Global Christian Trends
Todd M. Johnson from the Center for the
Study of Global Christianity at the Gordon-Conwell Theological
Seminary recently published an analysis of the annual 'Status of Global
Mission' report he publishes together with Professor David Barrett. The
following are some of his observations:
A mega-census
Each year, Christian churches conduct a
'mega-census', in which 10 million questionnaires are sent out in 3,000
languages, containing questions on 180 topics. This mega-census
consists of massive research projects such as the Annuario
Pontificioas well as detailed studies by the Evangelical Alliance
and other groups. In addition, over half of the national censuses
generally performed every ten years include a question about religion.
That makes it possible to answer questions such as 'Where are there
Palestinian Christians?' (highest concentration: in Sydney) or 'How
many churches are there in Cambodia?' (Johnson writes "I discovered a
movement named 'Israelite Tree of Life', a group of Cambodian
Christians which were evangelised by a Jewish Messianic group in
Minneapolis, USA, and planted 12 churches in Phnom Penh"). Cooperation
with some 1,000 scientists and information sources around the world,
plus around 1 million documents reaching back to the 1950's form the
basis for the status report, as well as the Global
Christian Encyclopedia and World Christian Trends. Johnson sees
seven things which clearly show that God is active in the world. (All
figures are for mid-2005, unless stated otherwise.)
1. The size, variety and vitality of global
Christianity
There are now some 39,000 Christian
denominations in the world, ranging from several million to fewer than
100 members in all 238 nations. These denominations can be divided into
six 'ecclesiastical megablocks':
Roman Catholics (1.119 billion),
Independents (427 million),
Protestants (376 million),
Orthodox (220 million),
Anglicans (80 million) and
Marginals (34 million).
The Independents, comprised of independent
and post-denominational Christians, are the fastest-growing group, and
already make up 20% of the world Christian population. Christianity is
currently growing fastest in China, with an estimated 10,000 new
believers each day. In 1900, around 81% of Christians were Whites;
today, the percentage has shrunk to 43%. The table below shows the
current and projected top 10 nations ranked by Christian population:
| 2005 |
millions |
|
2025 |
millions |
|
2050 |
millions |
| USA |
252 |
|
USA |
295 |
|
USA |
329 |
| Brazil |
167 |
|
Brazil |
193 |
|
China |
218 |
| China |
111 |
|
China |
173 |
|
Brazil |
202 |
| Mexico |
102 |
|
Mexico |
123 |
|
DR Congo |
145 |
| Russia |
85 |
|
India |
107 |
|
India |
137 |
| Philippines |
74 |
|
Philippines |
97 |
|
Mexico |
131 |
| India |
68 |
|
Nigeria |
95 |
|
Nigeria |
130 |
| Germany |
62 |
|
DR Congo |
91 |
|
Philippines |
112 |
| Nigeria |
61 |
|
Russia |
85 |
|
Ethiopia |
104 |
| DR Congo |
53 |
|
Ethiopia |
67 |
|
Uganda |
95 |
2. A massive global evangelistic movement
In 1980, 22% of viewers or listeners watched or
listened to Christian TV or radio. By the year 2000, this number had
grown to 30%. There are 227 million Bibles in non-Christian nations,
though poorly distributed. Evangelisation is costly, though: since
Christ, some 70 million people have been martyred. The five
statistically most deadly jobs in Christianity are: Bishop, evangelist,
catechist, colporteur, foreign missionary.
3. The challenge of managing resources
78 individual nations have Great Commission
Christians whose annual incomes total over US$ 1 billion. Lax church
regulations enable top custodians to embezzle US$ 21 billion each year,
more than the total cost of all foreign mission.
4. The uncompleted Great Commission encourages
planners
The 20th Century saw a large number
of plans for global mission, and the number is constantly growing. The
five most recent plans were 'Bold Mission Thrust' in 1976, 'A Church
for Every People by the Year 2000' in 1980, 'Strategy to Every People'
in 1984, 'One million native missionaries' in 1986 and 'Decade of
Evangelism' in 1990. And yet 90% of evangelisation is targeted at
people who are already 'Christians'.
5. Response in the least-reached people groups
A growing number of previously unreached people
groups are becoming open for the Gospel. The currently most open groups
are the Khandeshi, Awadhi, Magadhi, Bai and Berar Marathi.
6. Post-modern Christian youth is excellently
suited to world mission
Post-modern Christians have six characteristics
besides their openness which are positive for missions: critical
realism, epistemological humility, generous orthodoxy, chastened
rationality, faithful uncertainty and the non-modern meta-narrative.
7. The image of Jesus is becoming clearer
The more people come to know Jesus, the more
cultural facets complete His image. This is particularly clear from the
book market: today, there are around 175,000 books about Jesus in 500
languages. That number grows by four books every day.
Source: Todd Johnson, www.globalchristianity.org
