GREENSBORO, N.C. — The nation’s most religious cities aren’t just in the Deep South or Utah — they’re found in the Mid-Atlantic, according to a recent ranking by Men’s Health magazine.
Five of the 15 most religious cities in America are in North Carolina and Virginia, reports the lifestyle magazine in its December issue — including Greensboro, N.C., which ranked No. 2. The other cities are Charlotte, N.C. (9th), Raleigh, N.C. (13th), Durham, N.C. (14th) and Virginia Beach, Va. (15th).
Greensboro, N.C., is the nation's second most religious city, says 'Men's Health' magazine.
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Colorado Springs, Colo., the headquarters for a wide array of evangelical Christian organizations, ranked No. 1 in the list of 100 cities. Burlington, Vt., ranked least religious.
Surprisingly, Richmond, Va., home to the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board and the Christian charity ChildFund International, ranked 65th, below other cities often regarded as more secular — Washington (44th), Philadelphia (56th) and San Francisco (60th).
Men’s Health wrote that it ranked the cities based on the number of places of worship per capita, the total number of adherents and volunteers who support those groups, and the amount of money donated to religious organizations and spent on religious books. It drew its information from the U.S. Census, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Yellowpages.com and Mediamark Research.
The pastor of Greensboro’s First Baptist Church said he wasn’t surprised his city placed 2nd in the rankings.
“I knew that giving to religious organizations was high here, based on an earlier study done a few years ago,” said Ken Massey, who has been pastor of the 1,900-member church for 14 years. “We have very strong benevolent ministries here, as well as two fine religiously-rooted colleges. We have long had a strong Jewish population, generating two families who made millions on textiles and real estate respectively. They built hospitals, libraries and many other benevolent enterprises, and even gave a major gift to build a YMCA downtown. And we have churches on every corner.”
Greensboro was the site of the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in 2006 and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s annual general assembly in 1994.