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Catholicism very often is the biggest denomination by default, owing to the fact that their institutional unity boosts ‘market share’ but at the same time masks differences between different wings of the Roman church that are as great as between denominations of Protestantism that have separated over theological differences.

One other factor to consider is this -- the Roman Catholic Church count membership based on BAPTISM. Since the Catholic Church baptize infants, I have always wondered whether people who as adults, have consciously left the Catholic church to say either become atheist, join other Protestant Denominations or even become Buddhists or Muslims are now NOT COUNTED AS MEMBERS by virtue of the decision they made as adults. I highly doubt that.

I have for instance, gone to Evangelical Churches where I met people became members who were baptized as Roman Catholics as infants. Examples of these are too numerous to count.

I believe these people still are by virtue of their infant baptism, counted by the Roman Catholic church as members even after they have left the Catholic church. Their personal decisions to leave the Catholic church as adults are not being taken into account.

Which of course means that there is a significant OVERCOUNTING on their part.

Do Protestant and non-mainline churches count people who have left their congregation in the minus column ? Can anyone answer that for us ?

Do Protestant and non-mainline churches count people who have left their congregation in the minus column ? Can anyone answer that for us ?

It varies. Southron Baptists, for instance, are notorious for having far higher membership numbers than attendance numbers.

You are wrong about the Catholic Church counting by baptism. The Church takes a census a couple times a year. Certainly when it performs the Biblically mandated Baptism of babies they are counted in that families participation in the census if the family is active.

the Roman Catholic Church count membership based on BAPTISM

True and false. For the purposes of surveying affiliations, it would be absurd to do so, -- they have to go by mass attendance, or church registries, or self-identification.

Theologically speaking, the Catholic Creed says in part "we believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins". This means that not only those baptized in the Catholic Church, but all validly baptized -- Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc -- are Catholics at the time of their baptism. When those people convert to Catholicism, they are not re-baptized. Of course, unless they go on practicing the Catholic faith, they fall off. No one, however would base a census on this.

As regards the Catholics, the map is misleading is a different way. They should have differentiated the Catholics by frequency of mass attendance -- the requirement is to attend Mass each Sunday, and by lifestyle -- contraception, advocacy of decriminalized abortion, gay marriage and euthanasia, remarriage, cohabitation without marriage in the Church are all behaviors that separate one from the Catholic Church whether they count themselves as Catholics or not. Should they surveyed on that basis, they would find very few Catholics anywhere, sadly.