wfn.org | Lutheran Church Membership Exceeds 65 Million Worldwide

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Growth Up by 50% or More in Madagascar, Namibia and Nigeria

Geneva, 7 August 2002 (LWI) - According to the most recent
statistics published by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF),
Lutheran Church membership worldwide has grown by more than 1.4
million, to reach a total of 65.4 million (65,387,677) in 2001,
representing an increase of some 2.2 percent. In 2000, global
membership fell just short of 64 million, and in 1999 there were
63.1 million members.

Membership of the 133 member churches, eleven recognized
congregations and one recognized council of the LWF totaled 61.7
million (61,704,551) in 2001. There were about 60.2 million
members in 2000. Last year, the number of LWF member churches
increased from 131 to 133, of which 130 are full members and three
are associate members. The number of Lutherans belonging to
non-LWF-member churches decreased by about 92,000, down to
3,683,126.

The largest 2000-2001 increase was in Africa. The continent now
has 1,368,489 more members, reaching a total of 11,953,068. The
Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria showed the sharpest increase
globally, growing by some 62 percent to reach 1,167,023 members.
Two more churches saw 50 percent increases-the Malagasy Lutheran
Church, with 2,250,000 members, and the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN) with 300,000.
Double-digit percent increases were also reported by the Kenya
Evangelical Lutheran Church with 30,000 members, the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Malawi with 25,000 and the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Zimbabwe with 110,000. The Evangelical Lutheran Church
in Namibia (ELCIN) increased by 9% to a 580,000 total.

The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) is still the
biggest African Lutheran church, with an unchanged membership of
around 3.36 million. The second largest is the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Tanzania with about 2.5 million.

In Europe, overall Lutheran membership decreased by 305,118, down
to 36,642,084. LWF member churches lost 213,268, down to
36,602,324. Membership of the largest Lutheran church in the
world-the Church of Sweden-remained unchanged at 7,399,915, while
that of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, the third
largest in the world, increased slightly to 4,606,543. The
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark has 4,532,635 members,
having lost some 3,800. Membership of the Church of Norway remains
unchanged at 3.8 million.

The Evangelical Church in Croatia had 4,500 members last year,
3,000 less than in 2000. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Hungary, with 301,925 members, registered a 30 percent loss. The
Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands,
after losing almost 15 percent, now has 15,000 members. The
Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Slovak
Republic has 372,858, an increase of roughly 13 percent.

Of any country, Germany has by far the most Lutherans. The overall
2001 total was 13,649,314, a decrease of about 222,226. The North
Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church reported 2,233,740 members, a
loss of about 120,000. Membership of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Saxony decreased by 57,000 to a 937,000 total, of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia by about 20,000 to
514,580, of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick by 10,000
to 440,000, of the Evangelical Church of Pomerania by nearly 9,000
to 129,283, and of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg
by 5,000 to 230,000. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Schaumburg-Lippe showed a slight loss, 1,000, down to 66,000.

In Asia, the number of Lutherans increased by over five percent in
2001. Of the 7,146,011 total of Lutheran church members there,
7,025,779 belong to LWF member churches. Membership of the Gossner
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chotanagpur and Assam, India,
climbed by about 20,000 to 380,135. The South Andhra Evangelical
Lutheran Church - Telugu, India, grew by almost 50 percent, and
now has 45,500 members. The Nias Protestant Christian Church,
which joined the LWF only last year, had 333,657 members, an
increase of some 6,000. The Pakpak Dairi Christian Protestant
Church, in Indonesia, slightly increased its membership to 30,490.
Decreases in membership were reported by the Lutheran Church in
Australia, with about 85,000, a loss of 9,000, and the Lutheran
Church in Malaysia and Singapore with 6,000 members, about a 25
percent loss.

The North American Lutheran churches lost almost 24,000 members in
2001. Of a total of 8,519,967 Lutherans, 5,331,573 belonged to LWF
member churches. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA), the second largest LWF member church, had 5,125,919
members, representing an almost 24,000-member loss. The Lutheran
Church - Missouri Synod, USA and Canada, which is not an LWF
member, registered an unchanged membership figure of 2.6 million.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), with 188,654
members, showed a loss of almost 3,000. Membership figures for the
Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad, in Canada, and the
Lithuanian Evangelical Lutheran Church in Diaspora, in the USA,
remained unchanged at 12,000 and 5,000 respectively. The
Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, in the USA, which
keeps in loose contact with the LWF, increased by more than 10% to
a 36,400 total.

In Latin America, the Lutheran Churches showed a slight increase
of about 3,400 members, reaching a total of 1,126,547, of which
848,058 belong to LWF member churches. Membership of these
churches remained mostly stable, except for the Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Brazil, which keeps in loose contact with the
LWF and grew by around 2,000 members to reach 219,888.

These statistics were reported, via an OCS survey, by LWF member
churches, congregations and one council recognized by the LWF, and
other Lutheran churches or organizations in infrequent contact
with the Federation. For churches that reported no statistical
information by December 2001, the preceding year's figures were
recorded. (934 words)

All statistics will be published in the printed version of
Lutheran World Information (LWI) for August 2002.

You can find the complete LWF statistics on
Lutheran churches on the LWF Web site, under:
www.lutheranworld.org/LWF_Documents/LWF-Statistics-2001.pdf

For further information, please contact the LWF Office for
Communication Services in Geneva.

Tel:+41/22-791 6354
Fax:+41/22-791 6630
E-mail: info@lutheranworld.org

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 133 member churches in 73 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human
rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and
development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted,
material presented does not represent positions or opinions of the
LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article
contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced
with acknowledgment.]

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