Loading ...Mainline Protestants decline, Catholics gain
flockwoodThe Roman Catholic Church is growing, but most mainline and evangelical Protestant churches are losing members, according to the 2011 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches.
The figures, based on 2009 membership, were collected by the National Council of Churches and released Monday.
The United States now has 68.5 million Catholics, a jump of 0.6 percent from 2008. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also saw its membership climb 1.4 percent, to 6.1 million. Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses and two Pentecostal denominations — the Assemblies of God and the Church of God (Cleveland, Tenn.) — also saw numerical growth. All six of these religious groups have enjoyed sustained growth during the past half-century.
Mainline Protestant churches, meanwhile, have being losing members for decades.
That trend continued in 2009 with United Methodists, American Baptists, Evangelical Lutherans, Episcopalians, the Presbyterian Church USA and the United Church of Christ all reporting membership losses.
But declines weren’t limited to mainline churches. Two leading evangelical denominations, the Southern Baptist Convention and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, also shrunk.
This is the 79th annual edition of the yearbook.
The list of gainers and losers was somewhat predictable. “Churches, which have been increasing in membership in recent years, continue to grow and likewise, those churches which have been declining in recent years continue to decline,” writes Yearbook editor Eileen W. Lindner.
Mary Gautier, who tracks church statistics for the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, says she’s not surprised by the American Catholic Church’s success.
“It’s been growing pretty consistently — around 1 percent per year — for the last 25 to 50 years,” said Gautier, a senior research associate.
Earlier in the 20th century, the church’s annual growth rate in the United States was roughly 2 percent, she said.
Immigration has fueled much of the growth, Gautier said. “Most often, we see it in terms of growth from immigrants from the Spanish-speaking countries, but there’s also Asian Catholics coming from Vietnam, the Philippines, places like that [and] African Catholics coming from mostly French-speaking countries in Africa,” Gautier said.
“The immigrant population tends to be younger and more of child-bearing age” than native-born Americans, she said.
The church is glad to be expanding. “Growth is always good news, but its also challenging. The church continues to grow but it also continues to get ever more diverse and ever more geographically distributed,” Gautier said.
The Yearbook’s top 10 largest churches are:
1. The Catholic Church 68,503,456
2. The Southern Baptist Convention 16,160,088
3. The United Methodist Church 7,774,931
4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 6,058,907
5. The Church of God in Christ 5,499,875
6. National Baptist Convention 5,000,000
7. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 4,542,868
8. National Baptist Convention of America Inc. 3,500,000
9. Assemblies of God 2,914,669
10. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 2,770,730
February 16th, 2011 at 11:27 am
Some statistics show that immigration is the only reason the Catholic Church has been able to show a modest increase. As a practicing Catholic I greatly appreciate their invigorating reminder of the universality of our faith–but there has been a steady attrition (it’s called declension) in church membership in the U.S.A. otherwise.
February 21st, 2011 at 3:58 pm
Clifford is right. White folk continue to leave the Catholic Church. They are very poor at retaining their young as church members. If not for immigration, they too would be shrinking.
http://religionnewsblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/religious-retention-and-apostasy-in.html
The Mormon number is, as usual, inflated by their misleading membership claims. The real number is somehwere between half and two-thirds of that.
February 21st, 2011 at 4:24 pm
“The Mormon number is, as usual, inflated by their misleading membership claims. The real number is somehwere between half and two-thirds of that.”
Justin. Prove it. (Just because you don’t like us does not mean we are liars.)
February 21st, 2011 at 4:38 pm
The Catholic hierarchy loves the Latino immigrants because they do not make pests of themselves by reporting priests who commit acts of pedophilia. They are much more compliant than American Catholics, who are developing the bad habit of running to the police when their children are raped.
February 21st, 2011 at 4:40 pm
And, John, no, the fact that people tend not to like Mormons doesn’t make you liars, but you’ve got to admit that your church hierarchy hasn’t exactly acted in a manner that would tend to make people believe they’re open and transparent, either. So, if you’re not going to be open, don’t complain when people think you might be telling, as Sam Clemens would say, a little stretcher every now and then.
February 21st, 2011 at 6:23 pm
I don’t know how open you want the LDS Church to be, Caleb, but I see your point. However, the Church reports its numbers as compiled by their online membership data. The whole Church membership is now online. Every member has always been given a number, like Social Security, and is tracked by what Ward, Stake, Region, and Area they are located in. Last I heard, about 10% of the number reported for the U.S. membership is unaccounted for in the Ward, State, etc. process. These people are still members, even though we can’t find them. Granted, a certain percentage of them are probably dead. I know all this, because I had to send three names in my own Ward (out of 500 members) to Salt Lake for the Church to track down where they may be. They have full-time staff just trying to find the status of members on record.
So, I believe the numbers reported by the Church are pretty damn accurate, much more so than many other churches, and it bothers me when people make blanket statements of dishonesty without proof to back it up.
With all the genealogy we do, we’ve become pretty adept at keeping and filing records—probably the best in the world.
February 22nd, 2011 at 12:41 pm
This article seems a little misleading as telling its readers that all the Catholic Church’s inflation is due to immigrants. While I would agree that SOME of it is, I wouldn’t say all of it. Remember, the Church is putting forth a big “Catholics Come Home” movement this year to get many to return to the Church. Also, I would say the youth has a major role because their generation will have a great impact on the church. If you’ve ever been to any sort of youth mass or service, you would know what I’m talking about. They will change the Church, and hopefully for the better.
As far as the LDS numbers go, those are most likely more accurate than the Catholic Church, or for anyone else that matters. They really do a great job with their records. Just like John says, they’ve been doing it a long time. Props to them for that.
February 22nd, 2011 at 9:55 pm
Don’t count your chickens, Luke. A lot of those youth mass kids will flee once they go to college and get a taste of freedom. It’s easier to go to church when you’re living at home under the watchful eye of your parents. Hell, I went to church just to get out of the house, but once they’re out on their own, the spell will begin to wear off.
February 23rd, 2011 at 3:11 pm
John, first of all, you owe me a personal apology for impuning my character. I don’t dislike Mormons at all, far from it. I live in the middle of Mormon country, get along with them well every day, and some of my closest friends and best students are and have been Mormons. Why you consistently turn everything into a personal battle is beyond me, frankly, it shows poor character and immaturity.
As for your education on factual matters, here is an analysis of membership claims, BY A MORMON:
http://religionnewsblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/mormonism-fastest-growing.html
Plus, see my links about religious membership numbers based on surveys (not church membership rolls), which consistently place American Mormons in the 3-4 million range.
February 24th, 2011 at 9:57 am
Hey Justin, I started reading your link but stopped dead short when the author used the world “cult.” If this guy is a Mormon he sure has an ax to grind. How would you feel if you were, say, a Methodist and a fellow member called your religion a cult? Are Catholics a “cult” because they follow a Pope?
Anyway, there were major problems with his reasoning up to the “cult” reference. Since when were “active” members the criteria for reporting church membership? And then, what constitutes “active”? I’ve met many Catholics who say they are active because they go to mass on Christmas and Easter. If activity levels were the criteria, ALL churches would need to knock off 50 to 60 percent of their numbers, if not more. Unless a member asks to have their records removed or they die, they are still a member of the Mormon Church. The Church also makes a distinction between a “child of record” (those born to Mormon parents but not baptized until they are at an age to make that decision—we don’t baptize babies) and those who are actually baptized.
Worldwide, our retention rate after baptism is about 50 percent. In the U.S. it is around 60 percent. That is as good or better than every other church that I am aware of.
As for my paranoia, Justin, when was the last time the Lutherans had to defend their reported membership numbers? Why are the Mormons always questioned? I’ve had people threaten me and scream obscenities in my face because of my religion. When has that happened to you? Forgive me if I’m a little touchy. I don’t mean to malign you personally. Just try to get your facts right and give the benefit of the doubt whenever possible.
February 24th, 2011 at 4:28 pm
John, its kinda funny you chastise me to get my facts straight. I mean, I do have opinions, but this is not opinion-basedd, this is based on hard facts. From Pew surveys, here are the facts of retention:
Hindus 84%
Baptists 83%
Methodists 79%
Lutherans 78%
Presbyterian 76%
Jews 76%
Congregationalists 72%
Mormons 70%
Episcopalians 68%
Catholics 68%
Unaffiliated 58%
Buddhists 50%
Jehovah’s Witnesses 37%
I encourage you to read the whole article past the “cult” reference, because that is where the essay by the practicing Mormon kicks in. The first part was just commentary.
February 25th, 2011 at 12:25 pm
Justin, again, since when was how a person “feels” about the church they belong to any sort of criteria for reporting numbers? The Catholics claim a bazillion members in the U.S. and around the world and no one questions them, even though I doubt more than 20 percent actually go to church every week.
I read the rest of the post and scanned the linked article and all they can talk about is activity rates. I DON’T CARE ABOUT THE ACTIVITY RATES! I’m talking about actual baptisms. In some churches that’s all that is needed. Once you are baptized, you’re “saved” and the rest is moot. If that’s the case, then the 14 million Mormons are done. They’re “saved,” so we can report them as members. “Members” means that at some point in their lives they accepted Mormonism, the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith as a prophet. Those are specific questions they must answer in the affirmative to be baptized. How they feel about such afterwards or today or next year is interesting but not the point.
I’ll grant you that the “double membership” problem in some countries (particularly in South America) is troubling, but unless they ask to be removed from our Church rolls, they can still be counted as members.
I couldn’t find the source for your Pew survey. It would be interesting to know what kind of questions they asked those surveyed to get the numbers you quote. From my admittedly anecdotal experience, I would say only about 60 percent of Mormons are fully active in the U.S. I get this from the Ward membership rolls published in each Ward I’ve lived in and the reported numbers that show up to Church each week. I’ve seen the number of 58 percent activity rate somewhere as well. That would be great if it were 70 percent as the Pew survey suggests.
Keep in mind that the Mormons who are fully active are much more so than many other churches where you just pay the priest or minister to take care of the flock. Virtually every active member is given “callings” within their Ward to minister to the rest of the members in some capacity or other. This includes all the priesthood and ordinances. No one is paid a dime. I even take turns in my Ward cleaning the chapel. My wife plays the organ. I’ve been a teacher and member of priesthood committees etc., and expect to serve (and not just show up) in the Church throughout my life. Mormonism requires a lot bigger commitment than most other churches I’ve seen.
So, whatever our numbers say, they are just as honest as any other church and maybe more so if you take into account the actual level of activity and involvement of the members who are active.
February 26th, 2011 at 8:33 am
My mother is in her late 70′s. She was shocked when her church called her to see about leaving her assets in a trust for them. I was shocked she finally realized what she meant to them.
February 26th, 2011 at 11:37 am
Yes, perplexed. The New Rector only called me when my pledge card was late. We forget that churches are bidnesses too, but they are. Kind of annoying, though.