Running head: ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT THE RELIGIOUS SITUATION
Answers to Questions about the Religious Situation in Jacksonville, FL
Scott Macdonald
HIS1000 - Immigrants in the American City
email: his1000@macdesign.net
Instructor: Jennifer Worley
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Running head: ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT THE RELIGIOUS SITUATION
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What is the predominant religion in the urban area you selected?
Southern Baptists were estimated in 2002 to be almost 42% of the population in
Jacksonville that affiliated themselves with a religious congregation.
Religion statistics for Jacksonville:
Percentage of population affiliated with a religious congregation:
Jacksonville
44.2%
USA
50.2%
Breakdown of population affiliated with religious congregations
Name
Adherents
Christian
NonSouthern
United Presbyterian
Churches
Catholic
Episcopal Assemblies Charismatic Churches
Baptist
Methodist Church
and Other
Church
Church
of God
Churches of Christ
Convention
Church
(USA)
Churches
Independent
of Christ
41.7%
Congregations 27.5%
18.9%
8.3%
3.9%
3.8%
3.3%
2.4%
2.1%
1.6%
14.0%
5.0%
8.3%
4.6%
4.1%
5.5%
1.1%
5.0%
1.3%
37.6%
Source: Jones, Dale E., et al. 2002. Congregations and Membership in the United States 2000. Nashville,
TN: Glenmary Research Center.
Tables represent county-level data.
What are two other major religious groups in the area?
Catholics made up almost 19% of the religiously affiliated residents, and members of the
United Methodists made up over 8%.
What were the major religious groups in the past?
Spanish Catholics were the first Europeans to arrive on the shores of Jacksonville, then
the Huguenots (French Protestants) appeared, only to be eradicated by the return of the
Spanish a year later.
Have a wave of new arrivals of a particular religion come to the area since 2000? What are the effects
and repercussions of these new arrivals?
In my research, I did not discover that Jacksonville was a recipient of any mass
immigration, much less in any significant number from any specific nation or region of
Running head: ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT THE RELIGIOUS SITUATION
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the world. The State Department has brought in refugees from southern Asia and from
Islamic countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq, but their numbers are insignificant in
statistics from the census tabulations and surveys.
Are there open rivalries between religions in this area? Explain what they are.
In January of 2003, a church marquee erected by Southern Baptists was considered
incendiary and insulting to Muslims (Robinson, 2003). At the time, the Rev. Jerry Vines
of 25,000-member Baptist congregation in Jacksonville blasted religious diversity, and
labelled the prophet Muhammad as a "demon-possessed pedophile" (Tomek, 2006).
However, he was not focusing on the Muslim faithful in Jacksonville, he was just another
intolerant evangelical voice within the Southern Baptist Convention.
If there are no religious rivalries in this area, explain why you believe this is so.
The Evangelicals are really big in the South, and this is mirrored in Jacksonville.
Nationwide, Catholics make up about 25% of the population, but in Jacksonville, it is less
than 13%, whereas Protestants account for about 60% of the population.
Evaluate the impact of newly arrived religious groups on the religious groups that were there
originally.
Although the Spanish Catholics wiped out the original French Protestant settlements,
Catholics in Jacksonville are far outnumbered by Protestants today, and specifically
Southern Baptists (evangelicals).
Best regards,
© 2011. Scott Macdonald
References
Robinson, B. (2003, January 7). Conflict over church marquee. In Religious Tolerance. Retrieved
November 24, 2011 from http://www.religioustolerance.org/news_03jan.htm
Tomek, V. (2006, September 21). Verbal expressions of intolerance in Christianity. In Religious Tolerance.
Retrieved November 24, 2011 from http://www.religioustolerance.org/relhateex.htm
Jones, D. (2002). Congregations and bembership in the United States 2000. Nashville, TN: Glenmary
Research Center.
Running head: ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT THE RELIGIOUS SITUATION
Chudacoff, H., Smith, J., & Baldwin, P. (2010). The evolution of american urban society.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson College Div.
Olson, J., & Beal, H. (2010). The ethnic dimension in american history. West Sussex, U.K.: WileyBlackwell.
Kivisto, P., & Faist, T. (2010). Beyond a border, the causes and consequences of contemporary
immigration.
(pp. 112-116). Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
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