Two photos which contrast the range of architecture found in the table below:
To give a measuring stick as to the adherents of the various denominations in the U. S. A., here is a selective, approximate, list as of 2004. These estimates include children.
1. 78,000,000 Catholic, all sorts
2. 47,000,000 Baptist, all varieties
3. 20,000,000 Methodist, all sorts
4. 13,500,000 Lutheran, all sorts
7. 5.000,000 Episcopal and anglican, all sorts
? 3,000,000 Orthodox, all sorts, less than 1% of total USA population.
THE EPISCOPAL CHURH in America reports over 8000 congregations. The name distribution is very similar to that of the Catholic Church.
Saint names are chosen by over 50% parishes. The top individual names are Christ (with variations) followed by Trinity. One significant difference is that Mary is infrequent in contrast to Catholic nomenclature.
THE ANGLICAN CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA This body is brand new in 2009, and composed of a number of predecessor churches with quite varied backgrounds. Many of its parishioners and clergy come out of the Episcopal tradition. One large group left the Episcopal fold over 130 years ago, while other groups are newly come out.
In general, Saint names make up less than 40% overall. Mary is extremely rare. Christ is the most popular name, although closely bunched with many other choices.
METHODIST What becomes clear when examining Methodist church names is that First Methodist Church is by far the most popular name distantly followed by Trinity, together accounting for just under 10 %. The reason that these two names comprise so low a percentage is that most Methodist churches are place named, i. e. geographical location such as city or street.
BAPTIST Baptist churches are from so many different church bodies, as well as independent Baptist churches, it is difficult to get exact counts. Geographical choices such as town, city, street, etc., are even higher than found among Methodists.
I found very few First Baptist Churches. In both churches the emphasis historically has been on place evangelism, so it is a logical extension of their theologies.
