This data set contains statistics by county for 133 Judeo-Christian church bodies, providing information on the number of churches and members. It is not known exactly what percent of total Judeo-Christian adherents this actually represents. When compared to the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches: 1990, this study accounts for 23% more communicant members.
Please note that this data set may not be sold in any form, including as an addition to proprietary software, without the permission of the copyright holder. Churches and Church Membership in the United States, 1990 is published by the Glenmary Research Center, P.O. Box 507, Mars Hill, NC 28754, (828) 689-5355.
- Data File
- Cases: 3,141
Variables: 406 - Data Collection
- Date Collected: 1990-1991
- Funded By
- Lilly Endowment Inc.
Sampling Procuedure
Every denomination listed in the Yearbook of American Churches was approached and asked to participate in the study. Self-report forms were completed by all participating religious bodies. - Principal Investigators
- Church Growth Research Center, Church of the Nazarene, Kansas City, MO.
- Related Publications
- Bradley, M.B., Norman M. Green, Jr., Dale E. Jones, Mac Lynn and Lou McNeil (1992). Churches and Church Membership in the United States. Glenmary Research Center: Washington, D.C.
Related Information
The following is taken from Bradley, M.B., Norman M. Green, Jr., Dale E. Jones, Mac Lynn and Lou McNeil (1992).
Defining Membership: The most critical methodological problem was that of defining church membership. Since there is no generally acceptable definition of church membership, it was felt that the designation of members rested finally with the denominations themselves. In an effort to achieve comparability of data, however, two major categories were established: "communicant, confirmed or full members," and "total adherents."
Since it was planned to use total adherents in computing percent of church membership to total population, in cases where denominations reported only communicant, confirmed or full members, total adherents were estimated by computer according to the following procedure. The total county population was divided by the total county population less children 13 years and under, and the resulting figure was multiplied by the confirmed members. The 1980 U.S. Census was used to determine for each county the population 13 years and under.
