December 31, 2001

Islam growing in United States
___HARTFORD, Conn. (RNS)--The number of mosques in the United States is on the increase, according to a study of 41 religious denominations by Hartford Seminary.
___The number of mosques in the nation increased 42 percent between 1990 and 2000--to at least 1,200--outpacing the 12 percent average increase among evangelical Protestant denominations and the 2 percent average increase among mainline Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox groups.
___Sixty percent of the 416 randomly selected mosques reported at least a 10 percent increase in membership between 1995 and 2000, according to the seminary's Faith Communities Today research, which surveyed more than 14,000 religious congregations in 41 faiths. Researchers continue to mine the data for new findings.
___Forty-eight percent of Mormon congregations reported similar growth numbers, as did 39 percent of evangelical Protestant congregations and 29 percent of Roman Catholic and Orthodox parishes. About 27 percent of mainline Protestant congregations reported such an increase. Mega-churches of all denominations ranked above Muslims at No. 1, with a reported average increase of 83 percent.
___The increase suggests that "Islam is one of the fastest growing religious groups in the United States," said David Roozen, a co-director of the study.

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