wfn.org | NCCCUSA 1997 Yearbook of American, Canadian

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Churches

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the 
U.S.A.
Contact: Carol J. Fouke, NCC News, 212-870-2252
Internet: carol_fouke.parti@ecunet.org

NCC4/9/97               FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1997 YEARBOOK OF AMERICAN AND CANADIAN CHURCHES
EXTENSIVELY DOCUMENTS NORTH AMERICAN CHURCH LIFE

 NEW YORK, N.Y., April 9 ---- Three 
denominations account for a net increase in U.S. 
church membership of about a quarter of a million 
members from 1994 to 1995, according to the 1997 
Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, an 
annual project of the National Council of Churches.

 They are the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints (up 98,400, or 2.39 percent, to 4,711,500 
in 1995), Roman Catholic Church (up 89,849, or 0.15 
percent, to 60,280,454) and the Southern Baptist 
Convention (up 49,236, or 0.32 percent, to 
15,663,296).

 U.S. population growth from 1994 to 1995 was 
0.967 percent, to an estimated total resident 
population of 262,890,000 according to the U.S. 
Bureau of the Census.

 In general, the Yearbook notes, "denominations 
like the Southern Baptist Convention which have 
experienced growth over the last few decades 
continued to grow.  However, they grew at a more 
modest rate than in many past years.  Denominations 
like the United Methodist Church who have declined 
in recent decades continued to decline, but they 
lost fewer members this year than in previous 
years."

 The United Methodist Church was down 45,463, or 
0.53 percent, to 8,538,662 in 1995.  The 
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) reported a net 
membership loss of 32,986, or 1.22 percent, to 
3,669,489, and the United Church of Christ was down 
28,097, or 1.94 percent, to 1,472,213.

Almost all denominations that report financial 
information to the Yearbook, even those with 
decreasing membership, reported increased total 
income, and in most cases the increase exceeded the 
rate of inflation (2.8 percent from July 1994 to 
July 1995, as measured by the change in the Consumer 
Price Index and reported by the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics).  For example, the Presbyterian Church 
(U.S.A.) reported an almost three percent increase 
in giving while they lost one percent of their 
members.

 These are among the data reported in the 1997 
Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, the only 
comprehensive annual source of statistics from 
churches in the United States and Canada.  While not 
a complete census, the Yearbook is the most complete 
available summary of denominational membership.  The 
book's data are used extensively by journalists, 
researchers and scholars.

 The 1997 Yearbook - the book's 65th edition - 
includes:

  a "Trends and Development" section, which analyzes 
data provided by 114 denominations in the United 
States and 53 denominations in Canada.  Trends 
analysis is based on current data submitted to the 
Yearbook.
 
  a directory of national cooperative organizations 
and religious bodies, regional and local 
ecumenical agencies, theological seminaries and 
Bible schools; a list of depositories of church 
history materials, and religious periodicals in 
the United States and Canada; 
 
  a calendar of religious observances in Protestant 
(Episcopal and Lutheran), Orthodox, Roman 
Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Baha'i and Buddhist 
religious bodies as well as ecumenically for 1997-
2000, and 
 
  a statistical section providing membership and 
financial statistics and related date on U.S. and 
Canadian churches, including an updated look at 
trends in seminary education.

 The 303-page 1997 Yearbook is available in the 
United States for US $29.95 retail (not including 
shipping) at local bookstores in the U.S. and 
Canada, or from Cokesbury, toll-free telephone 800-
672-1789.  Also available, for $39.95, is a 
"package" that includes the book along with the 
complete text on CD-Rom, along with the Acrobat 
software needed to read the text on either an IBM or 
MacIntosh computer.

 Several new Yearbook-related products, most of 
them available free of charge, also are available:

  Membership data from past editions, going back to 
1951 available on CD Rom in Quatro Pro and generic 
Lotus 1-2-3 formats as a special tool for 
researchers.  Contact: NCC Friendship Press, Room 
860, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10115, 
Phone 212-870-2496; cost is $60.
 
  E-mail and World Wide Web addresses for many of 
the hundreds of organizations listed in the 
Yearbook.  Go to the National Council of Churches 
World Wide Web page: http://www.ncccusa.org and 
click on the Yearbook icon.
 
  A list of congregations around the world that are 
seeking to serve an international and ecumenical 
constituency using the English language.  A list 
current as of October 1996 is available on the NCC 
Web page (http://www.ncccusa.org) or by writing to 
International Congregations/Christians Abroad, 
NCC, 475 Riverside Drive, 6th Floor, New York, NY 
10115-0050.  For an up-to-date copy, send a 
request to 102412.3531@CompuServe.com.

 The Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches 
is prepared and edited by Kenneth B. Bedell of 
Dayton, Ohio, for the National Council of the 
Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (National Council 
of Churches) and is published by Abingdon Press, 
Nashville, Tenn.

"A CLOSER LOOK AT THE NUMBERS"

Decreases in "mainline" denominations (those 
with largely white membership and liberal 
approaches) were less than two percent of the 
membership of these denominations, following years 
of steady decline.  According to the Yearbook, 
"Reducing the rate of decline in several of the 
denominations is a step toward turning around the 
decline, but it should not be read as an indication 
that the mainline denominations are no longer 
declining."

 More than half of all U.S. church members 
belong to one of three denominations: the Roman 
Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention and 
the United Methodist Church.  The 1997 Yearbook 
reports that those three denominations have a 
combined inclusive membership of 84,482,412, or 
54.56 percent of the total reported to the Yearbook 
by 114 denominations.  Over 95 percent of the 
membership reported in the Yearbook is in the 
largest 30 denominations.

Four of the 10 largest U.S. denominations have 
predominately African-American membership.  Those 
bodies are the National Baptist Convention U.S.A., 
Inc. (with 8.2 million members); Church of God in 
Christ (5,499,875); National Baptist Convention of 
America Inc. (3.5 million), and African Methodist 
Episcopal Church (3.5 million).

 The National Council of Churches' 33 
Protestant, Orthodox and Episcopal member church 
bodies report a combined inclusive membership of 
51,842,456 in nearly 140,000 congregations.

 In Canada, 11 denominations account for more 
than 90 percent of all the members reported to the 
Yearbook.  Two denominations, the Roman Catholic 
Church and the United Church of Canada, account for 
more than 75 percent of the total reported 
membership.

 According to the 1997 Yearbook ,nearly one-
third (32.9 percent, or 21,736) of the 66,070 
theological students in the United States and Canada 
in 1995 were women.  Their numbers and proportion 
have increased steadily since the Association of 
Theological Schools in the United States and Canada 
first began counting enrollment by gender in 1972.  
Then, the 3,358 women theological students 
constituted 10.2 percent of total enrollment.  

 African American, Hispanic American and 
Pacific/Asian American theological students also 
have increased steadily as a percentage of total 
enrollment (now 8.8, 2.8 and 6.4 percent, 
respectively).
The 55 U.S. church bodies reporting financial 
data to the 1997 Yearbook reported $21,433,517,908 
in total contributions.  Those bodies have a 
combined inclusive membership of 48,115,704, 
resulting in an average contribution of $445.46 per 
member.  When considering only full or confirmed 
membership (43,104,555), the per capita contribution 
was $497.24.  On average, 17 percent of total 
contributions went toward benevolences.

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