Churches in Essex County
Essex County, Massachusetts has 425 churches in the Churches List directory, 14 of them verified and 226 with a published website. The 2020 US Religion Census counted 453 congregations and 397,483 adherents across 74 religious bodies in the county. That is 491 adherents per 1,000 residents of its 809,827 people.
Religious bodies in Essex County (2020 US Religion Census)
| Religious body | Congregations | Adherents | Per 1,000 pop. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catholic Church | 52 | 299,218 | 369.5 |
| Muslim Estimate | 5 | 12,748 | 15.7 |
| Episcopal Church | 25 | 9,265 | 11.4 |
| Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America | 6 | 9,150 | 11.3 |
| Assemblies of God | 24 | 9,001 | 11.1 |
| United Church of Christ | 36 | 7,869 | 9.7 |
| Non-denominational Christian Churches | 34 | 6,680 | 8.2 |
| Jehovah's Witnesses | 28 | 6,610 | 8.2 |
| American Baptist Churches in the USA | 28 | 3,707 | 4.6 |
| Reform Judaism | 4 | 3,586 | 4.4 |
| United Methodist Church | 19 | 3,269 | 4.0 |
| Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations | 12 | 2,932 | 3.6 |
Source: 2020 US Religion Census (Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies). Per-1,000 rates divide reported adherents by the county's 2020 Census population (809,827). Largest 12 bodies by adherents shown.
Historic-register churches in the county
- Saint Michael's Episcopal Church — National Register, 1973
- Grace Episcopal Church — National Register, 1976
- First Church Congregational — National Register, 1978
- First Baptist Church — National Register, 1984
- Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Catholic Church — National Register, 1994
- Spanish Free Methodist Church — National Register, 2014
- Wesley United Methodist Church — National Register, 2014
Notable churches in Essex County
№ 01
East Coast International Church
YouTube
№ 02
Tabernacle Congregational Church U.C.C.
YouTube
King of Grace Church
Here is a quick look at what you can expect when you visit King of Grace. First, we come together with grateful hearts to worship and glorify God. So you can expect to join us as w...
№ 04
Atkinson Congregational Church, United Church of Christ
"Atkinson Congregational Church has been a "Light on the Hill," drawing people to worship since 1772. We welcome ALL people to our historic and very active church. It is a place of...
YouTube
Lawrence Church of Christ
Ararat Armenian Congregational Church
The Ararat Armenian Congregational Church is an Armenian Evangelical church in Salem, New Hampshire, United States. The church is located at 2 Salem Street in Salem.
First Church of Christ
YouTube
First Church of Danvers Congregational
Redeemer Lutheran Church
First Congregational Church of Salem, NH
YouTube
Third Baptist Church
YouTube
№ 12
Portland Street Baptist Church
Cities and towns in Essex County
Directory traditions here: Non-Denominational (55) · Catholic (49) · United Church of Christ (40) · Baptist Churches (33) · Episcopal (30) · Congregational (29) · United Methodist (24) · African Methodist Episcopal (15) · Christian (12) · Pentecostal (12)
Researching ancestors from Essex County?
Church registers are among the richest genealogical sources: baptisms, marriages, and burials often predate civil records. The FamilySearch catalog holds microfilmed church records for many Massachusetts counties, filed by denomination and parish name: search Essex County church records on FamilySearch (free account). Cross-reference with the historic-register churches above and the cemeteries listed on each church's page.
Disaster history of Essex County
FEMA has issued 40 disaster declarations covering Essex County since records began in 1953, most recently in 2023. The most frequent cause: severe storm (10 declarations). Churches have historically served as shelters and relief hubs in these events; congregations can register preparedness plans with their county emergency management agency.
Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries.
How this county page is assembled
Directory listings are mapped to Essex County through the US Census Bureau's 2020 ZCTA-to-county relationship file: each ZIP Code Tabulation Area is assigned to the county holding the largest share of its land area, so a small number of churches in ZIP codes that straddle county lines may be attributed to a neighboring county. Congregation and adherent counts come from the 2020 US Religion Census and are reported by the religious bodies themselves. Population is the county's April 2020 decennial-census base from the US Census Bureau's population-estimates program; per-1,000 adherence rates divide reported adherents by that figure. Corrections to any listing go through the corrections page.