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XIV-1
Mennonite Church USA, 2002-
Executive Board and Leadership
Records,
1994-2003 (including statistics, 1860-2003)
5
Boxes (1 Long Gray, 4 Gray)
Series and Box
Listing
1. Mennonite Church USA
2003 Directory, and Statistics, 1860-2003
1 Box (Long Gray)
2. General
Records, 1914-2002
Miscellaneous & Our Faith; 1 Box (Gray)
3. Equipping, 1999-2001
2 Boxes (Gray)
4. Peace
and Justice Committee
1 Box (Gray)
Inventory
Series #1. Mennonite
Church USA 2003 Directory,
and Statistics, 1860-2003
A graph on
Mennonite Statistics (particulary the membership of the
General Conference Mennonite Church, 1860-2002, and the Mennonite
Church, 1898-2002, is also available.
The census booklets on Mennonites,
1891-1936, were collected by Archivist Melvin Gingerich, 1957-1971. The statistics for the Mennonite Church,
1971-2001, were deposited by James E. Horsch, Goshen, Indiana,
in 2001. Horsch was long-time editor for
the Mennonite Yearbook, 1975-2001.
See also the article “Statistics”, written by James E. Horsch, Mennonite Encyclopedia, 1990. The
Handbook
of Information (GC), 1971, and the Fact
Book of Congregational Membership (GC), 1971, for the General Conference
Mennonite
Church
was deposited by David
Habegger, Fort Wayne,
Indiana,
in 2002. The Mennonite
Church USA 2003 Directory was published in 2003.
Below
are several sources for obtaining statistics
of the Mennonite Church
and other Mennonite, Hutterite and Amish groups in the United States, since 1891 when a
Statistics of [USA]
Churches was first published by the Census
Office of the Government of the U.S.A.
It also includes statistics from 1860 from the General Conference
Mennonite
Church,
when that church began counting its members on an annual basis. Some statistics are included below from Canada,
and
from around the world.
Box 1 (Long Gray)
1/1
Statistics of [some
specific] Churches, 1891 [United States of America]
Census Bulletin No. 131, published
October
29, 1891, by the Census office, Department of the Interior, United
States
Government, Washington,
D.C.,
62 pages. “The Mennonites and the Dunkards
have never
been fully numbered before...[and they] appear in statistical tables
for the
first time in the census of
1890.” So do the
African Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Church of Jesus
Christ
of the Latter-day Saints.
The total membership for the Mennonite Church
was 17,078, and for the General
Conference Mennonites was 5,670. The total
membership for Mennonites (including Bruederhoef Mennonite
[Hutterites], Amish
Mennonite, Old Amish Mennonite, Apostolic Mennonite, Reformed
Mennonite, Church
of God in Christ
[Mennonite], Old (Wisler)
Mennonite, Bundes Conference der Mennoniten Brueder-Gemeinde [Mennonite
Brethren], Defenseless Mennonites, and Mennonite Brethren in Christ)
was
41,541.
The Brethren or Dunkards
(Conservative) numbered 61,101, while the Brethren or Dunkards
(Progressive)
numbered 8,089.
1/2
Mennonite Bodies,
1926 [Also 1906, 1916] [United States of America]
Includes statistics, denominational
history,
doctrine and organization of 17 Mennonite groups, and a general
introduction. Published by Bureau of the
Census, under the Title “Census of
Religious Bodies, 1926”, Department of Commerce, United States
Government, Washington,
1928, 76
pages.
The Mennonite Church
membership was 34, 039, while the General Conference (of the Mennonite
Church
of North America) was 21,582. Overall
membership for the 17 groups listed was 87,164.
This report also gives statistics for
1906: Mennonite
Church
(18,674), General Conference
(11,661). Total was: 54,798.
And for 1916: Mennonite Church
(34,965), General Conference (15,407). Total
was: 79,363.
1/3
Mennonite Bodies,
1936 [United States
of America]
Includes statistics, denominational
history,
doctrine and organization of 17 Mennonite groups, and a general
introduction. Published by Bureau of the
Census, under the Title “Census of
Religious Bodies, 1936”, Department of Commerce, United States
Government, Washington,
1940, 80
pages.
The Mennonite Church
membership was 46,301, while the General Conference (of the Mennonite
Church of
North America) was 26,535. Overall
membership for the 17 groups listed was 114,337.
This report also gives summary
statistics for
1906, 1916 and 1926.
1/4
Mennonite Yearbook and
Directory, 1947
This is the first time that this
directory
gave a summary list of “Baptized members of Mennonite bodies in United States and Canada,
based on official reports,
January 1, 1947”, page 53. This yearbook
has been published annually since 1905 by the Mennonite Church
(1898), and one could compile these statistics for each conference, and
group,
from 1905-1946, but that would be time consuming. Published
by Mennonite Publishing House, Scottdale,
Pennsylvania,
1947, Ellrose D. Zook, editor, 112 pages.
1/4
In 1947, the Mennonite
Church
membership was 58,259 (USA
52,596, and Canada,
5,663).
The General
Conference
Mennonite
Church
membership was 44,014 (USA
31,266, and Canada,
12,748)
There are 20 groups listed in this
table,
with a total of 184,457 members. (USA
132,685, and Canada
51,772)
1/5
Churches and Church
Membership in the United
States, 1971
Subtitle is: “An
enumeration by region, state and county”. Author
is Douglas W. Johnson, et. al, and
book was published by Glenmary
Research Center, Washington,
D.C., 1974, 237 pages. Copyright is held
by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Includes two maps.
The membership of the Mennonite Church
(1898) total is 88,116.
The General Conference
Mennonite
Church
(1860) is 36,771.
The Brethren in Christ Church
is 9,406.
The Evangelical Mennonite Brethren
Conference
is 1,737.
1/6
Canada’s Religious
Composition, 1971 [Also 1901-1971]
This report gives population
statistics. It does not give church
membership. Includes figures for 1901-1971. Published by Statistics Canada under the
title 1971 Census of Canada,
Profile studies, Canada’s
Religious Composition”, Volume V
(Part: 1), May 1976, Ottawa,
Canada.
Mennonite population in 1971 was
168,150. (In
1901 population was 31,949, including Hutterites) (page 11)
Hutterite population in 1971 was
13,650.
(first time listed separately – before this listed under Mennonite)
In 1971, persons 15 years of age and
older
was 119,715 (this includes Mennonites and Hutterites).
1/7
Mennonite Yearbook and
Directory, 1971
Since the census of 1971 as conducted
by the
USA governments only included the Mennonite Church and General
Conference
Mennonite Church, and did not include many other Mennonite groups, I am
including some statistics here.
On page 71, the table lists 17 groups
(similar to earlier 1891-1936 listings) and the total church membership
is
293,674. In USA the total is 191,725. For Canada it is 81,949.
The 1971 USA figures for the Mennonite
Church
(88,947) and General Conference Mennonite Church (36,458) are very
close to the
1971 membership report put out by the National Council of Churches (see
1/4
above).
1/8
Handbook of Information, General Conference Mennonite
Church,
1971
Published by the General Conference
church
since 1895 (earlier as Year book, and
as Mennonite Year book and Almanac),
statistics for this particular
1/8
church are found on page 59. It includes 5 district conferences in USA
(35,536), 1 conference in Canada
(20,275), and the churches in South America
(2,367). For a grand total of 58,178
members in this conference in 1971.
1/9
General Conference Mennonite
Church, Fact Book of Congregational Membership,
1971, by Leland Harder
A special book on membership on the
General
Conference church was published in 1971, which included a survey of all
members
and churches. Chapter 1 is entitled “A
Century of Conference Statistics”, and talks about membership in 1860
(8250 and
1911 (14,898) and 1968 (57,648).
1/10 Churches and Church
Membership in the United
States, 1980
Subtitle is: “An
enumeration by region, state and county based on data reported by
111 church bodies”. Author is
Bernard Quinn, et. al, and book was published by Glenmary Research
Center,
Atlanta,
Georgia,
1982, 321 pages. Copyright is held by the
National Council of
the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Includes two maps.
The membership of the Mennonite Church
total is 97,288.
The General Conference
Mennonite
Church
is 37,324.
The Brethren in Christ Church
is 12,911.
The Evangelical Mennonite Brethren
Conference
is 2,115
Additional groups for the 1980 figures
were
Beachy Amish Mennonite (4,844), Church of God
in Christ,
Mennonite (7,454), General Conference of the Mennonite Brethren
(15,797), and
Old Order Amish (69,550).
1/11 ...Mennonite Groups in Canada,
1984 [1983, 1990]
One
Quilt, Many Pieces: A Concise Reference Guide to Mennonite Groups in Canada,
by
Margaret Loewen Reimer, 2nd Edition. Published
by Mennonite Publishing
Service, Waterloo,
Ontario,
1990. Also 1st and 3rd
editions, 1983, 1990.
A total of 26 groups are listed as
being in Canada (as
found on pages 56-57), and the
membership for 1980-81 year is: Conference of Mennonites in Canada (General Conference Mennonites
(28,152),
and Mennonite Church
conferences (9,403) (includes three conferences: Mennonite Conference
of Ontario and Quebec
– 5,292; Western Ontario Mennonite Conference – 3,111; and Northwest
Mennonite
Conference – 1,000). Mennonite
Brethren’s total is (23,248).
Also includes total membership figures
for Canada (91,646)
and USA
(235,194), and total world
membership (689,140).
1/12 Mennonite Yearbook,
1997 [1999, 2000, 2001]
Although this directory was mentioned
above
for 1971 (under 1/7), it is included here again, since these last four
volumes,
1997-2001 do include many Mennonite groups which are then not included
in the
new 2003 Mennonite Church
1/12 USA 2003 Directory. Those
groups include Conservative Mennonite
Conference, Beachy Amish Church,
Eastern
Pennsylvania
Mennonite
Church,
etc.
In 1997, Mennonite
Church
(1898) membership was 112,311,
with other Mennonite
Church
conferences
totaling 20,814. (see page 200)
1/13 Mennonite Church Information, [1998-2003]
In 1998, a new directory appeared,
which
listed some of the more conservative Mennonite groups in Canada and USA. They include 22 groups, such as Beachy Amish
church, Eastern
Pennsylvania
Mennonite
Church,
South Atlantic
Mennonite Conference, Washington-Franklin Mennonite Conference, etc. There is no compiled statistical
summary,
although one could check each group’s listing. The
Conservative Mennonite Conference
is not listed.
1/14 Mennonite and Brethren in
Christ World Directory, 2000 [1978, 1984, 1990, 1998]
A world-wide directory of Mennonites
in
Brethren in Christ churches was first published in 1978 by the
Mennonite World
Conference, to try and provide statistics for world membership. The first handbook (1978) had a good
narrative introduction to all groups in the many countries (390 pages). Subsequently the directories are more
statistical. The 2000 directory is 19
pages in length.
In 1978, the membership figures were: United States (224,500), Canada (88,500), Europe (96,000),
Central and
South America (44,000), Asia (74,000), Africa (86,000) and Australia
(500). (See page 385-386 of the Mennonite World Handbook: A
Survey of Mennonite and Brethren in Christ
Churches, edited by Paul N. Kraybill, published 1978 by Mennonite
World
Conference, Lombard,
Illinois, USA.
In 2000, the membership figures were:
North
America (443,918), Europe (57,921), Central and South America, and
Caribbean
(112,128), Asia and Pacific (184,049), and Africa
(405,979). Total world membership:
1,203,995, in 63 countries in 197 organized church bodies.
This world directory was first
published as a Mennonite World Handbook in
1978 (390
pages), in 1984 (Supplement, 160 pages), and in 1990 (440 pages). It changed names to Mennonite and
Brethren in Christ world directory, in 1998, and 2000
(19 pages).
1/15 Anabaptist World USA [2001]
This is a good source on statistics
and an
introduction to all Anabaptist-related groups in USA,
as put together by Donald B.
Kraybill and C. Nelson Hostetter, both sociologists.
Published by Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania,
2001.
Membership statistics for [2001] are:
Mennonite (231,696), Brethren (including Church of the Brethren)
(211,752),
Amish (86,894) and Hutterite (7,090). Total
in USA:
537,432. (See page 33)
1/16 Faith Communities Today
(FACT), A Survey of Mennonite
Church USA
Congregations, 2000-01.
File includes three reports as part of
the Faith
Communities Today study (FACT) as initiated by Carl S. Dudley and David
A.
Roozen of the Hartford Seminary, Connecticut,
March 2001:
a) Survey [Form] of Mennonite
Church USA
Congregations, as part of
the cooperative Congregational Studies Project, January 2000, 12 pages. Ask questions about identity and worship,
history, and congregational programs, leadership and organizational
dynamics,
participants, and finances.
b) A Report on [CD
computer disk] .. Mennonite Church USA, 2001, copyright held by
Mennonite
Church USA Executive Board. Includes the
information on Mennonites gathered by FACT survey of 41 religious
bodies in the United
States.
c) Faith
Communities Today: Report on Religion in the United States Today, by Carl S.
Dudley and David A. Roozen,
Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Hartford
Seminary, Hartford,
Connecticut,
March 2001. 68 pages.
FACT@hartsem.edu.
1/17
Mennonite Church USA 2003
Directory, 2003
This is the first publication of the
new Mennonite Church USA,
after the merger and transformation of two Mennonite groups into one in
2002:
the Mennonite Church
(1898) and the General
Conference
Mennonite
Church
(1860).
Total membership is 110,253 (United States) and 3,719 (South America
members
as part of this USA
church.(page 32). Total membership:
113,972.
Note: There are other
directories which would assist persons to provide statistics on other
Mennonite, Amish, Beachy Amish, Brethren in Christ, and Hutterite
groups in USA. For example, there is an Indiana
Amish Directory (1970-2002), although it does not provide
statistical summaries.
Name and Subject Tracings (Archives Card
Catalog)
Census
Gingerich, Melvin
Habegger, David
Horsch, James E.
Mennonite Church USA, 2002- . Executive Board
Population
Statistics
Series
#2. General Records, 2002
Box 1 (Gray)
History of office buildings,
1914-2002, including history of Greencroft Center
(1975-2002), into
which Mennonite Church USA Elkhart offices moved into in 2002.
News Service; Olive Twig, Conference
Call, February 6, 2002, new beginning
The Mennonite, Feb. 5, 2002, Publicity
Elkhart, Ind., Staff Meeting, January 31,
2002
Elkhart, Ind., Staff Meeting, May 20,
2002
Transformation News,
February 2002
Office of Communications,
Snider
Elkhart, Ind., Open House, 500 S. Main,
May 24, 2002
Staff Telephone List, August
2002
Church wide Calendar, June
2002
Employee Policy Handbook,
May 1, 2002
Mennonite Digest, Our Faith, 2001
Series #3. Equipping
Box 1 (Gray)
Equipping, October 1999 - December 2000
Mailing,
March 2000
Box 2 (Gray)
Equipping, January 2001 - December 2001
Series
#4. Peace and Justice Committee
Box 1 (Gray)
Agreeing
& Disagreeing in Love,
2001
Consultation,
July 1997
Keep
the Faith, Share the Peace,
2001
Keep
the Faith, Share the Peace,
1995-2000
Mailings,
ca. 1998-2001
Minutes,
1994-97
Report Booklet, 1999
Updated
February 17,
2003/Series #2, 3, 4 by Cathy Hochstetler
January 21, 2003 / Series #1
listed by Dennis Stoesz
File: "XIV-1.doc"
Mennonite Church USA Archives-Goshen, 1700 South Main St., Goshen,
Indiana 46526
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