wfn.org | Annual Conference Membership

[owner-umethnews@ecunet.org]

"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (202
notes).

Note 202 by UMNS on July 7, 1997 at 16:14 Eastern (2598 characters).

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT: Linda Green                           390(10-21-71B){202}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615)742-5470               July 7, 1997

EDITORS NOTE: This story may be a sidebar to UMNS# 389 {201}

United Methodist Church membership drops 42,000;
16 of 66 annual conferences report gains

     NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)-- Membership in the United Methodist
Church dropped by approximately 42,000 during 1996.
     Unofficial figures gathered from the denomination's annual
(regional) conferences by Newscope, weekly publication of the
United Methodist Publishing House, and by United Methodist News
Service, show the 1996 loss is about 7,300 members less than 1995.
     Officials estimate that the 1996 membership in the United
States will be approximately 8.5 million, down 42,000 from 1995.
The 1996 figures are an improvement over the 49,308 loss reported
in 1995 and the 62,267 members lost in 1994. 
     Sixteen of the 66 U.S. annual (regional) conferences reported
membership gains. North Georgia led again with a net growth of
4,259 members, making 1996 the largest gain in the conference's
history.  Two Texas Conferences -- Central and Southwest -- had
substantial increases, 2,335 and 2,039 respectively. This is the
fourth consecutive year of growth for Southwest Texas. The Western
North Carolina Conference grew by 2,090 people.
     Also celebrating a second consecutive year of numerical
growth is the Mississippi Conference. It grew by 591 people.
     Other conferences recording growth were: Alabama-West
Florida, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Little Rock, North Carolina,
North Texas, Oklahoma, Red Bird Missionary, Rio Grande and
Tennessee.
     Fifty annual conferences suffered membership losses, adding
to the more than three decades of decline in the denomination.
     The largest decline -- 4,852 -- was reported by the West Ohio
Conference followed by the Dakotas with 4,812. Other significant
losses were reported by Northern Illinois, 3,712; California-
Pacific, 3,693; Illinois Great Rivers, 3,236; South Indiana,
2,342; Central Pennsylvania, 2,254; Nebraska, 2,078; and
Minnesota, 2,048.
     In addition to U.S. members, there are approximately one
million United Methodists outside the United States.
     The latest official membership figures are released each fall
by the denomination's General Council on Finance and
Administration. 
                               # # #

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 To make suggestions or give your comments, send a note to 
 umns@ecunet.org or Susan_Peek@ecunet.org

 To unsubscribe, send the single word "unsubscribe" (no quotes)
 in a mail message to umethnews-request@ecunet.org

-----------------------------------------------------------------------