U.S.A. CHURCH MEMBERSHIP.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 83, 28 March 1914, Page 7

U.S.A. CHURCH MEMBERSHIP.

The writer of “Notes by the Way” in the “Christian World” states:— “The returns of Church membership in the United States of America, just published, show a total of over 37,000,000 out of a total population of 95,000,000. This proportion strikes us as high-—higher far, we recognise, than the proportion in the British Islands. The eight leading bodies make the following returns:— Roman Catholics ... 13,099,504 Methodists ' ... 7,125,069 Baptists ... 5,924,662 Lutherans ... 2,538,722 Presbyterians ... 2,027,593

Disciples of Christ ... 1,519,369 Protestant Episcopalians 997,369 Congregationalists ... 748,340 Two facts leap out here—(l) the stupendous leads of the Roman Catholic Church over the other Churches, and (2) what a comparatively insignificant sect the Protestant Episcopalian Church is in America. Compared with the previous year, the Methodists have the highest increase with 220,000, while the Roman Catholics are second, with 212,500 new members. The Baptist growth is rapid—o4,ooo in the year—but the Congregational Churches of America seem able to boast no striking numerical progress.”