The population reached 7.3 M in this country of traditionally mainly Protestant cantons, and others, mainly Catholic ones. 30 Years of liberation of society changed the religious landscape:
- Nominal members of the mainstream « Evangelisch-reformierte Kirche » decreased from 46 to 33% of population.
- Those who claim no religion increased from 2 to 15% (+650%).
- Followers of Free Christian Communities increased from 0.6 to 1.6% (+ 140%), reaching around 113'000 members according to Census 2000 (not including expat churches).
Comment: While members of the State churches usually keep away from Sunday services or even leave their respective denominations, most of the Evangelical and Pentacostal churches grow. Despite their seemingly insignificant portion in the population, more Evangelical and Pentacostal Christians and seekers are observed to turn up for Sunday worship services, than those faithful to the main Protestant denomination.
(Note: Schweizer, a Swiss German Christian who used to be a full-time missionary, currently works at the Federal Statistics Office of Switzerland and is a member of the Christliches Zentrum Buchegg, a Christian church based in Zurich, Switzerland.)
