CV NEWS FEED // Mainline Protestantism has reached a new low milestone, as less than 10% of the United States population self-identify with major Protestant denominations, according to a social media post from religious statistician Ryan Burge.
Burge posted on May 15 that in the 1950s, more than 50% of the population was a part of a denomination in mainline Protestantism.
By 1976, that percentage had decreased to 31%, and by 2004, it had dropped to 14%.
Most recently, the percentage has hit a new low of 9%, according to Burge.
Burge specified that the major traditions that fall into the “mainline” category include: United Methodist, American Baptist, Disciples of Christ, United Church of Christ, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and the Episcopal Church.
Burge is a Baptist pastor and statistician who frequently examines data about religious and political trends in U.S. in his online publication, Graphs about Religion.
As CatholicVote previously reported, in February Burge examined the declining number of White Christian Democrats, and argued that the percentage of this demographic may drop below 10% in the next ten or 15 years.
He also recently examined the declining percentage of the U.S. population that self-identifies as Catholic, and whether that is caused by generational differences.
However, Burge argued in November 2023 that despite the declining numbers of Catholics and non-Catholic Christians, America is not a “post-Christian” country.
“The United States is still a majority Christian country. It has been (as best we can tell) majority Christian since the Colonial Period and will likely continue to be that way for at least the next several decades,” Burge wrote in his article, “Most Americans Are Still Christians.”
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