U.S. Population Growth

It will likely happen sometime later this month. The population clock at the website for the U.S. Census Bureau will pass 300,000,000. For the numerically-challenged, that’s 300 million. . . . people.

To get a feel for the recent population growth in the United States, consider: In 1967, that figure was 200 million. In less than 40 years, the number of people in this country has increased by 100 million, the fastest rate of growth among the world’s “developed” countries.

For mission-minded Christians in the United States, at least two facts associated with these numbers are significant.

First, about 40% of the current increase is due to immigration. And, no, they’re not all from Mexico. The world is arriving on American shores, in U.S. airports--and, yes, from across this country's borders--every day. Living anywhere around a major population center in the United States provides plenty of anecdotal evidence.

Second, of course, births account for the rest of the increase. And of those, nearly half are Hispanic. Nearly half, with Spanish as a first language.

The world is changing. And if, in the style of “the ugly American,” the world to us is U.S., even (or especially) that world is changing.

Dear God, as servants of Christ, as those entrusted with divine mystery now revealed, please help your church to be faithful and full of courage. In Jesus' name, amen.

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U.S and World population clocks are located in the upper right part of the homepage for the United States Census Bureau, here.

Information Source: Kenneth J. Cooper, "300 Million and Counting," AARP Bulletin (October 2006) pp. 3-4.