United Methodist Church Continues to Decline in America, but Gains in Africa

The United Methodist Church has continued to decline in the United States of America, according to reports released by all but four of the denomination's 59 conferences.

According to the reports, in 2011 the UMC suffered a decline of nearly 72,000 members, with 18 conferences reporting membership losses of 2 percent or more.

Mark Tooley, president of the Institute on Religion & Democracy and a practicing Methodist, told The Christian Post that he did not feel confident in the survival of the UMC in America.

"Methodism in the U.S. has lost membership every year since 1964. It has lost over 4.5 million members. There is nothing in its U.S. policies that can or will reverse the decline in the near future," said Tooley.

"My own local church is a very typical U.S. United Methodist congregation. It is selling its Sunday school building for lack of people and finances."

While the reports paint a bleak picture for American Methodism, the reported numbers did show the United Methodist Church growing, especially in Africa and the Philippines. According to the United Methodist News Service, during the past year the Burundi and East African conferences of the UMC gained over 68,000 members. Read more

Where are the Methodists who are leaving going? Some have found a new home in the Anglican Church in North America.