25 Largest Churches in the United States, 2006 (chapel, school, square footage)

[18Montclair]

U.S. Membership Denominational Ranking: Largest 25 Denominations/Communions

2006 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches

Rank, Church Name, Membership, Annual Change 2005-2006
1. The Catholic Church, 67,820,833 members, reporting an increase of .83 percent.
2. The Southern Baptist Convention, 16,267,494 members, reporting a decrease of 1.05 percent.
3. The United Methodist Church, 8,186,254 members, reporting a decrease of .79 percent.
4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5,999,177 members, reporting an increase of 1.74 percent.
5. The Church of God in Christ, 5,499,875 members, no increase or decrease reported.
6. National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., 5,000,000 members, no increase or decrease reported.
7. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 4,930,429, reporting a decrease of 1.09 percent.
8. National Baptist Convention of America, 3,500,000, no increase or decrease reported.
9. Presbyterian Church (USA), 3,189,573 members, reporting a decrease of 1.60 percent.
10. Assemblies of God, 2,779,095 members, reporting an increase of 1.81 percent.
11. African Methodist Episcopal Church, 2,500,000 members, no increase or decrease reported.
12. National Missionary Baptist Convention of America, 2,500,000 members, no increase or decrease reported.
13. Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., 2,500,000 members, no increase or decrease reported.
14. The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS), 2,463,747, reporting a decrease or 1.01 percent.
15. Episcopal Church, 2,284,233, reporting a decrease of 1.55 percent.
16. Churches of Christ, 1,500,000 members, no increase or decrease reported.
17. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, 1,500,000 members, no increase or decrease reported.
18. Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc., 1,500,000 members, no increase or decrease reported.
19. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, 1,432,795 members, no increase or decrease reported.
20. American Baptist Churches in the USA, 1,424,840, reporting a decrease of .57 percent.
21. United Church of Christ, 1,265,786, reporting a decrease of 2.38 percent.
22. Baptist Bible Fellowship International, 1,200,000, no increase or decrease reported.
23. Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, 1,071,615 members, no increase or decrease reported.
24. The Orthodox Church in America, 1,064,000 members, reporting an increase of 6.40 percent.
25. Jehovah's Witnesses, 1,029,902 members, reporting a decrease of 1.07 members.
The total members reported in the largest 25 communions is 148,009,649.

The 2006 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches costs $45 and may be ordered at The Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches, Published by the NATIONAL COUNCIL CHURCHES.

[toughguy]

How many atheists in the United States? I would say 50 million as a conservative estimate.

[mpope409]

Your thread title is misleading. I thought you were talking about congregations, not denominations.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by mpope409

Your thread title is misleading. I thought you were talking about congregations, not denominations.

I thought it referred to the literal largest church (you know, judging by square footage). lol

[Steve_W]

Originally Posted by toughguy

How many atheists in the United States? I would say 50 million as a conservative estimate.

lol, I doubt 1 out of 6 people are athiest. I would like to think more people than that believe in god.

[tahiti]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

I thought it referred to the literal largest church (you know, judging by square footage). lol

that's what I thought too. i also have to say that i'm absolutely FLOORED by some of the mega-churches that are out there. my sister-in-law's stepmom goes to one in Tulsa, it's the size of a freakin' arena, 10K people, shuttle buses from the parking lots, humoungous video monitors. i'm no spring chicken, but i had NO idea churches like this even existed. i guess i'm used to old, small, intimate churches in the Northeast.

[compelled to reply]

Originally Posted by tahiti

that's what I thought too. i also have to say that i'm absolutely FLOORED by some of the mega-churches that are out there. my sister-in-law's stepmom goes to one in Tulsa, it's the size of a freakin' arena, 10K people, shuttle buses from the parking lots, humoungous video monitors. i'm no spring chicken, but i had NO idea churches like this even existed. i guess i'm used to old, small, intimate churches in the Northeast.

You have to see some of the churches in Orange County, CA. It's pretty crazy. Florida cities (especially outside of SE FL) have huge ones too. We have one pretty massive megachurch ourselves in South FL; Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, complete with a full service restaurant, school, bookstore, and fancy monitors.

[lammius]

Yeah I expected this to be a thread about mega churches too. I saw one on a recent trip to Nashville that was unbelievably huge! Like tahiti said, churches in the Northeast probably tend to be smaller, but heck there's a Catholic church every couple of blocks!

Anyway, what is interesting is how many decreases there are in that list, though I'm not sure it's too surprising. I get the sense that there's a growing percentage of Americans who are "spiritual" but are uninterested (for one reason or another) in organized religion. And there are a few atheists like me in the mix too.

[jufrbo]

I think its called Pheonix First assembly or something, anyway it has like 100k member, no bs.
As for atheists, I think 50 million is way to large of a numer, something like 80 percent of americans believe in a god, whether or not they are practicing a religgion is something else.

[toughguy]

Originally Posted by Steve_W

lol, I doubt 1 out of 6 people are athiest. I would like to think more people than that believe in god.

The U.S. is an abberation among developed, economically established countries in terms of religious activity. I would like to think we could shed our reliance on an overseeing deity and forge our own destinies.