LOUISVILLE, Ky.-The newest edition of the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, a publication of the National Council of Churches, ranks the three largest U.S. churches as the Roman Catholic Church (66.4 million members), the Southern Baptist Convention (16.2 million) and the United Methodist Church (8.3 million), according to PCUSA News.
Four of the top 25 denominations now are Pentecostal. The yearbook editor, Rev. Eileen Lindner, the National Council deputy general secretary for research and planning, says that "reflects the continuing increase in numbers of adherents to Pentecostal traditions.
The four top Pentecostal denominations are the Church of God in Christ, the Assemblies of God, the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World and the Church of God. Seven of the largest 25 denominations are predominantly African-American churches.
The major U.S. churches that recorded growth between 2001 and 2002 included the Catholic Church (No. 1), the Southern Baptist Convention (2), the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (5), the Assemblies of God (10), the American Baptist Churches in the USA (19), Christian Churches and Churches of Christ (23) the Jehovah's Witnesses (24) and the Church of God, new on the list at No. 25.
Six of the top 25 churches reported membership losses: the PC (USA), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Methodist Church, the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod), the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and the United Church of Christ.
The fastest-growing Protestant church was the American Baptist Church, whose membership increased by 2.87 percent.
Also reported in the 2004 yearbook, despite a well-documented clergy shortage, the number of students enrolled in theological institutions continues to grow.
Also increasing, is per capita giving, by an average of 5.6 percent, within churches.
