wfn.org | Lutherans Count 69.5 Million Members Worldwide, 66 Million In LWF

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

February 17, 2005

Lutherans Count 69.5 Million Members Worldwide, 66 Million In LWF
05-027-PM*/FI

     GENEVA (ELCA) -- A one-year increase of 3.63 million Christians among
member churches of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) put the total LWF
membership at 65,927,334 in 2004, according to the latest statistical data
from the LWF.  LWF member churches around the world had 62.3 million
members in 2003 and 61.7 million in 2001.
     Including Lutheran churches that are not LWF member churches,
membership among Lutheran churches increased by 3.57 million to
69,527,817, representing a growth of 5.4 percent.  Lutheran churches
worldwide had 65.96 million members in 2003 and 65.39 million members in
2001.  Between 2003 and 2004, Lutheran churches that are not LWF member
churches lost 60,177 members for a total of 3,600,483.
     The 138 LWF member churches, the 11 recognized congregations and one
recognized council in 77 countries recorded a membership increase of more
than 5.8 percent.   Last year, the number of LWF member churches increased
from 136 to 138, including 135 churches with full membership in the LWF
and three associate member churches.
     The 15,000-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the
Netherlands merged with the country's two largest Reformed churches -- the
Netherlands Reformed Church and the Reformed Churches in the
Netherlands -- last year to form the 2.53million member Protestant Church
in the Netherlands (PCN).  The PCN is a member of both the LWF and the
World Alliance of Reformed Churches.

Worldwide
 + Between 2003 and 2004, membership in LWF member churches in Europe rose
from 35,959,982 to 38,594,553 Christians.  The increase was due largely to
the PCN admission into the LWF last year.
 + LWF member churches in Africa reported 14,079,022 members in 2004 -- up
8.4 percent from 12,984,282 members in 2003.
 + The number of Lutherans in Asia increased by almost 1 percent, bringing
the continent's total to 7,391,102.  Of this figure, the LWF member
churches account for 7,229,661 members -- up from 7,200,069 in 2003.
 + Lutheran churches in Latin America and the Caribbean recorded a slight
fall in membership, around 1 percent, bringing in a new total of
1,116,913.  This includes 842,096 people in the LWF member churches --
5,069 fewer members than in the previous year, a 0.6 percent decrease.
 + Membership fell by around 2.2 percent in Lutheran churches in Canada
and the United States between 2003 and 2004.  Of the total 8,250,658
Lutherans in the region 5,182,002 belong to the four LWF member churches
there.	The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the second largest LWF
member church recorded 4,984,925 members -- a 2.25 percent decrease.

     The membership statistics are based on information received from the
LWF member churches, the recognized congregations and council, as well as
from other Lutheran churches, organizations, mission bodies and
congregations.	The figures recorded for the year ending 2003 were used
for churches that did not indicate any change in statistics by the end of
January 2005.
     The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common
interest such as ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology,
humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various
aspects of mission and development work.
-- -- --
     A one-page summary of the LWF Statistics 2004 is at
http://www.lutheranworld.org/LWF_Documents/LWF Statistics 01 2004.pdf and
full details are at http://www.lutheranworld.org/LWF_Documents/LWF
Statistics 2004.pdf on the LWF Web site.

*Pauline Mumia is English editor for Lutheran World Information, the LWF's
information service based in Geneva, Switzerland.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news