Jon Butler on the Increase in the Number of Congregations of the Major Denominations in the United States from 1780 to 1860

The expansion of the American denominational superstructures stimulated phenomenal increases in the number of Christian congregations, gains that outstripped national population growth between 1780 and 1860. Baptists counted about 400 congregations in 1780, 2,700 in 1820, and 12,150 in 1860; Lutherans, 225 in 1780, 800 in 1820, and 2,100 in 1860; Presbyterians, nearly 500 in 1780, 1,700 in 1820, and 6,400 in 1860; Methodists, perhaps 50 in 1783, 2,700 in 1820, and nearly 20,000 in 1860. Roman Catholics counted about 50 congregations and missions in 1780, about 120 congregations in 1820, and 2,500 in 1860. Only Congregationalists and Episcopalians experienced relatively slow growth, Congregationalists counting about 750 congregations in 1870, 1,100 in 1820, and 2,200 in 1860 and Episcopalians about 400 in 1780 to 11,000 in 1820 and 52,000 in 1860. In all, the total number of Christian congregations expanded from about 2,500 in 1780 to 11,000 in 1820 and 52,000 in 1860. By comparison, the United States population grew from about 4,000,000 in 1780 to 10,000,000 in 1820 and 31,000,000 in 1860 (these figures are taken from Gaustad, Historical Atlas of Religion in America). (Jon Butler, Awash in a Sea of Faith: Christianizing the American People [Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1990], 270)