Top 15 Reporting Religious Bodies Athens, GA
Church, Christian, or Religious Body	Adherents (and rank)						Congregations
	in 2000			in 1990			in 2000	in 1990
Southern Baptist Convention	25,906	(1)		27,565	(1)		50	48
United Methodist Church, The	9,830	(2)		9,377	(2)		25	26
Catholic Church, The	4,926	(3)		1,121	(8)		2	1
Presbyterian Church (USA)	2,890	(4)		3,051	(4)		6	6
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada	1,702	(5)		1,326	(7)		6	7
Episcopal Church	1,692	(6)		1,460	(6)		2	3
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)	925	(7)		598	(10)		3	3
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The	880	(8)		385	(12)		3	1
Presbyterian Church in America	810	(9)		318	(14)		3	2
International Pentecostal Holiness Church	792	(10)		381	(13)		6	3
Independent, Charismatic Churches	750	(11)		2,000	(5)		1	1
Churches of Christ	737	(12)		632	(9)		5	5
Seventh-day Adventist Church	555	(13)		277	(17)		3	2
Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod	454	(14)		301	(15)		2	1
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America	439	(15)		448	(11)		1	1

Metropolitan Population, 2000 Census:		153,444
Percent of Population Claimed by Reporting Groups:		36.1%

National Average: 50.2% claimed

Reporting Groups (149 possible):	31	(28 of 133 in 1990)
Total Reported Adherents:	55,459	(58,559 in 1990)
Total Reported Congregations:	134	(124 in 1990)

The metro area included 3 counties (or equivalent) at the time of the 2000 census:
	Clarke County, GA; Madison County, GA; Oconee County, GA
	The newly published book Religious Congregations and Membership in the United States 2000 includes a CD that allows users to determine such lists for any selected group of counties.
Source:	Religious Congregations and Membership in the United States 2000 Churches and Church Membership in the United States 1990
	Both studies, copyrighted by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, are published by the Glenmary Research Center, Nashville, Tenn. More information is available at www.glenmary.org/grc.