Churches in Pennsylvania

Religious Landscape of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's religious heritage is among the richest and most varied in America. William Penn founded the colony as a haven for religious liberty, and that pluralistic tradition has shaped the state ever since. The Catholic Church is the largest denomination, with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia serving one of the oldest and largest Catholic communities in the nation. Irish, Italian, Polish, Ukrainian, and Hispanic Catholics give Philadelphia's parishes distinctive ethnic character. The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul is a masterpiece of 19th-century ecclesiastical architecture. Lutherans, both ELCA and LCMS, have deep roots in central and eastern Pennsylvania, where German immigrants established congregations in the colonial era. The Ministerium of Pennsylvania, founded in 1748, was the first Lutheran organization in North America. United Methodists have the most congregations of any Protestant body, with particular strength in central and western Pennsylvania. The Presbyterian tradition is deeply embedded in the state's Scots-Irish heritage. Pennsylvania is also the historic center of the Anabaptist tradition, with Amish, Mennonite, and Church of the Brethren communities concentrated in Lancaster County and surrounding areas. LCBC Church, a non-denominational megachurch in central Pennsylvania, draws over 17,000 weekly. Pennsylvania's adherence rate of about 51% is just above the national average.