Religion in Houston

The A.D. Bruce Religion Center on the campus of the University of Houston. The Bruce Religion Center serves as a church, mosque, and synagogue for the university community. It is named after former university President A.D. Bruce.

Lakewood Church

The city of Houston which historically was centered on Protestant Christianity, and a part of the Bible Belt,^[1] is now home to many different religions owing to its large ethnic diverse population.

According to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center, 73% of the population of the city identified themselves as Christians, with 50% professing attendance at a variety of churches that could be considered Protestant, and 19% professing Roman Catholic beliefs.^[2][3] while 20% claim no religious affiliation. The same study says that other religions (including Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism) collectively make up about 7% of the population. However another study shows that conversion to Protestant Christianity in Houston is the highest in the nation, with newcomers to the city are 70% more likely to become born-again Christians within 3 years of living in the city.

History

In 2016 the Kinder Houston Area Survey of the Kinder Institute, Rice University polled Houston area residents on whether they attend religious services other than weddings and funerals within the past month. 45% of respondents stated that they did, a decline from previous eras, when a majority of those polled stated they did.^[4]

Christianity

The Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral in Downtown Houston

Christianity is the most prevalently practiced religion in Houston (73%).^[3][5] Kate Shellnut of the Houston Chronicle described Houston as a "heavily Christian city".^[6]

Lakewood Church in Houston, led by pastor Joel Osteen, is the largest church in the United States. A megachurch, it had 44,800 weekly attendees in 2010, up from 11,000 weekly in 2000. Since 2005 it has occupied the former Compaq Center sports stadium. In September 2010, Outreach Magazine published a list of the 100 largest Christian churches in the United States, and inside the list were the following Houston-area churches: Lakewood, Second Baptist Church Houston, Woodlands Church, Church Without Walls and First Baptist Church.^[7]

Judaism

The current Congregation Beth Israel

As of around 1987 about 42,000 Jews lived in Greater Houston.^[8] In 2008 Irving N. Rothman, author of The Barber in Modern Jewish Culture: A Genre of People, Places, and Things, with Illustrations, wrote that Houston "has a scattered Jewish populace and not a large enough population of Jews to dominate any single neighborhood" and that the city's "hub of Jewish life" is the Meyerland community.^[9]

The first synagogue to open in Houston was the Orthodox Beth Israel Congregation, now the Congregation Beth Israel, which opened in 1854.^[10]

Islam

Al-Noor Mosque

Houston is also home to a significant number of Muslim Americans. As of 2000 the estimated population of Muslims in Houston was over 60,000. During that year there were over 41 mosques and storefront religious centers, with the largest being the Al-Noor Mosque (Mosque of Light).^[11]

In 2007 Barbara Karkabi of the Houston Chronicle wrote that the Sunni and Shia Muslims "generally enjoy good relations in Houston."^[12] The University of Houston has separate student organizations for Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims, the mostly-Sunni Muslim Students Association and the Shia Association of Muslim Students.^[12]

Buddhism

Texas Guandi Temple

Even though the first wave of Vietnamese immigrants to Houston, occurring after the end of the Vietnam War, was mostly Catholic, subsequent waves of Vietnamese immigrants were mostly Buddhist.^[13]

The Texas Buddhist Association (TBA) in Houston was founded in 1978 by Reverend Jan Hai. In order to allow westerners to come to Buddhism in a context they could understand, Hai adopted a congregational form similar to that of a Christian church. The American Bodhi Center, a 515-acre (208 ha) property located in unincorporated Waller County, near Hempstead, is a part of the TBA. It includes log houses, dormitories, and a meditation hall. In 2009 Zen T. C. Zheng of the Houston Chronicle stated that it is one of the United States's largest Buddhist developments.^[14]

The Texas Guandi Temple (traditional Chinese: 德州關帝廟; simplified Chinese: 德州关帝庙; pinyin: Dézhōu Guāndì Miào) is located in East Downtown.^[15] The temple was established in 1999 by a Vietnamese couple,^[16] Charles Loi Ngo and Carolyn.^[17] They decided to build a temple to Guan Yu (Guandi) after surviving an aggravated robbery,^[17] which occurred at their store in the Fifth Ward.^[17] They believed that Guandi saved their lives during the incident.^[16] A Vietnamese refugee named Charles Lee coordinated the donations and funding so the temple could be built; Lee stated his motivation was to thank the United States for welcoming him and saving his life when he arrived in 1978.^[18] The temple is open to followers of all religions, and it has perfumed halls.^[17]

Dawn Mountain Tibetan Temple, a Tibetan Buddhist temple and community center, is located in Montrose. A husband and wife, Rice University religious studies professor Anne Klein and therapist Harvey Aronson started the temple in 1996.^[19]

The Houston Zen Center practices Sōtō Zen Buddhism.^[20]

The Myoken-Ji Temple, a Nichiren Buddhist temple, is located in proximity to the University of Houston. As of 2011 it is led by Rev. Myokei Caine-Barrett, who was born in Kawasaki, Japan, in Greater Tokyo.^[20]

Hinduism

In 2011 there were 350 Hindu families in The Woodlands. In a 15 year period ending in 2011 the Hindu population in the Woodlands increased by 300%, and Kate Shellnut of the Houston Chronicle stated that according to "Hindu leaders" every year the Hindu population in The Woodlands grows by 20 to 25 families.^[21]

Hindu temples

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, a Swaminarayan sect Hindu temple, is along Brand Lane in unincorporated Fort Bend County,^[22] near Stafford and Sugar Land. It consists of a 11,500-square-foot (1,070 m²), 73-foot (22 m) tall open-air temple and a 25,620-square-foot (2,380 m²) surrounding deck. By July 2004 the cost to build the temple was $7 million at that time. The temple materials were carved out of Italian marble and Turkish limestone by 3,000 craftsmen in various parts of India. The pieces were shipped to Houston, and construction began in March 2002. 175 volunteers, including some individuals resident in India, came to the Houston area to help build the temple. Most of the labor was donated. Up until the opening, some finishing touches to the structure were made.^[23]

The Sri Saumyakasi, a Sugar Land Chinmaya Hindu temple, opened in December 2007. It is the only Hindu temple in the city devoted to Shiva. The Chinmaya Mission Houston started in 1982. Originally classes were held in an apartment. In a ten year period the members raised $2.5 million for the permanent temple.^[24]

The Hindu Temple of The Woodlands, initially the sole Hindu temple serving the northern part of Greater Houston, was scheduled to open in 2011. The temple, built for $3 million, is located in a 10,000-square-foot (930 m²) stone exterior building on an 8-acre (3.2 ha) plot of land along the Woodlands Parkway. It serves Hindus living in The Woodlands, Conroe, Spring, Tomball, and northern Harris County. The planning, fundraising, and construction took six years. Before the temple was built, residents of the service area of the temple had to travel about one and half hours per direction to temples in Pearland and Sugar Land.^[21] Another Hindu temple, Char Dham Hindu Temple at Northway Drive at Texas State Highway 242 in the Woodlands, was founded by Surya Sahoo. By 2012 its construction was upcoming. At that time some area residents had concerns about forest preservation, traffic, noise pollution, and lighting.^[25]

In 2013 Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha of Trinidad and Tobago, Branch 377, an organization of those who have Trinidad and Tobago ancestry, and the Hindu community of the Greater Katy area jointly began development of a new Hindu temple, which will include all Hindu deities rather than focusing on one deity. By November of that year, the 2.4-acre (0.97 ha) future site of the Sai Durga Shiva Vishnu Temple in unincorporated Fort Bend County already had its temporary buildings. The renovation was scheduled to begin in early 2014 with a goal of opening in May of that year. About 10-15 people are organizing the temple. Amaranth Venkateswarlu, an engineer who is one of the organizers, stated that there are about 500 Indian families who live in Greater Katy and that they currently go to Hindu temples in Pearland and Sugar Land.^[26]

Sikhism

Houston Sikh Community at the 2016 Martin Luther King Day parade in Midtown Houston

In 2012 the Sikh National Center stated that the city of Houston has 7,000 to 10,000 Sikhs. The Gurdwara Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib Ji is a Sikh temple in Houston,^[27] located off of Fairbanks North Houston. As of 2012 the majority of the city's Sikhs originate from the portion of Punjab in India.^[28]

Zoroastrianism

The Zoroastrian Association of Houston (ZAH) was established in 1976.^[29]

Of the Zoroastrian groups in Houston, as of 2000, the main ones are Iranians and Parsis. As of that year the total number of Iranians in Houston of all religions is, on a 10 to 1 basis, larger than the total Parsi population.^[30] As of 2000 within Houston there were about 12 Zoroastrian priests there. Yezdi Rustomji, author of "The Zoroastrian Center: An Ancient Faith in Diaspora," stated that they were "variously divided in matters of Zarathushtrian orthodoxy."^[31]

As of 2000 the ZAH is majority Parsi. Rustomji wrote that because of that and the historic tensions between the Parsi and Iranian groups, the Iranians in Houston did not become full members of the ZAH. Rustomji stated that Iranian Zoroastrians "attend religious functions sporadically and remain tentative about their ability to fully integrate, culturally and religiously, with Parsis."^[30] In 1996 the Iranian population had its largest attendance at a ZAH event when it attended Jashne-e-Sade, an event the community created for ZAH. By 2000 some Muslim Iranians who were opposed to fundamentalism in the mosques began attending Zoroastrian events. Rustomji wrote in 2000 that between 2000 and 2005, Iranians were expected to make up a greater proportion of ZAH.^[30]

Bahá'í Faith

The Houston Bahai Center is a Bahá'í organization in Houston. Most members are Persians. There are also other ethnic groups.^[32] As of 2010 many Houston Bahá'í are refugees from Iran. In Iran many of their relatives and parents were arrested and/or executed. As of that year about 14,000 Bahá'í are in the entire State of Texas.^[33]

Jainism

Jain Vishva Bharati (JVB) Houston, a Jain organization, was started around 1999. At the time it had 40 members. Two Samanijis from India went to Houston to operate the JVB. In 2009 Arlene Nisson Lassin wrote that by then "the organization has seen tremendous growth."^[34] In 2009, the JVB's $2 million, 6,000-square-foot (560 m²) Jain Vishva Bharati-Preksha Meditation Center was scheduled to open in 2009. The facility includes a 3,600-square-foot (330 m²) meditation hall.^[34] The Jain temple offers Sunday school classes.^[35]

In 2011 Morgan Wilson of the Houston Chronicle wrote that there were about 1,000 Jain families in the city, with 250 families regularly go to the Jain temple to worship.^[35] In 2012 Jill Carroll of the Houston Chronicle stated that Greater Houston has about 700 Jain families.^[36]

Scientology

The Church of Scientology operates the Church of Scientology Mission of Houston.^[37]

Atheism

The group Houston Atheists, as of 2011, has 1,400 members. In a two year period ending in 2011 the membership doubled.^[38]

Paganism

As of the 1970s the First Pagan Church was located in Montrose.^[39]

Satanism

In 2015 the Greater Church of Lucifer opened in the Old Town Spring area of Spring; the group anticipated that 40 persons would attend its first meeting. Christian groups protested the opening.^[40]

See also

• Demographics of Houston
• Culture of Houston

References

• Badr, Hoda. "Al Noor Mosque: Strength Through Unity" (Chapter 11). In: Chafetz, Janet Salzman and Helen Rose Ebaugh (editors). Religion and the New Immigrants: Continuities and Adaptations in Immigrant Congregations. AltaMira Press, October 18, 2000. ISBN 0759117128, 9780759117129.
• Bell, Roselyn. "Houston." In: Tigay, Alan M. (editor) The Jewish Traveler: Hadassah Magazine's Guide to the World's Jewish Communities and Sights. Rowman & Littlefield, January 1, 1994. p. 215-220. ISBN 1568210787, 9781568210780.
  • Content also in: Tigay, Alan M. Jewish Travel-Prem. Broadway Books, January 18, 1987. ISBN 0385241984, 9780385241984.
• Fischer, Michael M. J. and Mehdi Abedi. Debating Muslims: Cultural Dialogues in Postmodernity and Tradition. University of Wisconsin Press, 1990. ISBN 0299124347, 9780299124342.
• Rothman, Irving N. The Barber in Modern Jewish Culture: A Genre of People, Places, and Things, with Illustrations. Edwin Mellen Press, August 14, 2008.
• Rustomji, Yezdi. "The Zoroastrian Center: An Ancient Faith in Diaspora." in: Chafetz, Janet Salzman and Helen Rose Ebaugh (editors). Religion and the New Immigrants: Continuities and Adaptations in Immigrant Congregations. AltaMira Press, October 18, 2000. ISBN 0759117128, 9780759117129.

Notes

External links

• Houston Zen Center
• Dawn Mountain Tibetan Temple
• BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (Sugar Land)
• Zoroastrian Association of Houston
• The Bahá'ís of the City of Houston, TX (The Bahá'í Center)