The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the first
time has been listed among the top five largest Christian denominations in the
United States by the 2002 Yearbook of Canadian and American Churches compiled
by the National Council of Churches.
The Southern Baptist Convention ranks second in membership
size behind the Roman Catholic Church.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the first
time has been listed among the top five largest Christian denominations in the
United States by the 2002 Yearbook of Canadian and American Churches compiled
by the National Council of Churches.
The Southern Baptist Convention ranks second in membership
size behind the Roman Catholic Church.
Although the Interfaith Witness Department of the SBC North
American Mission Board classifies the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(Mormons) as other than orthodox Christian, the Yearbook considers them a Christian
denomination.
The Salt Lake City-based church ranked fifth with 5.2 million
members. Catholics registered 63.6 million and Southern Baptists 15.9 million.
The United Methodist Church placed third, with 8.3 million
members and the number four spot went to the Church of God in Christ, a predominantly
black Pentecostal church with 5.4 million members.
The Mormons bumped the nations largest Lutheran body,
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, to sixth place with 5.1 million
members. That leaves the Methodists as the only mainline Protestant church among
the top five. In 1970 three of the top five churches were mainline churches.
Rounding out the top 10 were the National Baptist Convention
of America, Inc. (3.5 million members), Presbyterian Church (USA) (3.4 million)
and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (2.5 million).
The Assemblies of God, a fast-growing Pentecostal denomination,
rose from tenth to ninth place.
Total U.S. church membership, according to the almanac, stands
at an estimated 152 million. The annual list is considered the most authoritative
guide to U.S. church membership, although editor Eileen Lindner readily concedes
that church statistics can be notoriously unreliable.
Linder said the rise of the Mormons is not unexpected, but
still significant. “The distinctive theological position of the LDS and
its history of persecution make such rapid growth all the more remarkable,”
she writes. “However, the churchs strong emphasis in outreach through
both mission personnel and electronic and print advertising makes it unique
among contemporary North American churches.” (RNS)