What do you think about this website listing Christian communities?

Question

What do you think about this website listing Christian communities in America.
http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html#religions

isn't it interesting how they leave the year organized blank for Catholic
America's Top 10 Religious Bodies
Listed by Year Organized
Order Religious Body Year Organized
1 Catholic Church

2 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1830

3 Southern Baptist Convention 1845

4 Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod 1847

5 Church of God in Christ 1897

6 Assemblies of God 1914

7 National Baptist Convention of America 1915

8 United Methodist Church 1968

9 Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 1983

10 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 1987

Some of America's largest religious bodies are fairly new, some of them representing recent schisms or mergers.

solarius points well taken but what about the blank dating for Catholicism?

Answer 1

It should say 33AD... [insert big dumb grin]

Answer 2

As a Catholic, I can say that compared to the Roman Catholic Church, many of these seem to be relatively new denominational movements. But some of these statistics could be potentially misleading to someone who isn't well-read in theological history. The ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) may be a relatively new merger, but of course, the Lutheran Church itself has been around for centuries. I could easily see someone misunderstanding that point. Same for the United Methodist Church and Presbyterian Church, USA. These mergers, although significantly younger than Catholicism, represent denominations that been around for quite some time, as have the Baptists. Just because they're listed as "new" groups denominationally in that list doesn't mean that the parent churches they grew out of are also brand new. The National Baptist Convention of America came along in 1915. So what? Roger Williams preached in Baptist churches in the 1600s. Are Baptists a new religious force in America, then? Of course not.