Hello BRN Family! It’s good to be with you today!
Every year, the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary presents an annual snapshot report of global Christianity. This report provides a statistical overview of the world’s 2.6 billion Christians and their activities from 1900, projecting toward 2050.
Lifeway Research has studied this 2024 Status of Global Christianity report and has discovered several positive trends that paint a picture of a healthy, growing global church. I’d like to share some of those trends with you today.
First, the best news! Christianity is growing! According to the research, Christianity is growing around the world faster than the rate of population! The population growth rate is currently trending at 0.87% growth but Christianity’s growth rate is trending at 1.08%. In fact, the Christian population is projected to top 3 billion before 2050! Among these Christians, Protestants, independents, evangelicals, and Pentecostal/charismatics are the fastest-growing groups.
Also, the fastest-growing areas for Christianity are in the global south, particularly Asia and Africa.By 2050, the African Christian population will swell to more than 1.28 BILLION people! Amazing!
The report also reveals that most new adherents to the faith will come from non-Christian countries and that the global atheist population will continue to decline.
Now, let’s talk about this access to the gospel. In 1900, more than half of the world didn’t have access to the gospel. But that statistic is closer to one-fourth of the global population now! Isn’t that great news? I’m still longing for the day when “this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the WHOLE world as a testimony to ALL nations” (Matthew 24:14 ESV).
Like me, I hope you are encouraged by these numbers. You can see the full detailed statistics at the link below. The bottom line is that God’s work is being accomplished all over the world! Thank you for all the work you are doing here in Pennsylvania and South Jersey and all around the world and for giving to the Cooperative Program, which makes so much of this possible. What you do matters. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the Help Desk at helpdesk@brnunited.org or 717-652-5856. Thanks for listening in today. May God bless you!
