wfn.org | Mormons rank as No. 5 church; LCMS now 10th

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod
Board for Communication Services

LCMSNews -- No. 15
March 14, 2002

Mormons rank as No. 5 church; LCMS now 10th

(RNS) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the first time 
has been listed among the top five largest churches in the United States, 
according to figures released Feb. 13.

The Salt Lake City-based church, popularly known as the Mormons, ranked 
fifth among the 25 largest U.S. churches, according to the 2002 Yearbook of 
Canadian and American Churches, compiled by the National Council of Churches.

The Roman Catholic Church maintained its No. 1 spot, with 63.6 million 
reported members. The largest Protestant church, in the No. 2 spot, remains 
the Southern Baptist Convention, with 15.9 million reported members. The 
United Methodist Church placed third, with 8.3 million members in the 
United States. In the No. 4 spot is the Church of God in Christ, a 
predominantly Black Pentecostal church with 5.4 million members. The 
Latter-day Saints, with 5.2 million members, placed fifth.

The Latter-day Saints bumped the nation's largest Lutheran body, the 
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, to sixth place, with 5.1 million 
members. That move leaves the Methodists as the only mainline Protestant 
church among the top five -- in 1970, three of the top five churches were 
mainline churches.

Rounding out the top 10 were the National Baptist Convention of America, 
with 3.5 million members; the Presbyterian Church (USA), at 3.4 million 
members; the Assemblies of God, with 2.5 million members; and The Lutheran 
Church--Missouri Synod, with 2.5 million members. The Assemblies of God, a 
fast-growing Pentecostal denomination, rose from tenth to ninth place.  The 
LCMS moved from ninth to tenth place.

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