Between 2004-2008 there has been little change in the race/ethnicity of the lay membership within the United Methodist Church in the United States.
The only growth was within the African American/Black population, .80%. The other categories stayed the same. (The "multiracial" category has only been added within the last five years.)
As The United Methodist Church is trying to increase membership and grow new churches, it needs to be aware of the changing population of the United States. According to the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau, 65% of the U.S. population is White, 15% is Hispanic, 13% is Black, 4% is Asian, 2% is Multi-Racial, 1% is Native American and .2% is Pacific Islanders.
Meanwhile, membership in the U.S. United Methodist Church is more than 91% White. For denomination to grow in the nation, it needs to become more deliberate in evangelizing and engaging more racial-ethnic people in its membership.
Gender has changed by approximately 1%, females went from 58% to 57%, and men went from 42% to 43%.
*Statistics are the reported numbers collected by the General Council of Finance and Administration. For more information, please see the related spreadsheets.
—Complied by Elaine Moy, assistant general secretary of finance and administration for GCSRW.
Lay membership |
||
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 2008 | |
| Female | 57.90 % | 57.02 % |
| Male | 42.10 % | 42.98 % |
| Asian | 1.08 % | 1.07 % |
| Black | 5.07 % | 5.87 % |
| Hispanic | 0.84 % | 0.88 % |
| Multi-racial | (n/a) | 0.44 % |
| Native American | 0.31 % | 0.29 % |
| Pacific islanders | 0.21 % | 0.17 % |
| White | 92.50 % | 91.27 % |
*Source of data – GCFA
** Detail of data by annual conferences, see Table 1 and Table 2 here: www.gcsrw.org.