Get Connected

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_original","fid":"489","attributes":{"alt":"Religious Membership cover","class":"media-image","style":"width: 150px; height: 184px; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 5px 10px;","title":"Religious Membership cover","typeof":"foaf:Image"}}]]Last fall we told you about the latest Religious Congregations Membership Study that had just been completed by the National Council of Churches and the Glenmary Research Center. At the time, they had only released their data and preliminary maps online. Now the numbers have been crunched, collated, organized, and are presented with colorful maps in a hefty print version.

The Religious Congregations Membership Study 2012 (RCMS) is a county-by-county enumeration of religious bodies in the US. It is an update of the 1952, 1971, 1980, 1990, and 2000 studies originally done by the National Council of Churches and the Glenmary Research Center. Since 1990, the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB) has sponsored the studies.

Each participating religious body supplies the number of churches, full members, adherents, and attendees for each county. Our data collection office can assist any group with compiling their data to the county level.This study will give a picture of county-level religious affiliation nationwide. The longevity of the study helps to identify trends and track religious change.

Publication Highlights:

• Counts 344,894 congregations, and 150,686,156 adherents in 236 religious groups.
• Religion census tables at the national, state, and county levels.
• Special studies to count Amish, Buddhist groups, Hindu groups, Jewish groups, Muslims, Orthodox groups, and non-denominational churches.
• Worship attendance data for 106 groups.

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One of the editors of this useful tome is our very own long-standing board member, Rick Taylor. You can view a sampler online and order yourself a copy from Nazarene Publishing House.

--Robin