NEW YORK (ABP) — The Roman Catholic Church, with 67 million members, remains the largest church in the United States, but the Mormons, the country's fastest-growing church, rose to the No. 4 slot with 5.5 million, according to 2003 church membership figures compiled by the National Council of Churches.
The Southern Baptist Convention maintained its No. 2 spot with 16.4 million and a growth rate of 1.18 percent. The United Methodist Church, with 8.2 million U.S. members, held on to third place. The Mormons (officially the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) bumped the Church of God in Christ to fifth place, with 5.4 million members.
Roman Catholics had the third-highest growth rate of 1.28 percent, compared to the Mormons at 1.71 percent.
The figures continue to look bleak for the country's mainline Protestant churches, who have been overtaken by Mormons, Pentecostals and black churches in recent years. Mainliners Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians are the only churches in the top 10 to report a decline in membership.
The 10 largest churches in the United States:
— Roman Catholic Church: 67.2 million
— Southern Baptist Convention: 16.4 million
— United Methodist Church: 8.2 million
— Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 5.5 million
— Church of God in Christ: 5.4 million
— National Baptist Convention, USA: 5 million
— Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: 4.9 million
— National Baptist Convention of America: 3.5 million
— Presbyterian Church (USA): 3.2 million
— Assemblies of God: 2.7 million