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Frank G Steyn

Dr. Frank Gerald Steyn is the pastor of Jackson, Chillicothe and Gallia churches in SE Ohio for the past 11 years (as of 2006). He has worked as pastor, chaplain, and adjunct professor and has been on mission trips to India and Botswana. Dr Steyn is a freelance writer and author, and writes academic editorial updates on World Religion for the Macraw-Hill Company

Some of the major denominations that grew out of the fertile ecclesiastical soils of the 19th century were the Salvation Army, Southern Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and Seventh-day Adventists. It is always difficult to get reliable data from organized denominations, especially because each organization uses different methods, numbers, and manipulations, to obtain totals. In the following succinct synopsis, brief backgrounds, beliefs, and statistics are presented.

THE SALVATION ARMY began with William Booth in July 1865. Preaching to a small congregation in the slums of London, his spirit was as militant as that of a professional soldier while battling an almost overwhelming army. Thieves, prostitutes, gamblers, and drunkards were among Booth's first converts to Christianity. His congregation was desperately poor. He preached hope and salvation. His aim was to lead them to Christ and link them to a church for continued spiritual guidance. The Salvation Army’s International Headquarters in London, England is in a new building on the same site that the Army has used for its headquarters since 1881. Today, The Salvation Army serves people in 103 countries. The international headquarters reports that there is a total membership (Soldiers and Adherents) of 1,589,497. Two-thirds of these members live outside the United States.

BELIEFS: The Salvation Army is a Christian organization and part of the universal Christian Church. Its message and the lifestyle it advocates are based on the Bible’s teaching. Its work is to make known the good news about Jesus Christ and to persuade people to become his followers.
Everything The Salvation Army does is rooted in the faith of its members. The confidence Salvationists have in a loving and caring God finds outward expression in their love for humanity and their practical response to human need. They believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice. There is only one God, who is infinitely perfect, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all things, and who is the only proper object of religious worship. There are three persons in the Godhead - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, undivided in essence and co-equal in power and glory.
In the person of Jesus Christ the Divine and human natures are united, so that He is truly and properly God and truly and properly man. Repentance toward God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and regeneration by the Holy Spirit are necessary to salvation. We are justified by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and that he that believeth hath the witness in himself. They also believe in the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, in the general judgment at the end of the world, in the eternal happiness of the righteous, and in the endless punishment of the wicked.

SOUTHERN BAPTISTS (Organized 1845) give their membership as more than 16 million members who worship in more than 42,000 churches in the United States. Southern Baptists sponsor about 5,000 home missionaries serving the United States, Canada, Guam and the Caribbean, as well as sponsoring more than 5,000 foreign missionaries in 153 nations of the world. The term ‘Southern Baptist Convention’ refers to both the denomination and its annual meeting.

BELIEFS: Working through 1,200 local associations and 41 state conventions and fellowships, Southern Baptists share a common bond of basic Biblical beliefs and a commitment to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the entire world. There is one and only one living and true God. The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. Man was created by the special act of God, in His own image, and is the crowning work of His creation. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.

The Southern Baptist Convention has been troubled with deep division between moderates and conservatives. The issues that divide them include questions about the role of women in marriage, whether women can be ordained, biblical inerrancy, and creationism.

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES (Started publishing 1879) have 6,513,132 practicing members as at the end of 2004. They often erroneously count the total membership as persons who attend their Annual Gathering held once a year in stadiums and conference centers. The inflated figure for 2004 of 16,760,607 includes a large number of casual non-member visitors and folks invited to these meetings under false pretenses. Annual growth for 2003/2004 is reported as 2%.

BELIEFS: Jehovah is the name of the only true God, the Creator of all things. As such, he is worthy of our worship and devotion. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus never claimed equality with God and thus is not part of a Trinity. True worship does not emphasize ritual and outward show, but spirit and truth. It is characterized by genuine love for God, obedience to his commandments, and love for one's fellowman. Jehovah's Witnesses do not use religious symbols, such as the cross, in their worship. The earth will never be destroyed or depopulated but will become a peaceful paradise.

The average Jehovah’s Witness makes personal visits on people in their homes for an average of ten hours per month. Those Witnesses who are “pioneers” devote 100 hours a month to this work of calling on homes. Since their record of calls is the only record kept of their membership, this work is vital for them.

MORMONS (Organized 1830) report a membership of 12,275,822 as at the end of 2004, but the reality is not what it seems to outsiders. Although Mormons reject infant baptism, they count as members any ‘children of record’ blessed and named soon after birth. Thus unbaptized children of members (until age eight) make up an important share of the LDS population.

Mormons, also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been experiencing persistent trends of decelerating growth. The LDS Church is one of the few Christian groups with a large missionary program to experience declining growth rates in spite of widening opportunities. An analysis of annual LDS statistical reports published in the May Ensigns of each year demonstrates that LDS growth has declined progressively from over 5% annually in the late 1980s to less than 3% annually from 2000 to 2004. 1 241,239 LDS convert baptisms were reported for 2004, the lowest number of converts since 1987. Other recent years have also demonstrated decelerating church growth. Over the past decade, LDS missionaries have been challenged to double the number of baptisms, but instead the number of baptisms per missionary has halved. While LDS church membership continues to increase, there has been a significant decline in the rate of growth. A final count of Temple Worthy Tithe paying members differs between 2 and 4 million persons.

BELIEFS: Jesus taught that God is “Our Father which art in heaven.” God used to be a man on another planet and Mormon members may become gods of their own worlds. God is called Heavenly Father because He is the Father of our spirits. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is Heavenly Father’s Only Begotten Son in the flesh. The founder, Joseph Smith, taught that God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens. The trinity is composed of three separate gods. Our Father in Heaven gives His children commandments because He loves them. God’s commandments can help you to become like Him and find joy. Obeying the Ten Commandments blesses individuals, families, and communities. The Bible and the Book of Mormon are the word of God. God reveals His will to prophets today, just as He did anciently. Because Heavenly Father wants all His children to have the opportunity to return to Him, He has provided a way for those who have died without these ordinances to receive them.

The Mormon priesthood has two divisions. The lesser priesthood is called the Aaronic Priesthood, named after Aaron in the Old Testament, and the greater priesthood is called the Melchizedek Priesthood. In Mormon temples, members of the Church can be baptized on behalf of their ancestors who have died. Mormons believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built on the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

The SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH (Organized 1863) reports a total of baptized living members as 14,256,078. Adventists also report a statistic of adherents and attendance at Sabbath School and Sabbath worship services of at least 25,000,000 plus around the world each Saturday. Seventh-day Adventists’ global growth rate from 2003 to 2004 was 3.96%. Adventists have a worldwide organization represented in more than 200 countries, with schools, colleges, hospitals, printing presses, and TV programs that cover the whole globe. The majority of members (87%) live outside North America.

At the 2005 Annual Council, world divisions reported baptisms that surpassed one million. The 1,094,138 baptisms during the past four quarters, July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005, meant that on the average, every day within that period 2,996 believers accepted the everlasting gospel and joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The resulting total of 14,256,078 baptized members means that there are currently 454 people globally for every baptized Seventh-day Adventist. The year-end ratio a decade ago was 647 to one. The optimistic projection of Adventist leadership is that, if current projections are valid, a decade from now there will be a ratio of 295 general population for every Seventh-day Adventist.

BELIEFS: Adventists see themselves as a Christian Church, accepting the Godhead as God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. God is the Creator and worthy of our worship. The Bible as the Word of God is the only creed and final test of doctrine and teachings. Seventh-day Adventists accept the seventh day Sabbath as a day of rest, celebration, worship, spiritual renewal, and a day of God’s grace. They practice baptism of adults by immersion as a sign of a person’s acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Adventists look forward to the literal Second Coming of Jesus, the final judgment, and in the restoration of God’s Kingdom of Glory. They believe in the need to be Christ centered and to reflect the example of Jesus Christ in our lives, in Bible study, prayer, personal and corporate worship. As a worldwide family of believers they share common, Bible-based beliefs, embrace diversity, involve all members in mission, and support shared global mission and organization. The mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is to proclaim to all peoples the everlasting gospel and the worship of our Creator God in the context of the three angel’s messages of Revelation 14:6-12, leading them to accept Jesus as personal Savior and to unite with His church, and nurturing them in preparation for His soon return.

ANNUAL GROWTH 0.8% 1.3% 2% 2.8% 3.96%

(2003/2004)

Salvation Army (44 - 207)332- 0101

http://www1.salvationarmy.org/ihq/www_sa.nsf

Southern Baptist Convention (615)244-2355

http://www.sbc.net/

Jehovah’s Witnesses (718)560-5600

http://www.watchtower.org/

http://www.jw-media.org/people/statistics.htm

Mormons (801)240-1000

http://whiteelegance.com/catalog/default.php?ref=1073 (Temple Clothes)

Seventh-day Adventists (301)68- 6307

http://www.adventist.org/