Evangelical Free Church of America (1950 - Present) - Religious Group
Religious Family: MethodistReligious Tradition: Evangelical Protestant
Description: The Evangelical Free Church of America was founded in 1950 by the merger of two Scandinavian independent Pietistic associations of churches which had grown out of nineteenth-century revivals: the Swedish Evangelical Free Church and the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Free Church Association.
Official Site: https://www.efca.org/
Interactive Timeline: Methodist Family Interactive Timeline
Connections: Evangelical Free Church of America
| Group (Active) | Group (Defunct) | Other |
Maps: Evangelical Free Church of America1
Adherence Rate per 1,000 (2010)
Congregations (2020)
Top 5 Evangelical Free Church of America States (2010)1 [View all States]
| Rank | State | Congregations | Adherents | Adherence Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Dakota | 28 | 5,336 | 7.93 |
| 2 | Nebraska | 73 | 14,234 | 7.79 |
| 3 | Minnesota | 147 | 36,727 | 6.92 |
| 4 | Iowa | 89 | 19,945 | 6.55 |
| 5 | Wisconsin | 100 | 29,881 | 5.25 |
Top 5 Evangelical Free Church of America Counties (2010)1 [View all Counties]
| Rank | County | Congregations | Adherents | Adherence Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phelps County, NE | 5 | 815 | 88.70 |
| 2 | Perkins County, NE | 1 | 200 | 67.34 |
| 3 | Kearney County, NE | 3 | 320 | 49.31 |
| 4 | Polk County, NE | 2 | 254 | 46.98 |
| 5 | Griggs County, ND | 2 | 110 | 45.45 |
Top 5 Evangelical Free Church of America Metro Areas (2010)1 [View all Metro Areas]
| Rank | Metro | Congregations | Adherents | Adherence Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Storm Lake, IA Micro Area | 3 | 730 | 36.03 |
| 2 | Kearney, NE Micro Area | 6 | 1,615 | 30.71 |
| 3 | Spirit Lake, IA Micro Area | 1 | 450 | 27.00 |
| 4 | Willmar, MN Micro Area | 2 | 972 | 23.01 |
| 5 | Albert Lea, MN Micro Area | 1 | 700 | 22.40 |
Evangelical Free Church of America, Members (1950 - 2008)2
Evangelical Free Church of America, Ministers & Churches (1950 - 2008)2
Evangelical Free Church of America, Trends (1950 - 2008)2
| YEAR | MEMBERS | MINISTERS | CHURCHES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 20,000 | 350 | 289 |
| 1952 | 21,500 | 464 | 273 |
| 1953 | 28,000 | 468 | 342 |
| 1954 | 27,000 | 485 | 351 |
| 1955 | 24,353 | 298 | 312 |
| 1956 | 28,052 | 614 | 412 |
| 1957 | 28,052 | 531 | 362 |
| 1958 | 31,192 | 618 | 368 |
| 1960 | 31,543 | 579 | 468 |
| 1962 | 36,705 | 581 | 483 |
| 1965 | 43,851 | 680 | 438 |
| 1966 | 50,312 | 746 | 517 |
| 1969 | 59,041 | 762 | 539 |
| 1970 | 63,735 | 807 | 552 |
| 1971 | 70,490 | 562 | |
| 1977 | 100,000 | 960 | 621 |
| 1979 | 77,592 | 1,218 | 732 |
| 1982 | 103,900 | 1,042 | 805 |
| 1983 | 110,555 | 1,180 | 853 |
| 1984 | 146,000 | 1,401 | 900 |
| 1985 | 90,000 | 838 | |
| 1986 | 95,722 | 1,484 | 880 |
| 1990 | 165,000 | 1,795 | 1,040 |
| 1991 | 192,352 | 1,863 | 1,087 |
| 1992 | 214,186 | 1,817 | 1,173 |
| 1993 | 226,391 | 2,233 | 1,202 |
| 1995 | 242,619 | 2,436 | 1,224 |
| 2003 | 350,000 | 2,733 | 1,420 |
| 2008 | 356,000 | 2,201 | 1,475 |
Sources
1 The 2020 data were collected by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB) and include data for 372 religious bodies or groups. Of these, the ASARB was able to gather data on congregations and adherents for 217 and on congregations only for 155. [More information on the data sources]
2 All data on clergy, members, and churches are taken from the National Council of Churches’ Historic Archive CD and recent print editions of the Council’s Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. The CD archives all 68 editions of the Yearbook (formerly called Yearbook of the Churches and Yearbook of American Churches) from 1916 to 2000. Read more information on the Historic Archive CD and the Yearbook.
Membership figures are "inclusive." According to the Yearbook, this includes "those who are full communicant or confirmed members plus other members baptized, non-confirmed or non-communicant." Each denomination has its own criteria for membership.
When a denomination listed on the Historic Archive CD was difficult to identify, particularly in early editions of the Yearbook, the ARDA staff consulted numerous sources, including Melton’s Encyclopedia of American Religions and the Handbook of Denominations in the United States. In some cases, ARDA staff consulted the denomination’s website or contacted its offices by phone. When a denomination could not be positively identified, its data were omitted.
