World Mennonite Membership Distribution

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The now widely distributed Mennonite Church began in central Europe and Holland in the 16th century. By the early 18th century the Mennonite Church was becoming truly worldwide with the arrival of Mennonite settlers in North America. In 1700 the distribution of baptized members was probably as follows: Holland 80,000, Switzerland 500, Palatinate 500, Northwest Germany with Holstein 1,000, West Prussia and associated areas 7,500, Hungary and Slovakia 500, making a total of 90,000 in Europe, plus a small handful of 25 in the newly established Germantown settlement in Pennsylvania.

By 1850 world membership had declined 25% due exclusively to the formidable decline in Holland. The distribution of baptized members can be calculated roughly as follows: Holland 25,000, Switzerland 500, France 500, South Germany 1,000, Northwest Germany 1,500, West Prussia etc. 7,500, South Russia 10,000, Eastern United States 20,000, Ontario 1,500; total 67,500.

Fifty years later, by 1900, the total Mennonite Membership more than doubled to 150,000 with the strong expansion in Russia to 40,000, the United States to 50,000, and Canada to 25,000, though the rest of Europe remained largely static. By this time the North American continent had become the home of half of the Mennonite population.

In 1925 Christian Hege provided the numbers of baptized members and their children for the first Mennonite World Conference, and in 1943, the Warte Jahrbuch published similar numbers1:

Country 1925 1943
Netherlands 68,000 70,000
Germany and Danzig 19,000 15,000
Poland 2,300 2,000
Russia 111,500 80,000
Switzerland 1,500 2,000
France 3,000 4,000
Austria 1,000
United States 250,000 175,000
Canada 50,000 111,000
Mexico 3,000 10,000
Paraguay 6,000
Brazil 2,000
Mission Fields 8,000 1,000
Total 516,300 479,000

1Cornelius Krahn has noted that the 1925 estimate for the United States seems rather high. He also notes that the 1943 number for Canada is based on the 1941 Canadian census figure of 111,376 Mennonites.

By 1958 Mennonite migration had expanded into the South and Central American countries of Mexico, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and Honduras (total 25,000 members). By missionary outreach it expanded into three continents: Asia, including Java (Indonesia) in 1851, India in 1899, China in 1905, and Japan (Taiwan and Vietnam later) in 1949; Africa beginning with Belgian Congo in 1910 (Dem. Rep. Congo), and Tanganyika (Tanzania) in 1934; and South America with missionaries to Argentina in 1917, and to Colombia in 1945. In 1958 the total membership in these younger churches was 65,000, distributed by continents as follows: Africa 28,000, Asia 36,000, and South America 1,000. Meanwhile the Mennonite Church had been wiped out in West Prussia in 1945, and decimated in Russia 1917-1930 and 1940-1955, but had grown substantially again in Holland, and very substantially in North America by emigration from Russia (1922-1930, 1947-1950), in addition to the natural growth. The total world membership had again more than doubled in the base countries, in 1958 reaching 325,000, and together with the young churches in Asia and Africa had approached 400,000, of which total half was in the United States-Canada block.

By 2009 the Mennonite world membership distribution, at 1,616,126, shows a substantial increase from the 1958 total. This is due in large part to the ongoing success of missionary work around the world, especially to the flourishing of the Mennonite Church in Africa, totaling 592,106 members.

The following world membership distribution between 1948 and 2012 by continents and countries represents the best available information concerning Mennonite and Brethren in Christ churches. Some numbers are estimates.

Year 1948 1958 1978 1984 1990 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012
World Mennonite Membership 262,1872
390,587
613,350 728,746 856,407
1,060,143
1,206,995
1,297,721
1,478,275 1,614,726  1,774,720
 
Africa 27,809 85,871 107,267 176,462 322,708 405,979 451,959 529,438 592,106  679,053
Angola   192 1,250 2,600 17,698 11,176 10,961 10,920  18,854
Botswana         61 97  177
Burkina Faso   13 57 80 180 230 500 315  420
Congo, Dem. Rep. of 26,000 59,548 66,408 112,906 175,837 183,040 194,119 216,268 220,444  235,202
Congo, Rep. of         16 23  598
Eritrea           400  
Ethiopia 150 5,000 7,200 10,000 57,011 73,219 98,025 130,731 172,306  224,407
Ghana 27 607 854 1,200 3,022 3,537 4,101 4,820 5,014  5,109
Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)     1,125 1,300 1,300 1,100  1,100
Kenya   1,200 2,700 4,900 11,646 27,668 31,556 28,392 33,561  34,566
Malawi   420 229 1,540 3,500 6,763 4,186  4,185
Mozambique       718 2,035 5,835  7,514
Namibia       180 630 630  300
Nigeria   3,333 5,000 6,873 7,268 9,454 11,373 20,821 19,167  19,173
Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau         39 45  55
Somalia 100 100  
South Africa   107 283 383 950 1,258 1,791  1,675
Tanzania 1,632 10,045 13,616 20,078 32,100 50,000 50,000 50,560 64,534  64,534
Togo     76 144 204 204  204
Uganda           109  188
Zambia   2,455 6,000 6,632 12,026 13,350 15,374 20,626 14,721  17,946
Zimbabwe   3,583 5,184 12,039 20,606 24,709 29,213 33,453 36,704  42,446
Unnamed Country               400
                       
  1948
1958
1978 1984 1990
1997
2000
2003
2006 2009  2012
               
Asia, Pacific and Australia 2,112 36,013 74,257 113,566 147,543 157,075 184,049 208,155 241,420 265,447  315,645
Australia
 
500 12 33
45
48
50
57 285  320
China / Hong Kong
4,0003
35 59
90
90
90
141 193  224
China / Macau                       21
India
28,086
35,040 44,048 76,670
87,466
90,006
127,348
146,095 156,922  149,849
Indonesia 2,112
3,343
34,700 62,911 65,660
62,823
87,802
71,302
72,624 88,458  108,528
Japan
494
1,955 2,710 2,962
3,450
2,874
3,292
2,898 2,967  2,985
Kazakhstan         300 300  300
Kyrgyzstan         200 200  200
Myanmar           1,012  1,612
Nepal
 
 
 
750
594 789  912
Philippines
 
1,005 2,500 666
1,576
2,060
2,437
3,735 3,799  1,036
Singapore
 
16
20
48
80 80  60
South Korea
 
 
 
60
45 45  60
Taiwan
90
907 1,200 1,493
1,494
1,028
1,678
1,658 1,717  1,879
Thailand       111 658  
Vietnam
 
150 150
115
121
1,100
12,882 8,022  12,700
               
  1948 1958 1978 1984 1990 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009  2012
               
Europe 71,079
95,854
96,011 92,693 68,536
61,886
60,921
53,272
52,222 64,740  64,575
Austria
12
182 1,050 300
360
385
300
416 424  368
Belgium
24
100 85 40
39
15
35
48 35  35
France 2,200
2,700
2,300 2,000 2,000
2,000
2,046
2,050
2,100 2,100  2,100
Germany 12,900
12,078
10,068 11,369 18,516
39,610
39,779
31,677
32,776 46,067  46,757
German Refugees in Denmark 700  
Great Britain
 
30 27
88
103
112
232 291  289
Ireland
 
10 10
10
15
15
22 25  25
Italy
90
46 66 129
189
228
258
258 250  250
Lithuania           200  200
Luxembourg 42
50
100 105 100
100
110
110
110  
Moldova           10  10
Netherlands 44,500
39,000
25,589 20,200 18,000
13,500
12,203
11,000
10,200 9,025  8,030
Poland 215  10
Portugal
 
20
35
55
100 150  150
Romania         53 74  63
Russia (CIS)
40,000
55,000 55,000 26,200
3,350
3,350
5,000
3,000 3,000  3,000
Russian Refugees in Europe 8,822  
Spain
 
28 214
120
152
160
153 308  379
Switzerland 1,700
1,900
2,626 2,750 3,000
2,500
2,500
2,500
2,500 2,500  2,500
Ukraine         254 281  409
               
  1948
1958
1978 1984 1990
1997
2000
2003
2006 2009  2012
               
Latin America and the Caribbean 8,360
18,479
44,211 75,229 83,366 102,496 112,128 133,155 155,531 168,464  186,339
Antigua & Barbados4
 
725
725
725
 
     
Argentina
738
1,230 1,516 2,100
3,070
3,632
4,448
4,448 5,522  4,678
Bahamas         40 34  27
Belize
 
1,522 1,660 1,592
3,131
3,318
3,575
4,001 4,129  4,817
Bolivia
12
8,000 6,203 6,763
6,714
13,175
13,275
15,417 18,848  24,988
Brazil 604
1,632
3,462 4,785 6,209
6,690
7,636
8,262
9,856 11,058  12,873
Chile 390  1,200
Colombia
300
1,325 2,633 1,800
2,515
3,110
2,910
2,965 3,031  2,825
Costa Rica
 
303 850 1,218
2,025
2,094
2,719
2,831 1,784  1,978
Cuba
13
45
70
350
2,070
3,279 3,373  6,361
Dominican Republic
 
975 1,800 2,600
2,902
3,106
4,626
4,587 5,682  6,164
Ecuador
 
15 140
325
700
810
950 1,050  1,270
El Salvador
 
75 257
462
438
535
588 620  713
Grenada         46  45
Guatemala
 
320 1,789 4,295
5,972
6,250
6,673
6,966 14,301  14,869
Guyana
 
300
300
 
     
Haiti
 
900 914
924
1,606
1,265
3,827 3,382  4,617
Honduras
50
750 2,850 8,020
10,245
10,546
20,716
21,771 17,789  18,008
Jamaica
64
300 385 422
557
660
731
638 686  674
Mexico 5,353
7,348
13,800 31,161 19,626
20,689
16,417
19,688
25,958 29,277  32,036
Nicaragua
 
290 1,732 3,917
6,600
7,150
9,275
13,421 11,342  10,401
Panama
 
700 400 700
700
1,000
750
750 537  750
Paraguay 2,403
6,189
9,700 14,076 19,898
25,009
26,948
27,693
29,461 32,217  33,251
Peru
 
150
444
550
540
937 986  907
Puerto Rico
365
765 909 868
752
639
540
546 520  604
Trinidad and Tobago
 
44 110
160
155
130
138 270  280
Uruguay
1,768
769 971 877
924
1,004
1,220
1,431 1,442  1,457
Venezuela
 
85 120
591
619
704
725 538  546
               
  1948
1958
1978 1984 1990
1997
2000
2003
2006 2009  2012
               
North America 160,636 212,432 313,000 339,991 380,500 415,978 443,918 451,180 499,664 523,969  529,108
Canada 46,972 52,987 88,500 101,197 114,400 128,633 124,150 127,851 131,384 136,866  137,208
United States 113,664 159,445 224,500 238,794 266,100 287,345 319,768 323,329 368,280 387,103  391,900

2The numbers for 1948 do not include any members in Africa, where Mennonite missions work existed in several countries including Congo and Tanzania. The numbers also do not include any members in China, India, and Russia.

3The number for China and Hong Kong in 1958 is an estimate, and is probably an accurate estimate for 1948.

4Between 1990 and 2000 the number for Antigua and Barbados includes Barbados, Barbuda, Dominica, French St. Martin, Grenada, Guyana, St. Vincent, and the US Virgin Islands.

Bibliography

Krahn, Cornelius. "Mennonites - Numerically Speaking." In Mennonite World Conference 1948: Souvenir. N. p.: n. p., [1948?]: 22-24.

Lichdi, Diether Götz and Loretta Kreider, eds. Mennonite World Handbook: Mennonites in Global Witness. Carol Stream, IL: Mennonite World Conference, 1990: 326-327.

Mennonite World Conference. "World Directory." 2010. Web. 2 April 2010. http://www.mwc-cmm.org/en15/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13&Itemid=16.

Mennonite and Brethren in Christ World Directory 1998. Strasbourg: Mennonite World Conference, 1998.

Mennonite Yearbook and Directory (1959).

World Directory: Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and Related Churches 2012 = Directorio mundial: Iglesias Menonitas, de los Hermanos en Cristo y afines 2012 = Répertoire mondial: Églises Mennonites, Frères en Christ et Apparentées. N.p.: Mennonite World Conference, 2012.

Additional Information

For the most recent statistics see the Mennonite World Conference site.


Author(s) Harold S. Bender
Sam Steiner
Richard D. Thiessen
Date Published January 2013

Cite This Article

MLA style

Bender, Harold S., Sam Steiner and Richard D. Thiessen. "World Mennonite Membership Distribution." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. January 2013. Web. 31 Oct 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=World_Mennonite_Membership_Distribution&oldid=131262.

APA style

Bender, Harold S., Sam Steiner and Richard D. Thiessen. (January 2013). World Mennonite Membership Distribution. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 31 October 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=World_Mennonite_Membership_Distribution&oldid=131262.




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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, pp. 980-981. All rights reserved.


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