African-American Membership in U.S. Religious Denominations
R eligion
| Estimated membership of predominantly black denominations in the U.S., 1947–1993 | ||||||
| 1950–1975 | 1976–1993 | |||||
| Denomination (year of founding) | Year | Churches | Members | Year | Churches | Members |
| African Orthodox Churches | ||||||
| African Orthodox Church (1921) | 1957 | 24 | 6,000 | 1971* | — | 10,000 |
| African Orthodox Church of the West (1984) | — | — | — | 1985 | 2 | 200 |
| Baptist Bodies | ||||||
| Black Primitive Baptists (1877) | 1970 | 43 | 3,000 | — | — | — |
| Fundamental Baptist Fellowship Association (1962) | 1970 | 10 | — | — | — | — |
| National Baptist Convention of America (1915) | 1956 | 1,398 | 2,668,799 | 1987 | 2,500 | 3,500,000 |
| National Baptist Convention of the United States of America, Inc. (1895) | 1958 | 26,000 | 5,500,000 | 1991 | 30,000 | 7,800,000 |
| National Baptist Evangelical Life and Soul Saving Assembly of the United States of America (1920) | 1951 | 264 | 57,674 | — | — | — |
| National Primitive Baptist Convention of the United States of America (1907) | 1975 | 606 | 250,000 | 1991 | — | 250,000 |
| Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. (1961) | — | — | — | 1991 | 1,400 | 2,500,000 |
| United Free-Will Baptist Church (1901) | — | — | — | 1992 | 836 | 100,000 |
| Black Hebrews | ||||||
| Church of God and Saints of Christ (1896) | — | — | — | 1991 | 217 | 38,127 |
| House of Judah (1965) | — | — | — | 1985 | 1 | 80 |
| Original Hebrew Israelite Nation (1960) | — | — | — | 1980 | — | 3,000 |
| Yahweh's Temple (1947) | 1973 | — | 10,000 | — | — | — |
| Catholic Bodies | ||||||
| American Catholic Church (Syro–Antiochean) (1930s) | 1961 | 40 | 4,663 | 1979 | 3 | 501 |
| Sacred Heart Catholic Church (1980) | — | — | — | 1983 | 3 | 50 |
| The Coptic Orthodox Church | — | — | — | 1992 | 55 | 260,000 |
| International Council Of Community Churches (1946) | — | — | — | 1988 | 300 | 250,000 |
| Kodesh Church of Immanuel (1829) | — | — | — | 1980 | 5 | 326 |
| Methodist Bodies | ||||||
| African Methodist Episcopal Church (1816) | 1951 | 5,878 | 1,666,301 | 1991 | 8,000 | 3,500,000 |
| African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (1821) | 1959 | 4,083 | 770,000 | 1991 | 3,000 | 1,200,000 |
| African Union First Colored Methodist Protestant Church (1866) | — | — | — | 1988 | 35 | 6,500 |
| Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (1870) | 1961 | 2,523 | 444,493 | 1988 | — | 788,922 |
| Free Christian Zion Church of Christ (1905) | 1956 | 742 | 22,260 | — | — | — |
| Reformed Methodist Union Episcopal Church (1885) | 1970 | 21 | 5,000 | 1980 | 33 | 3,800 |
| Reformed Zion Union Apostolic Church (1869) | 1960 | 50 | 16,000 | — | — | — |
| Mount Hebron Apostolic Temple of Our Lord Jesus of the Apostolic Faith (1963) | — | — | — | 1980 | 9 | 3,000 |
| Muslim Bodies | ||||||
| Muslims— | — | — | — | 1993 | — | 1,000,000 |
| Nation of Islam (Farrakhan) (1978) | — | — | — | 1989 | — | 20,000 |
| Pentecostal Bodies | ||||||
| Alpha and Omega Pentecostal Church of God of America, Inc. (1945) | 1970 | 3 | 400 | 1990 | — | 800 |
| Apostolic Assemblies of Christ, Inc. (1970) | — | — | — | 1980 | 23 | 3,500 |
| Apostolic Church of Christ (1969) | 1980* | 6 | 300 | 1900 | 10 | 600 |
| Apostolic Church of Christ in God | — | — | — | 1980 | 13 | 2,150 |
| Apostolic Faith Mission Church of God (1906) | — | — | — | 1989 | 18 | 6,200 |
| Apostolic Overcoming Holy Church of God (1920) | 1956 | 300 | 75,000 | 1988 | 200 | 12,000 |
| The Bible Church of Christ | — | — | — | 1991 | 6 | 6,812 |
| Bible Way Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ World Wide (1957) | 1970 | 350 | 30,000 | 1991 | 300 | 250,000 |
| Christ's Sanctified Holy Church (Louisiana) (1904) | 1957 | 30 | 600 | — | — | — |
| Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. (1907) | 1965 | 159 | 9,289 | 1990 | 189 | 12,890 |
| Church of God in Christ (1906) | 1965 | 4,500 | 425,000 | 1991 | 15,300 | 5,477,875 |
| Church of God in Christ, Congregational (1932) | 1970 | 33 | — | — | — | — |
| Church of God in Christ, International (1969) | 1971 | 1,041 | 501,000 | 1982 | 300 | 200,000 |
| Church of God (Sanctified Church) (1901) | 1975 | 60 | 5,000 | 1991 | 69 | 6,000 |
| Church of the Living God (Christian Workers for Fellowship) (1889) | — | — | — | 1985 | 170 | 42,000 |
| Church of Living God, the Pillar and Ground of Truth (1903) | — | — | — | 1988 | 100 | 2,000 |
| Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith (1919) | 1954 | 155 | 30,000 | 1993 | 457 | 81,000 |
| Churches of God, Holiness (1914) | 1967 | 42 | 165,000 | — | — | — |
| Commandment Keepers Congregation of the Living God (1924) | 1970 | — | 3,000 | — | — | — |
| Fire-Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas (1908) | 1958 | 53 | 998 | 1991 | 49 | 695 |
| Highway Christian Church of Christ (1929) | 1980* | 13 | 3,000 | 1991 | — | 900 |
| House of God, Which Is the Church of the Living God, the Pillar and Ground of Truth, Inc. (1919) | 1956 | 107 | 2,350 | 1970* | 103 | 25,800 |
| Latter House of the Lord for All People and the Church of the Mountain, Apostolic Faith (1936) | 1947 | — | 4,000 | — | — | — |
| Mount Sinai Holy Church (1924) | 1968 | 92 | 2,000 | 1991 | 125 | 10,000 |
| Original Glorious Church of God in Christ Apostolic Faith (1921) | — | — | — | 1980 | 55 | 25,000 |
| Original United Holy Church International (1977) | — | — | — | 1985 | 210 | 15,000 |
| Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (1906) | 1960 | 550 | 4,500 | 1989 | 1,005 | 500,000 |
| Pentecostal Churches of Apostolic Faith (1957) | — | — | — | 1991 | 128 | 151,000 |
| Shiloh Apostolic Temple (1953) | — | — | — | 1985 | 33 | 7,500 |
| Sought Out Church of God in Christ | 1949 | 4 | 60 | — | — | — |
| Triumph the Church and Kingdom of God in Christ (1902) | 1972 | 475 | 54,307 | — | — | — |
| United Church of Jesus Christ (Apostolic) (1945) | — | — | — | 1985 | 75 | 100,000 |
| United Holy Church of America (1886) | 1960 | 470 | 28,890 | 1970* | 470 | 50,000 |
| United Way of the Cross Churches of Christ of the Apostolic Faith | 1980* | 14 | 1,100 | 1990 | 14 | 1,002 |
| Universal Christian Spiritual Faith and Churches for All Nations (1952) | 1965 | 60 | 40,816 | — | — | — |
| Way of the Cross Church of Christ (1927) | 1980 | 48 | 50,000 | 1987 | 68 | 60,000 |
| source: "Black Americans and the Churches," in Religions of America (New York, 1975); Black Americans Information Directory (1990–91) (New York, 1990); Directory of African American Religious Bodies: A Compendium by the Howard University School of Divinity (Washington, D.C., 1991); "The Negro in American Religious Life," in The American Negro Reference Book (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1970); Statistical Record of Black America (Detroit, 1990); Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches: 1993 (Nashville, Tenn., 1992); Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches: 1992 (Nashville, Tenn., 1991); Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches: 1973 (Nashville, Tenn., 1973). Membership Figures Provided by Denominations Themselves, Which Use Different Criteria to Determine Them. | ||||||
| Presbyterian Bodies | ||||||
| Second Cumberland Presbyterian Church in the United States (1874) | 1959 | 221 | 30,000 | — | — | — |
| * Most recent data available | ||||||
| Membership of racially mixed denominations in the U.S., 1890, 1916, and 1936 | ||||||
| 1890 | 1916 | 1936 | ||||
| Denomination | Black members | Total members | Black members | Total members | Black members | Total members |
| sources: Report on Statistics of Churches of the United States at the Eleventh Census: 1890 (Washington, D.C., 1894); Religious Bodies: 1916 (Washington, D.C., 1919); Religious Bodies: 1936 (Washington, D.C., 1941). | ||||||
| Adventist Bodies | ||||||
| Advent Christian | — | 25,816 | 317 | 30,597 | — | 26,258 |
| Seventh-Day | — | 28,991 | 2,553 | 79,355 | 6,367 | 133,254 |
| Baptist Bodies | ||||||
| Northern Convention | 35,221 | 800,025 | 53,842 | 1,232,135 | 45,821 | 1,329,044 |
| Congregational Church | 6,908 | 512,771 | 13,209 | 791,274 | 20,437 | 976,388 |
| Disciples of Christ | 18,578 | 641,051 | 11,478 | 1,226,028 | 21,950 | 1,196,315 |
| Lutheran Bodies | ||||||
| Synodical Conference | 211 | 357,153 | 1,525 | 777,701 | 8,985 | 1,463,482 |
| Methodist Bodies | ||||||
| Methodist Episcopal | 246,249 | 2,240,354 | 320,025 | 3,717,785 | 193,761 | 3,509,763 |
| Methodist Protestant | 3,183 | 141,989 | 2,869 | 186,908 | 2,321 | 148,288 |
| Moravian Bodies | ||||||
| Moravian Church (Unitas Fratrum) | — | 11,781 | 419 | 26,373 | 628 | 30,904 |
| Presbyterian Bodies | ||||||
| Presbyterian Church in the United States of America | 14,961 | 788,224 | 31,957 | 1,611,251 | 279 | 449,045 |
| Presbyterian Church in the United States | 1,568 | 179,721 | 1,429 | 357,769 | 2,971 | 1,797,927 |
| Protestant Episcopal Church | 2,977 | 532,054 | 23,775 | 1,092,821 | 29,738 | 1,735,335 |
| Reformed Episcopal Church | 1,723 | 8,455 | 3,017 | 11,050 | 2,434 | 7,656 |
| Roman Catholic Church | 17,079 | 6,231,417 | 51,688 | 15,721,815 | 137,684 | 19,914,937 |
| Salvation Army | — | 8,741 | — | 35,954 | 436 | 103,038 |
| Membership of racially mixed denominations in the U.S., 1963–1992 | |||
| Denomination | Year | Black membership | Total membership |
| American Baptist Convention | 1964 | 200,000 | 1,559,103 |
| 1990 | 496,000 | 1,535,971 | |
| Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) | 1964 | 80,000 | 1,920,760 |
| 1992 | 61,000 | 1,039,692 | |
| Congregational Christian Churches | 1964 | 38,000 | 110,000 |
| 1992 | 9,000 | 75,000 | |
| Lutheran Church Missouri Synod | 1991 | 15,147 | 2,609,025 |
| Mennonite Church | 1992 | 3,476 | 114,307 |
| Protestant Episcopal Church | 1963 | 73,867 | 3,340,759 |
| 1990 | 250,000 | 2,446,050 | |
| Reformed Episcopal Church | 1992 | 3,184 | 6,042 |
| Roman Catholic Church | 1964 | 722,609 | 45,640,619 |
| 1990 | 2,000,000 | 58,568,015 | |
| Seventh-Day Adventists | 1964 | 167,892 | 370,688 |
| 1990 | 280,000 | 717,446 | |
| United Church of Christ | 1964 | 21,859 | 2,056,696 |
| 1989 | 62,048 | 1,662,568 | |
| United Methodist Church | 1964 | 373,327 | 10,304,184 |
| 1992 | 257,436 | 8,853,455 | |
| United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America | 1964 | 6,000 | 3,302,839 |
| 1990 | 65,000 | 3,788,009 | |
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African-American Membership in U.S. Religious Denominations
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