His Barking Dog reported on this earlier, but missed the main story: the ABC is the slowest sinking ship among the mainlines. Factor in the liklihood of PSW departure, and check these figures in 2007!
New York, March 30, 2006 -- According to NCC communications officer, Phil Jenks, "The National Council of Churches' 2006 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, one of the nation's oldest and most reliable sources of church membership and growth trends, is reporting this month on a record 219 national church bodies."
"The Rev. Dr. Eileen W. Lindner, editor of the 89-year-old annual since 1998, said the number of national church bodies 'is reflective of a remarkably robust immigration history and the cultural and constitutional freedom of religion so characteristic of the United States,'" Jenks writes. Lindner is the NCC's Deputy General Secretary for Research and Planning.Despite mainline losses, Linder's report records continuing growth in a number of non-mainline churches.
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).
Six of the mainline denominations, including the ABCUSA, rank in the top 25 denominations in the U.S. as follows:
#3. The United Methodist Church, 8,186,254 members, reporting a decrease of .79%.
#7. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 4,930,429, reporting a decrease of 1.09%.
#9. Presbyterian Church (USA), 3,189,573 members, reporting a decrease of 1.60%.
#15. Episcopal Church, 2,463,747, reporting a decrease of 1.55%.
#20. American Baptist Churches in the USA, 1,432,840, reporting a decrease of .57%.
#21. United Church of Christ, 1,265,786, reporting a decrease of 2.38%.
The ABCUSA decline of .57% was the smallest decrease of the mainline denominations. The UCC registered the steepest drop with 2.38%. Of the mainline church bodies, the ABC has the reputation as having the most conservative theological stance; the UCC with its endorsement of same-sex marriage, represents the most progressive [aka "the most wild-eyed, bug-eyed liberal].
Source: "NCC News" Thu, Mar 30, 2006. http://www.ncccusa.org/news/060330yearbook1.html
2 comments:
Glenn,
On the "Beacon Churches" site, I shared the same statistics about mainline decline in response to a quote from ABC President Griffin who speaks of the Goliaths always losing in the Bible. Yes, Glenn, my entire reason for printing the numbers was to show that we are sinking. My comment to Griffin's optimism: "Evidently, President Griffin's 'Davids' are not doing so well these days. With another year of decline (following a 3.45% loss in the prior book), the ABCUSA stands in danger of 'winning' ourselves into oblivion."
Dennis
Hey, good thing about it is it gives everyone plenty of time to abandon ship!
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