NEW YORK — The Assemblies of God, the Mormon church and the Roman Catholic Church were the fastest-growing major denominations in the United States last year, according to the just-released 2006 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches.

The Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal church, grew 1.81 percent to just under 2.8 million members. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints increased 1.74 percent to nearly 6 million people. And the Catholic Church, by the far the largest denomination in the United States, grew 0.83 percent to 67.8 million parishioners.

Only three mainline Protestant churches remain among the 10 biggest denominations in the country. The United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., stayed in the top 10 despite experiencing declines in membership last year.

The Methodists ranked third, with about 8.2 million members. The Evangelical Lutherans Ranked seventh, with nearly 4.9 million people. And the Presbyterians ranked ninth with just under 3.2 million congregants.

The Southern Baptist Convention remains the largest U.S. Protestant group, with 16.3 million members. It is the second-largest in the country, behind the Catholic Church.