Holy Wisdom Orthodox Mission
1355 North 4th Street • Grand Junction, CO 81501
(On the corner of North 4th Street & Kennedy Street)
holywisdomorthodox@gmail.com • 720-295-7715
A mission parish of the Orthodox Church in America , and the Diocese of the West

Is the Orthodox Church Very Large?
A Snapshot of Religious Faiths Worldwide

Orthodox Christians comprise approximately 3.8% of the world population, and about 0.5% of the US population.

In comparison, Roman Catholic Christians comprise 17.4% of the world population, and 20.8% of the US population.

The 264 million Orthodox faithful comprise one, single Church. They are thus the second-largest unified Christian group worldwide, after the Roman Catholic Church.

Of the 2.2 billion Christians in the world, approximately 1.1 billion are Roman Catholics. Of the remaining, there are 286 million Charismatics, 267 million Evangelicals, 264 million Orthodox, and 261 million Pentecostal Christians. Another 22 million belong to other groups, such as Christian Scientists, Mormons, and Jehovahs Witnesses.

Worldwide there are roughly 2.2 billion Christians (about one-third of the world population). There are also about 1.6 billion Moslems, 1.1 billion agnostic/atheist adherents, 1 billion Hindus, 500 million Buddhists, and 14 million Jews.

A Snapshot of Religious Faiths in the United States

In the United States, Orthodox Christians are one of the smallest faith groups, comprising approximately 0.5% of the population. In comparison, Protestants are about 46.5%, Roman Catholics are 20.8%, Jews are 1.9%, Buddhists are 0.9%, and Muslims and Hindus are both 0.7%.

These broad statistics are only part of the story. A more-detailed comparison with other individual Christian denominations in the US provides an interesting perspective on the relative representation of Orthodox Christianity in America.

Please click here to view the Pew Research Center, Religion and Public Life, Religious Landscape Study.

Please click here to view the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, The Future of World Religions.

Breakdown of Religious Faiths in the United States

Christian Faiths 70.6%
Evangelical Protestant Tradition 25.4%
Baptist Family 9.2%
Nondenominational Family 4.9%
Lutheran Family 1.5%
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod 1.1%
Presbyterian Family 0.8%
Pentecostal Family 3.6%
Episcopalian/Anglican Family <0.3%
Restorationist Family 1.6%
Congregationalist Family <0.3%
Holiness Family 0.7%
Reformed Family <0.3%
Adventist Family 0.6%
Mainline Protestant Tradition 14.7%
Baptist Family 2.1%
Methodist Family 3.9%
Nondenominational Family 1.0%
Lutheran Family 2.1%
Presbyterian Family 1.4%
Episcopalian/Anglican Family 1.2%
Restorationist Family 0.3%
Congregationalist Family 0.5%
Reformed Family <0.3%
Anabaptist Family <0.3%
Friends Family <0.3%
Nonspecific Protestant Family 1.9%
Historically Black Protestant Tradition 6.5%
Baptist Family 4.0%
Methodist Family 0.5%
Pentecostal Family 1.0%
Holiness Family <0.3%
Nondenominational Family 0.3%
Nonspecific Protestant Family 0.4%
Roman Catholic Tradition 20.8%
Mormon Tradition 1.6%
Orthodox Christian Tradition 0.5%
Greek Orthodox <0.3%
Russian Orthodox <0.3%
Orthodox Church in America <0.3%
Other Orthodox Christian <0.3%
Jehovah's Witness Tradition 0.8%
Other Christian Tradition 0.4%
Non-Christian Faiths 5.9%
Jewish 1.9%
Muslim 0.9%
Buddhist 0.7%
Hindu 0.7%
Other World Religions 0.3%
Other Faith Traditions 1.5%
Unitarians and other liberal faiths 1.0%
New Age 0.4%
Unaffiliated (religious "nones") 22.8%
Atheist 3.1%
Agnostic 4.0%
Nothing in particular 15.8%
Nothing in particular (religion not important) 8.8%
Nothing in particular (religion important) 6.9%
Don't know 0.6%
Largest 15 Faiths in America
Roman Catholic 20.8%
Baptist 11.3%
Nondenominational Protestant 4.9%
Lutheran 4.8%
Methodist 3.9%
Pentecostal 3.6%
Presbyterian 2.2%
Jewish 1.9%
Mormon 1.6%
Episcopalian/Anglican 1.5%
Muslim 0.9%
Jehovah's Witness 0.8%
Buddhist 0.7%
Hindu 0.7%
Orthodox Christian 0.5%
Greek Orthodox <0.3%
Russian Orthodox <0.3%
Orthodox Church in America <0.3%
Other Orthodox Christian <0.3%

Source: https://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/