Denominational Profile
History
Evangelical Mennonite Church |
renamed toFellowship of Evangelical Churches (2003) |
|
The Fellowship of Evangelical Churches grew out of a spiritual awakening among the Amish of Indiana in 1866. Its founder was Bishop Henry Egly. This group adopted the name "The Defenseless Mennonite Church" in 1898, and became known as the Evangelical Mennonite Church in 1948. It took its present name in 2003. |
Membership Data
Year |
Clergy |
Churches |
Members |
2003 |
178 |
37 |
13,043 |
2004 |
178 |
37 |
6,496 |
2005 |
180 |
42 |
12,906 |
2006 |
172 |
42 |
14,078 |
2007 |
188 |
42 |
6,621 |
2008 |
179 |
44 |
6,933 |
2009 |
181 |
45 |
7,137 |
2010 |
185 |
46 |
7,754 |
Data were taken from the National Council of Churches' Historic Archive CD and recent editions of the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. The National Council of Churches' data collection was discontinued after the 2012 Yearbook was published, and has been resumed by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB). The tables and graphs will be updated when the new collection is available. See the Yearbook of Churches. Denomination descriptions provided by Dr. J. Gordon Melton, Director, Institute for the Study of American Religion (ISAR). [More information on data sources]