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Denominational Profile
History
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Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches |
merged intoLutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) (1847) |
continuedLutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) |
split into Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (1976) |
| The second-largest Lutheran denomination in the United States was founded in Missouri by German immigrants in 1847. Many of these immigrants had rejected the planned merger of the Lutheran and Reformed churches in Prussia. |
Membership Data
| Year | Clergy | Churches | Members |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925 | 3,062 | 3,849 | 628,695 |
| 1929 | 3,271 | 3,942 | 696,967 |
| 1935 | 3,605 | 4,224 | 1,230,705 |
| 1939 | - | 4,205 | 1,277,097 |
| 1941 | - | 4,326 | 1,320,510 |
| 1944 | 0 | 4,073 | 1,356,655 |
| 1946 | 0 | 4,064 | 1,469,213 |
| 1950 | 4,621 | 4,430 | 1,674,901 |
| 1951 | 4,661 | 4,478 | 1,728,989 |
| 1953 | 4,817 | 4,592 | 1,850,100 |
| 1954 | 4,916 | 4,701 | 1,932,000 |
| 1955 | 5,020 | 4,805 | 2,004,110 |
| 1956 | 5,037 | 4,989 | 2,076,550 |
| 1957 | 5,178 | 4,979 | 2,150,230 |
| 1958 | 5,299 | 5,028 | 2,234,844 |
| 1959 | 5,398 | 5,109 | 2,304,962 |
| 1960 | 5,506 | 5,215 | 2,391,195 |
| 1961 | 5,658 | 5,276 | 2,464,436 |
| 1962 | 5,756 | 5,432 | 2,522,095 |
| 1963 | 6,091 | 5,519 | 2,591,762 |
| 1964 | 6,257 | 5,556 | 2,650,857 |
| 1965 | 6,395 | 5,639 | 2,692,889 |
| 1966 | 6,469 | 5,647 | 2,729,897 |
| 1967 | 6,572 | 5,707 | 2,759,308 |
| 1968 | 6,719 | 5,733 | 2,781,892 |
| 1969 | 6,758 | 5,745 | 2,786,102 |
| 1970 | 6,866 | 5,690 | 2,788,536 |
| 1971 | 7,041 | 5,724 | 2,788,110 |
| 1972 | 7,174 | 5,741 | 2,781,297 |
| 1973 | 7,316 | 5,777 | 2,776,104 |
| 1974 | 7,331 | 5,813 | 2,769,594 |
| 1975 | 7,425 | 5,797 | 2,763,545 |
| 1976 | 7,414 | 5,832 | 2,757,271 |
| 1977 | 7,163 | 5,687 | 2,673,321 |
| 1978 | 7,161 | 5,669 | 2,631,374 |
| 1979 | 7,211 | 5,689 | 2,623,181 |
| 1980 | 7,296 | 5,694 | 2,625,650 |
| 1981 | 7,376 | 5,710 | 2,636,715 |
| 1982 | 7,559 | 5,752 | 2,630,823 |
| 1983 | 7,682 | 5,829 | 2,630,947 |
| 1984 | 7,823 | 5,812 | 2,628,133 |
| 1985 | 7,954 | 5,876 | 2,638,164 |
| 1986 | 8,044 | 5,897 | 2,630,588 |
| 1987 | 8,139 | 5,912 | 2,614,375 |
| 1988 | 8,193 | 5,939 | 2,604,278 |
| 1989 | 8,271 | 5,990 | 2,609,025 |
| 1990 | 8,301 | 5,296 | 2,602,849 |
| 1991 | 8,389 | 5,364 | 2,607,309 |
| 1992 | 8,799 | 5,369 | 2,609,905 |
| 1993 | 8,844 | 6,134 | 2,598,935 |
| 1994 | 8,879 | 6,148 | 2,596,927 |
| 1995 | 8,140 | 6,154 | 2,594,555 |
| 1996 | 8,215 | 6,099 | 2,601,144 |
| 1997 | 8,672 | 6,215 | 2,603,036 |
| 1998 | 8,316 | 6,218 | 2,594,404 |
| 1999 | 8,365 | 6,220 | 2,582,440 |
| 2000 | 8,257 | 6,150 | 2,554,088 |
| 2001 | 8,497 | 6,187 | 2,540,045 |
| 2002 | 8,505 | 6,142 | 2,512,714 |
| 2003 | 8,515 | 6,160 | 2,488,936 |
| 2004 | 8,515 | 6,151 | 2,463,747 |
| 2005 | 8,502 | 6,144 | 2,440,864 |
| 2006 | 8,601 | 6,155 | 2,417,997 |
| 2007 | 8,901 | 6,167 | 2,383,084 |
| 2008 | 9,010 | 6,123 | 2,337,349 |
| 2009 | 9,357 | 6,178 | 2,312,111 |
| 2010 | 8,927 | 6,158 | 2,278,586 |
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]
