Church Growth in US

The 2006 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, published by the
National Council of Churches has been released. Below are excerpts of
a news release.

http://www.ncccusa.org/news/060330yearbook1.html

...

The Yearbook also records the continuing growth of Pentecostal,
historic African American and other non-mainline churches in the U.S.
Among the largest 25 churches in the U.S., the fastest growing are the
Assemblies of God (increasing 1.81 percent to 2,779,095), the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (increasing 1.74 percent to
5,999,177) and the Roman Catholic Church (increasing .83 percent to
67,820,833).

Only three mainline Protestant churches are among the ten largest
churches: the United Methodist Church (ranked 3 with a membership of
8,186,254), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ranked 7 with
a membership of 4,930,429), and the Presbyterian Church, USA (ranked 9
with a membership of 3,189,573). All three churches declined in
membership since the 2005 Yearbook was released.es people's lives."

...

U.S. Membership Denominational Ranking: Largest 25 Denominations/Communions

2006 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches.

1. The Catholic Church, 67,820,833 members, reporting an increase of
.83 percent.

2. The Southern Baptist Convention, 16,267,494 members, reporting a
decrease of 1.05 percent. (See clarification, below.)

3. The United Methodist Church, 8,186,254 members, reporting a
decrease of .79 percent.

4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5,999,177 members,
reporting an increase of 1.74 percent.

5. The Church of God in Christ, 5,499,875 members, no increase or
decrease reported.

6. National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., 5,000,000 members, no
increase or decrease reported.

7. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 4,930,429, reporting a
decrease of 1.09 percent.

8. National Baptist Convention of America, 3,500,000, no increase or
decrease reported.

9. Presbyterian Church (USA), 3,189,573 members, reporting a decrease
of 1.60 percent.

10. Assemblies of God, 2,779,095 members, reporting an increase of 1.81 per=
cent.

11. African Methodist Episcopal Church, 2,500,000 members, no increase
or decrease reported.

12. National Missionary Baptist Convention of America, 2,500,000
members, no increase or decrease reported.

13. Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., 2,500,000 members,
no increase or decrease reported.

14. The Lutheran Church =96 Missouri Synod (LCMS), 2,463,747, reporting
a decrease or 1.01 percent.

15. Episcopal Church, 2,284,233, reporting a decrease of 1.55 percent.

16. Churches of Christ, 1,500,000 members, no increase or decrease reported=
.

17. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, 1,500,000 members, no
increase or decrease reported.

18. Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc., 1,500,000 members, no
increase or decrease reported.

19. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, 1,432,795 members, no
increase or decrease reported.

20. American Baptist Churches in the USA, 1,424,840, reporting a
decrease of .57 percent.

21. United Church of Christ, 1,265,786, reporting a decrease of 2.38 percen=
t.

22. Baptist Bible Fellowship International, 1,200,000, no increase or
decrease reported.

23. Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, 1,071,615 members, no
increase or decrease reported.

24. The Orthodox Church in America, 1,064,000 members, reporting an
increase of 6.40 percent.

25. Jehovah's Witnesses, 1,029,902 members, reporting a decrease of
1.07 members.

The total members reported in the largest 25 communions is 148,009,649.

The 2006 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches costs $45 and may
be ordered at www.electronicchurch.org

CLARIFICATION:

The Yearbook places an asterisk on this reference to add the following
clarification:

"In preparation for this 2006 edition, the Southern Baptist Convention
reported errors in their membership figures previously submitted for
the 2005 and 2004 editions of the Yearbook. As a result, membership
growth rates reported in 2004 and 2005 editions of 1.21% and 1.18%,
respectively, would be revised downward to 0.53% and 0.42% based on
the new figures. With these corrections, the overall membership growth
between December 31, 2001 and December 31, 2004 is unchanged at 1.3%,
a considerably slower rate of growth than previously reported."

The 2006 Yearbook accurately reports an increase of membership from
2001 to 2004 for the SBC of 1.3 percent. The 1.05 percent decrease is
based on the previously reported data that the SBC corrected and the
Yearbook reported in its analysis indicated by the asterisk. News
reports that separate the data from the analysis have created an
erroneous picture of SBC membership trends.