by Joey Davis
This week is Trivial Pursuit Week in Echoes from the Basement! Yes, the party game that we all hate to play. I'm amazed that people can remember who played Eddie Haskell on Leave it to Beaver but not have a clue what the names of the Apostles were.
Also, when I tell someone that I preach in the "church of Christ," after answering questions like..."How many angels can sit on the head of a needle?"..."Where in the Bible is the story of the little drummer boy?"...and my personal favorite, "If Jesus was a Jew, why does he have a Mexican name?" I am asked questions about the church that I find hard to answer. So, this week's article is dedicated to trivia about the church of Christ in the United States...
...According to Mac Lynn's book, Churches of Christ in the United States, there are 13,013 churches in the U.S. with an average weekly attendance of 1,255,286 worshipers. So with this in mind, check out the following trivia...
...Where is the largest congregation of the church of Christ located? If you said Madison Church of Christ in Madison, TN, You're right. They have an average of 3,180 in attendance each Lord's Day. Second is Richland Hills Church of Christ in Fort Worth, TX...2) What is the median size of a congregation in the churches of Christ in America? More than 6,000 of the 13,000 churches in the U.S. have fewer than 50 members. There are only 229 churches in the United States that are significantly larger than Mt. Juliet..3) Which state has the most churches of Christ? Okay, that one is too easy, it's Texas. Texas has 2,193 congregations with a membership of 290,190.
Tennessee is second with 1,467 and 168,803 members. An interesting note: Texas has 290,190 members, but an average attendance of 271,389; Tennessee claims 168,803 members but an average attendance of 172,792...If you think everything is bigger and better in Texas...you're only half right!...4) Which county in the U.S. has the largest number of churches located in if? If you said Dallas, TX or Los Angeles, CA you're not even close! Harris County Texas has 156 congregations in it. Metro-Davidson County is third with 114 congregations represented...5) Which county in the United States has the highest percentage of Christians in its population? In Jackson County, Tennessee, 26.4% of the population are members of the church...(FYI: Bethlehem Church of Christ in Lebanon is the fourth oldest congregation in the U.S.)
I hope you have enjoyed our trivial pursuit week...next week, back to our regularly scheduled program.