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Muslims Bypass Mormons As Fastest-growing Religion In Illinois - Islam for Muslims - Nairaland

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Muslims Bypass Mormons As Fastest-growing Religion In Illinois by tbaba1234: 11:34am On May 02, 2012
Muslims have become the third-largest religious group in the state after Roman Catholics and independent evangelicals. Not to mention, the fastest-growing one.

That's according to a census of American religious congregations unveiled Tuesday in Chicago.

This year, for the first time, the nationwide aggregation of religious traditions, dubbed the "Religion Census," counted nondenominational evangelical congregations, ranging from storefront sanctuaries to megachurches with multiple sites such as Willow Creek Community Church.

That calculation revealed that evangelicals affiliated with independent churches make up the second-largest religious group in Illinois. In fact, in 48 of the 50 states, independent evangelicals occupy a top-five spot. In the Chicago area, Illinois and nationwide, Roman Catholics rank as the largest religious group.

With 176 religious traditions, Illinois slipped from its top spot as the most religiously diverse state in 2000, falling to Pennsylvania with 184.

Religious leaders and sociologists welcomed the bird's-eye view of America's religious landscape as a helpful tool for determining where to evangelize and understanding where certain religious traditions thrive. But some caution that the numbers and rankings shouldn't be taken as gospel because religious groups apply different standards for counting adherents.

"We're always saying how much we contribute to the state of Illinois, but it's more anecdotal," said Ahlam Jbara, interim executive director of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago. "As somebody dealing with government officials, it's about numbers as well. Here's information, here's real data in our community which we really haven't been able to show."

The religion census is the latest in a series of reports released each decade to coincide with figures from the U.S. census. It is compiled by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. The 2010 edition is the sixth since the U.S. Census Bureaufirst excluded religious affiliation after World War II.

Overall, the study shows a profoundly Christian nation with a lot of variety beneath the surface, including about 150 million Americans — half the population — who aren't engaged with a religious community.

In most cases, the numbers are supplied by the headquarters of each denomination, though organizations count membership differently. In a few instances, such as the nondenominational and Muslim categories, scholars' surveys were used. The geographical spread reflects where people worship, not where they live.

The Rev. Christian Coon, pastor of Urban Village, a contemporary church in the state's fourth-largest denomination, United Methodist, said the information could be useful for evangelization. But he questioned how firm some figures might be when the tools for measuring vary.

"It keeps on changing. How do you measure?" Coon said. "I'm much more interested in worship attendance because it's a more accurate picture of who is involved. Churches vary widely on how they ask someone to become a member. Some churches will have people go through a fairly rigorous multiweek study. At other churches, it's essentially a warm handshake and you're in."

But Coon said the information is better than none and helps provide some clues about what drives and inspires Americans, something the U.S. census does not do.

"Obviously, clergy are biased because we like to know how people are viewing the world," he said.

'They're everywhere'

Stephen Warner, a sociologist of religion at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said the decennial study is the best attempt at mapping religion in America.

"What we get is a geographic distribution about where the heartlands and hinterlands of the religious bodies are. They're not evenly distributed," he said. Warner added, however, that Methodists seem to be the exception. "My God, they're everywhere."

But he questioned the credibility of numbers that come from institutions rather than individuals. Researchers say collecting data from religious groups produces a more meaningful picture than letting people self-identify. Those who affiliate with institutions tend to hew more closely to religious teachings, they said.

"It's not enough to say to an individual, 'Do you identify with a particular tradition?' That doesn't have much substance and, therefore, may not have much meaning rather than an idea just floating around in their head," said Scott Thumma, a sociologist of religion from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. "The real difference comes when someone says that and is connected to a community and is active in the local context."

Thumma, who collected data on independent evangelicals, estimates another 30 percent of Americans identify with a religious tradition but aren't active participants; probably another 10 percent or 20 percent claim no religious affiliation, he said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-religion-census-0502-20120428,0,1601511.story

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