wfn.org | NCC's 2010 Yearbook chronicles church trends

["Philip Jenks" <pjenks@ncccusa.org>]

Catholics, Mormons, Assemblies of God growing;
Mainline churches report a continuing decline

New York, February 12, 2010 -- The National Council of Churches' 2010  Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches reports membership gains in the  Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the  Assemblies of God, among others.

The 78th annual edition of the Yearbook also reports a continuing  decline in membership of virtually all mainline denominations. And the  Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's second largest denomination  and long a reliable generator of church growth, reported a decline in  membership for the second year in a row, down 0.24 percent to  16,266,920.

The Catholic Church, the nation's largest at more than 68 million  members, also reported a slight membership loss in 2009 but rebounded  this year with a robust growth of 1.49 percent.

The Latter-day Saints grew 1.71 percent to 5,873,408 members and the  Assemblies of God grew 1.27 percent to 2,863,265 members, according to  figures reported in the 2010 Yearbook.

Other churches that continued to post membership gains in 2010 are  Jehovah's Witnesses, up 2 percent to 1,092,169 members, and Church of  God (Cleveland, Tenn.), up 1.76 percent to 1,053,642 members.

Churches reporting the highest membership losses are the Presbyterian  Church (USA), down 3.28 percent to 2,941,412; American Baptist Churches  in the USA, down 2 percent to 1,358,351; and the Evangelical Lutheran  Church in America, down 1.92 percent to 4,709,956 members.

Membership figures reported in the 2010 Yearbook were collected by the  churches in 2008 and reported to the Yearbook in 2009.

However, eleven of the 25 largest churches did not report updated  figures: the Church of God in Christ; the National Baptist Convention,  USA, Inc.; the National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.; the African  Methodist Episcopal Church; the National Missionary Baptist Convention  of America; the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.; Churches  of Christ; Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America; Pentecostal Assemblies  of the World, Inc.; Baptist Bible Fellowship International; and  Christian Churches and Churches of Christ.

The Rev. Dr. Eileen W. Lindner, editor of the annual Yearbook since  1998, noted that many observers have attributed accelerated membership  decline of some churches to "an increasing secularization of American  postmodern society, and its disproportionate impact on liberal religious  groups."

But Lindner advised caution in assessing the causes of decline.  "American society as a whole has not experienced the kind and rate of  secularization so clearly demonstrated during the last quarter century  in Western Europe. Indeed, American church membership trends have defied  gravity particularly where the Pentecostal experience is included."

In addition, the largest plurality of immigrants to the U.S. in the last  50 years have been Christian in their religious affiliation, Lindner  notes.

"In an era in which we have come to expect the inevitable advance of  secularism in the U.S., the influx of robust Christian communities among  new immigrants once again amends the topographical map."

More study is needed to determine the potential changes in the American  landscape "occasioned by the in-migration of new immigrant churches over  the last forty years," Lindner writes. But the impacts of the new  immigration on the faith community have been profound. (See  www.ncccusa.org/news/100205.yearbookimmigrant.html.)

Church financial trends are also reported in the Yearbook. The financial  reporting in the 2010 Yearbook is based on the financial income reports  of the 64 churches reporting. The almost 45 million members of these  churches contributed almost $36 billion, showing a decrease in the total  income to the churches of $26 million.

The 2010 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches reports on 227  national church bodies. Statistics in the yearbook reflect "continued  high overall church participation, and account for the religious  affiliation of over 163 million Americans," the editor reports.

The Yearbook also includes a directory  of 234 U.S. local and regional  ecumenical bodies with program and contact information and provides  listings of theological seminaries and bible schools, religious  periodicals and guides to religious research including church archive  listings.

Information in the Yearbook is kept up to date in two regular electronic  updates each year. Access to this Internet data is provided through a  unique passcode printed inside the back cover.
Total church membership reported in the 2010 Yearbook is 147,384,631  members, up 0.49 percent over 2009.

The top 25 churches reported in the 2010 Yearbook are in order of size:

1. The Catholic Church, 68,115,001 members, up 1.49 percent. 
2. Southern Baptist Convention, 16,228,438 members, down 0.24  percent. 
3. The United Methodist Church, 7,853,987 members, down 0.98 percent. 
4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5,974,041 members,  up 1.71 percent. 
5. The Church of God in Christ, 5,499,875 members, no membership updates  reported.
6. National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc, 5,000,000  members, no  membership updates reported.
7. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 4,633,887 members, down 1.62  percent. 
8. National Baptist Convention of America, Inc., 3,500,000 members, no  membership updates reported. 
9. Assemblies of God (ranked 10 last year), 2,899,702 members, up 1.27  percent. 
10. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 1(ranked 9 last year), 2,844,952  members, down 3.28 percent. 
11.  African Methodist Episcopal Church, 2,500,000 members, no  membership updates reported. 
11. National  Missionary Baptist Convention of America,  2,500,000  members, no membership updates reported.
11. Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. 2,500,000 members, no  membership updates reported.
14. The Lutheran Church-- Missouri Synod (LCMS), 2,337,349 members, down  1.92 percent.
15. The Episcopal Church, 2,057,292 members, down 2.81 percent.
16. Churches of Christ, 1,639,495 members, no membership updates  reported.
17. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, 1,500,000 members, no  membership updates reported.
17. Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc., 1,500,000 members, no  membership updates reported.
19. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, 1,400,000 members,  members, no membership updates reported.
20. American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A., 1,331,127  members, down  2.00 percent.
21. Baptist Bible Fellowship International (ranked 22 last year),  1,200,000 members, no membership updates reported.
22.  Jehovah's Witnesses (ranked 23 last year) 1,114,009 members, up  2.00 percent.
23. United Church of Christ (ranked 22 last year), 1,111,691 members,  down 2.93 percent.
24. Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), (ranked 25 last year),  1,072,169 members, up 1.76 percent.
25. Christian Churches and Churches of Christ (ranked 24 last year),  1,071,616 members, no membership updates reported.

For more information or to order a copy of the Yearbook, see  www.ncccusa.org/pdfs/2010yearbookorder.pdf

NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office),  646-853-4212 (cell) , pjenks@ncccusa.org