wfn.org | Number of Lutherans Worldwide Increases to Nearly 64 Million

[FRANKI@elca.org]

Ethiopian Church Records Highest Growth

GENEVA, 24 January 2001 (LWI) - There were nearly 64 million Lutherans
worldwide by the end of the year 2000, an increase of more than 800,000 over
the previous year. In 1999, these figures stood at around 63.1 million
compared to 61.5 million in 1998.

By the end of last year, the 131 churches and 12 recognized congregations
that belong to the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) had a combined membership
of more than 60.2 million compared to 59.5 million in 1999. Last year the
number of LWF member churches rose from 128 to the present figure-three are
associate members, 128 have full membership. In 2000, there were more than
3.7 million Lutherans that were not LWF members, an increase of
approximately 100,000 over the previous year.

The biggest growth in 2000 was recorded in Africa. Membership in Lutheran
churches on the continent rose by about 835,000, pushing the total figure to
more than 10.5 million. The highest increase for the 1999 period was
registered in the Asian region. Lutheran churches there had 6.7 million
members.

The Lutheran church with the highest number of additional members worldwide
in 2000 was the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus. Some 766,000 new
members in the past year pushed the total to more than 3.3 million, making
it the largest LWF member church in Africa. In second place, in Africa, is
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania with some 2.5 million members.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi had about 20,000 members last
year, an increase of 8,000 over the previous year. The Church of the
Lutheran Brethren of Cameroon had an additional 24,000 in 2000 putting its
total membership at around 106,000. Membership in the Lutheran Church in
Liberia more than doubled to reach approximately 71,000 compared to 35,000
in 1999.

In Europe, membership in Lutheran churches fell by around 106,000 to a total
of 36.9 million. The LWF member churches in this region had 196,000 less
members compared to the previous year, putting the total figure at 36.8
million. Membership in the largest Lutheran church worldwide-the Church of
Sweden-dropped by about 106,000, to reach 7.4 million in 2000. The third
largest LWF member church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland had
4.6 million members, 1,600 below the 1999 figures. The Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Denmark had around 4.5 million members, a drop of about 3,400. The
Church of Norway maintained a steady figure of 3.8 million. The Lutheran
Council of Great Britain registered 90,000 members in 2000, an increase of
over 56 percent. The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in
Austria gained 3,000 new members, pushing the total to 340,906.

Germany has the highest number of Lutherans in any single country. In 2000,
there were over 13.8 million Lutherans in Germany, a decrease of about
56,000 compared to 1999. While the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria
acquired 3,300 new members, totaling 2.75 million, the Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Saxony lost around 27,000 members, falling to 994,000. The
membership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg fell by about
9,000 to 484,000.

In Asia, LWF member churches had more than 6.6 million members last year, an
increase of about 140,000 over 1999. The Protestant Christian Batak Church
(Indonesia), with over one million new members in 1999, registered another
95,000 in 2000 to reach three million. This is the largest of the ten LWF
member churches in Indonesia. Membership in the Lutheran Church in Malaysia
and Singapore rose by around 1,300 to reach 8,100 in 2000. By the end of
last year, the Protestant Church in Sabah, also in Malaysia, had 32,500
members, an additional 2,500 compared to the previous year. The Taiwan
Lutheran Church had about 7,800 members in 2000, an increase of over 700.

North American Lutheran churches lost about 33,000 members in 2000. The
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the second largest LWF member
church had 5.15 million members last year, a slight drop of 28,000.
Membership in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (USA and Canada) remained
unchanged at 2.6 million members.

Lutheran churches in Latin America had 15,000 new members, pushing the total
figure to more than 1.1 million. The LWF member churches in this region had
841,450 members, a slight increase over the previous year's 834,000. There
was an increase of 14,000 members in the Church of the Lutheran Confession
in Brazil, pushing the total to 714,000.

The statistics on membership are based on information provided by the LWF
member churches, recognized congregations and other Lutheran churches or
organizations that the federation is in contact with. The previous year's
figures were used for churches that did not report statistical changes by
December 2000.

(Further details of this data will appear in the printed Lutheran World
Information (LWI) at the end of January. Related requests may be addressed
to the LWF Office for Communication Services at the following address:
info@lutheranworld.org.)

(The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is a global communion of Lutheran
churches. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 131 member
churches in 72 countries representing over 60.2 million of the nearly 64
million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches
in areas of common interest such as ecumenical relations, theology,
humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various
aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of the LWF.
Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions
or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an
article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced
with acknowledgement.]

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