RELIGION
• Church Membership Figures for Texas, 1990 and 2000
chart by denomination, based on national survey and local sources...
(for pdf, click).
Robert Plocheck
San Jose Mission in San Antonio was founded in 1720 and is still in use.
According to Churches and Church Membership in the United States 2000, Texas ranks:
• First in number of Evangelical Protestants, with 5,083,087.
• Second, behind Pennsylvania, in number of Mainline Protestants at
1,705,394.
• Third in number of Catholics, behind California and New York.
• Third in number of Buddhist congregations.
• Fifth in number of Muslims.
• Fifth in number of Hindu congregations.
• Sixth in number of Mormons.
• Tenth in number of Jews.
• Religion in Early Texas
Although Texas at the turn of the millennium has about 13 million church members and adherents, organized religion developed slowly in the state.
The Indian tribes that inhabited the territory of Texas prior to the coming of Europeans in the 16th century engaged in a variety of religious practices. Most embraced, however vaguely, the concept of a supreme being. They were not monotheistic, however, believing instead in a variety of supernatural powers, organized in a hierarchy. For agricultural Indians, various ceremonies accompanied planting and harvesting of crops, and nomadic Indians sought the help of spirits before hunting expeditions for game.
Roman Catholic missionaries brought Christianity to Texas. . . . (for more, click).
• Spanish Missions in Texas
The Spanish royal administration closely coordinated all missionary activity in the New World. The intermingling of church and state was a legacy of Spain’s own long struggle to push Islam out of the Iberian Peninsula and to re-establish a homogeneous Christian faith and culture there. This experience of reconquest set the Spanish nation on a crusade for most of the rest of its history, combining all civil and religious activity into one.
In Texas, this meant that only rarely did missionaries venture into hinterlands without official authorization and without soldiers being stationed at nearby presidios for protection. . . . (for more, click).
• Some Turn-of-the-Century Women of the Cloth
The 1880s and 1890s saw women entering the fields of preaching and ministry in various religious denominations in increasing numbers.
Most women who felt a “call” to do Protestant church work answered that call within the narrow context of what was considered proper for a woman to do: They held prayer meetings, raised money to support foreign and domestic missions, participated in ladies-aid activities and organized social events at church . . . . (for more, click).
More history features, click.
Religious Groups
These are the major religious groups in Texas that maintain Web sites that are sources of information about the histories of their denominations and/or serve as sources of demographics and other information and for research. Click the group's name for a link to its Web site. Some are specific to Texas; others are nationwide in scope. They are listed alphabetically by denomination.
• Assemblies of God
• Baptist General Convention of Texas
• Catholic Archives of Texas
• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Texas Catholic Historical Society
• Episcopal Diocese of Texas
• Episcopal Diocese of West Texas
• Dallas Jewish Historical Society
• Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
• Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod
• United Methodist Church
• Methodist Archives and Research Center, John Rylands University Library of Manchester
• Presbyterian Church (USA)
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