Posted on 09/06/2017 7:04:56 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
In a recent interview in which she announced she had joined the Episcopal Church, Rachel Held Evans said,
Just about every denomination in the American church— including many evangelical denominations — is seeing a decline in numbers, so if it’s a competition, then we’re all losing, just at different rates.
Many Americans, both within and outside the church, share Evans perception of the decline of denominations. But is it true? Are most denominations truly seeing a decline in numbers?
The fact is that the percentage of people identifying as Protestant has declined since the 1970s while the total number of Protestants has increased (62 percent of Americans identified as Protestant in 1972 and only 51 percent did so in 2010). Yet because of the population increase in the U.S., there were 28 million more Protestants in 2010 than in 1972.
So did Protestantism in America decline since the 1970s? Yes (percentwise) and no (total numbers).
What about when we drill down to the denominations that comprise Protestantism in America? Here the differences depend on whether we look at short-term or long-term trends.
If we look at the short-term (year-to-year) trends, we may be able to detect a decline in some groups, especially in large denominations. For instance, the membership of the Southern Baptist Convention—the largest Protestant denomination in America—declined by 105,708 from 2011 to 2012. While that sounds like a lot of people, the denomination could lose that many members every year for 150 years before the pews in SBC churches would be completely empty.
In the case of the SBC, and other conservative denominations, the trend seems to be that they’re losing members to other conservative denominations, especially non-denominational ones. As of 2010, four percent of Americans (12,200,000) worshipped in a nondenominational church. There are almost as many members of nondenominational churches as there are members of the SBC—and almost as many as in all of the mainline churches combined. A decline in a conservative denominational church is often offset by an increase in a conservative non-denominational church.
When tracking changes to gauge the overall health of a denomination, it makes more sense to look at long-term trends. If we look back 50 years (to 1965) we can see a clear and unequivocal trendline: liberal denominations have declined sharply while conservative denominations have increased or remained the same.
Here are the primary mainline denominations, every one of which has seen long-term decline in membership:
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
In 1965, the CC(DoC) had 1,918,471 members. In 2012, the membership was 625,252, a decline of 67 percent.
Reformed Church in America
In 1967, the RCA had 384,751 members. In 2014, the membership was 145,466, a decline of 62 percent.
United Church of Christ (Congregationalist)
In 1965, the UCC had 2,070,413 members. In 2012, there were 998,906 members, a decline of 52 percent.
Episcopal Church
In 1966, the TEC had 3,647,297 members. By 2013, the membership was 1,866,758, a decline of 49 percent.
(Those numbers should be even lower, though, since those figures by the TEC include breakaway churches trying to leave the denomination.)
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (PCUSA)
In 1967, the PC(USA) had 3,304,321 members. In 2013, the membership was 1,760,200, a decline of 47 percent.
United Methodist Church (UMC)
In 1967, the UMC had 11,026,976 members. In 2012, the membership was 7,391,911, a decline of 33 percent.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
In 1987, the ECLA had 5,288,230 members. In 2013, the membership was 3,863,133, a decline of 27 percent.
(Note: The ELCA was formally constituted in 1988 as a merger of the Lutheran Church in America, the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches and the American Lutheran Church.)
American Baptist Churches
In 1967, the ABC/USA had 1,335,342 members. In 2012, the membership was 1,308,054, a decline of 2 percent.
(Note: The ABC/USA has been able to stem its decline among white congregants by replacing them with African American and Hispanic members.)
Now let’s look at a few of the primary non-mainline denominations, almost every one of which has increased in membership since the mid-1960s.
Church of God in Christ
In 1965, the CoG had 425,000 members. In 2012, the membership was 5,499,875, an increase of 1,194 percent.
Presbyterian Church in America
In 1973, the PCA had 41,232 members. In 2013, the membership was 367,033, an increase of 790 percent.
(Note: The Presbyterian Church in America was founded in 1974 by conservative members of the Presbyterian Church in the United States who rejected that church's merger with the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.)
Evangelical Free Church of America
In 1965, the EFCA had 43,851 members. In 2013, the membership was 372,321 , an increase of 749 percent.
Assemblies of God
In 1965, the AoG had 572,123 members. In 2013, the membership was 3,030,944, an increase of 430 percent.
African Methodist Episcopal Church
In 1951, the AME had 1,166,301 members. In 2012, the membership was 2,500,000, an increase of 114 percent.
Southern Baptist Convention
In 1965, the SBC had 10,770,573 members. In 2013, the membership was 15,735,640, an increase of 46 percent.
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
In 1965, the LCMS had 2,692,889 members. In 2012, the membership was 2,163,698, a decline of 20 percent.
Mainliners may try to comfort themselves by claiming that every denomination is in decline, but it’s simply not true. While conservative churches aren’t growing as quickly as they once were, mainline churches are on a path toward extinction. The mainline churches are finding that as they move further away from Biblical Christianity, the closer they get to their inevitable demise.
Believe that you are wrong. Neo paganism and the values and practices inherent to it began to be embraced by large segments of the population beginning in the late 1960’s. It is true however that the Democratic Party has become the political vehicle of the neo pagans and is a radically different institution than it once was.
And the OPC went from about 10,000 to about 25,000! Yay us :)
Neo-paganism took off with the assassination of JFK.
If Christianity has a future in the United States, it's going to have a decidedly hispanic flavor. Get out your maracas, folks.
I know that the stats don’t tell the truth....I belong to the ELCA and the The ELCA formally came into existence on January 1, 1988 before that it was three deferent denominations.
the list has a number of congregants from 1968. twenty years prior to it forming.....
I suggest that the article be ignored because it is obvious to me the numbers cant be trusted.
please disregard what I wrote got stats from one religion mixed with another when reading the article if I could pull what I wrote I would
My thoughts too - they spend more time in the bible and talking about Jesus than any other churches. I was raised Catholic and never got the real message sorted out from all the crap. Went non-denominational (after being non-religious for 36 years) and was saved at age 50...
It only needs its love rekindled....that’s what will bring about its community re-engagement!
Those cited in the article that are dying in my area have managed to keep the doors open by sharing their buildings with immigrants who have services in Korean, Chinese, spanish, Russian, Arabic, farsi, and probably others. Several have sold to Muslims and are now Islamic centers. Bible churches are growing.
Looks like the RC grew during that same period. Anecdotally, my own parish in the boonies, which is only ten years old, is packed every Sunday, but they are shutting down a nearby city parish as the cathedral is mostly empty for mass.
Bluffpo: The official count in the U.S. Catholic Directory reports the U.S. Catholic population rose from 45.6 million in 1965 to 66.3 million in 2012. The number of people self-identifying as Catholics in surveys is 78.2 million, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University.
I am not what you might call a Pentecostal Christian...I’m rather reserved...but I attend a Church of God because the presence of the Lord is so strong and the people so genuinely love God and one another. Religion will die and good riddance. It’s all about a real God...not religion.
We left because the Assembly of God church we attended began to cater to only the youth, those yucky praise choruses, programs only for youth, no accommodations for seniors or activities. Last straw was being told NOT to get up to go to RR during sermon. I have a gastro disease that requires frequent RR trips or you are going to have PUKE or DIARRHEA all over your nice carpet we sat on the last row so as not to be to disruptive. So don’t tell me I can’t go to the RR when needed, seats were not senior friendly either. How about turning the over loud sound down too? We wear hearing aids you are blasting on over load.
I'm sorry about the RR policy. I think the church lost focus here. Do we really think the early church made these policies? When they met in people's homes?
Sadly your example is not uncommon. You reached a point before you said, "I got the message, I'm not welcome here." The church should be welcoming, unconditional love.
Thanks for the Disciples of Christ ping. Their national leadership went hard left in the late 1960’s and about 1/3 of their congregations left the denomination. The decline continues.
Yes, mam.
Not in the article, but,
The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the Pope in Rome. With 77.4 million members, it is the largest religious denomination in the United States, comprising 22% of the population as of 2017.[1] The United States has the fourth largest Catholic population in the world after Brazil, Mexico and the Philippines,[2] the largest Catholic minority population, and the largest English-speaking Catholic population. The central leadership body of the Catholic Church in the United States is the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The northeastern quadrant of the US (i.e., New England, Mid-Atlantic, East North Central, and West North Central) has seen a decline in the number of parishes since 1970, but parish numbers are up in the other five regions (i.e., South Atlantic, East South Central, West South Central, Pacific, and Mountain regions).[42] Catholics in the US are about 6% of the church's total worldwide 1.2 billion membership.
A poll by The Barna Group in 2004 found Catholic ethnicity to be 60% non-Hispanic white (generally of mixed ethnicity, but almost always includes at least one Catholic ethnicity such as Irish, Italian, German, Polish, or French), 31% Hispanic of any nationality (mostly Mexicans), 4% Black [including black Latino and Caribbean], and 5% other ethnicity (mostly Filipinos and other Asian Americans, Americans who are multiracial and have mixed ethnicities, and American Indians).[43]
Among the non-Hispanic whites, about 16 million Catholics identify as being of Irish descent, about 13 million as German, about 12 million as Italian, about 7 million as Polish, and about 5 million as French (note that many identify with more than one ethnicity). The roughly 7.8 million Catholics who are converts (mainly from Protestantism, with a smaller number from irreligion or other religions) are also mostly non-Hispanic white, including many people of British, Dutch, and Scandinavian ancestry.[44]
Between 1990 and 2008, there were 11 million additional Catholics. The growth in the Latino population accounted for 9 million of these. They comprised 32% of all American Catholics in 2008 as opposed to 20% in 1990.[45] The percentage of Hispanics who identified as Catholic dropped from 67% in 2010 to 55% in 2013.[46]
According to a more recent Pew Forum report which examined American religiosity in 2014 and compared it to 2007,[47] there were 50.9 million adult Catholics as of 2014 (excluding children under 18), forming about 20.8% of the U.S. population, down from 54.3 million and 23.9% in 2007. Pew also found that the Catholic population is aging, forming a higher percentage of the elderly population than the young, and retention rates are also worse among the young. About 41% of those "young" raised Catholic have left the faith (as opposed to 32% overall), about half of these to the unaffiliated population and the rest to evangelical, other Protestant faith communities, and non-Christian faith.
Conversions to Catholicism are rare, with 89% of current Catholics being raised in the religion; 8% of current Catholics are ex-Protestants [48], 2% were raised unaffiliated, and 1% in other religions (Orthodox Christian, Mormon or other nontrinitarian, Buddhist, Muslim, etc.), with Jews and Hindus least likely to become Catholic of all the religious groups surveyed .
Overall, Catholicism has by far the worst net conversion balance of any major religious group, with a high conversion rate out of the faith and a low rate into it; by contrast, most other religions have in- and out-conversion rates that roughly balance, whether high or low. Still, according to the 2015 Pew Research Center, "the Catholic share of the population has been relatively stable over the long term, according to a variety of other surveys [49]By race, 59% of Catholics are non-Hispanic white, 34% Hispanic, 3% black, 3% Asian, and 2% mixed or Native American. Conversely, 19% of non-Hispanic whites are Catholic in 2014 (down from 22% in 2007), whereas 48% of Hispanics are (versus 58% in 2007). In 2015, Hispanics are 38%, while blacks and Asians are still at 3% each.[50]
In a 2015 survey by researchers at Georgetown University, Americans who self identify as Catholic, including those who do not attend Mass regularly, numbered 81.6 million or 25% of the population. 68.1 million or 20% of the American population are Catholics tied to a specific parish. About 25% of US Catholics say they attend Masses once a week or more, and about 38% went at least once a month. The study found that the number of US Catholics has increased by 3 to 6% each decade since 1965, and that the Catholic Church is "the most diverse in terms of race and ethnicity in the US," with Hispanics accounting for 38% of Catholics and blacks and Asians 3% each.[50] Only 2 percent of American Catholics go to confession on a regular basis, while three-quarters of them go to confession once a year or less often.[80] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_in_the_United_States
Largest 25 Denominations/Communions from the 2012 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches.
Total church membership reported in the 2012 Yearbook is 145,691,446 members, down 1.15 percent over 2011.
1. The Catholic Church 68,202,492, [ranked 1 in 2011] , down 0.44 percent.
2. Southern Baptist Convention 16,136,044, [ranked 2 in 2011] , down 0.15 percent.
** Since the 2010 census of nondenominational/independent congregations, we now know that this grouping of churches, if taken together, would be the second largest Protestant group in the country with over 35,000 congregations and over 12,200,000 adherents.
3. The United Methodist Church 7,679,850, [ranked 3 in 2011] , down 1.22 percent.
4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 6,157,238, [ranked 4 in 2011], up 1.62 percent.
5. The Church of God in Christ 5,499,875, [ranked 5 in 2011] , no update reported.
6. National Baptist Convention , U.S.A. , Inc. 5,197,512, [ranked 6 in 2011] , up 3.95 percent.
7. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 4,274,855, [ranked 7 in 2011] , down 5.90 percent.
8. National Baptist Convention of America , Inc. 3,500,000, [ranked 8 in 2011] , no update reported.
9. Assemblies of God 3,030,944, [ranked 9 in 2011] , up 3.99 percent.
10. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 2,675,873, [ranked 10 in 2011] , down 3.42 percent.
11. African Methodist Episcopal Church 2,500,000, [ranked 11 in 2011] , no update reported.
12. National Missionary Baptist Convention of America 2,500,000, [ranked 11 in 2011] , no update reported.
13. The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod (LCMS) 2,278,586, [ranked 13 in 2011] , down 1.45 percent.
14. The Episcopal Church 1,951,907, [ranked 14 in 2011] , down 2.71 percent.
15. Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. 1,800,000, ranked 15 [ranked 17 in 2011] , up 20 percent.
16. Churches of Christ 1,639,495, [ranked 15 in 2011] , no update reported.
17. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America 1,500,000 , [ranked 16 in 2011] , no update reported.
18. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church 1,400,000, [ranked 18 in 2011] , no update reported.
19. American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. 1,308,054, [ranked 19 in 2011] , down 0.19 percent.
20. Jehovah’s Witnesses 1,184,249, [ranked 20 in 2011] , up 1.85 percent.
21. Church of God ( Cleveland , Tennessee ) 1,074,047, [ranked 22 in 2011] , down 0.21 percent.
22. Christian Churches and Churches of Christ 1,071,616, [ranked 23 in 2011] , no update reported.
23. Seventh-day Adventist Church 1,060,386, [ranked 24 in 2011] , up 1.61 percent.
24. United Church of Christ 1,058,423, [ranked 21 in 2011], down 2.02 percent.
25. Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. 1,010,000, [ranked 25 in 2011 ], no update reported.
Total membership in top 25 churches: 145,691,446, down 1.15 percent. - http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/fastfacts/fast_facts.htmlThe Yearbook costs $55 and may be ordered at: www.yearbookofchurches.org
More: Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and Statistics ...
I want to put in that in the ‘70s, the LCMS went through a major schism. The liberals lost out, but it was very close to a Pyrrhic victory for the Biblical conservatives because of the hurting it put on the numbers, and it never really recovered.
As for the decline in numbers that I’m seeing between 2000 and 2010, I have no idea.
You will note that the total accumulation of Baptists, not neglecting the great number of independent local Baptist churches unaccounted for, is at least equivalent to the number of those claiming allegiance to Roman Catholicism.
While Baptists are likely to disagree on some minor doctrinal points, in the major they are consistent with the Biblical distinctives that identify them, principally that of the ordinances of: (1) The Remembrance Supper as a figurative commemoration of the sacrificial death with resurrection to eternal bodily and spiritual life in Jesus, The Christ; and (2) the water baptism into church membership by the total immersion of the accountable, professing believer.
In addition, for all Baptists: the Holy Scriptures are the sole authority for doctrine; autonomy of the local church is a prime teaching; every regenerated beiiever is a priest of God, with none being superior to another, all under one eternal High Priest the Lord Jesus Christ; each individual having soul liberty to determine true cotrine and obedience to it, according to the Bible; that there are only two Biblical offices allotted by the Bible for the individual local assembly, those being the pastor/elder/teacher and the elected deacon(s); and finally that there is a complete separation between the human political government(s) and the visible churches on earth.
These distinctives are expressed in the acronym B.A.P.T.I.S.T.S. , an explanation of which is found in several links, one of which is
What Are the Eight Baptist Distinctives?
http://www.angelfire.com/la/jlush/baptist.html>
Being locally always autonomous and never catholic in polity, Baptists cannot and dot exist in denominational form, so to speak, although they may form an association of like-minded local churches to economically share resources, and may convene regularly for agreements as to how to perpetuate The Faith in mutual support.
Baptists are not "Protestants" since they have always been in existence from the first prototype local assembly of Jerusalem founded on the day of Pentecost in the year of Christ's death, and multiplied thus in local churches throughout the subsequent centuries. They have never believed in answering to a human government of their doings external to that of the officers appointed or elected by the local assembly, directly accountable to their Lord, of which the assembly is a representation of His Body.
(For the purpose of noting the surpassing numbers of American Baptists, and their existence separate from the American episcopacies.)
Luke 18:6-8
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.
7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.