wfn.org | Lutheran Numbers Worldwide Show Growth in Africa

[Brenda Williams <BRENDAW@elca.org>]

Reply-To: ElcaNews <ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG>
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

February 19, 1998

LUTHERAN NUMBERS WORLDWIDE SHOW GROWTH IN AFRICA
98-07-034-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- There are 61,421,782 Lutherans in the world,
according to figures compiled by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) at the
end of 1997.  The LWF is a communion of 57,804,693 of those Lutherans in
124 member churches in 69 countries.  The total number of Lutherans in the
world increased from 60,978,623 in 1996.
     Africa accounted for the greatest increases in the numbers of
Lutherans -- from just under 8.6 million to more than 9 million.  A record
200,000 people became Lutherans in 1997 in Tanzania for a total of 2.5
million.  Membership in Ethiopia last year increased by 182,358 to a total
membership of 2,274,209.  Nigeria reported 175,000 more members in 1997
than in 1996, bringing its total to 655,000.
     The 7.6-million-member Church of Sweden remains the world's largest
Lutheran church, followed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
with nearly 5.2 million and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland with
just under 4.6 million.
     Germany, the cradle of Lutheranism, still has the largest number of
Lutherans in any one country. There, the Lutheran churches had a combined
membership of over 14 million in 1997, ahead of the United States with
nearly 8.3 million.
     Of all Lutherans worldwide, 3,617,089 do not belong to the LWF. The
largest non-member church is The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod with 2.6
million members in the United States and Canada.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html