For many people, the choice of what church to attend is made for them at an early age by their parents or extended families. If you grow up in a mainline protestant household, you are likely to remain affiliated with whatever denomination it is you were raised in well into your early adulthood. But statistics show that many children in protestant families stop attending church services in their own denominations at around college age. For example, people who were raised United Methodist may jump ship after the second year of college, when most college students outgrow a temporary “atheism” stage. They may decide to explore the Southern Baptist, Presbyterian, or Episcopalian churches. A few will even venture outside of protestantism and study the Catholic Church, while others still may begin to self-identify as “non-denominational” or Evangelical. -
Some of these wayward young men and women later return to the faith communities from which they came, but most adopt this young adult faith of their own and remain true to it. It is even more rare that Christians of any of the above denominations (and “non-denominations”) might develop interests in non-Christian religions like Buddhism, Islam, or Hinduism. These drastic conversions usually do not end well, and result in either a complete turn towards non belief, or, in the better case, a true re-conversion to their Christian roots.
Christianity makes up the world’s largest religion, all told. There are so many splintered groups beneath that banner that it can be hard to see at times — and yet, with all the various Christian groups added together, it is true that Christianity has more adherents worldwide than any other religion. The one single Christian church with the most members in the world is the Roman Catholic Church, with over 1.2 billion followers. Protestant and “other” Christian Churches all added together ( Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Calvinists, Congregational, Presbyterians, and Reformed, as well as Evangelical and non-denominational churches) come in next with 670 million members. Next, is Eastern Orthodoxy, with 230 million people. This group includes the Greek and Russian Orthodox churches.
According to cableinternetbundles.com It was reported earlier this year that the Seventh Day Adventist Church was the fastest growing church in America in 2010 and the early part of 2011. Some of this growth in North America can be attributed to the influx of immigrants from Mexico and other countries south of the United States border, who seem drawn to the Adventist Churches, perhaps owing to the efforts of existing members within the country who welcome and evangelize them
