South Carolina

Religious Traditions, 2010

1,410,988	256,178	482,103	5,557	181,743	76,874	2,211,921
Evangelical Protestant	Black Protestant	Mainline Protestant	Orthodox	Catholic	Other	Unclaimed

Congregational adherents include all full members, their children, and others who regularly attend services. The 2010 reports contain incomplete counts of congregations and adherents belonging to the eight largest historically African-American denominations. These denominations are not included in the 2000 reports and are largely missing from the 1990 and 1980 reports.
[More information on the data sources]

Reports

Religious Bodies	Tradition	Family	Congregations	Adherents	Adherence Rate^†
Southern Baptist Convention	Evangelical Protestant	Baptist	2,110	913,763	197.6
United Methodist Church, The	Mainline Protestant	Methodist/Pietist	1,016	274,111	59.3
Non-denominational	Evangelical Protestant	----	826	241,583	52.2
African Methodist Episcopal Church	Black Protestant	Methodist/Pietist	564	120,854	26.1
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)	Mainline Protestant	Presbyterian-Reformed	318	91,064	19.7
Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)	Evangelical Protestant	Pentecostal	293	62,068	13.4
International Pentecostal Holiness Church	Evangelical Protestant	Pentecostal	259	56,230	12.2
National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.	Black Protestant	Baptist	185	64,925	14.0
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America	Mainline Protestant	Lutheran	163	53,916	11.7
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church	Black Protestant	Methodist/Pietist	138	21,956	4.7
Episcopal Church	Mainline Protestant	Episcopalianism/Anglicanism	130	54,615	11.8
Churches of Christ	Evangelical Protestant	Baptist	127	13,816	3.0
Catholic Church	Catholic	Catholicism	119	181,743	39.3
Assemblies of God	Evangelical Protestant	Pentecostal	118	21,606	4.7
National Association of Free Will Baptists	Evangelical Protestant	Baptist	118	5,770	1.2
Church of God of Prophecy	Evangelical Protestant	Pentecostal	117	5,790	1.3
Presbyterian Church in America	Evangelical Protestant	Presbyterian-Reformed	110	25,461	5.5
Jehovah's Witnesses	Other	Adventist	93	---	---
Seventh-day Adventist Church	Evangelical Protestant	Adventist	75	11,210	2.4
Church of the Nazarene	Evangelical Protestant	Holiness	66	11,886	2.6
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church	Evangelical Protestant	Presbyterian-Reformed	65	10,567	2.3
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The	Other	Latter-day Saints	64	37,391	8.1
Wesleyan Church, The	Evangelical Protestant	Holiness	62	5,463	1.2
Anglican Church in North America	Evangelical Protestant	Episcopalianism/Anglicanism	54	---	---
Southern Methodist Church	Evangelical Protestant	Methodist/Pietist	54	---	---
Pentecostal Fire-Baptized Holiness Church	Evangelical Protestant	Pentecostal	53	---	---
United Pentecostal Church International	Evangelical Protestant	Pentecostal	46	---	---
Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.	Black Protestant	Baptist	44	23,963	5.2
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)	Mainline Protestant	Baptist	43	6,591	1.4
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church	Black Protestant	Methodist/Pietist	42	7,937	1.7
Church of God (Anderson, Indiana)	Evangelical Protestant	Holiness	39	2,415	0.5
Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, Inc.	Black Protestant	Pentecostal	38	---	---
Church of God in Christ	Black Protestant	Pentecostal	36	6,722	1.5
Christian Churches and Churches of Christ	Evangelical Protestant	Baptist	35	4,919	1.1
National Missionary Baptist Convention, Inc.	Black Protestant	Baptist	27	4,845	1.0
Bahá'í	Other	Other Groups	22	17,559	3.8
Muslim Estimate	Other	Other Groups	21	5,792	1.3
Congregational Holiness Church	Evangelical Protestant	Pentecostal	18	1,539	0.3
Salvation Army	Evangelical Protestant	Holiness	18	2,634	0.6
Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod	Evangelical Protestant	Lutheran	17	3,039	0.7
Calvary Chapel Fellowship Churches	Evangelical Protestant	Pentecostal	14	---	---
Christian and Missionary Alliance, The	Evangelical Protestant	Holiness	13	2,615	0.6
National Baptist Convention of America, Inc.	Black Protestant	Baptist	12	4,976	1.1
Church of Christ, Scientist	Other	Christian Science	11	---	---
Church of God by Faith, Inc.	Evangelical Protestant	Pentecostal	10	---	---
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations	Other	Liberal	10	1,785	0.4
Foursquare Gospel, International Church of the	Evangelical Protestant	Pentecostal	9	817	0.2
Reform Judaism	Other	Judaism	9	3,820	0.8
Friends General Conference *	Mainline Protestant	European Free-Church	8	36	0.0
Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship	Black Protestant	Baptist	8	---	---
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America	Orthodox	Eastern Liturgical (Orthodox)	8	4,333	0.9
Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ	Evangelical Protestant	Lutheran	8	1,488	0.3
United Pentecostal Council of the Assemblies of God	Evangelical Protestant	Pentecostal	8	---	---
Evangelical Presbyterian Church	Evangelical Protestant	Presbyterian-Reformed	7	1,086	0.2
American Baptist Association, The	Evangelical Protestant	Baptist	6	584	0.1
Hindu, Post Renaissance	Other	Other Groups	6	169	0.0
Orthodox Church in America	Orthodox	Eastern Liturgical (Orthodox)	6	499	0.1
Orthodox Judaism	Other	Judaism	6	590	0.1
Reformed Baptist Churches	Evangelical Protestant	Baptist	6	---	---
Unity Churches, Association of	Other	Other Groups	6	---	---
Buddhism, Mahayana	Other	Other Groups	5	2,148	0.5
Missionary Church, The	Evangelical Protestant	Holiness	5	340	0.1
Vineyard USA	Evangelical Protestant	Pentecostal	5	1,000	0.2
Alliance of Baptists	Mainline Protestant	Baptist	4	---	---
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, The	Orthodox	Eastern Liturgical (Orthodox)	4	220	0.0
Apostolic Faith Mission of Portland, OR	Evangelical Protestant	Pentecostal	4	171	0.0
Buddhism, Vajrayana	Other	Other Groups	4	521	0.1
Church of God General Conference	Evangelical Protestant	Adventist	4	399	0.1
Community of Christ	Other	Latter-day Saints	4	472	0.1
Conservative Judaism	Other	Judaism	4	2,100	0.5
Hindu, Traditional Temples	Other	Other Groups	4	3,816	0.8
Independent Baptist Fellowship International	Evangelical Protestant	Baptist	4	---	---
North American Lutheran Church	Evangelical Protestant	Lutheran	4	---	---
United Holy Church of America, Inc.	Black Protestant	Pentecostal	4	---	---
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod	Evangelical Protestant	Lutheran	4	812	0.2
Beachy Amish Mennonite Churches *	Evangelical Protestant	European Free-Church	3	363	0.1
Evangelical Free Church of America, The	Evangelical Protestant	Methodist/Pietist	3	290	0.1
Free Presbyterian Church of North America	Evangelical Protestant	Presbyterian-Reformed	3	---	---
International Churches of Christ	Evangelical Protestant	Baptist	3	562	0.1
New Apostolic Church of North America, National Organization of the	Other	Other Groups	3	---	---
Seventh Day Baptist General Conference, USA and Canada	Evangelical Protestant	Baptist	3	---	---
United Church of Christ	Mainline Protestant	Presbyterian-Reformed	3	692	0.1
American Baptist Churches in the USA	Mainline Protestant	Baptist	2	934	0.2
Apostolic Lutheran Church of America	Evangelical Protestant	Lutheran	2	---	---
Buddhism, Theravada	Other	Other Groups	2	695	0.2
Christian Brethren	Evangelical Protestant	Ind. Fundamentalist	2	---	---
Churches of God, General Conference	Evangelical Protestant	Presbyterian-Reformed	2	0	---
Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches	Evangelical Protestant	Presbyterian-Reformed	2	---	---
Conservative Yearly Meetings of Friends*	Evangelical Protestant	European Free-Church	2	0	---
Convention of Original Free Will Baptists	Evangelical Protestant	Baptist	2	292	0.1
Coptic Orthodox Church	Orthodox	Eastern Liturgical (Orthodox)	2	330	0.1
Free Methodist Church of North America	Evangelical Protestant	Holiness	2	102	0.0
Fundamental Baptist Fellowship	Evangelical Protestant	Baptist	2	---	---
Grace Brethren Churches, Fellowship of	Mainline Protestant	European Free-Church	2	---	---
Independent Fundamental Churches of America	Evangelical Protestant	Ind. Fundamentalist	2	---	---
Korean Presbyterian Church Abroad	Evangelical Protestant	Presbyterian-Reformed	2	---	---
Metropolitan Community Churches, Universal Fellowship of	Mainline Protestant	Other Groups	2	144	0.0
Orthodox Presbyterian Church, The	Evangelical Protestant	Presbyterian-Reformed	2	125	0.0
Pentecostal Free Will Baptist Church, Inc.	Evangelical Protestant	Pentecostal	2	---	---
Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia	Orthodox	Eastern Liturgical (Orthodox)	2	175	0.0
Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America	Evangelical Protestant	Baptist	1	---	---
Bible Presbyterian Church (General Synod)	Evangelical Protestant	Presbyterian-Reformed	1	---	---
Christian Reformed Church in North America	Evangelical Protestant	Presbyterian-Reformed	1	30	0.0
Church of the Brethren	Evangelical Protestant	European Free-Church	1	74	0.0
Church of the Lutheran Confession	Evangelical Protestant	Lutheran	1	---	---
Conservative Baptist Association of America	Evangelical Protestant	Baptist	1	---	---
Conservative Mennonite Conference	Evangelical Protestant	European Free-Church	1	23	0.0
Elim Fellowship	Evangelical Protestant	Pentecostal	1	---	---
Evangelical Covenant Church, The	Evangelical Protestant	Methodist/Pietist	1	56	0.0
Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)	Evangelical Protestant	Presbyterian-Reformed	1	---	---
General Association of Regular Baptist Churches	Evangelical Protestant	Baptist	1	---	---
International Council of Community Churches	Mainline Protestant	Presbyterian-Reformed	1	---	---
International Fellowship of Bible Churches	Evangelical Protestant	----	1	---	---
New Testament Association of Independent Baptist Churches	Evangelical Protestant	Baptist	1	---	---
Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly	Evangelical Protestant	Presbyterian-Reformed	1	---	---
Sikh	Other	Other Groups	1	---	---
Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations	Other	Judaism	1	---	---
Zoroastrian	Other	Other Groups	0	16	0.0
		Totals:	8,051	2,413,443

The population of South Carolina was 4,625,364 in 2010; in 2000 it was 4,012,012. The total population changed 15.3%. The adherent totals of the religious groups listed above (2,413,443) included 52.2% of the total population in 2010.

^* In an effort to better match the ASARB standards for adherents, a few religious bodies changed the way their adherents were reported in 2010, including the Catholic Church, Amish groups, Friends groups, Jewish groups, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Non-denominational Christian Churches, and the United Methodist Church. This change does not affect any of the data in the newly released 2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study. In fact, the data for these groups are now more comparable to that of other bodies than it was in previous decadal reports.

However, the change in methodology can distort assessments on growth or decline between 2000 and 2010 for each of these groups. County-level 2000 data using the new methodology are not readily available. ASARB staff has adjusted some 2000 county-level adherent statistics to allow for a more accurate picture on growth or decline. The revised maps and charts are now available on-line at www.usreligioncensus.org for those who are interested in these trends.

Source

2010 data were collected by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB) and include statistics for 236 religious groups, providing information on the number of their congregations and adherents within each state and county in the United States. Clifford Grammich, Kirk Hadaway, Richard Houseal, Dale E. Jones, Alexei Krindatch, Richie Stanley and Richard H. Taylor supervised the collection. These data originally appeared in 2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study, published by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB). [More information on the data collection]

^†The adherence rate provides the number of adherents of a particular group per 1,000 population. For example, in 2010 the Episcopal Church had an adherence rate of 7.6 in Autauga County, Alabama. This means that about 8 out of every 1,000 people in Autauga County were Episcopalian.