A recent study by the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies has revealed a dramatic increase in the number of Orthodox Christians in America. In the last four years, the number of members of Orthodox churches in America has grown from 700,000 to 6 million.
The study, published this month, shows that the number of conversions to Orthodoxy in the US has increased from 2022 to 2023.
The largest number of people who decided to take this step are aged between 30 and 39 and are unmarried, and most come to Orthodoxy from Protestantism, the research showed.
The study, conducted by the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies at Saint Constantine’s College in Houston, covered 20 Orthodox parishes in 15 states.
Studies note that in 2020, due to the pandemic, there was a significant decline in the number of Orthodox believers, but that Orthodox churches in the US experienced a significant increase in membership in the period from 2022 to 2023.
The average number of conversions to Orthodoxy from 2013 to 2021 was about 89 people per year, while in the period 2022 and 2023, that number increased to 155 people. The study was conducted in 2023, with only partial data for this year. Parish representatives were asked for statistics starting from 2013.
Similar growth observed in Europe Labor migration and free movement have contributed to an increase in the number of Orthodox Christians in parts of Europe where it was previously minimal.
According to Deutsche Welle, Germany has approximately 4 million Orthodox Christians, compared to only 1.5 million a decade ago. According to information from the Romanian Orthodox Northern European Diocese, there is an increasing number of adult baptisms in Scandinavia.
In England, over the past four and a half years, more than 260 people have converted to Orthodoxy through the “Discover Orthodoxy” program of the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain.
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