wfn.org | Handbook Looks At Electronic Church

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

TITLE:	Handbook Looks At Electronic Church

CONTACT: 	Joretta Purdue
(10-71B){121}
		Washington, D.C. (202) 546-8722	March 2, 1998

1998 yearbook looks
at emerging electronic church

(UMNS) -- The 1998 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches adds a new
chapter on "The Emerging Electronic Church" to this extensive
compilation of annual statistics about congregations and finances.
	The yearbook, a project of the National Council of Churches
(NCC), also includes directories for denominations and ecumenical
organizations.
	Included in the chapter on "The Emerging Electronic Church" are
six pages of World Wide Web addresses for denominational and ecumenical
bodies, sources for religion news and periodicals, relief organizations
and other groups.
	The articles and tables include documentation of the increasing
diversity among seminary student bodies; the decreasing membership
losses among three mainline Protestant bodies, including the United
Methodist Church; and the upswing in church giving, even when corrected
for inflation.
	The handbook's directories list theological seminaries and Bible
schools, sources of church history materials, national cooperative
organizations and religious bodies, and religious periodicals published
in North America.
	The information includes data provided by 164 denominations in
the United States and 86 in Canada. 
Analysis of trends among these groups was provided by a new editor this
year: the Rev. Eileen W. Lindner, NCC associate general secretary for
Christian unity.
The book is published by Abingdon Press in Nashville, Tenn., and is
available on CD-ROM.
				# # #
	NOTE TO EDITORS: If your policy includes listing the prices of
new books, the yearbook is $29.95, excluding postage and handling costs.
It can be ordered by calling (800) 889-5733.

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/