Getting Leaner

The National Council of Churches had this featured item:

The figures indicate that the Catholic church lost 398,000 members since the appearance of the 2008 Yearbook.

This isn't good, but I wasn't convinced that it was all bad either. I'm sure the Church shed a few members after Nicea and Chalcedon. If the loss was a bunch of modernists/Protestants who finally got tired of calling themselves Catholic, it is a tragedy, but at least they will cause less damage to the faith of others now. I was thinking that until I got to this part:

According to the 2009 Yearbook, among the 25 largest churches in the U.S., four are growing: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (up 1.63 percent to 5,873,408; the Assemblies of God (up 0.96 percent to 2,863,265); Jehovah's Witnesses (up 2.12 percent to 1,092,169); and the Church of God of Cleveland, Tenn. (up 2.04 percent to 1,053,642).

I read this, and I am disturbed. My family does not turn away missionaries at the door. Naturally, this means that I've had my fair share of Mormon and JW interaction. That the Arians have made this much of a comeback is foul beyond my ability to express.

St. Athanasius, defender of the Incarnation, pray for us!

As an aside, the Pentecostal growth I expected simply because emotionalism always sells, and nobody provides sentiment like they do.