American church membership shows decline

Tuesday, 24th February 2009
By:Nick Mackenzie

According to the newly released Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches, American churches have reported a ‘slight but startling’ decline in membership.

Membership in the Roman Catholic Church declined 0.59 per cent and the Southern Baptist Convention declined 0.24 per cent, 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.

Both membership figures were compiled by the churches in 2007 and reported to the Yearbook in 2008. The 2009 Yearbook also includes an essay by the editor, the Rev Dr Eileen W Lindner, on the various ways churches count their members. the rest