Posted on 02/21/2011 10:52:36 AM PST by Titanites
The 2010 Yearbook from the National Council of Church USA is out and the news continues to be good for Catholics.
The Catholic Church, the nation's largest at more than 68 million members, reported a slight membership loss in 2009 (for the year 2007) but rebounded . . . with a robust growth of 1.49 percent in 2008.
Other groups that posted significant gains were the Mormon Church (Latter Day Saints) which grew 1.71 percent to 5,873,408 members and the Assemblies of God grew 1.27 percent to 2,863,265 members.
The big losers: mainline Protestants continue their slide
Presbyterian Church (USA), down 3.28 percent to 2,941,412; American Baptist Churches in the USA, down 2 percent to 1,358,351; and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, down 1.92 percent to 4,709,956 members.
The 10 largest churches were
1. The Catholic Church, 68,115,001 members, up 1.49 percent.
2. Southern Baptist Convention,16,228,438 members, down 0.24percent.
3. The United Methodist Church, 7,853,987 members, down 0.98 percent.
4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5,974,041 members, up 1.71 percent.
5. The Church of God in Christ, 5,499,875 members, no membership updates reported.
6. National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc, 5,000,000 members, no membership updates reported.
7. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 4,633,887 members, down1.62 percent.
8. National Baptist Convention of America, Inc., 3,500,000 members, no membership updates reported.
9. Assemblies of God (ranked 10 last year), 2,899,702 members, up 1.27 percent.
10. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 1(ranked 9 last year), 2,844,952 members, down 3.28 percent.
(Note that the LDS Church is #4 and growing.)
FYI: The Episcopalian Church is #15 and the Greek Orthodox Church is #17 with 1,500,000 members on the books (although I've been told by insiders that actual attendance at Divine Liturgy is a small fraction of the official number)
Not surprisingly, congregational giving was down:
"The financial reporting in the 2010 Yearbook is based on the financial income reports of the 64 churches reporting. The almost 45 million members of these churches contributed almost $36 billion, showing a decrease in the total income to the churches of $26 million."
This may be of interest.
No one will believe this unless you get a source other than a Catholic source.
While I would love to think this was due to evangelization or separated brethren coming to see the Truth of the Catholic faith, it is more likely due to illegal Mexican immigration.
Many (most?) of our bishops are far too milquetoast for any effective evangelization or any other task requiring real leadership.
The source is from the NCC (National Council of Churches). From its website (http://www.ncccusa.org/about/about_ncc.html)
“the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA has been the leading force for ecumenical cooperation among Christians in the United States. The NCC’s member faith groups — from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches — include 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation.”
NO Catholics.
Numbers ebb and flow.......people come and go.........the Church remains always the same.
This compares apples and oranges..
Catholics consider a baptized infant a a member .
Protestants churches do not offer membership to minors. There are membership requirements and a covenant between the church and member.
As you find with Catholics, membership and attendance are 2 different things ... Only about 20% of Catholics are actually attending or active in their church ..
Whereas in most Protestant churches less than 1/2 of those attending are members..
That is a huge difference in the way the statistics have to be looked at.. Our church has about 150 members but around 300 attending on a Sunday .
So a more accurate picture is attendance as opposed to membership
>>The source is from the NCC (National Council of Churches). From its website (http://www.ncccusa.org/about/about_ncc.html)<<
Beautiful!!!!
Facts are facts. But I’ve argued here too long and know that facts from certain places are easily ignored.
The Catholic faith is the only true faith. However, it is rare today to find a real Catholic who knows the faith and even rarer, that LIVES the faith. Numbers are meaningless, it will not convert anyone. Catholics really knowing the Faith and LIVING it will convert those of good will.
>>As you find with Catholics, membership and attendance are 2 different things ... Only about 20% of Catholics are actually attending or active in their church ..<<
That’s silly.
The number of Catholics who are active members of a parish are counted by the envelopes returned.
If one donates, one is counted as an active member. We don’t even have children’s envelopes.
It was the same way when I was attending a Presbyterian Church. If I didn’t return an envelope, even if it was empty, I was not counted as an active member. However, if I did turn in that envelope, my husband and children were counted as active members.
Each diocese have a “Bishop’s fund” where the parish is taxed per number of members they have. Less members, less money they pay. It goes without saying that the parish would eliminate inactive members from their books so as not to pay the larger amount.
More people are becoming Catholics and Mormons.
Less people are becoming Protestants.
Perhaps your infant theory has some merit. Protestants are aborting themselves out of existence.
>>However, it is rare today to find a real Catholic who knows the faith and even rarer, that LIVES the faith.<<
Um, you need to get out more.
Come on over to my parish. Four is an average number of children. We have more “Family buses” than you can count.
And then there are women like me who had the ole uterus lopped out after two. When you judge me as “not living the faith”, I say to you, “Judge not lest thou be judged.”
On this we agree..
What conceit! You are an embarrassment.
LOL ..I am sorry but I do not believe you are correct ...I still get stuff from my old Parish ,, I am still on their membership rolls ..I have not been a Catholic in 30 years,
I never used an envelope when I went to the Catholic church. Are you trying to tell me in the 3rd world membership is by donation or envelope only?? LOL
The envelope scam is one used by people that do not go to church but want to get married or baptize a baby to prove attendance which is required for the sacraments
Church membership is counted by baptisms in the case of infants and confirmation for adult converts
You must have gone to the PCUSA ... LOL ....
.Most protestant pastors know their members and attenders apart and know who is there, and who is not.. .. I never use an envelope but I am on the membership rolls and have a members voting rights.
The only thing the envelopes are used for in my church is to give the folks their tax numbers ...the pastor NEVER SEES them, neither do the elders.. the money is counted and banked by one person ..and the tax records kept..
I will let that stand without giving a comment :)
I will let that stand without giving a comment :)
>>LOL ..I am sorry but I do not believe you are correct ...I still get stuff from my old Parish ,, I am still on their membership rolls ..I have not been a Catholic in 30 years<<
You’re confusing a mailing list with membership rolls.
>>Church membership is counted by baptisms in the case of infants and confirmation for adult converts<<
Reference?
>>What conceit! You are an embarrassment.<<
LOL!
Sorry but when someone judges a person’s faith on the number of children they have, I have a problem with that. Some of us are blessed with many, some with few. I wish I could be tax-chick, but my womb had other ideas.
Ya want to call it conceit? Be my guest.
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