Denominational Profile

History

Evangelical and Reformed Church
Congregational Christian Churches

merged intoUnited Church of Christ (1957)

The United Church of Christ was founded in 1957 as a merger of the Congregational-Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed Church. It continues the American Congregational tradition.

Membership Data

Year	Clergy	Churches	Members
1962	8,528	6,894	2,056,696
1963	8,479	6,886	2,023,611
1964	8,692	6,957	2,067,223
1965	8,692	6,960	2,070,413
1966	8,774	6,945	2,063,481
1967	9,047	6,908	2,052,857
1968	9,058	6,866	2,032,648
1969	10,171	6,803	1,997,898
1970	10,121	6,727	1,960,608
1971	9,378	6,688	1,928,674
1972	9,480	6,635	1,895,016
1973	9,464	6,617	1,867,810
1974	9,526	6,581	1,841,312
1975	9,536	6,552	1,818,762
1976	9,607	6,528	1,801,241
1977	9,739	6,512	1,785,652
1979	9,692	6,467	1,745,533
1980	9,870	6,462	1,736,244
1981	10,008	6,443	1,726,244
1982	10,029	6,461	1,716,723
1983	10,095	6,427	1,701,513
1984	10,157	6,419	1,696,107
1985	10,085	6,408	1,683,777
1986	10,071	6,406	1,676,105
1987	10,080	6,395	1,662,568
1988	10,145	6,362	1,644,787
1989	9,870	6,388	1,625,969
1990	9,635	6,260	1,599,212
1991	10,171	6,301	1,583,830
1992	10,203	6,264	1,555,382
1993	10,230	6,225	1,530,178
1994	10,213	6,180	1,501,310
1995	10,256	6,145	1,472,213
1996	10,311	6,110	1,452,565
1997	10,296	6,061	1,438,181
1998	10,303	6,017	1,421,088
1999	10,302	5,961	1,401,682
2000	10,263	5,923	1,377,320
2001	10,347	5,888	1,359,105
2002	10,364	5,850	1,330,985
2003	10,323	5,738	1,296,652
2004	10,255	5,682	1,265,786
2005	10,231	5,567	1,224,297
2006	10,268	5,452	1,218,541
2007	10,745	5,377	1,145,281
2008	10,201	5,320	1,111,691
2009	10,191	5,287	1,080,199

Data were taken from the National Council of Churches' Historic Archive CD and recent editions of the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. Denomination descriptions provided by Dr. J. Gordon Melton, Director, Institute for the Study of American Religion (ISAR). [More information on data sources]