Los Angeles, California Though not traditionally thought of as a Bible Belt state, the sheer size of California and its sprawling cities has encouraged the development of Megachurches, especially in and around the Los Angeles area. Los Angeles boasts almost as many major megachurches as Houston and Atlanta, and some of the best known of these are traditional African … [Read more...]
MEGACHURCHES OF ATLANTA
Atlanta, Georgia If there is one city in America that rivals Houston in its megachurches, than that city is Atlanta. In many ways, Atlanta is the definitive Bible Belt city. After California and Texas, Georgia boasts the third highest number of megachurches of any state, and Atlanta claims over twenty of these with congregations in excess of five thousand regular … [Read more...]
MEGACHURCHES OF HOUSTON
Houston, Texas Over the last few decades, Protestant Christianity has seen the development of a new phenomenon, especially in the United States: the Megachurch. These Megachurches are exactly what they sound like: huge community churches with very large, regularly attending congregations. At last count, there were over one thousand such churches in the United States. Not … [Read more...]
EVANGELICAL SITES OF OKLAHOMA
Tulsa & Edmond, Oklahoma Central Oklahoma has always been an integral part of the Bible belt since pioneer days, and it is home to several the quintessential Bible Belt cities. One of these is Tulsa, home of the Oral Roberts ministry and the Oral Roberts University; and another is Edmond, the home of Life Covenant Church, which currently holds the recored as the largest … [Read more...]
MOUNT OLIVET CEMETERY
Baltimore, Maryland The Mount Olivet Cemetery in Baltimore is the pre-eminent burial site for the Methodist Church in the United States, and perhaps the second most important graveyard for religious leaders after Princeton Cemetery in New Jersey. Among the notables interred here are numerous early church leaders and bishops, including luminaries such as Francis Asbury and … [Read more...]
ST. GEORGE’S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania While Barrat’s Chapel is the oldest purpose-built Methodist church in the United States, St. George’s United Methodist Church is actually an older building and is the oldest continually active Methodist congregation in the country. St. George’s also enjoys an important historical distinction: it ordained the first African-American ministers in the … [Read more...]
RIVERSIDE CHURCH
New York, New York Riverside Church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan is something of an architectural and historic oddity. In any other city in the United States it would be the standout church from a tourism standpoint. But in New York City, Riverside Church is often overshadowed by other more famous and more conveniently located churches. Nevertheless, this … [Read more...]
16th STREET BAPTIST CHURCH
Birmingham, Alabama The 16th Street Baptist Church is, along with the Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, the most famous traditionally African-American churches in the United States. As the site of one of the most notorious terrorist bombings in American history, where four little African-American girls were killed by white supremacists, 16th Street Baptist has forever … [Read more...]
EBENEZER BAPTIST CHURCH
Atlanta, Georgia Ebenezer Baptist Church is regarded by many as the mother church of the Civil Rights movement and one of the most important and historical churches of the 20th century. It is part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, which includes the King’s home and gravesite, as well as museums and memorials to civil rights movements around the world. … [Read more...]
ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH
Cleveland, Ohio Zion Lutheran Church is an historic church on the east side of Cleveland. Aside from being home to a venerable congregation that dates back to the early 19th century, Zion Lutheran has a peculiar claim to fame among America’s churches. According to both tradition and historical records, it was the first church in the United States to display a fully … [Read more...]
