LDS Church grows while others seem to falter
February 25, 2009 by DH
Filed under Mormoncopia
The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and only a few other Christian churches continue to grow their membership in North America while many other churches are losing members on a yearly basis. This fact comes from a recently released report by the National Council of Churches (NCC).
All churches report and count their members differently so take this for what it is worth. Additionally, having the most members or the highest growth rate is not what is really important. In my opinion, it is far more important that people come unto Christ and follow Him faithfully and sincerely no matter which church they may attend. The LDS Church takes a similiar stance.
A few of the Mormon-relevant points and other interesting facts from the article are as follows:
The Top 10 Biggest Churches in the United States (by membership)
Growth rates for the previous year are also noted.
1. The Roman Catholic Church, 67,117,06 members, down 0.59 percent.
2. The Southern Baptist Convention, 16,266,920 members, down 0.24 percent.
3. The United Methodist Church, 7,931,733 members, down 0.80 percent.
4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5,873,408 members, up 1.63 percent .
5. The Church of God in Christ, 5,499,875 members, no change reported.
6. National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc., 5,000,000 members, no change reported.
7. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 4,709,956 members, down 1.35 percent.
8. National Baptist Convention of America, Inc., 3,500,000 members, no change reported.
9. Presbyterian Church (USA), 2,941,412 members, down 2.79 percent
10. Assemblies of God, 2,863,265 members, up 0.96 percent.
Churches that are growing
According to the 2009 Yearbook, among the 25 largest churches in the U.S., four are growing: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (up 1.63 percent to 5,873,408; the Assemblies of God (up 0.96 percent to 2,863,265); Jehovah’s Witnesses (up 2.12 percent to 1,092,169); and the Church of God of Cleveland, Tenn. (up 2.04 percent to 1,053,642).
Biggest Declines
Churches listed in the Yearbook as experiencing the highest rate of membership loss are the United Church of Christ (down 6.01 percent), the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (down 3.01 percent), the Presbyterian Church (USA) (down 2.79 percent), the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (down 1.44 percent) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (down 1.35 percent),
The 2 Biggest
Membership in the Roman Catholic Church declined 0.59 percent and the Southern Baptist Convention declined 0.24 percent, according to the 2009 edition of the Yearbook, edited by the National Council of Churches and published by Abingdon. The figures indicate that the Catholic church lost 398,000 members since the appearance of the 2008 Yearbook. Southern Baptists lost nearly 40,000 members.
While The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is clearly still far behind the top two biggest churches it is encouraging to see that it continues to have a positive growth rate in North America. Furthermore, without a doubt The LDS Church can no longer be described as a “small persecuted American Church.” It truly has become a global church with members in countless countries and more members living outside the U.S. than inside.
The full article can be found here:
