Where in the US is the Episcopal Church popular?

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I have seen many threads recently about Anglicans and the Episcopal Church. If I look in the yellow pages where I live, I see that there are 21 Episcopal churches and one Anglican church. There are 2 pages of Baptist churches, 1 page of Catholic churches, almost a page of Lutheran churches, 1 page of Methodist churches. I only knew one person, a former co-worker, who was Episcopalian (and she was an immigrant from Jamaica). It seems that there are not many people where I live who are Episcopalian, but all the other churches I mentioned are well-represented. Where do most Episcopalians in the US live? Is the denomination not popular in the rust-belt cities?
 
As far as Episcopalians go, I believe the biggest population is in Virginia. I know in the Philadelphia area there are several churches (but NOT large congregations for the most part) and in Pittsburgh it’s very difficult to find too many (not kidding, the cathedral in the diocese isn’t much bigger than Duquesne’s chapel). With Anglican churches there are even fewer people.
 
THutch04 said:
As far as Episcopalians go, I believe the biggest population is in Virginia. I know in the Philadelphia area there are several churches (but NOT large congregations for the most part) and in Pittsburgh it’s very difficult to find too many (not kidding, the cathedral in the diocese isn’t much bigger than Duquesne’s chapel). With Anglican churches there are even fewer people.
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Would you say that the churches in Pittsburgh tend to be about the same as in Cleveland (Baptist being the majority, followed by Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran)?
 
lak611 said:
Would you say that the churches in Pittsburgh tend to be about the same as in Cleveland (Baptist being the majority, followed by Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran)?
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No, actually I believe Pittsburgh is about 50% Catholic, and if I had to go with the second most popular, I’d probably have to say either Eastern Orthodox or Presbyterian. I know that driving through Pittsburgh most of the churches I see are Catholic, Orthodox, or Presbyterian, and most people I talk to tend to be one of those three religions.
 
THutch04 said:
No, actually I believe Pittsburgh is about 50% Catholic, and if I had to go with the second most popular, I’d probably have to say either Eastern Orthodox or Presbyterian. I know that driving through Pittsburgh most of the churches I see are Catholic, Orthodox, or Presbyterian, and most people I talk to tend to be one of those three religions.
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That’s interesting, because the Presbyterians are not very popular in Cleveland. I know a few, but there are not a lot of Presbyterian churches in Cleveland. Orthodox churches are about the same number as Episcopal here in Cleveland. Baptist are by far the most prevalent, followed by Catholic, then Methodist.

I am just going by number of individual churches. I have no idea of the size of the individual parishes or congregations.
 
Episcopals a plenty here in Virginia. Although I guess most of them are Nigerian Anglicans now…still cant believe I went to preschool at the Falls Church…
 
lak611 said:
I have seen many threads recently about Anglicans and the Episcopal Church. here do most Episcopalians in the US live? Is the denomination not popular in the rust-belt cities?
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Trinity Cathedral downtown on Euclid AVe in Cleveland used to be one of the country’s largest Episcopal congregations, and a lot of Cleveland’s millionaire’s row worshiped there. Status today I don’t know but in the 70s-80s they had active social justice ministries in the CSU area, as well as hosting cultural events. There is a huge Episcopal Church in Cleveland Hts and I imagine like many close-in Catholic ethnic parishes, moved out to the burbs as the population shifted. Historically Virginia, where Anglican was the established church until the bill of rights was implemented, and surrounding states had larger congregations, as did NY and mid-Atlantic states.
 
There were many, many Episcopal churches when I lived in Maryland. I think the majority of small country churches in my area were Episcopal. Also, when I went throught RCIA there 9 out of the 14 candidates were converting from the Episcopal Church.
 
In our city (Northern Illinois), a lot of the “arts” crowd goes to the Episcopal Church because of the support of homosexuals.

I don’t know if this is the case in other cities with thriving arts communities.
 
lak611 said:
That’s interesting, because the Presbyterians are not very popular in Cleveland. I know a few, but there are not a lot of Presbyterian churches in Cleveland. Orthodox churches are about the same number as Episcopal here in Cleveland. .
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Most Presbyterians and Congregationalists merged a while back. Historically in the western Reserve Congregatinalists were the strongest presence in the early days. Whereever there were a lot of Scots-Irish you may find Presbyterians and REformed churches. If in the WR you see a “Community Church” esp an old town like Hudson or Aurora, it was probably a Congregational foundation and now is Presbyterian/Congregational.

If you drive along State Rd in Parma, or similar older neighborhoods in the close in WEst Side, you will likely see an Orthodox Church for every Catholic Church, most in close proximity.
 
puzzleannie said:
Trinity Cathedral downtown on Euclid AVe in Cleveland used to be one of the country’s largest Episcopal congregations, and a lot of Cleveland’s millionaire’s row worshiped there. Status today I don’t know but in the 70s-80s they had active social justice ministries in the CSU area, as well as hosting cultural events.
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Trinity Cathedral renovated their church back in the early 90’s when I was going to CSU. I stopped in once when I wanted to pray during the day (since St. Peter’s was closed). They took out the pews and installed the chairs. About 4-5 years ago, they opened a bookstore and coffee shop. I get the feeling their congregation is declining.
There is a huge Episcopal Church in Cleveland Hts and I imagine like many close-in Catholic ethnic parishes, moved out to the burbs as the population shifted.
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Actually that’s St. Paul’s in Cleveland Hts. They originally moved there after the decline of Millionaire’s Row. The original St. Paul’s Episcopal is now Conversion of St. Paul Shrine (Catholic parish with the Franciscan Friars and Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration). I do not know how big the St. Paul’s Episcopal parish is now. I believe it opened in the 1930’s because that is when the Catholic Church took over the original St. Paul’s.
 
puzzleannie said:
Most Presbyterians and Congregationalists merged a while back. Historically in the western Reserve Congregatinalists were the strongest presence in the early days. Whereever there were a lot of Scots-Irish you may find Presbyterians and REformed churches. If in the WR you see a “Community Church” esp an old town like Hudson or Aurora, it was probably a Congregational foundation and now is Presbyterian/Congregational.
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I noticed that there are a few very old Presbyterian churches in some of the older areas of Cleveland. There is one in East Cleveland that still has an old churchyard cemetery. I don’t know how much longer the church will be open, since the neighbourhood demographics have changed in East Cleveland.
If you drive along State Rd in Parma, or similar older neighborhoods in the close in WEst Side, you will likely see an Orthodox Church for every Catholic Church, most in close proximity.
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That’s true. There is St. Josephat’s Ukranian Catholic Church and St. Vladimir’s Ukranian Orthodox Church right next door. I don’t know the history of St. Vladimir’s, but St. Josephat’s used to be in Cleveland and relocated to Parma in the 1970’s. That has happened with quite a few Catholic churches. I know there was an Orthodox church in the inner city that is closed and now is an art gallery. I forgot the name. I don’t know if the parish relocated or just closed.
 
lak611 said:
I have seen many threads recently about Anglicans and the Episcopal Church. If I look in the yellow pages where I live, I see that there are 21 Episcopal churches and one Anglican church. There are 2 pages of Baptist churches, 1 page of Catholic churches, almost a page of Lutheran churches, 1 page of Methodist churches. I only knew one person, a former co-worker, who was Episcopalian (and she was an immigrant from Jamaica). It seems that there are not many people where I live who are Episcopalian, but all the other churches I mentioned are well-represented. Where do most Episcopalians in the US live? Is the denomination not popular in the rust-belt cities?
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The denomination has shrunk greatly in size over the last 50 years. In 1950, when the population of the United States was about 150 million, there were roughly 5 million Episcopalians. In 2000, when the population of the United States was roughly 300 million, there were roughly 1.8 million Episcopalians.

The denomination, which used to be regarded as “the Republican party at prayer”, took a sharp turn to the left during the 1960’s, and is now, probably, the most liberal of the mainline Protestant denominations, both socially and theologically. There have been more Episcopalians elected President than any other denomination. In spite of their small size, the Episcopal church used to be very influential in the nation’s affairs.

Episcopalian Presidents:

George Washington
James Madison
James Monroe
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
Zachary Taylor
Franklin Pierce
Chester Arthur
Franklin Roosevelt
Gerald Ford
George H. W. Bush
 
puzzleannie said:
Most Presbyterians and Congregationalists merged a while back. Historically in the western Reserve Congregatinalists were the strongest presence in the early days. Whereever there were a lot of Scots-Irish you may find Presbyterians and REformed churches. If in the WR you see a “Community Church” esp an old town like Hudson or Aurora, it was probably a Congregational foundation and now is Presbyterian/Congregational.
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I don’t think that this is completely correct, although much depends on the part of the country in which one lives.

In 1957, the United Church of Christ was formed by the union of the Evangelical and Reformed Church (which was itself the 1934 union of the Reformed Church in the US and the Evangelical Synod of North America) and the Congregational Christian Churches, which were the old New England Puritan Congregationalists. The Reformed Churches which did not participate in the merger, formed the Christian Reformed Church (VERY conservative, VERY Calvinistic) and the Reformed Church of America (middle of the road Reformed theology; more mainline Protestant.)

The Presbyterian churches share much of the same Calvinistic theology of the Reformed churches, but have a very different ecclesiology. The Presbyterian Church, USA, which is the largest, most mainline (and most liberal) Presbyterian denomination was formed in 1983 by the merver of the Presbyterian Church, USA, the Presbyterian Church IN the US (the old Confederate Presbyterian Church) and the United Presbyterian Church of North America. The Presbyterian Church of American (PCA) is the largest conservative Presbyterian body. It was formed by the 1982 merger of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America, and a group of southern Presbyterians who left the old Confederate Presbyterian Church in 1973. The PCA is VERY conservative, VERY Calvinistic, and VERY anti-Catholic.

For more information, see “Chronological and Background Charts of Church History”, chart # 68, and chart # 72.
 
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