Could this be due to the presence of the Holy Spirit in such churchs. Unfortunately, the mainline churches will think it is because the other churches are tickling the ears of the parishioners and that the mainline churches are facing social persecution because of their prophetic view of such things as "same sex marriage" and "homosexuality" etc.Mark Rouleau
rouleau-law@insightbb.com
Note #9235 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:
06198 April 3, 2006
'Non-mainline' Protestant churches gaining membership in United States
by Chris Herlinger Ecumenical News International
NEW YORK - Pentecostal and so-called "non-mainline" Protestant denominations are continuing to grow in the United States while mainstream churches lose membership, according to the latest annual figures from the National Council of Churches (NCC).
The largest U.S. Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, showed a decline in membership while the Roman Catholic Church, the largest single church body, showed a slight increase.
The NCC this week released the figures in its 2006 Yearbook of American and Canadian churches.
Of the 25 largest churches in the United States, those showing the largest increases in membership were the Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal denomination, up by 1.81 percent, to 2.78 million; the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, up by 1.74 percent, to 5.99 million [what a terrible shame on two counts the fact that more people have been led astray into a cult and secondly that the PC(USA) recognizes this group as a church and not as a cult]; and the Roman Catholic Church, up by 0.83 percent, to 67.82 million.
The Southern Baptist Convention, with 16.27 million members, reported a decrease of 1.05 percent.
Only three Protestant churches often referred to as "mainline" - the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) - are listed among the 10 largest churches in the United States, according to the yearbook statistics.
The United Methodist Church ranked third, with a membership of 8.19 million, a decrease of 0. 79 per cent; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ranked seventh with a membership of 4.93 million, a decrease of 1.09 per cent; and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ranked ninth with a membership of 3.19 million, a decrease of 1.60 per cent.
The yearbook includes baptized children in its PC(USA) membership figure.