Mennonite Church USA released a summary of a 2021 membership study on May 27. Titled “The Mennonite Experience,” the study was conducted by Springtide Research Institute and is the first since Conrad Kanagy’s Road Signs for the Journey was published in 2007.
The study compiles perspectives on Mennonite identity, roles of congregations, conferences and denominations, and priorities for religious life based on data from 2,276 respondents collected in 2021, along with interviews with 63 of the respondents.
The survey’s findings include data showing the number of MC USA members who have been part of a non-Mennonite denomination has risen steadily over the years. Only 14% of Mennonites came from “other than Mennonite denominations” in a 1972 study, and now 36% of survey participants have been members of a non-Mennonite congregation.
MC USA is made up of about 62,000 members in 530 congregations.
The summary is available at mennoniteusa.org. Anabaptist World is planning more in-depth coverage of the data.
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