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Charting the Religions of Members of Congress

Jonathan Tilove

c. 2006 Religion News Service

Religion ………… House . Senate . Total . Percent of . Percent of


………………………………………. Congress … Population

AME (v) …………… 2 …… 0 ….. 2 ….. 0.4 ……… (u)

Anglican ………….. 1 …… 0âÂ?¦… 1 ….. 0.2 ……… (w)

Assembly of God ……. 4 …… 0âÂ?¦… 4 ….. 0.7 ……… 0.5

Baptist ………….. 60 …… 7âÂ?¦.. 67 …. 12.5 …….. 16.3

Buddhist ………….. 2 …… 0âÂ?¦… 2 ….. 0.4 ……… 0.5

Christian (x) ………16 …… 2âÂ?¦.. 18 ….. 3.4 ……… 6.8

Christian Reformed …. 2 …… 0âÂ?¦… 2 ….. 0.4 ……… (y)

Christian Scientist … 5 …… 0âÂ?¦… 5 ….. 0.9 ……… 0.1

Church of Christ …… 1 …… 1âÂ?¦… 2 ….. 0.4 ……… 1.2

Church of God ……… 0 …… 1âÂ?¦… 1 ….. 0.2 ……… 0.5

Congregationalist ….. 0 …… 1âÂ?¦… 1 ….. 0.2 ……… (z)

Congregation.-Baptist . 1 …… 0âÂ?¦… 1 ….. 0.2 ……… (u)

Disciples of Christ … 2 …… 0âÂ?¦… 2 ….. 0.4 ……… 0.2

Eastern Orthodox …… 4 …… 1âÂ?¦… 5 ….. 0.9 ……… 0.3

Episcopalian ……… 27 ….. 10âÂ?¦.. 37 ….. 6.9 ……… 1.7

Evangelical ……….. 2 …… 0âÂ?¦… 2 ….. 0.4 ……… 0.5

Evangelical Lutheran .. 1 …… 0âÂ?¦… 1 ….. 0.2 ……… (u)

Evangelical Methodist . 1 …… 0âÂ?¦… 1 ….. 0.2 ……… (u)

Hindu …………….. 0 …… 0âÂ?¦… 0 ….. 0.0 ……… 0.4

Jewish …………… 30 ….. 13âÂ?¦.. 43 ….. 8.0 ……… 1.3

LDS (Mormon) ……… 10 …… 5âÂ?¦.. 15 ….. 2.8 ……… 1.3

Reorganized LDS ……. 1 …… 0âÂ?¦… 1 ….. 0.2 ……… (u)

Lutheran …………. 14 …… 3âÂ?¦.. 17 ….. 3.2 ……… 4.6

Methodist ………… 48 ….. 13âÂ?¦.. 61 …. 11.4 ……… 6.8

Muslim ……………. 1 …… 0âÂ?¦… 1 ….. 0.2 ……… 0.5

(Church of) Nazarene .. 1 …… 0âÂ?¦… 1 ….. 0.2 ……… 0.3

Presbyterian ……… 35 …… 9âÂ?¦.. 44 ….. 8.2 ……… 2.7

Protestant (x) ……. 22 …… 4âÂ?¦.. 26 ….. 4.9 ……… 2.2

Quaker ……………. 1 …… 0âÂ?¦… 1 ….. 0.2 ……… 0.1

Roman Catholic …… 129 ….. 25âÂ?¦. 154 …. 28.7 …….. 24.5

Seventh-day Adventist . 2 …… 0âÂ?¦… 2 ….. 0.4 ……… 0.3

Unitarian …………. 1 …… 1âÂ?¦… 2 ….. 0.4 ……… 0.3

United Church of Christ 2 …… 4âÂ?¦… 6 ….. 1.1 ……… 0.7

unaffiliated ………. 6 …… 0âÂ?¦… 6 ….. 1.1 …….. 14.1

X X X

(u) no discrete category exists in the American Religious Identification Survey

(v) African Methodist Episcopal

(w) included with Episcopalians

(x) no denomination stated

(y) less than 0.05 percent

(z) included with United Church of Christ

Sources: Count of religious affiliations of members of Congress compiled from self-identification in Congressional Quarterly profiles of each member. Totals do not include results of Dec. 12 runoff election in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District.

Percent of population by religion comes from American Religious Identification Survey, Self-Described Religious Identification of U.S. Adult Population, 2001.

RB/PH END TILOVE

Editors: See mainbar RNS-CONGRESS-FAITH

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