Worship Opportunities

The Roman Catholic population for the region is estimated at 100,000 and has seen an increase of 17,000 members between 1997 and 2001 (The Virginian-Pilot, Oct. 27, 2001). A simple count of the number of Catholic parishes does not reflect this.

The largest denomination in Hampton Roads, however, is the Baptists. Approximately 170,000 people in Hampton Roads belong to a variety of Baptist churches, according to the Glenmary Research Center in Atlanta.

A second survey by ODU of individuals throughout the Hampton Roads municipalities further defined the religious preferences of people throughout the region and are shown in the table below.

“Varied and vibrant” must be the words used to describe religious life in Hampton Roads today. From colonial, constitutional protections onward, the religious landscape of Hampton Roads has indeed been broad. The U.S. census no longer records religious preference, so nearly all of the data concerning religious denominations now are self-reported by religious groups themselves, or they emanate from polls or estimates. A cursory glance at regional telephone books reveals listings for approximately 1,450 distinct religious communities in Hampton Roads. There is a huge predominance of “Christian” churches, yet congregations also include 22 Jewish synagogues, four Islamic centers, three Unitarian churches, one Sikh and one Ba’hai gathering. A recent column in The Virginian-Pilot (Liz Szabo, Oct. 23, 2001) estimated there is a Muslim population of approximately 2,300 in Hampton Roads. Individual congregations may vary in size from a handful of members to several thousand members in the “mega-church” models.

For more information on these statistics click here.

For more information on worship opportunities in Hampton Roads click here.