US MEMBERSHIP CHURCH RANKING: Largest 25 Churches | |||
Denomination Name | Current Ranking (Ranking in 2007 ed.) | Inclusive Membership | Percentage Increase/Decrease |
The Catholic Church | 1(1) | 67,515,016 | 0.87% |
Southern Baptist Convention | 2(2) | 16,306,246 | 0.22% |
The United Methodist Church | 3(3) | 7,995,456 | -0.99% |
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | 4(4) | 5,779,316 | 1.56% |
The Church of God in Christ | 5(5) | 5,499,875 | 0.00% |
National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc. | 6(6) | 5,000,000 | 0.00% |
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America | 7(7) | 4,774,203 | -1.58% |
National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. | 8(8) | 3,500,000 | 0.00% |
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) | 9(9) | 3,025,740 | -2.36% |
Assemblies of God | 10(10) | 2,836,174 | 0.19% |
African Methodist Episcopal Church | 11(11) | 2,500,000 | 0.00% |
National Missionary Baptist Convention of America | 11(11) | 2,500,000 | 0.00% |
Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. | 11(11) | 2,500,000 | 0.00% |
The Lutheran Church– Missouri Synod (LCMS) | 14(14) | 2,417,997 | -0.94% |
Episcopal Church | 15(15) | 2,154,572 | -4.15% |
Churches of Christ | 16(16) | 1,639,495 | 0.00% |
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America | 17(17) | 1,500,000 | 0.00% |
Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. | 17(17) | 1,500,000 | 0.00% |
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church | 19(19) | 1,443,405 | 0.21% |
American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. | 20(20) | 1,371,278 | -1.82% |
United Church of Christ | 21(21) | 1,218,541 | -0.47% |
Baptist Bible Fellowship International | 22(22) | 1,200,000 | 0.00% |
Christian Churches and Churches of Christ | 23(23) | 1,071,616 | 0.00% |
The Orthodox Church in America | 24(24) | 1,064,000 | 0.00% |
Jehovah’s Witnesses | 25(25) | 1,069,530 | 2.25% |
TOTAL | 147,382,460 | 0.24% | |
Percentage changes in italic/bold signify that membership was not updated from previous reported |
(This is taken from a report from the National Council of Churches. Just think if Joseph Smith was looking for a church today!)
P.S. It was brought to my attention that the column on the far left that contains percentage of increase or decrease in conversions isn’t showing up. I reccomend clicking on this link: http://www.ncccusa.org/news/080215yearbook1.html to view a more indepth study online.
Jehovah’s Witnesses had the best conversion rate last year with 2.25% and LDS had the next with 1.56%.
Episcopal Church had the worst with a -4.15% drop and Presbyterian Church was next with over -2%.
7 comments
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February 28, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Mormon Heretic
Thanks for this post. I’ve been looking for some similar numbers, but this is better than what I’ve found.
What are the columns to the right? It seems to be cutting off some info (though perhaps you intended to do that.)
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February 28, 2008 at 4:04 pm
ama49
MH,
The numbers on the right are the percentage that the membership either increased or decreased in the last year. If you click on the article I have linked to “National Council of Churches you can see the stats.
Jehovah’s Witnesses had the highest conversions with over 2% increase and I think LDS was next with around 1.7%.
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February 28, 2008 at 8:19 pm
ZeeZrom
Your link doesn’t work. I’d like to see the full chart as well. Thanks.
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February 28, 2008 at 11:24 pm
ama49
Hi Z,
It should work now. let me know if it doesn’t
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March 2, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Candace Salima
Love the breakdown.
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April 9, 2008 at 4:02 am
tiredmormon
can you explain why pew estimates 1.7 million LDS members and the church claims close to 6 million?
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April 9, 2008 at 5:37 am
ama49
#6
Good question.
the 6 million are the “baptized” members and the 1.7 are the “active” members.
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