National Council of Churches releases 2007 yearbook

NEW YORK (AP) - The Roman Catholic, Southern Baptist and Methodist churches remain the largest three denominations in the country, with the Mormon church ranking fourth in size, according to the latest edition of the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches.

The 2007 edition of the book, which is published by the National Council of Churches, an ecumenical group based in New York, tallied statistics collected by churches in 2005.

The number of Roman Catholics rose nearly 2 percent since the 2006 yearbook to more than 69 million, while the Southern Baptists reported 16.3 million members.

The United Methodist Church came in third with just over 8 million members, but that figure represents a decrease of 1.36 percent. The Church of God in Christ, a Pentecostal denomination, was fifth with 5.5 million members.

Only three mainline Protestant denominations were among the 10 largest churches. The Methodists were the largest, followed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which ranked seventh with a membership of 4.85 million, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which ranked ninth with a membership of nearly 3.1 million. Still, all three reported declines.

Pentecostal churches, however, reported significant growth. As one example, the Assemblies of God increased nearly 2 percent to 2.83 million.

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Annual Catholic Appeal in Boston archdiocese surpasses goal

BOSTON (AP) _ The Roman Catholic Boston Archdiocese raised $13.8 million in its latest annual fund drive, the most since 2002 at the height of the clergy sex abuse scandal.

Donations to this past year's appeal rose 15 percent over the previous year _ a 57 percent increase over 2002, when income dropped to $8.8 million, archdiocese officials said.

The number of donors has also rebounded. In 2000, when $17.2 million was collected, 90,000 people contributed. That figure dropped to 38,000 in 2002, then rose this past year to 50,000.

``Clearly, if you look over the last four campaigns, there is a strong demonstration of forward movement and a recognition by Catholics of the progress that's taking place across the archdiocese,'' said Damien DeVasto, director of the Catholic Appeal.

The fundraising drive was formerly called the Cardinal's Appeal, but was renamed after Cardinal Bernard Law resigned in 2002 as archbishop of Boston. Unsealed court files showed Law had moved accused priests among parishes without notifying civil authorities or the public.

Cardinal Sean O'Malley was installed as archbishop in 2003 and quickly settled with hundreds people who claimed to be abuse victims.

He too drew protests for a reconfiguration plan for the archdiocese that resulted in the closure of 62 parishes and some Catholic schools.

Money raised by the annual appeal is used to support archdiocese operations, religious education, youth ministries, clergy and laity training, spiritual development programs, and needy parishes.

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