For counts: use the ARDA or ACL databases (these are complied by human beings and thus are more reliably accurate than automated databases like Map Quest or Google)

For locations: use Map Quest, Google Maps, Pluralism Project (for non Christian faiths) or Religion specific directories

Here's a tool you can use to determine what cities and counties fall within a given radius of your home zip code. 

• If you are in a more urban area like Fairfax county, a 20 mile radius should be more than enough. If you are in a more rural area, you may need to use 30 miles or more to find many of the religions on the worksheet. 

• As a general rule of thumb, include a given county in your search area if the radius covers more than half the county. 

• This radius and counties are the area you should use when looking for counts - even if the places closest to you are quite a bit closer. You want to know how many are within 25 miles or so. 

• If you only have to go beyond 25 miles for a limited number of religions, then those will be exceptions. If many religions are beyond 25 miles away then a larger search area can be used - but limit the area only to the max needed to include most of the religions. 

• If your radius takes you across a river, do not include that area unless there is a direct way to drive there (think of distance in terms of drive time rather than "as the crow flies").

Be discerning. When in doubt, check it out! 

• Do not trust your sources 100% - especially automated resources such as MapQuest or GoogleMaps. Many sources may give erroneous, incomplete, and even incorrect information. Double check with other, perhaps more reliable sources.

• Verify that a given location is, in fact, a place of worship associated with a given religion and is, in fact, the closest to you. 

• Different resources can provide different information depending on how complete and up-to-date they may be. 

• Religion specific directories are likely the most reliable sources but even they can be incomplete and not necessarily up-to-date. 

• See if the the group in question has its own website and scan through the pages to find some clear indication as to which denomination it is associated with and if, in fact, it is a place of worship and not a school or administrative offices.

Using Google to find the places closest to you:

You can use a search engine, like google, to find online directories for specific religions. Try key words for the religion, "directory" and the state (e.g.: "unity church directory" or "Quaker church directory"). These are often the most reliable sources and some are quite easy and effective to use (others are not). Here are some I have already identified: 

• Harder to find Christian denominations:

  • Brethren

  • Christian Science (only look at results for "churches & societies")

  • Friends (Quaker)

  • Jehovah's Witnesses

  • Mennonite (provides a map of the USA, zoom in to see what is in your area))

  • Mormons

  • Orthodox Christian

  • Seventh Day Adventist

  • Unitarian Universalist

  • United Church of Christ (UCC)

  • Unity Church

• Non-Christian Religions:

  • Jewish Synagogues in Virginia (for synagogues in other states or countries, back up a level)

  • Islamic Finder (select "mosque" in "category/place" and enter your city or zip code. Be sure to also check surrounding area to cover sufficient radius from your zip code - see what else shows up as you move the map around)

  • Buddhist groups, temples and retreats in Virginia (for other states: Buddhanet's World Buddhst Directory - select your state, then browse the listings for places that may be near you)

  • Hindu & Jain Temples in the Greater DC region or Hindu Mandirs in USA (there may be more than listed in this source)

  • Gurdwara Map (at Sikhi wiki) (shows many of the Gurdwaras worldwide, though not up-to-date with some of the newer ones)

  • Bahai

  • Scientology

  • Local Pagan Groups (NOVA)

  • Zoroastrian groups

These directories are usually put together by the specific denominations and they would know better than any other resource just where their own churches are located. These directories are usually quite easy to use: you might just enter your zip code and it will show the places within a given mile radius from that location.

Using religion specific directories to locate the places closest to you for each religion:

Verify and double check findings from Google Maps: 

Using the other resources: 

Video demonstrations: (see notes below)

• Using Google Maps (for locations) (embedded, above)

• Using Religion Specific Directories (for locations and counts) (embedded, above)

• The Association of Religion Data Archives (for counts)

• The American Church Lists (for counts)

• The Pluralism Project (for locations and counts)

• Church Angel (for locations)

Be aware that no one resource or online directory will be complete. You will get the best results by comparing and consolidating results from several resources.

These resources are useful for getting the counts for various religions in a given geographical area:

Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA): Use the "maps & reports" section of this site. DEMO

• The state maps (use the "maps" tab and select "maps of individual states") will give you a visual image with color coded counties for each religion you are looking for. You can search for counts of a few "major religious groups" or "individual denominations".

• Select your state and then the religion you want to look up (using "major religious groups" or "individual denominations"). Click "submit" to generate a map.

• Be sure to add the counts for your own county as well as those surrounding counties and cities that would be within the 20 - 30 mile search radius. Major cities are listed separately from the counties they are in (e.g. Fairfax city and Fairfax co have separate listings). Be sure to include both these cities as well as the counties. (you should not need to search more than 30 miles unless you are in a rural area and it is for an uncommon religion)

• You will have to generate a new map for each religion. Some denominations (e.g. Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc.) have multiple sub-groups which you will need to add together for a total count

• The "membership reports" will give you a text based numerical listing of congregations and adherents for selected counties or metropolitan areas. (see "demo" link above)

 

 

• Reports allow you to select a "metro area" or "county"

• Beware: Some metro areas (e.g. DC/Balt) are much larger than the 20-30 mile search area, in which case you will not want to search by metro area.

• Once you select “counties”, select your state.

• Select your own county, independent city (if listed) and those surrounding that are included in your 20 - 30 mile radius (I would not include a county unless more than 1/2 of it is within range and it is not cut off by a river without an easy crossing), then click “submit”.

• You may have to generate reports for each surrounding county and city individually and add the counts together from each report to get the total count for the areas you are including in your search.

• The reports have counts from the 2000 and 2010 census. Use the most recent counts (default). Be sure to count the congregations, not the adherents (individual members).

• Beware that when it comes to the many individual Christian denominations (on either the maps or reports) there are a number of them that you will want to add together to get your counts for the worksheet (e.g., several different kinds of Baptists, of Lutherans, Orthodox Christians, etc.). For these denominations, it might be easier to use the American Church Lists.

• There are some religions listed on the worksheet (e.g. Unity) that the ARDA site does not seem to list. In such case, you can turn to the American Church Lists.

American Church Lists (ACL) can be difficult to work with at first but once you understand how it works, you may find this more efficient than using the ARDA site. DEMO (updated August, 2008)

 

• Begin your search by selecting the geographical area you want (click the tab for "geography").

• There are several different ways you can search: Depending on where you are, I'd suggest doing a search by “county”, by “metro area” or by using "radius around an address". 

• For metro area, select your state, then one of the major metropolitan areas listed. But be sure this metro area will not be larger than the 25 miles area you want. The Washington DC area may be a bit too large.

• To search by counties, select your state, then your county and those surrounding that would be included in your 20 - 30 mile search radius. You can select any number of counties and cities from the list (hold <control> key to select more than one). Selecting the same counties here as you did on the ARDA site should give you approximately the same counts for comparison purposes. (If you find the two counts significantly different, use a third source to verify which count might be more accurate - get an agreement of two out of three sources.)

• To search by radius, you need only enter your zip code and the distance you want to use (e.g. 25 miles).

• Once you have selected your geographical area, click "add". You should see the count change for number of "leads".

• Step two: switch to "Church Demographics" to get counts for each "type of church". Expand each "affiliation and denomination" to check boxes. This aspect of ACL can be more helpful than ARDA since it will include all kinds of Baptist, Methodist, Orthodox, etc. in a single search.

• Under each church type, you may check the box for "all" denominations of that type or, for smaller groups on the worksheet, just check the box by the one subtype you want to know about.

• Select just one church type at a time so you get an accurate count for just the group you are looking for.

• You may need to expand listings and scroll down to see more church listings before you find what you are looking for

• Click on "update count" each time you want to see the count for a selected group.

• Beware: before you go to get a count for a different group, always deselect the previous group(s) searched. Otherwise, ACL will add to the previous count and your findings will not be accurate for a single group.

• Check through each sub-listing until you find what you are looking for (e.g. UCC under "Presbyterian" or Unity under "metaphysical").

• Again, remember to deselect your choice after each search so that your new searches start from scratch. 

Note: although ACL is a commercial site, selling lists to direct marketers, you do not need to actually buy a list to merely get a count for the various groups listed. The lists they sell would have the addresses of the places but you can use other resources to get the addresses you need for the worksheet.

Counts given between ARDA and ACL are not always the same - even if you search the same counties in both directories. Which count is more accurate? I don't know. Should you take an average between the two? Perhaps. Does it matter? I don't think so, each of these directories seems to be fairly comprehensive in the counts (providing you have used them effectively). But it might be a good idea to check a third source to see which of the other two it most agrees with and use that count (or an average of all three sources).

Once you have your counts, you will need to use other sources to get addresses for the places that are closest to you:

The Pluralism Project Directory of Religious Centers will give addresses for various of the world's religions but it does not include Judaism or Christianity (because these are easily found in a phone book). DEMO 

 

• Select the state and then the tradition (religion) you are looking for. Then click "search"

• The results are for the entire state so you will need to review the results and select only those within the 20 - 30 mile radius you are concerned with.

• You can make this selection a little easier by knowing what cities are within your search area or doing a "find" for the area code in your area.

• Watch out for double listings (perhaps the same place has two addresses). Only count the place once.

• Note that this is not a complete list of everything in the state for a given religion. How can you know if this directory has fairly accurate listings? If the counts given by the ARDA or ACL directories are significantly more than those shown by the Pluralism Project directory (as they are for the Baha'i faith), something must be missing from this directory. In such case, use some other source (e.g. MapQuest or a directory for the specific religion) to find the address for the places closest to you.

• If you don't find a given religion in your state, then look for it in a neighboring state (you should be able to locate all the religions on the worksheet within Northern VA - in fact, every one of them can be found in Fairfax co.)

Church Angel can help to identify Christian churches of various denominations on a city by city basis within a selected state. (The link provided here will take you directly to Virginia listings; if you want to search in other states follow their link at the bottom of the page back to their "states menu"). You can use this resource to get addresses of specific congregations to include on your worksheet. DEMO

• Select one city at a time and scan the listing to see if the group you are looking for is in that city. Enter the addresses on your worksheet.

• Don't limit yourself to just one city. When you don't find a given denomination in your city, check surrounding cities as well.

• Go back to the state page to select another city.

• You will need to know what cities are near you so reference a map if necessary.

• Expand your search until you find the nearest church for each denomination.

• Beware: This directory seems comprehensive but is also likely missing some places that do exist (e.g., newer groups) and may incorrectly identify some places.

• Beware: It may also list more than one address for the same place (e.g. a street and post office box, an older and newer street address or a church and associated school). Check the names of the organizations carefully.

• Don't bother to use this resource to get counts, it will be much too tedious to search through and count up the listings. Use the ARDA or ACL directories for the counts

• This directory lists only Christian religions. Use the Pluralism Project directory and other sources to get addresses for other religions.

Mapquest and Google Maps can be helpful for some groups but not very helpful for others. These general, automated directories will find places based on categories or a key word search. I've found Mapquest to be the better of these two directories although it does have some limitations and sometimes Google will locate things that Mapquest misses. You have to play with the search terms for either resource. However, Google results can be deceptive so check the websites it finds to make sure its really what you are looking for.

To search using Mapquest: (updated 2011)

• Enter your address and "places of worship" (enter this in the "search for" field). 

• Click "get map". The results should reveal the worship places closest to your address. You can visually see what is closest to you.

• Scroll your mouse over a dot to see the name and address. 

• Zoom out or slide the map to see more places (dots) further away. Click on any of those dots to get the address.

• To find a specific, harder to locate religion, change the search term from "places of worship" to the name of a particular religion or denomination.

• But beware: Mapquest will display anything with that term in the title. Not everything that shows up will actually be a church or worship community. 

  • If the places do not use the religion's name in their title then Mapquest won't find it. These directories happen to work well for the Baha'i Faith because every Baha'i group uses "Baha'i" in its name and nothing that is not Baha'i would not be using this name.

  • But beware: many other religions can't be found this way. Many Muslim mosques do not use the words "Muslim" or "mosque" in their name. Neither do many Hindu Temples use the words "Hindu" or "Temple" in their name. Similar for other religions as well.

  • Also, if other places do use the religion's name you will find lots of places that are not places of worship at all. You may have to play with the search terms. (when I type in "Brethren" the first thing I get is the "Brethren Housing Corp." That is not a church. "Quaker" will come up with countless places simply because they are located on Quaker Lane or things like "Quaker Custom Homes" - clearly not a church, "Friends" is simply too generic a term; trying something more unique like "Friends meeting" gets better results. Many places that use the term "unity" or "United church"; they may not be the Unity School of Christianity or United Church of Christ that you are looking for.    

Using "Classic Mapquest":

• Click the "distance" tab to get these in order with the closest places at the top of the list. It will even tell you how far away each place is. You should be able to determine from the names of the places which denomination they are in and enter these names and addresses in your worksheet. Scroll through page after page to find others a bit further away. 

• But it can be easier to use the "advanced search" feature on Mapquest (located above the map). Here you can select one specific denomination at a time. This can be helpful for locating the less common denominations so you don't have to scroll through page after page of listings.

• Some religions or denominations on the worksheet won't be in Mapquest's advanced search list. In this case, you can change the search term from "places of worship" to the name of a particular religion or denomination. But beware... (see comments, above)

• Make sure you are using the "distance" tab and checking the mileage indicated to identify the place closest to you.

Sometimes Google Maps will indicate places that Mapquest does not (or vice versa). So you might try this resource as a back-up. While Google Maps does not provide specific distance away, you can visually see which place might be closest to you.

• Be attentive and selective regarding what comes up in your search. Lists from these general, automated directories are not entirely accurate. A search for synagogues, for instance, will often include "temples" that are not Jewish. Such a search will also include Jewish community centers (which are not "worship communities") that may be associated with a nearby synagogue (similarly for Catholic churches and associated schools). And don't count organizational headquarters or service organizations that might also be associated with a specific religion. For this exercise, you are only interested in places where people worship.

• Do not rely on Mapquest for counts: since some of the listings in any search are likely not appropriate for our purposes here, and Mapquest lists have an upper limit of 150, you won't be able to get a truly accurate count from this source. Use the ARDA and/or ACL (noted above) to get more accurate counts.

Beware:

• If you search using these general directories you will not want to take the counts for granted without double checking the listings and eliminating those that are not really what you are looking for.

• Also watch out for duplicate listings (check the distance given. If two identified locations are within a fraction of a mile from each other and/or have similar if not identical names, they are likely associated with the same community - count it just once!)

If all else fails, look in your regional phone book Yellow Pages for churches and synagogues. This is still the most complete listing you will find. Remember, phone books have been around for generations. Most Internet directories are barely 10 years old and limited by agenda or simply lack of awareness of what else might be out there to include. Data entry has not yet caught up or kept up with reality. 

• Look under “churches” and you will likely find them broken down by denomination. 

• If you don’t find what you are looking for in your local phone book, use the one for your larger regional area. If you don’t have this at home, check a local library.

• You can also use the phone book to locate synagogues – under “S” – for Jewish congregations near you.