Churches in New York

Religious Landscape of New York

New York is one of the most religiously diverse places on Earth. New York City alone is home to the headquarters of numerous denominations, the nation's largest Jewish community, the largest Muslim community, and thousands of congregations representing virtually every Christian tradition, world religion, and new religious movement. The Catholic Church is the dominant denomination, with the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn together serving millions of Catholics across an extraordinary range of ethnic parishes, including Irish, Italian, Polish, Dominican, Mexican, Filipino, and Haitian communities. St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue is one of the most recognizable churches in the world. Historically Black churches are central to the cultural life of Harlem, Brooklyn, and other neighborhoods, with Abyssinian Baptist Church among the most famous. Brooklyn Tabernacle is renowned for its award-winning choir and prayer ministry. Upstate New York has a very different religious character, with mainline Protestants, particularly United Methodists and Presbyterians, forming the backbone of church life in small towns and cities. The Southern Tier and Finger Lakes region are part of the Burned-Over District, the 19th-century hotbed of religious revivalism that gave birth to Mormonism, Seventh-day Adventism, and the Spiritualist movement. New York's adherence rate of about 52% is slightly above the national average, driven primarily by the extraordinary density of congregations in the metropolitan area.