Editing Lafayette, Louisiana (section)

=== Religion ===
[[File:The Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist 2.jpg|thumb|[[St. John's Cathedral (Lafayette, Louisiana)|St. John's Cathedral]], see of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana|Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana]]|253x253px]]
In common with Louisiana's religious demographic, Lafayette and its [[Lafayette metropolitan area, Louisiana|metropolitan area]] are predominantly religious, dominated by [[Christianity]].<ref name=":18">{{Cite web |title=Maps and data files for 2020 |url=https://www.usreligioncensus.org/index.php/node/1639 |access-date=2022-12-10 |website=U.S. Religion Census |publisher=Association of Religious Data Archives}}</ref> According to the [[Association of Religion Data Archives]] in 2020, the [[Catholic Church]] was the single largest Christian denomination with a reported 212,013 adherents, and [[Protestantism|Protestants]] were the largest collective Christian group. Among Protestant Christians, the largest were [[Nondenominational Christianity|non-denominational Christians]] with 26,860 adherents; [[Southern Baptist Convention|Southern Baptists]] with 22,324; [[Progressive National Baptist Convention|Progressive National Baptists]] with 19,324; [[United Methodist Church|United Methodists]] with 8,401; and [[Assemblies of God USA]] with 6,704 adherents.<ref name=":18" />

Owing in part to [[Religion in Latin America|Spanish]] and [[Religion in France|French colonialism]] and [[missionary work]], Christians have historically affiliated with the [[Latin Church]]'s [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana]]. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana was founded in 1918 and its see is the [[St. John's Cathedral (Lafayette, Louisiana)|Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The History of the Diocese of Lafayette|url=https://diolaf.org/history|access-date=2021-03-01|website=Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana|language=en}}</ref> Within the local Protestant traditions, [[Baptists]] have been the primary historic Protestant body affiliated with; the [[National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.]] and Progressive National Baptist Convention have been the city and region's historically Black or African American Baptist denominations, though the [[Church of God in Christ]] has also been a historically prominent African American Protestant body.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lafayette bishop leads Easter service after losing mother, deacon to coronavirus|url=https://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/coronavirus/article_01f44980-7ce6-11ea-bb2d-db22fbaa6516.html|access-date=2021-03-01|website=The Acadiana Advocate|date=12 April 2020 |publisher=The Advocate|language=en}}</ref>

[[Mormons]], [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]], and [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]] have also maintained minority presences within the Lafayette municipal and metropolitan communities. Christians of other traditions including the [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] and [[united and uniting churches]] have been present in the city's metropolitan area since the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Church Finder|url=https://www.ucc.org/church-finder/|access-date=2021-03-01|website=United Church of Christ|language=en-US}}</ref> [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] is the oldest [[Nontrinitarianism|nontrinitarian]] Christian denomination in Lafayette, and has one church in the city limits; the closest LDS churches outside of Lafayette are in [[New Iberia, Louisiana|New Iberia]] and [[Opelousas, Louisiana|Opelousas]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Lafayette, LA|url=https://local.churchofjesuschrist.org/la/lafayette/116-east-bluebird-drive|access-date=2021-10-16|website=|publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|language=en}}</ref> There has been one [[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America|Antiochian Orthodox]] jurisdiction operating since 2004;<ref>{{Cite web|last=Young|first=Fr Stephen De|title=Parish History|url=https://stgabriellafayette.org/Parish-History/|access-date=2021-11-13|website=Archangel Gabriel Antiochian Orthodox Church|language=EN|archive-date=November 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113043800/https://stgabriellafayette.org/Parish-History/|url-status=dead}}</ref> there is also a [[Coptic Orthodox Church|Coptic Orthodox]] mission under the [[Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=St. Mary of Egypt Coptic Orthodox Church – Lafayette, LA|url=http://www.suscopts.org/diocese/churches/lafayette/|access-date=2021-11-13|website=Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States}}</ref> Altogether, the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], [[Oriental Orthodox Churches]], and non-mainstream Protestantism have constituted a significant minority in contrast to Catholic and Baptist missionary work.

In a separate religious study by [[Sperling's BestPlaces]] in 2020,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Religion in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana |url=https://www.bestplaces.net/religion/county/louisiana/lafayette |access-date=March 1, 2021 |website=Sperling's BestPlaces}}</ref> [[Judaism]] and [[Islam]] were tied as the second largest non-Christian religions within Lafayette and its metropolitan area. Jews began immigrating to the area in the 1800s,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-10-02|title=Jewish Temples of Southwest Louisiana Records|url=https://library.louisiana.edu/collections/collection-207|access-date=2021-03-01|website=University Libraries|publisher=University of Louisiana at Lafayette|language=en}}</ref> and one of Louisiana's oldest continuously operated synagogues (Temple Shalom) has been present in the city since 1869. The historic synagogue of Temple Shalom originally functioned as an [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] congregation before joining the [[Reform Judaism]] movement.<ref>{{Cite web|title=History - Temple Shalom|url=https://www.templeshalomlala.org/history|access-date=2021-03-02|website=Temple Shalom}}</ref> Lafayette's Jewish community has assisted in economic and cultural development of the area since their arrival.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ISJL - Louisiana Lafayette Encyclopedia|url=https://www.isjl.org/louisiana-lafayette-encyclopedia.html|access-date=2021-03-01|website=|publisher=Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life|language=en}}</ref>