Religion in Houston

For much of its history Houston was overwhelmingly Christian. The amounts of other religious groups did not grow because for the most part immigration was predominately from majority Christian Europe, favored by the quotas in federal immigration law at the time. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 removed the quotas, allowing for the growth of other religions.[4]

In 2016, Rice University conducted a poll of Houston area residents on whether they attend religious services other than weddings and funerals within the past month. It showed that 45% of respondents stated that they did, a decline from previous eras, when a majority of those polled stated they did.[5]

The Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral in Downtown Houston

Christianity is the most prevalently practiced religion in Houston (73% as of 2014 according to the Pew Research Center).[1][6] Kate Shellnut of the Houston Chronicle described Houston as a "heavily Christian city".[7]

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.[8]

The current Congregation Beth Israel

As of around 1987 about 42,000 Jews lived in Greater Houston.[9] 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.[10]

The first synagogue to open in Houston was the Orthodox Beth Israel Congregation, now the Congregation Beth Israel, which opened in 1854.[11]

Houston is also home to a significant number of Muslim Americans. As of 2017 the estimated population of Muslims in Houston was over 250,000. During that year there were over 209 mosques and religious centers, with the largest being the Al-Noor Mosque (Mosque of Light).

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]

In the late 1970s Buddhists began establishing themselves in Houston.[4] 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 Buddha Light Temple opened in 1984, making it one of the first Buddhist places of worship.[4]

Fo Guang Shan Chung Mei Temple (佛光山中美寺; Fó Guāng Shān Zhōng Měi Sì) is a Buddhist Temple located in Stafford, Texas.

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.[15]

The Houston Zen Center practices Sōtō Zen Buddhism.[16]

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.[16]

In 2020, Kadampa Meditation Center Houston opened up a space in Montrose for the study and practice of meditation and modern Buddhism. The community is part of the New Kadampa Tradition.

Texas Guandi Temple

A Taoist temple,[17] 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.[18] The temple was established in 1999 by a Vietnamese couple,[19] Charles Loi Ngo and Carolyn,[20] the former originating from China.[21] They decided to build a temple to Guan Yu (Guandi) after surviving an aggravated robbery[20] which occurred at their store in the Fifth Ward.[20] They believed that Guandi saved their lives during the incident.[19] 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.[22] The construction materials and architectural design originated from China.[21] A representation of Buddha and a golden Lord Brahma originated from Thailand.[23] The temple is open to followers of all religions, and it has perfumed halls.[20] Ming Shui Huang was appointed volunteer manager in 2000.[24]

In 1969 the first Hindu institution, ISKCON Houston of the Hare Krishnas, opened, and in the following decade there was an increase in Hindus. As of 2016, according to the spokesperson of the Hindus of Greater Houston, Vijay Pallod, there are about 120,000 Hindus in the Houston area.[4]

In 2018, there were around 480 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.[25]

Hindu temples

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Houston in unincorporated Fort Bend County

The original Hindu places of worship in the Houston area were private residences; at a later period dedicated buildings opened in the area.[4]

Sri Meenakshi Temple in Pearland had its property purchased in 1978 and was established in 1979. Pat Turner of the Houston Chronicle wrote that the initial facility "was barely big enough for one person to stand in while performing worship services (pooja)."[26] New facilities were established circa 1995.[26]

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Houston, a Swaminarayan sect Hindu temple, is along Brand Lane in unincorporated Fort Bend County,[27][28] 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.[29]

Sri Meenakshi Devasthanam Temple (Pearland)

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.[30]

There is another Hindu temple with a Sugar Land postal address, Shri Krishna Vrundavana, physically in the Alief super neighborhood in the Houston city limits,[31][32] which occupies the 450-person, 9,000-square-foot (840 m²) former La Festa Hall. It was established in 2011 with about 200 people in its congregation; originally the temple rented its property. In October 2015 the temple organizers bought the current site for $1.3 million. In December 2015 its congregation had numbered over 800.[31]

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.[25] 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.[33]

In 2010, Indo-Caribbeans Hindus finished constructing the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir of North Houston in Willowbrook, Houston. It is one of the many Hindu Temples in the world associated with the Green Kumbla, a Hindu Organization associated with establishing green practices in Hindu Temples. In 2014, the Hindu Temple planted trees on campus in celebration of Earth Day In 2015, the temple became the first Hindu Temple in North America to create a rainwater harvesting system for its building.

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.[34]

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

Sikh people originally held religious services in private residences. In 1972 the Sikh Center of the Gulf Coast Area, the first dedicated Sikh center of worship, was established by Kanwaljeet Singh and other Sikhs.[4] In 2012 the Sikh National Center stated that the city of Houston had 7,000 to 10,000 Sikhs.[35] By 2016 the figure of Sikhs was similar and there were seven gurdwaras.[4] As of 2012 the majority of the city's Sikhs originate from the portion of Punjab in India.[36]

The Gurdwara Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib Ji is a Sikh temple in Houston,[35] located off of Fairbanks North Houston.[36]

The first Sikh police officer in Harris County was Sandeep Dhaliwal. He became an officer in 2009, and received an accommodation to wear his Sikh articles of faith (including the turban and unshorn hair and beard) in 2015.[37] Dhaliwal was shot and killed while making a traffic stop in 2019.[38]

In the 1970s Zoroastrians began arriving to Houston. Originally they worshipped in private residences.[4] The Zoroastrian Association of Houston (ZAH) was established in 1976.[39] The Zarathushti Heritage and Cultural Center, in Southwest Houston opened in the 1990s.[4]

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.[40] 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."[41]

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."[40] 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.[40]

As of 2016 there were 650 Zoroastrians in Houston. Around that period they had plans to build a fire temple.[4] The fire temple, Bhandara Atash Kadeh in Southwest Houston, opened in 2019.[42]

The Houston Baháʼí Center is a Baháʼí organization in Houston. Most members are Persians. There are also other ethnic groups.[43] As of 2010 many Houston Baháʼí are refugees from Iran. In Iran many of their relatives and parents were arrested and/or executed. As of that year, there were roughly 14,000 Baháʼí in the entire State of Texas.[44]

In the 1970s Houston's Jain population began.[4] 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."[45]

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.[45] The facility, in far west Houston,[4] includes a 3,600-square-foot (330 m²) meditation hall.[45] Jain Vishva Bharati offers Sunday school classes.[46] In addition the Jain Society of Houston has a temple in west Houston.[4]

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 Jain Vishva Bharati to worship.[46] In 2012 Jill Carroll of the Houston Chronicle stated that Greater Houston has about 700 Jain families.[47] As of 2016 there were around 1,000 Jains.[4]

As of 2016 Houston had a group of Yazidis who practiced their religion.[4]

The Church of Scientology operates the Church of Scientology Mission of Houston.[48]

The group Houston Atheists, as of 2011, has 1,400 members. In a two year period ending in 2011 the membership doubled.[49]

As of the 1970s the First Pagan Church was located in Montrose.[50]

In 2015 the Greater Church of Lucifer opened in the Old Town Spring area of Spring, Texas, a census-designated place within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Houston; the group anticipated that 40 persons would attend its first meeting. Christian groups protested the opening.[51]

• Demographics of Houston
• Culture of Houston

• "Asian Americans in Houston: A Kaleidoscope of Cultures" (PDF). Houston History. University of Houston Center for Public History. 13 (1). Fall 2015.
  • Tomkins-Walsh, Teresa. "Welcome to Guandi's Temple – A Mystic Sanctuary of Asian Cultures in Houston": 36–39. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• 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.

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