Religious Congregations & Membership: 2000

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Most Complete Data on U.S. Religious Affiliation Released
Reveals Shift in Number of Churches From ‘Traditionally Catholic Areas’

The most complete data available on U.S. religious affiliation was released Sept. 20, 2002, at a press conference preceding the Religion Newswriters Association’s national conference at the Hilton Suites Hotel in Nashville, Tenn. Religious Congregations & Membership in the United States: 2000, published by the Glenmary Research Center (Nashville, Tenn.), is the latest in a series of every-10-year studies conducted at the same time as the U.S. census. For the first time, data on Muslims and other religious bodies beyond the Judeo-Christian tradition is included, although on a limited basis.

In 2000, the study shows that the total Catholic population numbered 62 million, an increase of 16 percent from the 1990 study. The Catholic Church was one of four Christian bodies showing a double-digit increase in 2000 as compared to 1990.

According to Kenneth M. Sanchagrin, director of the Glenmary Research Center which published the 2000 study, the data from the study indicates that traditionally Catholic areas, such as the Northeast and Midwest, are declining in the number of Catholic churches while areas such as the South are increasing.

“It may well be the case that the large urban areas in the Northeast and Midwest are closing churches in urban neighborhoods where Catholic populations have abandoned them and/or it may be that it is simply easier for the South to show a percent increase in churches because they started with a smaller number,” Sanchagrin says.

This study reports that 140 million Americans are associated with one of the 149 religious bodies participating in the study,” said Dale E. Jones, chair of the committee that directed this study for its sponsoring organization, the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB). “That’s half (50.2%) of all Americans,” he adds. Jones is the director of the Nazarene Research Center (Kansas City, Mo.) which managed and processed the 2000 data.

“The most valuable thing about this study,” says Sanchagrin, a sociologist and member of the ASARB committee, “is the ability to compare data over time. Comparing and contrasting the 2000 data to 1990 data allows conclusions to be drawn about areas of religious growth from the county level to the national level.” Sanchagrin directs the Glenmary Research Center, which published this 2000 study as well as previous studies in 1971, 1980 and 1990. The Glenmary Research Center is also responsible for collecting the Catholic data for the study.

Like all previous reports in this series of studies on U.S. religious affiliation, data are reported by region, state and county. The last report, Churches and Church Membership in the United States: 1990, included data on 133 church/congregational groupings. The 2000 study and its publication are made possible by a grant from the Lilly Endowment. Inc.

The 2000 study is the first to include data on non-Christian religious bodies other than Jews. Jewish estimates were included in the 1990 study. The 2000 study gives partial data for Buddhists, Jains, Muslims, Sikhs, Taoists and Zoroastrians in the United States.

The 584-page book, Religious Congregations & Membership in the United States: 2000 includes 24 color maps. It is packaged with a 25" x 38" major religious families wall map and a CD-ROM with database files from 1952, 1971, 1980, 1990, and 2000 studies in Excel, SPSS and comma-delineated text. Cost of the package is $110, which includes shipping. Orders are being accepted online at www.glenmary.org/grc.

For key findings relating to the Catholic data

For information about how this study relates to other Catholic and general religious data.

Additional Resources:
• Methodology and Cautions
• Key findings from study
• Key findings for specific religious bodies
• Glossary of terms
• History and background of the study
• Resource people to contact
• Listings and rankings
• Maps
• To preview 2000 study online
• To order