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Fast Facts about American Religion
Religion & Family
Internet & Religion 1. How many religious congregations are there in the United States?
Pentecostalism 2. What’s the average size of U.S. churches?
3. How many people go to church each Sunday?
Orthodoxy in the 4. How many denominational groups are there in the United States?
US 5. What are the 25 largest denominational groups?
Homosexuality 6. What denominations are gaining members and what
denominations are losing members?
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7. Are U.S. churches multiracial?
Hartford Seminary 8. How many seminaries are there in the United States?
The Web 9. How many clergymen and women are there in the United States?
10. How much do pastors make?
11. What’s the average age of congregational leaders?
12. Are clergymen and women healthy?
13. Are more women enrolling in seminary?
14. Are more women serving in churches today?
15. Why are women dropping out of seminary, or ministry?
77 Sherman Street 16. Is there a salary gap between men and women clergy?
Hartford, CT 06105 17. Is there a relationship between church growth and youth
involvement?
18. Does having electric guitars cause church growth?
19. Does having a website create a growing church?
20. What’s the definition of a megachurch, and how many are there in
the United States?
21. Where are megachurches located?
22. How many Muslims are there in the United States?
23. How many churches use the Internet?
24. How can I find a church in a certain town?
25. Where can I find a dictionary of religion terms?
Want to know more? For an excellent summary of this research, read the
May 6, 1998 article by C. Kirk Hadaway and P.L. Marler Did You Really Go To
Church This Week: Behind the Poll Data, in The Christian Century,
http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=237. See also an article
about their work on the church attendance gap at
http://www.hirr.hartsem.edu/about/news_and_notes_ vol4no1.html
However, since the RCMS 2010 study we now know that the grouping of
nondenominational churches, if taken together, would be the second largest
Protestant group in the country with over 35,000 independent or
nondenominational churches representing more than 12,200,000 adherents.
These nondenominational churches are present in every state and in 2,663
out of the total of 3,033 counties in the country, or 88% of the total.
Want to know more? Check out the 2012 Yearbook of American and
Canadian Churches. The Yearbook costs $50 and may be ordered at:
http://www.yearbookofchurches.org You can also find a listing of
denominations and their websites at
http://hirr.hartsem.edu/denom/homepages.html
OLDLINE PROTESTANT*
1 thru 49 30%
50 thru 99 41%
EVANGELICAL PROTESTANT*
50 thru 99 50%
Our 2010 study indicated that the percent of multiracial congregations are
increasing in all faith groupings. In Emerson's study, 5 percent of Protestant
churches and 15 percent of Roman Catholic churches were multiracial, while
in 2010, 12.5% of Protestant churches and 27% of other Christian churches
(Catholic/Orthodox) were multiracial.
The largest churches in the country also seem to have it easier. Large
Catholic churches are significantly multiracial. Likewise, sociologist Scott
Thumma found, in the 2005 “Megachurches Today” study, that megachurches
have an multiracial advantage as well that balance. In his study, 35 percent
of megachurches claimed to have 20 percent or more minorities. What’s more,
56 percent of megachurches said they were making an intentional effort to
become multi-racial.
Q: How many clergymen and women are there in the United States?
A: The Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches
www.yearbookofchurches.org reported that there were 600,000 clergy
serving in various denominations in the United States. But that figure included
retired clergy, chaplains in hospitals, prisons and the military, denominational
executives, and ordained faculty at divinity schools and seminaries. The
600,000 figure did not include independent churches, not tied to a
denomination. “There’s no way to know how many there are,” said Jackson
Carroll, professor emeritus of religion and society at Duke Divinity School. In
addition, the figures provided by the denominations to the Yearbook may not
be that accurate, Carroll said. Nevertheless, at present it is the best figure
to use.
Want to know more? Read chapter 3 in Jackson Carroll’s God’s Potters:
Pastoral Leadership and the Shaping of Congregations, (W.B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co., 2006). The Pulpit and Pew website
http://www.pulpitandpew.org/ has additional information about the
characteristics and state of American clergy.
Want to know more? See our quick question - What percentage of pastors
are female? Read Clergy Women: An Uphill Calling, by Barbara Brown Zikmund,
Adair Lummis, and Patricia Mei Yin Chang, (Westminster John Knox Press,
1998) or see
http://hirr.hartsem.edu/bookshelf/bookshelf_book_excerpts.html#women.
Also, consult chapter 3 in Jackson Carroll’s God’s Potters: Pastoral Leadership
and the Shaping of Congregations, (W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2006).
Number and Percentage of Clergywomen 1977 & 2000
(From chart in Olson et. al. Women with a Mission. (U of Alabama Press
2005.) p.8
* The number of mosques with large attendance has increased. In 2000 there
were only 12% of mosques with attendance over 500 and in 2011 there were
18% with attendance over 500 people. More than 2% of American mosques
can be classified as megachurches or megamosques which are defined as a
congregation with attendance of 2000 or more people.
* The conversion rate per mosque has remained steady over the past two
decades. In 2011, the average number of converts per mosque was 15.3. In
2000 the average was 16.3 converts per mosque.
The 2010 figure of 69% is a decrease from the 2008 Faith Communities Today
survey finding of 74% of congregations with websites. This decline may not
indicate a retreat from technology but rather a shift in its use. Read more of
the latest research about these trends and the benefits of Internet
technologies for the church.
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