The Orthodox Church in America Reports 88% Drop in Membership

Three church organizations from widely different parts of the religious landscape reached the same conclusion — that they aren’t nearly as large as they had said previously.

In fact, each of them reduced their estimated number of adherents by about 1 million.

The revisions come in the 2011 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches, newly published by the National Council of Churches. The yearbook staff collects data from each religious group, whose methodologies vary widely. If they don’t update them — and many haven’t for years — the yearbook carries forward the previous estimate in its annual list ranking the nation’s denominations by size.

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