Southern Methodist Church (1940 - Present) - Religious Group
Religious Family: MethodistReligious Tradition: Evangelical Protestant
Description: The Southern Methodist Church was founded in 1940 by members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, who rejected that church's merger with the Methodist Episcopal Church and Methodist Protestant Church to form The Methodist Church in 1939.
Official Site: http://www.thesmc.org/
Interactive Timeline: Methodist Family Interactive Timeline
Connections: Southern Methodist Church
| Group (Active) | Group (Defunct) | Other |
Maps: Southern Methodist Church1
Adherence Rate per 1,000 (1980)
Congregations (2020)
Top 5 Southern Methodist Church States (1980)1 [View all States]
| Rank | State | Congregations | Adherents | Adherence Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina | 60 | 4,860 | 1.56 |
| 2 | Tennessee | 20 | 1,644 | 0.36 |
| 3 | Louisiana | 20 | 1,239 | 0.29 |
| 4 | Mississippi | 11 | 632 | 0.25 |
| 5 | Georgia | 15 | 907 | 0.17 |
Top 5 Southern Methodist Church Counties (1980)1 [View all Counties]
| Rank | County | Congregations | Adherents | Adherence Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orangeburg County, SC | 7 | 1,036 | 12.59 |
| 2 | Clarendon County, SC | 2 | 293 | 10.67 |
| 3 | Marion County, SC | 5 | 359 | 10.50 |
| 4 | Red River Parish, LA | 1 | 99 | 9.49 |
| 5 | Wayne County, MS | 3 | 164 | 8.57 |
Top 5 Southern Methodist Church Metro Areas (1980)1 [View all Metro Areas]
| Rank | Metro | Congregations | Adherents | Adherence Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orangeburg, SC Micro Area | 7 | 1,036 | 12.59 |
| 2 | Magnolia, AR Micro Area | 1 | 99 | 3.72 |
| 3 | Florence, SC Metro Area | 8 | 599 | 3.46 |
| 4 | Newberry, SC Micro Area | 2 | 82 | 2.62 |
| 5 | Hammond, LA Metro Area | 2 | 199 | 2.47 |
Southern Methodist Church, Members (1944 - 2006)2
Southern Methodist Church, Ministers & Churches (1944 - 2006)2
Southern Methodist Church, Trends (1944 - 2006)2
| YEAR | MEMBERS | MINISTERS | CHURCHES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1944 | 6,000 | 48 | |
| 1947 | 6,327 | 54 | |
| 1950 | 5,000 | 40 | 51 |
| 1951 | 8,300 | 17 | 52 |
| 1953 | 6,500 | 13 | 50 |
| 1955 | 4,724 | 21 | 52 |
| 1956 | 5,000 | 18 | 52 |
| 1957 | 7,000 | 18 | 46 |
| 1959 | 4,608 | 16 | 48 |
| 1963 | 4,025 | 21 | 52 |
| 1971 | 9,917 | 63 | 150 |
| 1975 | 11,000 | 121 | 174 |
| 1976 | 11,000 | 121 | 174 |
| 1977 | 11,000 | 127 | 169 |
| 1983 | 7,300 | 94 | 152 |
| 1985 | 7,231 | 94 | 150 |
| 1990 | 7,572 | 128 | 130 |
| 1991 | 7,572 | 133 | 130 |
| 1992 | 7,745 | 139 | 133 |
| 1993 | 7,891 | 105 | 128 |
| 1994 | 7,876 | 155 | 126 |
| 1996 | 7,669 | 138 | 127 |
| 1997 | 7,992 | 151 | 122 |
| 1999 | 7,686 | 114 | 117 |
| 2002 | 6,493 | 163 | 108 |
| 2003 | 6,493 | 163 | 108 |
| 2004 | 6,493 | 163 | 105 |
| 2005 | 6,300 | 158 | 104 |
| 2006 | 6,000 | 158 | 101 |
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.
