Church yearbook includes black denominations

New York — A widely used annual report on membership in North American religious groups includes statistics for a leading black Protestant denomination for the first time in three years.

The “Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches” had omitted the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., due to questions about the accuracy of its 1992 claim of 8.2 million members. This year, the convention updated its count and reported 5 million members.

The yearbook lists the Church of God in Christ as the largest black denomination, with 5,499,875 followers, but that figure has not been updated since 1991.

The African Methodist Episcopal Church dropped 7.5 percent from the previous year to 2,311,398, while the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church grew 11.7 percent, to 1,447,934.

The Roman Catholic Church reported a 2.5 percent increase, to 65,270,444, remaining the largest U.S. denomination.

Christian Church leader to retire in October

Indianapolis — The Rev. Richard L. Hamm, plans to leave the top post in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in October, two years before his present term is up.

Hamm, president and general minister since 1993, will step down after the denomination’s assembly Oct. 17-21.

Hamm said he was under no pressure to leave, but felt that after a decade the church should “take a fundamentally new look at how we mobilize for our mission.” The Rev. Roy Stauffer, pastor of Lindenwood Christian Church in Memphis, credited Hamm with strong leadership, but said the president had grown exhausted by the position.

Parishioners urged to rally against slot machines

Baltimore — Religious leaders are growing more vocal in their opposition to a proposal by Gov. Robert Ehrlich to bring 10,500 slot machines to four racetracks.

The United Methodist Church, Ehrlich’s own denomination, is urging its 700 Maryland ministers to preach against the slots.

And the Central Maryland Ecumenical Council, which represents 16 Christian denominations, sent a strongly worded anti-gambling letter to state legislators last month.