baptized members in a typical ELCA congregation was 472, while the average “communing and contributing” membership stood at 223.