Denominational Profile

History

	Churches of God, General Conference (1825)	continuedChurches of God, General Conference
		split into Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) (1881)

The Churches of God, General Conference was founded in 1825 by John Winebrenner, formerly a minister with the German Reformed Church. It was known for much of its history as the General Eldership of the Churches of God in North America.

Membership Data

Year	Clergy	Churches	Members
1925	449	484	28,484
1929	437	451	28,871
1935	399	401	29,496
1937	-	374	30,864
1939	-	350	31,000
1942	-	415	33,727
1944	-	397	33,563
1947	-	392	31,817
1950	254	380	32,352
1954	348	362	35,963
1955	389	398	36,882
1957	318	378	35,700
1959	327	385	37,304
1960	371	376	37,390
1961	365	376	36,995
1965	379	374	36,550
1967	353	352	36,042
1973	339	353	36,661
1974	346	351	37,040
1975	283	347	36,016
1979	307	345	34,874
1980	374	344	34,638
1981	429	345	34,773
1982	428	345	34,241
1983	433	352	34,424
1984	433	352	34,424
1985	458	353	34,870
1987	321	348	34,028
1988	327	343	33,778
1989	500	350	33,909
1990	437	349	33,371
1991	437	354	33,584
1992	423	359	33,096
1993	436	347	32,488
1994	430	352	31,862
1995	437	349	31,745
1996	444	350	31,558
1997	431	342	31,557
1998	434	339	31,833
1999	443	340	32,045
2000	454	342	32,380
2001	449	339	32,429
2002	460	337	32,654
2003	470	331	32,961
2004	446	336	32,880
2005	387	324	32,855
2006	399	324	33,209
2007	451	321	33,083
2008	545	322	31,326
2009	553	321	32,691

Data were taken from the National Council of Churches' Historic Archive CD and recent editions of the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. Denomination descriptions provided by Dr. J. Gordon Melton, Director, Institute for the Study of American Religion (ISAR). [More information on data sources]