I just received a copy a of Dr. Flavil Yeakley’s newest research entitled, Good and Bad News: A Realistic Assesment of Churches of Christ in the United States 2008.  I thought I would share some of his statistical research and let you decide what is good and what is bad:

1.  From 1980-2000 Assemblies of God led the way in growth with an increase of 58.9%,  2nd was LDS (57.3%), 3rd was Catholic (30.6%), 4th was Christian Churches and Instrumental COC’s (27.6%), 5th was SBC (22.1),and 6thwas Non-Instrumental Church of Christ (2.1%).  All other major Christian denominations declined, with the United Church of Christ  (-18.9%) and the Presbyterian, USA (-21.7%) losing the most.

2. 83.5% of alumni from Christian Colleges and Universities associated with the Church of Christ are members of a local COC congregation.

3. 93.8% of all COC adult members are either single or married to their first spouse.  Only 5.4% are divorced and single, or divorced and remarried.

4.  Churches of Christ rank 12th nationally in number of members (1,264,000+), but we rank 4th in number of congregations (21,791).  Comparatively, the SBC has some 16 million members and some 41,000 congregations, Christian Churches and Instrumental Churches of Christ have some 1.1 million members, but only 5,471 congregations.

5.  The averqage Church of Christ has about 60 members and about 75 total members and adherents.  The average Christian Church has about 211 members and about 263 adherents.

6.  From 1990-2000 the Christian Church grew by 16%.  That ranks second, only behind the LDS, who grew by 16.1%.

7.  Churches of Christ declined from 1980-2007 in the following states: Missouri (-18%), Texas (-3.8%), Oklahoma (-7.1%), Illinois (-5.9%), Kansas (-9.3%), Michigan (-7.5%), Arkansas (-2.0%), Massachusetts (-18.2%), Oregon (-4.3%), Ohio (-1.2%), North Dakota (-41.7%), Alaska (-16.7%), Vermont (-23.1%), Nebraska (-3.9%), New Hampshire (-6.3%).

As you can see, the research represents a “mixed bag” for church leaders.  I would argue that one of key ingredients of the recent success of the Christian Church has been their ability to nurture and maintain a sense of unity.  No other religious group is so closely related to non-instrumental Churches of Christ. 

I think the research also demonstrates a new era of mission concerns among our churches.  Domestic missions has taken a back seat in many places, and many of the traditional “mission states” have seen a dramatic decline.  In some areas, like the industrial Midwest, it may that this decline is the result of changing economic conditions and population shifts.

Having said all that, I would recommend that those interested get this work (if you do not have it already) and look at it closely.

Would love to see what you think the numbers are saying.