Assembly of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA Fast Questions and Fast Answers about the Geography of Orthodoxy in America By Alexei Krindatch (akrindatch@aol.com), Research Coordinator Here are the questions that are answered on the following pages: 1. What is an overall picture of the Orthodox Church presence in the United States? How large are the various Orthodox Christian jurisdictions in terms of their parishes and members? Compared to other Christian groups, how visible are Orthodox Churches in America s diverse religious landscape? 2. How evenly are the parishes and members of the Orthodox Christian Churches distributed throughout the United States? Are there any geographic pockets where especially many Orthodox Church members live? 3. How easy (or difficult) is it to find an Orthodox parish which is geographically close to the place where I live? 4. How easy (or difficult) is it to find an Orthodox parish of a particular jurisdiction (e.g., Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, etc.) which would be geographically close to the place where I live? 5. Are there any urban areas in America where the Orthodox parish presence is disproportionately small as compared to these areas general population? Based on this criterion, which urban areas could be considered as possible candidates for planting new mission parishes? 6. State by state, which Orthodox Church jurisdictions dominate in number of adherents and parishes? 7. Are the Orthodox Church jurisdictions expanding their geographic presence throughout the USA? That is, as time goes by, are they establishing parishes in new places and becoming geographically more widespread? 8. Are American Orthodox jurisdictions growing in members? 9. Is there is anything unique about the geographic distribution of Orthodoxy in America as compared to other Christian groups? 10. Where else can I find more information and data on the geography of Orthodox presence in the United States?
1. What is an overall picture of the Orthodox Church presence in the United States? How large are the various Orthodox Christian jurisdictions in terms of their parishes and members? Compared to other Christian groups, how visible are Orthodox Churches in America s diverse religious landscape? In the United States nationwide, the total number of persons (including children) participating in local Orthodox Christian parishes is about 800,000. 1 This figure is based on the 2010 US Religion Census (www.usreligioncensus.org). In this census, each Orthodox parish in America was asked the question, How many individual persons are associated with the life of your parish: including adults and children, regular and occasional attendees, paid stewards and persons who do not contribute financially? In essence, the answer to this question gives information on the number of adherents in each parish: that is, the total number of persons involved however loosely in the life of the local parish community. Hence, for all Orthodox jurisdictions in America combined, the number of adherents is about 800,000. To put this figure in perspective, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) has about 6,150,000 adherents in the USA; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America about 4,200,000; the Episcopal Church about 2,000,000; the Church of the Nazarene about 900,000; and the Unitarian Universalist Association (Unitarian Church) about 220,000. That is, by the number of adherents in the USA, the Orthodox Christian Churches (combined) are comparable with the Church of the Nazarene. Orthodox Church adherents in the United States attend 1,883 parishes and mission communities that are affiliated with twelve different Orthodox Church jurisdictions that are part of the Assembly of Canonical Bishops of the USA (www.assemblyofbishops.org). In addition, 80 male and female monastic communities also belong to the various jurisdictions of the Assembly. The various Orthodox jurisdictions their dioceses, local parishes, and monastic communities are guided by the Orthodox bishops. As of October 2018, there were 51 active (non retired) Orthodox bishops in the USA. Table 1 offers an overview of the membership (number of adherents), parishes, monastic communities, and bishops in each of twelve Orthodox Church jurisdictions that together form the Assembly of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA. Map 1a provides an overview of the geographic distribution of the Orthodox parishes throughout the United States. Map 1b indicates the number of Orthodox Church adherents in each US county. 1 This number does not include the non-chalcedonian (Oriental) Orthodox Churches
Table 1. Adherents, Parishes, Monastic Communities, and Bishops in the Orthodox Church Jurisdictions of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA Orthodox Church Jurisdictions that are part of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America (in alphabetical order) Number of adherents (*) Number of parishes (**) Number of monastic communities Albanian Orthodox Diocese 700 2 0 1 Number of bishops American Carpatho Russian Orthodox Diocese of the 10,500 79 0 1 USA Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North 75,000 260 3 7 America Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese of the USA, 2,600 27 2 1 Canada and Australia Georgian Orthodox Church 900 18 2 1 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America 482,800 530 19 15 (***) Orthodox Church in America 84,600 547 19 11 Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas 11,200 31 2 1 Russian Orthodox Church (Patriarchal Parishes) 12,400 35 1 1 Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia 27,000 162 18 7 Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America 68,000 120 4 3 Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA 23,000 85 0 2 All US Orthodox Church jurisdictions combined 798,700 1,896 80 51 (*) based on 2010 US Religion Census; (**) including mission parishes; (***) this number includes Metropolitan Nikitas of the Dardanelas and Bishop Ierotheos. Both are auxiliary bishops of Ecumenical Patriarchate to which Greek Orthodox Archdiocese belongs.
Locations of Parishes of the Orthodox Christian Churches Map 1a. (only Orthodox Christian Churches that are part of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA) Dots are randomly placed within each county to represent congregations. 4 1,886 parishes and 798,700 adherents total. Present in 626 counties.
Map 1b Orthodox Christian Churches in the United States: Number of Adherents by County (2010) (only jurisdictions which are part of the Assembly of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops) Number of adherents in each county none 1-99 100-399 400-999 1000-1999 2000-4999 5000 or more Source of data: 2010 US National Orthodox Census / 2010 Religious Congregation Membership Study Authored Copyright by Alexei D. Krindatch 5 798,700 adherents total. Present in 626 counties
2. How evenly are the parishes and members of the Orthodox Christian Churches distributed throughout the United States? Are there any geographic pockets where especially many Orthodox Church members live? Compared to the general US population, the members of the various Orthodox jurisdictions are significantly more concentrated in certain geographic areas. More than half of them (51%) live in just six states: New York (14% of all Orthodox Church members), California (10%), Illinois (8%), Pennsylvania (7%), Massachusetts (6%), and Florida (6%). At the same time, only 35% of the general US population lives in these six states. Map 2a shows the number of the Orthodox Church adherents in each state. Map 2b is the so called rooted map. It helps to better visualize the Orthodox Christian geographic strongholds in the USA. This rooted map re sizes the territory of each state proportionately to the percentage (i.e. relative share) of all American Orthodox Church adherents living in this state. Of course, geographies of adherents of the different Orthodox Church jurisdictions are different. Map 2c has four rooted cartograms showing the geographic distribution of adherents of the four largest (as measured by membership) American Orthodox Church jurisdictions: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Orthodox Church in America, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, and Serbian Orthodox Church.
Total Number of Adherents of Orthodox Christian Churches by State: 2010 (only jurisdictions which are part of the Assembly of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops) 11,045 1,738 565 120 5,831 818 310 6,887 12,053 109,763 290 4,266 4,266 48,637 80,358 8,007 5,935 785 10,013 1,493 2,847 2,081 6,300 35,044 64,821 18,428 46,802 64,821 2,098 46,802 2,776 13,324 52,282 3,775 17,742 46,378 1,351 11,900 20,235 11,225 1,971 2,160 1,182 3,981 14,085 5,227 11,875 975 2,923 23,169 23,169 2,070 13,480 290 Total number of adherents in each state 100 1,000 The size of the dot is in proportion to the total number of members of Orthodox Christian Churches in each state. 48,065 100,000 Source of data: 2010 US National Orthodox Census / 2010 Religious Congregation Membership Study Copyright by Alexei D. Krindatch
Map 2b Cartogram of Orthodox Church Adherents (only Orthodox Churches that are part of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops) This map resizes each state proportionally to the number of American Orthodox Church adherents living in that state.
AK Adherent Cartogram 2010 KEY State Sizes Based on Area (Standard View) WA MT ND ME OR ID WY SD MN WI MI VT NH NY MA CTRI CA NV UT CO NE KS IA MO IL IN KY OH WV PA NJ MDDE VA AZ NM OK AR TN NC SC MS AL GA TX LA FL HI Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, 2017 2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study Created by Research Services using ESRI ArcMap 10.4 Adherent Cartograms resize each state proportionately based upon the number of adherents reported in that state in the 2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study.
Furthermore, Orthodox Church life in the United States is geographically concentrated not only in certain states but also in particular counties. 26% (more than one quarter) of all American Orthodox Church adherents attend parishes situated in just ten US counties (to compare, only 9% of the US general population lives in these ten counties). See Table 2. Table 2 Top ten US counties by the total number of adherents of Orthodox Church jurisdictions which are part of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops Rank Name of County State Total of Orthodox Church adherents (including children) 1. Cook (greater Chicago area) IL 48,114 2. Queens (New York: Flushing area) NY 28,260 3. Los Angeles (city of Los Angeles) CA 24,061 4. New York (New York: Manhattan) NY 16,790 5. Middlesex (towns of Cambridge and Lowell) MA 16,674 6. Pinellas (cities of Clearwater and St. Petersburg) FL 15,395 7. Cuyahoga (greater Cleveland area) OH 13,624 8. Wayne (greater Detroit area) MI 14,404 9. Nassau (New York: Long Island area) NY 13,395 10. Kings (New York: Brooklyn area) NY 13,210 Map 2d shows that while Orthodox parishes are present in 626 US counties, half (50%) of all Orthodox Church adherents attend parishes situated in just 35 top counties as measured by number of adherents (to compare, only 20% of US general population lives in these 35 counties).
Map 2d Member Churches of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops Adherent Concentration Within Counties of the United States IAccording to 2010 US Religion Census, there were 798,700 Orthodox Church adherents with parishes present in 626 counties. Half of these adherents, however, were concentrated in just 35 counties. These 35 top counties by the number of adherents are colored magenta on this map. 50% of all American Orthodox Church adherents attend parishes in just 35 counties Updated 11/6/2012 Counties (or equivalents) Counties where (when Counties where - when combined) 50% of all Orthodox adherents combined - 50% ofattend all US Other counties with adherents lived in 2010 Orthodox adherents Other counties with Counties without adherents in 2010 Orthodox parishes Counties with no adherents reported in 2010 Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, 2016 2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study Created by Research Services using ESRI ArcMap 10.2 Adherents are people associated with specific local congregations of this faith group. 12
3. How easy (or difficult) is it to find an Orthodox parish which is geographically close to the place where I live? The answer to this question is simple: it depends on where you live. In summary, the geographic density of Orthodox parishes in America (i.e., the number of parishes per given area) and, therefore, the distances between parishes, are extremely different in various states. See Table 3. State Table 3. State by State Geographic Density of Orthodox Parishes: Number of parishes per 10,000 sq miles Number of Parishes per 10,000 square miles State Number of parishes per 10,000 sq miles State Number of parishes per 10,000 sq miles State Number of parishes per 10,000 sq miles Alabama 2.3 Indiana 11.3 Nebraska 1.5 South Carolina 5.4 Alaska 1.4 Iowa 2.1 Nevada 0.8 South Dakota 0.3 Arkansas 1.6 Kansas 1.9 New Hampshire 16.1 Tennessee 3.4 Arizona 2.0 Kentucky 2.0 New Jersey 103.4 Texas 2.4 California 10.3 Louisiana 1.6 New Mexico 0.5 Utah 0.8 Colorado 2.5 Maine 2.0 New York 30.0 Vermont 4.2 Connecticut 91.0 Maryland 25.0 North Carolina 5.2 Virginia 7.3 Delaware 26.6 Massachusetts 72.9 North Dakota 0.5 Washington 4.4 Florida 13.7 Michigan 6.7 Ohio 21.8 West Virginia 6.0 Georgia 4.4 Minnesota 3.2 Oklahoma 1.5 Wisconsin 3.8 Hawaii 5.0 Mississippi 1.0 Oregon 1.9 Wyoming 0.4 Idaho 0.9 Missouri 2.5 Pennsylvania 49.5 Wash., DC 8.6 Illinois 15.2 Montana 0.4 Rhode Island 41.0 US as a whole 4.8
Table 3 indicates that the states where it is easiest to find a nearby Orthodox parish are New Jersey (this state has 103 parishes per 10,000 square miles), Connecticut (91), Massachusetts (73), Pennsylvania (50), Rhode Island (41) and New York (30). In contrast, the states with the lowest supply of Orthodox parishes per certain territory are Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, North and South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. In all these states, there is less than 1 parish per 10,000 square miles. Another way of measuring the proximity of an Orthodox parish is by the average time that a person needs to reach a parish from his/her home. At this point, we do not have such data for Orthodox parishes on a state by state basis. However, the 2010 national Faith Communities Today survey of US religious congregations 2 provided information on the percentage of members of various Christian Churches who live within 15 minutes of their respective places of worship (e.g. parishes, congregations, etc.). This survey revealed that only 46% of the American Orthodox Church members need no more than 15 minutes to reach their church. To put this figure in perspective, more than half (55%) of the members of various Protestant Evangelical Churches and three quarters of the members of the Mainline Protestant (75%) and the Roman Catholic (73%) Churches live within 15 minutes of their congregations and parishes. Thus, compared to members of other Christian Churches, American Orthodox Christians typically spend a longer time commuting to their parishes. 2 The national reports deriving from the Faith Communities Today survey are available at http://faithcommunitiestoday.org/research-reports-2010/ 368 Orthodox parishes (about 20% of all US Orthodox parishes) participated in this survey.
4. How easy (or difficult) is it to find an Orthodox parish of a particular jurisdiction (e.g., Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodox, etc.) which would be geographically close to the place where I live? As noted in Question 1, American Orthodox parishes belong to twelve different Orthodox Church jurisdictions (see Table 1). In some places in America, one will find many parishes of different jurisdictions situated close to each other (thus providing a rich set of choices of parishes to attend), but in many other places people have little or no choice. That is, different areas of the country vary significantly in the degree of Orthodox diversity, in terms of offering a greater or lesser variety of parishes of different jurisdictions. The jurisdictional diversity of parishes in different geographic areas can be measured by Simpson s diversity index. 3 The values of this index can range from 0 (no diversity at all) to 1 (maximum diversity). Higher values of the index mean that: Orthodox parishes in such areas represent greater variety of Orthodox jurisdictions, and Orthodox jurisdictions have more equal numbers of parishes. Lower values of index mean that most of the parishes in that area belong to only one or a limited number of jurisdictions. Such an area would offer little choice of jurisdictions to attend. For example, if each of the twelve jurisdictions had one parish in a certain city or area, this would offer the most diversity, and the value of index would be 1. Conversely, if parishes of only one jurisdiction were present in an area, there would be no diversity at all, and the value of the index would be 0. Simpson s diversity index can be used to measure jurisdictional diversity in parishes for different territorial units: states, counties, metro areas, individual cities, etc. Map 3a shows the differences among various states in their degree of Orthodox parish diversity. The states with the highest diversity (thus, the greatest variety of choices of parishes of various jurisdictions) are Indiana (the value of Simpson s index is 0.86), California (0.83), Maryland (0.82), and New Jersey (0.82). The states with the lowest diversity in parishes are: Alaska (0.16), Wyoming (0.37), New Hampshire (0.42), and North Dakota (0.44). The fact that all states have index values greater than zero means that there is no state that only has parishes of a single jurisdiction. 3 For more information on Simpson s diversity index see: http://www.statisticshowto.com/simpsons-diversity-index/
Map 1a State by State Inter-Orthodox Diversity in the Parishes of the Various Orthodox Jurisdictions 2 (measured by Simpson's Diversity Index ) 1 WA MT ND ME OR ID MN VT NH WY SD WI MI NY CT MA RI CA NV UT CO NE KS IA MO IL IN KY OH WV PA VA MD NJ DE DC AZ AK SOURCE OF DATA: 2010 US Religion Census/Religious Congregations and Membership Study Copyright by Alexei D. Krindatch NM HI TX OK AR LA MS Simpson's Diversity Index (based on the number of parishes of various Orthodox jurisdictions in each state) Up to 0.600 0.601 to 0.700 0.701 to 0.750 0.751 to 0.800 TN AL Higher than 0.800 The states with the greatest diversity in the parishes of various Orthodox jurisdictions are: Indiana, California and New Jersey. The states with the lowest diversity in the parishes of various Orthodox jurisdictions are: Alaska, Wyoming and New Hampshire. GA SC FL NC 1 Including all parishes of the Orthodox jurisdictions that are part of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America. 2This map uses Simpson's Diversity Index to measure the likelihood of two (or more) Orthodox parishes in the same state belonging to different Orthodox jurisdictions. The higher values of Index means that: a) the Orthodox parishes in this state represent greater number of various Orthodox jurisdictions and b) the Orthodox jurisdictions present in this state are more likely to have more equal number of parishes. The lower values of Index means that: a) the Orthodox parishes in this state represent smaller number of various Orthodox jurisdictions and b) some Orthodox jurisdictions present in this state "dominate" significantly in number of parishes.
Map 3b analyzes jurisdictional diversity on a more detailed level, by US metropolitan areas. 4 Unlike the states, many metropolitan areas (colored white on the map) have a zero value of Simpson s diversity index: that is, such areas have parishes of only one Orthodox jurisdiction. On the opposite end of the spectrum are metropolitan areas colored in black: they have the highest diversity in parishes and, thus, offer the greatest possibility of choosing among the parishes of various jurisdictions. The top ten US metropolitan areas with highest degree of jurisdictional diversity in parishes are: Syracuse, NY (Simpson s index 0.86); Atlanta Sandy Springs Roswell, GA (0.84); Buffalo Cheektowaga Niagara Falls, NY (0.84); Erie, PA (0.83); Sacramento Roseville Arden Arcade, CA (0.83); Los Angeles Long Beach Anaheim, CA (0.83); San Diego Carlsbad, CA (0.83); San Jose Sunnyvale Santa Clara, CA (0.82); Philadelphia Camden Wilmington, PA NJ DE MD (0.82); Allentown Bethlehem Easton, PA NJ (0.82). 5. Are there any urban areas in America where the Orthodox parish presence is disproportionately small as compared to these areas general population? Based on this criterion, which urban areas could be considered as possible candidates for planting new mission parishes? In order to answer this question, we looked at the number of Orthodox parishes situated in each US metropolitan area 5 and compared this number with each metropolitan area s total population. At the time of the most recent (2010) census, there were 383 metropolitan areas in America, ranking in size from Carson City s 55,274 people to New York City s 18,897,109. Out of these 383 areas, Orthodox parishes were present in 311. Among the remaining 72 metropolitan without Orthodox parishes, the largest by population are: Provo Orem, UT (526,810); Visalia Porterville, CA (442,179); Brownsville Harlingen, TX (406,220); Killeen Temple, TX (405,300); Hickory Lenoir Morganton, NC (365,497); Laredo, TX (250,304); Houma Thibodaux, LA (208,178). 4 The US government defines metropolitan areas for statistical purposes in the following manner. Generally, a metropolitan area is composed of the counties associated with an urban core of at least 50,000 people. At the time of the 2010 US census, metropolitan areas ranged in size from Carson City s 55,274 to New York City s 18,897,109. 5 The United States Office of Management and Budget defines a Metropolitan Statistical Area as one or more adjacent counties or county equivalents that have at least one urban core area of at least 50,000 population, plus adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured by commuting ties. There are 383 Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the USA.
Map 3b Inter-Orthodox Diversity of Orthodox Christian Parishes1 in US Metropolitan Areas (measured by Simpson's diversity index2) Seattle WA ME MT ND MN OR ID SD WI WY Sacramento San Francisco NV Erie MO Bridgeport MD DE WV St. Louis VA KY Los Angeles NC TN AZ MA CT RI AllentownNJ Philadelphia Columbus IN Cincinnati CO KS PA Youngstown Pittsburgh OH IL CA Detroit IA UT San Jose Syracuse Rochester Buffalo MI Milwaukee NE San Diego VT NH NY OK AR NM SC Atlanta MS TX AL GA LA FL Orlando AK HI Source of Data: 2010 US Religion Census (www.usreligioncensus.org) Author: Alexei D. Krindatch 1 Including parishes of all Orthodox jurisdictions that are part of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA Metropolitan Areas with Orthodox Parishes: Inter-Orthodox Diversity of Parishes measured by Simpson's Diversity Index 0.0 (all parishes in these metro-areas belong to one Orthodox jurisdiction) 0.001-0.600 0.601-0.700 2 Simpson's diversity index measures the likelihood of the Orthodox parishes situated in the same 0.701-0.800 metro area to belong to different Orthodox jurisdictions. The higher values of Index mean that a) the Orthodox parishes in a metro-area represent greater number of various Orthodox jurisdictions and b) the Orthodox jurisdictions present in this metro area have more equal number of parishes. To the contrary, the lower values of the Index mean that a certain jurisdiction "dominate" in the number of parishes in this metro area. 18 Higher than 0.800 Ten metro-areas with greatest diversity in the parishes of various Orthodox jurisdictions are: Syracuse, NY; Atlanta-Roswell, GA; Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY; Erie, PA; Sacramento-Roseville, CA; Los Angeles - Anaheim, CA; San Diego-Carlsbad, CA; San Jose-Santa Clara, CA; PhiladelphiaCamden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD; Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ.
The 311 metropolitan areas with Orthodox parishes vary greatly in terms of supply as measured by the number of parishes per 100,000 people. The average supply of Orthodox parishes for these 311 metropolitan areas is just 0.9 per 100,000 inhabitants. Table 4 shows the ten top metropolitan areas with the highest number of Orthodox parishes per 100,000 people. Table 4 Top Ten US Metropolitan Areas by the Number of Orthodox Parishes per 100,000 Population Metropolitan Areas Population Number of Orthodox Parishes Number of Parishes per 100,000 Inhabitants Johnstown, PA 143,679 12 8.4 Weirton Steubenville, WV OH 124,454 7 5.6 Scranton Wilkes Barre Hazleton, PA 563,631 27 4.8 Hot Springs, AR 96,024 4 4.2 Youngstown Warren Boardman, OH PA 565,773 23 4.1 Wheeling, WV OH 147,950 5 3.4 Binghamton, NY 251,725 8 3.2 Altoona, PA 127,089 4 3.1 Pittsburgh, PA 2,356,285 71 3.0 Redding, CA 177,223 5 2.8 But the most important question is: in which major metropolitan areas (with populations of more than 1,000,000) is the number of Orthodox parishes disproportionately small as compared to these areas general population? Table 5 presents the list of 15 major metropolitan areas with no more than 0.3 parishes per 100,000 residents. 6 6 A cautionary additional note should be made here. The number of parishes is not the only indicator of the strength of Orthodox presence, as some metropolitan areas may have large and vibrant parishes that serve many parishioners and have significant impact on local community. However, when discussing average national situation, it is still helpful to look first at the list of the areas with small number of parishes versus local population and, then, as the second step, to examine each area individually.
Table 5. Major Metropolitan Areas (Population more than 1,000,000) with the Lowest Supply of Orthodox Parishes Metropolitan Areas Population Number of Orthodox Parishes Number of Parishes per 100,000 population Houston The Woodlands Sugar Land, TX 5,920,416 20 0.3 Richmond, VA 1,208,101 4 0.3 Cincinnati, OH KY IN 2,114,580 7 0.3 Orlando Kissimmee Sanford, FL 2,134,411 7 0.3 Charlotte Concord Gastonia, NC SC 2,217,012 7 0.3 Las Vegas Henderson Paradise, NV 1,951,269 6 0.3 Atlanta Sandy Springs Roswell, GA 5,286,728 16 0.3 Raleigh, NC 1,130,490 3 0.3 Riverside San Bernardino Ontario, CA 4,224,851 10 0.2 San Antonio New Braunfels, TX 2,142,508 5 0.2 Memphis, TN MS AR 1,324,829 3 0.2 Dallas Fort Worth Arlington, TX 6,426,214 14 0.2 New Orleans Metairie, LA 1,189,866 2 0.2 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY IN 1,235,708 2 0.2 6. State by state, which Orthodox Church jurisdictions dominate in number of adherents and parishes? Table 1 (see Question 1) shows that about 60% (482,800) of all Orthodox Church adherents belong to and attend the parishes of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA). Accordingly, by the number of church members and parishes, the GOA prevails in most states. There are, however, a number of exceptions to this. The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese (AOCA) has the largest number of both parishes and members in Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma. In Texas, the AOCA has the greatest number of parishes, while the GOA has the most church adherents, with fewer, but larger, parishes. In Alaska and North Dakota, the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is the largest Orthodox jurisdiction, both in terms of members and parishes. In the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin, the GOA has the greatest number of church adherents, but OCA has the most parishes.
7. Are the Orthodox Church jurisdictions expanding their geographic presence throughout the USA? That is, as time goes by, are they establishing parishes in new places and becoming geographically more widespread? The answer to this question is yes. The most reliable sources of data, which allow us to trace changes in Orthodox parishes in each US county, are the 2000 and 2010 US Religion Censuses (formerly known as Religious Congregation Membership Studies). 7 Map 4a shows the increase or decrease in Orthodox Church presence between 2000 and 2010 for each US county. During this decade, American Orthodox Churches ʺenteredʺ and established their parishes and missions in 140 new counties. During the same period, however, 32 counties lost their Orthodox parishes and missions. As a result, between 2000 and 2010, the number of counties with Orthodox parishes grew up from 518 to 626. Map 4b shows the increase or decrease in the number of Orthodox parishes between 2000 and 2010 for each US state. The states which grew in parishes most dynamically are: Hawaii (+150% increase in Orthodox parishes), Tennessee (+80%), Kentucky (+75%), Delaware (+75%), Washington (+60%), Oklahoma (+57%), Missouri (+54%), Virginia (+52%), North Carolina (+50%), Iowa (50%), Arkansas (+50%), Kansas (+45%), Texas (+45%), Maryland (+39%) and Georgia (+ 35%). When placed on the US map, with the exception of Washington, Hawaii, and Delaware, all states with the fastest growth in parishes form one contiguous area. 8. Are American Orthodox jurisdictions growing in members? This is difficult to ascertain for several reasons. First, many Orthodox parishes do not keep accurate statistics of their members. Second, different jurisdictions use different approaches to measuring their membership. For example, the parishes of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese measure their membership by the number of households/family units. In contrast, the parishes of the Orthodox Church in America count individual adult members. Again differently, the parishes of the Antiochian Archdiocese estimate their membership by the number of baptized souls, and this figure includes both adults and children. At this point, the only reliable source of comparable membership statistics for all American Orthodox jurisdictions are the data from 2010 US Religion Census (www.usreligioncensus.org). 7 See: http://www.usreligioncensus.org/
Map 4a Change in Presence of Orthodox Parishes in US Counties: 2000 to 2010 (only churches that are part of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops) Change in Churches the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops 2010: Orthodox parishes wereof present in 626 counties 2000: Orthodox parishes were present in 518 counties 140 counties with Orthodox parishes in 2010 but not in 2000 32 counties with Orthodox parishes in 2000 but not in 2010 Decadal Change in Presence of Orthodox Parishes Decadal Change Newly Entered entered after 2000 Newly Major gains more) Major Gains (+50% (50% orormore) Minor Changes changes Minor Major losses or more) more) Major Losses (-50% (50% or Dropped presence since 2000 Dropped No Presence Orthodox parishes in No either 2000 or 2010 Author: Alexei Krindatch 140 counties reported in 2010 but not in 2000. 32 22 counties reported in 2000 but not in 2010.
State-by-State Change in the Number of Orthodox Parishes and Monastic Communities during 2000-2010: in %, 2000=100% WA (only jurisdictions which are part of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops) MT ND ME OR ID MN VT NH WY SD WI MI NY CT MA RI CA NV UT CO NE KS IA MO IL IN KY OH WV PA VA MD NJ DE DC AZ NM OK AR TN SC NC MS AL GA TX LA AK FL HI Change (in %) in Number of Orthodox Parishes 2000-2010: No change or decrease in number of parishes Growth in number of parishes: + 1-24% Growth in number of parishes: + 25-49% Growth in number of parishes: + 50% or more SOURCE OF DATA: 2010 US National Orthodox Census 2010 Religious Congregations Membership Study Copyright by Alexei D. Krindatch US nationwide, during 2000-2010, the total number of parishes and monastic communities that belong to the various Assembly's jurisdictions increased from 1,689 to 1,936: +15% growth.
In the course of this census, each Orthodox parish in America was asked the same question How many individual persons are associated with the life of your parish: including adults and children, regular and occasional attendees, paid stewards and persons who do not contribute financially? As noted previously (see Question 1), the answer to this question gives information on the number of adherents in each parish: that is, the total number of persons involved however loosely in the life of the local parish community. For all American Orthodox Churches combined, in 2010, the number of adherents was about 800,000. This 2010 figure can be compared with the data from the 1936 US governmental Census of Religious Bodies. 8 Based on this Census, Map 5 shows the number of the Orthodox Church adherents in 1936 in each US state with a total of about 335,500. This means +138% increase in Orthodox Church adherents between 1936 and 2010. However, the general US population grew during the same period of time from 128,000,000 to 309,000,000 : + 141% increase. Hence, from 1936 2010 the Orthodox Churches were growing in members, but this growth, in fact, was slightly outpaced by the growth of the US general population. As a result, the percentage of Orthodox Church adherents in US general population has remained essentially the same from 1936 to 2010: 0.26%. Map 6 shows today s percentage of Orthodox adherents in the total population of each US county. When compared to Map 2a (see Question 2), Map 5 allows for an additional interesting observation. Between 1936 and 2010, the geographic distribution of Orthodox Church members has changed. We noted previously that the six top states with the greatest number of Orthodox Church members are: New York (14% of all US Orthodox adherents live there), California (10%), Illinois (8%), Pennsylvania (7%), Massachusetts (6%), and Florida (6%). Combined, today, these six states account for more than half (51%) of all US Orthodox parishioners. In 1936, the picture was different, with the following five states accounting for nearly two thirds (63%) of all Orthodox parishioners: Pennsylvania (21%), New York (15%), Indiana (9%), Massachusetts (9%) and Illinois (9%). 8 Data files from 1936 Census of US Religious Bodies can be accessed here: http://www.thearda.com/archive/files/descriptions/1936censst.asp
Total Number of Adherents of Orthodox Christian Churches by State: 1936 (Eastern Orthodox Churches only) 2,281 1,320 0 929 2,235 362 7,344 150 4,480 29,781 325 0 4,843 15,366 50,390 1,953 17,396 0 3,744 1,140 1,456 1,100 2,775 4,125 29,210 11,791 550 31,760 70,288 4,700 1,064 11,941 1,872 796 3,352 3,339 217 0 1,266 40 830 518 467 250 809 2,413 3,123 3,123 692 8,000 Total number of adherents in each state 10 1,000 The size of the dot is in proportion to the total number of members of Orthodox Christian Churches in each state. 2,636 100,000 1. Source of data: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Census of Religious Bodies (1936). 2. Source of data for Alaska: estimates based on an interview with Russian Orthodox bishop Antonin Pokrovsky of Alaska, New York Times (March 24, 1933). 3. US Census of Religious Bodies erroneously omits the Serbian parish in Butte, Montana, which was most likely the largest Orthodox church in the state. The population data above includes a rough estimate for that parish. Copyright by Alexei D. Krindatch
Map 6 County-by-County: Adherents of American Orthodox Churches MDS 0ember Churches of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops $GKHUHQWV DV RI 3RSXODWLRQ as Percentage (%) of the Total Population (2010) Orthodox Church adherents Population Ratio as percentage of population Less than 0.1% 0.1% to 0.49% 0.5% to 0.99% 1.0% to 4.99% 5.0% or more No Presence Author: Alexei Krindatch (akrindatch@aol.com) Location of Orthodox Church adherents on this map are bound 1, SDULVKHs andin 79 adherents WRWDO 3UHVHQW in 626 in counties. to location of their parishes. 2010, Orthodox parishes were present 626 counties.
9. Is there is anything unique about the geographic distribution of Orthodoxy in America as compared to other Christian groups? Chart 1 shows that 87% of all Orthodox parishes and 98% of all Orthodox Church adherents are in metropolitan areas of various sizes. Further, more than three quarters (77%) of all Orthodox Church adherents are in metropolitan areas with more than 1,000,000 residents. Table 6 indicates that in these measures and compared to other American Christian groups, the US Orthodox Churches are more urban in terms of where their parishes and members are located. Table 6. Concentration of Congregations and Adherents in US Metropolitan Areas Christian groups Percentage (%) of congregations situated in metropolitan areas Percentage (%) of adherents residing in metropolitan areas Percentage (%) of adherents residing in metropolitan areas with more than 1,000,000 residents US Orthodox Churches 87% 98% 77% Roman Catholic Church 65% 90% 68% Evangelical Church Lutheran 63% 70% 36% Southern Baptists 61% 69% 35% Episcopal Church 72% 90% 59% Presbyterian Church of the USA Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints 66% 83% 52% 72% 82% 43% 10. Where else can I find more information and data on the geography of Orthodox presence in the United States? The website of the 2010 US Religion Census (www.usreligioncensus.org) offers information on the number of Orthodox parishes, Orthodox Church adherents, and average Sunday worship attendance for each US county and for each Orthodox jurisdiction. Also, you will find abundant additional information in the book, Atlas of American Orthodox Christian Churches (2012, edited by Alexei Krindatch; Holy Cross Orthodox Press: Brookline, MA).
Location of Member Churches of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops Adherents by Community Size 18% 3% 1% 1% 40% The United States government defines both metropolitan and micropolitan areas for statistical purposes. Broadly, a metropolitan area is composed of counties associated with an urban core of at least 50,000 people. At the time of the 2010 census, metropolitan areas ranged in size from Carson City s 55,274 to New York City s 18,897,109. Micropolitan areas are composed of counties associated with smaller urban cores still having at least 10,000 people. Many counties are not associated with either metropolitan or micropolitan areas. 37% Metros of 5,000,000 or more Metros of 1,000,000 to 4,999,999 Metros of 250,000 to 999,999 Metros under 250,000 Micropolitan Areas Outside Metropolitan and Micropolitan Areas Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, 2012 2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Created by Research Services