U.S. Membership Report

United States

Denominational Groups, 2000

39,994,852	26,091,321	989,106	62,035,042	12,254,099	140,057,419
Evangelical Protestant	Mainline Protestant	Orthodox	Catholic	Other	Unclaimed

Congregational "adherents" include all full members, their children, and others who regularly attend services. The historically African American denominations are not included in the 2000 congregation and membership totals. Many are also missing in 1990 and most historically African American denominations are missing in the 1980 reports.
[More information on the data sources]

Reports

Religious Bodies	Theology	Congregations	Adherents	Adherence Rate^†
Southern Baptist Convention	Evangelical Protestant	37,922	18,940,682	76.2
United Methodist Church, The	Mainline Protestant	37,238	11,091,032	44.6
Catholic Church	Catholic	22,441	53,385,998	214.7
Churches of Christ	Evangelical Protestant	13,097	1,681,013	6.8
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)	Mainline Protestant	11,433	3,553,335	14.3
Assemblies of God	Evangelical Protestant	11,149	2,161,610	8.7
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America	Mainline Protestant	10,912	5,226,798	21.0
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The	Other Theology	9,208	3,540,820	14.2
Episcopal Church	Mainline Protestant	7,333	2,445,286	9.8
United Church of Christ	Mainline Protestant	6,260	1,993,459	8.0
Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod	Evangelical Protestant	6,020	2,603,725	10.5
American Baptist Churches in the USA	Mainline Protestant	5,801	1,873,731	7.5
Christian Churches and Churches of Christ	Evangelical Protestant	5,238	1,213,188	4.9
Church of the Nazarene	Evangelical Protestant	5,167	888,123	3.6
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)	Evangelical Protestant	4,996	695,074	2.8
Seventh-day Adventist Church	Evangelical Protestant	4,214	903,062	3.6
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)	Mainline Protestant	4,035	1,037,757	4.2
Jewish Estimate	Other Theology	3,975	5,982,529	24.1
National Association of Free Will Baptists	Evangelical Protestant	2,461	293,448	1.2
Church of God (Anderson, Indiana)	Evangelical Protestant	2,336	232,876	0.9
Church of God of Prophecy	Evangelical Protestant	2,101	91,861	0.4
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church	Evangelical Protestant	1,962	1,142,016	4.6
Church of Christ, Scientist	Other Theology	1,862	n.a.	n.a.
Christian and Missionary Alliance, The	Evangelical Protestant	1,797	271,865	1.1
Wesleyan Church, The	Evangelical Protestant	1,657	259,740	1.0
Mennonite Church USA	Evangelical Protestant	1,499	195,210	0.8
International Pentecostal Holiness Church	Evangelical Protestant	1,490	157,728	0.6
International Church of the Foursquare Gospel	Evangelical Protestant	1,445	255,092	1.0
Baptist Missionary Association of America	Evangelical Protestant	1,374	289,969	1.2
Independent, Non-Charismatic Churches	Evangelical Protestant	1,363	1,207,173	4.9
Friends (Quakers)	Mainline Protestant	1,296	130,484	0.5
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod	Evangelical Protestant	1,228	419,928	1.7
Pentecostal Church of God	Evangelical Protestant	1,171	91,072	0.4
Salvation Army, The	Evangelical Protestant	1,167	127,577	0.5
Presbyterian Church in America	Evangelical Protestant	1,161	221,392	0.9
Primitive Baptists Associations	Evangelical Protestant	1,159	49,294	0.2
Church of the Brethren	Evangelical Protestant	1,121	186,588	0.8
Conservative Baptist Association of America	Evangelical Protestant	1,121	n.a.	n.a.
Evangelical Free Church of America, The	Evangelical Protestant	1,046	181,692	0.7
Free Methodist Church of North America	Evangelical Protestant	1,038	82,766	0.3
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations	Other Theology	965	190,193	0.8
Reformed Church in America	Mainline Protestant	917	362,932	1.5
Old Order Amish Church	Evangelical Protestant	830	121,750	0.5
Independent, Charismatic Churches	Evangelical Protestant	829	794,254	3.2
Christian Brethren	Evangelical Protestant	820	85,600	0.3
Baptist General Conference	Evangelical Protestant	786	167,874	0.7
Cumberland Presbyterian Church	Evangelical Protestant	737	91,040	0.4
Christian Reformed Church in North America	Evangelical Protestant	716	226,163	0.9
Independent Fundamental Churches of America	Evangelical Protestant	698	n.a.	n.a.
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America	Orthodox	515	n.a.	n.a.
United Baptists	Evangelical Protestant	436	68,187	0.3
Orthodox Church in America: Territorial Dioceses	Orthodox	426	n.a.	n.a.
National Association of Congregational Christian Churches	Mainline Protestant	399	99,110	0.4
Churches of God, General Conference	Evangelical Protestant	352	41,499	0.2
Open Bible Standard Churches, Inc.	Evangelical Protestant	337	n.a.	n.a.
Advent Christian Church	Evangelical Protestant	329	23,794	0.1
Old Regular Baptists	Evangelical Protestant	326	19,257	0.1
Missionary Church, The	Evangelical Protestant	303	39,948	0.2
North American Baptist Conference	Evangelical Protestant	267	54,010	0.2
Church of the United Brethren in Christ	Evangelical Protestant	240	25,749	0.1
Congregational Christian Churches, Additional (not part of any national CCC body)	Mainline Protestant	232	36,679	0.2
Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, The	Evangelical Protestant	203	27,316	0.1
Brethren In Christ Church	Evangelical Protestant	188	19,769	0.1
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church	Evangelical Protestant	187	37,988	0.2
Conservative Congregational Christian Conference	Evangelical Protestant	177	35,600	0.1
Evangelical Congregational Church, The	Evangelical Protestant	159	33,166	0.1
Church of God (Seventh Day)	Evangelical Protestant	153	7,511	0.0
Evangelical Presbyterian Church	Evangelical Protestant	138	45,464	0.2
Mennonite Brethren Churches, U.S. Conference of	Evangelical Protestant	134	22,097	0.1
Interstate & Foreign Landmark Missionary Baptists Association	Evangelical Protestant	129	18,293	0.1
Evangelical Methodist Church	Evangelical Protestant	128	11,105	0.0
Evangelical Lutheran Synod	Evangelical Protestant	126	21,523	0.1
Brethren Church, The (Ashland, Ohio)	Evangelical Protestant	124	16,331	0.1
Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection	Evangelical Protestant	120	2,526	0.0
Hutterian Brethren	Evangelical Protestant	111	11,037	0.0
Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America	Evangelical Protestant	109	17,793	0.1
Church of God, Mountain Assembly, Inc.	Evangelical Protestant	103	6,231	0.0
Duck River and Kindred Baptists Associations	Evangelical Protestant	102	13,215	0.1
Moravian Church in America--Northern Province	Mainline Protestant	98	31,250	0.1
Beachy Amish Mennonite Churches	Evangelical Protestant	91	8,243	0.0
Church of God General Conference	Evangelical Protestant	88	5,370	0.0
Seventh Day Baptist General Conference, USA and Canada	Evangelical Protestant	83	6,439	0.0
Primitive Methodist Church in the USA	Evangelical Protestant	81	7,937	0.0
Reformed Episcopal Church	Evangelical Protestant	80	6,559	0.0
Apostolic Christian Church of America, Inc.	Evangelical Protestant	79	19,809	0.1
American Association of Lutheran Churches	Evangelical Protestant	79	14,545	0.1
International Pentecostal Church of Christ	Evangelical Protestant	78	4,102	0.0
Church of God in Christ, Mennonite	Evangelical Protestant	75	12,535	0.1
Old Missionary Baptists Associations	Evangelical Protestant	73	16,289	0.1
Enterprise Baptists Association	Evangelical Protestant	70	6,001	0.0
American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church	Orthodox	69	14,610	0.1
Church of the Lutheran Confession	Evangelical Protestant	69	8,753	0.0
Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America	Mainline Protestant	56	14,299	0.1
Moravian Church in America--Southern Province	Mainline Protestant	55	21,269	0.1
Apostolic Lutheran Church of America	Evangelical Protestant	53	7,812	0.0
Fire Baptized Holiness Church, (Wesleyan), The	Evangelical Protestant	49	889	0.0
Apostolic Christian Churches (Nazarean)	Evangelical Protestant	48	3,516	0.0
Berean Fundamental Church	Evangelical Protestant	47	5,457	0.0
Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church	Evangelical Protestant	47	3,881	0.0
Orthodox Church in America: Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America	Orthodox	43	n.a.	n.a.
Regular Baptists	Evangelical Protestant	41	4,722	0.0
Jasper Baptist and Pleasant Valley Baptist Associations	Evangelical Protestant	40	9,209	0.0
Central Baptist Association Ministries	Evangelical Protestant	35	4,031	0.0
Reformed Church in the United States	Evangelical Protestant	35	3,722	0.0
Midwest Congregational Christian Fellowship	Evangelical Protestant	30	1,880	0.0
Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch	Orthodox	29	30,000	0.1
Evangelical Mennonite Church	Evangelical Protestant	26	5,122	0.0
Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church	Mainline Protestant	25	4,942	0.0
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA	Orthodox	23	n.a.	n.a.
Moravian Church in America--Alaska Province	Mainline Protestant	22	5,338	0.0
New Hope Baptist Association	Evangelical Protestant	22	3,150	0.0
Armenian Apostolic Church / Catholicossate of Cilicia	Orthodox	22	73,300	0.3
Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East, North American Dioceses	Orthodox	17	34,646	0.1
Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches	Evangelical Protestant	16	2,089	0.0
Netherlands Reformed Congregations	Evangelical Protestant	15	5,169	0.0
Fundamental Methodist Conference, Inc.	Evangelical Protestant	13	1,037	0.0
Orthodox Church in America: Albanian Orthodox Archdiocese	Orthodox	13	n.a.	n.a.
Christ Catholic Church	Evangelical Protestant	12	235	0.0
United Christian Church	Evangelical Protestant	11	770	0.0
Wayne Trail Missionary Baptist Association	Evangelical Protestant	11	2,467	0.0
Barren River Missionary Baptists	Evangelical Protestant	11	1,408	0.0
Primitive Advent Christian Church	Evangelical Protestant	9	427	0.0
Old Order River Brethren	Evangelical Protestant	7	514	0.0
The Protestant Conference (Lutheran)	Evangelical Protestant	7	1,095	0.0
Bible Church of Christ, Inc.	Evangelical Protestant	6	8,156	0.0
Schwenkfelder Church	Evangelical Protestant	5	3,031	0.0
Byelorussion Council Of Orthodox Churches In North America	Orthodox	4	n.a.	n.a.
Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists	Evangelical Protestant	3	87	0.0
Truevine Baptists Association	Evangelical Protestant	3	561	0.0
Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America	Orthodox	2	n.a.	n.a.
General Six Principle Baptists	Evangelical Protestant	2	172	0.0
Black Baptists Estimate	Evangelical Protestant	n.a.	8,737,667	35.1
	*Totals (Unadjusted)^:**	255,173	137,064,509

The population of the United States in 1990 was 248,709,766. The adherent totals of the religious groups listed above (137,064,509) include 55.1% of the total population in 1990.

Source

The 1990 data were collected by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB) and include statistics for 132 religious groups, including number of churches and adherents. Martin B. Bradley, Norman M. Green, Jr., Dale E. Jones, Mac Lynn, and Lou McNeil supervised the collection. These data originally appeared in Churches and Church Membership in the United States, 1990, published by the Glenmary Research Center.

[More information on the data collection]

^†The adherence rate provides the number of adherents of a particular group per 1,000 population. For example, in 2000 the Episcopal Church had an adherence rate of approximately 8 (8.1) in Autauga County, Alabama. This means that 8 out of every 1,000 people in Autauga County are Episcopalian.