Updates

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New data fields have been added for Denominations in 2015 so the main reporting year for Denominations has now moved from 2010 to these new data or projections for 2015. Most denominational queries will now show affiliated membership in 2000 and in 2015, along with the 15-year growth rate. Affiliated data fields for 1970, 2005 and 2010 are still available for adding to any query, and all years are shown in each denomination's detail screen.

The new data fields cover Affiliated members, Number of Congregations, Percent Evangelical and Percent Renewalist, together with calculation fields for percentage of country and percentage of Christians.

The research process which moves from projections to hard data is well under way and will progressively cover all denominations. For example, data for each diocese of the Roman Catholic church has been updated to align with the 2016 edition of the Vatican’s Catholic Church Directory (Annuario Pontificio). Data from other denominational year books or statistical sources are added as they become available.

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The World Evangelization Research Center (founded in Nairobi in 1965) collected data across multiple disciplines, having found each to have its own impact on world evangelization. The World Christian Database continues today as the repository of that data, and this quarter continues the update of a number of the indicators used in the estimation of a peoples' evangelization status.

Evangelization

The concept of evangelism and evangelization has been most fully described in World Christian Trends (2001). A small but impactful change to the underlying data described there is now introduced by the splitting of the Broadcasting variable into two fields: Broadcasting and, for the first time, Online Scriptures. Online Scriptures include printed scripture languages, as well as language-specific evangelistic web sites. JESUS Film data has also been modified to a 0% to 2% impact scale based on the length of presence of the film, while other evangelistic films and gospel recordings are now included in the Audio variable.

Together with updates to the Religious Liberty, Human Development and Literacy country indicators, the combined effect has been a reduction in the estimated number of people who are unevangelized in the world from 2,156 million to 2,086 million in 2015: still fully 28% of the globe without basic access to the message of Jesus Christ.

Country indicators

As well as Religious Liberty, Human Development and Literacy (above), other indicators updated this quarter help to give the social and health context of peoples lives in each country:

• Corruption Index
• Water Access%
• Physicians per thousand
• HIV Adults per thousand
• Malaria cases per thousand
• GDP per capita
• GNI per capita
• Internet users%
• Education%

Also, data describing the State Religion of each country in 2015 has been thoroughly revised.

Anglicans

Anglicans for the first time are included in the total number of Protestants rather than being reported as a separate major tradition. Anglican data can still be found in WCD for each country, alongside Lutheran, Baptist, Reformed, and other traditions summarized from the listing of all denominations. People reported on church membership rolls (particuarly from State churches) who have since "Disaffiliated" are now shown at the sub-denominational level.

A section specifically on 'counting Anglicans' has been added to WCD's methodology document.

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