The Churches List Letter
Stories that sit behind the directory.
Long-form pieces on patterns across 334,554 American churches — how denominations cluster by region, which buildings outlived their congregations, and what a census tract can tell you about a Sunday morning.
Wisconsin
Lutheran Churches in Wisconsin: 1,465 Congregations Mapped by County and City
Wisconsin holds 1,465 Lutheran congregations across both major synod families. The full geography of the state's defining Protestant tradition.
Louisiana
Louisiana's 57 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places
57 Louisiana churches stand on the National Register, French parishes and river chapels among them. The complete register list for the state.
Dallas, TX
Finding a Church in Dallas: 953 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
Dallas lists 953 congregations inside the city. This guide sorts the traditions, maps the corridors, and gives a newcomer a working shortlist.
Texas
Methodist Churches in Texas: 1,542 Congregations Mapped by County and City
Texas lists 1,542 Methodist congregations, the largest Methodist state block in the directory. The circuit-rider legacy mapped county by county.
Virginia
Virginia's 56 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places
56 Virginia churches hold National Register listings, including some of the oldest church buildings in America. The full list, dated and mapped.
Los Angeles, CA
Finding a Church in Los Angeles: 1,043 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
Los Angeles holds 1,043 congregations in the directory, the most denominationally varied big city in the West. Every tradition counted and mapped.
Minnesota
Lutheran Churches in Minnesota: 1,758 Congregations Mapped by County and City
Minnesota holds 1,758 Lutheran congregations, the heart of American Lutheranism. The full geography of the tradition's strongest state.
California
California's 65 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places
65 California churches stand on the National Register, missions and Gold Rush parishes alike. The complete list with counties and listing dates.
Philadelphia, PA
Finding a Church in Philadelphia: 1,227 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
Philadelphia lists 1,227 congregations, from colonial-era meetinghouses to storefront sanctuaries. The full map of the city's traditions and where each one concentrates.
New York
Catholic Churches in New York: 2,264 Congregations Mapped by County and City
New York lists 2,264 Catholic parishes and institutions, the deepest Catholic bench in the directory. The full map from Manhattan to the upstate mill towns.
Arkansas
Arkansas's 66 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places
66 Arkansas churches hold National Register listings, a count that matches Florida's from a fraction of the population. The full register geography of the Ozarks and Delta.
Houston, TX
Finding a Church in Houston: 1,555 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
Houston holds 1,555 congregations across the largest church metro in Texas. This guide sorts every tradition, maps the spread, and explains where to begin.
Texas
Baptist Churches in Texas: 7,185 Congregations Mapped by County and City
Texas holds 7,185 Baptist congregations, the largest single denomination-state block in this directory. The full geography, county by county.
Florida
Florida's 66 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places
66 Florida churches stand on the National Register of Historic Places, from territorial-era parishes to Gilded Age resort chapels. The full list, mapped and dated.
Chicago, IL
Finding a Church in Chicago: 1,875 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
Chicago lists 1,875 congregations inside the city limits, the largest city count in this directory. Every tradition sorted, the densest church corridors mapped, and what a newcomer finds behind each door.
Nashville, TN
Finding a Church in Nashville: 533 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
Nashville holds 533 congregations inside the directory's city boundary. This guide sorts every tradition represented and maps where each gathers.
Dayton, OH
Finding a Church in Dayton: 564 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
Dayton lists 564 congregations inside its river bends. This guide sorts the traditions, maps the densest blocks, and explains what a newcomer finds.
San Diego, CA
Finding a Church in San Diego: 568 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
San Diego holds 568 congregations from mission-era parishes to canyon-side plants. This guide sorts every tradition and maps the spread.
Michigan
Michigan's 70 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places
70 Michigan churches stand on the National Register of Historic Places. The full list, from Detroit's stone naves to Upper Peninsula mission churches, mapped below.
Oklahoma City, OK
Finding a Church in Oklahoma City: 570 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
Oklahoma City lists 570 congregations across its land-run grid. This guide sorts them by tradition and district for anyone choosing a Sunday home.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin's 75 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places
75 Wisconsin churches hold National Register listings, tracing German, Norwegian, and Polish settlement. The complete mapped list, sorted by county and date.
St Louis, MO
Finding a Church in St Louis: 610 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
St Louis holds 610 congregations across its red-brick wards. This guide sorts the traditions, maps the corridors, and gives a newcomer a defensible shortlist.
Alabama
Alabama's 75 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places
75 Alabama churches stand on the National Register of Historic Places, including landmarks of the civil-rights movement. The full mapped state list.
Fort Worth, TX
Finding a Church in Fort Worth: 651 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
Fort Worth's 651 congregations run from cattle-era First churches to new exurban plants. This guide sorts every tradition and maps where each one gathers.
Tampa, FL
Getting to Church Without a Car in Tampa: 325 Congregations Near Mapped Transit Stops
325 Tampa congregations have mapped transit stops within a quarter mile. A practical guide for reaching Sunday services on HART routes.
Pennsylvania
Catholic Churches in Pennsylvania: 1,792 Parishes Mapped by County and City
Pennsylvania holds 1,792 Catholic parishes, second only to New York in the directory. The complete map of the anthracite, steel, and river-valley parish belts.
New Jersey
New Jersey's 76 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places
76 New Jersey churches carry National Register of Historic Places status. The complete list, from colonial stone churches to industrial-city basilicas, mapped below.
Atlanta, GA
Finding a Church in Atlanta: 640 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
Atlanta's 640 congregations range from Sweet Auburn's historic Black churches to new suburban plants. This guide sorts the traditions and shows where each gathers.
San Francisco, CA
Getting to Church Without a Car in San Francisco: 340 Congregations Near Mapped Transit Stops
340 San Francisco congregations have mapped transit stops within a quarter mile. The Muni rider's guide to Sunday services across the hills.
California
Non-Denominational Churches in California: 3,278 Congregations Mapped
California lists 3,278 non-denominational congregations, the largest such count in the directory. The map of where independent Christianity concentrates.
Georgia
Georgia's 77 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places
77 Georgia churches stand on the National Register of Historic Places. The full state list, mapped and sorted by county and register date.
Washington, D.C., DC
Finding a Church in Washington, D.C.: 643 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
Washington, D.C. holds 643 congregations in 68 square miles. This guide sorts every tradition represented in the capital and maps the corridors where they cluster.
Phoenix, AZ
Getting to Church Without a Car in Phoenix: 347 Congregations Near Mapped Transit Stops
347 Phoenix congregations have mapped transit stops within a quarter mile. The light-rail and bus guide to Sunday worship across the Valley.
North Carolina
Baptist Churches in North Carolina: 5,772 Congregations Mapped by County and City
North Carolina holds 5,772 Baptist congregations, one for every 1,900 residents. The complete geography of the state where the Baptist church-per-capita rate peaks.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts's 85 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places
85 Massachusetts churches hold National Register of Historic Places listings, from Puritan meeting houses to immigrant parish naves. The complete mapped list.
Milwaukee, WI
Finding a Church in Milwaukee: 655 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
Milwaukee's 655 congregations still trace the city's German, Polish, and Black Great-Migration geographies. This guide sorts the traditions and maps where each one gathers.
Miami, FL
Getting to Church Without a Car in Miami: 411 Congregations Near Mapped Transit Stops
411 Miami congregations have mapped transit stops within a quarter mile. A practical guide to reaching Sunday services without a car.
Pennsylvania
United Church of Christ Congregations in Pennsylvania: 892 Churches Mapped
Pennsylvania holds 892 United Church of Christ congregations, heirs of the German Reformed settlement belt. The complete county-by-county map.
South Carolina
South Carolina's 86 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places
86 South Carolina churches carry National Register status, including some of the oldest religious buildings in the South. The full mapped register list.
Columbus, OH
Finding a Church in Columbus: 670 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
Columbus lists 670 congregations inside the outerbelt. The guide sorts each tradition, maps the densest blocks, and gives newcomers a way to shortlist without guesswork.
New York City, NY
Getting to Church Without a Car in New York City: 419 Congregations Near Mapped Transit Stops
419 New York City congregations in this directory have mapped transit stops within a quarter mile. The subway-and-bus guide to Sunday worship.
Ohio
Church of the Nazarene Congregations in Ohio: 467 Churches Mapped by County and City
Ohio lists 467 Church of the Nazarene congregations, the densest Nazarene state in the directory. The complete map and the holiness-movement geography behind it.
Kentucky
Kentucky's 92 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places
92 Kentucky churches stand on the National Register of Historic Places. The complete list, sorted by county and listing date, with every building mapped.
Jacksonville, FL
Finding a Church in Jacksonville: 693 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
Jacksonville covers more land than any other contiguous-U.S. city, and its 693 congregations spread accordingly. This guide sorts them by tradition and district.
Columbus, OH
Getting to Church Without a Car in Columbus: 461 Congregations Near Mapped Transit Stops
461 Columbus congregations have mapped transit stops within a quarter mile. A practical guide for reaching Sunday services on COTA routes.
Texas
Assemblies of God Churches in Texas: 603 Congregations Mapped by County and City
Texas holds 603 Assemblies of God congregations, the largest state count in the directory. The complete map, from border colonias to panhandle towns.
Texas
Texas's 104 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places
104 Texas churches hold National Register of Historic Places listings, from Spanish missions to painted churches of the Hill Country. The full mapped list.
Cincinnati, OH
Finding a Church in Cincinnati: 751 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
Cincinnati's seven hills hold 751 congregations. This guide sorts the German Catholic legacy, the Baptist corridors, and everything between, neighborhood by neighborhood.
Philadelphia, PA
Getting to Church Without a Car in Philadelphia: 490 Congregations Near Mapped Transit
490 Philadelphia congregations have mapped transit stops within a quarter mile. The SEPTA-rider's guide to Sunday worship across the row-house grid.
California
African Methodist Episcopal Churches in California: 602 Congregations Mapped
California lists 602 African Methodist Episcopal congregations. The full map of the AME church's westward geography, county by county.
Tennessee
Tennessee's 113 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places
113 Tennessee churches stand on the National Register of Historic Places. The complete list, from Memphis to the mountain counties, mapped and sorted by register date.
Indianapolis, IN
Finding a Church in Indianapolis: 795 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
Indianapolis holds 795 congregations across its township grid. This guide sorts them by tradition, maps the spread, and explains where each denomination concentrates.
Detroit, MI
Getting to Church Without a Car in Detroit: 587 Congregations Near Mapped Transit Stops
587 Detroit congregations have mapped transit stops within a quarter mile. The carless guide to the city's sanctuaries, sorted by corridor.
Florida
Church of God Congregations in Florida: 956 Churches Mapped by County and City
Florida holds 956 Church of God congregations, the densest concentration in the directory. The complete state map and the geography behind it.
North Carolina
North Carolina's 122 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places
122 North Carolina churches carry National Register of Historic Places status. The full list below is mapped, dated, and sorted by county.
Baltimore, MD
Finding a Church in Baltimore: 827 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
Baltimore's directory counts 827 congregations. The guide below sorts every tradition, charts the city's row-house parishes, and gives a newcomer a defensible shortlist.
Los Angeles, CA
Getting to Church Without a Car in Los Angeles: 943 Congregations Near Mapped Transit
943 Los Angeles congregations have mapped transit stops within a quarter mile. A practical guide to Sunday worship on Metro lines and buses.
New York
Episcopal Churches in New York: 754 Congregations Mapped by County and City
New York lists 754 Episcopal congregations, more than any other state in the directory. The complete map, from Manhattan parishes to one-room North Country chapels.
Ohio
Ohio's 157 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places
157 Ohio churches hold National Register of Historic Places listings. The complete state list, sorted by county and register date, with every building mapped.
San Antonio, TX
Finding a Church in San Antonio: 841 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
San Antonio lists 841 congregations, from 18th-century missions to storefront iglesias. This guide sorts them by tradition and district for anyone choosing a Sunday home.
National
615 American Churches That Were Online Before 2001: The Internet Archive Record
615 congregations in this directory had working websites captured by the Internet Archive before January 2001. The earliest documented church web presence in America, year by year.
Chicago, IL
Getting to Church Without a Car in Chicago: 1,734 Congregations Near Mapped Transit Stops
1,734 Chicago congregations in this directory have mapped transit stops within a quarter mile. The carless Sunday guide, sorted by line and neighborhood.
Pennsylvania
Presbyterian Churches in Pennsylvania: 872 Congregations Mapped by County and City
Pennsylvania holds 872 Presbyterian congregations, the densest Presbyterian presence in the directory. The full geography, from Scots-Irish frontier kirks to city pulpits.
New York
New York's 306 Churches on the National Register of Historic Places
306 New York congregations stand on the National Register of Historic Places, more than any other state in this directory. The full register list, mapped and sorted by county and listing date.
Cleveland, OH
Finding a Church in Cleveland: 1,063 Congregations Sorted by Tradition and Neighborhood
Cleveland holds 1,063 congregations inside the city limits. This guide sorts every tradition, maps the densest church corridors, and explains what a newcomer finds behind each door.
Rural United States
Small-Town America's Single-Parish Towns: Where One Church Holds the Whole Community
Churches List records 8,920 American towns where a single Christian parish serves the entire community. 42% are in the Great Plains, and 35% are Methodist. The grid is thinning by 1.5% per year as rural depopulation closes one or two parishes a week.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh's 721 Parishes and the Industrial Catholic Arc: Slovak, Polish, Italian, and German Congregations
Pittsburgh holds 721 parishes, with 180 Roman Catholic and at least 25 Eastern-Rite (Byzantine) Catholic parishes clustered around former steel-mill neighbourhoods. The parish names still read as a census of the 1890–1920 industrial workforce.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles's 1,043 Parishes: The Most Denominationally Varied Grid in the American West
Los Angeles holds 1,043 parishes inside the city limits and more than 15 distinct traditions each hold at least 25 parishes, making LA the most denominationally varied grid in any American city west of Chicago.
Dallas-Fort Worth
Dallas (953) vs. Fort Worth (243): Two Metros, One Baptist Heritage, Very Different Sunday Grids
Dallas holds 953 parishes inside its city limits; Fort Worth, 30 miles west and nearly equal in population, holds 243. The four-to-one gap reflects two different Protestant settlement histories layered on the same North Texas prairie.
United States
The Non-Denominational Acceleration: 35,730 American Congregations With No Central Authority
Non-Denominational congregations now outnumber the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church USA, and the Episcopal Church combined. The tradition has grown at 8% per year since 1990, a rate no historic American denomination has matched.
Upper Midwest
Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Dakotas: Why the Upper Midwest Holds 36% of American Lutheran Congregations
Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the two Dakotas hold 4,034 Lutheran congregations, 23% of the American Lutheran total. Extended to include Iowa and Nebraska, the Upper Midwest Lutheran share climbs to roughly 36% of all American Lutheran parishes.
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham's 276 Baptist Congregations: The Most Baptist City Per Capita in the United States
Birmingham records 276 Baptist congregations inside the city limits, a 52% share of all parishes, and the highest Baptist-per-capita count of any American city with a population above 200,000. The density reflects the steel-era SBC plantings and the continuing Black Baptist civil-rights-era network.
United States
The Episcopal Atlantic Corridor: Where the Church Stays Most Densely Concentrated
The Episcopal Church USA records 8,112 parishes. The five largest state contingents — NY, CA, TX, PA, FL — together hold 32% of the national count, while the four colonial Anglican states (VA, MD, NC, SC) hold roughly 13%.
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn's 863 Parishes by Neighbourhood: Sunday Morning in the Most Densely Churched Borough
Brooklyn holds 863 parishes inside its borders, 12 per square mile, stacked in layers from the Dutch Reformed of the 1650s to the Fujianese evangelical congregations of the 2000s. Every neighbourhood is a different Sunday morning.
Ohio
Ohio's 1,278 Methodist Congregations: Why the Circuit System Still Maps the State
Ohio holds 1,278 Methodist and United Methodist congregations, the highest state Methodist density in the country. The grid traces to the 1790–1830 circuit-riding preachers who planted a meeting-house every twenty miles across the Ohio country.
United States
The Patron-Saint Portfolio: What Church Names Reveal About Where American Catholics Came From
American parishes carry 3,917 St. John dedications, 3,334 St. Paul, 2,347 St. Mary, 1,714 Our Lady, and 97 St. Stanislaus. Each name is an immigrant community's signature on its American doorpost.
New York State
The Catholic Parish Network of New York State: 2,264 Communities Across Eight Jurisdictions
New York State holds 2,264 Roman Catholic parishes, administered through eight distinct jurisdictions: the 1808-founded Archdiocese of New York, the 1853-founded Diocese of Brooklyn, the 1957-founded Diocese of Rockville Centre, and five upstate suffragans.
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis's 297 Baptist Congregations: Inside the Densest Baptist City South of the Ohio River
Memphis records 297 Baptist congregations and only 42 Catholic parishes, a 7-to-1 ratio, because three overlapping Baptist networks (Southern Baptist, National Baptist, and Missionary Baptist) each built their own parish grid inside the city.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia's Row-Grid Parishes: William Penn's 1683 Plan and the 1,227 Churches Fitted Into It
Philadelphia holds 1,227 parishes inside the city limits, on a 1683 grid laid out by William Penn that predated every other American city plan except New Amsterdam's. The grid's narrow row-house lots determined what every later parish could look like.
Louisiana
The Louisiana Catholic Corridor: 764 Parishes and the French Colonial Map That Shaped Them
Louisiana records 764 Roman Catholic parishes in the Churches List directory, a concentration unique south of the Ohio. The southern two-thirds of the state still sits on the French colonial mission grid laid out between 1699 and 1763.
Manhattan, New York
New York City's Pre-Civil-War Catholic Parishes Still Open on Sunday
Seven Roman Catholic parishes in Manhattan whose present buildings predate 1860 still offer Sunday Mass, from Saint Peter's (1840) on Barclay Street to Ascension (1897) on the Upper West Side.
Houston, Texas
Houston's 504 Baptist Congregations: How One Metro Holds the Densest Baptist Presence in Texas
Houston holds 504 Baptist congregations inside its city limits, the densest Baptist presence of any American metro: a 1848 Southern Baptist mission layer, a 1945 Independent Baptist suburban layer, and a 1920 Black Baptist migration layer stacked on the same coastal plain.
United States
The Baptist–Lutheran Inversion: Where the Two Traditions Trade Places on the Lower-48 Map
American Baptist (74,720 congregations) and American Lutheran (17,216) divide the lower 48 along a diagonal from Mobile to Fargo: nine states are Lutheran-dominant, and the rest are Baptist-dominant by four-to-one ratios or wider.
Chicago, Illinois
Why Chicago's 1,875 Parishes Outnumber Any Midwestern City — and Which Denominations Hold the Grid
Chicago holds 1,875 parishes inside the city limits, the highest count of any Midwestern city: 347 Baptist, 251 Catholic, and 232 Non-Denominational congregations anchor a grid shaped more by the Great Migration than by Chicago's income map.
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit's 1850–1900 Catholic Stone Belt: Six Parishes Whose Cornerstones Survive
Six Detroit Catholic parishes built between 1848 and 1897 still operate in the Archdiocese of Detroit, anchoring Corktown, the East Side, and Southwest Detroit through 150 years of industrial rise and population collapse.