Comparison of Nondenominational Congregations from the ORW and FACT Studies, by Scott Thumma

Research

Articles

Congregational Studies

Nondenominational

Comparison of Nondenominational Congregations from the ORW and FACT Studies

by Scott Thumma

Attendance

	ORW	FACT
1-100	47.6%	46.3%
101-200	20.7	29.7
201-500	14.2	13.3
over 500	17.5	10.7

Most members of this race

Poor

Rich

Age

ORW over 65 FACT over 60

None or few 50.8% 57.7%

all or most 3.3 5.7

Clergy religious education

ORW FACT

None or Certificate 18.6% 22.4%

Bible College 34.9 34.5

MDiv 25.6 25.0

Graduate Work 18.6 18.1

Drive to Church

ORW 11-30 minutes FACT more than 15 minutes

None or hardly any 14.8% 18.7%

All, most, many 16.4 19.5

Founding of the Church

ORW FACT

Prior to 1950 15% 30%

1950 - 1974 22 19

1975 - 1990 42 36

After 1990 20 15

Networked

ORW FACT

Yes 50% 43%

If you are interested in other reports about Independent churches:

Read a summary article of the Organizing Religion Work (ORW) Project research on nondenominational churches.

See data from the ORW nondenominational research.

See data from the Faith Communities Today nondenominational research.

Email your questions and comments to Scott Thumma at sthumma@hartsem.edu.

77 Sherman Street
Hartford, CT 06105