Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches 2010 - Cokesbury

Denomination Name
Last Year’s Ranking (2009 Edition)
Inclusive
Membership
Figures
Percentage
Increase/Decrease
2008– 2009 Editions
The Catholic Church 67,117,016 -0.59%
Southern Baptist Convention 16,266,920 -0.24%
The United Methodist Church 7,931,733 -0.80%
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 5,873,408 1.63%
The Church of God in Christ 5,499,875 0.00%
National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc. 5,000,000 0.00%
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 4,709,956 -1.35%
National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. 3,500,000 0.00%
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 2,941,412 -2.79%
Assemblies of God 2,863,265 0.96%
African Methodist Episcopal Church 2,500,000 0.00%
National Missionary Baptist Convention of America 2,500,000 0.00%
Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. 2,500,000 0.00%
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) 2,383,084 -1.44%
The Episcopal Church 2,116,749 -1.76%
Churches of Christ 1,639,495 0.00%
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America 1,500,000 0.00%
Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. 1,500,000 0.00%
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church 1,400,000 -3.01%
American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. 1,358,351 -0.94%
Baptist Bible Fellowship International 1,200,000 0.00%
United Church of Christ 1,145,281 -6.01%
Jehovah’s Witnesses 1,092,169 2.12%
Christian Churches and Churches of Christ 1,071,616 0.00%
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) 1,053,642 2.04%
TOTAL 146,663,972 -0.49%
TRENDS &
DEVELOPMENTS, 2009
NOTE: Percentage changes in italic/bold signify that membership was not updated from previous reported figures.
chapter, p. 16 for a treatment of The New Immigrant Church). Several factors will need
to be weighed afresh including the very centrality of the concept of church membership
itself. For the age cohorts known as Gen X’ers and Millennials (people now in their 30s
and 20s respectively) formal membership may lie outside of their hopes and expectations
for their church relationships. For both of these age cohorts membership and commitment
to institutions is no longer perceived as a mark of maturity or assumption of generational
responsibility. Membership is sometimes perceived as an unnecessary and even undesirable
exercise in over-institutionalization. Hence, for some young adults, church attendance,
participation in fellowship or mission activities and even financial support of a
local congregation does not translate into a desire to formally “join” and be listed among
those in membership. The growing prevalence of this practice is reported anecdotally and
can often be noted in leafing through local church directories. At the conclusion of the
membership directory there typically follows a section labeled as “Friends of the
Congregation.” If indeed this proves to be a growing tendency among successive generations,
church membership as opposed to “affiliation data” may itself need to be reconsidered.
Several other factors, emerging patterns of affiliation, and organizational considerations
make this demographic inquiry a rich field for further inquiry.
Churches listed here experiencing the highest rate of loss of membership are: the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (-3.28%), which moves this group from 9th to 10th rank,
American Baptist Churches (-2.00), The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (-1.92%),
and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (-1.62%).
13