Denominations are Shrinking says Apostolic News!
 

http://www.apostolicnews.org/2011/02...denominations/

Feature story.

Not included in the statistics are denominations such as the Worldwide Pentecostal Fellowship, or even the United Pentecostal Church.

Meanwhile, the AoG continues to grow.

Re: Denominations are Shrinking says Apostolic New
 

I'm not a expert or anything,I think all mainline protestant denominations by and large are shrinking in membership.

Re: Denominations are Shrinking says Apostolic New
 

* The United Methodist Church: 7.8 million, down 1 percent.
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: 4.5 million, down 1.96 percent.
* Assemblies of God: 2.9 million, up .52 percent.

* The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 6 million, up 1.42 percent.
* The Church of God in Christ: 5.5 million, no membership updates reported.

* National Baptist Convention, USA: 5 million, no membership updates reported.

* National Baptist Convention of America, 3.5 million, no membership updates reported.

The Presbyterian church led with the greatest membership drop of the 25 largest denominations, with membership down 2.6 percent.

Re: Denominations are Shrinking says Apostolic New
 

The UPCI has 4,358 churches in North America, 9,085 ministers, and Sunday School attendance of 646,304. Worldwide, the organization counts a total membership of over 4 million.

Re: Denominations are Shrinking says Apostolic New
 

What is their growth/shrinkage though?

Apo News posted this -- maybe not in celebration at their heathen cousins in the Gospel, but surely as a drum beat of some sort. What is missing is any idea of what is happening in Oneness Pentecostalism, or more specifically, Apostolic Pentecostalism.

Re: Denominations are Shrinking says Apostolic New
 

I think when we stop counting, we might start growing. Counting creates competition, greed, envy, and the desire for Pastors to build Kingdoms, not Churches.

Another determinate to counting is, the numbers become fabricated and can't be proven.

The Church today has become a financial statement and a business, and the bottom line is more important than actual souls.

Re: Denominations are Shrinking says Apostolic New
 

Very true, NFS.

So I take it you aren't a fan of George Barna? :lol

Do you think, as a church, we can learn from surveys like this? For instance, if numbers show a growing trend of people leaving the Church, can that ever be helpful to us?

Re: Denominations are Shrinking says Apostolic New
 

I notice the UPCI does include Sunday School Attendance.

Re: Denominations are Shrinking says Apostolic New
 

I didn't find any numbers on the page I visited, from a yahoo search.

Re: Denominations are Shrinking says Apostolic New
 

And the only research data worthy of reproducing was Talmage French's Our God is One, which ironically, included all Pentecostal/Charismatic believers, not just Oneness Pentecostals.

Re: Denominations are Shrinking says Apostolic New
 

:thumbsup

And I didn't find when these statistics were published.

Re: Denominations are Shrinking says Apostolic New
 

None of the "growing" churches listed in the report are even keeping up with the birthrate. Add immigration to the US and Canada into the picture and every church listed is actually losing ground.

It mentions "the Presbyterian church..." is that an aggregate of all "Presbyterian" denominations? I've read where a couple of the larger Presbyterian groups had begun to ordain women in recent years. This has lead to a large number of congregations dropping out and joining such groups as the OPC (Orthodox Presbyterian Church).

This would account for a rather steep slide in membership in the "mainline" Presbyterian denominations while perhaps failing to account for the fact that these "dropouts" are still ostensibly Presbyterian.

Re: Denominations are Shrinking says Apostolic New
 

It appears to be data from the "2011 NCC Yearbook." The NCC's website has a dateline of February 14, 2011, for this.

http://www.ncccusa.org/news/110210yearbook2011.html

Re: Denominations are Shrinking says Apostolic New
 

Yes, I believe we can use statistics to help us understand what we might be doing wrong, but there is that ugly word again; statistics.

People become statistics, and this impersonal approach to humanity creates distance.

As you know I pastor, but I also work for one of the largest Insurance Corporations in the World. At the top, they try to make those who are on the front lines feel important; but the bottom line, is the bottom line. The "Next" button is close by, and people are nothing but a figure in a pool of expendability.

I hate to say it, but Church has become this. If I don't pay my dues and send in my SOC or CFC offering, my phone rings off the hook. I am expendable and the Church has a “Next” button.

As far as Mr. Barna is concerned, his mission is to read into EVERYTHING, when in reality there is nothing new under the sun. Data is just that; data. And, today it might be one thing, and tomorrow another. He is driven by success, but God is driven by Love and Mercy.

I don't think it was a mistake that Jesus went to those who weren't noticed or counted. They were nobody's, and big business or numbers meant nothing to the Lord.