c. 2003 Religion News Service
AME Zion Fastest-Growing Church, Yearbook Says
(RNS) Roman Catholics, Mormons, Pentecostals and a historically black denomination are the fastest-growing churches in the United States, according to the 2003 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches.
The annual report of church membership figures, compiled by the National Council of Churches, found more than 159 million adherents in some 216 different denominations in 2001, the latest year for which figures are available.
The fastest-growing church, according to self-reported numbers, is the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, with 11.67 percent growth. Catholics followed with 2.49 percent growth, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) at 1.95 percent, and the Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal denomination, at 1.92 percent.
The list of 10 largest U.S. churches gained a new member, the National Baptist Convention USA. The historically black denomination has not been included in the Yearbook since 1998 because of unreliable figures. The new church estimate of 5 million members puts the church in the No. 7 spot. Three of the 10 largest churches _ and six of the top 15 _ are historically black churches.
Roman Catholics continue to top the membership charts, with 65 million Americans. Two of the 25 largest churches are Orthodox _ the Greek Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church in America _ and the rest are Protestant or Mormon.
The Rev. Eileen W. Lindner, the Yearbook’s editor, said the growth of the Mormons and Pentecostals reflects that “in the American context, new faith traditions and variations on inherited traditions have found a receptive climate for growth.”
Total church giving for 2001 was reported at $31 billion for the 63 denominations that submit figures to the Yearbook. Several large churches, including the Mormons, do not share financial figures. That amount is up by $1.61 billion from 2000.
Lindner cautioned, however, that between 1.5 million and 2 million Americans who belong to megachurches are not counted in the Yearbook. Lindner said the independent Protestant churches that have more than 2,000 members are harder to count because they typically do not report figures to a national denomination.
Lindner said megachurches remain “largely invisible” in American church life and are “woefully understudied” by scholars.
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The 10 largest churches, in order, are:
_ The Roman Catholic Church: 65.2 million
_ The Southern Baptist Convention: 16 million
_ The United Methodist Church: 8.3 million
_ The Church of God in Christ: 5.5 million
_ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 5.3 million
_ The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: 5.1 million
_ The National Baptist Convention USA: 5 million
_ The National Baptist Convention of America: 3.5 million
_ Presbyterian Church (USA): 3.5 million
_ Assemblies of God: 2.6 million
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Two-Thirds of Americans Believe in Devil, Gallup Finds
(RNS) Republicans and conservative Christians are the most likely Americans to believe in the devil, according to a Gallup report.
Belief in the lord of the underworld roughly mirrors the country’s general religious profile, yet the devil transcends categories that typically determine religious attitudes, such as age, religiosity and education.
A full 68 percent of Americans believe in the devil, while 20 percent do not and 12 percent are unsure, according to the May 2001 poll that was released Tuesday (Feb. 25). In 1999, 85.5 percent of Americans told Gallup they believe in God.
Seventy percent of Catholics believe in the devil, compared to 79 percent of Protestants and 83 percent of self-identified members of the religious right.
Republicans, at 79 percent, are the most likely to believe in the devil, compared with 67 percent of Democrats and 59 percent of independents.
Southerners are the most likely to believe, at 79 percent, followed by Westerners at 69 percent, Midwesterners at 64 percent and East Coast residents at 56 percent. The devil has found the strongest belief among rural Americans _ 78 percent _ compared to 64 percent of suburbanites and 66 percent of urban dwellers.
Across age and education, however, belief in the devil varies less. Seventy percent of adults ages 30-64 said the devil is real, along with 66 percent of adults ages 18-19. Similarly, 70 percent of high school graduates say the devil is real, along with 68 percent of college graduates. Fifty-five percent of people with postgraduate degrees also believe.
“Religion has ceded its civil authority, and religiosity has declined somewhat in American society. So we might expect belief in the devil to have largely evaporated,” said Gallup contributing editor Jennifer Robinson. “It hasn’t. Regardless of political belief, religious inclination, education or region, most Americans believe that the devil exists.”
The telephone poll of 1,012 adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
_ Kevin Eckstrom
Muslim Cleric Faces Possible Life Imprisonment for Terrorism
LONDON (RNS) The first Muslim cleric to go on trial in a British criminal court has been convicted of soliciting the murders of “unbelievers,” including Jews, Hindus and Americans, with chemical weapons and faces the possibility of life in prison.
A jury in London also found Abdullah el-Faisal _ a self-styled “sheikh” born 39 years ago in Jamaica as plain William Forest _ guilty of preaching racial hatred in a series of videotaped recordings.
It marked the first time in more than 100 years that anyone had been charged under Britain’s 1861 Offenses Against the Persons Act of soliciting murder without a specific victim _ a crime that can mean life imprisonment when he is sentenced March 7.
During his trial, videotapes were played showing el-Faisal preaching that “every Muslim hates the unbeliever,” that “we want to see their extermination” _ and he singled out Americans, Jews and Hindus.
“One of the truths about Islam,” the bearded cleric said, “is that Allah said, `Kill them.’ You can use anything _ even chemical weapons.”
El-Faisal said Jews “are rotten to the core” and “should be killed very soon, as by Hitler.” He added that “if you see a Hindu walking down the road, you are allowed to kill him and take his money.”
In his sermons el-Faisal urged Muslim boys starting at age 15 to plan to sacrifice their lives for jihad _ “holy war” _ and said they should train themselves to use AK47 Kalashnikov assault rifles.
London police said that as a result of the cleric’s message, some young Muslims might have gone abroad for training in anti-Western terrorism camps.
But authorities said they had found no direct link between el-Faisal and accused terrorist leader Osama bin Laden’s organization.
“This case was nothing to do with freedom of speech but everything to do with racial hatred and religious bigotry, and encouraging people to commit acts of terrorism,” said Peter Clark, head of Scotland Yard’s anti-terrorism branch.
Following the verdict, Muhammed Abdul-Mutakabbir, one of el-Faisal’s supporters, said bringing the cleric to trial was “an injustice. Because Sheikh el-Faisal has been convicted, so has the Quran.”
_ Al Webb
Robertson Returns to Work a Week After Prostate Cancer Surgery
(RNS) Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson reappeared as host of “The 700 Club” on his Christian Broadcasting Network on Monday (Feb. 24), one week after having surgery for prostate cancer.
Robertson, 72, underwent surgery to remove a cancerous prostate on Feb. 17 and returned to work a week later.
“I am profoundly grateful and touched by the thousands of prayers and expressions of goodwill that were made on my behalf by people all across the United States,” he said. “I hope that my example will serve as a reminder to men over 50 to be diligent in early screening for this silent and deadly killer that is affecting hundreds of thousands of men.”
In a statement, the Virginia Beach, Va.-based ministry reported that the cancer had spread to the edge of the prostate but not to neighboring tissues, so Robertson was declared to be cancer-free after the surgery.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Quote of the Day: California Researcher George Barna
(RNS) “We assume that if more people come to church, that they’re having a real significant encounter with God. Or that because they tote a Bible in church, they’re reading it during the week. We assume … so much of that is simply not accurate.”
_ George Barna, president of Barna Research Group based in Ventura, Calif., cautioning pastors not to make assumptions about the lives of their church members. He was quoted by Charisma News Service.
DEA END RNS
