Historically, several
Native American religions have been practiced in the present-day state of Michigan. Following
British and
French colonization of the region surrounding Michigan,
Christianity became the dominant religion, with
Roman Catholicism historically being the largest single Christian group for the state. Until the 19th century, the Roman Catholic Church was the only organized religious group in Michigan, reflecting the territory's French colonial roots. Detroit's St. Anne's parish, established in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, is the second-oldest Roman Catholic parish in the United States. On March 8, 1833, the
Holy See formally established a diocese in the Michigan territory, which included all of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Dakotas east of the Mississippi River. When Michigan became a state in 1837, the boundary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Detroit was redrawn to coincide with that of the state; the other dioceses were later carved out from the Detroit Diocese but remain part of the
Ecclesiastical Province of Detroit. According to the
Association of Religion Data Archives in 2020, there were 1,492,732 adherents of Roman Catholicism. Additionally, there's also a significant
Independent Catholic presence centered in Metro Detroit. As of 2016, the most notable Independent Catholic jurisdiction is the
Ecumenical Catholic Church of Christ established by Archbishop Karl Rodig; the see of this church operates in a former Roman Catholic parish church. With the introduction of Protestantism to the state, it began to form the largest collective Christian group. In 2010, the Association of Religion Data Archives reported the largest Protestant denomination was the
United Methodist Church with 228,521 adherents; followed by the
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod with 219,618, and the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with 120,598 adherents. The
Christian Reformed Church in North America had almost 100,000 members and more than 230 congregations in Michigan. The
Reformed Church in America had 76,000 members and 154 congregations in the state. By the 2020 study,
non- and inter-denominational Protestant churches formed the largest Protestant group in Michigan, numbering 508,904. The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod grew to become the second-largest single Christian denomination, and United Methodists declined to being the third-largest. The Lutheran Protestant tradition was introduced by
German and Scandinavian immigrants. Altogether, Baptists numbered 321,581 between the
National Missionary Baptists,
National Baptists,
American Baptists,
Southern Baptists,
National Baptists of America,
Progressive National Baptists, and
Full Gospel Baptists; black Baptists formed the largest constituency. In the same 2010 survey, Jewish adherents in the state of Michigan were estimated at 44,382, and Muslims at 120,351. The first Jewish synagogue in the state was
Temple Beth El, founded by twelve German Jewish families in Detroit in 1850. Islam was introduced by immigrants from the Near East during the 20th century. Michigan is home to the largest mosque in North America, the
Islamic Center of America in Dearborn. Battle Creek, Michigan, is also the birthplace of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church, which was founded on May 21, 1863. == Homelessness ==