United Holy Church of America (1916 - Present) - Religious Group
Religious Family: PentecostalReligious Tradition: Black Protestant
Description: The United Holy Church of America is a predominantly black Pentecostal church founded in response to a revival led by Reverend Isaac Cheshier in North Carolina in 1886, after which many participants struggled to work with pre-existing denominations. It was first named the Holy Church of North Carolina, then the Holy Church of North Carolina and Virginia. The Church assumed the unincorporated form of its present name in 1916, which it incorporated in 1918 in Durham, North Carolina. The Church gradually became international and suffered internal division from 1977 to 1998, at which point the church reunified.
Official Site: http://www.uhcainc.org/
Connections: United Holy Church of America
| Group (Active) | Group (Defunct) | Other |
Maps: United Holy Church of America1
Adherence Rate per 1,000 (2020)
Congregations (2020)
Top 5 United Holy Church of America States (2020)1 [View all States]
| Rank | State | Congregations | Adherents | Adherence Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Carolina | 176 | 10,221 | 0.98 |
| 2 | District Of Columbia | 3 | 308 | 0.45 |
| 3 | West Virginia | 13 | 434 | 0.24 |
| 4 | Delaware | 5 | 237 | 0.24 |
| 5 | Virginia | 42 | 1,697 | 0.20 |
Top 5 United Holy Church of America Counties (2020)1 [View all Counties]
| Rank | County | Congregations | Adherents | Adherence Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rockingham County, NC | 5 | 1,182 | 12.98 |
| 2 | Lenoir County, NC | 10 | 590 | 10.70 |
| 3 | Greene County, NC | 5 | 217 | 10.61 |
| 4 | Duplin County, NC | 10 | 467 | 9.59 |
| 5 | Martinsville city, VA | 2 | 100 | 7.42 |
Top 5 United Holy Church of America Metro Areas (2020)1 [View all Metro Areas]
| Rank | Metro | Congregations | Adherents | Adherence Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kinston, NC Micro Area | 10 | 590 | 10.70 |
| 2 | Goldsboro, NC Metro Area | 19 | 865 | 7.37 |
| 3 | Burlington, NC Metro Area | 7 | 871 | 5.08 |
| 4 | Henderson, NC Micro Area | 6 | 214 | 5.03 |
| 5 | Roanoke Rapids, NC Micro Area | 4 | 249 | 3.77 |
United Holy Church of America, Members (1939 - 1960)2
United Holy Church of America, Ministers & Churches (1939 - 1960)2
United Holy Church of America, Trends (1939 - 1960)2
| YEAR | MEMBERS | MINISTERS | CHURCHES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | 31,500 | 500 | |
| 1942 | 32,000 | 502 | |
| 1944 | 25,000 | 275 | |
| 1950 | 13,381 | 321 | 339 |
| 1951 | 26,300 | 361 | 360 |
| 1952 | 26,451 | 374 | 365 |
| 1953 | 26,560 | 382 | 376 |
| 1956 | 27,070 | 393 | 426 |
| 1957 | 27,050 | 391 | 426 |
| 1958 | 28,000 | 400 | 432 |
| 1959 | 28,300 | 400 | 453 |
| 1960 | 28,980 | 400 | 470 |
Sources
1 The 2020 data were collected by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB) and include data for 372 religious bodies or groups. Of these, the ASARB was able to gather data on congregations and adherents for 217 and on congregations only for 155. [More information on the data sources]
2 All data on clergy, members, and churches are taken from the National Council of Churches’ Historic Archive CD and recent print editions of the Council’s Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. The CD archives all 68 editions of the Yearbook (formerly called Yearbook of the Churches and Yearbook of American Churches) from 1916 to 2000. Read more information on the Historic Archive CD and the Yearbook.
Membership figures are "inclusive." According to the Yearbook, this includes "those who are full communicant or confirmed members plus other members baptized, non-confirmed or non-communicant." Each denomination has its own criteria for membership.
When a denomination listed on the Historic Archive CD was difficult to identify, particularly in early editions of the Yearbook, the ARDA staff consulted numerous sources, including Melton’s Encyclopedia of American Religions and the Handbook of Denominations in the United States. In some cases, ARDA staff consulted the denomination’s website or contacted its offices by phone. When a denomination could not be positively identified, its data were omitted.
