wfn.org | LWI 2009-011 Membership in LWF Member Churches Reaches Just Under 68.5 Million

["LWFNews" <LWFNews@lutheranworld.org>]

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Membership in LWF Member Churches Reaches Just Under 68.5
Million 
Increase in Africa, Asia and Latin America Compensates for
Decline in Europe and North America

GENEVA, 27 February 2009 (LWI) - The combined membership in
churches belonging to the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) last
year rose by 161,792 to reach a global total just under 68.5
million (68,484,091). While Africa, Asia and Latin America and
the Caribbean reported increases in membership, churches in
Europe and North America once again experienced a slight
decline.
According to the annual statistical survey for 2008 conducted by
the LWF Office for Communication Services, the organization's 140
member churches, 10 recognized churches and congregations and one
recognized council, spanning 79 countries, combined for an annual
membership increase of approximately 0.24 percent. In 2007, the
LWF churches worldwide had some 68.3 million members, up from
66.7 million in 2006.
The membership total of all Lutheran churches worldwide rose
over the past year by 170,147 to approximately 72 million
(71,993,570), an increase of 0.24 percent. In 2007, all Lutheran
churches worldwide counted some 71.8 million members, compared to
approximately 70.2 million in 2006. The number of Lutherans who
belong to non-LWF Lutheran churches rose by 8,355 or 0.24 percent
to reach 3,509,479.Africa: Steady Growth in Ethiopia
In Africa, LWF church membership over the past year rose by
158,047 or 0.9 percent to a total of 17,287,277. The membership
of non-LWF Lutheran churches on the continent dropped by 1,854,
or 3.3 percent, to total of 54,215.
The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, LWF's largest
African member church, registered an increase of 143,329 members
or 2.9 percent, to reach 5,012,486. It remains the second largest
Lutheran church in the world after the 6.8 million-member Church
of Sweden.
The highest annual growth in the region was recorded in the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya, whose membership figures
rose by approximately 17.6 percent or 15,000 new members to count
100,000. The Lutheran Church of Rwanda had a 12 percent increase
for its 4,276 new members, bringing the total to 40,000.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) with 21,034
new members saw its membership increase by 37.5 percent, bringing
the total to 673,229. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon
recorded an additional 4,995 members to 220,015, an increase of
around 2.3 percent.
The Moravian Church in South Africa saw its membership decline
by 30,000 members or 37.5 percent to 50,000, explained as a
result of a recalculation of the membership figures. Membership
in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Botswana declined to
18,650, representing a loss of 2,460 members or 11.6 percent.
Africa's second largest Lutheran church, the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Tanzania, did not report any changes in its
membership of 4,632,480, nor did the Malagasy Lutheran Church,
the third largest on the continent, with 3 million members.
Membership in the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria remained
unchanged at 1,745,050.Asia: Over 300,000 New Lutherans
The total number of Lutherans in Asia rose by 270,061 over the
past year to reach 8,545,479, representing an increase of 3.26
percent. Non-LWF Lutheran churches in the region reported 182,921
new members, corresponding to an increase of 42,563 or
approximately 30.3 percent.
The region’s largest Lutheran church, the Protestant Christian
Batak Church (Indonesia), reported 4 million members last year,
an increase of 250,000 or 6.7 percent.
The sharpest membership increase in Asia in terms of absolute
figures over the past year was reported by the Good Samaritan
Evangelical Lutheran Church (India), with an additional 40,331
members to 50,168 or five-fold. This increase, according to
church sources, is due to a restructuring which resulted in the
incorporation of new congregations into the non-LWF member
church.
The Chinese Lutheran Brethren Victory Church (Taiwan), also a
non-LWF member church, more than doubled its membership with an
additional 2,178 members (130.6 percent), to attain a total of
3,846.
Other churches reporting significant membership increases
included the Bangladesh Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church
(1,116 new members, or 12.6 percent, to 10,000); the Basel
Christian Church of Malaysia (8,000 new members, or 16 percent,
to 58,000); the Gutnius Lutheran Church - Papua New Guinea (9,455
new members, or 6.8 percent, to 149,455); the Taiwan Lutheran
Church (2,044 new members, or 15.7 percent, to 15,088) and the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thailand (195 new members, or 6.9
percent, to 3,007).
The ArcotLutheran Church(India) registered a loss of 2,000
members (5.4 percent) to the current 35,000, while the
LutheranChurch in the Philippines counted 9,000 fewer members
(33.3 percent) for its current total of 18,000. The decline in
the Philippine’s church dates back to the split which occurred in
1992, resulting in a recalculation of the membership
figures.Europe: Decline of 200,000
The total membership of Lutheran churches in Europe fell again
over the past year by 203,252 or 0.55 percent, to a current total
of 36,974,216. LWF member churches registered a loss of 203,025
or 0.55 percent to the current total of 36,934,349.
Membership in the world's largest Lutheran church, the Church of
Sweden, declined last year by 73,740, or 1.1 percent to
6,820,161. The fifth largest LWF member church, the Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Finland, saw its membership drop by 19,270 or
0.4 percent to 4,514,359.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark, the sixth largest
LWF member church, reported a relatively small decline of 1,421
or 0.03 percent, to a new total of 4,494,589. The Church of
Norway likewise registered a modest loss of 2,570 members or 0.07
percent, to the current 3,868,943.
The EvangelicalChurch of the Augsburg Confession in Poland
registered the highest increase in the region, around 27 percent
or 20,000 to count 95,000 members. The EvangelicalLutheran Church
in Russia and Other States grew by 6.7 percent or 5,000 members,
for a total of 80,000.
LWF member churches in France recorded significantly sharp
declines, with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of France putting
its membership at 10,400 members, a drop of 29,600 or 74 percent.
The MalagasyProtestant Church in France lost 1,500 members or 15
percent, to 8,500.
The Lutheran Church in Ireland, an LWF recognized church, once
again registered a sharp decline. Due to a change in the method
used to count its membership, a drop of 514 was noted or 66.8
percent, to the current 256.Germany: Lutheran Churches Lose
84,000 
Germany, the country with the largest number of Lutheran
Christians in the world, had a total membership of 12,543,179 in
2008, reflecting a decrease of 84,567 or 0.67 percent. Lutheran
churches in Germany had around 12.63 million members in 2007
compared to 12.73 million in 2006. Membership in LWF member
churches in the country fell by 84,180 or 0.67 percent, to
12,506,067.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover, the church with the
largest membership, recorded 2,981,313 members, a decrease of
42,584, or 1.4 percent. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Bavaria reported 2,632,000 members, reflecting a 1.2 percent
increase of 32,000. The Evangelical Church in Wuerttemberg also
saw a membership decrease, with its total figure falling by
17,169 or 0.8 percent to reach 2,286,893. Membership in the North
Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church decreased by 22,687 or 1.1
percent, to 2,076,628.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony recorded 810,558
members, reflecting a decrease of 12,929 or 1.6 percent. The
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia saw a membership
increase of 9,399 or 2.1 percent, to 431,467. The membership of
the Evangelical Church of Pomerania fell by1,191 or 1.2 percent,
to 100,385, while that of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Mecklenburg by 6,792 or 3.3 percent, to 201,740.
Membershipin the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick
dropped in the course of last year by5,299 or 1.3 percent, to
400,315, while the Church of Lippe (Lutheran Section) had a
slight increase of1,000 or 3.2 percent, to 32,000.
Membership figures remained unchanged for the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Baden (3,500), Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Oldenburg(463,448) and Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Schaumburg-Lippe (60,800).
The Germany-based Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad had
25,020 members, up by 870 or 3.6 percent.
The Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church, a non-LWF member
church, recorded a decrease of 387 or 1.1 percent, to 35,642.
Membership in the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church in Germany,
likewise a non-LWF church, remained unchanged.Modest Gains in
Latin America
The total membership in Lutheran churches in Latin America and
the Caribbean increased by 19,076 or 1.7 percent, to a total of
1,123,270. Membership in LWF member churches in the region was
837,890, an increase of 15,816 or 1.9 percent. Lutheran churches
not belonging to the LWF registered 3,260 new members, an
increase of 1.2 percent, to 282,120.
While most Lutheran churches in Latin America and the Caribbean
reported little change in their membership statistics, the
region's largest Lutheran church, the Evangelical Church of the
Lutheran Confession in Brazil, registered a membership increase
of 14,000 or two percent, to 717,000.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana had13,000 members, an
increase of 2,000 or 18.2 percent. Membership in the Evangelical
Church of the River Plate (Argentine, Paraguay, and Uruguay)
increased by 200 or 0.8 percent, to 25,200.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil, which does not belong
to the LWF, reported 233,416 members last year, a rise of 3,201
or 1.4 percent.North America: Nearly 100,000 Fewer Lutherans
In 2008, total membership in North American Lutheran churches
fell by 114,494 or 1.44 percent. Of a total 7,826,192 Lutherans,
4,879,096 belonged to LWF member churches. The North American LWF
churches consequently recorded a decrease of 79,107 members or
1.6 percent.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the LWF’s third
largest member church, registered 4,709,954 members in 2008, a
decrease of 64,249 or 1.4 percent.
The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (USA and Canada), not an
LWF member, reported 2,383,084 members, a loss of 34,913 or 1.4
percent.
The Lutheran Churches of the Reformation, also an LWFnon-member,
reported an increase of 500 or 33.3 percent, to the current total
of 2,000.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada last year had 161,142
members, an annual decline of 13,358 or 7.7 percent. Membership
in the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad (Canada)
remained unchanged at 8,000.

The LWF membership statistics are based on information received
from the LWF member churches, recognized churches and
congregations and council, as well as from other Lutheran
churches, organizations, mission bodies and congregations. The
figures recorded for the year ending 2007 were used for churches
that did not indicate any changes by the end of January 2009.
The statistics in detail will be printed in Lutheran World
Information (LWI) No. 01/2009. 

For further information, please contact the LWF Office for
Communication Services at:
Tel.: +41/22-791 63 69
Fax: +41/22-791 66 30
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org 

A one-page summary of the 2008 LWF statistics is posted in a PDF
fileat:
www.lutheranworld.org/LWF_Documents/LWF-Statistics-01-2008.pdf
Full details can be found at:
www.lutheranworld.org/LWF_Documents/LWF-Statistics-2008.pdf

>*        *          *

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF
currently has 140 member churches in 79 countries all over the
world, with a total membership of over 68.5 million. The LWF acts
on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such
as ecumenical and interfaith 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 LWF's information
service. 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
acknowledgment.] 

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