Data Catalog

Dataset: Religious Affiliation

Description

The Religious Affiliation dataset includes statistics for 149 religious bodies for congregations within each county of the United States. Attributes include actual membership (as defined by the religious body) and total adherents figures where available.

Collection Methodology

The Religious Affiliation dataset was compiled via a voluntary survey. In 1999, an invitation to participate in the study was sent to every US religious body listed in the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. Additional contacts were suggested by the Advisory Committee and by members of the Operations Committee. The written invitation was followed by two general mailings, and, where needed, by special letters, personal contacts, and phone calls. As a result of these efforts, which extended over two years, 285 groups were invited, 149 actually participated, 22 expressed the intention to participate but were unable to do so, 12 declined to participate and 102 did not respond.

General Business Terms

This dataset is available for use as part of the core Mapfluence offer.

Attribution Policy

Data provided by the ARDA; developers must include attribution link and text as follows: Map data © 2010 Urban Mapping Inc and/or other parties when developing applications.

Attribution Text
© 2010 The ARDA
Time Period
2000
Geographic Scope

United States

Lowest Geography
County

Attribute Tables

County Religious Affiliation (religion.county_data)

Religious congregations membership counts and portions at the county level.

Membership is organized into 60 Denomination Families; each having six fields:

  • Count of congregations (<denom_abbrev>_cong)
  • Count of full members in the county (<denom_abbrev>_mem)
  • Count of adherents (<denom_abbrev>_adherents)
  • Count of attendees (<denom_abbrev>_attend)
  • Portion of county population (prt_<denom_abbrev>_pop)
  • Portion of all county religious adherents (prt_<denom_abbrev>_adherents)

Denomination Families are abbreviated as follows:

ADVENT:Adventist
AMANA:Amana Church Society
ANGLICAN:Anglican
APOS_AM:Apostolic Christian Church of America
APOS_NAZ:Apostolic Christian Churches (Nazarean)
BAPT:Baptist
BEREAN:Berean Fundamental Church
BRETH:Bretheren
CATH:Catholic
CGOD:Churches of God
CH_CR_HO:Church of Christ (Holiness), U.S.A
CH_CR_SC:Church of Christ, Scientist
CHR_BRE:Christian Brethren
CHR_UN:Christian Union
CHRCATH:Christian Catholic Church
CHRIS:Christian
CMA:Christian and Missionary Alliance
CONG_CHR:Congregational
DIV_SCI:Divine Science Church
EAST:Eastern Religions
EVAN_CH:Evangelical Church, The
EVAN_CON:Evangelical Congregational Church, The
EVAN_COV:Evangelical Covenant Church
EVAN_FRE:Evangelical Free Church of America
FFBC:Fellowship of Fundamentalist Bible Churches
FIRE_BAP:Fire Baptized Holiness Church, (Wesleyan), The
FRIENDS:Religious Society of Friends
HOL_CGOD:Holiness Church Of God, Inc., The
ICCC:International Council of Community Churches
IFCA:Independent Fundamental Churches of America
IND_NCHA:Independent, Non-Charismatic Church
ISLAM:Islamic
JEWISH:Jewish
LDS:Latter-day Saints
LUTH:Lutheran
MENN:Mennonite
METH:Methodist
METRO:Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches
MISS_CH:Missionary Church
MORAV:Moravian
NAZARENE:Church of the Nazarene
NEW_JER:General Church of the New Jerusalem
NEW_JER:General Convention of the New Jerusalem in the U.S.A. 'The Swedenborgian Church'
OLDCATH:Christ Catholic Church
OLDCATH:North American Old Roman Catholic Church
OLDCATH:Old Catholic Church in America
ORTH:Eastern Christian
PENT:Pentecostal
PRES:Presbyterian
REF:Reformed
SALV_AR:Salvation Army
SCHWENK:Schwenkfelder Church
SOC_BRTH:Social Brethren
SPIRIT:National Spiritualist Association of Churches
UBRETH:Church of the United Brethren in Christ
UBRETH:United Christian Church
UCC:United Church of Christ
UNITUNIV:Unitarian Universalist Church in America
VOL:Volunteers of America

The Denomination Families are composed of:

ADVENT

  • Advent Christian Church
  • Church of God General Conference
  • Life and Advent Union
  • Primitive Advent Christian Church
  • Seventh-day Adventist Church

AMANA

  • Amana Church Society

ANGLICAN

  • Episcopal Church
  • Reformed Episcopal Church

APOS AM

  • Apostolic Christian Church of America, Inc.

APOS NAZ

  • Apostolic Christian Churches (Nazarean)

BAPT

  • "Old" Missionary Baptists Associations
  • American Baptist Association, The
  • American Baptist Churches in the USA
  • Baptist General Conference
  • Baptist Missionary Association of America
  • Barren River Missionary Baptists
  • Bethel Ministeral Association, Inc.
  • Black Baptists Estimate
  • Central Baptist Association Ministries
  • Christian Unity Baptist Association
  • Conservative Baptist Association of America
  • Duck River and Kindred Baptists Associations
  • Enterprise Baptists Association
  • General Association of General Baptists
  • General Association of Regular Baptist Churches
  • General Six Principle Baptists
  • Independent Free Will Baptists Associations
  • Interstate & Foreign Landmark Missionary Baptists Association
  • Jasper Baptist and Pleasant Valley Baptist Associations
  • Landmark Missionary Baptists, Independent Associations and Unaffiliated Churches
  • National Association of Free Will Baptists
  • National Primitive Baptist Convention, USA
  • New Hope Baptist Association
  • New Testament Association of Independent Baptist Churches and other Fundamental Baptist Associations/Fellowships
  • North American Baptist Conference
  • Old Regular Baptists
  • Original Free Will Baptists
  • Primitive Baptist Churches--Old Line
  • Primitive Baptists Associations
  • Primitive Baptists, Eastern District Association of
  • Progressive Primitive Baptists
  • Reformed Baptist Churches
  • Regular Baptists
  • Separate Baptists in Christ
  • Seventh Day Baptist General Conference, USA and Canada
  • Southern Baptist Convention
  • Southwide Baptist Fellowship
  • Strict Baptists
  • Truevine Baptists Association
  • Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit Predestinarian Baptists
  • United Baptists
  • Wayne Trail Missionary Baptist Association

BEREAN

  • Berean Fundamental Church

BRETH

  • Brethren Church (Progressive)
  • Brethren Church, The (Ashland, Ohio)
  • Church of God (New Dunkards)
  • Church of the Brethren
  • Grace Brethren Churches, Fellowship of
  • Old Order River Brethren
  • United Zion Church

CATH

  • Catholic Church

CGOD

  • Church of God (Anderson, Indiana)
  • Church of God (Seventh Day)
  • Churches of God, General Conference

CH CR HO

  • Church of Christ (Holiness), U.S.A

CH CR SC

  • Church of Christ, Scientist

CHR BRE

  • Christian Brethren

CHR UN

  • Christian Union

CHRCATH

  • Christian Catholic Church

CHRIS

  • Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
  • Christian Churches and Churches of Christ
  • Churches of Christ
  • International Churches of Christ

CMA

  • Christian and Missionary Alliance, The

CONG CHR

  • Congregational Christian Churches, Additional (not part of any national CCC body)
  • Conservative Congregational Christian Conference
  • Midwest Congregational Christian Fellowship
  • National Association of Congregational Christian Churches

DIV SCI

  • Divine Science Church

EAST

  • Bahá'í
  • Buddhism
  • Hindu
  • Jain
  • Sikh
  • Tao
  • Vedanta Society
  • Zoroastrian

EVAN CH

  • Evangelical Church, The

EVAN CON

  • Evangelical Congregational Church, The

EVAN COV

  • Evangelical Covenant Church, The

EVAN FRE

  • Evangelical Free Church of America, The

FFBC

  • Fellowship of Fundamentalist Bible Churches

FIRE BAP

  • Fire Baptized Holiness Church, (Wesleyan), The

FRIENDS

  • Central Yearly Meeting of Friends
  • Five Years Meeting of Friends
  • Friends (Quakers)
  • Oregon Yearly Meeting of Friends Church
  • Pacific Yearly Meeting of Friends
  • Religious Society of Friends (Conservative)
  • Religious Society of Friends (General Conference)
  • Religious Society of Friends (Philadelphia and Vicinity)

HOL CGOD

  • Holiness Church Of God, Inc., The

ICCC

  • International Council of Community Churches

IFCA

  • Independent Fundamental Churches of America

IND NCHA

  • Calvary Chapel Fellowship Churches
  • Independent, Non-Charismatic Churches

ISLAM

  • Muslim Estimate

JEWISH

  • Conservative Judaism
  • Jewish Estimate
  • Reform Judaism

LDS

  • Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerites)
  • Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The
  • Church of Jesus Christ, The (Bickertonites)
  • Community of Christ

LUTH

  • American Association of Lutheran Churches
  • American Evangelical Lutheran Church
  • American Lutheran Church, The
  • Apostolic Lutheran Church of America
  • Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, The
  • Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church
  • Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America
  • Church of the Lutheran Confession
  • Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Eielsen Synod)
  • Evangelical Lutheran Churches, Association of
  • Evangelical Lutheran Synod
  • Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church (Suomi Synod)
  • Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
  • Lutheran Church in America
  • Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod
  • Negro Missions (Lutheran)
  • Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church
  • The Protestant Conference (Lutheran)
  • United Evangelical Lutheran Church
  • United Lutheran Church in America
  • Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod

MENN

  • Amish; Other Groups
  • Beachy Amish Mennonite Churches
  • Brethren In Christ Church
  • Bruderhof Communities, Inc.
  • Church of God in Christ, Mennonite
  • Conference of the Evangelical Mennonite Church
  • Conservative Mennonite Conference
  • Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church
  • Evangelical Mennonite Church
  • Fellowship of Evangelical Bible Churches
  • Hutterian Brethren
  • Mennonite Brethren Churches, U.S. Conference of
  • Mennonite Church
  • Mennonite Church USA
  • Mennonite Church, The General Conference
  • Mennonite; Other Groups
  • Old Order Amish Church
  • Old Order Mennonite
  • Reformed Mennonite Church
  • Stauffer Mennonite Church
  • Unaffiliated Conservative Amish Mennonite Church

METH

  • African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
  • Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection
  • Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
  • Evangelical Methodist Church
  • Evangelical United Brethren Church
  • Free Methodist Church of North America
  • Fundamental Methodist Conference, Inc.
  • Holiness Methodist Church
  • Lumber River Annual Conference of the Holiness Methodist Church
  • Missionary Bands of the World, Inc.
  • Pilgrim Holiness Church
  • Primitive Methodist Church in the USA
  • Reformed Zion Union Apostolic Church
  • Southern Methodist Church
  • United Methodist Church, The
  • Wesleyan Church, The

METRO

  • Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches

MISS CH

  • Missionary Church Association
  • Missionary Church, The
  • United Missionary Church

MORAV

  • Bohemian and Moravian Brethren
  • Moravian Church in America
  • Moravian Church in America--Alaska Province
  • Moravian Church in America--Northern Province
  • Moravian Church in America--Southern Province
  • Unity of the Brethren

NAZARENE

  • Church of the Nazarene

NEW JER

  • General Church of the New Jerusalem
  • General Convention of the New Jerusalem in the U.S.A. 'The Swedenborgian Church'

OLDCATH

  • Christ Catholic Church
  • North American Old Roman Catholic Church
  • Old Catholic Church in America

ORTH

  • Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America
  • American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church
  • Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, The
  • Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East, North American Dioceses
  • Armenian Apostolic Church / Catholicossate of Cilicia
  • Armenian Apostolic Church / Catholicossate of Etchmiadzin
  • Bulgarian Orthodox Diocese of the USA
  • Byelorussion Council Of Orthodox Churches In North America
  • Coptic Orthodox Church
  • Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
  • Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Vasiloupulis
  • Holy Orthodox Church in North America
  • Macedonian Orthodox Church: American Diocese
  • Malankara Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church in North America
  • Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, American Diocese of the
  • Orthodox Church in America: Albanian Orthodox Archdiocese
  • Orthodox Church in America: Bulgarian Diocese
  • Orthodox Church in America: Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America
  • Orthodox Church in America: Territorial Dioceses
  • Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USA
  • Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America and Canada
  • Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
  • Serbian Orthodox Church in the USA
  • Serbian Orthodox Church in the USA (New Gracanica Metropolitanate)
  • Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch
  • Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA

PENT

  • Assemblies of God
  • Bible Church of Christ, Inc.
  • Church of God (Apostolic)
  • Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)
  • Church of God In Christ
  • Church of God of Prophecy
  • Church of God, Mountain Assembly, Inc.
  • Congregational Holiness Church
  • Independent, Charismatic Churches
  • International Church of the Foursquare Gospel
  • International Pentecostal Church of Christ
  • International Pentecostal Holiness Church
  • Open Bible Standard Churches, Inc.
  • Pentecostal Church of God
  • Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church, Inc.
  • Vineyard USA

PRES

  • Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
  • Cumberland Presbyterian Church
  • Evangelical Presbyterian Church
  • Orthodox Presbyterian Church, The
  • Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
  • Presbyterian Church in America
  • Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.
  • Presbyterian Church in the United States
  • Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America
  • Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod
  • United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America
  • United Presbyterian Church of North America

REF

  • Christian Reformed Church in North America
  • Congregational Christian Churches
  • Evangelical and Reformed Church
  • Netherlands Reformed Congregations
  • Protestant Reformed Churches in America
  • Reformed Church in America
  • Reformed Church in the United States
  • United Reformed Churches in North America

SALV AR

  • Salvation Army, The

SCHWENK

  • Schwenkfelder Church

SOC BRTH

  • Social Brethren

SPIRIT

  • National Spiritualist Association of Churches

UBRETH

  • Church of the United Brethren in Christ
  • United Christian Church

UCC

  • United Church of Christ

UNITUNIV

  • Unitarian Churches
  • Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
  • Universalist Church in America

VOL

  • Volunteers of America
Details...