April 28, 2005 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Americans contributed more than $32-billion to 62 Christian denominations in 2003, according to a new report by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
The Yearbook of American &
Canadian Churches
examines membership and financial data from Christian denominations in both countries. Most of the churches provided data for fiscal 2003.
For the 59 denominations that reported comparable figures for 2002 and 2003, total giving grew by $339-million in 2003, or just over 1 percent.
American church members gave an average of $668 each in 2003, up from $658 in 2002.
“Benevolence” gifts — contributions earmarked for the needy instead of for local congregations’ own needs and programs — totaled some $4.7-billion, up from $4.5-billion in 2002. Benevolence giving represented 15 percent of all contributions in 2003, which is in keeping with past years.
Membership Trends
The yearbook also identifies trends in church membership. It found that church membership grew for the sixth straight year in 2003, with a record 163 million Americans who are members of 217 Christian denominations.
Five of the nation’s 25 largest denominations, however, saw their membership drop from 2002 to 2003, including the Presbyterian Church (down 4.8 percent), the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. (down 3.4 percent), and United Church of Christ (down 2.5 percent).
In contrast, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often referred to as the Mormon Church, grew 1.7 percent. With more than 5.5 million members, it moved up from being the fifth largest denomination to the fourth, a spot previously held by the Church of God in Christ.
The Roman Catholic Church remains the largest denomination in the United States, with more than 67 million members. The Southern Baptist Convention, with nearly 16.5 million members, is the next largest, followed by the United Methodist Church, with some 8.2 million members.
In Canada, membership in 80 Christian denominations in 2003 totaled more than 18 million. The contributions from the 22 Canadian denominations that reported their gifts totaled more than $703-million, 17 percent of which went to help the needy.
Copies of the Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches are available for $50 each, including shipping, from the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., 475 Riverside Drive, New York, N.Y. 10115; (212) 870-2031; fax (212) 870-2817; http://www.electronicchurch.org/2005/standing2005.htm.
