The Roman Catholic Church grew to 69.1 million members in 2005, making it the fastest-growing church in the country, followed closely by the Assemblies of God and the Mormons.
Catholics grew 1.94 percent in 2005, the Assemblies of God grew 1.86 percent and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints grew 1.63 percent, according to the 2007 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, produced by the National Council of Churches.
The Yearbook, released March 5, is considered the most authoritative source on church membership statistics.The 2007 Yearbook contains data from 2005 that were reported in 2006. Rankings of the top 10 largest U.S. churches did not change from last year. Catholics remain the largest group, followed by the Southern Baptist Convention, the United Methodist Church, Mormons and the Church of God in Christ.
Rounding out the top 10 are the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; the National Baptist Convention of America; the Presbyterian Church (USA); and the Assemblies of God.
Only three mainline Protestant denominations — Methodists, Lutherans and Presbyterians — are counted in the top 10 largest churches, and all three reported membership declines in 2005. The Presbyterian Church (USA) reported the largest decrease, at 2.84 percent.
Of the top 25 largest churches, another mainline denomination, the United Church of Christ, reported the greatest decrease, 3.28 percent.
Several historically black denominations — including the Church of God in Christ and the two National Baptist Conventions in the top 10 — have consistently reported the same numbers, with no increase or decrease, for several years.
The top 10 largest U.S. churches include:
– Roman Catholic Church — 69,135,254
– Southern Baptist Convention — 16,270,315
– United Methodist Church — 8,075,010
– The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — 5,690,672
– Church of God in Christ — 5,499,875
– National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. — 5,000,000
– Evangelical Lutheran Church in America — 4,850,776
– National Baptist Convention of America — 3,500,000
– Presbyterian Church (USA) — 3,098,842
– Assemblies of God — 2,830,861. (RNS)
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