Religion in Atlanta, while historically centered on

Protestant Christianity Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to ...

, now involves many faiths as a result of the city and metro area's increasingly international population. While Protestant Christianity still maintains a strong presence in the city, in recent decades Catholic Christians have gained a strong foothold due to migration patterns. Atlanta also has a considerable number of ethnic Christian congregations, such as Korean

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

, and

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Churches, the Tamil Church Atlanta, Telugu Church, Hindi Church, Malayalam Church, Ethiopian, Chinese, and many more traditional ethnic religious groups. Large non-Christian faiths are present in the form of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...

and

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

. Overall, there are over 1,000 places of worship within

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Christianity

Protestant

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

Christian faiths are well represented in Atlanta as the city is located in the

Bible Belt The Bible Belt is a region of the Southern United States in which socially conservative Protestant Christianity plays a strong role in society and politics, and church attendance across the denominations is generally higher than the nation's a ...

, the city historically being a major center for traditional Southern denominations such as the Southern Baptist Convention, the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...

, and the Presbyterian Church (USA). African-American Baptist congregations such as

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

's Ebenezer Baptist Church and Rev. William Holmes Borders'

Wheat Street Baptist Church Wheat Street Baptist Church is a historic black Baptist church located in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1869, the current building was constructed in 1921 and is located adjacent to the Martin Luther King Jr. Na ...

, were instrumental in the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

in the 1950s and 1960s. Atlanta is also the see of the

Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta The Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, with jurisdiction over middle and north Georgia. It is in Province IV of the Episcopal Church and its cathedral, the Cathedral of St. Phi ...

, which includes all of northern Georgia, much of middle Georgia and the Chattahoochee River valley of western Georgia. This diocese is headquartered at the Cathedral of St Philip in Buckhead and is led by the Right Reverend J. Neil Alexander. Atlanta serves as headquarters for several regional church bodies also. The Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America maintains offices in downtown Atlanta; ELCA parishes are numerous throughout the metro area. There are eight

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximatel ...

congregations in the Atlanta metro area, one of which, First Congregational, at the corner of Courtland Street and John Wesley Dobbs Ave. downtown, is noted as the favored church of the city's

black elite The Black elite is any elite, either political or economic in nature, that is made up of people who identify as of Black African descent. In the Western World, it is typically distinct from other national elites, such as the United Kingdom's arist ...

including

Andrew Young Andrew Jackson Young Jr. (born March 12, 1932) is an American politician, diplomat, and activist. Beginning his career as a pastor, Young was an early leader in the civil rights movement, serving as executive director of the Southern Christian L ...

, for its famous minister Henry H. Proctor and for

President Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

having visited in 1898. Traditional African-American denominations such as the National Baptist Convention and the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The African Methodist Episcopal ...

are strongly represented in the area. These churches have several seminaries that form the

Interdenominational Theological Center The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is a consortium of five predominantly African-American denominational Christian seminaries in Atlanta, Georgia, operating together as a professional graduate school of theology. It is the largest ...

complex in the

Atlanta University Center The Atlanta University Center Consortium (AUC Consortium) is the oldest and largest contiguous consortium of African-American higher education institutions in the United States. The center consists of four historically black colleges and univers ...

Protestant megachurches

Well-known

Megachurch A megachurch is a church with an unusually large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities, usually Protestant or Evangelical. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as any Protestant C ...

es in the area include pastor

Andy Stanley Charles Andrew Stanley (born May 16, 1958), known as Andy Stanley, is an American who is the founder and senior pastor of North Point Ministries, a nondenominational evangelical Christian church with several campuses across the north metro Atlant ...

North Point Community Church North Point Community Church is a non-denominational, evangelical megachurch located in Alpharetta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. North Point currently averages more than 38,589 people in attendance across eight locations in the north metro Atla ...

Alpharetta Alpharetta is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States, and is a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 US Census, Alpharetta's population was 65,818 The population in 2010 was 57,551. History In the 1830s, the Che ...

, which

Forbes magazine ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also rep ...

ranked as the third largest church in the United States, the First Baptist Church of

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

, First Baptist Atlanta among others. Primarily African American megachurches in Metro Atlanta include

Creflo Dollar Creflo Augustus Dollar, Jr., (born January 28, 1962) is an American pastor, televangelist, and the founder of the non-denominational Christian World Changers Church International based in College Park, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. Dollar also he ...

's World Changers Church International in College Park claiming nearly 30,000 members,

Eddie Long Eddie Lee Long (May 12, 1953 – January 15, 2017) was an American pastor who served as the senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, a megachurch in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, from 1987 until his death in 2017. When ...

New Birth Missionary Baptist Church New Birth Missionary Baptist Church is a megachurch in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, near Lithonia. It has embraced a Pentecostal theology not typically found in African-American Baptist churches. History The church was founded in 1 ...

Lithonia Lithonia (, ; AAVE: ) is a city in eastern DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The city's population was 2,662 at the 2020 census. Lithonia is in the Atlanta metropolitan area. "Lithonia" means "city/town of stone". Lithonia is in the hear ...

with 25,000 members, and Cameron M. Alexander's 12,000-member Antioch Baptist Church North in English Avenue, Atlanta. Atlanta ranks second in megachurches behind

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

. File:Church on North Ave and Peachtree St.JPG, North Avenue Presbyterian Church, on the southeast corner of North Avenue and Peachtree Street File:Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (Atlanta, Georgia).jpg, Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church File:First Church of Christ, Scientist (Atlanta, Georgia).JPG, First Church of Christ, Scientist in

Midtown Atlanta Midtown Atlanta, or Midtown, is a high-density commercial and residential neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia. The exact geographical extent of the area is ill-defined due to differing definitions used by the city, residents, and local business ...

File:Ebenezer-Baptist-from-pulpit.jpg, Inside Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Reverend

preached

Catholic

In contrast to some other Southern cities, Atlanta's large, and rapidly growing,

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

population is a trend which didn't take shape until the 1990s. The number of Catholics grew from 30,840 members in 1960 to 292,300 members in 1998 and to 900,000 members (69 Northern Georgia Counties covering an area of 7,150,000 people) in 2010, an increase of 207 percent. However, newcomers and transplants to the Atlanta ''area'', namely metropolitan Atlanta, do not share the same history as people who live in the city limits. Black Atlantans who were born and raised in the City of Atlanta proper have always had a small Black Catholic presence in the city dating from the early 1900s with the establishment of Black parishes such as Our Lady of Lourdes (founded in 1912) and Saint Paul of the Cross that was founded in the 1950s. The increases in large numbers of Catholics in the Atlanta area that occurred in the late 20th century (and continues in the 21st century) is fueled by Catholics moving to Atlanta from other parts of the U.S. and the world, and from newcomers to the church. About 14.3% of all metropolitan Atlanta residents are Catholic Christians compared to 3.1% in 1980 and 1.7% in 1960. As the see of the 84 parish Archdiocese of Atlanta, Atlanta serves as the

metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a ...

for the Province of Atlanta. The archdiocesan cathedral is the Cathedral of Christ the King and the current archbishop is

Gregory John Hartmayer Gregory John Hartmayer, O.F.M. Conv. (born November 21, 1951) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. A Conventual Franciscan, he serves as the archbishop of Atlanta in Georgia, having returned to the archdiocese where he worked fr ...

. Also located in the metropolitan area are several

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

parishes which fall in the jurisdiction of Eastern Catholic

eparchies Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the ...

for the Melkite, Maronite, Syro-Malabar, and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

Catholics. File:Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.jpg, Roman Catholic

Shrine of the Immaculate Conception The Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is a Roman Catholic church located at 48 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SW in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The current church building was completed in 1873 and is the oldest church in Atlan ...

(1869), oldest church in Atlanta File:Cathedral Of Christ the King in Atlanta.jpg, The Roman Catholic Cathedral of Christ the King, located on Peachtree Road in

Buckhead Buckhead is the uptown commercial and residential district of the city of Atlanta, Georgia, comprising approximately the northernmost fifth of the city. Buckhead is the third largest business district within the Atlanta city limits, behind Downto ...

Eastern Orthodox

The city hosts the

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...

Annunciation Cathedral, the see of the Metropolis of Atlanta and its bishop, Alexios. Other Orthodox Christian jurisdictions represented by parishes in the Atlanta area include the Antiochian Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church in America.

Other Religious Groups

The headquarters for The Salvation Army's United States Southern Territory is located in Atlanta. The denomination has eight churches, numerous social service centers, and youth clubs located throughout the Atlanta area. The city has a

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

located in the suburb of

Sandy Springs, Georgia Sandy Springs is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia and an inner ring suburb of Atlanta. The city's population was 108,080 at the 2020 census, making it Georgia's seventh-largest city. It is the site of several corporate headquarters, ...

called the Atlanta Georgia Temple.

Other faiths

Metro Atlanta's Jewish community is estimated to include 120,000 persons in 61,300 households. As of 2012, Atlanta's Metro Jewish population is 9th largest in the United States, up from 17th largest in 1996. There are

eruv An eruv (; he, עירוב, , also transliterated as eiruv or erub, plural: eruvin or eruvim) is a ritual halakhic enclosure made for the purpose of allowing activities which are normally prohibited on Shabbat (due to the prohibition of ''ho ...

im in the

Virginia Highland Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

and Toco Hills neighborhoods inside the Perimeter, as well as in Dunwoody,

Sandy Springs Sandy Springs is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia and an inner ring suburb of Atlanta. The city's population was 108,080 at the 2020 census, making it Georgia's seventh-largest city. It is the site of several corporate headquarters, i ...

and

in the North metro area. The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Atlanta in adjacent

Lilburn, Georgia Lilburn is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. The population was 14,502 at the 2020 census. The estimated population was 12,810 in 2019. It is a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. Geography Lilburn is located in western Gw ...

is currently the largest

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hin ...

in the world outside of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is one of approximately 15

s in the metro Atlanta area, along with 7 other

s in Georgia serving nearly 100,000

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

in Atlanta, Augusta, Macon, Perry, Savannah, Columbus, Rome/Cartersville and other remote centers. There are an estimated 75,000

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

in the area and approximately 3 5 mosques. The largest mosque, Al-Farooq Masjid of Atlanta, is located on 14th Street in Midtown Atlanta. Muslims constitute 1.3% per cent of the population, giving Atlanta the sixth largest Muslim proportion in the country. Buddhist centers and temples in Metro Atlanta include the Atlanta Buddhist Center in

Atlantic Station Atlantic Station is a neighborhood on the northwestern edge of Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States comprising a retail district, office space, condominiums, townhomes and apartment buildings. First planned in the mid-1990s and officially op ...

practicing Nichiren Buddhism and the

Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

Drepung Loseling Monastery in Brookhaven, associated with

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

and where the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current D ...

has spoken. File:Asa Candler Mansion - Druid Hills.JPG, St. John's Chrysostom Melkite Church in

Druid Hills Druid Hills is a community which includes both a census-designated place (CDP) in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, as well as a neighborhood of the city of Atlanta. The CDP's population was 14,568 at the 2010 census. The ...

, Atlanta, 2012, formerly the mansion of

Asa Griggs Candler Asa Griggs Candler (December 30, 1851 – March 12, 1929) was an American business tycoon and politician who in 1888 purchased the Coca-Cola recipe for $238.98 from chemist John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia. Candler founded The Coca-C ...

(Senior) File:BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Atlanta 082209 4.JPG, BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Atlanta in the suburb of Lilburn, the largest Hindu temple outside of India File:The temple in Atlanta.jpg, The Temple, synagogue on

Peachtree Street Peachtree Street is one of several major streets running through the city of Atlanta. Beginning at Five Points in downtown Atlanta, it runs North through Midtown; a few blocks after entering into Buckhead, the name changes to Peachtree Road a ...

File:Al-Farooq Masjid Mosque Atlanta, Georgia.jpg, Al-Farooq Masjid mosque in

Jesus Junction

In local

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

, Jesus Junction is the nickname for the intersection of

, East Wesley Road and West Wesley Road in the

area of the city, at which three churches are located. The churches at the intersection are: * Cathedral of Christ the King (

), mother church of the Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta, on the southeast corner * Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church, at the northeast corner * Cathedral of St. Philip ( Episcopal), just north of the intersection where Peachtree Road bends to the east