–Anglican Church in Ghana, from 100,000 in 1970 to 236,000 in 2000
–Anglican Church of Kenya from 582,600 in 1970 to 3.1 million in 2000
–Anglican Church in Nigeria from 2.914 million in 1970 to 18 million in 2000
–Anglican Church in Rwanda from 161,899 in 1970 to 700,000 in 2000
–Anglican Church in the Sudan from 300,000 in 1970 to 2.2 million in 2000
–Anglican Church in Uganda from 1.281 million in 1970 to 8.580 million in 2000
–The American Episcopal church from 3.196 million in 1970 to 2.325 million in 2000
–The Anglican Church in Britain from 27.659 million in 1970 to 23.983 million in 2000
–The Anglican Church of Canada from 1.176 million in 1970 to 784,000 in 2000
–The Scottish Episcopal Church from 86,351 in 1970 to 48,300 in 2000
They say that the proof is in the numbers, and these numbers back that up!!! Stay faithful to the Gospel and you will grow; try to please everybody by changing the Gospel, you die!!!
Yes, indeed ! Is the leadership of ECUSA so blind as to not see that very simple conclusion. Where the Gospel is proclaimed, growth follows and where the Gospel is not proclaimed, decline and eventual death is the only outcome. I am most thankful that I am in the Diocese of SC which proclaims the Gospel and is growing.
All is well. The folks we have lost are racists, homophobes, and fundamentalists. We remain inclusive. KJS
Not to worry, the numbers don’t reflect the many hundreds and thousands flocking or about to flock to TEC and ACofC for their bold stand on deviant sexual behavior. Why just last week I heard that there was a church in California that added a gay couple prompting the PB to exclaim that the church’s growth strategy had begun to take root and bear fruit.
2.325M in TEC? It looks good on paper.
[i] Anglican Church in Britain from 27.659 million in 1970 to 23.983 million in 2000[/i]
Is this statistic supposed to be the sum of the Church of England, the Church in Wales, and the Scottish Episcopal Church? If so, then why is the SEC also listed separately?
Scotland, like Wales, is part of Great Britain.
(The Church of Ireland encompasses both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland which latter territory is part of the United Kingdom but not part of Great Britain.)
But in any case, the CofE’s own, rather more modest claims for numbers who actually attend, can be found at
http://www.cofe.anglican.org/about/thechurchofenglandtoday/
#6 Simon Sarmiento
You may find that these figures relate to those who put CofE etc on census forms, that is those who culturally, historically or for family reasons going back into the mists regard themselves as Anglican. Not the same as those who turn up for church on Sunday but then again not to be completely dismissed as perhaps the figure may include many who might be open to being invited back to church?
I trust everyone noted that the comparisons are all based on the best numbers the honorable editors of the World Christian Encyclopedia (Anglican ex-missionary David Barrett and company) could come up with for the year AD 2000. Of course, the trend lines have diverged even more widely since then, with the orthodox Anglican prvoinces in the Global South continuing to rack up big gains, and the heresy-coddling (or endorsing) provinces in the Global North continuing to fall precipitously.
The contrast is so glaring, like day and night. Or maybe like life and death. This little statistical sample might make for an interesting consersation starter at a Sunday adult forum or a midweek home group meeting. It can be eye-opening for some folks in the pews who remain blithely oblivious to it all.
David Handy+
Whilst being a lifelong, loyal member of the Church of England, it is embarrassing that we still quote membership numbers in this way. I understand that that our active membership is about 2million, with ASA running at between 0.9m and 1.2m. Growth or otherwise should be related to these figures and not to the number of people who couldn’t think of any other denomination to put on their forms.
Interesting isn’t it, that our active and ASA figures are almost identical now to the ECUSA? Though the American branch has five times the population to draw on. They really are quite tiny, aren’t they?
Onward and … one way or another,
Chris Baker – Durham UK
#9 Hello old grumpy. What a marvellous name – and just how I feel sometimes.