The Assemblies of God
grew by 18.5 percent during the 1990s, the third largest gain among
major faith groups in the country, according to a recent nationwide
study. The A/G gained 400,388 adherents during the decade, up to
2,561,998. The Fellowship also added 731 congregations, for a total
of 11,880. The figures, covering only stateside totals, are different
from the official A/G statistics, which include Puerto Rico and
the Virgin Islands.
Only the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, at 19.3 percent, and the Christian
Churches and Churches of Christ, at 18.6 percent, grew faster during
the span. For total number of congregations, the A/G follows the
Southern Baptists, United Methodists, Catholics and Churches of
Christ.
The findings of the once-a-decade
study published by the Nashville-based Glenmary Research Center
also show that the A/G is in the top 276 metro regions of the nation,
the only group to be so positioned besides Southern Baptists and
Catholics.
The A/G is the fourth
most widespread body in the country, located in 83.3 percent of
the nation’s counties, for a presence in 2,616 counties. United
Methodists are the most prevalent, in nearly 96 percent of counties,
followed by Catholics at 95 percent and Southern Baptists with 85
percent.
A/G Statistician Sherri
L. Doty, who participated in the research, says part of the A/G
expansion is attributable to growth in ethnic churches. During the
decade, the number of Hispanic A/G congregations grew by 29 percent
while the number of Latino adherents increased by 53 percent, according
to Doty.
The data indicate the
Assemblies of God is the largest faith group in four U.S. counties:
Asotin County, Wash.; Wheeler County, Ore.; Wheatland County, Mont.;
and Eaton County, Mich. Except for Eaton County – which includes
part of the state capital, Lansing – all are rural areas.
The A/G is the largest
Protestant group in an additional 50 counties. Many are located
in the western United States, where overall church participation
is lowest. Eleven each are in Washington and California, including
Sacramento County, California’s capital, while seven are in
Oregon. Four are in Colorado, three each in Alaska and Idaho, two
each in Hawaii and Montana, with one apiece in Illinois, Michigan,
New Jersey, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.
The study indicates that
Oklahoma has the most penetration of any state for the Fellowship,
with more than 25 adherents per thousand population, or a total
of 88,301. Not surprisingly, California, the most populous state,
has the most A/G members, 310,522. The largest number of A/G followers
in an urban area are in Los Angeles with 111,815.
According to the study,
the A/G ranks eighth among 149 participating faiths in size. Catholics
are first with 62 million followers, and are the largest group in
38 states. The Southern Baptist Convention, which at 19.9 million
adherents is the largest Protestant group, is the most populous
faith in 10 states, all in the South.
However, the Glenmary
methodology relies on self-reporting and does not include data from
14 bodies, most of them predominantly black denominations. Denominations
not participating in the study included the National Baptist Convention
of America and the Church of God in Christ, both of which are larger
than the A/G, according to the 2002 Yearbook of American and Canadian
Churches.
In addition, several
evangelical and Pentecostal groups with fewer than 1 million adherents
showed remarkable growth, including the Salvation Army up 225 percent,
the Evangelical Free Church up 57 percent, the International Pentecostal
Holiness church up 53 percent, the Wesleyan church up 47 percent,
the Presbyterian Church in America up 42 percent and the Church
of God (Cleveland, Tenn.) up 40 percent.
