Top 15 Reporting Religious Bodies
Columbia, SC
Church, Christian, or Religious Body Adherents (and rank) Congregations
in 2000 in 1990 in 2000 in 1990
Southern Baptist Convention 91,039 (1)   83,239 (1)   132 123
United Methodist Church, The 38,669 (2)   36,772 (3)   64 64
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 25,960 (3)   25,624 (4)   58 59
Catholic Church, The 19,242 (4)   11,542 (5)   11 12
Presbyterian Church (USA) 14,800 (5)   10,924 (6)   19 18
Episcopal Church 9,396 (6)   9,233 (7)   16 16
Presbyterian Church in America 6,024 (7)   4,855 (8)   11 12
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, The General Synod of the 4,348 (8)   3,791 (9)   10 8
Assemblies of God 3,587 (9)   2,483 (12)   12 14
International Pentecostal Holiness Church 2,915 (10)   1,758 (17)   17 17
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) 2,830 (11)   1,846 (16)   18 14
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The 2,809 (12)   3,091 (10)   9 8
Jewish Estimate 2,750 (13)   2,003 (14)   2 3
American Baptist Churches in the USA 2,747 (14)   1,591 (18)   3 3
Seventh-day Adventist Church 2,577 (15)   1,252 (20)   7 5

Metropolitan Population, 2000 Census:   536,691
Percent of Population Claimed by
Reporting Groups:
  44.9%

National Average: 50.2% claimed

Reporting Groups (149 possible): 47 (44 of 133 in 1990)
Total Reported Adherents: 240,944 (251,789 in 1990)
Total Reported Congregations: 466 (448 in 1990)

The metro area included 2 counties (or equivalent) at the time of the 2000 census:
  Lexington County, SC; Richland 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.