LWF Membership Decline in Europe and N. America

Recent statistics revealed by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Geneva reports that Lutheran churches are growing steadily in all parts of the world except in Europe, North America and Australia.

Declines show a 1.75 percent drop in Scandinavia and Germany as figures show a 36 million-membership. The Evangelical Church in America lost 26,000 members and is down to 5.1 million members. The Evangelical Church in Canada remained steady with 189,000 members. The Lutheran Church of Australia decreased by 12 percent in the last two years with 75,100 registered members.

Africa registered the fastest regional growth with a record of 1.1 million believers added in the last two years, totaling up to 7.3 million. Members increased by 2.5 percent to 7.3 million in Asia. Latin America and the Caribbean remain at 1.1 million.

Overall, the total number of Lutherans has increased over the last two years by 0.9 percent. With 136 member churches, the LWF has a total membership of 62.3 million.