International Religious Research

NOVA research centre

NOVA research is a research agency which serves churches and mission agencies active in Europe. They run an active field research programme that concentrates on migration issues within Europe, mapping the presence of new and emerging churches across the continent, and of understanding the makeup and thinking of people in Europe who do not attend Church. They also carry out field research for mission agencies and lecture at mission training colleges. Their website is here

Adherents.com

Adherents is collection of  adherent statistics and religious geography citations for over 4,300 religions, churches, denominations, and other religious bodies and faith groups. The site has diligently abstracted citations from an enormously wide variety of publications and websites and lists them, largely without interpretation or curation. The site is here

BARNA group

Barna Group is a research and resource company located in Ventura, California, which offers a wide range of consultancy and shared cost polling services to churches and religious leaders. The organisation also publishes an extensive library of materials which draw on their research to help churches and Christians interpret their situations and take good decisions. BARNA's site is here

World Missions Atlas Project

The World Missions Atlas Project is a programme which seeks to map the engagement of Evangelical mission agencies across the world. Supported by the International Missions Board of the Southern Baptists and YWAM among others the site has extensive mapping of the 'evangelisation status' of the world. The site is here

NCLS Australia

NCLS is an Australian organisation which conducts research, including National Church Life Surveys, designed to help church congregations better connect with the society they serve, and to understand how Australians think and feel about God. NCLS research is a co-operative venture supported by, among others the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, the Diocese of Syndey, and Uniting Church NSW Board of Mission. The site is here

US Department of State

The US Department of State publishes a certain amount of religious and social information in country profiles, on occasion more than the CIA World Fact Book does. The department releases a number of important publications including the Annual Report on International Religious Freedom. The State Department country summaries are here, and the Office for International Religious Freedom is here

Center for Missional Research

The Center for Missional Research is run by the North American Mission Board and exists to help Christian leaders make sound strategic decisions based on carefully researched understandings of North American culture. They provide demographic information tailored to specific churches needs, and publish research reports, including recently on Evangelism and Church planting in North America, and Clergy burnout. The Center for Missional Research's website is here

Association of Religion Data Archives (USA)

ARDA has been online since 1998 and houses one of the most important inter-denominational datasets on religion in the United States. The site includes a detailed breakdown of American denominations with membership, and or adherent data as well as religious demography for the whole of the US, region by region and nation profiles from around the world. ARDA is hosted by Penn State University, and directed by Roger Finke ARDA's site is here

Pew Research Centre

The Pew Research Centre is an influential non-partisan US organisation which, among other activities, conducts surveys of global opinion and on social matters including religious views. The director is Andrew Koht. The Pew Research Centre's main site is here, and the Pew Global Attitudes Project is here

Christian Research Association (Australia)

The Christian Research Association was formed in 1985 and exists to provide reliable information about religious faith and church life in Australia. The Research Association is supported by a wide range of mission agencies and churches. Recent research reports have included studies of Bible engagment, changes in Australian's world views, explorations of why people leave faith, and the contribution, or otherwise, of religious faith to the social capital of the nation. The CRA's site is here

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