Membership vs. Church Attendance (numbers)

[Ernie]

This is a thread to discuss Membership vs. Church Attendance (numbers) in various denominations.

This thread is in the Christian Denominations subforum which means that:

Discussion in this section is to be informative not combative. No challenging of others faith or beliefs will be tolerated.

[Ernie]

When the Anglican Church of North American began in 2009, it had 703 congregations in the US and Canada.
Fifteen years later it has 1013 congregations.
It looks like attendance has increased by 15,000 in 15 years.

Congregations in 2009 = 703
Membership in 2009 = 100,000 (estimated)
Attendance in 2009 = 69,197

Congregations in 2024 = 1,013
Membership in 2024 = 128,114
Attendance in 2024 = 84,794

I wonder how the attendance vs. membership compares with Evangelical congregations in the US and Canada. I assume that membership includes infants and children.

In most Conservative Anabaptist churches, I think attendance is generally higher on the average Sunday, as compared with communion Sunday when only members and their children are present.

Many churches will leave someone on the membership for a couple years but will take them off. The ACNA numbers are probably pretty close. If the average congregant attends 3 out of 4 Sundays, that decreases the attendance. Of course there are people attending that aren’t yet members.

It’s the mainline churches that are notorious for membership bloat. The Episcopal Church has 1.5 million members with 411,000 [attendance].

[Ernie]

A thoughtful article by Kevin DeYoung.
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blog ... o-numbers/

[Ernie]

Old Orders
Old Order Mennonite - I'm guessing that membership + children is less than the average Sunday attendance. (Because these folks alternate use of meeting houses, most Sundays there will be attendees from other churches in the same conference. You only get an idea of members + children on communion Sunday or preparatory service which are considered high priority for attendance.) In smaller communities where there is only one meeting house, membership + children is similar to average attendance.

Old Order Amish - ??? (I know a lot of Amish do vacationing. Do they attend church on Sunday mornings while vacationing?

Weaverland Conference, OH/IN Wislers, Markham/Waterloo - Similar to Groffdale Conference.

Old German Baptist Brethren - Original Conference - ???
Old German Baptist Brethren - New Conference - ???

Ultra-conservatives (Do not do much vacationing.)
Washington/Franklin Conference - Similar to Groffdale and Weaverland for Sunday morning. Most members + children go to church twice on Sunday. Sunday evening probably has 95-98% attendance. Families with new babies and people over 75 do not always attend church twice on Sunday.

Eastern Mennonite Conference.
Nationwide Fellowship - ???
Mennonite Christian Fellowship - ???

Intermediate Conservatives
Bethel Fellowship - ???
Northeastern Mennonite Conference - ???
Pilgrim Mennonite Conference - ???
Question: Do Intermediates skip Sunday morning church when vacationing, or do they generally find a conservative Anabaptist church to attend?

Moderate Conservatives Some Moderate Conservatives skip church when vacationing, so overall Sunday attendance may be a little less in the summer. Sunday evening attendance in some churches can be considerably less than Sunday morning attendance. Midweek meetings can often have less attendance than Sunday evenings.
Beachy Amish-Mennonite - ???
Mid-Atlantic Mennonite Fellowship - ???
Keystone Mennonite Fellowship - ???

Progressive Conservatives I assume Progressive-Conservatives are similar to Moderates, but perhaps a little less likely to attend regular church services??? And I assume that many have regular attendees from more conservative churches that are not yet in the process of joining the church? This describes the few churches that I know, but I'm not sure if this is generally accurate.
Biblical Mennonite Alliance - ???
Anabaptist Disciples of Christ - ???
Rosedale Network (Plain) - ???

Theological Conservatives
Rosedale Network (Not Plain) - ???
The Alliance of Mennonite Evangelical Congregations - ???

Mainline Mennonites
LMC (formerly Lancaster Conference - ???
Evana Network - ???

Progressive Mainline Mennonites
MC-USA - ???
Mennonite Church Canada - ???

Feel free to correct anything I wrote, or give information for constituencies that you are familiar with.

[Neto]

The South Korean couple who were assigned to work with the Banawa a few years after we moved back to the States were from a large congregation in Seoul - 50,000 members, they said. Average attendance (members) was around 30,000 on an average Sunday. (I don't think this congregation is in a denomination, however, so maybe a bit off-topic. If so, I apologize for posting. But I think this percentage may be a typical ratio of members to in attendance for mega-churches. Visitors would be in a different category, I think.)

(If you wonder how they knew who was there, and who was missing, I wondered that too. They said that they have a single head pastor, then pastors of smaller groups, going all the way down to pastors of a 100, and of 10. They said that someone always knew it you missed.)

[ohio jones]

Progressive Conservatives I assume Progressive-Conservatives are similar to Moderates, but perhaps a little less likely to attend regular church services??? And I assume that many have regular attendees from more conservative churches that are not yet in the process of joining the church? This describes the few churches that I know, but I'm not sure if this is generally accurate.
Rosedale Network (Plain) - ???
Rosedale Network (Not Plain) - ???

I hesitate to extrapolate beyond my own congregation, but typically the attendance is roughly equal to the membership (from 2% below to 13% above, over the last 10 years). Those from more conservative churches are likely to become members more quickly, so the "regular attendees not yet in the process of joining the church" category is heavily weighted toward those from less conservative churches.

[barnhart]

Progressive Conservatives I assume Progressive-Conservatives are similar to Moderates, but perhaps a little less likely to attend regular church services??? And I assume that many have regular attendees from more conservative churches that are not yet in the process of joining the church? This describes the few churches that I know, but I'm not sure if this is generally accurate.
Biblical Mennonite Alliance - ???
Anabaptist Disciples of Christ - ???
Rosedale Network (Plain) - ???

Our attendance is roughly double membership, including children. Our largest group of non-member attendees are not from other Mennonite churches.

[Ernie]

Progressive Conservatives I assume Progressive-Conservatives are similar to Moderates, but perhaps a little less likely to attend regular church services??? And I assume that many have regular attendees from more conservative churches that are not yet in the process of joining the church? This describes the few churches that I know, but I'm not sure if this is generally accurate.
Biblical Mennonite Alliance - ???
Anabaptist Disciples of Christ - ???
Rosedale Network (Plain) - ???

Our attendance is roughly double membership, including children. Our largest group of non-member attendees are not from other Mennonite churches.

Yes, it does not surprise me that your church is atypical.

[R7ehr]

Intermediate Conservatives
Bethel Fellowship - ???
Northeastern Mennonite Conference - ???
Pilgrim Mennonite Conference - ???
Question: Do Intermediates skip Sunday morning church when vacationing, or do they generally find a conservative Anabaptist church to attend?

My church is part of the Western Fellowship, which is often considered part of the Intermediate Conservative subgroup.

We generally find a church to attend when traveling.

I looked at what our attendance was today. Morning service had 89 people in attendance. Maybe 40 members. I think there were about 17 visitors.

Tonight’s service was 74 in attendance, with 7 visitors. Of the 74, there were 36 members.

It happened that I took a bit of a census of our attendance on October 20, 2024 for someone. Looking at that data, I recorded total attendance of 96, with 26 visitors. I didn’t keep track of members that day, but looking at it, it seems to have been right about 35-40 members would have been there. If I remember right, this was a day that had more than normal of our members gone, and more than normal visitors attending.

[Ernie]

Here is what CHATGPT gives for numbers. I assume that denominations that baptize infants include those in their membership numbers.

In evangelical churches, children might make up 20-40% of the overall attendance, especially with strong children's ministry programs.
In more liturgical or traditional denominations (e.g., Catholic, Orthodox), the percentage may be lower, closer to 15-20%.

So, this means that for churches that baptize infants, you can probably deduct about 20%

Some of the groups below are obviously more orthodox than others, but this is the information provided.

1. Evangelical Protestant Churches
Evangelicalism includes a wide range of denominations that emphasize personal conversion, biblical authority, and active faith. Key denominations include Baptists, Pentecostals, and non-denominational churches.

Baptist Churches (Southern Baptist Convention - SBC):

Membership: The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., with roughly 14 million members as of 2023.
Attendance: Regular attendance has declined in recent years. It was estimated that about 5 million people attend SBC churches each week, though this number has been decreasing as part of broader attendance trends.
Pentecostal/Charismatic:

Membership: The Assemblies of God is the largest Pentecostal denomination, with around 3 million members in the U.S.
Attendance: Pentecostal churches are generally experiencing moderate to stable attendance, often attracting diverse and younger congregants. Attendance is often higher than in other Protestant groups, with worship being more emotionally expressive and informal.
Non-denominational Churches:

Membership: Non-denominational churches, while diverse, collectively represent one of the fastest-growing segments in American Christianity. Estimates suggest that around 10-20 million Americans attend non-denominational churches.
Attendance: These churches have grown significantly, especially in suburban and urban areas, as many appeal to younger generations and provide contemporary worship styles and community programs.

2. Mainline Protestant Churches
Mainline Protestant denominations, which historically dominated U.S. Christianity, have seen a significant decline in membership and attendance. Key denominations include the United Methodist Church (UMC), Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Episcopal Church.

United Methodist Church (UMC):
Membership: As of 2023, the UMC has around 6.2 million members, though it has been shrinking, largely due to divisions over theological issues and declining youth engagement.
Attendance: The UMC is seeing a steady decrease in regular attendance, with only about 2 million people attending services weekly.
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA):

Membership: The ELCA has around 3.3 million members.
Attendance: Regular attendance has declined in recent years, with only about 1 million attending services weekly.
Presbyterian Church (USA):

Membership: Around 1.3 million members in 2023.
Attendance: Similar to other mainline Protestant groups, weekly attendance is in decline, with fewer than 500,000 attending on a regular basis.
Episcopal Church:

Membership: Roughly 1.5 million members.
Attendance: Regular attendance has declined to under 400,000 people on any given Sunday.

3. Catholic Church
Membership: The Roman Catholic Church remains the largest Christian denomination in the U.S., with about 60 million members.
Attendance: Regular Sunday Mass attendance is typically around 30-40% of the membership, which translates to roughly 15-20 million people attending Mass each week. However, attendance has been declining, especially among younger generations, and there has been a noticeable shift toward "cultural Catholicism," where people identify as Catholic but do not regularly attend Mass.

4. Orthodox Christianity
Membership: The Eastern Orthodox Church in America (including Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, and other ethnic branches) has an estimated membership of around 3 million.
Attendance: Regular attendance is often more consistent in Orthodox communities compared to mainline Protestant churches, but still relatively low compared to other Christian groups, with about 1 million attending services on a weekly basis.

5. Black Protestant Churches
Membership: Black Protestantism includes a variety of historically Black denominations, such as the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, the National Baptist Convention, and others. The combined membership of Black Protestant groups is estimated to be around 20 million.
Attendance: These churches are known for vibrant worship services and high community engagement, with a significant proportion of members attending church services regularly, possibly as high as 60-70% of members.

6. Mormonism (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
Membership: The LDS Church has around 6.5 million members in the U.S., though its growth has slowed in recent years.
Attendance: The attendance rate is relatively high, with an estimated 2-3 million people attending services weekly. Mormon churches emphasize active participation and missionary work, so attendance tends to be higher compared to many other denominations.

7. Seventh-day Adventists: Approximately 1.2 million members in the U.S.
Regular worship attendance tends to be lower. In general, about 40% to 50% of members might attend services regularly, although this can vary widely based on the specific region, church size, and demographic factors.

8. Other Sects
Jehovah's Witnesses: Around 1.3 million in the U.S., with a high rate of regular attendance.
Christian Science: Membership is small and has been shrinking, but adherents maintain a distinct religious community.