Membership Up, Attendance Down

U.S. church membership is still on the way up. According to the new Year book of American Churches, published by the National Council of Churches, a record 123,307,449 Americans claimed membership in religious bodies in 1964, the latest year for which figures are compiled. The total amounted to almost a 2% increase over the previous year, compared with an overall population increase of less than 1.5%. But fewer members are going to church. The Yearbook includes a survey by the American Institute of Public Opinion, which shows that only 45% of adult Christians attended services on Sundays in 1964, compared with 46% in 1963, and a high of 49% in 1958.

Roman Catholics now number 45,640,619, according to the Yearbook, while 221 Protestant bodies report a total membership of 68,229,478. The ten largest Protestant churches:

Southern Baptist Convention 10,598,429

The Methodist Church 10,304,184

National Baptist Convention, U.S.A. 5,500,000

Protestant Episcopal Church 3,340,759

United Presbyterian Church 3,292,204

Lutheran Church in America 3,131,062

Nat'l Baptist Convention of America 2,668,799

Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod 2,650,857

American Lutheran Church 2,587,204

Churches of Christ 2,250,000

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