A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

A History of Christian Doctrine
Source for statistics: Talmadge French, “Oneness Pentecostalism
in Global Perspective,” M.A. thesis, Wheaton College
Graduate School, Wheaton, IL, 1998. For the United
Pentecostal Church International, see pages 99-100.
355 Constituency is typically more inclusive than membership
or regular attendance. It includes all who identify with the
church. These numbers are the best for comparing with mainline
denominations, who typically count all who have ever been
baptized. They are estimates, however, and in some cases they
may be unrealistically high. The most accurate gauge of an
organization’s strength is probably the number of churches.
One can evaluate and compare the reliability of the number
reported for constituents by calculating the number of constituents
per church.
Appendix G. Major United Pentecostal National
Organizations
356 This list consists of all national churches and mission
fields reporting over 10,000 constituents. Source: “1998 Annual
Field Report” (Hazelwood, MO: Foreign Missions Division,
United Pentecostal Church International), 17 September 1998.
For El Salvador and Mexico, see Pentecostal Herald, June
1999, 8.
357 Number of churches and preaching points.
358 In most cases, this number represents actual attendance.
Add 60 percent to obtain estimated inclusive constituency. (See
page 100.) In Ethiopia, however, it represents all who have
been baptized. Teklemariam Gezahagne (superintendent), personal
interview, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, April 1997.
388