CLARIFICATION
Eds.- Our press release of March 30, ?2006 yearbook of churches reflects ?robust immigrant history? in U.S.,? listed the largest 25 churches in the U.S., including
?2. The Southern Baptist Convention, 16,267,494 members, reporting a decrease of 1.05 percent.?
The Yearbook places an asterisk on this reference to add the following clarification:
"In preparation for this 2006 edition, the Southern Baptist Convention reported errors in their membership figures previously submitted for the 2005 and 2004 editions of the Yearbook. As a result, membership growth rates reported in 2004 and 2005 editions of 1.21% and 1.18%, respectively, would be revised downward to 0.53% and 0.42% based on the new figures. With these corrections, the overall membership growth between December 31, 2001 and December 31, 2004 is unchanged at 1.3%, a considerably slower rate of growth than previously reported."
The 2006 Yearbook accurately reports an increase of membership from 2001 to 2004 for the SBC of 1.3 percent. The 1.05 percent decrease is based on the previously reported data that the SBC corrected and the Yearbook reported in its analysis indicated by the asterisk. News reports that separate the data from the analysis have created an erroneous picture of SBC membership trends.
Contact NCC News: Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228, pjenks@ncccusa.org