Top 15 Reporting Religious Bodies
Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC
Church, Christian, or Religious Body Adherents (and rank) Congregations
in 2000 in 1990 in 2000 in 1990
Southern Baptist Convention 261,719 (1)   234,629 (1)   511 455
United Methodist Church, The 117,393 (2)   107,917 (2)   256 259
Catholic Church, The 85,842 (3)   37,155 (6)   26 24
Presbyterian Church (USA) 68,204 (4)   64,899 (5)   171 166
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 37,340 (5)   37,006 (7)   94 91
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) 27,285 (6)   17,341 (8)   90 81
Episcopal Church 14,179 (7)   13,334 (9)   33 31
American Baptist Churches in the USA 11,883 (8)   8,117 (13)   8 8
Presbyterian Church in America 10,178 (9)   6,081 (15)   33 29
Jewish Estimate 8,810 (10)   4,600 (19)   5 6
Independent, Non-Charismatic Churches 8,765 (11)   12,560 (10)   8 10
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, The General Synod of the 8,406 (12)   8,753 (12)   39 31
Assemblies of God 7,883 (13)   9,056 (11)   29 29
Muslims Estimate 7,883 (13)   NA     6 NA
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The 7,347 (15)   5,960 (17)   16 14

Metropolitan Population, 2000 Census:   1,499,293
Percent of Population Claimed by
Reporting Groups: 		  50.1%

National Average: 50.2% claimed

Reporting Groups (149 possible): 63 (48 of 133 in 1990)
Total Reported Adherents: 751,317 (791,763 in 1990)
Total Reported Congregations: 1,701 (1,745 in 1990)

The metro area included 7 counties (or equivalent) at the time of the 2000 census:
  Cabarrus County, NC; Gaston County, NC; Lincoln County, NC; Mecklenburg County, NC; Rowan County, NC; Union County, NC; York County, SC
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.