Top 15 Reporting Religious Bodies
Des Moines, IA
Church, Christian, or Religious Body Adherents (and rank) Congregations
in 2000 in 1990 in 2000 in 1990
Catholic Church, The 67,213 (1)   62,764 (1)   30 32
United Methodist Church, The 28,905 (2)   27,973 (2)   67 66
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 26,924 (3)   24,158 (3)   36 34
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada 13,435 (4)   12,201 (4)   27 28
Assemblies of God 10,455 (5)   6,488 (7)   19 17
Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod 10,015 (6)   7,736 (6)   18 16
Presbyterian Church (USA) 8,497 (7)   10,117 (5)   24 23
Independent, Non-Charismatic Churches 5,290 (8)   2,950 (11)   4 3
United Church of Christ 5,204 (9)   5,130 (8)   6 6
General Association of Regular Baptist Churches 3,678 (10)   NA     21 NA
Reformed Church in America 3,142 (11)   2,298 (16)   5 4
Evangelical Free Church of America, The 2,948 (12)   538 (25)   14 5
Episcopal Church 2,898 (13)   2,682 (12)   7 7
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The 2,524 (14)   1,494 (19)   9 4
Christian Churches and Churches of Christ 2,450 (15)   2,532 (15)   11 11

Metropolitan Population, 2000 Census:   456,022
Percent of Population Claimed by
Reporting Groups: 		  47.1%

National Average: 50.2% claimed

Reporting Groups (149 possible): 58 (51 of 133 in 1990)
Total Reported Adherents: 214,958 (195,348 in 1990)
Total Reported Congregations: 419 (376 in 1990)

The metro area included 3 counties (or equivalent) at the time of the 2000 census:
  Dallas County, IA; Polk County, IA; Warren County, IA
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.