Most Religiously Diverse County in AmericaExBulletin

The Spencerville Seventh-day Adventist Church in Montgomery County, Maryland, is currently meeting at St. Andrew Lutheran Church after their building suffered a fire. This is an example of interfaith cooperation in the most religiously diverse county in the country. Sarah Ventre/NPR .

rock the caption Sarah Ventre/NPR

SILVER SPRING, Md. About 30 miles north of Washington, DC is a winding road surrounded by hardwood trees and numerous churches. But not just churches.

There's a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, the Cambodian Buddhist Society, a Muslim community center, the Maryland Hindu Milan Mandir and even a house with a sign advertising psychic readings.

This stretch of New Hampshire Avenue in Silver Spring, Maryland, is so filled with places of worship that it's called Embassy Row of Religions. But the locals call it the road to paradise.

The Highway to Heaven is in the eastern part of Montgomery County, Maryland, which has been considered the most religiously diverse county in the country, according to the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). The U.S. Census does not collect data on religious affiliation, so the PRRI Census of American Religion is considered one of the most reliable sources of data on the subject.

Melissa Deckman is the CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute, which conducted the survey. She said counties with the most religious diversity have common denominators.

“[They are] “They are the most populous counties in the country, but they are also the most racially and ethnically diverse,” Deckman said.

Only 40% of Montgomery County residents are white, and 20% are Hispanic. The county also has a larger population of African-Americans and Asian-Americans, Deckman said. “There are higher percentages of Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim residents.”

Other counties topping the PRRI diversity list include Kings County, New York, which includes Brooklyn; Suffolk County, Massachusetts; and San Francisco County, California. Counties with the least religious diversity included Holmes County, Mississippi; Macon County, Alabama; and Appling County, Georgia

A wall in an exterior hallway of the Muslim Community Center on Highway to Heaven in Silver Spring, Maryland. Sarah Ventre/NPR .

. Sarah Ventre/NPR Interfaith Cooperation

On a sunny Saturday morning, families at the Spencerville Seventh-day Adventist Church gather for worship. (For Seventh-day Adventists, the Sabbath is Saturday as opposed to Sunday as in most Christian denominations.)

But the congregation does not actually meet in its own church. Instead, men in suits greet worshipers at the door of St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, about a mile up the road.

In August, the Spencerville Seventh-day Adventist Church suffered a fire and the congregation is still unable to use the building. Crystal E. Ward, executive pastor of the church, said having supportive communities of faith nearby has been a positive experience.

“The Lutheran church and the pastor here [have] been so welcoming and kind to us to offer us a space where we can pray. So we are here to worship every Saturday. »

These types of interfaith partnerships are often the goal, but geographic proximity to the highway to heaven might make them more possible.

“There's a mosque, the Muslim Community Center, who are incredible interfaith partners and do a lot in the community,” said Kate Chance, religious community outreach manager for the County Office of Community Partnerships. Montgomery.

“They have a clinic to support people, and right next door is the Ukrainian church. So they share parking lots. They're very good friends. But when the Ukrainian church was supporting Ukrainian newcomers, they welcomed them. at the MCC Health Clinic.

Communities with deep roots

Two miles north of the Muslim Community Center and St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Church is Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church. It is an imposing building, tall, made of wood and topped with a polygonal pyramid visible from the road. It wouldn't look out of place anywhere else in Silver Spring. But on the highway to heaven, the log building (typical of the Carpathians) is just one of many thoughtfully constructed places of worship.

The distinctive Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church follows the Byzantine Rite and is located on the “Highway to Heaven” in Silver Spring, Maryland. Sarah Ventre/NPR .

rock the caption Sarah Ventre/NPR

“This is the church I grew up in. I had my first communion. I was a part of this congregation before the church was even built, we had our first church in Washington, D.C., in a house,” Lila Johnson said. She drives with her family about an hour and fifteen minutes each way to get to this church.

She likes to celebrate mass entirely in Ukrainian, just like her parents and grandparents.

“The Mass is just moving and beautiful, and I couldn’t imagine going anywhere else,” Johnson said

On the highway to paradise, there are enough options that most people don't have to.

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