REPORT OF THE GENERAL SECRETARY 1 James T. Bradford We are grateful to God that the year 2016 marked the twenty-seventh year of consecutive growth in Assemblies of God (U.S.A.) adherents. This represents a 1.5 percent increase over 2015, exceeding the United States population growth rate of under 1 percent for the same period. We also ended the year with a record number of credentialed ministers. Of that number, 24.3 percent were female, representing another long-term growth trend. It is my privilege to share with you the following statistics of The General Council of the Assemblies of God (AG), for the United States, for calendar year 2016. Unless specified otherwise, net change refers to 2016 data compared to 2015. CHURCHES Affiliation 2013 2014 2015 2016 General Council Affiliated 6,994 6,999 7,046 7,140 District Council Affiliated 5,101 5,009 4,893 4,735 Parent Affiliated 697 841 958 1,148 TOTALS 12,792 12,849 12,897 13,023 Net change from preceding year 70 57 48 126 Percentage change 0.6 0.4 0.4 1.0 Since the 2015 report, 406 churches were newly chartered. Due to merges, withdrawals, and other closings, 280 were removed, for a net gain of 126 assemblies. Both new charters and closings were up. (See the New Church Charters and Closes chart at the end of my report for historical data.) Of churches with General Council affiliated status, 26 were chartered, 48 closed, 67 changed to District Council affiliated, and 14 changed to Parent Affiliated Church (PAC) status. Changes to General Council affiliated status include 183 District Council affiliated churches and 14 PACs, for a net gain of 94 General Council affiliated churches. District Council affiliated churches chartered total 143, closed total 173, and 40 changed to PACs. Twenty-eight PACs changed to District Council affiliated status, and the remainder changed affiliation as stated. This resulted in a net loss of 158 District Council affiliated churches. PACs chartered total 237, closed total 59, and the rest changed affiliation as stated, for a net gain of 190 PACs. (See the Churches by Affiliation and District table at the end of my report for a breakdown of churches by affiliation.) MEMBERSHIP Membership increased (0.1 percent) to 1,818,941. (Note: In recent years, the U.S. population has grown less than 1 percent per year.) Population data are available at https://www.census.gov/quickfacts. Membership 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total membership 1,805,381 1,812,126 1,817,450 1,818,941 Change from preceding year 24,913 6,745 5,324 1,491 Percentage change 1.4 0.4 0.3 0.1 Average church membership 141 141 141 140
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REPORT OF THE GENERAL SECRETARY
1
James T. Bradford
We are grateful to God that the year 2016 marked the twenty-seventh year of consecutive growth in Assemblies of God (U.S.A.) adherents. This represents a 1.5 percent increase over 2015, exceeding the United States population growth rate of under 1 percent for the same period. We also ended the year with a record number of credentialed ministers. Of that number, 24.3 percent were female, representing another long-term growth trend. It is my privilege to share with you the following statistics of The General Council of the Assemblies of God (AG), for the United States, for calendar year 2016. Unless specified otherwise, net change refers to 2016 data compared to 2015. CHURCHES
Affiliation 2013 2014 2015 2016
General Council Affiliated 6,994 6,999 7,046 7,140 District Council Affiliated 5,101 5,009 4,893 4,735 Parent Affiliated 697 841 958 1,148
TOTALS 12,792 12,849 12,897 13,023 Net change from preceding year 70 57 48 126 Percentage change 0.6 0.4 0.4 1.0
Since the 2015 report, 406 churches were newly chartered. Due to merges, withdrawals, and other closings, 280 were removed, for a net gain of 126 assemblies. Both new charters and closings were up. (See the New Church Charters and Closes chart at the end of my report for historical data.) Of churches with General Council affiliated status, 26 were chartered, 48 closed, 67 changed to District Council affiliated, and 14 changed to Parent Affiliated Church (PAC) status. Changes to General Council affiliated status include 183 District Council affiliated churches and 14 PACs, for a net gain of 94 General Council affiliated churches. District Council affiliated churches chartered total 143, closed total 173, and 40 changed to PACs. Twenty-eight PACs changed to District Council affiliated status, and the remainder changed affiliation as stated. This resulted in a net loss of 158 District Council affiliated churches. PACs chartered total 237, closed total 59, and the rest changed affiliation as stated, for a net gain of 190 PACs. (See the Churches by Affiliation and District table at the end of my report for a breakdown of churches by affiliation.) MEMBERSHIP Membership increased (0.1 percent) to 1,818,941. (Note: In recent years, the U.S. population has grown less than 1 percent per year.) Population data are available at https://www.census.gov/quickfacts.
Membership 2013 2014 2015 2016
Total membership 1,805,381 1,812,126 1,817,450 1,818,941 Change from preceding year 24,913 6,745 5,324 1,491 Percentage change 1.4 0.4 0.3 0.1 Average church membership 141 141 141 140
*May not include conversions and baptisms occurring outside of local church ministries. MINISTERS Total credentialed ministers increased by 551. The one-year net gain comprised 426 ordained, 57 licensed, and 68 certified ministers.
TOTALS 36,434 36,884 37,068 37,619 Change from preceding year 567 450 184 551 Percentage change 1.6 1.2 0.5 1.5
Ordained54%
Licensed30%
Certified16%
2016 AG U.S.A. MINISTERSBy Credentials
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SUSPENDED AND UNDER RESTORATION Of the 41 ministers under discipline and restoration in 2016, 18 were ordained, 20 licensed, and 3 were certified, compared to 44 ministers previously. SENIOR MINISTERS Records indicate 10,832 ministers, or 28.8 percent of the total, are 65 years of age or older. Below the chart is a breakdown by activity level.
MINISTERS UNDER AGE 40 The number of ministers under 40 years of age decreased to 7,967, a net loss of 11. MINISTERS’ AGES The average and median age of all ministers is 55 years. Median ages by credentials are 60 for ordained, 48 for licensed, and 46 for certified ministers. The youngest and oldest ministers were 18 and 105, respectively, as of December 31, 2016.
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2016 AG U.S.A. SENIOR MINISTERS1993–2016
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FEMALE MINISTERS The number of female ministers totaled 9,142 in 2016 (24.3 percent of total ministers), a net gain of 445. (Males totaled 28,477, a net gain of 106.)
Of these women, there were 2,666 church staff members, 569 lead pastors, 683 World missionaries, 155 evangelists, 169 United States missionaries, 116 chaplains, 29 Assemblies of God college teachers, 32 sectional presbyters, 14 district executive presbyters, and 4 district officials, with the remainder serving in various capacities, or in retirement or disability.
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AG U.S.A. MINISTERS MEDIAN AGE1983–2016
Male76%
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2016 AG U.S.A. MINISTERSBy Gender
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FLOWER PENTECOSTAL HERITAGE CENTER The Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center (FPHC) is the premier historical research center for the Assemblies of God and the broader Pentecostal Movement. The FPHC supports the mission of the church by preserving and making accessible the historical materials and stories that help inform our Pentecostal identity. The FPHC builds bridges—not just across time, but also across the national, ethnic, and denominational divides. It is significant that the FPHC has earned the trust of Pentecostal leaders inside and outside the Assemblies of God Fellowship. During the last year (July 2016–June 2017), numerous collections of Pentecostal treasures were deposited at the FPHC. A few of the larger collections are described below:
➢ An extensive collection of early Pentecostal tracts, booklets, and periodicals deposited by the North Central University library.
➢ The personal papers of Dr. Benny C. Aker, longtime AG educator and theologian. In the last year, the FPHC expanded its collection by approximately 5 percent. The total number of catalog records is over 118,000, including materials in 136 languages. Significantly, about 10 percent of acquisitions each year are in non-English languages. The FPHC has digitized over 761,000 pages of historic publications (adding 10,000 pages this year). The FPHC also publishes Assemblies of God Heritage, the only Pentecostal history magazine of its kind, which is sent to all ministers in addition to subscribers. The FPHC’s extensive collections, research Web site www.iFPHC.org, and helpful staff make the center an essential resource for researchers, church leaders, and people in the pew. Contact the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center for historical research needs or to donate materials. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As general secretary, I could not fulfill my role without the talented people who work with me on a daily basis. My direct reports include Esther Wood, executive administrative assistant; Esther Bevis, Secretariat manager; Sherri Doty, Statistics supervisor; Rebecca Gullion, Projects and Events coordinator; and Darrin Rodgers, Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center director. Teams of other wonderful employees work under their oversight. I am indebted to each one of them.
In Christ, James T. Bradford
For minister, district, church, or statistical information, visit us at https://ag.org/About/Leadership-Team/General-Secretary
WORLDWIDE TOTALS (including countries/territories not considered missions fields, with AG adherents) Worldwide Worldwide Worldwide adherents adherents adherents total numeric change percent change
NOTE: Adherents are all persons who consider an AG church to be their church home. “Countries
in which we have partnership or missions activity” data includes Pentecostal elements with whom Assemblies of God World Missions has a fraternal relationship, even though they may not use the term "Assemblies of God" to identify themselves.