So How Many Are Gathered in UM Churches?
This article is featured in the Where Two (or Two Thousand) Are Gathered (Aug/Sept/Oct 2013) issue of Circuit Rider
- Almost 90% of UM churches have fewer than 200 in average attendance
- 21% of United Methodists attend the largest 2% of churches
- Annual Conferences with the most very large churches (average attendance over 1000) are: North Georgia (25), Texas (21), and Florida (17).
- The South Central Jurisdiction has both the largest percentage of churches with over 1000 in average attendance (1.2% of churches in the jurisdiction) and the largest percentage of churches with under 50 in average attendance (55.2% of churches in the jurisdiction).
- There are 4,974 UM churches (15.4% of all churches) with fewer than twenty people in average attendance.
- Total average attendance at UM churches is 40% of total membership.