Congregations, Religious

A religious congregation, as a voluntary association, is an assembly of people organized together for the purpose of religious worship, religious education, and other faith-based activities. Those involved typically reside in relatively close geographic proximity and share common religious beliefs, rituals, and ideologies. The term congregation has been used primarily to refer to Christian religious communities, but it can be expanded to refer also to other religious traditions. It can, for instance, be interchanged with terms such as parish, local church, mission, synagogue, mosque, religious [Page 330]order community, and religious commune. In examining religious congregations, this entry draws on examples from the United States, but most of the observations are applicable to religious congregations in other countries as well.

The congregational approach to religion is evident both in Christian and non-Christian faith traditions. This model of religious life emphasizes voluntary membership, lay involvement in decision making, professional clergy, de-emphasis on denominationalism, financial support from members, community center development, and social service provision.

In the United States, the U.S. Census Bureau began collecting religious data in 1850 but ended the practice in 1936. Thus, no comprehensive list of congregations in the United States is currently available. However, several major studies have been conducted during the past decade using sample data of religious congregations. (These include the National Congregations Study, the Faith Communities Today Study, U.S. Congregational Life Survey, Religious Congregations Membership Study, and the Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches.) Our knowledge of religious congregations is based largely on such studies.