Monday, July 06, 2009
The UBs 25 years later - By The Numbers
25 years ago in the July issue of the United Brethren a number of statistical tables were presented comparing the UB denomination in 1983 to 1978. I thought it would be interesting to take a little bit longer view and compare the denomination of 2008 to that of 1983. One constant was King Street Church (Chambersburg, PA). It was the largest church in 1983 with 747 in A.M. Attendance. Today King Street has an A.M. Attendance of 1,639 ... that's an 119% increase! But as amazing as that figure is the number two and three spots are even more amazing. Emmanual Community Church (Fort Wayne, IN) comes in at number two with the figure of 1,305 ... that is a 2317% increase from 1983. Third place goes to New Hope Community Church (Bryan, Ohio) with 824 and an even more impresive increase of 2647%!
Rounding out the top 10 the next seven represent an average increase of 218%, with the high going to Fowlerville (Fowlerville, MI) at 443% and the low to College Park (Huntington, IN) at 26%.
If you total all the 1983 attendance figures and compare them to the 2008 attendance figures the denomination has a 77% increase in attendance, but once you add in the rest of the churches the figure does not looks as good.
Of the top 50 churches 20 of them did not appear on the 1984 list. One caveat ... the 1984 list contained statistics for churches from international conferences including 6 Jamaican, 4 Sierra Leonean, and 1 Canadian church. Since those churches are no longer under the banner of the US National Confernce I have not included them on this list. Three other churches that were included in the top 50 in 1984 are no longer a part of the denomination. Some of the current churches result from mergers, I have tried to combine the figures of all preceeding churches in the 1983 total for the current church.
THE TOP 50
|
|
Church |
Location |
State |
1983 Att. |
2008 Att. |
%INC or %DEC |
|
1 |
King Street |
Chambersburg |
Pennsylvania |
747 |
1,639 |
119% |
|
2 |
Emmanuel |
Fort Wayne |
Indiana |
54 |
1,305 |
2317% |
|
3 |
New Hope Community |
Bryan |
Ohio |
30 |
824 |
2647% |
|
4 |
Main Street |
Walbridge |
Ohio |
309 |
724 |
134% |
|
5 |
Mt. Pleasant |
Chambersburg |
Pennsylvania |
242 |
531 |
119% |
|
6 |
College Park |
Huntington |
Indiana |
401 |
504 |
26% |
|
7 |
Northpoint (Harvest Lane) |
Toledo |
Ohio |
135 |
500 |
270% |
|
8 |
Colwood |
Caro |
Michigan |
165 |
489 |
196% |
|
9 |
Fowlerville |
Fowlerville |
Michigan |
86 |
467 |
443% |
|
10 |
Hillsdale |
Hillsdale |
Michigan |
96 |
418 |
335% |
|
11 |
Elem3nt |
Blissfield & Adrian |
Michigan |
350 |
415 |
19% |
|
12 |
Brown Corners |
Clare |
Michigan |
131 |
399 |
205% |
|
13 |
Atlantic Avenue |
Franklin |
Pennsylvania |
118 |
389 |
230% |
|
14 |
Jerusalem Chapel |
Churchville |
Virginia |
60 |
388 |
547% |
|
15 |
First UB Church Daytona |
Holly Hill |
Florida |
208 |
375 |
80% |
|
16 |
Otterbein |
Greencastle |
Pennsylvania |
177 |
322 |
82% |
|
17 |
Cochranton |
Cochranton |
Pennsylvania |
193 |
295 |
53% |
|
18 |
Morning Star |
Kokomo |
Indiana |
559 |
264 |
-53% |
|
19 |
Lake View |
Camden |
Michigan |
132 |
257 |
95% |
|
20 |
Prince Street |
Shippensburg |
Pennsylvania |
291 |
233 |
-20% |
|
21 |
Kilpatrick |
Woodland |
Michigan |
82 |
232 |
183% |
|
22 |
Salem |
Chambersburg |
Pennsylvania |
138 |
213 |
54% |
|
23 |
Heart-O-the-Lakes |
Brooklyn |
Michigan |
292 |
211 |
-28% |
|
24 |
Banner Street |
Grand Rapids |
Michigan |
133 |
204 |
53% |
|
25 |
Eden UB |
Mason, Mich |
Michigan |
154 |
204 |
32% |
|
26 |
Blue Rock |
Waynesboro |
Pennsylvania |
328 |
190 |
-42% |
|
27 |
Lancaster |
Lancaster |
Ohio |
393 |
187 |
-52% |
|
28 |
HomeFront |
Grandeville |
Michigan |
130 |
186 |
43% |
|
29 |
Devonshire |
Harrisburg |
Pennsylvania |
238 |
184 |
-23% |
|
30 |
Gaines |
Caledonia |
Michigan |
223 |
180 |
-19% |
|
31 |
Good Shepherd |
Huntington |
Central |
286 |
180 |
-37% |
|
32 |
Mongul |
Shippensburg |
Pennsylvania |
143 |
178 |
24% |
|
33 |
East Washington |
Ashley |
Michigan |
80 |
174 |
118% |
|
34 |
Mt. Zion |
Wayne |
Ohio |
146 |
170 |
16% |
|
35 |
Praise Point |
Willshire |
Ohio |
164 |
169 |
3% |
|
36 |
First |
Findlay |
Ohio |
242 |
166 |
-31% |
|
37 |
Fountain |
Keyser |
West Virginia |
125 |
166 |
33% |
|
38 |
Macedonia |
Greencastle |
Pennsylvania |
128 |
165 |
29% |
|
39 |
Oak Harbor |
Oak Harbor |
Ohio |
40 |
162 |
305% |
|
40 |
Good Shepherd |
Greenfield |
Ohio |
123 |
156 |
27% |
|
41 |
Sunfield |
Sunfield |
Michigan |
102 |
156 |
53% |
|
42 |
New Horizons |
Rockford |
Ohio |
165 |
155 |
-6% |
|
43 |
Mt. Olivet (Franklin Co.) |
Chambersburg |
Pennsylvania |
69 |
153 |
122% |
|
44 |
Mount Zion United African |
Philadelphia |
Pennsylvania |
0 |
152 |
|
|
45 |
Idaville |
Idaville |
Pennsylvania |
90 |
151 |
68% |
|
46 |
Dillman |
Warren |
Indiana |
127 |
135 |
6% |
|
47 |
Crestview |
Lafayette |
Indiana |
141 |
134 |
-5% |
|
48 |
First |
New Castle |
Pennsylvania |
154 |
128 |
-17% |
|
49 |
New Life |
Chanute |
Kansas |
90 |
128 |
42% |
|
50 |
Bethel |
Elmore |
Ohio |
106 |
127 |
20% |
Edited on: Monday, July 06, 2009 1:38 PM
Categories: Churches, History